"What's wrong with him?" the barman asked nervously, sticking his head inside the shed door.
"I don't know," Aidan murmured at the same time as I said, "Snakebite."
The barman burst out laughing. "When it's near freezing outside? The snakes are all asleep – too frozen to bite anyone!"
"Can you get the first aid kit from inside, Mark?" Aidan asked quietly. "And call an ambulance, too, mate. If he's not conscious, we need to get him to hospital. If they want more details, bring the phone out here and I'll fill them in on what I know."
"Sure, Doctor Aidan." The barman grinned and trotted off.
"Bel…" Aidan began.
I shrugged. "I'm a midwife, a nurse. You're the doctor. They expect you to take charge and you are. They won't listen to me while they have you."
"No," he said urgently, with a firmness in his tone that made me stare at him. "Why snakebite, Bel?"
"Check his hands, his wrists – he didn't wear gloves and she was probably asleep in the wood. I think he woke her up and she defended herself," I replied.
Aidan stood up, looking around in panic. "But where's the snake?"
I touched the toe of my shoe to the block of jarrah nearest me, a striped tail just showing beneath it, stirring sluggishly. "She's here, trapped under some wood."
Aidan's eyes were wide. "What kind of snake?"
I turned my head to look more closely at her. "Tiger snake, I think."
Aidan's arms pulled at me, trying to put distance between us and the poor stunned snake. I shook my head and pulled away. "Help Ben. Find the bite marks and tell the ambulance officers. Do your first aid and get him safely out of here. When he's on his way to hospital and some antivenin, I'll let the snake loose."
Aidan gave a nod of understanding and attended to his patient. "On his wrist – here. Right into the vein." He pointed at the tiny puncture marks, wiping away a trickle of blood.
Not a moment too soon, for the barman appeared. "First aid kit!" he announced, holding out the box.
Aidan's voice was calm and methodical. "Get me a pressure bandage – I think he's been bitten by a tiger snake that was hiding in the wood pile." He held out a hand expectantly.
The flustered barman fumbled through the first aid kit and held out a bandage, his hand shaking. I crossed the shed in two strides and took it from him, ripping open the packaging to hand the bandage to Aidan.
He wrapped Ben's arm tightly, from the visible bite marks on his wrist up past his elbow, before Aidan demanded and was given more bandages.
The ambulance officers didn't take long, for their station wasn't far away, and it seemed like no time before we heard the sound of the ambulance siren. Mark left to guide them to the shed.
"Tiger snake bite. Swab the area and get some antivenin in him straight away," Aidan ordered. "It's been half an hour since the bite – you need to act fast, as he's already showing some signs of paralysis."
The ambulance officers nodded fervently as they shifted Ben to a stretcher and into the ambulance. Both turned to Aidan, to ask if he wanted to accompany them.
For a moment, Aidan hesitated, but he slid an arm around my waist instead. "No. I'm not on duty this weekend. And I've had a couple of whiskeys. Raise the on-call doctor on the radio and have him meet you at the hospital. I think Lachlan's on today."
The paramedics nodded again, before climbing back into the ambulance with their patient and heading off.
I ducked into the shed while the two men watched the ambulance. I moved to the other side of the block of wood, where I could see the snake's head. I looked into her open eyes. She was short, but fatter than most tiger snakes I'd seen. I nodded carefully at her, humming my daughter's lullaby for luck, as I touched my foot to the log trapping her coils. With a flick of my foot, I rolled the wood toward me, releasing her. She slithered away with difficulty to the darkest corner of the shed. "Take care, little one," I murmured to the small snake, who looked as if she was about to give birth. She'd had a precious burden indeed to defend from Ben the distiller. She disappeared into the darkness beneath the wood pile.
I left the snake in her shed and joined the two men, who hadn't noticed my absence.
"He'll name his next whiskey after you, Doctor Aidan! You saved his life!" Mark beamed at Aidan.
Aidan shook his head gravely. "No, I think Ben should name his next whiskey after..."
