My boot caught on a root. I stumbled and hit the ground, but managed to scramble up and dash—just in time to avoid being pinned by his bulk as he pounced onto the spot I’d been just a moment ago.
My pulse spiked, and his laughter rang out behind me. “That was close.”
“Close isn’t good enough!”
I dropped my chin and pushed harder. The sound of rushing water reached my ears. There was a river nearby. If I crossed it, then I’d throw him off my scent. I headed toward the sound and spotted the gleaming body of water through a break in the trees a moment later. It didn’t look too wide, and hopefully wouldn’t be too deep either.
I burst from the tree line and splashed straight into the river. Water climbed up my calves, but I was out before the icy temperature could make too much of an impact on my skin. I dashed into the trees ahead, veering left to circle back upriver.
The sounds of pursuit faded, and by the time I crossed upriver, they’d stopped altogether.
Ha, he’d totally lost my scent.
I dropped from a sprint to a jog the closer I got to the edge of the woods, the garden coming into view. The log with Drayven’s clothes piled on it sat ahead, and triumph bloomed in my chest—if I could outrun a barghest, then?—
A large, shadowy form pounced at me from the right.
Drayven!
I froze for a fraction too long—just enough time for him to sweep me off my feet and roll with me in his arms.
His arms…
He’d shifted mid-air.
I landed hard on my back with him on top of me, his thick thigh between mine, his body caging me. Our breath mingled, hot and heavy as our gazes tangled—melting, molding. I wanted to taste his mouth. To devour it.
I reached up to touch him before I could stop myself, my fingers tracing the firm shape of his parted mouth, pressing down on his bottom lip until he exhaled a soft hiss. His tongue flicked over my finger, and a lash of heat licked at my core.
I pulled my hand away, breathing hard past the sudden constriction in my chest and the powerful urge to offer him my mouth.
“Ana…” His voice came out low and gruff, resonating with a purr that vibrated through me. I curled my hands into fists to stop myself from giving in to the impulse to touch him again. But this time, he touched me, caressing my cheek with his calloused fingertips, his gaze like molten lava as it tracked over my face, down my neck, to my heaving chest.
I wanted him to touch me there. To lick me there. I wanted to feel him with every inch of my body. Tears pricked the back of my eyes with the desperation of a need I didn’t understand.
He met my gaze with a longing that echoed mine. “Fuck.” He pushed himself off me and walked away, leaving me with a rock on my chest and a hollow pit in my belly.
I stared at the winking stars through the canopy above while my tumultuous emotions recalibrated before finally sitting up.
Drayven had pulled on his pants but stood a few feet away with his back to me.
I wanted to go to him. Wrap my arms around his waist and rest my cheek on his back, but I’d be crossing a boundary, just like I’d done by touching him. “I’m sorry. The run and the adrenaline…I shouldn’t have touched you, and?—”
“I want to mark you again,” he blurted.
My stomach flipped. “Oh…”
“You should go. We’ll train again tomorrow night.”
I stood and took a step toward him. “Why?”
He turned his head, offering me his profile. “Why? Because you need the training, and?—”
“No. Not that. Why do you want to mark me?”
His shoulders rose and fell. “I told you. It’s a primal thing.”
“Yes, but what does that mean exactly?”
