Run… Right…
Chapter Twenty-Three
Thirty minutes later, Rebecca bent to tie her shoes, glancing at the window, half hoping she would actually get her workout in while half hoping her theory wasn’t proven wrong.
She was going to feel like a first-class idiot if the weather held out and allowed her to put some miles under her belt.
Miles tied his curls back with a hairband and reached for the front door. “You sure a protein bar is all you need to eat before we run that distance? What did you say? Twelve miles?”
“Yep. I’m supposed to be tapering down this week. Next week is even lighter before the race day.”
“Got it.”
“And yes, big guy, a protein bar is sufficient. The way you’ve fed me lately, it’s a wonder I’m not as big as a whale.”
Miles pulled her into his embrace at the door. He still took her breath away. Even after morning sex only half an hour ago, she was hot for him.
He closed his eyes and tipped his head into the space behind her ear. “Mmm. You’re getting good at blocking your thoughts, but not the sexual ones. As soon as your libido kicks in, all bets are off. I was practically in the room with you yesterday when Griffen fucked your sweet pussy against this door.” He slapped the wood behind him.
Rebecca’s eyes shot wide, and she grimaced. “Sorry.”
He smiled. “No worries, love. It was amazing. Wish I could have been here.” He kissed her nose and opened the door. “We better get going before more interesting workout options distract me and we never leave.”
“Trust me, we won’t make it too far.” She rolled her eyes, still confident in her assessment that the Native American spirit gods, or whatever they were called, didn’t like her training.
Surprisingly, as they jogged away from the condo toward the trail Rebecca liked to use on the outskirts of town, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. In fact the sun shown bright, making her tip her head back and breathe in the clean mountain air.
Miles chuckled beside her. “No storms.”
“Yeah, give it time.” She twisted to look at him. “I’m gonna pick up the pace. You know you don’t have to do this, right? I’ve been running on my own for years. I’m a big girl.”
He shook his head in dismay. “That may be, but you weren’t mine then.”
A spark raced through her body at the way he said mine.
She should have gone all feminist on him and put up a fuss about referring to her as if she were more of a possession than a human, but she knew he didn’t mean it that way. And besides, it felt really good knowing how seriously he felt about their connection.
He and Griffen were as much hers as she was theirs.
She turned off the main road when they came to a gravel path that would soon turn into a dirt trail.
And that’s when it happened.
The ground shook.
Rebecca stumbled forward and would have slammed face first into the rocky terrain if Miles hadn’t grabbed her arm to steady her. The earth trembled. They stood still for fifteen seconds or so as the second earthquake she’d ever felt rattled the land.
Miles pulled her in close to him as they waited it out. His breath was heavy on her neck, and she knew it wasn’t from exhaustion.
“Holy shit,” she said as it finally subsided.
Miles wrapped an arm around her middle, pulled her back to his chest, and set his lips on her ear. “You win.” He kissed her and turned around. “Guess we need to go back and find out what the damage is this time.”
She lifted her gaze to find his brow furrowed. He tried to sound teasing, as if the small earthquake were a mere coincidence, but she knew he didn’t believe that.
Something truly didn’t want her out running. She wasn’t normally a superstitious person. A week ago she would have balked and laughed anyone out the door who suggested some mysterious spirit being could force a person to their knees.
But that was last week.
This week she was convinced.
Now, what about the fire, the pictures, and the ransacked homes? The spirits had amazing capabilities if they were able to create that sort of havoc.
What she needed to do was talk to Melinda. Other than Miles’ grandmother, there wasn’t anyone else Rebecca could think of who would be able to have the foggiest conversation about all these seemingly random events.
And Grandma Mimi was not an easy woman to converse with. So Rebecca intended to phone Melinda first chance she got.
•●•
Miles led Rebecca back to Griffen’s condo. “Did you feel that?” he said into Griffen’s head.
“Hell, yes. Are you two okay?”
“Yeah. But our mate is going to be rather smug. She warned me there was no way the universe would let her go for a run. Seems she was right. This isn’t funny anymore.”