Colton got up and retrieved a bag from outside. Searching it he found sweaters, jeans, socks and boots for Ian and himself. Quickly dressing, Colton led his mate over to the romantic table setting Dakota had laid for them. “Wow! I think my brother outdid himself.”
“It’s lovely,” Ian said as his mate lifted the silver domes off the food. Looking at the selection, he cried out, “He made one of my favorite dishes from Scotland.”
“Which one?”
“This one,” Ian said, pointing to a plate. “It’s Rumbledethumps! It’s made with potatoes, cabbage and onions.”
“Funny name.”
“My mother made it all the time for me when I was growing up. Now she makes it every time I go home for a visit.”
After finishing dinner, Ian lifted a beer to his lips and swallowed. Moaning in delight at the taste, he lowered it and said, “When I was growing up, we couldn’t afford things like beer. After I went to school and my parents were given jobs by Dire Enterprises, things got much better for them. I remember the first time I went home for a visit and my father plunked one of these down in front of me. ‘That’s what a real Scotsman drinks,’ he said. It’s been my favorite ever since.”
“I know I said I was nervous,” Colton said, “but I’m really eager to meet them. If they hadn’t protected and taken care of you, I wouldn’t have you as my mate. And it makes me incredibly sad to think how close I came to never knowing you…my heart and my home.”
Ian nodded in agreement. “Our lives are very similar. I’ve thought about how close you came to being with your parents the night they were killed. So close. If they had been killed a day later, you’d have been there and I would never have met you.”
Both of them sat quietly, lost in memories of what was and what could have been while the fire died down and the nighttime coolness crept in around them. Out of the corner of his eye, Colton saw his mate shiver and he came back to the present with a crash.Fuck, my mate is cold!Standing and reaching for Ian’s hand, Colton said, “Hey enough of the past, let’s have dessert.” Pulling his mateup and leading him over to the fire, he said, “Sit here babe, while I get our treat ready.”
Throwing more logs on the blaze to warm Ian, Colton then dug through the food chest and found what he was looking for. “Have you ever had S’mores?”
“S’mores? No, I don’t think so. What are they?”
“Only the best thing when you’re camping out.”
Ian watched his mate assemble everything and then hand him a stick with a marshmallow on it. “What do I do with this?”
“That’s the stuffing in your S’mores. Hold it over the fire until you’ve toasted it the way you like, then slide it off onto this cracker and put the other one on top…then you eat it,” Colton said, pointing to the graham crackers with chocolate on them.
“How do I know how I like it toasted? I’ve never done this before.”
“Well, start out with light brown and try it, if you want it more gooey, then hold it over the fire until it gets darker. I like mine burnt…just after it flares up…because then it becomes really gooey and sticky. See, like this.”
Ian gave it a try and found he liked it just as gooey and by the time the fire died down, Colton and Ian had sticky marshmallow and melted chocolate all over their fingers, hands and faces. After a quick wash up, they crawled back into their love nest and cuddled until they fell asleep
Chapter 37
Over the next few days, Colton and Ian hiked through the forest and climbed up and down mountains, always returning to their campsite for a night of passion. Once, Colton fucked Ian so hard, the tent collapsed on them. Their roars and growls of completion were heard throughout the forest, followed by bouts of uncontrollable laughter. It took a while to get the tent up again but that could be attributed to their constant need to touch and kiss. Eventually, they succeeded and fell on their rumpled bed, holding each other, whispering words of love.
One morning, after breakfast, Ian asked Colton about the power he’d been given. He was curious, but wanted to give his mate space before he brought it up. Now it felt like the right time. “You know, you haven’t talked about your power much…just the little I heard you say to Cody…but I have some questions.”
Colton tilted his head back and studied the early morning sky. Then after a few minutes he looked at his mate and said, “Good, because I wanted to talk about it before but just couldn’t. Now, I’m ready.”
“What is the power?”
“According to Archangel Raphael, I have his power to heal someone who is dying…like Jackson was.”
“Did Raphael heal you in Mexico?”
“Yes, the healing is accompanied by a flash of green light and a buzzing sound.”
“I saw the green light and felt the buzzing in Mexico before I fainted,” Ian said excitedly.
“Raphael touched me with his fingers and his power surged through my body. He told me the gods had foundme worthy of the gift and they wanted me to use it together with my natural healing ability.”
“And you didn’t want me to find out about it because you wanted me to think I had healed you, but I sense there was more to it than just me. Am I right?”
“Yes,” Colton said, amazed at his mate’s astuteness. “When Oracle talked to me, it seemed like an enormous burden…me, a mortal…making life and death decisions as if I were a god. How would I choose? It felt like a burden instead of a gift.”
