Page 38 of Impossible Rapids

Drowning. This was what it felt like. The pressure. The horror. The certainty each moment could be her last and her lungs were filling with water.

A body angled through the water and down toward her. The strong form slicing her direction gave her an infusion of hope.

Shawn! Poseidon. Her Viking Warrior.

With a hero of his magnitude on the way, survival might be a possibility.

Shawn reached her, his blue eyes open and concerned for her and her alone. Grabbing her around the middle, he launched them off the bottom of the river and straight through that enraged current that wanted to drown her. Without his help, it would have.

They broke through the surface. Julie took a breath of fresh air, mixed with only a little freezing river water. She gasped and coughed and coughed again.

“I’ve got you,” Shawn hollered into her ear, still barely distinguishable over the loud current. He wrapped his arms tight around her midsection, pulled her back against him, and cradled her close. Their feet were angled downstream like he’d taught her, and all she had to do was wrap her arms around his, hold on, and try to clear her lungs.

He had her. Her Viking Warrior, her Thor, would never let her drown. He’d come for her. He’d risked his own life to rescue her and somehow he’d fought through the river monster and prevailed.

A few more breaths and coughs and she was surprised that she was breathing. Not breathing great, semi-okay at best. Maybe she hadn’t been on death’s door by drowning like she’d thought.

The rapid wasn’t done with them yet. Julie felt like she was riding down the craziest waterslide of her life as their bodies were pulled back and forth by invisible ropes and they slid through the unpredictable current and churning whitewater.

Even though it was a wild ride, she was safe. Shawn’s arms were around her, and his strong body cradled her from behind. He’d rescued her, and she knew nothing could happen to her if he was close by. Especially in the water that he ruled.

Eventually the current slowed, the river released its death grip, and she took in some relieved breaths.

“You all right?” Shawn asked, his breath warm against her cheek.

“Thanks to you.” Her coughing had settled and her lungs felt clear. What a relief.

Shawn kept one arm around her waist and used his other arm to slice through the water. He directed them over to a quiet pooling area along the bank of the river—to wait for their boat, she assumed. He stood in the chest deep water and gently turned her to face him. His blue eyes were warm on her face.

“That scared me,” he admitted, still holding her close.

It scared him? She didn’t know that anything could scare him?

“I thought I was drowning, and then I saw you angling through the water toward me like my Viking hero, my own personal Thor. Are your Viking ancestors descendants of Poseidon? The way you moved through the water, I’m certain you rule rivers, oceans, and streams.”

Shawn chuckled at that. He softly traced his fingers over her cheek. She was frozen and somehow his hands felt warm. Of course cold water wouldn’t touch him.

“No one else could have rescued me like that,” she said. “You’re my hero.” If only she could give him a kiss of gratitude, but the other boats were approaching, their voices carrying over the river noise.

“Like the waves who will never leave the shore, I will always come for you, Jules,” he said just loud enough for her to hear him over the rushing of the river behind her. His blue eyes backed up the promise in his words.

“You will?”

He nodded, very serious as his fingers slid along her jawline and his palm cupped her cheek.

Fire filled her. She eased closer to him, forgetting everything but the way Shawn’s touch and his gaze on her made her feel. In this river, he was king of everything, including her soul. She slid her cold hands along his warm neck.

“You two okay?” Cash asked.

Julie looked up. Cash and Brylee were a dozen feet away and Hays and his group were coming down the river behind them. Hays’s dark gaze was watching her and Shawn steadily, his concern for her obvious.

Cash had directed the boat into the calmer outlet near the bank. He was seated in the back where Shawn had been. He released his grip on the paddles and studied them.

“I’m all right,” Julie said. “Poseidon saved me.”

Shawn smiled but released her from his embrace and guided her toward the boat with his hand on her elbow.

“Oh, my,” Brylee cried out, her hand over her heart. “I thought we’d lost you, Julie. You were under for so long.”