Misplaced Hands: 4 (Foreign Affairs) (9 page)

“You don’t want…” Harper’s voice faded away. Marc looked at her, finding her chewing her bottom lip, her stare on Keith. Obviously the fact he was the only one yet to come hadn’t been lost on her either.

“Later, darl’.” Keith’s answer was low, a vow Marc didn’t miss in his words. “I promise.”

With a slight nod and a quick glance at Marc, Harper dunked back under the water.

Marc gave his best friend a quizzical look.

“You sure, Blue?”

Keith grinned. “Sure.”

He was walking back to the ute by the time Harper resurfaced, pausing only to scoop his hat up from where he’d tossed it earlier and place it back on his head.

“Ladies and gentleman,” Marc said, smirking at his mate’s back, “may I introduce Keith Munroe, the naked stockman.”

Keith flipped him the bird without turning or slowing down.

Ten minutes later, all three were dressed and in the ute. Marc sat in the back with Harper, his arm draped around her shoulder as Keith started the engine.

She sat silently beside him, her teeth still playing with her bottom lip, her eyes hidden by dark sunglasses.

He gave her a gentle nudge. “You okay, love?”

“Yeah. Just trying to…comprehend what we did.”

Marc’s gut knotted but he forced his expression, his body, to stay relaxed. “You regretting it?”

For an answer, Harper leaned toward him and brushed her lips over his. “No. Not one little bit. Just thinking about who I am now. What this means. You may not believe it, given how brazen I was back there, but I’m not exactly…experienced. I’ve led a sheltered life. If it wasn’t for Amy, I never would have found the courage to leave Chicago, let alone…” Her cheeks blushed a delightful pink and she rolled her eyes, ducking her head. “Well, you know…what we did.”

Marc held her closer as Keith navigated the old dirt road back toward Farpoint’s homestead. “Love, by the time you go back home, I suspect ‘well, you know, what we did’ will have happened many more times. And I’m glad you found the courage to come to Australia. I’m pretty certain if it wasn’t for you and the way you affected both me and Keith, ‘well, you know, what we did’ wouldn’t have happened with any other woman. It was intense.
Especially
when you consider you’re…” He paused, unsure how to continue.

She frowned. “What?”

He cleared his throat. “A lesbian.”

Harper’s eyebrows shot up. “I’m a
what
?”

A fast beat thumped into life in Marc’s head. He narrowed his eyes, studying her. Fuck, he was going to kill Big Mac.

“Seeing as I’m a what?” Harper repeated, clearly trying not to laugh.

He bit back a growl. “Bloody Ronald MacNamara told Blue and I you were a lesbian. Said trying to kiss you was a waste of time.”

Harper blinked at him. “I think I’d like to have a word with Ronnie.”

Marc snorted. “Get in line, love. We shoulda known he’d pull a stunt like that. He’s been out for revenge ever since I—” He stopped abruptly. “Well, let’s just say we don’t get along and leave it at that.”

Curiosity flittered across Harper’s face.

Marc chuckled. “Nothing too terrible. I didn’t think so anyway. But now that I know you’re definitely not a lesbian, and you know Blue and I definitely aren’t gay, we can put Big Mac’s stupid pranks behind us and get on with doing lots more ‘well, you know, what we did’.” He grinned. “How’s that sound?”

Her cheeks turned a darker shade of red. “My brother would kill me if he knew.”

“Is he a large bugger?”

Harper’s smile grew, warm affection shining in her eyes. “Little taller than you. Andrew’s a professional adrenaline junkie. He’s ten years older than me and very protective. Overprotective, I have to say. But there’s a…” She petered out. “I do love him, even though he treats me like I’m still twelve.”

Sensing a tension stealing over her, Marc smoothed his hand up her arm. “Then let’s hope I never meet him. ’Cause love, every time I look at you, I reckon it’s gonna be bloody obvious what I want to do to you. And overprotective big brothers are inclined to beat the shit out of blokes who want to fuck their little sisters five ways from Sunday.”

