Highland Games

By Fenella Ashworth

A very steamy romp in the Scottish Highlands

"Better and better! Highland Games demonstrates the essence of sexy fun and blossoming romance with smart and witty dialog and intelligent characters."
5* Amazon Review

Zoe finds herself on a remote mountain in Scotland; stranded, injured and alone. But just as dusk descends and all hope is lost, our modern-day hero, Charlie, arrives to assist her. Experiencing an immediate connection, it was inevitable that sparks would fly between them. But what they weren't expecting was for those sparks to develop into a white-hot inferno.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fenella Ashworth
• Release date: Mar 22, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224181476

Fenella Ashworth

Fenella Ashworth is a British author of over 40 contemporary steamy romance books for 18+. Her most popular books are ‘One Hot Wynter’s Night’, ‘To Love, Honour and...Oh Pay’, 'Fictional Fantasies' and the Daniel Lawson Series.Find Fenella online at www.fenellaashworth.com where you can subscribe to her newsletter for ongoing freebies.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Easing the heavy backpack from her weary body, Zoe slumped gratefully onto a smooth, weather-worn rock jutting out from the steep mountainside. Having grabbed her water bottle, she gazed down in wonder at the incredible vista laid bare before her. Stretching out in every direction, Scotland’s mountainous majesty, bathed in the orange sunlight of a fantastic summer’s evening, had never looked more beautiful.

Zoe had started walking the West Highland Way some three days previously. Commencing just outside Glasgow, she had gradually hiked her way northwards. As city gave way to rocky, rugged landscapes, she’d discovered remote Highland settlements such as Inverarnan and Bridge of Orchy. Since dawn, she had completed a further twenty strenuous miles and during that time, had seen just one other person. But then, experiencing such solitude and splendid isolation was part of the charm of this fantastic long-distance trail, which stretched a total of nearly one hundred miles. Her stiff legs bore evidence to the fact that the majority of the trail was now behind her; if things continued to run to schedule, she would arrive at the finish line tomorrow afternoon.

Of course, thought Zoe, glancing down at her water bottle with concern, such isolation did have its drawbacks. Being so far away from civilisation also meant that opportunities to pick up rations were very few and far between. Despite being frantic to guzzle the entire bottle in her hand to quench her raging thirst, she was well aware that this constituted the very last of her water rations. Instead therefore, Zoe forced herself to take small, unsatisfactory sips. By her calculations, she had about three miles left to walk before she reached the village of Kinlochleven, and thus her accommodation for the night. Had she been a vehicle, Zoe thought wryly as she returned the bottle to her backpack, the fuel warning light would be flashing and she’d be running on petrol fumes by now.

Exhaling slowly, she glanced down at the map. On the positive side, it looked to be mostly downhill for the rest of the day. A treacherously steep section extended for the next mile, followed by a much gentler gradient until she reached her destination. Having wiggled her toes and tried to ignore her sore feet which were desperately crying out to be released from their walking boots, Zoe struggled back to standing. Re-tying her dark hair in a ponytail and shrugging the heavy backpack onto her stiff shoulders, she set off with renewed determination. After all, she told herself encouragingly, the sooner she got moving, the sooner she’d be able to finish.

Concentrating hard, Zoe began to descend the perilously steep slope, loose scree cascading down the mountainside in front of her, with every step she took. As her taut thigh muscles burned with the strain of maintaining her balance, Zoe pondered; there was no doubt that on such dangerously steep terrain, walking uphill was far preferable to traversing back down again. Briefly losing her balance, Zoe felt her stomach lurch in fear. Relief immediately flooded her senses as she managed to recover her footing and prevent an ungainly and, no doubt, painful tumble. Pausing momentarily, her heart racing with adrenaline, she closed her eyes and simply breathed, appreciating the unusual sound of utter silence. If she held her breath, she could hear…nothing. No planes or people, no cars, no birds. No appliances buzzing with electricity or the rustling of clothing or leaves. Not even the sound of a breeze. Quite literally nothing. Complete and utter silence. In today’s increasingly noisy and hectic world, the experience was astonishingly liberating.

Returning her attention to the steep slope which she was required to navigate, Zoe set off once again. Her tired legs were in danger of completely seizing up if she paused for too long and only the thought of a bed for the night sustained her progress. The path had begun to serpentine down a steep mountainside now. As she reached one of the sharper turns, Zoe felt her foot slide out from underneath her again. However, this time she was less lucky. Twisting her ankle painfully, she fell hard. Helped by the weight of her backpack and the steepness of the slope, she found herself rolling and sliding painfully downhill, her flailing limbs being bashed on sharp outcrops of rock as she went.

