See How She Runs (The Chronicles of Izzy #1)(46)

“Oh, you don’t want me chasing you, Lass. You wouldn’t like it if I caught you," Kennan all but purred.

Well, cheese on a cracker, what was I supposed to do with that? I turned and looked over my shoulder suddenly feeling playful. If he felt like throwing down a challenge, I would pick it right up.

“Catch me if you can," I said, the bravado a little ruined with my lack of breath.

I sprinted away rushing passed Ian. I was awarded with a confused look from him before Kennan went flying passed him. I realized the stupidity of my challenge. Of course he could catch me.

Maybe I should do the zigzag formation. That was what zebras and the like did when being chased by lions. Why shouldn’t it work for me? So I started doing just that. I zigged and zagged through the trees, hoping to lose my opponent only to hear raucous laughter behind me.

“What in the world are you doing, Izzy?" Kennan asked between laughs.

“Evasive maneuvers," I puffed out, only to be answered with more laughter. “Laugh all you want, but you still haven’t caught me," I spouted.

Suddenly, I was airborne and over Kennan’s shoulder. Sometimes I forgot they had that whole inhuman speed thing. Then it dawned on me, he had been toying with me. He could have caught me anytime he wanted. I beat on his back trying to get him to put me down and was rewarded with a swat to my behind.

“What the devil, Kennan O’Malley, you did NOT just spank me," I sputtered.

“Well, quit squirming and I won’t do it again," he said. So I quit squirming, and remained draped over his shoulder like a limp rag doll. He slid me down the front of him, never breaking the contact of our bodies.

He looked down at me like a lion looks at its prey and I was suddenly nervous. As much as I had lusted after him the past few days, I had never really thought about what it would mean to be the focus of such a man’s attentions. I looked up at him wide eyed wondering what he would do next. He bent over and moved my hair aside. His breath was hot against my rain chilled skin caused tremors to echo through my body.

“I caught you, little mouse. Now what should I do with you?" he growled in my ear like the monster I had asked him to be.

“Umm, don’t eat me?" I squeaked out. I meant for it to be a statement but it came out a question instead.

“Oh, but you would like it," Kennan said with his hand tangled in the base of my hair. He pulled back to look at my face and smiled. Then he stepped away from me, leaving me a pile of ashes. I was grateful for the freezing rain, hoping that it might act like a cold shower.

Ian cleared his throat, and Kennan and I both looked in his direction. Kennan looked irritated at the interruption while I tried to look anywhere else and regain my composure.

“If the two of you are quite finished, I think we have some training to do," Ian said before trotting off in the direction of the cabin.

“Race you back," Kennan said with a smirk.

“Hardy har har. It isn’t fair when you turbo run. Puny human here, remember? I don’t come equipped with a super flash speed accelerator," I said, trying to focus on running and not drooling. Doing both would have resulted in me tripping over something and face planting. No one wanted to see that.

We ran back toward the cabin. I put all of my focus into running and tried to block out Kennan. I felt like I was about to crawl out of my skin. I ran harder trying to release some of the tension building in my body. By the time we reached the cabin’s clearing I was winded and ready to collapse.

Ian ran over with some water and sat himself on the wet grass. He patted the grass beside him inviting me to sit. I was already drenched, so a little more water wouldn’t hurt. I sat there sipping water and trying to get my breathing back to normal as Kennan paced the yard.

“I am going to go for a longer run. You got this for a while right?" Kennan asked, barely waiting for an answer before sprinting back into the woods. Apparently, he had some tension to run off himself.

“What are you doing to that poor, poor man Izzy?" Ian asked.

“I have no idea what you are talking about," I said innocently.

I rested for a few more minutes, trying to get my body back under control. Ian nudged me and told me it was time for combat lessons. I decided to name it Scrapping for Seers. Ian did not appreciate my brilliant course name, however.

He spent several hours moving through basic stances and blocks. I asked him when I could learn an awesome flying roundhouse. He, sadly, informed me that I had to learn the lame stuff first. He said something about building blocks and fundamentals.

Ian, it turned out, was pretty much just like Kennan. He took our lessons quite seriously. I had to promise to go through each stance every morning before breakfast. He said it would help with muscle memory. By the time my lesson had finished, Kennan still had not resurfaced.

“Should we be worried that he is not back yet?" I asked Ian.

“Nah, he probably just ran up a mountain or something," Ian said, without a trace of humor.

I just gawked at him as we made our way inside.

“Well, shotgun on the shower," I said as I sprinted toward the bathroom.

“You suck, Isadora!" I heard Ian call after me.

I stopped dead in my tracks. “What did you call me?"

“Isadora. It was what your dad wanted to name you, but your mom liked Izzy better. Your dad refused to just call you Izzy though so he called you Isadora to drive your mom batty," Ian laughed at the memory.