“You’ll wake everyone up,” I whisper shout back to him.
I laugh quietly as I face forward and run harder. He’s cursing quietly as he struggles to get his boots and pants off, so I press my lead. I shove magic into the runes on the back of my legs and haul ass. I suck the cold air into my lungs, and I’m pretty sure they’re going to have a solid layer of freezer burn by the time I kick Torrez’s ass to the tree line. I want to check behind me and see if he’s shifting yet, but I squash the need to perv on his nakedness and focus on the smooth snow at my feet and the trees that are quickly getting closer.
I’m at a full Sentinel magic enhanced run as I break through the tree line first. I whoop my victory in my head. I activate the runes Torrez’s mate bite gave me while simultaneously activating the runes for my advanced hearing too. The night explodes into a feast for my new senses. My vision sharpens, and my nose fills with all kinds of new smells. The sounds of small animals skittering away is alluring, but I ignore it and race through the trees.
I know Torrez is full wolf now, and his four paws are a hell of a lot faster than my two feet. I push myself harder and hope my untied boots don’t try anything funny. The night is quiet, and the blanket of snow absorbs sound in an interesting way. Everything sounds softer, and there’s a magical peace that radiates out because of that. There’s a crunch that sounds off as my running feet leave their mark in the pristine white floor, but the noise doesn’t disrupt the peaceful feeling out among the trees tonight, it complements it.
My lungs stop protesting the cold air and start to appreciate it. Wind whips past me, the icy touch becoming a balm to my warming body. My hair trails behind me like a cloak, and I smile as the restless nagging that’s been growing in my gut the closer we get to Sentinel City, is forgotten in all the fresh air and freedom. I fucking love to run in the woods at night. I can just picture Torrez somewhere behind me, stalking and planning his next move. All while his tongue hangs out of his open mouth as he drinks in the same happiness that a good run gives us both.
My breaths no longer puff out like smoke in the air. My skin is no longer offended by the cold. My boots are thankfully still on my feet, and soon I’ll have my mate inside of me, moaning my name and worshipping my body. And in this moment, that’s all that matters. The stress of Sentinel City and what it might drop at our feet sluffs off my shoulders, and I’m suddenly just a girl playing cat and mouse with a man who she loves.
That thought flits through my mind just as I hear paws leap from the snowy ground. The crunch is distinct, and something in my instincts knows exactly what that means. I stop, drop and roll. Torrez’s big gray wolf goes soaring over me, flying through the air where just a second ago my body should have been. I somersault back onto my feet and tackle him. He growls at me, and I growl back.
“Try harder, Two Socks,” I tease, and then we both slam into the ground.
We’re a spinning ball of fur, teeth, claws, skin, hair and muscle. We both try to wrestle the other into a submissive position, neither one gaining the upper hand for long. The massive gray wolf nips at my shoulder, and I bite down on his ear. We both back off just to clash back again, the dance repeating itself over and over.
Torrez almost pins me, but when he tackles me, my boot goes flying off my foot. It arcs high up and then comes falling back down to smash him hard in the back of the head. He gives a dazed shake, flinging snow, slush, and mud from his fur. The sheer oddity that my boot just did that sends me into a fit of laughter, the likes of which make the big wolf give an unamused huff.
One second I have a behemoth gray wolf above me, and the next thing I know, a naked Torrez is now in its place.
“Fuck, you have enough weapons on that body of yours, you don’t need to make your shoes do your dirty work too,” he grumbles and rubs at the back of his head.
I laugh even harder. “It just flew up and then kapow.” I giggle hysterically, unable to get a hold of myself as the image keeps replaying over and over again in my mind.
“Oh, it’s funny, is it? Getting brained by a hiking boot isthatamusing?” he demands, laughter dancing in his brown eyes.
“Don’t worry, I’d never let anyone know that the great Mateo Torrez was taken out by a shoe,” I offer as I fight off another round of giggles and wipe laugh tears from my eyes.
“Oh, and what would you say then?” he asks, his fingers roaming over my torso in search of ticklish spots.
“I’d say you never saw the Chihuahua coming!”
I squeal when his fingers dig into my stomach, activating the tickle giggles and forcing me to squirm.
“You wouldn’t! Take it back!” he demands as he plays my body like a well-known instrument, wringing out all the laughs he can from it.
“What? They’re very vicious dogs; people would sympathize!” I insist on a squeal before I get a hold of Torrez’s only ticklish spot on his neck.
He squees like an Avengers nerd who just walked into a restaurant filled with the whole cast, and I completely lose my shit. The high-pitched tickle-scream he just released is about as far from manly and wolf shifter as one can get. Torrez succeeds in pinning me to the ground, which can’t be helped in my laugh-weakened state. I’m laughing so hard it sounds like I’m honking like a goose, which just makes me laugh even harder.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful when you’re laughing and happy and lying underneath me,” Torrez observes.
Heat pools low in my stomach, and I try to tame my giggles. “Only then?” I jibe, fishing shamelessly for more compliments.
Torrez leans down and nips at my exposed neck, his wolf growling deeply with approval. The growl vibrates through his chest, and I revel in the feel of it against my breasts. I deactivate all of my runes, making Torrez and the surrounding forest brighten with color.
“Fine, gorgeous all the time. Stunning when you’re laughing, and radiant when you’re screaming my name.”
He grinds into me, and I giggle and then flip him onto his back. “Pretty sure I won the race and therefore get to be on top.”
Torrez muscles me on to my back again. “Pretty sure you cheated and therefore were disqualified from winning.”
“Now, now, Wolf, it wasn’t my fault you couldn’t get your shoes off. You did invite me to come.”
He gives an amused huff. “Only if you played your cards right, remember?”
“Well then, royal flush,” I shout out, naming the highest hand I can think of in poker. “Does that count?” I ask, leaning forward and sucking Torrez’s bottom lip into my mouth.
