out from the crowd. He seemed to radiate confidence and self-assurance.
Meagan watched him surreptitiously from beneath her lashes. He had thick black hair worn slightly too long so that it flopped over one eye. As he laughed and joked with his friends Meagan could see dimples in both cheeks which appeared, disappeared and reappeared again.
He must have become aware of her staring because all at once he turned his gaze on her and slowly let his left eyelid droop in a wink. She had never seen anything quite as sexy and was mortified to feel her cheeks go pink. Clearly amused by her discomfort, his smile broadened into a grin, emphasising his dimples. After holding her gaze for a moment, he let his eyes travel slowly over her slim body, resting on her breasts before continuing down her shapely legs and back up to her eyes. Despite her annoyance at his blatant evaluation, Meagan felt herself unable to move under his scrutiny. Then with a quip to his friends that made them laugh, he began to make his way over to her with long easy strides.
Hot with confusion, Meagan turned on her heel, seeking the relative safety of her friends, but before she had taken more than a couple of steps she felt a strong grip on her upper arm.
‘Not thinking of leaving, are you?’ murmured a soft, deep voice in her ear. Taking a gulp of air to steady her breathing, Meagan turned towards him, but to her consternation found herself so close she could smell the soap on his skin and the sea in his hair.
‘Don’t go’ was all he said.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for Meagan. Cameron didn’t leave her side, giving her his undivided attention and flirting outrageously, demanding that she dance only with him to the swirling tunes that were played by guests who had brought instruments with them.
Eventually the tempo of the music slowed and he pulled Meagan close, wrapping her arms around his neck and nuzzling hers in return as he trickled his fingers along her back. Powerless to resist, Meagan let her body melt into his and raised her face, staring into his eyes, which reflected the flickering light of the bonfires around them.
With a muttered cry of something in Gaelic, he bent his head to hers and claimed her lips with kisses that were gentle at first but, as she responded, grew increasingly demanding.
She could feel his body grow hard with his desire and her own body responded as if she had no control over it as she clung to him, seeking more and more of him until finally, with a groan, he pulled away from her and, taking her by the hand, said softly, ‘Come with me.’
There was something about him that made Meagan feel less than her nineteen years. It wasn’t just that he was older—four or five years older than her, she guessed. Perhaps it was because he seemed to have a confidence in his own sexuality that few, if any, men of her acquaintance had.
Meagan had been pursued by many men in her life. She knew men found her attractive with her coal-black hair, which she had inherited from her Italian mother, along with her willowy frame and wide mouth. On the other hand, she had inherited her pale complexion, height and arresting green eyes from her Scottish father. It all added up to a combination that drew looks wherever Meagan went, and judging by the admiring looks she was getting from her companion he also found the combination to his liking. But although Meagan was conscious of the effect she had on men, she had little time for love affairs. She had her future mapped out and nothing and no one was going to stand in the way of her achieving her dreams.
But until that night no other man had made her feel as if she wanted to give herself up, to lose herself in their arms in the way that he did, despite having just met him. He made her feel that the rest of the world had ceased to exist, as if the future was unimportant, that it was only the here and now that mattered.
And so she went with him along the edge of the shore where the waves lapped at their feet, until they found a place deep in the dunes and hidden from view, where he lowered her gently to the ground. He kissed her eyelids, her ear lobes, and then down to her neck before finding her mouth, kissing her with a hunger that took Meagan’s breath away.
Never before had Meagan felt her body respond in such a manner. Almost against her will she arched her body to his, needing to feel the length of his body hard against hers. Suddenly he pulled away.
‘You’ve never made love to a man before, have you?’ he said, his voice full of wonder.
Meagan was mortified. Was her lack of experience so obvious? But it was true. She had never, before that night, found a man she wanted to give herself to. She knew when she did finally lose her virginity she wanted it to mean something. She wanted it to be special. And it wasn’t as if she’d had many boyfriends. Her studies and her sailing had kept her too busy.
‘Its ridiculous, isn’t it? A nineteen-year-old virgin in this day and age?’ She sat up and hugged her knees.
‘Not ridiculous,’ he said. ‘Kind of wonderful.’ He sat next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. ‘You’re kind of wonderful,’ he said, ‘but I think we should get to know one another before we go any further. There will be a right time for us, but it’s not yet.’ He pulled her back into his arms, and they lay there for the rest of the evening with the feel of the gentle night breeze on their skin. As she told him about her dreams and the sacrifices she’d had to make, he held her and listened. He hadn’t said much, only that he too had studied medicine. That he worked in London and was completing his higher training. She never even found out his last name.
And all too soon she had had to leave. The sun was just beginning to make the sky pink and she and her companions were sailing on the high tide.
He held her tightly, kissing her hair and murmuring endearments.
‘Do you have to go? Can’t you stay? Now I have found you, I don’t want to let you out of my sight. Not even for a minute.’
For a moment she thought about letting them sail without her, but just as quickly dismissed the notion. She was the only one who could safely steer them on the rest of their journey. And somehow she knew there would be time later for her and Cameron.
She kissed him back fiercely.
‘I wish I could stay. But we’ll see each other soon. You’ll come and see me in Edinburgh?’
‘The devil himself couldn’t stop me,’ he said. ‘I’ll come as soon as I can. In the meantime, take care. Watch the seas around here.’ Then he kissed her and she clung to him, unwilling to leave. Only the knowledge that she would see him soon gave her the strength to walk away from him. But she had been wrong. Despite his promises he had never come.
Aware that he was waiting for a response, Meagan dragged her thoughts back to the present.
‘Of course. It was a long time ago. We were both a lot younger then. I was only nineteen. I’m sure we’ve both had a few “meetings” since then.’
That wasn’t strictly true. Since Cameron, there had only been Charlie. And even with Charlie it had never been quite like that night with Cameron. She had put it down to first love, making herself believe that nothing and no one could ever measure up to the intensity of believing yourself in love for the first time. And that’s all it had been, she told herself firmly. An impressionable teenager’s first real experience of love. It wasn’t altogether surprising she had never really forgotten him…
‘Shall we get back?’ Cameron said abruptly, looking over her shoulder into the distance. ‘It feels like its going to rain.’
They walked back down