"The snake," I interrupted with a forced smile. "He should name the whiskey after the snake that bit him!"
"Tiger snake it is!" Mark laughed, sounding giddy.
Aidan glanced at me and I smiled, moving to his side. His arm circled me again as he kissed me. "Time to go home, Bel?"
I nodded, fighting to hold my smile in place.
We both bade Mark goodbye and walked slowly to Aidan's Mini.
38
It wasn't until we were back on the road to his house that Aidan asked, "Why didn't you speak up for yourself, Bel? You knew exactly what to do there. If Ben names a whiskey after anyone, it should be you. You saved his life."
I smiled gently. "People want to hear it from a doctor, not a midwife. If he'd gone into labour, then they'd have listened to me. Besides, you had everything under control."
Aidan persisted. "But…the snake! I never even saw it. If you hadn't, then it might have been too late when he got to hospital…"
"You listened and that's what matters. You saved his life, Aidan, not me." I smiled again, brighter this time. "And I'm sure Mark the barman is happily spreading that story right now. Enjoy it, Aidan. This is what you're capable of doing."
"Thanks to you. Only with you," Aidan replied, taking his eyes off the road to stare at me.
I wanted to meet his eyes, but one of us had to watch the road. "Watch out!" I shouted, in time for him to avoid the kamikaze kangaroo by swerving onto the wrong side of the road and back again. The words stuck in my throat. The reply I wanted to make but couldn't. Aidan…
Aidan's eyes remained glued to the road for the remainder of the trip back, as did mine. No more kangaroos tried to kill themselves or us. Lucky lived for another day.
We reached the house and Aidan reached over to caress my face, pulling me in close for a passionate kiss. And another. I didn't want to move, nor leave the car, relishing the closeness and comfort this man brought.
A third kiss came to a close and Aidan pulled away. "Let me get the fire going and we can continue this, uninterrupted," he begged.
"I'll help," I replied quickly as he led the way to his own woodshed. I didn't trust the snakes to leave him be for me without me there to remind them.
Together, the work went faster, as we filled a wheelbarrow load of wood for the house and headed back for another. I stacked the wood as Aidan constructed something complicated on the hearth with paper, sticks and small kindling. He touched a flaming match to the creation and set it alight, much like he did my heart. I watched him for a moment, as his eyes danced with reflected flame. Fire on water…
Aidan turned and smiled at me. "Let's wash up and then the one thing I want to do most is get you out of those clothes."
I returned his smile, still a little shaken. "Same," I admitted, trying to match his light tone.
39
"Spread those lovely legs for me, Bel," Aidan murmured between kisses as his lips moved down my breasts. His hands caressed my thighs as I willingly complied.
"Let me show you how grateful I am for what you did today." His words confused me as his lips distracted me, travelling lower until they tickled my inner thigh. More confused than ever, I tried to pull away.
"Bel," he began, his hands stroking where his lips had been only moments before. So close, almost teasing me, for I knew what he could do with those hands. I shifted again, so my legs were wider apart than before. "I'd like to taste you."
"What?" I sat up quickly, staring at him. My body shifted from aroused to afraid, as if I'd plunged into cold water. "You want to…what?" My alarm grew.
"To taste
you, my beautiful Bel," Aidan murmured, touching his tongue to my skin. A slow lick until I stiffened at the sensation, from my nipples to my spine. I'd never felt anything so strange.
Aidan laughed, looking up at my face. "Look at you, Bel. I'd think you'd never…"
I shook my head, not sure how to tell him I had no idea what he meant. Fifteen fumbling minutes in the back seat of a car with a man whose name I never knew hadn't prepared me for whatever Aidan wanted to do to me now. I felt fear.
"Aw, Bel, I'm not going to bite you," he began again, still laughing. His laughter died as he realised he'd guessed my thoughts. "Hey." He sat up, too, on his knees between my legs, pulling me to his bare chest. "I thought you'd like it. Don't freeze up on me again, Bel. Please." His voice held an urgent entreaty.
