Summer Down Under (27 page)

Without warning, he placed his hands under
her bottom and scooped her up until she had her legs wrapped around
his waist. They were still kissing as he stepped out of the shower,
carrying her down the hall to his bedroom. Daniel pressed Sam up
against his closed door, and she fumbled blindly for the doorknob,
never once parting her lips from his.

Finding it, she wiggled a little dance of
victory on his hips, garnering her another deep-throated growl.
They almost fell through the door, such was Daniel’s impatience to
get inside his room. He carried Sam to his bed and leaned over to
lay her down on the soft cotton comforter. They were still soaking
wet, but neither seemed to notice. As Daniel pulled away from her,
Sam could see his skin glisten in the glow cast from the light in
the hallway. His eyes burned with a passion more intense than she
had ever seen before. He kneeled astride her, took hold of her
hands and placed them above her head.

“I am going to love you like you have never
been loved before.” His voice was like velvet, caressing her
skin.

Sam’s body shuddered with excitement at the
mere words.

He let go of her hands. She left them where
they were as he slid his fingers down the inside of her arms and
along the sides of her torso. His head was above her chest and he
took each pert nipple in his mouth one at a time. She squirmed
beneath him, the pleasure increasing with every lick, every touch.
After paying homage to her breasts, he laid a trail of kisses,
snaking a path down to her belly button, skimming his fingers down
either side of her waist, as he did. Her muscles danced beneath his
touch. He moved down the bed and with one swift movement he pushed
her thighs apart and settled between her legs. Without warning, he
bent over and caressed the very center of her being with his
tongue. Sam sucked in a breath. Her body bucked beneath him. A
fleeting feeling of shock and embarrassment skittered over her, but
was quickly pushed away by the sheer intensity of the sensations
Daniel’s tongue was creating.

“Oh, God,” Sam groaned. She had never felt
anything like this before. She grabbed the comforter either side of
her and clenched it in her hands. Within minutes, the powerful wave
of tension and contractions that was building up in her core gave
way to an explosion of light so intense she thought she would
shatter into a million tiny pieces.

As she came down from her ecstasy, Daniel lay
a few feather light kisses on the already sensitive part of her
that, until that moment, she had no idea could make her feel so
incredible.

She let go of the comforter and grabbed hold
of Daniel’s silky hair that was now tickling the delicate insides
of her thighs. She wasn’t sure if it was possible to go into
sensory overload but she sure felt close. Daniel looked up and gave
her the smuggest of smug male grins. Sam’s breathing was still
ragged as he lifted himself up and sidled his way up her body, like
a panther stalking its prey.

Sam watched, mesmerized, as he started
kissing a trail up her stomach. His eyes fixed on hers, searching
for any sign she didn’t want him to continue. When he reached her
face, Sam felt his hardness resting between her thighs, waiting for
permission to enter.

Daniel took his weight on his elbows and
looked into Sam’s eyes. “Are you alright?” he whispered. “Do you
want me to continue?”

Sam’s smile reached all the way to her eyes.
She nodded, her brain incapable of forming words. She’d never been
more sure of anything in her life.

Passion exploded behind Daniel’s eyes. His
hands embraced Sam’s hips as slid into her slick wetness with care,
allowing her muscles time to stretch around him, watching her for
any signs that she did not want to continue. He’d taken her this
far, he wasn’t about to hurt her now, however unintentional.

Sam drew in a slow breath as her body
accepted his intrusion, never once taking her eyes from Daniel’s.
His searching gaze continued until she reassured him she was okay.
She smiled again and it was all the signal he needed. He lowered
his head and covered her mouth with his.

The delicate parts of her that were still
sensitive from his prior attention, burst into life again as he
moved inside her, finding a rhythm they both fell into
naturally.

Daniel’s ragged breath fanned over her face.
Their bodies twinned with an unmistakable connection. His rhythm
increased as their skin became slick with moisture again. He
released himself just as Sam cried out, once more consumed in a
heavenly rapture she didn’t even know existed.

