A Hippogriff for Christmas - Zoe Chant Page 0,24

tumbling directly out of his mouth right there and then. From the moment we touched, I knew enough to know we belonged together. I knew you were my mate.

“Maybe not,” Beau managed to say instead. “But I know enough to know I’d like to know you better, if you’ll let me.”

Annie shook her head, and for a moment, Beau’s blood ran cold as he thought she was refusing.

“I – no, I’d like to know you better too,” she admitted, her voice soft. She was looking down at her lap, as if it was difficult for her to speak openly about what she felt. “I thought – from the first time I saw you, I thought –”

Beau’s hippogriff surged up, spreading its wings.

She knows! She feels it too! If we tell her, she will know – she will understand it, in her heart.

Well, maybe, but Beau wasn’t sure he was willing to take that risk. He could sense something inside Annie – a sadness, a belief that she wasn’t the kind of person someone could devote themselves to, body and soul, the way a shifter would devote himself to his mate.

I will simply have to show her she is, he thought. And then, Simply. Ha. What about any of this is simple?

Annie took a deep breath, looking up at him, and once again Beau found himself stunned by the beautiful, almost glasslike quality of her eyes. “I mean – it doesn’t matter,” she said finally, and Beau sensed the moment slipping away from him. Annie’s lips quirked up in a smile. “Weren’t you going to teach me how to skate? Because we’re in the right place, if you were.”

Trying to allay the disappointment that surged through him, Beau looked out through the windshield in the direction Annie had gestured.

She’d driven them to a lake, surrounded by trees that had been wrapped in golden fairy lights, twinkling in the hazy light of the early afternoon. Strings of green and red lanterns were hung between them, bobbling gently in the air. By the entryway onto the lake there stood a massive, dark green Christmas tree, wreathed in lights and tinsel, topped by a brilliant golden star – and on the lake itself were dozens of skaters, some fast, some slow, but all of them clearly loving being out in the crisp cold of winter.

“Wow,” Beau said, meaning it. He’d rarely seen anything so beautiful in his life. “This is gorgeous.”

“I’ve never really spent much time here,” Annie said, her voice soft. “Not being able to skate, you know. But it is kind of lovely, now that I look at it properly.”

Beau turned to her with a smile, his heart warming at the sight of her watching the skaters below.

“Come on,” he said, opening his car door. “Let’s get you fitted for some skates.”

“Okay – not too fast now. Just take your time to get used to it, and – there. You’re a natural!”

Beau beamed at Annie as she shot him a grumpy frown. She was standing unsteadily at the very edge of the icy lake, arms out, knees bent, and looking not unlike a new-born foal who was still getting used to the idea that it had legs of its own.

“My ankles are definitely not designed for this,” she said, wobbling a little, waving her arms to keep her balance.

“It’s okay – I promise,” Beau told her. “Let’s take it one step at a time. The first thing you need to do is just get used to moving on the ice. No need to rush. Let’s try marching first.” He moved beside her, raising his left knee. “One knee up, take a little step. Then the other knee up. No worries.”

Annie nodded, biting her tongue in concentration as together they marched along the side of the lake, well away from the other skaters.

“This isn’t so bad,” Annie said after a moment. She glanced out towards the middle of the lake to look at where the more experienced skaters were gliding seemingly effortlessly, a wistful expression on her face. “Though it’ll take a while until I think I get much fun out of it.”

“You’d be surprised,” Beau said. “Sometimes people take to these things quicker than you’d think.”

Annie laughed. “I hope so! Though I’ve never been that great at physical – physical – argh!”

Despite the fact Beau had told Annie the usual safety rule of grabbing your knees if you found yourself falling over on the ice, he watched now, his heart in his