Dark Abyss by Kaitlyn O'Connor (classic novels for teens .txt) 📕

that? They’d just done it to make her feel like a complete moron!

She jolted to a halt when she reached the living room and discovered Simon sprawled out on the couch on his belly—buck ass naked!

She wasn’t inclined to look upon him with any sort of favor after his nasty remarks about her mother, and yet ….

Oh! What a beautiful sight! What a beautiful back! What a beautiful ass! It made her little heart go pitter patter just looking at him and, unfortunately, she couldn’t dismiss it as fear.

There was a little of that. It added a little extra gallop to her heart, but … she’d never seen such a beautiful male animal!

Except the others. Caleb, she decided, was much prettier in the face. Simon’s face didn’t appeal to her at all. It was all hard angles, too harsh to really consider it handsome—and she certainly didn’t!

He had a nice mouth, though, she thought, swallowing with an effort as the memory surfaced of his mouth on hers.

Resuscitation, moron! It certainly hadn’t felt the least bit … erotic at the time!

Banishing the wayward thoughts with an effort, she tiptoed across the room and found the bathroom she’d been so desperate for—a half bath. A bath and a half didn’t seem like much for four men, but then they were either spotless housekeepers or they didn’t actually spend much time in the place.

It had to be their place. She hadn’t given it that much thought when they’d been questioning her after she’d arrived, one after another until she was so exhausted she began to doze off between sessions. She’d been on an emotional roller coaster, completely off kilter, terrified that they would hurt her until she discovered they were cops—terrified after that when Simon had said she was a suspected terrorist, for that matter.

She’d supposed they might have just settled in to turn her life into a living hell, but they seemed too much at home not to be at home.

She discovered when she left the bathroom that Caleb was in the kitchen, cooking. She didn’t know what it was, but it smelled wonderful and she was starving.

She debated briefly, but she hadn’t had anything to eat and very little to drink since they’d brought her. “Could I … have something?” she asked tentatively when she’d stopped in the doorway.

Caleb glanced around at her in surprise. “Sure. I’m cooking enough for everyone.”

“Do I have to go back to the room?”

He frowned and turned back to the stove. “You’ve got the run of the house. It isn’t like you could leave.”

Anna glanced around and finally pulled out a chair and settled to watch him.

They all wore robes like the one she was wearing if they wore anything at all. She thought it was curious, but then realized she’d never given any thought at all to what life below the sea must be like. “Are you all cops?”

He glanced at her. “We’re watchmen.”

Anna frowned. “Isn’t that the same thing?”

He shrugged. “In a way.”

“How is it different?”

“We’re the city’s first defense. We keep the peace, arrest the wicked, investigate crimes—but we’re also militia.”

Anna mulled that over. “I thought there was a territorial militia?”

“There is, but it’s a big territory. More often than not, if a problem arises, they’re too far away to help, and often engaged.”

“In boundary disputes,” she guessed. “I thought the territory was established.”

“It is. Some countries don’t agree with our borders, though,” he said dryly. “The militia is federal. Their primary focus is to protect America’s interests.”

“Meaning the mineral and ore deposits?”

“Meaning the money,” he agreed dryly, “and a lot of those are close enough to the borders that they fall in the dispute zone.”

Anna fell silent as he took the food up and began to distribute it on plates.

He glanced at her. “Take your pick.”

Getting up, she took two of the plates and carried them to the table. Caleb was looking at her strangely when she returned to carry two more. “Fighting utensils in that drawer,” he murmured, pointing.

Taking that to mean ‘eating’, she went to the drawer and gathered enough for everyone, setting a fork, knife, and spoon beside each plate. “Does everyone have a usual spot?”

He nudged his chin toward a chair across from him. “That one hasn’t been claimed,” he said, smiling faintly. “Although we rarely sit down at the same time.”

“Should I tell them the food’s done?”

He sent her another strange look. “They smelled it. They’ll be here when they get here.”

Shrugging inwardly, Anna settled in the chair he’d indicated. Apparently, it wasn’t their custom to wait for everyone to arrive to start eating. Caleb hadn’t even waited for her to sit down and she was standing beside him!

“Were you born here?”

He stiffened, swallowing his food before answering. “Yes—I’m second generation. Simon is third—his father was born here. Ian’s also third generation Atlantean. Joshua is first. He immigrated here with his family when he was a kid.”

She could see Caleb knew the direction of her thoughts. After casting around for a moment for a distraction, she said, “So, really, he grew up here, too.”

“Yes. He’s few years younger than me, but I’ve known him since he was a kid.”

Anna looked at him in surprise. “Really? I thought the two of you were the same age.”

He looked amused. “How old do you think I am?”

“I’m not very good at guessing that sort of thing.”

“How old do you think Joshua is?”

“Like I said …,” Anna said uncomfortably.