Chapter 20
TWENTY
MY MOUNTAIN MAN
Mathilda
The competitors floated their rafts, and an energy swept through the crowd, bets being taken and good-natured ribbing called between friends.
Overhead, bright floodlights illuminated the dark, narrow river, and a boat waited in the middle.
Still, anxiety dogged me, and I checked off a list of safety criteria I’d use at any standard event, scanning for guide ropes and sober marshals.
All present. The event had been thought through, that was plain.
The kernel of worry in my gut didn’t ease.
From the moment the starter pistol cracked, I kept my gaze glued to the blond heads of the twins.
They crashed through the water, swift, uniform strokes of their paddles taking them into an easy lead.
At my side, Callum and Gordain bellowed encouragement, swearing when another young man and his partner picked up speed.
Lachlan’s stepgrandson, I gathered, the young man glaring at the twins as his raft inched to neck and neck with theirs.
Through the splashing, I strained my eyes to see the boys hit the other bank and sighed in relief at their clean moves, turning the raft. Then they were straight back into battling the choppy water to return to the finish line.
They crossed the distance, the raft dipping and rising, even and fluid.
Until the rival leader’s raft hit theirs. I yelped, then the rushing pulse of blood in my ears drowned out all other noise.
In the churning water, Ally lost grip on his paddle, a wave dragging it away from the raft.
Ally overextending himself to reach it. His body bowed over the edge of the raft.
My worst nightmare unfolded before my eyes.
An inch more, and he’d be in the freezing water, the other rafts cutting over his head, the shadows and choppy waves concealing his position.
We wouldn’t be able to find him. He was too far out.
Right in the middle of the water. How could the boat get there quickly enough?
“Haul. Him. In,” Callum’s bellow ordered, the loudness shocking me out of my frozen position.
In a miracle move, the raft tipped, Wasp’s face contorted as he flung out an arm, grasping on to his twin’s ankle and, with a heave, Ally landed safely on the wooden logs.
Like it was all a game, the boy let loose a howl, held up the paddle, and hacked at the water once more.
I squeezed Callum’s hand mercilessly until the moment the twins’ raft touched the wooden dock. Second. A heartbeat in it with Lachlan’s boy taking first place.
Cheering and a loudspeaker announcement marked the win, and I took my first full breath in ten minutes. Then the boys scrambled onto the grass and stalked over to their competitors.
“Fuck,” Gordain muttered and jogged into the melee. We followed.
“That the only way you could win?” Ally got into his rival’s face. He dragged his fingers through his soaked hair, water droplets flying.
“What’s your problem?” The other boy sneered, puffing out his chest, his breath creating clouds in the air. “You lost control. Your mistake, not mine.”
“You rammed us!”
“A tiny knock.”
“Enough,” Gordain cut in, inserting himself between his brother and the other boy.
“Not worth it.” Wasp took position at his other shoulder.
“Agreed,” Callum rumbled from behind me.
Ally swaggered back a step then shrugged, disappointment clear despite the bravado he wore. “Well, if that’s the only way Braithar could claim first place, let them have it.”
Gordain rolled his eyes as the boy stalked off, then turned to us. “Why don’t you go. It’s done and they’re on dry land.”
Callum’s gaze tracked the boys. “Aye, it’s over.”
“We’ll see ye both tomorrow.” Gordain saluted and left.
Almost immediately, Callum was on me, pulling me with him over the grass. The race was done, and we were leaving.
“They’re safe,” I uttered, a strong maternal urge rising. I almost wanted to go and check them again. Make them change from their wetsuits and get them away from the water.
But I wanted Callum more. And from the searing look in his eyes, he felt exactly the same.
We drove in silence into the pitch black of the Highlands night. Callum set our route, speeding away from the castle, the grooves in his forehead deepening as he glared out of the windshield.
My body tingled in anticipation, even if I had no idea of our destination. With no streetlights and no moon, all I could discern was when the maintained asphalt road gave way to a gravel track and the car began to climb.
Up and up we ascended, taking a winding route around what I guessed to be the mountainside. Eventually, snow crunched under our tyres, showing the height we’d risen. Callum slowed the car, and I squinted to look about. Ahead, dark trees surrounded a low building, lights glowing at the windows.
“Ski lodge,” he murmured. “Or log cabin, if you’re inclined to be romantic.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t we inclined to be romantic tonight?”
I expected a smile, but Callum’s frown only deepened. We trundled forward over the packed snow, then the car stopped, and Callum laid a hand on my forearm.
“Wait here a moment.” He leapt out of the car, grabbed our bags from the back, and disappeared into the dark. The entrance to the lodge swung open, spilling light onto a wide porch. Two minutes later, my door popped open, and I was plucked from my seat.