They lay still for a few minutes, allowing
their breathing to return to normal. The tiny aftershocks that were
still enveloping Sam’s body slowly abated.

“Wow,” Sam gasped. “That was incredible. You
are incredible.”

Daniel propped himself up on his elbow. The
smug male smile returned. Then, without warning, he grabbed hold of
her and rolled them both over until Sam was lying on top of him.
She let out a little shriek of delight. Sam moved herself down his
body slightly so she could rest her head on her hands on top of his
chest to get a better look at him.

He looked contented and Sam felt more at
peace than she had for years. The storm was still raging outside,
but the one within her had subsided, and the sun was beginning to
shine.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“What for?” he asked, raising a dark
brow.

“For loving me that way.”

He smiled once more as she laid her head on
his chest and drew tiny circles on his collar bone. His hand found
her hair and he ran his fingers through it in long languid strokes.
Sam’s eyes grew heavy and she let out a sigh. She was so at ease,
so relaxed, and it was all thanks to the man lying beneath her.

“I love you in more ways than you could ever
know.” The whisper seeped into her brain just before she slipped
into a blissful sleep.

Sam woke a little while later to the feeling
of Daniel’s chest rising and falling underneath her. She enjoyed
the feeling and brought her head up to rest on her hands to look up
at his face. He was not sleeping, just watching her with an air of
contentment.

“Hello,” she said with a smile. “Was I asleep
long?”

“Only about half an hour.”

“I don’t know about you, but I am
famished.”

“Me, too. Shall we get up and find something
to eat?” Daniel asked.

Sam thought about it for a moment. Decisions,
decisions, she thought. Lay here against this incredible man’s
chest, or put a stop to my stomach’s persistent nagging. She nodded
and pushed herself up.

Sam grabbed one of Daniel’s shirts and put it
on. They padded barefoot down the corridor to the kitchen to see
what culinary delights they could cook up.

The next few days passed with Daniel and Sam
blissfully unaware of the total chaos that was lurking its ugly
head just around the corner.

They had heard from Daniel’s dad. Aunt Marge
seemed to be getting better, so it was all looking set for his
parents to be back in time for shearing. Much to their relief.

The day after the storm had been spent mostly
in bed, if the truth be known. Daniel continued his mission of
making Sam feel comfortable in her own skin. Sam had to admit it
was working, thus far.

The torrential rain made it too muddy to do
anything outside, anyway. Until it dried up a bit, they were going
nowhere fast, either on foot or wheel. They spent a delightful day
either in Daniel’s bed, or in the kitchen shoving naughty food in
each other’s mouths.

But all good things must come to an end. The
next day they decided it was probably dry enough to go out and
retrieve their bikes and finish off lamb marking the sheep that
they had been so rudely interrupted in doing by a major
thunderstorm.

They did some more training with Jess. With
Daniel’s help, she was really starting to shape up as a sheep dog.
Sam persuaded Daniel to let her go with them, instead of taking
Archie, when they spent the next few days going out all over the
property and mustering the thousands of sheep closer to the
shearing shed in preparation for when the shearers arrived at the
end of the week.

Sam was so proud of Jess. The young dog was
becoming a real pro. Not once did she cut through the flock and
send them scattering. Instead, she was a real asset, pushing the
sheep on and helping get them through the gates into the paddock
nearest the shearing shed.

Daniel turned to Sam one afternoon as they
watched the dog zigzagging behind the flock, pushing them through
an opening.“You worked wonders with that dog,” he said, an air of
pride in his voice.

“You helped,” Sam stated.

“Yes, but if it wasn’t for you caring enough
to spend time training her, she would not have come this far.”

“I was only doing what came naturally. At
least now your father won’t have an excuse to get rid of her.”

“No, he won’t.” Daniel paused. “Thanks, Sam.
You truly are a natural out here. You seem to take things in your
stride, and at least have a go at everything, even if you’re not
comfortable with it.”

Sam smiled. “No worries.” She had to admit
she was feeling quite proud of herself, too. It was good to see
Jess working the sheep and know that she was now safe from the
bullet.

