Six Australian Heroes

‘Thank you, darling,’ Jane said when she was safely tucked up in bed. ‘Now, don’t let Ryan forget to take me for that ride in his car before you go tomorrow.’

Laura just stared at her grandmother. ‘What ride?’

Her gran smiled a soft smile. ‘You were away with the pixies at dinner tonight, weren’t you, dear?’

‘A little bit.’

‘Thinking about that man you love, I dare say?’

‘Yes,’ Laura agreed. It was only a half-lie. Her mind had been full of Ryan but not with thoughts of love.

Jane sighed. ‘I don’t think you should wait for him to propose, dear.’

‘What?’

‘Before you go to bed with him.’

‘Oh. Oh yes. I think you could be right about that.’ If she waited for him to propose then she’d never go to bed with him!

‘I am right. Now, off you go. It’s time I went to sleep.’ And she yawned.

Laura gave her grandmother a kiss and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

The old servants’ quarters were just across the back hallway from the kitchen where she found Cynthia and Lisa busily washing up a huge stack of dishes. It still annoyed Laura that her uncle and his son felt that housework was entirely a woman’s domain, but Cynthia didn’t seem to mind. If truth be told, her aunt liked having total control in the house. Possibly, Lisa was of a similar ilk. Although younger, she must have been a bit like Cynthia for Shane to marry her.

‘You know, Aunt Cynthia,’ Laura said as she picked up a tea towel to help Lisa wipe up. ‘You really should have a dishwasher installed.’ It wasn’t as though they couldn’t afford it.

‘What on earth for?’ Cynthia retorted waspishly. ‘They don’t save you any time at all. You still have to scrape all the food off the plates, then rinse them down before you even load the infernal thing. Then you have to unload all the plates afterwards and put them away.’

‘I suppose you’re right,’ Laura said, determined not to fight with the woman tonight. ‘By the way, Aunt, that was a lovely meal tonight. Thank you for all the trouble you went to.’

Her aunt turned a surprised face her way. ‘You know, Laura, meeting that marvellous man has done wonders for your attitude. Not only are you looking so much better, you’ve finally found some manners.’

Laura shook her head whilst Lisa grimaced behind her mother-in-law’s back.

Laura was itching to say something seriously catty in return when Ryan suddenly came into the room.

‘How’s it going with you lovely ladies here?’ he said brightly as he made his way across the floor of the truly large kitchen to where they were grouped by the sink. ‘Need any help?’

‘Heavens no,’ Cynthia trilled, lifting her gloved hands from the sink as she turned towards her guest. ‘This is women’s work. Anyway, we’re just about done here.’

‘In that case, would you mind if I stole Laura away?’ he asked as he slid a warm arm around Laura’s waist. ‘Driving always makes me tired and I didn’t want to go to bed alone.’

Laura was glad that she wasn’t required to say anything. Talking might have been difficult at that moment.

‘You go right ahead,’ Cynthia said obligingly. ‘We can finish up here. As I said, it’s almost done anyway, isn’t it, Lisa?’

‘Absolutely,’ Lisa concurred. ‘It was lovely to meet you, Ryan. Shane and I have something else on tomorrow so we won’t see you again this visit. But I’m sure we’ll see you again soon,’ she added with a knowing little look Laura’s way.

‘I’m sure you will,’ Ryan said. ‘Au revoir for now, then. See you in the morning, Cynthia.’ And he swept Laura away before Cynthia could land them with a specific time for breakfast—which she was likely to do. Cynthia liked to run the house like an army sergeant, with a time for everything.

But Cynthia’s rigid schedules were the least of Laura’s worries as she was steered with considerable speed along the hallway towards the staircase. Ryan’s fingertips were digging into her right hip and his body language reeked of anger.

‘What’s wrong?’ she blurted out when they reached the bottom of the staircase.

‘Everything’s wrong,’ he bit out, and started pushing her up the stairs.

‘But … But …’ she stammered, totally confused by his suddenly aggressive attitude. He’d seemed so agreeable in the kitchen just now.

