Taming the Outback (21 page)

If that’s what he wants.

It was late by the time she had rounded up the kids and loaded them into the four-wheel drive. Nathan had left earlier without saying a word to her, and she felt used and dejected.
So be it.
He didn’t want her. He’d made that quite plain. Just the sex if offered and her farm when she left with her tail between her legs.

Not going to happen, buddy
. She was staying, sex or not. She would get by; other women did. There’d be a way to dull her sexual urges. If Libby kept busy enough, she would be too tired to think about it.

Guiding the kids into bed, she said good night to them and went out to the kitchen. Tom watched as she threw herself into a chair. “Want to talk about it, Lib?”

“Nothing to talk about. He isn’t interested, so let’s just leave it alone for now.”

“The boy needs his head read,” Tom muttered.

“Maybe, but his needs and mine are obviously on different scales neither of us is prepared to budge on.”

“You deserve more, Libby.”

“You, my man, are biased.” Libby rolled her eyes.

“Maybe.”

“I’m going to bed; see you in the morning.” She kissed the top of his head as she passed him. She walked down the hallway into her room and softly shut the door behind her.

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTEEN

Weeks dragged by, and Libby kept herself busy. The fencing was finished, sheep sorted, and the excess rams sold off to pay for the new ewes Bill had delivered. Her new bull was settling in well, according to Tom.

She had formed the plan for the new cows, and Aaron had approved it. Now all she had to do was organize the stock agent to purchase them for her and let them do what they did naturally.

She was getting horny again, and it showed. She was snapping at the kids and Tom. Ever the perfect gentlemen, he ignored her as was her wish. But even Tom had his limits. He took the truck one afternoon and didn’t come back until well after dark, missing dinner, something he’d never done before.

“Tom, where have you been? Is everything all right?” Libby raced out the door to meet him as he came up the pathway.

“Just having a beer with a mate,” he replied.

“Who?”

Tom looked away from her, avoiding her gaze. Libby tapped her foot on the floor as she realized why he wasn’t answering her.

“Nathan?” She folded her arms in front of her, licking her lips.

“Maybe.”

“How is he?”

“About as ill-mannered as you are.” A wry grin spread across his face.

“Good. Well, that’s good then,” Libby said, storming away from him and going to her room, slamming the door behind her. Libby tossed and turned in her bed.
Damn it.
She wanted the man but not on his terms. He wanted sex and the farm, but did he want
her
as much as she wanted him?

She stripped her clothes off and climbed into a cold shower, convinced it would shock her out of her stupor, but all she could think of was what she would do to Nathan if he were in there with her. Angry with herself, she turned off the water, grabbed a towel, and rubbed her skin.

She pulled on her jeans, a T-shirt, and a cardigan before slipping thongs on her feet and sneaking out of the house. She drove to Nathan’s, hoping he was still awake and as miserable as Tom said.

The light was on in his bedroom, but it was the shadows moving in the kitchen that gave away his presence. His head appeared at the doorway when she got out of the vehicle. The outside light flicked on as he came down the path to meet her, pulling open the gate before she reached it.

“Sweetheart, is everything okay?” he asked anxiously.

“At home with Tom and the kids, yes,” she said. “But not with me and you, Nathan.”

She took in his handsome face, a face now looking haggard and tired. He hadn’t shaved, and his dark shadow was smattered with gray to match his sideburns. The deep lines under his eyes proved what Tom had told her was the truth.
Nathan isn’t dealing with this any better than I am.

The reality of the situation brightened her heart. Maybe there was something they could do, but she wasn’t prepared to risk her kids’ future to satisfy her sexual urges.

He lifted a finger and stroked it down her cheek.

“What are you doing here, sweetheart?” he asked. “Are you planning to have your wicked way with me again, or are you here to torture me?”

Libby groaned as she turned her lips into his palm. She held his hand to her mouth and ran her tongue over the rough skin, licking and kissing until he moved away. Grabbing her face in both of his hands, he pulled her mouth up to his, and Libby clung to him as he smothered her face with kisses. Libby gulped for air, unwilling to release his mouth from hers, but wanting to taste all of him. She traced her lips around his rough chin, down his jaw line to his neck. His body leaned into hers, and she moved her hips with his, both of them trying to get closer to each other. Nathan picked her up and turned to the house. He walked up the stairs, through the kitchen, and carried her down the hallway to his room, gently laying her on his bed.

He eased his body down beside her, holding himself up on his elbows as he gazed into her eyes.

“Tell me what you want, sweetheart.” He rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip.

“I want you, Nathan,” she replied. “But I want you for more than just one night here and there. As much as I want sex with you, it’s not all I want. I want you to make me feel like I’m more to you than a warm body in your bed or a way to increase your land holdings. I want to be with you because you want me and my family for what we are, not just for what we have.”

“Sweetheart.” He groaned, dropping his head and shaking it from side to side.

Her heart clenched.
He doesn’t want me. It is just the sex and the station
. She had known that all along, but she’d wanted to believe otherwise. Pushing his hand away, she rolled away from him and sat on the edge of the bed.

“You bastard,” she cried as she stood on shaking legs and walked from the room, down the hallway, trying to make it out to her car before she broke into tears.