Eventually, her shaking, bruised body naturally came to rest against a large boulder, situated adjacent to the main path. In shock, Zoe lowered her forearms which had been cradling her head and tried to regain her bearings. Having shrugged off her backpack, she tentatively tried moving her twisted ankle but an intensely sharp pain forced her to cry out in shock. Carefully unfastening her walking boot, she loosened the laces before very gingerly sliding the boot away from her foot. Although doing her very best not to whimper, the slightest movement proved itself to be excruciating. Zoe felt her eyes fill with tears as the seriousness of her predicament hit her. She was injured and alone on an isolated, exposed path with next to no water, zero provisions and fading light. Worse still, she doubted anyone would raise an alarm to alert the authorities; the owner of the accommodation she’d booked would probably just assume a no show when she didn’t turn up later tonight.

There was one last hope. Unearthing a mobile phone from the depths of her backpack, she crossed her fingers and switched the power on. After waiting for the device to activate, her worst fears were confirmed…there was no signal. Given the remoteness of the location, it really shouldn’t have been a surprise but seeing the fact confirmed on a digital display in front of her was the final straw for Zoe who broke down sobbing, both from pain and fear.

After a short while, she bit her lip in an attempt to take control of her emotions, knowing she simply had to pull herself together. Starting to shiver mildly due to her sweaty top, Zoe replaced it with a clean T-shirt and fleece from her backpack. Slowly and very carefully, she peeled the hiking sock away from her injured foot. Although it looked puffy and swollen, she felt great relief when cool air hit her skin. Such relief, in fact, that she quickly removed the boot and sock from her other foot too.

Unsure of what to do next, Zoe sat there for the next half an hour watching dusk start to fall, occasionally searching through her backpack for inspiration, but finding none. She didn’t even have a torch with her. When, in the distance, she thought she spotted a lone runner, Zoe did initially question whether he was simply a mirage; had her mind already reached the stage of hallucinating? But as the runner travelled closer and closer to her resting place, Zoe’s heart leapt with both hope and relief. Her potential saviour looked to be a fit man; tall, dark-haired, probably in his mid-thirties like herself and carrying an enormous backpack. Her logical brain quickly weighed up the danger of flagging down a stranger for help in such an isolated location. In her current position, just off the main path, beside several large boulders, he was unlikely to notice her unless she specifically drew attention to herself. However, Zoe quickly decided that the possible risk he posed was far less than the danger she was already in, stranded on an isolated mountainside with no food or water for the next goodness knows how long. As the man ran past her, Zoe took a deep breath.

‘Please can you help me?’ she barked, a note of panic evident in her voice. But the man didn’t stop, or indeed give any indication that he had heard her at all. Instead, he just continued on down the steep slope. Gazing in disbelief, as her potential knight in shining armour sailed past, Zoe suddenly realised that he was wearing headphones; if his music was loud enough, no amount of shouting would help. In desperation, she quickly picked up her open backpack and hurled it in his direction, just below her on the serpentine track. Sliding to an abrupt halt, the man looked up at Zoe in astonishment as the contents of her backpack spilled across the path; maps, clothing, empty water bottles and toiletries were scattered far and wide. He quickly removed his headset and smiled up at her.

‘Now that’s one hell of a way to flag a guy down,’ he said in amusement, picking up her backpack and stuffing the various items back inside. Zoe flushed with pained embarrassment when she observed him collecting one of her bras from the path. Carefully he made his way back up the slope to her resting place.

‘You okay?’ he asked in a concerned voice, glancing at her tear-stained face and then down to her swollen ankle. ‘You’ve hurt yourself?’

‘Uh-huh,’ confirmed Zoe, biting back tears caused from the emotional relief of not being alone any longer.

‘May I?’ he enquired, glancing down. Zoe gazed into his chocolate-brown eyes and felt her stomach unexpectedly liquify. Even a previously broken nose only seemed to add to his attractiveness, rather than detract from it. Doubting her ability to talk, as he kneeled down next to her, she simply nodded. Having shrugged off his own pack, Zoe sat watching in spellbound amazement as the man began to softly handle her foot. She gasped slightly as he gently manipulated her ankle, but such was his incredible tenderness that she felt next to no pain.

‘I don’t think it’s too badly damaged,’ he confirmed eventually, placing her foot back to the ground with great care. ‘Have you felt any tingling in your limbs, or very extreme pain?’ he asked, briefly holding her wrist to measure her pulse.

‘No,’ breathed Zoe. In all honesty, various parts of her body were tingling right now but that had precious little to do with her injury and everything to do with his arrival on the scene. She decided it was probably best not to mention that, though.

‘Oh good, you do speak…and English too,’ he teased. ‘Bonus.’

‘Yes, I speak English…and a bit of Spanish, as it happens,’ she added cheekily. ‘Are you a doctor?’