‘No buts,’ he broke in savagely. ‘And no talking. I’ve had enough talking for one day. And enough thinking. I already know this is a bad idea. I know that neither of us might be happy about it in the morning. But I’m sure as hell going to be happy about it tonight. And so, by God, are you! Or you will, if you just shut up and let me do what I’m good at. Which sounds arrogant, I know, but there’s no virtue in false modesty. I was a damned good goalkeeper and I’m a damned good lover.’

Relief that his bad mood didn’t mean he still intended to sleep on the floor swept through Laura. At that moment, she didn’t care if he was unbelievably arrogant—which he was. Though maybe he had good reason to be. She’d never doubted for one second that he’d be good at sex. And now she was about to find out.

A shiver ran down her spine, then right down to her toes, making her shudder all over.

Ryan immediately stopped at the top of the stairs and pulled her close. ‘Don’t go pretending that you’re cold, madam. You’re hot for me.’

He was right.

‘I thought you said no talking,’ she said huskily, and pressed herself against him.

Ryan laughed, but then he fell silent, his eyes turning to a midnight blue just before his mouth crushed down on hers.

It was a kiss which told a story, if either kisser or kissed could read between the lines. The story was one of total frustration, both sexual and intellectual. Neither could understand the attraction they felt for each other this weekend. It was a mystery to them both. But they’d reached the point of no return, where logic had no power and all that existed for them was desire.

When voices in the hallway below threatened to disturb the marvellous madness of the moment, Ryan scooped Laura up in his arms and carried her into the bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him. He didn’t miss a beat as he charged across the room and fell with her into the middle of the four-poster bed. They kissed on and on, their limbs tangled, neither of them coming up for air.

Ryan was the first to lift his head and draw a decent breath.

‘We’re acting like horny teenagers,’ he said with a ragged sigh. ‘All speed and absolutely no finesse.’

With almost shocking abruptness, he rolled off her and right off the bed.

Laura could not help the groan of dismay which escaped her lips. Immediately, he sat back down on the bed, leaning over to cup her face with gentle hands.

‘I didn’t want to stop either,’ he reassured her softly. ‘But allow me to know what’s best in this situation. I could be wrong, but I have the impression that sex for you hasn’t exactly been of the bell-ringing variety in the past. If it were, you wouldn’t have gone five years without it.’

Laura blinked, both at his intuitive conclusion and his rather amazing ability to take control of the wild passion which had been raging between them less than a few seconds earlier. She could not possibly have stopped, yet he had. Laura guessed that was what made him a man of the world and her a … what? A naïve fool? No, not a fool. Just much less experienced in sexual matters.

Perhaps not so inexperienced after tonight, she conceded with a rush of excitement.

‘What do you want me to do?’ she asked him breathlessly.

His smile carried a wicked edge. ‘Now, that’s a very leading question. Ask me again later. For now, I don’t want you to do anything except just lie there and relax.’

‘Relax?’ He might as well have asked her to climb Mount Everest.

His smile turned a little wry. ‘You’re right, I don’t really want you to relax. But I have something to attend to before proceeding.’ And he stood up.

‘What?’

‘I’m going to light the fire. It’s become quite cool in here.’

‘I didn’t notice.’

‘You will, once you get naked.’

Naked …

Laura could not help shivering at the thought.

‘After I’m done lighting this,’ he said, moving over to hunch down in front of the fireplace, ‘I want to undress you.’ He glanced over his shoulder at her.

Laura swallowed. Her throat was horribly dry all of a sudden.

‘Now, don’t start thinking,’ he growled before returning his attention to the fire. ‘It’s too late for second thoughts. Or for worrying. You want me to make love to you and I want that too. We may regret it in the morning, but who knows? Maybe we won’t. Maybe we’ll look back on tonight and think of it as an incredible experience which neither of us would have missed for the world.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

WANTING a moment to recover herself, Laura got off the bed and went into the bathroom where she was momentarily startled by her reflection in the large mirror. She’d forgotten how different she looked tonight. For a split second it bothered her that Ryan’s intense desire for her was nothing more than a superficial reaction to her suddenly sexier appearance. But then she shrugged the thought aside. Of course that was why he desired her. That was the nature of the male sex; their hormones were easily turned on by physical beauty. She had to confess that even the female sex could fall victim to such shallow attractions. If Ryan hadn’t been so handsome, with a drop-dead-gorgeous body, she would hardly want to sleep with him tonight, would she?