I slowly relaxed into his embrace, telling myself I was being silly. "I'm not the fucking ice queen," I mumbled, the words slipping out before I realised I'd spoken them aloud.
Aidan's laughter rocked us both as he stroked my still-knotted hair with one hand, gently undoing the knot to let my hair down once more. "That's right, you're not. You're warm and wonderful, my beautiful Bel." The stroking stopped, before resuming a moment later, slower and more intimate. "Just like in that amazing shower we took together this morning…" His fingers were deft, reminding me. He kissed me deeply, taking my gasp as he took me to the cusp of a climax. "I love you, Bel."
I shouted his name, my body shuddering, almost drowning out his heartfelt words. Yet I clung to him, too, aware of every syllable and every sensation he inspired in me. I wished I had the breath to reply in kind.
Aidan held tight to me, murmuring in my ear. "Now, if it's all right with you, I'd like to do with my tongue what I just did with my fingers. I think you'd enjoy it. But it's up to you, Bel. I just want to hear you scream my name like that again."
I struggled for breath. "Is…are you…as good with…your mouth…as with…your hands?"
"Better." Aidan kissed me as the growled word faded into the air. Slowly, he leaned me back until my head rested on his satin-skinned pillow again.
Our lips parted and he smiled. "Shall I?" He dipped his head to touch his tongue to my nipple, delicately caressing the pink skin until it tingled.
"Yes," I whispered uncertainly, closing my eyes.
A gentle kiss touched my mouth, before Aidan chuckled. "I won't hurt you, Bel. I just want to pleasure you – any way you'd like. Anything you want me to do. Just name it." His hands caressed my breasts and belly as he moved. His next kiss was equally gentle, though considerably lower. "Relax, Bel."
I tried, but from the first swipe of his tongue I was lost to the electrifying sensation as Aidan set my every nerve alight with the fire of his love. Lust. Ah, maybe both. And mine.
I surrendered to his skill.
"Oh, Aidan…Aidan…OH!"
40
Day darkened to night and I made love with Aidan. We felt no hurry, nor desire to stop. He was a sweet lover, for all his fire. Like mixing his fiery whiskey with cool water, our time together was enhanced by our joining. His every caress felt burned into my skin, yet I burned for more. Oh, Aidan…
I didn't sleep on the floor by the fire that night, nor barricaded in the bedroom nearest the bathroom. I shared Aidan's bed and slept beside him on satin, when we chose to sleep. And when we didn't…I ached for more.
That night, I woke in darkness, thirsty for water. I disentangled my body from Aidan's embrace and padded to the kitchen. Through the kitchen window, I spied movement on the edge of the lawn, where trees and bush met grass. I held still and watched. Keeping low, a large, striped cat, the size and shape of a greyhound, stalked the edge of the bush. Her ears pricked at the slightest sound and once her head turned so she looked right at me. She froze, as did the two tiny cubs at her paws. With such small young, I knew her den must be close by. As I met her gaze, I nodded slowly. Her secret was safe with me, as long as she did not betray any of my secrets. She and her cubs flitted between two trees and were gone. The Nannup Tiger lived and she was not alone.
I quenched my thirst with tap water, before returning to Aidan's bed. As I slid in beside him, he stretched an arm across me to stroke my leg.
"I thought you'd disappeared and maybe I'd just dreamed you." His hand curved around my thigh, slowly moving upward. "Would you like to inspire some sweet dreams to see us through 'til morning?"
I could take sleep or sex, but I knew that when morning came, I'd be driving home. The burning fire our passion kindled tonight would be cold soon enough. Fire could not burn forever. But it could burn for one more night. And oh how I burned for him now.
I stretched and spread out, as his fingers slid inside. My breath hissed out in response, as a far hotter snake thrust into a welcome home.
Sleep could wait.
41
I lay on my side, facing Aidan, sated and sleepy. My fingers still stroked his chest hair, even as he started to snore.
