still locked around Alice, and his other hand was gripping the handle of the mace he'd jammed so deeply into the wall of the cliff, anchoring them against the forces trying to pull Alice downward.
He quickly took stock of his surroundings, assessing his best exit. With one arm wrapped around Alice, he could use only one weapon to get them out. The pull on her was extreme, and he could feel it working on him as well. Above him loomed a hundred-foot cliff that he'd have to climb before he'd reach the top of the chasm, let alone get back to the surface.
Shit. These were not optimal circumstances, even for him.
His Order of the Blade training would demand he choose his own life over hers if the choice had to be made, in order to fulfill his oath to trade the life of an innocent when necessary to save the greater good. The Order deemed all its members as critical for the protection of the greater good, so everything had to be sacrificed to keep the individual Order members alive. He was honor-bound to save himself instead of her, but the male within him disagreed big time. No chance would he let his woman die while he swam for freedom like some pansy-assed wuss who couldn't take care of his mate.
He had to make a move, and fast. His lungs were tight from holding his breath for so long, but he knew he still had time before he needed to surface. But Alice? He suddenly realized he didn't know what kind of powers she had. How bound was she by ordinary human-type limitations? Alice. Do you need to breathe?
She didn't lift her head, and he realized she hadn't heard him.
Shit. She'd shut him out. Once they got out of this mess, he was going to have to make it clear that jamming their mental connection was not a good plan when they were fighting for their lives. And how in the hell was his soul mate capable of shutting him out anyway? It shouldn't even be possible, and that realization made a shimmer of foreboding echo through him. What if he couldn't claim her? What if she was within his reach, but never ever his?
The idea made pulses of fear ripple violently, and the curse reverberated through him. Shit. Maybe he would have been better off not finding her...
Too late now.
He had her, and he was keeping her alive. Alice. Keeping his grip tight on both her and the mace lodged in the wall, he shrugged his shoulder, trying to communicate with her. At his nudge, she looked up. Her eyes were wide with terror.
He met her gaze, drilling into her mind. Do you need to breathe?
Her eyes widened, and he knew she'd heard him in her mind. Satisfaction and relief coursed through him. Yeah, that was the way it was supposed to be.
She nodded desperately.
I can breathe for you. Her gaze went to his mouth, and sudden heat radiated through him as he recalled exactly what her mouth tasted like. The sinful softness of her lips. The passion that simmered inside her, buried so deeply that he knew it wasn't ever supposed to come out...but he'd accessed it anyway.
Raw, intense physical need burned through him, and desire pulsed at him. She swallowed, nervousness flickering across her face, and he laughed softly. Sweetheart, trust me, I want to ravish you, but first I want to get out of this damn sinkhole. Breathing first. Sex later. But even as he said it, lust coursed through him, thick and dangerous, and he knew that he was lying. He burned for her so badly he'd take her right then and there if he knew she wouldn't drown in the process.
Alice hesitated, then nodded her assent, her gaze searching his. In those green eyes, he saw fear and more than a hint of desire. But there was something else in there too. A fierce determination to do whatever it took to survive. Her will to survive was stronger than her fear of who he was. Respect flashed through him, a connection, because he called on that same survival instinct every single day to fight off the curse and live another day. Suddenly, offering to help her breathe was no longer simply a chance to ravish those decadent lips of hers.
It became so much more than that.
It became about preserving a spirit that was fighting to live. That was what he was all about. That