‘No exactamente, señorita,’ he grinned, grabbing a mobile phone from his trouser pocket and waving it fruitlessly around in the air. ‘I’m a vet.’

‘That’s lucky,’ replied Zoe without missing a beat. ‘I’ve been having some problems with fleas recently.’

‘If you can make jokes like that, then you’ll definitely survive,’ he chuckled. ‘And fear not. I have excellent credentials, plus I’ve been assured by the owners of my patients that I have a lovely bedside manner too.’ Zoe laughed. She’d wager he was an excellent vet, swiftly gaining the confidence of animals in pain or distress and quietly yet competently getting on with the job in hand. She intuitively trusted him already and they’d only just met.

‘Typical! No bloody signal!’ he added, pocketing his phone with evident frustration.

‘Yeah. Same with mine,’ confirmed Zoe.

‘Well, there are two ways we can do this. I can leave you here, while I go and get help,’ he explained, observing Zoe’s face fall slightly. ‘Or I can take you with me.’

‘How could you possibly do that?’

‘I’ll carry you.’

‘You can’t!’ protested Zoe. ‘I’m far too heavy.’ She felt her abdomen pulse with desire as his eyes travelled fleetingly across her body before returning to her face.

‘Nonsense. There’s hardly anything of you. I can just swap my pack for you and then return to collect my things later,’ he explained, opening it up so Zoe could look inside. ‘See, it’s mostly weights. I’m in training for an endurance event which I very stupidly signed myself up for and now can’t get out of,’ he added, in answer to her disbelieving glance.

‘Is there any chance I could grab some of that water?’ asked Zoe, as he began to pull items from his backpack.

‘Sure,’ he smiled, handing over a bottle. ‘Are you okay for me to strap up your foot?’ he asked, opening a first aid kit. ‘It will make you more comfortable when we’re on the move.

‘Ummm…yeah,’ agreed Zoe before taking a long, desperate draught of the much-needed liquid.

‘And take two of these,’ he instructed, handing her a box of tablets. ‘Painkillers. Strong ones,’ he explained, as he gently began to apply a compression bandage to her now throbbing foot.

‘I don’t know how to thank you,’ she said, closing her eyes and trying not to gasp in pain.

‘I’m sure you’ll find a way,’ he grinned. ‘You can start by passing me a clean, dry pair of socks and telling me your name.’

‘Zoe,’ she smiled, grappling in her pack for the requested clothing and handing them over. ‘Zoe Summers.’

‘Charlie Lancaster,’ he replied, carefully rolling the sock over her injured foot. Quickly sorting through his own backpack, Charlie pulled out a number of items. ‘Can you find a space for these in your pack?’ he asked, handing her several water bottles and the first aid kit.

‘Sure.’ Zoe’s eyes rapidly grew wider as he swiftly pulled off his sweaty T-shirt and momentarily exposed a flat, muscled abdomen and broad chest, before pulling on a clean replacement.

‘Where are you heading?’ he asked, apparently oblivious to the effect he was having on Zoe for which she was very grateful.

‘Umm…aaah… Kinlochleven,’ she croaked.

‘Me too,’ he confirmed, tucking his wallet into a trouser pocket before securing his own backpack and hiding it behind a boulder.

‘But that’s almost three miles away.’

‘Even if we could phone for assistance, we’d probably need to get you nearer to civilisation first. Trust me, we’ll manage,’ he added soothingly.

‘We won’t be doing anything,’ argued Zoe. ‘The only thing I’ll be doing is slowing you down.’

‘You’ll be keeping an eye on the route for me and helping me to get fit,’ he replied, shrugging her backpack onto his chest. She bit her tongue and managed to refrain from suggesting that he was quite fit enough already. ‘Okay?’

Zoe nodded, not trusting herself to speak, as Charlie carefully helped her up onto a nearby ledge. Tentatively placing pressure on her injured foot, Zoe gasped slightly but found her ankle didn’t hurt half as much as it had done originally. The painkillers and bandaging were doing their job beautifully.

‘Right, I’m going to squat down so you can lean against my back,’ he explained. ‘Then I’ll give you a piggy-back into town.’ Following Charlie’s instructions, Zoe quickly found herself pressed up against his firm, powerful body.

‘You okay?’ he asked, unable to see her face any longer and searching for reassurance.

‘I’m good,’ she smiled, hugging her arms around his chest, able to observe at close-hand his chiselled, slightly stubbled jaw and strong arms which were now supporting her weight. ‘Gosh, you’re tall,’ she added, suddenly aware of how much higher she was than normal.

‘Six foot three,’ he grinned, starting to pick his way carefully down the dangerously steep slope.

‘I’m really not sure this is a good idea,’ gasped Zoe when his foot slipped on some loose scree.

‘Trust me,’ he murmured, confidently striding forwards. ‘Why don’t