Rain drummed on the roof, washing away with it my willpower to leave. With every passing moment, more and more I wanted to lie beside him 'til Monday morning dawned. Just one more loving encounter and I'd leave, I told myself, but I lied.
I loved this man too much.
The sky started to lighten and still I stared at him. I leaned over him, holding my breath, and brushed my lips lightly across his.
One last kiss. No more.
I had exams tomorrow and a long drive home today. Were he awake, he'd tell me to go, to become the qualified midwife I wanted to be. Did I still want that?
Of course, I told myself. All this effort for a qualification. That was why I was here. Aidan wouldn't ask me to throw that away. Two weeks, is all. I could return once I finished my exams.
And tell him the words I couldn't say.
Sticky and smelling of sex, I should have showered. Instead, I savoured Aidan's smell on my skin. I dressed and packed up my things. The brown-bagged bottle of whiskey clinked as I lifted my bag, a reminder.
I lifted it out, torn between giving it to Aidan as I'd intended or keeping it for myself, to remember him.
I will return to drink it with him, so I'll leave it here. I folded the bag and slid it like a notecard beneath the bottle. Taking a pen from the desk, I carefully wrote two heart-felt words:
Thank you
It seemed like so little when he'd given me so much, so below it I scrawled three more:
I love you.
With one last glance at the room where Aidan slept, I left his house, forcing every step I took to my car. The sooner I left, the sooner I could return.
And I'd never have to leave again, as long as he lived.
42
The sun rose on my tears, but I kept my foot on the accelerator as my car drove north. Away from Aidan, though I ached for him still.
When I reached Mother's house, I was tired from my long drive and voluntary sleep deprivation. I dropped my bag in my room and trudged wearily to the kitchen, where she sat at the dining table, reading a book in the afternoon sun.
"You'll need to go to the chemist's to get a pregnancy test," Mother stated, not lifting her eyes from her book.
"Why, who needs one?" I asked.
"You," Mother answered. She closed her book and laid it on the table. "I thought you were going to wait until after you'd completed your studies to try for another child." She smiled as if she already knew what my answer would be. I wouldn't have been surprised.
"I received a particularly attractive offer that I found I didn't want to refuse." I hadn't yet dared to let myself hope that Aidan had given me a healthy child, though I would have traded everything for her. Maybe even him. I shook my head. Her hopes flew too high for me. "I don't even know if I can have another child. If I can…that will change everything." I stood, stunned, looking at a future in my mind that I hadn't foreseen.
Mother's smile grew wider. "What was it about him that made him so attractive?"
I couldn't help but smile in response. "He h
ad fiery red hair. Everywhere." I shrugged, not wanting to discuss Aidan in detail with Mother. "It's only a few weeks until I finish my final exams. I'll take the test afterwards," I said, opening the fridge in search of a drink and a desperate change of topic. "Do we have any whiskey?"
"Whiskey?" Mother asked, looking up. "You can't drink that if you're carrying a child." She smiled again. "Your father had red hair, too."
"Oh." I closed the fridge and poured myself a glass of water instead. I'd left him only this morning, yet I missed Aidan's fire so much.
"What was the man's name?" Mother's eyes looked far away, into some memory of the past. Idly, I wondered if she'd ever loved a man as I did.
"Aidan," I replied.
"How was your practical experience in Albany?"
I smiled. "Highly educational."
43
The pregnancy test sat in its plastic cover, while I waited the ten minutes that felt like ten times that. Time ticked away possibilities in my head.
Duty or freedom?
Love or loneliness?
Aching or Aidan?
Warmth or chill?
Back to the life I knew or the thrill of change?
A child or forever empty arms?
"Have you decided what you'll do next?" Mother asked, standing in the doorway.
I shook my head. "It all depends on the results of this."
Mother gave an understanding smile. She would advise me, but we both knew the decision was mine alone.
"You know what will happen if he discovers your secret," she began. Her tone held warning. "You know what you may have to do."
"If I'm carrying his child, the decision is out of my hands," I replied firmly.
Water and Fire Page 8