Free Swamp Magic (Crimson Romance) by Bobbi Romans Page A

nausea had her stomach bubbling and her vision swimming. The lightheadedness too severe to continue driving, she attempted to brake and pull over. Smashed the pedal over and over with no reaction. The car, if anything, seemed to be speeding up. Panic assailed her mere seconds ahead of the sudden impact. She was in trouble, big trouble.
    Her car plunged nose first into the swamp. She had a fleeting thought about the airbag recall notice she’d received and ignored before her skull careened with a jarring impact into the steering wheel. The incredible pain so shattering, tendrils wrapped around her entire body. Vibrating through each muscle and every bone. She was struggling to overcome the intense pain when the sounds of gushing water pierced her consciousness, but she couldn’t breathe, much less think about escaping. The darkness enveloped her in a pain-free embrace.
    Beth came to when the warm, murky swamp waters rose past her neck. She knew panicking wouldn’t help, but damned if she didn’t anyway. She was trapped in her car, in pain, and about to drown in what would no doubt end up being her watery coffin.
    She freaked the hell out, screaming like a banshee as she lashed out toward the windshield before turning her frantic measures toward the driver’s window. If she ever got out of this, she was never buying a car with electric windows again.
    Her life began flashing before her eyes as she thought about all she’d wanted to do. Things she’d done and wanted to do again, like being in Moss’s arms, wrapped entirely in hard, male love.
    Luckily, before she began swallowing the not-so-appealing, thick, pea-green swamp water, a strange inner calm settled and brought with it an inner strength. She knew then she would not just sit there and die. Fuck that. If she was going out, then she would at least go out fighting. Okay, and maybe with a bit of screaming and cursing too.
    Following her instincts, she started kicking on her door. Now that the car had fully submerged, the pressures should have equalized, making the door a more feasible route. She made a vow to never again tease Robby about watching all those “Survivor Man” type shows. She also vowed to pay more attention to them when they were on.
    Seconds before running out of air, the strange sensation surrounding her grew stronger and with one last shove, the door opened with more velocity she would have thought possible. Shooting out of the car, she swam to the surface, gulping in the blessed swamp air. Never had humidity tasted as good as it did now.
    She only had a few minutes of profound relief before thoughts turned to what might be lurking in the water with her. The soundtrack to
Jaws
began playing in her mind, and every nearby splash had her life flashing before her eyes again. Best she get on land fast.
    Dragging her trembling body up onto the closest bank, she clawed her way farther from the water’s edge. Gritty dirt embedded painfully deep under her nails as she distanced herself from the water’s edge and any hungry gators lying in wait. She lay there trying to gather her thoughts and wits about her, her breath still coming in short, ragged bursts. She’d defeated death, but just barely, and was smart enough to know it.
    • • •
    “Did you really think you could do something like that and I’d just let you walk away?” The question dripped evil. Its hiss rolled through the swamp, causing a menacing echo. Though he couldn’t see her, he felt her anger rumbling in her words.
    If Moss had hackles, they would surely have raised. Instead he had scales — or, rather,
sometimes
had scales. Even so, he couldn’t quite stop the slow, rising smirk he knew he sported as he remembered the humiliated state he’d left the bitch left in. Especially the knowledge that the incident had been all the old hag’s fault. Once her spell wore off, clarity had kicked in, along with the thankful realization it hadn’t been his Beth he’d been so brutal