The Cowboy From Down Under (Cowboys After Dark: Book 2)

by Maggie Carpenter

  Emma reciprocated, explaining how Marcus had come into her life and opened the doors of Dominance and submission, and while she hadn’t completely surrendered to him, she had discovered a deep satisfaction that had been missing in her life. She detailed the epiphany she’d experienced during her corner time, and wrapping herself around Derrick as she relived the intense awareness, fervently clinging to him, the need for what he offered and the love she felt surged through her heart.

  The daylight hours had seen them on several excursions, including a drive to the small township an hour away. When the small stores appeared on the landscape she’d stared at them in wonder.

  “Out of all the places in this huge wilderness, why did they settle in this exact spot?” she’d asked.

  “There are mineral deposits out here, and these tiny communities sprung up to support the mining,” he’d explained. “Now they also cater to the tourist trade.”

  The return to the huge boulders was a landmark afternoon. Derrick had packed them a picnic, and he led her to a climbable rock formation which offered an extraordinary view.

  “The land just seems to go on forever,” she’d exclaimed sitting on top of the granite boulders. “It’s absolutely remarkable.”

  The magnificent rocks were scattered over a wide area, each cluster more fascinating than the next, though for Emma, the single boulders separated from the groups held a particular uniqueness.

  Of all their outings, the highlight for Emma was when they’d returned to the river, and happened upon a lone aborigine. Just as Derrick had predicted, Emma was startled by the man’s appearance.

  He sported a strange white paint across his face and chest, his weathered skin making his age impossible to gauge, and to Emma’s eye he was frighteningly thin, but he sported a huge, natural smile.

  Much to Emma’s delight Derrick was able to communicate with him, and as she listened she found the language unlike any she’d heard. He told them his name was Banjora, because his mother found him cuddly as a baby.

  “Is that what it means?” she’d asked. “Does Banjora mean to cuddle.”

  Derrick had asked, and the man had laughed out loud, then offered the explanation.

  “No,” Derrick chuckled, “Banjora means Koala.”

  She’d found the entire episode utterly charming, and when she asked why he was out alone, wandering around in the middle of nowhere, he told them he’d felt like a walk.

  “See,” Derrick had grinned, “he needed a walkabout.”

  Banjora had been very happy for Emma to take his picture, and she and Derrick were saying their goodbyes when the aborigine frowned and began talking in earnest. Derrick had listened attentively, and when Banjora had finished talking, Derrick had turned to Emma with the news.

  “He said he could feel bad weather coming,” Derrick had declared.

  “Really? How does he know?” she’d asked, staring up at the cloudless blue sky. “It’s totally clear.”

  “The aborigines are a very spiritual people, and in tune with the earth. If he says it, I believe it,” Derrick had replied.

  Back at the cabin, when she’d stared at the photo’s she’d taken of the strange little man, she saw nothing but happiness radiating from his deep brown eyes.

  Sighing heavily, reliving the many magical moments in her sleep-addled mind, she felt Derrick stir next to her, and rise quietly from the bed. If it was time to get up he’d tell her, and as she heard him pad out of the room she assumed he’d soon be returning with a mug of hot tea. It had been his habit to creep from the room, then gently return to wake her with a warm hug, and a steaming cup of the hot drink she’d come to love so much.

  I love it here. I know it’s not real life. I’m not an aborigine wandering carefree through the desert. My life is all about deadlines and banks and publishers and traveling, but I love it here. I’ve been so at peace these last three days, and Derrick? God, I’m crazy about him.

  Drifting in and out of sleep, it seemed he was taking an inordinately long time to return. Blinking open her eyes, she sat up and listened. There was not a sound. Concerned, she left the bed, and donning her robe in the early morning chill she padded out into the living room. There was no sign of him, but when she opened the door she found him standing on the verandah staring up at the dark morning sky.

  Hearing the door open behind him, he turned and smiled at her.

  “Sorry, I didn’t meant to wake you,” he said quietly.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked.

  “That depends on what you mean by okay,” he replied. “Remember those small puffy clouds dotting the sky at sunset last night?”

  “Of course, they were beautiful, the whole sky looked like a painting.”

  “They can be a harbinger of approaching weather. I should have called into the forecast center before we went to bed, but someone I know totally distracted me.”

  “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she grinned, curling against him.

  “I woke up and came out to get some water, and decided to call in. There’s a huge spring storm on its way. We’ll probably be watching lightening in a couple of hours, and out here, it’s some seriously impressive stuff.”

