Page 23 of Highland Games
‘I don’t think you can wake up the sun without hot chocolate.’
Zoe slowly pushed herself up into a seated position and turned to face him. ‘Did you know Willie— oh my god, you’re naked!’
Only a square of light from the window and the opening of the door illuminated the inside of the bothy, but they cast a silvery glow over the marble perfection of Rory. He was completely unfazed.
‘It would appear so.’
He was sitting cross-legged, his hands resting on his knees. His hair was almost white in the moonlight, waves of ancient light framing his powerful face. Shadows brought his cheekbones into starker definition, the bump on his nose, his full lips. His grey eyes were glowing. Zoe had never seen such perfection before. He was made by mountains, forged by fire, washed by the oceans and blessed by the gods. She ran her peripheral vision down the ridges in his chest to the darkness between his legs. She knew she had milliseconds to memorise this image before normal social rules compelled her to look away. She couldn’t let him know how he made her feel. She put one hand over her face and stretched out the other, the palm facing upwards towards him. ‘Jesus Christ! Put some clothes on, I’ve had enough trauma for one night.’
Bandit barked in agreement.
She heard a movement and peeked as Rory turned away to tug a shirt over his head.
Oh, my fricking god!He’s going to have to stand up to put his trousers on, and then I’ll get to see everything.
Rory turned back to her and she shut her fingers. ‘No peeking now,’ he rumbled.
‘I have no intention of seeing any more than I already have, thank you very much,’ replied Zoe as primly as she could.Dammit!‘It may be some poor fool’s fantasy to be murdered in the middle of nowhere by a redneck-mutant-hobbit but it’s certainly not mine. I’ve seen enough of you to last a lifetime, and if I fancy a repeat performance, I’ll go to a mountain famous for rockfalls and avalanches and start yodelling.’
‘You can stop talking now. There’s only so much one man’s ego can take.’
Zoe shut up, listening to the sounds of him moving about.
‘You can open your eyes now. It’s safe.’ He was standing, unfortunately fully clothed, an old backpack on his shoulder with a bedroll and blankets slung underneath. Bandit stood by his side, tail wagging. Rory extended a hand to help her off the floor but she scrabbled backwards to avoid any contact with him. He moved it towards the door. ‘After you.’
‘I, I lost my torch.’
Rory brought it out of his trouser pocket. Zoe snatched it from him and walked out of the bothy.
Rory followed her out,the cold air hitting his cheeks. The moon was setting. It was the darkest hour before dawn. He stood beside her, looking down the glen towards the loch.
Zoe pulled the thermos out of her bag and held it up. ‘How did you know about the hot chocolate?’
‘If I get to try some, I might tell you.’
She frowned, took the blanket out of her bag, draped it over a tussock and sat down. Rory sat next to her and she shuffled to the far edge away from him.
‘Very cosy.’
Zoe’s eyes narrowed. ‘Are you on drugs?’
What the fuck?‘Drugs?’
‘Yes, you’re being nice to me. My guess is ecstasy?’
His laugh burst out of him, before he could stop it. ‘I had a black coffee yesterday morning. Does that count?’
Zoe unscrewed the lid of the thermos and poured some steaming hot chocolate into the mug. She handed it over and he breathed it in. It smelled of warmth, decadence, and long kisses by the fire.
‘Are we sharing this?’ he murmured.
Zoe’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Absolutely not! I’ll wait till it’s cooled down enough to drink from the flask. Now you’ve got your hot chocolate, you can talk.’
He inhaled the vapours and blew lightly over the top.What to tell her?He took a sip, feeling the heat slipping down to his knotted stomach and warming the cold memories. ‘I spent a summer in Kinloch when I was nearly eight. My parents didn’t care where I was, or what I did, so I spent my time with Willie. At the end of the holidays, I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t get on with my dad, and decided I was big enough and strong enough to fend for myself. So, on the last night I ran away to live with Willie. I was about a mile from the cabin when it started chucking it down. Within ten minutes I was soaked through, freezing cold and my sandwiches were soggy.’ Zoe giggled. He raised an eyebrow. ‘For a seven-year-old boy, soggy sandwiches are a very serious matter.’
‘I apologise. Please continue.’
‘Willie dried me out in front of the Rayburn. I begged him not to tell anyone he’d seen me, but he said no matter what I ever thought about my dad, I could never hurt my mum. He said I could stay the night and go back in the morning after we’d woken up the sun. We came up here when it was still dark with hot chocolate to watch the sunrise. He said I was the king of the world. By the time we walked back down, I knew something inside me had changed.’