I should have at least uttered a squeak at the surprise, but my heart was racing, and I clung on to Callum’s neck as he held me close, his long strides transporting us over the frozen ground, my beautiful shoes suspended in the frigid air and my long dress hanging from my thighs.
The cold, fresh mountain smelled like Callum had when I’d first met him.
My mountain man, bringing me deep into his territory.
Up the steps we went and into warmth and orange light.
Across the room, a just-lit fire blazed into life, a rug spread before it.
The polished frame of a large bed gleamed in the firelight, echoing the gleam in Callum’s eyes.
He carried me over to an armchair, gently placing me down before he paced back to the door and slammed it shut.
“Come here,” I said, sliding my coat from my shoulders. Then I crossed my legs, reaching out to remove my shoe.
On the other side of the room, Callum lowered his gaze, and it scalded. “Not yet. Keep to your chair. Leave the heels on.”
He tossed his smart jacket to the floor, but instead of coming to me, he sat on the bed. Then he removed his footwear, and slid out his silver cufflinks, all while I watched.
I liked the show too much to interrupt.
“I want ye, badly,” Callum said, shifting his weight so his back hit the wide beams of the headboard. He stretched out his long legs on the bedspread. Cocked a knee. “If you still want me after what I have to say, I’m going to make you scream my name all night long.”
There was nothing that could put me off him. Not now. Only my inbuilt manners had me holding back from jumping on him. “Talk, then,” I managed.
Slowly, he undid his top button and dragged his shirt over his head.
I almost bit my tongue at the reveal of his manly, well-built frame. Limned in golden firelight, his bulging biceps stretched out as he shed the shirt, a broad chest dusted with rough-looking fair hair exposed. No manscaping here, but a body honed by hard work and nature.
A small groan escaped me.
Callum huffed a laugh. “Up here, Mathilda.”
He pointed at his eyes, and I smiled at his game. His gaze fixed me into place, and the laughter was replaced with something else. A worried look that revealed the tender soul living within his huge frame.
“When we met, you talked about having a one-night stand to see if you could handle sex without love. Is that what I am? Another try? Because I can’t do that.”
A rush of feelings for Callum rose in me, swelling my heart. I already liked him far beyond any person before, so much so the new sensation almost hurt.
“You think I’m going to sleep with you then leave you high and dry?”
“No. I think you like me more than you’d even admit to yourself. But I can’t think. I need to know.”
I stood, reaching behind me to lower the zip of my dress. Callum watched my approach like I was a dangerous creature.
“Wait,” he said again, and I stopped my movements. “Dinna deprive me of what I’ve wanted to do all night. Anyway, I haven’t finished stripping to persuade you yet.”
He rose and unbuckled his belt. My knees weakened as he stripped off his suit trousers, leaving only his boxers in place.
Callum McRae reclined once more, almost nude. Glorious. With his legs apart, he took his huge bulge in hand, adjusting himself through the material of his boxers.
“Your persuasion is convincing.”
“Then tell me you turned the man down.”
I burned for him, ached, and my answer was ready. Turning Dominic down was the easiest thing I’d ever done.
I opened my mouth. “Of course I did. Before I came here, I’d already made the decision.”
“Had you now?” A satisfied smirk pulled at his lips. He gave himself a lazy stroke, but his muscles were primed and his tone heated.
I didn’t respect Dominic. I didn’t care about his reputation and I hated how I would have been party to his affair.
At the beginning, I thought I’d just be fixing his status and it would be a win/win, but the more I dwelt on it, the more I despised his actions.
His lack of faithfulness, first, to someone else’s wedding vows, then to ours. Whether I held them dear or not.
Callum would think it deeply wrong. I knew him well enough now to see the honesty in him. The pride and the sheer heart of the man. Values I found I shared far and beyond my practical nature.
With Callum, I should have been clear. From the moment I’d got to the Highlands, he should have known where he stood. Even if embracing my fear felt like falling. I knew he’d catch me.
Just as he’d laid his body out before me, the message here wasn’t subtle.
Be mine. Nobody else’s. And God, did I want to climb onto that bed, straddle his broad, warm form with my bare thighs, and fill the ache in the centre of my body.
I wanted to use him, have him use me, and wake up tomorrow with something new between us.
Something good and honest and true. It was all so new to me, sex—a relationship—with feelings attached, but I couldn’t wait to try.
As he waited for my explanation, he caressed himself again.
I held up a trembling finger to pause his actions. “Stop trying to hypnotise me with that. I’m trying to explain it to you.”
“How about you explain a wee bit faster.” Another stroke.
On the porch of Castle Braithar, I’d called Dominic. Not out of respect to him, but because I wanted no confusion over the decision I’d made. But the call had gone to answerphone, and he’d been out of luck. Instead, he got my polite message. My thanks-but-no-thanks, crystal clear and final.
Leaving me free to jump on the man I was crazy about.