  “Are you saying we can’t leave?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying,” he nodded. “Not until tomorrow at the earliest.”

  Emma felt a wave of relief, but a moment later she shook her head.

  “Shoot. I have to contact Martin, my editor, and have him get in touch with the travel office. If we’re here an extra day I won’t make my flight back.”

  “I’m sure Ron will let them know we’ve been delayed. They’ll work things out.”

  The cold air sent a shiver across her body. She was barefoot, and taking her hand Derrick headed back inside.

  “Wait,” she said, staring up at the sky. “Even with the clouds there are still a trillion stars.”

  “Yep, too right,” he sighed. “There’s nothing like the night sky in the southern hemisphere.”

  There was a sober tone to his voice, and they stood, holding hands, staring in wonder at the outback heavens.

  “I wish someone was taking our picture right now,” Emma breathed. “This is a special moment.”

  “Every moment, Emma…” he whispered, dropping his eyes from the sky to gaze at her.

  “I don’t want it to end,” she said, fighting her tears.

  “I know sweet girl. Come on, we need to get inside. It’s freezing out here and you’ve got nothing on your feet.”

  Moving slowly back into the house, Derrick gave her a hug, swallowing his own sadness.

  “Incredible how fast my toes got cold,” she remarked, trying to lighten the sudden heaviness. “I guess, since we don’t have to get up, we can go back to bed.”

  “Yep, I guess we can,” he nodded.

  Moving into the bedroom she dropped her robe, and hurried under the covers.

  “It gets so chilly here at night,” she remarked.

  “Uh-huh,” he grunted.

  “Derrick?”

  Lifting himself up on an elbow, he placed a finger to her lips.

  “Sshhh,” he murmured, “close your eyes.”

  A quiver of anticipation sent a rush of warm heat through her sex, and as his lips dropped to her neck, planting hot kisses that carried down to her breasts, she raised her chest in eager response.

  His fingers toyed between her legs, searching out her clit, and to the sound of her hungry moans begging for him, he moved on top of her, pushing his way home. Gently thrusting he murmured her name, peppering her shoulders and face with sweet, light kisses. As he moved without pause, riding her forward, there was a depth to his lovemaking, a warm tenderness that permeated his words and his lips, and gently laying his weight upon her body, he reached under her hips, clutching her cheeks as he drove himself onward.

  “Derrick,” she gasped, “I’m there.”

  “Give me your orgasm sweetheart, give
it to me.”

  His impassioned request toppled her over the cliff, but she didn’t fall, she felt herself lift into the ether. She could hear his groans, but they seemed far away, and as she floated, her heart and body free and full of love, she felt a serenity and contentment that had no description.

  “Emma?”

  His soft, lilting voice touched her, and her fluttering eyelids opened to see his handsome face gazing down on her.

  “My love,” she herself mumble. “I’m so glad I’m here, I’m so glad we don’t have to go back. I don’t want to go back, not ever.”

  He kissed her softly, and moments later felt her drift away. Laying beside her warm, yielding body, he sighed heavily.

  I don’t either, sweet angel.

  When Derrick had walked into the kitchen to drink a glass of water, he’d decided to call in for a weather update, and had stepped outside so he wouldn’t wake her. Instinctively he’d known what he would hear, and as he’d ended the call and stared up at the sky, attempting to discern the state of the cloud cover floating across the stars, he had experienced a well of sadness.

  For so long he had waited for a woman such as Emma, a woman who possessed a deep craving to surrender, a woman who challenged him, a woman with whom he could share life’s bounty, and who appreciated not just the excitement of a city, but the tranquility of a quiet country life. Most of all, he had waited for a woman who touched his heart, and who looked at him with love shining from her eyes. Unexpectedly she had dropped into his life, taking him by complete surprise, and in a few short days she would be leaving him.

  Gazing up at the charcoal sky, he’d searched for answers.

  Am I cursed? How could this be? For the second time I’m going to suffer such a loss? I couldn’t stand in the way of Suzy’s dreams, and I certainly can’t ask Emma to give up her life and stay here. How can I? I’ve known her, what, four days? That’s insane, but what am I supposed to do? Just let her go and try to sustain a long-distance relationship?

