Run With Me

Chapter Five

Terri could barely put two thoughts together, let alone words. Something about this man was wrecking havoc on her system. No one except her brothers and Kayla touched her. And she had never felt something so intimate as that large hand on her face. Breathe, she recited inside her head. Forcing herself to break eye contact, she opened the bag and pulled out one of the sandwiches before handing the bag back to Kirk. He gave her a wolfish grin and reached for his own lunch.

"I have no secrets and nothing to hide," Terri murmured between bites, avoiding the ice grey eyes that kept derailing her train of thought. She had been half dozing out here, enjoying the fresh air and determined not to think about anything happening back at the house. The hum of response she got back told her he didn't believe a words she said, so she ignored him and started walking back to the house.

"Where are we going?" Kirk matched pace with her easily, keeping his stride short. Terri glanced up at him through the corner of her eye, trying not to think about why he had followed her out here. He had already apologized for violated her privacy, they didn't need to talk anymore.

"Home," being alone with John the night before hadn't been bad. He had a calming energy and the conversation had flowed easily. The two times she had spoken to Kirk had been stilted or awkward. The thought about how he had read her notebook and she felt her cheeks flushing. It was worse than reading her diary.

"Are you still mad about last night?" she felt a hand on her arm, pulling her to a stop. Keeping her eyes straight forward, she focused on the navy blue sweater he wore rather than looking up. She already knew what he looked like, with thick auburn hair and ice grey eyes. She had read enough news articles with pictures highlighting how handsome he was. In person though, he was tall and slender, not so broad as the men in her family, but strong, solid. He must have been a gangly teenager. The thought of him tripping over feet too big for his frame as his limbs shot out overnight caused an unexpected snort of laughter. "Well, you're laughing so you can't still be mad," a hand came up under Terri's chin and she found her eyes forced to his. A hint of a smile played around his mouth and she had to focus on looking at his eyes not his lips. She felt her wolf spinning in circles, his earthy scent messing with her olfactory system. Any response lodged itself in her throat and stayed there. She held his gaze, barely breathing, until he looked down at her lips for a moment, then back into her eyes. Terri licked her lips involuntarily at the action, causing him to grin again.

"Say no little raven," his head lowered towards hers, giving her plenty of time to respond. She could taste his breath on her lips when her body finally kicked into action.

"No! Nononononono!" Her hands came up and pushed on the hard chest in front of her, using it as a spring board as she stepped back, tripping over her foot. Kirk's arms shot out and caught her before she fell, holding her steady until she got her bearings.

"I'll take the no," Kirk replied softly, "for now." He winked boldly at her before resuming their walk.

The rest of the walk back to the house had been in silence, with the exception of Terri giving him the thermos of hot chocolate. She didn't need anything to warm her up after watching him lick the droplet from his lips. He hadn't done anything else, but she seemed to be in tuned with every aspect of the man. She needed to go read something, like a textbook, to get her mind off of him. When they got back inside, Terri grabbed the boxes from school and practically sprinted upstairs, ignoring the calls of her brothers and pack mates. She could hear Kirk's laughter following her as she escaped to her room.

Spreading out on the tiny desk in her bedroom, she set a soldering gun to warm up and began pulling out pieces of metal and wire. Even if she wanted to read, she doubt anything would hold her attention. She needed to get her hands busy. As each piece started to come together, hours passed and the small shape in hands took on a new form. She looked up when a small knock struck her door and a small black haired child popped his head into her room.