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MC crouched in the underbrush of a fallen sequoia tree, careful to avoid leaning against as much of the foliage as possible. This was a patch of woods outside of Linkon she had never found herself in.
He had the upper hand out here.
She knew he would find her if she stayed still for too long, but she needed to get her bearings and form a plan. Hiding, running, misdirection–none of these were skills she worked on as a Hunter. Taking an opponent head on, that was her strong suit.
The snap of wood several yards away alerted her to the fact that her time was up. At that same moment, she felt the breeze shift away from the direction of noise. MC lunged from under the foliage and sped through the forest. Her eyes scanned left and right, right and left. She ducked under branches and leapt over massive roots. When she saw a flash of crimson to her left, she made a sharp right and looped around another old and beautiful sequoia to double back on the tracks she had already left.
She had been keeping him at bay for at least an hour, but her legs were getting tired. The burning sensation in her throat warned her that her stamina from all the sprinting was nearly depleted.
As she neared her previous hiding spot, she debated on whether to hide there again. A shadow from above passed her. Before she could maneuver or even reverse course, a tall muscular man dropped upside down from a branch several feet above MC’s head. Anticipating her speed and reflexes, he spread out his arms wide and gently scooped her up, absorbing her inertia and preventing her from getting any further.
MC’s feet left the ground for a few seconds, but was quickly placed back in front of Valko. His grin spread wide across his face, his canines extended slightly and caught on his bottom lip. With ease, he pulled his body into an upright position and dropped from the branch, turning to face his catch of the day.
“Should I count to five hundred next time?” he asked as he scooped her up in his arms and began to walk through the forest.
“You could count to a thousand and you’d still catch me,” she relented as she relaxed into his arms. “I can’t hide from you for very long out here.”
“Okay, I’ll count to one thousand,” he replied with a mock serious expression. His bronze and gold eyes narrowed as he attempted to suppress another grin.
MC gazed at him as he kept a steady and smooth pace. There was barely a trace of perspiration across his forehead and his eyebrows were relaxed. Looking at his serene expression, no one would know he was carrying something, let alone another person.
“Aren’t you even the least bit tired?” she asked as he continued to carry her in his arms.
He glanced down at her and curled her to his chest, his fingers pressed into her right outer thigh and bicep. The motion surprised her and she swung her arm up and around his neck as a reflex. She heard him take a deep breath and felt his heartbeat quicken.
“No way. This was a breeze. Great cardio and leg work.” As soon as his pulse returned to its resting rate, he uncurled her–only to curl her again. He repeated the motion a dozen times and let out a warm laugh as he looked at her confused face. “What? Now I have to get my upper body workout in!”
“Oh, so I’m just a free gym membership to you?” MC asked with mock offense as she melodramatically flung herself backward, deeper into his grip.
Valko laughed again, tossed her up and forward as effortlessly as bouncing a water bottle off his biceps. He caught her before she even had time to react, never breaking his pace through the trees. MC gasped from the surprise toss after he had already caught her and softly pushed against his chest with pretend indignation.
He paused and let his left arm slide from under her slowly as she stood up, his right arm still hugged her across her back.
“You’re much more than that, Puff.” He leaned down slightly, his face inches from hers. His free hand cupped the side of her face, his thumb softly rubbed across her right cheekbone. MC’s heart fluttered and she felt like she was sprinting again without moving a muscle. He leaned in even closer to touch his forehead to hers. “You’re also free gym equipment and a personal trainer and if I was supposed to be paying for towels I owe you a lot of money…” MC scoffed and Valko leaned back to brace for another shove. Instead, he watched as she spun out of his hold and began sprinting for the now visible tree line.
“Miss Trainer expects you to get to the Jeep first if you want any towels going forward!” Her high ponytail whipped back and forth as she continued to run.
She didn’t even glance back; his lessons were sinking in. He wanted to help her be the best, to leave no windows of opportunity for her enemies to take advantage of. Valko was delightfully overwhelmed as he watched her run away with poise and confidence. He felt his lupine tail and ears emerge, his sense of smell going into overdrive, and his mouth salivated as her scent wafted back to him.