Harper’s laugh was spontaneous and genuine, something that made Marc’s gut knot. He could fall for this woman without any trouble at all. She was bloody gorgeous. He could listen to her sexy-arse accent until the cows came home, her intelligence shone in her eyes and he felt completely relaxed, a state he rarely felt around anyone but Blue.

It was daunting, feeling this way, given he hardly knew her. Especially when she was only going to be Down Under for a fortnight.

Then make the most of it, dickhead. Don’t waste a single bloody minute.

He wouldn’t. And he’d make sure Keith didn’t either. What the three of them had shared today was beyond his limited vocabulary. He was just a jackaroo, a boy from the bush who’d spent his life on Farpoint. The only words he could think of were phenomenal, unbelievable and fucking amazing.

Twenty minutes later, during which he pointed out things he thought Harper may be interested in seeing—the mob of ’roos bounding over the plain, the dingo and her pups playing in the scrub, the red-belly black snake slithering on the side of the road—the ute pulled to a halt outside Amy’s cottage.

“What are you guys doing after dinner tonight?”

Marc vaulted out of the tray. “Can’t get enough of us, ’eh?”

She grinned. “Ego, much?”

He held out his hand to help her climb from the back. “Bloody oath, mate.”

Harper’s feet had just touched the ground when Keith slammed the driver’s side door. “Thomo,” he said, walking toward them both, his eyes shadowed by the brim of his hat and the dappled light filtering through the overhanging gum trees. “Pick Harper up and carry her inside.”

Marc’s pulse leapt into his throat. He swung to Harper, unable to deny the sudden tightening in his groin at Keith’s command. She stared at him, at Keith, back to him again.

Her breath caught. “Keith,” she whispered.

“It’s later, darl’.”

Her nipples hardened at his low murmur. Marc could see them straining against the cotton of her shirt.

“Pick her up, Thomo,” Keith ordered again without taking his stare from her face. “And take her inside. I can’t hold on much longer.”

Marc moved. He turned to Harper and, with a wink, snared her wrist in one hand, tucked his shoulder to her belly and hauled her off her feet.

She squealed, the sound rising above the warbles of the magpies nesting in the gum trees.

Ten strides later, after a rather dramatic kick that swung the door to the cottage wide, Marc dropped Harper on the bed.

Keith followed him into the room. The clink of metal told Marc his best mate had released his belt buckle. Harper’s swift intake of breath, the widening of her eyes, told him he’d lowered his fly.

“I’m going to make you come again, darl’.” Keith moved into Marc’s line of sight, his attention focused on Harper. “I’m going to fuck you with my mouth until you can barely draw breath. And then—”

Harper rose to her feet before he finished, traversing the minute distance between them. “Shut the fuck up, Blue,” she murmured.

And as Marc watched, she smoothed her fingers around Keith’s engorged cock and slowly sank to her knees. “It’s my turn now.”

Her mouth slid down his cock. All the way. Keith hissed in a sharp breath, his toes curling in his boots. Fuck a duck. Harper’s mouth was wrapped around his cock. Her tongue was lapping at his balls.

He bit back a groan, a tingling fire igniting at the base of his spine. Hot pleasure surged through him. He snared a fistful of her hair, his anus contracting.

She eased his pants down farther, just below his ass, and cupped his balls in a snug grip—then pressed a finger to his hole.

“Fuck!” The word burst from him in a gasp. Keith felt raw and stripped of control.

Harper moaned around his dick and tugged on his balls again.

“Bloody hell, Blue.” Marc’s voice came from a foggy distance. “She’s got all of you in her mouth. Every bloody inch.”

Eyes squeezed shut, Keith tightened his fist in the silken strands of Harper’s hair. “You don’t think I know that, mate?” he ground out, the fire in his spine radiating through him in wicked waves. “It feels so bloody…” He sucked in a sharp breath as Harper pressed her finger against his arsehole again. “Jesus, darl’, I’m going to come if you keep doing that!”

She released his dick with a pop and grinned up at him. “What do you think I’m doing this for?”

“That’s true, Blue,” Marc commented. “She’s not flossing down there, y’know.”