By the time she emerged a couple of minutes later, the fire was crackling, with flames leaping high up the chimney. Ryan was back on his feet, leaning on the mantelpiece and staring down at the flames. His jacket and tie had been removed, and the top two buttons of his shirt undone. He looked pensive, and so sexy Laura could hardly breathe.

He turned and stared at her, his expression unreadable as his gaze moved slowly down and up her body. Gone was the overt hunger from his eyes, but they still called to the woman in her.

‘Have I told you how incredibly beautiful you are tonight?’ he said thickly. ‘No, don’t answer. And don’t come any closer. I’ve changed my mind about undressing you. I want you to do it for me.’

Her eyes widened.

‘Don’t be shy. You must know you’ve nothing to be shy about. No, not the shoes; leave the shoes on. The belt first. Then the dress—but not over your head. Undo the zip then slide it off your shoulders.’

She did as he asked, her hands shaking, her heart thudding so fast and so loudly behind her ribs she thought it must surely go into cardiac arrest. By the time she reached to push the dress off her shoulders, her whole body was trembling. The thought of standing there before him in nothing but a black satin thong and a pair of high heels was both daunting and horribly exciting. As her fingers curled over the edge of the neckline, her nipples tightened further, as did her belly.

And then it was done, the red silk dress pooling at her feet with a soft whooshing sound. Her spine and shoulders straightened as he stared at her, and for a long moment neither of them moved or spoke.

But then he sighed. ‘I’m not sure one night is going to be enough,’ he muttered in gravelly tones.

She should not have been thrilled by his words, but she was.

‘Come here,’ he commanded.

Where did she find the courage to walk almost naked towards him?

Possibly courage wasn’t an issue when she was so turned on that nothing mattered any more except that his eyes stay fixed on her bared breasts.

Which they did.

‘Stop,’ he commanded again when she was within arm’s reach of him.

She stopped, her heartbeat momentarily suspended as she waited for him to reach out and touch her. When he did—brushing the back of one hand across her stunningly erect nipples—a lightning rod of electricity zapped through her body, making her gasp.

‘Turn around,’ was his next surprising order.

She teetered a little on her high heels as she did so.

‘Steady,’ he directed, taking a firm hold of her shoulders from behind. ‘Now, move your legs apart a little.’

Such a small, insignificant movement but, oh, what incredible feelings it evoked. She’d never felt so wicked. Or so wanton.

Her head literally spun. Was this the kind of thing he did with all his women? Stripped them, not just of their clothes but their conscience and their pride? No, no, that last bit wasn’t right; her pride wasn’t at risk here. She didn’t feel in any way humiliated by the things he’d asked her to do. She’d seen the admiration flare in his eyes when he’d looked over her near-naked body. Laura had felt perversely proud of herself at that moment, perhaps because she knew he’d looked upon more beautiful bodies than hers. Yet he still seemed to find her very desirable.

I’m not sure one night is going to be enough, he’d said.

Not enough for her either, she suspected, if this was his idea of foreplay. What next? she wondered as an erotic tremor trickled down her spine to where her tightly held buttocks were quivering with anticipation.

He suddenly pressed himself up against her back, his left hand dropping from her shoulder to take possession of her left breast, whilst his right hand slid across to push her hair back from her face and neck. Her head tipped sideways when he put his mouth so close to her ear that his hot breath made her shudder.

‘I think,’ he murmured, ‘That it’s time to go to bed now. What do you think, beautiful?’

‘I can’t think at all,’ she returned shakily. And wasn’t that the truth!

‘God, but I love seeing you like this,’ he ground out, cupping her chin and twisting her head far enough around so that their eyes could meet.

‘Like what?’

‘All hot and bothered.’ His eyes glittered down at her whilst he moved his outstretched palm back and forth across her by-then exquisitely sensitised nipple.

A tortured moan escaped her parted lips. ‘You are a libertine,’ she accused breathlessly.

‘Not quite,’ he retorted. ‘But I could easily become one tonight.’

Ryan struggled for control as he scooped her up and carried her over to the bed. He struggled to calm his flesh, which was clammering wildly for a quick release. Not just quick—savage. He wanted to throw her onto that bed, rip off her panties and just ram himself into her.

