* * *
Once they reached the clearing, Kylie stopped, bent over, and hungrily sucked oxygen into her lungs.
Finally rising, she looked at him. Out from under the thicket of the trees, night hadn't completely fallen and she could make out his features.
He stood there, watching her. He didn't gasp for air or hold his stomach the way she did. Damn it! He didn't even look winded.
Curiosity filled his eyes. "It was just an eagle."
"It was?" She looked up at the sky, which was painted with only a few lingering colors of sunset, and prayed the bird hadn't followed. Thankfully, only the first few stars of the night twinkled back at her. No eagle. At least she didn't see it.
"Did it follow us?" she asked, remembering he could see better than she could.
"No." He studied her. "Something happened, didn't it."
"Yes. Maybe. Just weird stuff." She realized she still held his hand, and while it was balmy outside, his hand felt nice. It warmed her palm in a good way, like a cup of hot chocolate, a comforting feeling. While his touch didn't hold the magic of the fae to calm one's fear, it did calm her.
"Come on." He went back to running. Fast. Then faster.
Every time she'd push herself to meet his speed, he'd increase it. Then he'd glance at her as if to make sure she wasn't having to work too hard. She got the feeling he was testing her, wanting to see just how fast she could run.
"Where are we going?" she asked, barely able to speak.
"To the creek." His voice sounded even.
His pace kept getting faster. Wanting to impress him, forgetting all about the eagle, she pushed herself to keep going. Finally, he stopped. Not prepared for the halt, she continued forward. She felt the tug on her arm where she still held his hand, and then suddenly his arm swooped around her waist.
Out of energy and off balance, she fell into him and they both went down. Not hard, or at least not for her, because she landed on top of him.
"You okay?" Her heart still pumped, her chest moving up and down as she gasped for air. As her lungs expanded again, she became aware of the intimate way her body rested against his.
He laughed. "Me okay? You're the one who can't breathe." He wrapped his arms around her. His hands rested on the small of her back.
"I can ... breathe." She laughed. Warm contentment filled her, and she realized she liked being with him. Liked being this close. Maybe too much.
She could feel every inch of his body under hers, and it made her even more breathless. She rolled off of him. The earth and grass beneath her back felt cool, especially considering how warm he had been. The sounds of the night, crickets and a few birds, sang around them. She stared through a curtain of her hair at the midnight blue sky and focused on a star flickering its brightness down from the heavens.
"I'm impressed. I didn't know you could run like that." He rolled to his side, propped up on his elbow, and brushed her hair from her face.
"Yeah." One word was all she could manage. She blinked and stared up at his face. Even in the night, she could see and appreciate the angles and lines of his features. He was so masculine. Always had been, even when he'd been seven. But now, with the light shadow of a beard, he was downright stunning.
The temptation to touch his cheek, to run the tips of her fingers over the stubble, tiptoed through her mind.
She inhaled, her lungs still thirsty for oxygen. Suddenly the sound of water trickling nearby filled her senses. "Are we...?" She raised her head and realized they'd arrived at the creek, the spot she'd brought her mother the day she'd asked about Daniel.
Sadness whispered through her when she remembered she might not see her dad again. She pushed that back and tried not to let the happiness of this moment melt away.
"We made good time." She realized how far they had run.
"How long have you known you could run like that?" he asked.
"Only since I've been here. But I'm getting faster."
He picked up a thick lock of her hair and watched it slide off his palm. His face was only a few inches from hers. She saw him tighten his brows to check out her pattern.
"It's still a mystery," she said.
He met her eyes. "You don't even suspect what you are?"
She frowned. "I wish."
He pulled a long blade of grass from the ground and twirled it in his fingers. Then he looked over his shoulder at the moon, only half-full. "When I was a kid and lived next door to you, when I'd shift, I'd jump the fence into your backyard and watch you through your bedroom window, waiting and hoping I'd see you turn."
"You peeped into my window?"
He smiled. "It's not like you were naked or anything. You mostly wore that Little Mermaid nightshirt." A laugh spilled out of his throat. "You looked like an angel. Sometimes I would stay there half the night thinking you still might turn."
She studied his eyes. "Did you think I was a werewolf?"
"I hoped." He touched the tip of her nose with the grass. Then he slid it over her lips. It tickled and yet somehow felt seductive.
He continued staring as if remembering. "I wanted to run in the woods with you. To show you how fast I could go. To take you to my favorite watering hole so we could chase each other in the spring and play in the moonlight."
"Do you still hope I'm a werewolf?"
He hesitated. "Yeah. I probably shouldn't tell you that, but yeah, I do. It would make everything easier."
"Make what easier?" She thought about what Fredericka had said.
"Everything." He brought the blade of grass back over her lips. "I wouldn't have to be away from you when I shift. We could hunt together. You would be with me when I'm leading the pack."
The thought of hunting and killing wild animals didn't sit well with her, even being with the group of weres that included Fredericka didn't hold a lot of appeal, but she tried not to let it show.
"We'd make a great team."
"And what if I'm not a werewolf?"
He smiled, but for just a second she thought she saw disappointment in his eyes.
"We still make a good team," he said.
"Does everyone feel that way?" she asked, not wanting to mention Fredericka.
"What do you mean?"
"The last couple of times we've been together, someone from the pack sent for you as if they didn't want you with me."