Six Australian Heroes. Margaret Way
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wanted you to do what you did. I enjoyed it. You know I did.’
He just stared at her.
‘Let me assure you that my chances of getting pregnant are negligible,’ she went on, thankful that she was one of those girls who kept dates pretty clear in her head—not that her head was all that clear at the moment. ‘My period is due on Wednesday and I’m as regular as clockwork. It’s a very safe time for me in that regard.
‘Unless, of course,’ she added, her heart jolting as another not very nice thought came to her, ‘You’re worried about my catching something far worse than a baby.’ There was no use pretending that he wasn’t a player with a stream of partners behind him. Maybe he’d done this kind of thing before—had unsafe sex, and with someone not as safe as she was.
He looked genuinely shocked at her enquiry. ‘You have my word that your health is at no risk from me. I have never before had unsafe sex. Not once. This is a first for me, believe me.’
‘Really?’ Laura couldn’t help it. She smiled at his admission. There was something perversely flattering that she’d been the one and only woman to make him lose control like that.
‘Yes, really, Miss Smug.’ He cocked his head on one side and gave her a long thoughtful look. ‘I take it, then, that you won’t mind if I stay the night?’
‘I … er … was actually hoping for more than one night,’ she said, well aware that she wasn’t strong enough to send him away. Not yet.
Rambo bolting down the hallway towards her was a thankful distraction from the telling heat that was suddenly threatening to engulf her.
‘Hi, sweetie,’ she said. ‘Did you miss me?’
He miaowed once, then sauntered over and rubbed himself around Ryan’s ankles. When Ryan scooped him up into his arms, Rambo began to purr.
‘He likes you,’ Laura said, trying not to feel jealous.
‘He’s a very nice cat. Even with only one eye. His fur is incredibly soft.’
‘He’s very spoiled.’
‘I can imagine. Does he sleep on your bed every night?’
‘No. He likes to roam at night. I’ve tried locking him in, but when I do he just sits at the window in my room and cries. It’s easier to just let him do what he wants.’
‘Smart cat. He’s trained you well.’
‘I love him,’ she said somewhat defensively. ‘When you love your pet, you can’t bear to see it unhappy, or hurt.’
‘Hence the three-thousand-dollar vet bill,’ Ryan said.
Laura refused to be irked by the dry amusement in his voice. ‘I would have spent ten thousand dollars to keep Rambo alive! Now, if you don’t mind, I have to feed him or he’ll be a pain later on. And we wouldn’t want that, would we?’ she threw at him snakily.
He smiled a wry smile. ‘Glad to see that some things about you haven’t changed. Here,’ he said, and handed the cat over. ‘He’s all yours. By the way, after you’ve fed him, is there a chance of some coffee? You pointed the kitchen out to me yesterday.’
Only yesterday? Laura thought with amazement as she carried Rambo down to the kitchen. One short day and so much had changed. The twice-bitten-forever-shy Laura of yesterday would have worried herself sick over where her affair with Ryan was heading. This morning’s Laura had still been a little concerned.
The Laura who’d just had wild but fantastic sex up against a wall now looked at things very differently. No longer was she going to worry about falling in love with Ryan and ending up with another broken heart. She was going to embrace the lust which was still raging within her and live for the heat of the moment. The long-term future could go hang itself. The only future she cared about was the immediate future. Which was tonight.
Her heartbeat quickened as she realised that she would soon be back in bed with Ryan. Back in his arms, back experiencing the most incredible pleasure. She could not wait to be totally naked with him once more. To have him touch her everywhere. To touch him everywhere as well. Her head swirled at the thought of going down on him. Not reluctantly, but avidly. And certainly not because of some silly idea of sacrificial love. She wanted to feel that power which he’d described to her last night, wanted to make him lose control, all because of her.
It was a heady thought. Heady, intoxicating and thrilling.
Rambo’s impatient miaow snapped her back to the present.
‘You wouldn’t understand, Rambo,’ she muttered as she went about getting him the special treat she always fed him when she wanted him to settle. ‘You’ve been de-sexed. Now, here, eat up. After which I want you to be a good boy and don’t bother me for the rest of the night.’
‘I hope you’re not talking about me,’ Ryan said as he strode into the kitchen, his beautiful blue eyes glittering with amusement. ‘Because I don’t intend to be good. And I am going to bother you. But not till I’ve had some coffee. Strong coffee. I suggest you have some as well; don’t want you falling asleep on me.’ He glanced around. ‘I like your kitchen. The wood’s a nice colour.’
‘It’s oak,’ Laura said as she dropped the empty tin in the garbage. ‘Real oak.’
‘It’s classy,’ he said, and pulled out one of the two wooden stools which fronted the small breakfast bar. ‘Like you,’ he added.
Laura wasn’t sure what to say to such a compliment, so she settled for a simple, ‘Thank you,’ before turning away from him to put the kettle on and get everything ready for coffee.
‘I only have instant, I’m afraid,’ she said as she busied herself with the mugs.
‘No problem; I’m not fussy. Just make it black and strong, with no sugar.’
‘I don’t know how you can bear drinking coffee without milk and sugar.’
‘I learned when I had no milk and sugar,’ he returned dryly.
She frowned as she turned back to face him. ‘Were you really that poor once?’
‘You have no idea.’
‘No,’ she agreed thoughtfully. ‘I guess I haven’t. I may have been unhappy as a teenager but I was never poor. I certainly never went hungry. That must have been horrible.’
Ryan shrugged, as though he no longer thought about it. Or cared. ‘It made me appreciate things once I could afford them. And it made me work hard so that I could afford them. But enough of such talk. I never like talking about the past. It’s a waste of time.’
‘But the past is what makes you what you are today,’ Laura said, curious now to find out more about him. She realised that he’d revealed only scant details about his early life to her family yesterday. Though Gran had picked up on the fact that his childhood couldn’t have been easy.
‘Yes I do know that, Laura,’ he replied a little impatiently. ‘But I don’t subscribe to analysis of any kind. It does a person no good at all to rake over the past, especially when the things they’re raking over are usually wretched and made them miserable. It just sets off old problems again. Far better to put things behind you and move on.’
Laura almost said that was much easier said than done but decided to let the matter drop. She didn’t want to say or do anything to spoil the rest of the evening.
‘Speaking of moving on,’ he added dryly. ‘So come with me, woman. Bed awaits.’
LAURA still fell asleep, but only after a lengthy sexual marathon where they made love over and over and over, in every