Margaret Way - Six Australian Heroes

Her aunt turned a surprised face her way. ‘You know, Laura, meeting that marvellous man has done wonders for your attitude. Not only are you looking so much better, you’ve finally found some manners.’

Laura shook her head whilst Lisa grimaced behind her mother-in-law’s back.

Laura was itching to say something seriously catty in return when Ryan suddenly came into the room.

‘How’s it going with you lovely ladies here?’ he said brightly as he made his way across the floor of the truly large kitchen to where they were grouped by the sink. ‘Need any help?’

‘Heavens no,’ Cynthia trilled, lifting her gloved hands from the sink as she turned towards her guest. ‘This is women’s work. Anyway, we’re just about done here.’

‘In that case, would you mind if I stole Laura away?’ he asked as he slid a warm arm around Laura’s waist. ‘Driving always makes me tired and I didn’t want to go to bed alone.’

Laura was glad that she wasn’t required to say anything. Talking might have been difficult at that moment.

‘You go right ahead,’ Cynthia said obligingly. ‘We can finish up here. As I said, it’s almost done anyway, isn’t it, Lisa?’

‘Absolutely,’ Lisa concurred. ‘It was lovely to meet you, Ryan. Shane and I have something else on tomorrow so we won’t see you again this visit. But I’m sure we’ll see you again soon,’ she added with a knowing little look Laura’s way.

‘I’m sure you will,’ Ryan said. ‘ Au revoir for now, then. See you in the morning, Cynthia.’ And he swept Laura away before Cynthia could land them with a specific time for breakfast—which she was likely to do. Cynthia liked to run the house like an army sergeant, with a time for everything.

But Cynthia’s rigid schedules were the least of Laura’s worries as she was steered with considerable speed along the hallway towards the staircase. Ryan’s fingertips were digging into her right hip and his body language reeked of anger.

‘What’s wrong?’ she blurted out when they reached the bottom of the staircase.

‘Everything’s wrong,’ he bit out, and started pushing her up the stairs.

‘But … But …’ she stammered, totally confused by his suddenly aggressive attitude. He’d seemed so agreeable in the kitchen just now.

‘No buts,’ he broke in savagely. ‘And no talking. I’ve had enough talking for one day. And enough thinking. I already know this is a bad idea. I know that neither of us might be happy about it in the morning. But I’m sure as hell going to be happy about it tonight. And so, by God, are you! Or you will, if you just shut up and let me do what I’m good at. Which sounds arrogant, I know, but there’s no virtue in false modesty. I was a damned good goalkeeper and I’m a damned good lover.’

Relief that his bad mood didn’t mean he still intended to sleep on the floor swept through Laura. At that moment, she didn’t care if he was unbelievably arrogant—which he was. Though maybe he had good reason to be. She’d never doubted for one second that he’d be good at sex. And now she was about to find out.

A shiver ran down her spine, then right down to her toes, making her shudder all over.

Ryan immediately stopped at the top of the stairs and pulled her close. ‘Don’t go pretending that you’re cold, madam. You’re hot for me.’

He was right.

‘I thought you said no talking,’ she said huskily, and pressed herself against him.

Ryan laughed, but then he fell silent, his eyes turning to a midnight blue just before his mouth crushed down on hers.

It was a kiss which told a story, if either kisser or kissed could read between the lines. The story was one of total frustration, both sexual and intellectual. Neither could understand the attraction they felt for each other this weekend. It was a mystery to them both. But they’d reached the point of no return, where logic had no power and all that existed for them was desire.

When voices in the hallway below threatened to disturb the marvellous madness of the moment, Ryan scooped Laura up in his arms and carried her into the bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him. He didn’t miss a beat as he charged across the room and fell with her into the middle of the four-poster bed. They kissed on and on, their limbs tangled, neither of them coming up for air.

Ryan was the first to lift his head and draw a decent breath.

‘We’re acting like horny teenagers,’ he said with a ragged sigh. ‘All speed and absolutely no finesse.’

With almost shocking abruptness, he rolled off her and right off the bed.

Laura could not help the groan of dismay which escaped her lips. Immediately, he sat back down on the bed, leaning over to cup her face with gentle hands.

‘I didn’t want to stop either,’ he reassured her softly. ‘But allow me to know what’s best in this situation. I could be wrong, but I have the impression that sex for you hasn’t exactly been of the bell-ringing variety in the past. If it were, you wouldn’t have gone five years without it.’

Laura blinked, both at his intuitive conclusion and his rather amazing ability to take control of the wild passion which had been raging between them less than a few seconds earlier. She could not possibly have stopped, yet he had. Laura guessed that was what made him a man of the world and her a … what? A naïve fool? No, not a fool. Just much less experienced in sexual matters.

Perhaps not so inexperienced after tonight, she conceded with a rush of excitement.

‘What do you want me to do?’ she asked him breathlessly.

His smile carried a wicked edge. ‘Now, that’s a very leading question. Ask me again later. For now, I don’t want you to do anything except just lie there and relax.’

‘Relax?’ He might as well have asked her to climb Mount Everest.

His smile turned a little wry. ‘You’re right, I don’t really want you to relax. But I have something to attend to before proceeding.’ And he stood up.

‘What?’

‘I’m going to light the fire. It’s become quite cool in here.’

‘I didn’t notice.’

‘You will, once you get naked.’

Naked …

Laura could not help shivering at the thought.

‘After I’m done lighting this,’ he said, moving over to hunch down in front of the fireplace, ‘I want to undress you.’ He glanced over his shoulder at her.

Laura swallowed. Her throat was horribly dry all of a sudden.

‘Now, don’t start thinking,’ he growled before returning his attention to the fire. ‘It’s too late for second thoughts. Or for worrying. You want me to make love to you and I want that too. We may regret it in the morning, but who knows? Maybe we won’t. Maybe we’ll look back on tonight and think of it as an incredible experience which neither of us would have missed for the world.

WANTING a moment to recover herself, Laura got off the bed and went into the bathroom where she was momentarily startled by her reflection in the large mirror. She’d forgotten how different she looked tonight. For a split second it bothered her that Ryan’s intense desire for her was nothing more than a superficial reaction to her suddenly sexier appearance. But then she shrugged the thought aside. Of course that was why he desired her. That was the nature of the male sex; their hormones were easily turned on by physical beauty. She had to confess that even the female sex could fall victim to such shallow attractions. If Ryan hadn’t been so handsome, with a drop-dead-gorgeous body, she would hardly want to sleep with him tonight, would she?

By the time she emerged a couple of minutes later, the fire was crackling, with flames leaping high up the chimney. Ryan was back on his feet, leaning on the mantelpiece and staring down at the flames. His jacket and tie had been removed, and the top two buttons of his shirt undone. He looked pensive, and so sexy Laura could hardly breathe.