me in his arms and with his ability with no extra help needed.
I looked down just in time to see one, then two, then three parachutes unfurl and slow the others’ descent.
The bright sun sparkled off the water below, and coastline and islands gleamed green and gold in the distance. It was beautiful.
Josh started floating us down toward the water. Unlike the pace we’d been rocking only moments before, his speed now was closer to a rollercoaster than a missile. Much more enjoyable.
“This is like the coolest ride at the fair!” I told him through a smile.
He laughed, but instead of replying, he sent us sailing through the air in a perfectly smooth loop.
I couldn’t contain my laughter. I’d gone from abject terror to giddy glee within a matter of minutes. I decided not to consider the implications for my mental state too closely. That was just what being in a Bond meant. They could make me feel incredible no matter how bad things seemed.
As we continued our easy glide toward the glittering turquoise water, I relaxed into Josh’s embrace. He was so good at this, as if he’d been born with wings and had been flying his whole life.
As if to illustrate my point, he planted a soft, lazy kiss to the curve of my neck, not even paying full attention to keeping us both airborne. I smiled and wriggled against him, which made me think about how closely he was holding me. His front was against my back, not a breath of space between us, our feet tangling playfully.
“Hey, Josh?” I half turned my head so he could hear me.
“Hmm?” he hummed, his lips still at my neck.
“How long do you think you could keep us both in the air? Theoretically? And how hard would you need to concentrate for the duration of . . .”
He smiled against my neck, making me bite my bottom lip. I had no doubt he knew exactly what I was insinuating, but he decided to tease me anyway.
“For the duration of what? What exactly do you have on that fucking dirty mind of yours?”
I shivered against him. I loved it when he cursed. It gave me a glimpse of his freaky side—a side only I got to see . . . and sometimes the others.
“I think you know exactly what I have in mind.” I arched my back, pressing my ass into his groin. I wasn’t at all surprised to feel his erection.
He chuckled but put a tiny amount of space between us. “I think that can be arranged, but not right now, unless you want an audience?”
I looked back down. We were barely twenty feet away from the surface. The others had all landed and disconnected their parachutes, the colorful fabric floating in the water. A speedboat pulled up next to Nina, and a person reached down to help her over the side.
Ten feet. We were close enough to hear their voices but not make out what they were saying.
Ethan went next, Nina and the other man pulling him up while Alec and Tyler helped from the water.
Five feet.
It was Tyler’s turn. He was light and agile, only needing a hand over the edge from Ethan. Alec lifted himself into the boat before anyone could offer him help.
“Shit!” We were about to hit the water. I’d been too distracted watching them all climb to safety to notice. “Josh! I don’t want to go in the water, Josh. Josh!”
Our toes only just touched the surface, then he spun us around and farther up, away from the boat.
“It’s OK. It’s OK, Eve. I’ve got you.” He tightened his grip around my middle, and I realized I was digging my fingers into his forearms. I released my grip immediately and rubbed over the nail marks I’d left in his skin.
“Sorry. Shit, I hurt you.”
“No, you didn’t. You OK? What’s going on?”
“I . . .” I wasn’t sure how to articulate it. I couldn’t remember hitting the water when the plane crashed, but apparently my body could. Approaching it from the sky made me panic in a way that was hard to explain. “I just really don’t wanna go in the water.”
“We don’t have to.” He was already steering us back toward the boat, coming in slower and slower. “Tuck your legs up.”
I wrapped my arms loosely around my knees. Josh approached the boat with such control I barely even felt us land. His feet touched down on the wooden boards, and the sensation of