Dark Abyss by Kaitlyn O'Connor (top fiction books of all time txt) 📗

“I was just wondering how you arrived at the conclusion that we were the same age if you have no idea how old we are.”

She shrugged. “You look about the same.”

“Except I’m eight years older than he is.”

Anna gaped at him. “You’re joking, right?”

He looked so amused she was sure he must have been teasing. Joshua arrived, to her consternation.

“Anna thinks we look like we’re the same age,” he said, chuckling.

Joshua sent her a startled look and turned red. “He was born here.”

“I know. He told me,” Anna said curiously.

Joshua shrugged. “They don’t age like we do.” He thought it over. “Actually, nobody does down here, even if they weren’t born here. It slows the aging.”

Anna frowned, trying to think if she’d ever heard that or read about it, but it dawned on her that it wasn’t just a matter of her own focus on plants. No one seemed to know much about the Atlanteans. There certainly hadn’t been any studies done that she’d heard of about the long term effects of living beneath the sea.

The colony was more appropriately named than she’d realized. It was a lost continent, ignored and forgotten by pretty much everyone. Nobody, including her, gave Atlantis or its citizens a thought beyond enjoying the fruits of their labors in their daily lives—except for those who wanted to wipe them out because they considered them ‘abominations’.

The slowed aging actually made sense now that it had been pointed out to her, though, and she thought about it. They were almost completely protected from both gravity and solar radiation, two major contributors to aging, or at least the appearance of aging. The necessary change in their diet might also contribute and the exercise—swimming, even slowly, took a lot more effort than walking. Granted, she hadn’t seen many of them, but if Simon and his men were anything to go by, they didn’t seem to carry around a lot of extra fat.

It made her wonder just how old they were. Just how out of her league was she if they had years more knowledge and experience than she did?

No wonder she felt so damned inadequate to the situation!

Chapter Four

Luckily, Anna had almost finished eating when Simon arrived at the table, heavy-eyed, wearing a distinct ‘five o’clock’ shadow, and with his hair still tousled from sleep.

It took an effort to peel her eyes off of him.

Maybe she’d been just a little hasty in deciding he had no appeal at all?

“Is there any coffee?”

His husky voice sent a shiver down her spine.

“I put it on. It should be ready.”

He got up and left the table, heading for a cabinet near the sink. He hadn’t bothered to put any clothes on—not even a robe!

God! He had a nice ass!

She whipped her head around when she saw him start to turn toward the table and discovered Caleb and Joshua were both watching her. Feeling her face heat, she got up abruptly. “I think I’ll have some coffee, too, if it’s alright?”

Not that she wanted coffee, but it was the only thing she could think of to cover the fact that she’d been staring at Simon’s ass. She’d grabbed a cup and was reaching for the pot when it abruptly occurred to her that it was doubtful they had cream. “I don’t suppose you have cream?”

Caleb stared at her blankly.

“No cream,” Joshua said sardonically. “It’s a major bitch trying to milk fish.”

Anna glared at him. “I think I’ll just have water.”

“The water’s rationed,” Simon growled. “The terrorists blew up the desalination plant.”

Anna’s lips tightened. “Caleb made coffee! What did he do, piss in the pot?”

Simon strangled on his coffee.

Caleb uttered a choked laugh and then apparently thought better of it when Simon glared at him. He cleared his throat. “Everybody’s allowed four a day. I used the morning ration to make coffee.”

Anna poured herself a cup and settled at the table again, glaring at the dark liquid.

She didn’t want coffee, damn it! She didn’t even like coffee with cream. It just made it more bearable.

She drank it, though, every drop and then took her plate and cup to the sink and went back to her ‘dungeon’ to sulk. Uneasiness crept in after a while when she’d listened to men moving around the house. She could hear their voices although she couldn’t make out what they were saying and wondered if the conversation pertained to her.

Surely they wouldn’t keep her long? If they’d checked her out, wouldn’t they know she hadn’t had any dealings with Miles Cavendish before?

But how could they, she realized uneasily. The connection they’d found was a public record. She could’ve found it if it had ever occurred to her to research it.

Except her mother had given a false name for her father on her birth certificate … or, at least she had on the birth certificate she’d given her. Was it fake? If it wasn’t, she realized, they wouldn’t have found it and known Miles Cavendish was her father.

Just how many lies had her mother told her, she wondered?

She shook that thought off. She wasn’t going to start doubting her mother. She knew everything she’d done had been intended to protect both of them, not to deceive her. It still distressed her that her mother never had told her the truth, but who was to say she wouldn’t have, eventually, if she hadn’t died?

That thought resurrected a memory and gave rise to some very unpleasant speculation. Miles Cavendish hadn’t seemed to be the least surprised that