He gave her three more seconds before he took off.
MC had broken through the tree line and saw Valko’s car a dozen yards away. How has he not caught up to me, yet? She focused on what she could hear, forcing her own breathing to soften and steady.
To her left she heard the startled chirps of birds as they flew for the clouds. Breaking through the tree line perpendicular to her and just as close to his car, was Valko. His wolf ears were directed to give him as little wind resistance as they could. He gave her a cocky yet charming smile as she furrowed her brow and pushed herself harder. She willed her legs to work harder; pulled in her arms tight to her body; and kept them pumping, hands flat, eyes locked on her target. MC was so focused on beating Valko to the Jeep that she didn’t notice he wasn’t running to his car, he was running parallel to it.
Just as she reached out her right arm to slap the hood he slid in between her and the Jeep, her hand now parried and her entire body spun around to fall backwards into him.
“WHAT?! No!” She let out a playfully frustrated squeal and tried to run around him to tap another part of the Jeep. He was so focused on keeping her from touching the car that he himself hadn’t touched it, yet. I just have to break past him one time!
This was simply too easy for him, though.
Time to switch it up, MC thought as she reached for him instead. She jumped up to pat his head between his ears. Valko stepped to the side to avoid her and in that opening she thrust her other hand toward the hood. Instead of placing her hand on metal warmed under the summer sun, she felt thick rough fur.
One of Valko’s hands reached for a bare part of his car, so now it was MC’s turn to play keepaway. She gently pulled his tail around the back of her, redirecting Valko’s body toward her. She dropped his tail and grabbed his outstretched arm with both of her hands.
He let out a rich laugh, smooth as milk chocolate. He lifted his arm to raise MC off the ground. She continued to wrap her arms around his in an effort to move him further away from the Jeep, but when she realized how easily he could lift her with one arm she let go and threw up her hands.
“Huff, I give up! You win. At least that’ll be a little less laundry–” His smile and arm dropped at the same time. He spun her to face the Jeep and grabbed both of her wrists with his hands.
“I don’t ever want to hear you give up,” he murmured into her right ear as he gently lifted her wrists and opened her hands. He placed them onto the hood of the Jeep and splayed his own fingers between them, his palms entirely covered hers, but he put no pressure on them.
MC’s legs nearly buckled as he carefully pinned her between the car and himself. They weren’t under the cool cover of the trees anymore and the heat was taking effect. At least that’s what she told herself as she felt her head get cloudy and beads of sweat roll down her face and neck. Before she could rub them away into her shoulder she felt Valko’s lips press against a droplet.
“Tell me you won,” he whispered into her ear before moving his lips to another bead nearing her jawline.
“I won, Valko.” As she said the words, she felt his hands slide up her arms and pause at the buttons to her shirt under her protective bustier.
“Congratulations, Puff. Can I help you cool off?” He asked as his left thumb circled the flat smooth circle of the first button and his right index finger hooked into the collar of the shirt.
“Cool me off, Valko.” MC replied softly, half dazed from the afternoon’s exertions and half lulled by his embrace and whispers.
His thumb pressed the button through the buttonhole as his other hand pulled the collar away. She expected him to continue unbuttoning her shirt, but she didn’t expect to feel the tip of his tongue. It lapped at another errant droplet, this one making its way to her clavicle. His tongue traced its path back up her neck and stopped, his lips parted and hovered near the right side of her own parted lips.
“I think I’m just making things hotter,” Valko teased as his left hand finished undoing the last button and raised to turn MC’s face toward him.
“Huff. Try harder,” she softly commanded as she looked up into his golden eyes.
His gaze of adoration beamed down at her.
She took both of his hands and placed them over the buckles to the straps of her bustier and left them there, her second command silently given.
She expected to feel him slide the leather up and unbuckle the straps like most people would, but he was excited and he wanted to show off. The buckles themselves split open into straight thin slivers and the prongs disappeared entirely. Her straps fell down simultaneously with a soft slap against her back and torso. MC let out an excited gasp, delighted at the creative use of his Evol. She glanced down at her body and appraised just how many other buckles her hunter uniform was comprised of...