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‘Thank you, and ditto.’ They walked along for a while and contentment stole over Sandra. Her limbs felt light and now that she knew her family were all fine, she could relax even more.

Halfway along the track to the chasm, Graysen directed the flashlight on a sign and a set of flat rocks that climbed the hill. ‘That’s our start tomorrow.’

Voices drifted down to them.

‘Sounds like Paul and Cecily,’ Sandra said.

Sure enough, within seconds the pair jumped down off the last step. ‘Hello, we were just having a look at the track for tomorrow.’

‘And the others too?’

‘Zed and Miska kept going when we turned around.’ Cecily giggled. ‘I don’t think the campsite is private enough for them, if you get my drift.’

Sandra smiled. ‘Young love, how sweet it is.’

‘We’re off to take some photos, so see you in the morning,’ Graysen said.

‘Night,’ the young couple called.

‘They have mellowed a bit,’ Sandra commented.

All was quiet as they completed the fifteen-minute walk to the three-metre gap in the high gorge.

Graysen stopped about fifty metres before the gap, set up his tripod and attached the camera to the top. ‘Sandra, can you hold the flashlight over the top of the camera for me for a minute?’

‘I can,’ she said, doing as he asked. ‘I’m enjoying this photographic assistant role.’

His teeth flashed white as he grinned at her. ‘I’m enjoying having one.’ He fiddled with the camera settings for another minute, and then pulled out his phone, and took the flashlight from Sandra.

‘All set. All we have to do now is find a comfortable rock.’

‘How does that work?’ she asked as they walked over to the wall of the gorge.

‘I have an app that lets me control the camera from my phone. It’s great because it takes away any camera movement in the long exposure shots. I’ve got a few settings I want to try, so about ten photographs that will take up to two minutes each.’

Graysen found a flat rock tucked against the wall. ‘If I was a gentleman, I’d take my jacket off and spread it on the rock for you. But it’s too cold.’

He sat down and patted the rock beside him. ‘God that’s even colder than the air. It’s going through my thermals.’

Before Sandra could sit, Graysen’s hands were around her waist and he pulled her down onto his knee. ‘A much warmer option.’

‘Thank you,’ she said shyly.

His arms went around her, and the screen of the phone lit up in his hands. A big red dot appeared in the centre and when Graysen pressed it, she heard the camera whirr over on the track.

‘I’m impressed.’

‘I’d like to take credit for it, but it’s simple technology.’

‘But you know how to do it. I don’t know half the things my phone is capable of.’ As he moved his hands a little to raise the phone, his arms brushed against her breasts and a long-forgotten shaft of exquisite sweetness went shooting into Sandra’s lower belly. At the same time her cheeks burned.

‘So,’ he said softly as his face moved closer to her cheek and his breath warmed her already heated skin. ‘I wonder how we should fill in a few minutes. The camera’s doing its thing well. Any ideas?’

Sandra knew what followed was entirely up to her and she froze, her body as taut as a guide rope. Graysen took one hand from the phone and lifted it to her face. Ever so gently with the backs of his fingers, he brushed her mouth.

‘Perhaps your lips need some warmth,’ he murmured, his mouth so close to hers Sandra could feel the vibration of his words. Her lips parted in anticipation, and then his mouth opened over hers.

A shudder rocked her and the exquisiteness of a moment ago spread through her entire body. When he groaned against her lips and put the phone on the rock beside them, she was barely aware of anything except for Graysen’s mouth seeking the warmth of hers. Their tongues met and moved into that age-old dance of need and wanting.