Doing his best to hide his frustration, Darius nodded toward the top of the rise, where Asher, Ronan, and Liam stood waiting for us. Liam was holding a stopwatch and clipboard, while the demons took turns cheering us on and keeping Sparkle entertained with an old tennis ball she’d dug up. Emilio was around somewhere, too—he’d shifted into wolf form, and he and Sunshine were keeping an eye on our perimeter, making sure we didn’t have any unexpected drop-ins.
The guys still thought it best that I steer clear of the humans for another night or two, at least until they could run me around out here and assess my strength and control. But Liam, who was so used to disappearing and appearing at will, was having no part of it. While the guys had attempted to whisk me away under cover of darkness, he’d snuck into the back of the SUV and hid under a tarp without anyone even noticing, surprising us all by leaping out of the back when we finally arrived at the trailhead.
There was a lengthy argument about whether to drive him back, but in the end, Darius’s logic proved no match to Liam’s philosophical counterpoints, and he was finally given permission to stay and make himself useful—provided he and I didn’t make any physical contact.
About half-a-mile down the dark forest trail, while the others had drifted ahead with the hounds, I grabbed Liam and dragged him behind a tree, stealing a long-overdue kiss.
He gladly returned it, wasting no time deepening the kiss, sliding his hands into my hair and backing me up against the tree, his every touch making my whole body shiver.
“I missed you,” I whispered, breaking away just long enough to let him catch his breath before stealing another kiss. We didn’t stop again until his cheeks were bright red, he was panting for air, and Darius was shouting from the trail ahead for us to keep up.
“According to Liam,” Darius said now, “we’ve not yet achieved statistical significance. Until we do, the fact that you’re so-calledfasterthan me remains unproven, from a scientific perspective.”
“It’s okay,” I teased, turning and stretching up on my toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. “I know you’re just letting me win to boost my confidence. I’m sure it won’t happen on the next run.”
He grumbled something unintelligible, even for my vampire super-hearing, then pulled away. “Pay attention, Gray. This is important.”
I nodded, biting back another retort. Despite his grumpiness, Darius was a great coach, and this was the best night I’d had in a long time. Together with my rebels, running around in the snow, stretching my new legs… For a little while, it was easy to pretend we were just out for a fun romp in the woods on a chilly winter’s night. The winds had died down, and the snow that managed to reach us through the thick canopy of evergreens was light and fluffy, the kind made for catching on your tongue.
It was all kind of romantic, actually.
Or it would be, if they weren’t assessing and training me for the attack sitting on the horizon.
Stealing myself for another run, I held up my hand to let the guys know we were ready, then Darius counted down from three.
We were off, racing up the steep hill at a clip so fast, the trees around us were no more than an inky smudge across the snow-white canvas. When I reached the top and spun around, I caught Darius just cresting the rise.
This time, I couldn’t help myself. “Have I kicked your ass enough times for it to be statistically significant yet?”
“I concede, little vampire. You are faster than me. But your instincts could use some work.” Without warning, he darted close and grabbed me, his body a blur. It happened so fast, I didn’t even realize what he’d done until I felt the sudden, icy bite of snow between my boobs.
I squealed, desperately shaking the snow from inside my shirt as I chased him back down the hill, then up again, scooping up snow along the way. I slowed down and waited until he thought he’d bested me, then charged again, pelting him with a wet snowball right between the eyes.
“Nice shot!” Asher shouted as I blurred past them again. I was so puffed up about my snow-fighting skills that I didn’t see my enemy lurking behind the trees. Too late, he leaped out from the shadows and tackled me, both of us rolling back down the hill, my lungs aching from laughing so hard.
When we finally reached the bottom, tangled up in each other’s arms and legs, tears of laughter were already freezing on my cheeks.
“Concede my victory yet?” Darius nudged my nose with his, a grin stretched across his lush mouth. “Or do you need another lesson?”
He lifted a hand from behind his back, threatening me with a full-on snowball to the face.
Still cracking up, I squirmed in his arms, begging for mercy. “You win, you win! You’re the best snowball fighter there is.”
“And the most handsome.”
“And the most handsome. As well as charming, intelligent, and sexy.”
“That’s more like it.” Darius brushed a quick kiss across my lips, then stood up, hauling me to my feet and dusting the snow off my ass.
I turned and flashed him a mischievous grin. “But I’m still faster than you.”
I raced back up the hill, leaving him to chase after me once again.
“And that’s another win for Gray,” Liam announced, marking the time on the sheet. “We can safely say that her superior speed has been scientifically proven.”
“That one doesn’t count!” Darius finally made it back to the top, his hair crusted with snow, his eyes bright and happy. To me he said, “Asher was right, love. You fight dirty.”
“Not as dirty as we do,” Ash said, and I turned just in time to duck before he and Ronan launched a volley of hard-packed snowballs right at Darius’s head.