“I don’t want your bloody farm,” he called out, his voice reverberating down the hallway toward her.

Libby stopped and leaned her shoulder against the wall, her heart pounding.

“Did you hear me, sweetheart?” he called out. “I don’t want it. I never did.”

She dropped her head and breathed, waiting for more. Libby felt him approach from behind her.

His breath was warm on the back of her neck, and it took all of her will not to turn around and fall into his arms.

“I never wanted it,” he said raggedly. “Your uncle kept offering it to me every time I brought some of his flea-bitten stock back. He thought what he had was top class, but he was old and out of touch with reality by the time he died. Maybe it was top stuff years ago when your grandfather had his hands on the reins, but by the time he passed on, it wasn’t worth much. I didn’t have the heart to knock him back, so I went along with him. I’m not into hurting old folks for the sheer hell of it.”

Libby turned her head as his fingers played with a loose tendril of hair. She wanted to believe him, but she held back, still not satisfied with his answers. “Why did you treat me like you did when I arrived then; was that for the hell of it or to make up for your generous behavior toward my uncle because he didn’t leave you the station?”

“No. I’m sure Tom filled you in on my past love life,” he said. “I had no plans on being bitten again, certainly not by a city chick not used to the ways of country life. No amount of love can make up for the harsh climate and hard work out here for some. You kind of need to be bred to it in most cases, and I didn’t think you would last the distance, sweetheart. City girls don’t as I know from experience. I wasn’t prepared to let myself fall in love with you only to watch you walk away when things got to be too tough, but you’ve proved you’re different from most. You aren’t scared to get your hands dirty or fight for what you want. You must have more of your grandmother in you than I thought.”

“That doesn’t excuse what you said when you found us stranded on the side of the road.” She slowly turned around to face him. “Or for the looks of disdain the day we crossed paths at Aarons office.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “It was rude and uncalled for, I know that, and if you really want to know, I felt like a jerk saying it. But when you walked into the office all but dragging Josh by the ear and getting wound up before you knew why you were there, I overreacted. You sounded like the mother from hell. I shouldn’t have judged you so harshly without giving you the chance. My only excuse was the feeling of hopelessness I found myself in when Aaron said you were coming in and he was convinced he could talk you into taking on the farms. I didn’t need a city person playing at running the place. And then when you stepped out of that broken-down car of yours, I felt like someone had hit me with an ax. Call it preservation if you must, but I didn’t want to acknowledge what you did to me just standing there stranded like that, your clothes rumpled and your hair coming free from its tie to fall over your face.” He dropped a kiss on her neck, making her shiver uncontrollably. “I tried to get Aaron to stop you from coming out, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He said you’d make it here in the country, and he was right. You fitted in like you were born for it, and I’m glad he didn’t listen to me. But I should never have said it, Libby. You don’t belong to Tom, you belong to me.”

“Really.” She pushed him back. “You have a funny way of showing it, buster.”

“Okay, I’ll admit it. I didn’t want to fall for you. When I saw you on the side of the road, it was a kick in the guts that took my breath away. You looked so damned gorgeous and cranky standing there trying to be tough, it blew my theory of me being better off single out the window. When Tom and Holly got caught in the floods and you called me to help, I lost it. I’ve known Tom all my life, and I was starting to feel just a little bit protective of your family, even if I didn’t have the guts to show it. I was terrified for them, and you bore the brunt of it. I’m sorry. I do want you, farm or not. I don’t care what you do with it. Leave it to the kids; give it to Tom. Do whatever you want with it. I don’t want the place, never did. I don’t need it, but I need you. I want you in my bed,” Nathan said. “I want you by my side every night and every day.”

“We come as a package deal, you know.” She held back from taking him until she got what she wanted...her life sorted out. “My kids, Tom, and Winton. I’ve never had a family like this, and I’m not letting them go. Not even for you, Nathan.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to. Whatever you want is yours, sweetheart.” He pulled her close. “But I do have one stipulation.”

Her heart raced as she waited for his next words.

“Just promise me you’ll walk around naked in high heels once in a while for me, okay? It’s been the only thing that kept me going these last few weeks.”

“Fine, but we live at my place,” she whispered in his ear as he started to undress her. “You don’t have a big enough house for me to do that without the kids and Tom catching on.”

Nathan peeled her clothes from her shoulders and let them drop to the floor before lifting her in his arms and taking her back to his bed.

Libby smiled in the protection of his arms. All the uncertainty of the last few months washed away as she gazed up at the man holding her tightly, joy and love shining over his face as he looked at her.

She was home in the country where she belonged.

B
IOGRAPHY

Ann swears she was born with a book in her hand and has never put it down. A lifelong love of reading has finally culminated in achieving her dream of writing…and publication.

She lives in the middle of the desert in Australia in a small mining town with her own handsome hero of many years. Ann has always loved the ups and downs of life in small communities, and she shares this with readers in her rural romances.

Ann features strong, spunky heroines with a good dose of sass in her stories. Of course, these women need an equally strong hero. Bring on the Outback hero and watch the passion ignite.

When not writing, Ann runs a day care center and looks after young children for working mums and dads. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, walking her very large dog, Hugo, and fighting with her computer.

Visit Ann at http://annbharrison.com