Thursday evening rolled around. Daniel and
Sam were once again scavenging through the ‘general store’ in
search of something that wouldn’t take too long to cook. They were
famished after a long day’s work. They grabbed their spoils and
headed back to the kitchen. Just as they stepped inside the door,
the phone rang.

“Hello,” Daniel said into the receiver.

Sam could hear the voice on the other end and
recognized it as belonging to Mr. Miller.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, Dad. I thought
she was getting better,” Daniel continued. “No, I understand. We’ll
be fine. Honestly. Okay, Dad. Well, give Mum and Aunt Marge my
love, and don’t worry, we’ll get through this.” He hung up.

Sam’s stomach fell to her feet. “They’re not
coming back for shearing are they?” she croaked, panic rising in
her throat.

Daniel looked at her and shook his head.

“Nope. Looks like it’s just you and me,
Hun.”

Sam’s chest felt like it was being squeezed
in a vice and all the color drained from her face. If there was one
thing that scared her
almost
as much as being naked in front
of someone, it was cooking for someone. Now she was faced with
cooking for at least twelve people, including themselves.

Mr. and Mrs. Miller’s livelihood for the
whole year rested on this shearing and the wool that would be sold.
If the shearers got angry because they weren’t being fed to their
standards, they could just up and leave and go to another station.
It was hard enough to get a good team in the first place; they were
always in high demand. To add insult to injury, Mrs. Miller’s
cooking was legendary in those parts. Unwittingly, Sam started to
hyperventilate and little white spots appeared before her eyes.

“Oh, God,” she moaned into her hands. “We’re
doomed.”

“Come here,” Daniel said, putting a soothing
arm around her shoulder. He led her to the dining room and sat her
down. He kneeled in front of her and looked into her panic stricken
eyes. “It’ll be all right, Sam.”

“No, Daniel. It won’t,” Sam snapped. “You
have tasted the fruits of my culinary expertise over the past few
days, there is no way I am up to the challenge of feeding a team of
ten hungry shearers three times a day.” Her voice was getting
squeaky now. Out and out panic was not conducive to having a sexy
voice.

“I don’t even know where to start,” Sam
whimpered. “I don’t know the first thing about how much food to
prepare?”

“I have an idea,” he said.

“What, you’re going to hire a chef?” Sam
retorted, unable to keep her sarcasm at bay.

“No, we can call up Sally next door and see
if she can give us some advice. She has to do this every year, too,
and they’ve already had their shearing done.”

Now when Daniel said next door, what he
actually meant was their nearest neighbor who just happened to be a
mere ten miles away on the next sheep station down the road.

“I guess it’s worth a try,” Sam said
weakly

“Okay, let’s get a pen and paper,” Daniel
said taking charge of the situation. “We can start by asking Sally
what provisions we need to buy and if she has any recipes.”

He grabbed a pen and paper from next to the
phone and they wandered over to the two-way radio. All of the
stations in the area communicated via two-way radio. They each had
their own channel number and it was much cheaper than using the
phone.

“Shalroma to Thunder Hill. Shalroma to
Thunder Hill. Come in Thunder Hill.” Daniel spoke clearly into the
handset. A moment later, they got a response.

“Shalroma, this is Thunder Hill. How are you
today, Daniel? Over.” It was a ladies voice. Sam assumed it must be
Sally.

“G’day, Sally. We are in a bit of a pickle
and wondered if you could help us. Over.”

“No worries, Hun,” she replied. “What d’ya
need? Over.”

“Mum and Dad got called away. Aunt Marge in
Brisbane is really sick and they just called to let us know they
won’t be able to make it back before shearing,” Daniel
explained.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, Daniel,” Sally
replied.

“The thing is, Sal,” Daniel continued. “That
just leaves our new jillaroo, Sam, and me to run the shearing next
week, and, unfortunately, neither of us have any clue how much to
buy or what to cook for the team. Can you give us some tips?”

“No worries, Hun. Got a pen and paper handy?”
Sally asked.