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temptation became the fight of his life. If he hadn’t been with Mia, he might have even taken the risk and given in to the instinct to rise. But instincts couldn’t be trusted, not when it came to diving with compressed air. His Navy days had taught him that, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to unlearn it now. Everything came down to calculations and self-control.
    Four minutes into the decompression stop, two to go. Air in the red zone. Death hanging over his shoulder, leaning in with a greedy grin.
    He inhaled, passed the regulator to Mia, and watched her suck air in, all nice and calm — until her eyes went wide and her hands fluttered. She made chopping motions across her throat and jabbed her thumbs up.
    Out of air! Out of air!

Chapter Seven

    If it hadn’t been for Ryan’s insistent grip on her vest, Mia would have shot straight to the surface. But with his hands on her and his eyes, too — calm, bottomless eyes that promised everything would be okay — she kept her last shred of control and ascended slowly.
    He flickered his fingers in front of his mouth.
Exhale.
    Right. Exhale, with the lungful of air she never got. She forced a weak trail of bubbles from her lips as she let her body rise, waiting for a ripping feeling to set in as the air in her veins expanded and tore her insides apart.
    But there was no tearing, only a burning pain from lungs desperate for air.
    Exhale, damn it!
    She squeezed another couple of bubbles out of her lungs. Watched the sun grow brighter, the surface nearer. Her lungs screamed for her to open her mouth, but she fought the urge back. That second decompression stop had been too short. Much too short. Somehow, she had to drag this all out.
    Almost there…
    Ryan’s grip tightened on her vest.
Not too fast.
    It was a little like swimming laps next to him, when her body would beg for a break while her pride had her digging for just a little more speed, a little more glide. A little more air.
    Another few seconds…
    Then she couldn’t do it any more. She tore out of his grasp and kicked for her life. Kicked for the surface and a breath of fresh air. Her ears wailed and her lungs burned and her eyes bulged and—
    She didn’t just shoot to the surface, she shot clear through it and a couple of feet into the air, gasping. The water beside her erupted in a great wave and Ryan was there, too, breaching like a mighty orca. Heaving for breath, they both flopped around like a couple of fish who’d forgotten to swim. She couldn’t quite get her inhales and exhales timed right; one started before the other finished, making her cough and splutter and spit. Which really didn’t matter, because there was air, dry air, all around her. A whole universe of it. The sun beat down from the sky, and it was a glorious day there on the surface. A glorious day.
    Her hand got stuck on something, and it took a minute to comprehend why. Her fingers were laced through Ryan’s. Not feeling like they’d let go anytime soon, either.
    “You okay?” he gasped.
    She managed a weak nod.
    He shook his head. “Really okay?”
    She touched her own ribs as if that would tell her if she was bursting inside or not. But surely if she was going to die of the bends, she’d feel it, right?
    “I’m okay.” She nodded. “You?”
    His nod was so haggard, she pulled him closer. He’d had less air to go on than her.
    “Really okay?” Now she was the one grabbing him by both shoulders, studying him up close. No sign of bleeding around his nose or ears, thank God.
    The right side of his mouth curled into a tiny grin. Teensy-tiny, like it might not be allowed. The same grin that had captivated her from the very start, because Ryan smiling was like a statue coming to life and sensing its surroundings for the very first time.
    “I’m okay.”
    His face was pale, but his eyes were bright, and she gulped the sight in along with huge lungfuls of air. Like she couldn’t survive without both.
    “Jesus, Mia, what