See How She Runs (The Chronicles of Izzy #1)(40)

“It might be a tight fit, but sure, you can sleep in here tonight," I said as the butterflies took flight in my stomach once more. My heart leapt into my throat, and I prayed that I would be able to play it cool. Kennan, in just his boxer briefs, wanted to sleep in the same bed. This was going to be difficult.

Kennan lay down on the side closest to the wall and I took the outside edge. We were forced to spoon, considering it was just a full sized bed and Kennan himself took up over half of it. I scooted as far toward the edge as I possibly could to avoid contact with his body. I knew that if he touched me, I would probably spontaneously combust. Then where would the whole bring down the bad guys movement be? So, yeah, it was for the good of the future that I was about to fall off of the bed and onto the floor.

He reached over and pulled me against his body, kissing the top of my head as he did so. My heart sped up, and I hoped that he could not feel the frantic beating against his arm. “I think you just may save me yet, Red," he mumbled as his breathing became steady.

I lay there wide awake wondering how he could be so cool laying so close to me when I was about to crawl out of my skin. Then a thought occurred to me, maybe he did not see me the way I saw him at all. Oh great, that would just be super. I must have lain there for hours in a state of confusion, arousal, and frustration.

Eventually sleep came for me and it was filled with graphic dreams of Kennan. I wondered for the first time if they were of my creation or his own. Or whether it even mattered which of us had thought them up. I reveled in the feel of his body against my own as his lips traced my collar bone. I felt every mere brush of his skin against my own as he took his time worshiping my body. He moved his mouth lower toward my hip bone causing me to raise my hips to meet his sinful lips. Suddenly I pulled myself from my dream.

I was awake and my body hummed. I tried to calm my breathing. I was surprised to feel the weight of someone behind me and remembered that Kennan was in bed with me. I turned to face him and found him staring at me with a look of pain and lust commingled. I looked at him, not knowing what to say. I had to suppress the urge to kiss him violently.

“This was a bad idea. I am going back to the living room," Kennan growled breathlessly before heading out the door, while adjusting a rather impressive mound in his boxer briefs.

I fell back on the bed forcefully, wishing for a cold shower or some electronic aid. Either would suffice at the moment. Instead I was left wanton. I looked over at the clock, giving up any hope of further sleep, when I saw that it was only four in the morning. I grabbed my tablet and decided to distract myself with some Northanger Abbey. Jane Austen never failed to provide a welcome distraction. There was nothing like an English period piece to douse some hormonal flames with civility.

I lay back against the pillows and tapped on the book’s image. I immersed myself in the story, and by the time I had reached the halfway point, I was finally more composed. I got up and put some hiking clothes on. I hoped that I could head out and work on another escape route today. This time, I would use the hike to blow off frustration of an entirely different sort. I tried to quietly sneak to the bathroom to brush my teeth, but no luck.

“Walk of shame, it really is a shameful thing," Ian said with a snicker.

“What are you talking about? I was just trying not to wake anyone up." I said as my face flamed scarlet. Not for the first time, I cursed my fair skin for betraying me so readily.

“Yeah, yeah, big man already left. He said he had some errands or something. Looked to me like he was escaping. So what happened? Did you two finally bump uglies?" Ian said, while raising his eyebrows up and down.

“Ugh, no, and you are disgusting! We slept, he left, totally normal," I said, closing the bathroom door to prevent any further comments from the peanut gallery.

I came out a few minutes later with the objective of distract and redirect. I thought the plan would not take much effort with Ian, considering how flighty he seemed to be most of the time.

“So, can we hike then? I mean, he didn’t say we had to stay in the cabin did he?" I asked, hoping that we could escape and I could walk off some of the steam.

“Nope, he just sort of grunted and shoved himself in some clothes before leaving," Ian said with a knowing smile.

Alright, so, maybe he was not so easy to derail. Appearances were apparently quite deceiving where Ian was concerned. Speaking of appearances, someone seriously needed to host an intervention on his wardrobe. Today he was wearing a kilt with a long sleeved striped shirt and flip flops. I just shook my head, not having the energy to do a makeover on him, and knowing he would fight it if I tried.

“Well, do you know how to do the whole mind woo woo thing to keep me from being tracked?" I was really hoping he would get on this change of subject train and just go with it.

“Yep, I can do the mind woo woo. Hey, do you mind if I use that? Mind woo woo, I like it," Ian said as he put four sausage biscuits in the microwave.

“So, you want to go for a hike then? I am supposed to be planning my big escape, and I need to practice all of the trails before Kennan will let me do the solo runs."

“Sure, we should probably leave a note though. He gets awfully testy where you are concerned," Ian said with a smirk.

“He is my Guardian person, of course he is worried about my safety," I said, trying to sound detached.

“Right," Ian said sarcastically. “Well, you ready there Little Bit, or do you need to powder your nose and put on your face?”