Keith threw a scowl at his best friend. “Shut the fuck up and—”

He didn’t finish, the words trapped in his throat as Harper sucked his cock back into her mouth.

Marc groaned and Keith heard his friend’s belt buckle release. A part of his mind told him Marc was undressing, another part couldn’t focus on anything but the concentrated pleasure consuming him. He’d been so bloody hard all day. Hell, since Harper had arrived on Farpoint. By the time they’d left the billabong, he’d been in so much agony he’d almost passed out. It was only focusing on the road and his grip on the steering wheel that had saved him. That stopped him pulling the ute over, releasing his dick from his jeans and jerking off.

He’d been determined to control himself. To build the anticipation. To wait until Harper had recovered from the events at the billabong before unleashing his desires. He was all about delayed gratification, but now, with Harper’s lips a tight seal around the root of his shaft, with her tongue laving his length, with her finger massaging his anus…fuck, delayed gratification could go take a flying jump.

He was going to come any moment. His release was building, a molten pressure radiating through in his groin, every fiber of his being.

“Christ, darl’,” he groaned, all too aware his voice shook. “That’s so good. So fucking good.”

He lowered his gaze, saw Harper’s plump, glistening lips slide up and down his rigid cock—and he exploded.

His seed surged through his length, pumping into Harper’s mouth, the back of her throat. She cupped his balls with her palm, pressing harder at his anus with one finger. Rhythm deserted him. He bucked, his groans turning to gibbering pants as she continued to suck, taking him deeper with every erratic thrust.

“Fuck.” Marc’s hoarse moan flayed at Keith’s senses. “Watching you come, Blue…”

Harper’s lips slipped from Keith’s cock, her fingers wrapping its spent length as she smiled up at him. “
Making
him come is just as amazing, Marc.”

A wobbly chuckle fell from Keith. He released the fistful of her hair he’d been gripping and brushed the backs of his knuckles over her cheek. “You did it very well.”

She smiled. “Thank you. Is it embarrassing to admit that’s only the second time I’ve done it?”

Heavy heat clamped around Keith’s chest. He checked his shock, shaking his head with a slow smile instead. “Not embarrassing at all, darl’.”

Second time? Christ, how is that possible?

Faint pink painted her cheeks. “My ex wasn’t into it.”

“Then he’s a bloody dickhead,” Marc stated.

Harper turned toward him. “He was, a bit. Thankfully Andrew scared him off.”

The sudden shard of jealousy that pierced Keith’s chest at the name “Andrew” caught him off guard. Who the hell was Andrew?

As if sensing Keith’s disquiet, Marc gave him a wide grin. “Don’t worry, mate. Andrew is Harper’s big brother.” He flicked Harper a quick look. “Having said that, you
did
say he’s the overprotective type. Maybe Blue
should
worry?”

Harper shook her head, rising to her feet, her fingers finally slipping from Keith’s cock. “I can’t believe I’m having this conversation right now.”

“What conversation?” Marc asked, and it was only then Keith realized his friend was naked from the waist down. When the hell had he stripped off his boots and jeans? “About your brother?”

Harper nodded, shifting on her feet as Marc approached, her butt rubbing against Keith’s groin. If he hadn’t just shot his load into her mouth, he had no doubts whatsoever he’d be sporting a bloody impressive erection. Her butt was so firm, her flesh so soft and smooth.

The faintest stirrings of tension pulled at his balls and Keith let out a ragged breath. Getting aroused so quickly was normally beyond him.

Sharing a woman with Thomo isn’t the norm either, Munroe. Everything is new right now. Don’t bloody well complain.

“So…” Marc’s voice drew his attention back to his friend. The jackaroo stood directly in front of Harper, hat still on his head, his gaze holding hers. “If your brother was to walk in right now, what would you say?”

Harper’s laugh was low. “I’d tell him I was busy being a grown-up.”

Marc took another step closer. Harper pulled a breath, arching her back and spreading her thighs a little to allow his hand to slip between her legs. Keith’s groin throbbed again. Watching Marc’s fingers disappear beneath her trousers was just as arousing as Harper’s shallow breaths.