A young doctor unexpectedly finds herself forced to indoctrinate into a paramilitary organization, where a stoic hero silently falls in love. Slowly, he earns her trust. The love between them burns away the darkness of the past and acts as a beacon...
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The cool, comforting haze started to take me over, and slowly, then all at once, I was pulled into the currents of his raging soul.
A dark and frenzied ocean raged. Instead of floating weightless within him as I had before, I pulled myself out of his lethal currents and secured myself all around him, like air itself. Not a wild wind, but something smooth and static. I welcomed his angry, white-capped waves, allowing them to reach for me, following them back down to the kinetic surface as gravity pulled the ocean back to itself.
Bitter salt stung the air and my eyes as the storm raged; waves crashed in upon themselves, sending mist and seafoam cascading through the night sky and towards unreachable stars.
I let gravity pull me down, too, daring to enter his currents. I welcomed the chaos and the push and pull of the water's righteous rage.
Down.
I filled my lungs with air and ocean mist, diving deep beneath the surface. Even the most atrocious storms can't reach the bottom of the ocean. No. The ocean has internal tides that flow steadily regardless of the chaos where the two great blues meet: the sky and the sea. I dove, as deep as I could into his depths, finding his internal tide that I let carry me wherever it may lead. I let myself go and floated weightlessly.
Time passed, and miles of seawater rushed around me, my lungs full of endless air. I stayed in the current until it brought me to the surface. The water was choppy but no longer frenzied. The tide pushed me towards the shore, and I waded back in, letting the waves rock me off balance until I was deep enough to swim again. I stayed in the choppy water until the ocean's surface was smooth and harmonious.
Fingers flexed into me, pulling me back to a state of semi-consciousness. I tightened my grip around him, and we both came slowly back to reality.
I lay motionless against Solan, not wanting the moment to end, unsure of what the next moment would hold.
Will he leave?
I tightened my hold on his frame, and he cupped water over my head, wiping my eyes when stray drops rolled down my face. He reached for the soap and began to lather my hair and scalp. I smiled against him and waited patiently as he cupped water over my head again to rinse the soap. When he seemed satisfied with his work, I pulled away and took the shampoo bottle into my hands. I ignored the slight shake of his head and rooted my soapy hands into his curly black locks. I took my time massaging his scalp, enjoying how his body and face relaxed beneath my touch. Good. Solan's eyes fluttered shut, then opened a few moments later.
He caught my wrist and quirked a brow upward, giving me a look that said 'You're going to put me to sleep.'
I gave a one-shoulder shrug, then used the lathered, soapy foam on my hands to give Solan a white Santa beard. He scoffed, fighting back a smile while I felt one stretch across my face at the sight of him. His black hair and chin were coated with white foamy soap, and black clothes clung to him as the water lapped around us. My long-unbound hair clung to everything, including Solan's chest and biceps.