Rough sex, however, was not something Ryan ever entertained. He prided himself on being an imaginative lover, but always a tender one. He never indulged in anything which smacked of violence. The thought of making a woman cry out with pain was anathema to him.

Okay, so some women liked it rough, he reminded himself as he laid her down across the bed. But he couldn’t imagine that Laura would be one of them. Clearly she had believed, up until this life-changing moment, that she needed to be in love to enjoy sex. Which was a fallacy, of course. Sex was a basic human function much the same as eating and sleeping; you didn’t need to be in love to enjoy either of those. Ryan had never been in love in his life and he sure as hell enjoyed all three.

Despite knowing deep down that he was making a big mistake taking a work colleague to bed—business and pleasure don’t mix, remember?—Ryan told himself that he might actually do Laura a good turn by proving that sex and love didn’t have to be joined at the hip. After all, it wasn’t healthy for her to continue living without a man in her life. Her responses tonight had already shown him that she wasn’t the ice queen she’d been pretending to be with him these past two years. Far from it.

By the time he sat down beside her on the bed and reached for her left foot, Ryan had almost convinced himself that what he was about to do had a noble side to it.

Almost …

Laura clenched her teeth hard in her jaw as Ryan slowly undid the ankle strap on her shoe then eased it off her foot. Where did he learn to touch a woman like that so softly and so gently? She would have thought a goalkeeper’s hands would be harder and rougher. But, no, they had the sensitivity and the skill of a surgeon. Every time one of his fingertips touched her flesh, an electric current ran up her legs.

‘I’ve always admired your dainty feet with their slender ankles,’ he said as he dropped the shoe onto the bedside rug and moved onto her other foot. ‘And, whilst I adore these particular shoes, I can’t risk leaving them on right now. The thought of your digging their lethal-looking heels into my back does not appeal.’

When an image popped into Laura’s head of exactly how she might manage to dig her heels into Ryan’s back, her heartbeat went from a fast trot to a wild gallop, her mouth falling open as she sucked in some much-needed air. But when the second shoe was dispensed with and his hands started travelling up her legs she found herself holding her breath once again. By the time he made it to the tops of her thighs, she had to breathe or die.

Her gasp brought his eyes to her flushed face.

‘These have to go as well, Laura,’ he told her, hooking his fingers under the sides of her panties and peeling them down her legs, all the while holding her eyes.

At last, he looked at her there.

By then Laura found it impossible to speak.

She was dying for him to touch her more intimately, but dreading it too. She knew she would be wet down there. She could feel it.

‘Ryan,’ she managed to blurt out when his finger moved perilously close.

Too late. He was there, and it felt incredible.

Her moan brought his eyes back to hers.

‘You have a problem?’ he asked, but without stopping. He was still using just the one finger, but it knew exactly where to go and what to touch, an erotic weapon of total seduction.

Her face twisted into a grimace which reflected her dilemma. She was going to come. And, whilst she was dying for release, it was not what she wanted. She wanted to come with him inside her.

‘I … I … You have to stop!’ she cried out.

He stopped. Just in time.

Laura shuddered with relief.

His head cocked to one side as he frowned down at her. ‘Would you like to tell me why I had to stop? It wasn’t because you weren’t liking what I was doing. I could tell.’

She gnawed at her bottom lip and looked away.

‘I won’t know what you want if you don’t tell me,’ he said softly, and quite sensibly.

So she told him, her voice faltering and her face flaming with embarrassment.

‘Is that all?’ he said, sounding and looking pleased. ‘Just give me a minute or two.’

He stripped off with considerable speed, chucking his clothes onto a nearby chair and not stopping until he was down to his underpants. At that point he did hesitate, first to go over to put another log on the fire then to search through his jacket pockets for his wallet, out of which he extracted two foil packets.

Laura could not believe that she hadn’t thought of protection herself. Just as well Ryan wasn’t so silly. But then he wouldn’t be, would he? she thought ruefully. Not a man of his extensive experience!

Laura did her best to put her sensible head back on, but it was all to no avail when Ryan stepped out of his underpants. Oh dear, oh dear; she’d known he would be built like that. He was seriously impressive. His body was the sort of body that you saw on billboards advertising jeans or male Y-fronts. He could easily have made it as a male model. And he was all hers—for tonight, anyway.

