CHAPTER20
“Where shall we spend the night?” Lilia shielded her eyes against the afternoon sun as she scanned up and down the rocky coastline. “I’m not much on caves. I’d rather sleep under the stars as long as the weather holds.”
Aye.He would as well. He’d spent several centuries residing in caves whilst in dragon form and did not wish to return to such a dwelling even for just one night. Graham snorted out a huffing breath at the memory. Caves held a particular stench about them and he’d never cared for the smell of them a whit. He pointed to a dark green crease higher up the mountainside, farther to the east of the slope they’d just traipsed down to reach the shore. “There.” He nodded with certainty. “That looks promising. The way the mountain cradles that bit a land, the wind willna trouble us no matter how fierce the gale decides to blow.”
“It looks like there might even be trees up there instead of scrub.” Lilia picked her way across the rough, rocky ground, steadying herself with her staff as she hopped from stone to stone as nimbly as a wee Highland goat. She looked back at him and smiled. “Maybe there’ll even be a freshwater spring. That beats stale bottled water any day.”
His heart lightened at her relaxed demeanor. He’d not realized until just now how his dear love had always carried herself with such a poised, tensed stance as though ready to lunge into battle. A chuckle escaped him. Perhaps the old woman Eliza had known what a tonic this place would be for Lilia. “We’d best be about it, then. By the time we reach our spot, it will leave me precious little time to hunt for our supper.”
She turned and pointed her walking stick at him as though plotting her aim to thump him on the head with it. “You know better. I brought hard cheese, a tin of biscuits, and some protein bars. There will be no hunting of anything for supper other than fresh spring water.”
He grinned. She’d reacted to his subtle gigging just as he’d wished. His love did not eat meat—the entire why of it escaped him but he’d fathom a guess it had something to do with her heritage and the mystical connections she held sacred. He didn’t care if they shared a supper or not this evening. All he needed was her. “Aye, lass. I’ll find ye the sweetest water ye ever tasted. I promise it, sure as I’m standing here.”
Further chatting fell away as they scrambled up the drastic incline of the rocky shelf looking out across the beach below. They zigzagged up, easing even farther to the east of the rugged terrain than they had first planned. The steep, weathered side of the cliff made for deceptive footing.
“Whew. I’m going to need a swim after this little climb.” She fisted a hand against the small of her back, then peeled her T-shirt away from her body. “I stayed pretty cool on the way down but going back up is giving me a bad case of swamp ass.”
“Swamp ass?” Graham repeated. What sort of ailment wasswamp ass? He leaned to one side, eyeing her very fine curves. Her arse looked as squeezably fit and biteable as ever to him.
“I’m working up a sweat that’s trickling south.” She gave him a look that clearly said she couldn’t believe he didn’t know what she meant as she dug into the small, zippered pouch in the side of her backpack and pulled free a colorful cloth. She folded it lengthwise, then smoothed it across her brow and knotted it at the back of her head. “Viv packed an extra one. Do you want one to keep the sweat out of your eyes?”
He swiped his hand across his forehead. Aye, his head was warm and wet but he would rather not wear such a thing across his brow. A leather strap to hold his hair? Maybe. Something that looked like a colorful rag for a bairn’s doll? Never. He shook his head and winked. “I thank ye, but no.”
She rolled her eyes. “You won’t look like a girl. It’s a dark blue one. See?” She pulled free the long bit of cloth that could nearly pass for a length of dark braided leather. Almost.
She’d read him so easily. He relented and took it from her. Some things were not worth the battle. He dried his head with his forearm, snugged the cloth around his brow, and knotted it. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad. At least there were none around to see him. He tilted his head away from the wind and the shore below and listened.
Aye and for certain.’Twas the bubbling song of a nearby burn he heard. If the gods smiled upon him, there would be a sheltered pool of water hiding within the bit of wood where they planned to spend their night. His love had mentioned she’d be needing a swim. Such a diversion held infinite possibilities.
“Come.” He urged her forward with a nod. “We’ve not much farther and I do believe I hear the sound of the water ye are seeking.”
She gave him a look of disbelief. “All I hear are the waves below. How could you possibly hear a stream up the hillside?”
Uneasiness held his tongue as he shrugged away her words. Lilia’s knowing he was once a dragon was one thing. She had accepted his history well enough—more than likely because her own ancestry was filled with things not so easily explained. But sharing the traits that had stayed with him once the curse was broken, he was none too sure she would be so accepting. Keen hearing, a predatory sense of smell, and a set of eyes sharper than a hawk’s. The gods had granted him all these gifts when he’d permanently returned to the form of a man. Perhaps it was a bit of an appeasement for all he had endured.
“Graham?” Lilia sidled closer, frowning up at him with concern flashing in her eyes. “Why have you suddenly gone so uncharacteristically silent?”
He pulled free and trudged onward. “I dinna ken yer meaning.” Damn her for seeing through him so easily. What the hell was he? As clear as a fresh Highland stream?
She grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him to a stop. “You know about all my oddities and yet you’re still here. You haven’t run away screaming or threatened to burn me at the stake. Why would you think anything could make me run from you?” She lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes. “You know I’m not a coward.”
“Aye. Ye are not a coward, my love.” But that didn’t matter. Accepting her was easy. He, on the other hand, had made far too many mistakes and foolhardy choices to make her unconditional acceptance of him a matter of no concern.
“Super hearing is not going to scare me away.” She snuggled up against him, the inviting scent of her overly warmed body making him ache to strip away her clothes and bend her over the nearest boulder.
He threw down his staff, encircled her in his arms and pulled her close, burying his face in her neck and nuzzling against her salty sweet flesh with a deep, appreciative inhale. “I fear when ye ken the traits I still possess from when I was the beast, ye willna be so inclined to remain my wife.”
She sighed as she melted against him, molding her curves into him as though she too wished they stood skin to skin. “You don’t still breathe fire, do you?” A soft giggle escaped her as she teased the tip of her tongue along the tensed muscles of his throat.
He filled his hands with the mouth-watering curves of her sweet arse and pulled her harder against him. “I canna breathe fire any longer but I grant ye this, ye’ve warmed me well and good to the point where I’ll not guarantee I willna burst into flame.”
“Then let’s find this water you’re hearing so we cancooleach other off.” She nibbled her way around his neck then sucked his earlobe until he thought he’d surely strip them both down right where they stood and bury himself inside her.
“Patience, my fiery beast.” She licked his throat again, then pushed away and scurried ahead a few paces. “Find me a pool and we’ll see about putting out that fire.”
“Ye ken me too well.” He strode after her, then motioned a bit farther to the east. “There. In that bit of wood. That is where we need to go.”
She studied where he pointed, her eyes narrowing as she carefully tucked her walking stick snugly between her back and her pack. “Did you happen to bring any of our lovely little purple packets?”
