“I was just going to ride out to meet you and then my horse came up lame. I thought he’d lead me back to the stable, but he came here.”
“You’re on Fraser land,” Brody said. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and then took a deep breath. “Do you know how dangerous it is out here? You can walk for a day and not see anything familiar.”
“That’s why I decided to stay here.”
“The first smart move you made all day.” He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her, his mouth harsh and demanding, as if he was exacting punishment for what she’d done.
But he didn’t stop there. He tore off his jacket and tossed it aside, then began to work at the buttons of her shirt. When he wasn’t removing her clothes, he was strip-ping out of his, and within a minute, they were both naked.
Payton wasn’t sure what to say. She knew he was angry and maybe a bit shaken, but he seemed to need reassurance that she was safe. He buried his face in the curve of her neck, his hands skimming over her body as if to prove to himself she was unhurt.
Brody turned her around in his arms. Payton knew what was coming, but she wasn’t prepared for the intensity of his need. “I don’t have protection,” he murmured.
“It’s all right,” Payton said, arching against him. She’d taken care of birth control a long time ago, choosing a method that was both constant and convenient. She wanted to experience him without any barriers, to feel just him inside her.
He buried himself deep in a single thrust, then held her, drawing a deep breath. She wriggled against him, silently pleading for him to move, but he held her still until he regained control.
He began slowly at first, with a delicious rhythm that she couldn’t deny. Her mind whirled with a maelstrom of sensation and she felt herself losing touch with reality. Every stroke brought her closer to completion.
Payton moved with him, sending him even deeper. Every movement felt like perfection, as though their bodies were made to do just this. His fingers grasped her hips as she urged him on, so close to release that she was afraid they might both collapse onto the floor before they were through.
Brody moaned and she knew he was close. But then, suddenly he stopped. “Say it,” he murmured. “Tell me you’ll never leave me.”
At first, she wasn’t sure what he meant. Did he just want to hear the words, or was he demanding the promise behind them. In the end, Payton didn’t really care. If he wanted her to stay, she would, for as long as this passion lasted. “I won’t,” she said. “I promise.”
“Promise me,” he said, his voice raw as he moved again.
“I promise.”
Satisfied, he brought them both closer and closer. And then, in a blinding instant, Payton cried out and dissolved into powerful spasms of pleasure. He was there with her, his body shuddering with every stroke.
Brody sighed as he kissed her nape, his teeth grazing her skin. When he stumbled, Payton steadied them both, their bodies still joined. “I think we should sit down,” she said.
“No,” he murmured. “I want to stay just like this.”
“All right,” she said, reaching back to wrap her arm around his neck. She shifted and he groaned, slipping out of her.
Brody moved over to one of the bunks and gently lowered her onto the rough wool blanket. Then he stretched out beside her. Goose bumps prickled her skin and she pulled the edges of the blanket up around them both. “It’s not as comfy as your bed,” she said. “But it will do.”
“We’re trespassing. Considering the feud between the Frasers and the Quinns, we might end up shot, or in jail.”
“It was worth it,” she teased.
“No more adventures in the outback for you.”
“I’ll just take you with me.” She closed her eyes and snuggled against him. At that moment, Payton couldn’t imagine ever doing without this passion. Or without this man. What that meant, she wasn’t sure. But it did mean something.
“TEAGUE?”
Brody awoke to the sound of a woman’s voice. The door creaked and he pushed up on his elbow, squinting against the sunlight that shone through the door, Payton still sound asleep beside him. “Brody,” he said.
He heard hurried footsteps on the front steps, then carefully rolled out of bed and tugged his jeans on. When he got outside, Brody found Hayley Fraser mounting her horse.
“Wait,” he called, raking his hand through his tousled hair.
She paused, watching him warily from atop her horse. Brody hadn’t seen Hayley in ages, not since she and Teague were teenagers. But he had seen photos of her in magazines and on television. Teague’s ex-girlfriend had become one of Australia’s most popular young actresses. She had a part on a television show that almost everyone in Oz watched every Thursday evening, and there were rumors that she was about to make a move to Hollywood.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, her wavy blond hair blowing in the morning breeze.
“We needed a place to sleep. This was close by. Was Teague supposed to meet you here?”
“No,” she said, an edge of defensiveness in her voice. “Why would you think that?”
“It was almost as if you were expecting him,” Brody said.
“I saw the Kerry Creek horses and I thought it might be him. But I was mistaken. Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
She looked even more beautiful than she did on television. But instead of being dressed in some sexy outfit, with her hair fixed up, she wore jeans, a canvas jacket and a stockman’s hat. “Should I tell Teague you were looking for him?”
“Why?” She shook her head. “No. You don’t need to tell him anything.”
Brody felt a hand on his arm and he turned to see Payton standing beside him, wrapped in the wool blanket. “Morning,” she said, nodding to Hayley.
“Payton, this is Hayley Fraser,” Brody said. “Her family owns this place. Hayley, Payton Harwell.”
Payton smiled. “Thank you for letting us stay here. I got lost last night and wasn’t really prepared to sleep outside.”
Hayley nodded, her expression cool and guarded. She’d never really warmed to anyone else in the Quinn family or anyone connected with them. In truth, Brody’s parents had discouraged a relationship to the point where they forbade Teague from seeing her. At the time, both Callum and Brody had sided with their parents. But Teague had never bothered to follow their advice. And he probably wouldn’t now.
“I—I have to go,” Hayley murmured. “Stay as long as you like. I won’t say anything to my grandfather.”
She wheeled her horse around and kicked it into a gallop, the dust creating a cloud behind her. Brody and Payton watched as she rode off. Brody glanced down at Payton, then slipped his arm around