This last thought brought excitement, but apprehension as well. Despite knowing she was way beyond changing her mind at this critical stage, Laura could not dismiss the niggling feeling that going to bed with Ryan would change her life in ways which might not be all good. She might have given the consequences of tonight’s impulsive actions some more thought if a naked Ryan hadn’t joined her on the bed at that point.

‘Only got two of these, I’m afraid,’ he said as he placed the condoms next to the lamp on the bedside chest. ‘But they’ll be enough. For now …’

When he pulled her round and rolled on top of her, Laura gasped at the weight of his body. But, as soon as he propped his upper body up on his elbows on either side of her chest, the feeling of pressure lightened considerably.

‘Open your legs wide, Laura,’ he commanded, ‘And lift your knees up. Yes, that’s the way, sweetheart. This could take a few seconds.’

Without using his hands in any way, he angled himself at her entrance but he didn’t push himself in. Instead, he rocked back and forth and rubbed himself against her until she was almost at screaming point. She could feel her whole insides squeezing tighter and tighter, desperate to feel his flesh filling hers.

‘Oh please,’ she heard herself beg at last. ‘Please …’

Only then did he enter her. But still not very far.

‘Lift your feet and wrap them high around my waist,’ he ordered her. ‘That’s it. Now rock back and forth with your hips. Hell, yes, that’s the way.’

Laura followed his instructions until he was buried in her to the hilt, his flesh filling hers like a sword in its scabbard. Only then did he start to move, repeatedly pulling back a few inches before surging forward until he could go no further. Each thrust brought a gasp of pleasure from her lips, along with an increase in the most maddening frustration. As her body twisted tighter and tighter with sexual tension, her nails began clawing at his back, her heels digging into his buttocks. He responded by thrusting into her even more powerfully, and suddenly she came, her head thrashing from side to side as her flesh convulsed wildly around his. She’d never experienced anything like it before in her life. It was incredible!

‘Yes, yes!’ she cried.

And it was whilst her head was still whirling with the wonder of it all that Ryan came too, his whole body shuddering as it found release. He cried out as well, a loud, raw sound which reminded her of a creature from the jungle—Tarzan, maybe. Or possibly something less human.

So this was sex at its most primal level, Laura realised dazedly as she clung to his shuddering body. The kind animals indulged in. She could not pretend there were any fine emotions involved in their mating. They weren’t in love. They barely liked each other.

No, that wasn’t true any more. Not for her, anyway. She did like Ryan in a perverse kind of way. But she wasn’t in love with him, despite having given him her body.

This last realisation came as a great relief. Maybe she would survive having a strictly sexual fling with him after all. Maybe she wouldn’t do anything so foolish as to fall for him. She’d already fallen for two Mr Wrongs in her life. A third could prove fatal, if not to her sanity then at least to her soul. Because falling for her would never be on Ryan’s agenda. He’d spelled it out for her already in no uncertain terms. He didn’t do love, or marriage, or long-term commitment. Sex for him was just a physical pleasure, to be indulged in regularly, the same way he regularly ate and slept. Okay, so he did stick to only one bed partner at a time, but he always moved on. Always. She should never forget that.

Finally, his head lifted from where it had dropped down on the bed just above her left shoulder.

‘Amazing,’ he said with an almost surprised look on his face. ‘Was that as good for you as it was for me?’

What could she say? It was way too late to be coy with him.

‘It was wonderful,’ she said truthfully.

He smiled. ‘Tired?’

She shook her head.

‘Great,’ he said, and after giving her a brief peck on the lips he abruptly withdrew, his reverse action forcing her legs to unwrap from around his waist and drop back down onto the bed. ‘Have to go to the bathroom,’ he said. ‘Don’t go away, now.’

Laura could not help it—she laughed. Wild horses wouldn’t have been able to drag her out of this bed. But as she lay there, waiting for Ryan to return, her infernal female mind did start worrying about how she might feel in the morning. Not ashamed, she decided with a surge of defiance; she wasn’t doing anything to be ashamed of. Ryan had broken up with Erica, after all. There was nothing to be ashamed of in consenting sex between two free adults.