Free Caprice by Amanda Carpenter Page A

breath. The last thing she
    heard as the water closed over her head was Roxanne's furious shout.
    Dead silence, dead silence, roaring blood in her ears, no breath. She
    fought convulsively, in deep panic, but the water hampered her
    movements and he was far too strong. Nightmare seclusion, no air,
    thrashing limbs and a dark terror numbing her mind. Black death, no
    breath, oppressive water bearing her down, dead silence, paralysing,
    paralysing.
    She fought herself as much as he, knowing eternity as a torment.
    Don't fight. Don't panic. God, she was panicking. She tried, one last
    time, to push back that overwhelming, mind robbing terror. Phobias
    are irrational. But it was too late, the eternity had caught up with
    her, and so had the terror, swamping her mind like the water had
    swamped her body, black and total, black and total; she knew she
    was drowning, she knew despair. A sob broke from her snarling,
    panic- rigid lips, and water filled her mouth. Perhaps five, certainly
    not ten, seconds had passed. She curled tight, and motionless.
    But then movement exploded under the water, that motionless, death-
    filled tomb that rotted at her strength and took away her reason. The
    manacles at her ankles abruptly loosed her, but she couldn't move her
    locked, trembling limbs and felt herself drift. Another sob, and she
    swallowed water the wrong way, immediately retching, swallowing
    more, seeing dancing spots behind her eyelids as a true unconscious
    blackness roared at her like an oncoming train.
    Her head broke water at the same moment as hard, compelling hands
    snatched at her. Open, blinking eyes seeing nothing r but streaming
    wetness and golden brown skin. Her head bent to the water, mouth
    open; she tried to breathe, tried to retch, coming out with a strangled,
    choking sound. Her shoulders, under the impersonal hands,
    convulsed as she weakly tried to sob. Then the sounds hit her of
    Roxanne screaming at Jeffrey, in a rage, 'You damned idiot! You
    stupid jerk!'
    Through it all, Jeffrey said, stunned and blank, 'What's wrong with
    her? What happened?'
    She couldn't move her limbs, couldn't do anything but shake horribly
    and loathe the water so dangerously near, so ready to suck her down.
    Then Pierce said, directly in front of her and shocked to a whisper,
    'My God.' Blinking her eyes to clear them of the water, all she could
    do was stare at him, uncomprehending and blank, eyes black and
    immense, face pinched, teeth chattering. Everyone else watched,
    appalled.
    Pierce drew her close, and bent his head. Where had he come from?
    Her fingers clutched bruisingly at his upper arms. He pushed her face
    to his bare chest, and she tried to say something, but all that came out
    was a terrified whimper. Her rigid body was flush to his, and his
    arms went around her tightly. He murmured in her ear, soothingly.
    But what she heard the loudest was Roxanne's retort to Jeffrey. 'She
    can't stand having her head under water, genius! For God's sake, why
    couldn't you act your age, and leave her be!'
    Pierce said to her quietly, 'Now calm down, sweetheart. It's over, all
    over.' The fear began to recede, like low tide. But when he loosened
    his arms a bit, she convulsively jerked, drawing her legs up as her
    fingers raised welts on his skin. He appeared to be quite unaware.
    'I'm not going to let you go. Don't worry, I've no intention of letting
    you loose until we're at least out of the water.'
    The others couldn't hear what he was saying in her ear, but they
    could see her distress. Roxanne asked, voice hushed, 'Cap, are you
    OK?'
    Tightly, voice catching, she gulped, 'Fine. Be OK in a second.'
    'I didn't know,' Jeffrey said. 'I'm sorry.'
    Pierce sent a look over her head to his younger brother, eyes like
    black steel. After that, he ignored Jeffrey totally, and began to walk
    slowly out of the water with her. She heard Emory say,
    uncomfortably, 'Uh, anything we can do?'
    Pierce said, common-sensible, 'We're going to sit in the sun