Page 76 of When Hearts Unravel

I should flee, back away, or hold my hand out to stop him. But instead, I’m rooted in place. Prickly heat travels down my neck to my breasts, then curls around my legs before settling in my core.

My skin is tight, achy, sensitive, my nerves calibrated only for this virile man before me. I twitch with the need to touch him, but I curl my fingers into my palms, digging my nails into the flesh until it hurts.

Because I’m a goddamn professional.

“My little Olive is all smiles and grace in public. But I’ve seen them. Your claws. Heard your barbs. You don’t back down when challenged, you fight back. I think underneath that neat librarian exterior, the rule-following doctor has a hidden rebellious streak. Bravery waiting to be unleashed,” he murmurs.

He reaches out and tugs my lip from between my teeth. I pant out a half moan.

Eyes flaring, he slowly dips his thumb in—not tentative, but dominant. He might as well have touched my clit, which throbs and aches. A pleasurable haze blankets my mind and I suck on his thumb, tasting the addictive saltiness of his skin, watching a flush crawl up his face, making his eyes smolder like burning coals.

“You’re a mirage,” he rasps. “A temptress and a rule breaker trapped inside, waiting to be let out.”

I shake my head.No, that’s not me. You have the wrong twin. That’s Mia. Not me.

But aren’t I tired of following the rules? What if he’s right?

He must see something in my eyes because he withdraws his thumb. Holding my gaze, he dips the same finger into his mouth, swirling his tongue around it as if to taste me like he did with the cherry at Mystique.

A groan ripples from his throat. “Delicious and sweet.”

Wetness slicks my underwear and I can’t catch my breath.

Rex skates his eyes over my face, down to my body, my feet, then back up. I resist the urge to tremble under his scrutiny, my erogenous zones on fire.

When he opens his mouth again, his voice has taken on a deep, sexy rasp. He points to the ocean behind him.

“This spot is popular for cliff diving. We aren’t supposed to be here, but who cares? Fuck the world.”

“You’re out of your mind.” My heart jackhammers inside my chest.

Rex smirks as he slowly backs away. “Am I? Or am I facing my fears? Join me, Olivia.”

Without another word, he spins around and leaps off the cliff.

I gasp and run to the edge, just in time to see him disappear in a splash of white into the Adriatic Sea, which is now a jeweled turquoise under the morning sun.

I wait for him to come up, my mind spinning with what I should do next.

Stay put? Go back to the ship and call this morning a temporary lapse of sanity? Get his clothes and find my way down so he has something to wear when he resurfaces?

But the questions and answers quickly fizzle out when I notice something’s wrong.

Terribly wrong.

He doesn’t resurface.

Ten seconds. Twenty. Thirty.Did I count seconds or was that milliseconds?

I try again.One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi.

How long can humans hold their breath underwater? What did I learn in medical school? Ninety seconds? How do people drown? Panicfirst sets in, followed by fear, then an intense struggle to swim, to breathe, disorientation and not knowing what’s up or down.

My mind rattles off factoid after factoid as my heart incinerates like a volcanic eruption.

We’re at least seven stories up from sea level. So high up. Why isn’t he resurfacing?

Jump in. Save him. You’re a good swimmer. Jump in, Olivia.