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After he ca that, she’d washed up soe in his pack, for she’d found one of his cotton T-shirts, put it over her otherwise naked body and curled up in the center of the bed While she’d tangled one of the sheets up in her legs, in her repose she’d already kicked one leg free, and he could see the lovely length of it from the ankle to the hint of bare backside beneath, the shadow that led froht of her there, the one bed, where he could be next to her, his body spooned behind her

A few days ago, he wouldn’t have hesitated to enjoy the scenery to the fullest, or becoetting up to speed on things, he’d been running froht and bathed in sweat After that, though she didn’t like it, he’d gone off and slept in the barn when she didn’t need him No one could hear him there

It shamed him The bush could absorb his pain, a silent witness that passed no judgment on weakness When a man was around blokes, his boss or especially a pretty woman, he didn’t act a wobbly wuss He should be back in the Outback, had known it, but she’d ive his word he’d accoo back on it They had that in common, damn it all

She tried to get his they needed to do on the station, or halfhearted flirtations

So far, she hadn’t pushed it, but he could feel her watching hiet aith this for long, and it increased the sense of trapped desperation

He thought about getting a beer, but put that off for later He sure as hell didn’t feel up to talking to Bob alone Instead, he unrolled his swag, stripped off his shirt and lay down on the floor, staring up at the ceiling When she shifted, he lifted his head to see her hand passing over the bed, fore and aft, her eyes still closed

Dev? You can come up here

I know

A quiet moment Then, a different tone Dev Come up here

His body felt weighted with a dark exhaustion, but when her hand slid across the ers with the hint of curved nails fluttering at hi to her side Only then did she open her eyes and look at his uncrossing, shifting apart and then coether as she turned away As she did all that, the cotton shirt drifted higher up her hip, giving hie of her nipples beneath the thin cloth as it stretched over them

Hold me I want to feel you behind me when I sleep Leave your trousers on, except the belt Give that to me

It was indescribably seductive, the sultry cadence of her words filling his es He couldn’t explain how his mind shut dohen she spoke to him like that, but he suspected she knew it Was she coh to know it helped? That soht hi himself over to it

He slid behind her Of course, she already had hiize for that When he pressed his hips up against her bu herself firroan

The belt, Dev

He’d forgotten about it Reaching between them, he unbuckled it, slid it free, and doubled it up Curious, he handed it over her arm

She twisted her body enough to take it froh the buckle until it was a cuff, looping it around his wrist She wrapped the tail around her own forearain, his arly curved into his body, her hips putting tantalizing heat on his erection again

So you’ll stay tethered to me in my sleep, bushman You rest with me today You’ve rechecked the vehicles We’ll worry about anything that needs worrying about e rise Sleep with me now Just sleep

You’ve made that very hard, my lady Difficult

She chuckled as he corrected the entendre, and did a slow, seductive circle over his groin that had his hand clenching in its cuff then, finding her wrist and circling it with his fingers, as if he wereher in his oay

Sleep, Dev Just sleep