Tom gazed upon Harriet for a moment before reaching out to her.
He had uncurled himself earlier, after their second round of lovemaking, to check the weather. Other districts in the north-western plains of Queensland were copping it just as bad. Some even worse. One particular report stated they had just received four inches of rain in two hours.
He lifted Harriet into his arms and she stirred, her eyelashes fluttering against her pale cheeks.
“Shh, I’m just taking you to bed,” he murmured softly.
He placed her on the mattress and covered her with the sheet.
It was cold. It should be stifling hot at this time of the year, but the rain had brought with it a chill.
Damn. The poor cattle on these flooding stations were already in bad condition due to years of malnutrition. They wouldn’t have the strength to survive flooding plains and starvation.
He climbed into bed beside Harriet and snuggled against her soft, warm body. She had surrendered herself so completely to him last night, and he had accepted her wholeheartedly.
He wanted to build a life with Harriet here on the land. It would be a new beginning for them both. But he sensed there was still heartbreak buried deep within her. Her late husband had broken her and he wondered if she would always hold just a little part of herself back, scared of being wounded again. And who could blame her?
She shifted within his embrace and, even though he couldn’t see her, he could sense her eyes on him.
He touched the tips of his fingers to her face, delicately tracing the outline of it. Her breathing grew more rapid as his fingers slid down her throat to the hollow in her collarbone, then across her shoulder.
“Kiss me?” she said on a moan, desperation thickening her voice.
He dipped his head and, unable to deny her anything, kissed her hungry mouth.
She wrapped her leg over his hip, pulling him closer. He grew hard and hot and desperate for her as he slid his hand along the sensitive curve of her breast and lower, over her belly to her hips. He cupped her soft bottom before kneading it with his fingers as she rocked against him and moaned.
Then she twisted in his embrace so her back was against him. She captured his hand and showed him what she wanted. Where she wanted him to touch her.
He followed her instruction, rubbing her hard knob as he kissed the sensitive spot behind her ear. Her moans became more urgent as she ground against his hips. He withdrew his hand long enough to sheath himself with a condom.
Then he was sliding into her, going deep. Dear lord, he had never been so deep inside a woman before. He fitted into her so well, like a jigsaw.
He placed his hand on her once more and teased her into orgasm as she pushed him in and out with her hips.
She clamped around him and cried out as she came. With a satisfied smile, he allowed his own orgasm to take him.
They didn’t need words as they lay there, hot and sated. He found her lips and she replied with a kiss that told him everything.
It was enough for them to be together in this moment. This was their second chance.