  The sound of the cabin door opening had broken into his reverie, and when he’d turned and seen her, a deep lump had grown in his throat. She’d looked like an angel in her white robe, the single lamp burning in the living room behind her bathing her in a golden halo, and when they’d made their way back into the warm coziness of the bed, he needed to bury himself in her loveliness.

  He had felt the depth of her response and the power of her orgasm, and when she’d murmured her love for him before drifting off to sleep, he’d felt his heart swell, then held his breath, afraid it would break.

  I don’t know what I can do, Emma, to keep you here, but God has given me two extra days to try to figure it out.

  Cuddling close to her, he closed his eyes, but a short time later he heard the distant rumbling of far away thunder. Though he was loathe to leave the warm bed and the comfort of her body, the outside shutters needed to be closed in preparation for the approaching storm. Quietly moving from the bed he crept from the room, glancing back at her as he closed the door.

  I’ll take care of you for as long as you let me, and I hope that’s a very long time.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  The alarming sound of a horse cantering on ice befuddled Emma’s brain.

  A foolish notion, she thought, horses can’t canter on ice. Wait, maybe they can, with special shoes.

  The sound was pristine, and she stumbled forward to gaze out the window, wondering how on earth a horse could be galloping over ice in the middle of the New South Wales outback. Reaching the window she peered outside, but saw nothing but the golden brown landscape dotted with the occasional tree.

  “Where are you?” she called, squinting into the brightness of the sun.

  “Emma, it’s okay.”

  “Of course everything’s okay,” she declared. “I’m just trying to see where the horse is.”

  “Emma, Emma.”

  His voice was behind her, his hands were on her shoulders, shaking her, and as she turned to ask him if he could see the horse on the ice, she felt a sudden jolt and her eyes flashed open; she was in bed, not at the window, and Derrick’s face was staring down at her, a worried frown crossing his brow. It took a moment before she realized that the sound of the horse cantering on ice, was hail pummeling the cabin.

  “My gosh,” she stammered, “I was dreaming I could hear horse galloping over a frozen lake, but I guess it was the storm. Derrick, it’s hailing so badly.”

  “The storms can get like that here, that’s why there are shutters for all the windows. They’re all closed up, don’t worry, we’ll be fine,” he assured her.

  “It sounds so violent,” she quaked.

  Though Emma had been through many weather events, the tumultuous tempest raging outside the cabin sounded truly horrendous, and she’d witnessed firsthand the mayhem a storm could leave in its path.

  “Yep, it’s a doozy,” he agreed. “Occasionally we’ll get golf ball sized hail, but it won’t last long.”

  Though his reassuring voice was full of confidence, he was all too aware that a spring storm could spawn a tornado. They were rare, but if the winds and hail were any indication, the super cell moving over them was super indeed.

  “I’m not usually worried about weather,” she declared, leaning against his body. “Quite the opposite, I really enjoy a good storm, but it’s really sounding ominous.”

  As if on cue, a thunderous boom exploded above them.

  “There’s gotta be generating some impressive lightening,” she remarked. “Where’s my camera, maybe I can capture it?”

  “How do you plan on doing that?” Derrick asked gruffly.

  “I’ll poke my head out the door,” she replied, scanning the room for her camera bag.

  “Oh no you won’t,” he admonished her, wondering where her fear had gone. “A minute ago you were worried, and now you want to go out in it?”

  “I know, it’s weird how that happens. It’ll only take me a few minutes to…” but her voice trailed off as she saw the reprimanding glint in his eye.

  “You wanna give that some more thought?” he asked sternly. “Do I need to put you back over my knee for a little reminder?”

  Emma felt her stomach flip, and staring up at him, the foolishness of what she’d just proposed dawned on her.

  “No,” she breathed, “not unless you think…”

  “I do think!” he declared. “If I hadn’t stopped you, you would have wandered out into the middle of a crazy storm. What you need is a maintenance spanking once a week,” he remarked. “What if I hadn’t been here? You’d have been out that door getting hit by a flying tree branch, not to mention being pummeled by hail. Am I right?”

  “Maybe,” she whispered, the butterflies whirling in her stomach.

  “I think a quick sharp spanking is definitely in order,” he declared, as another thunderous boom sounded above them. “Get on over my lap.”

  As Emma crawled across his lap, for reasons she couldn’t quite comprehend she realized she wanted the spicy attention. Already naked, in a flash his hand landed smack after smack, delivering the peppery discipline with rapid fire swats.

  “Ow,” she wailed, kicking her legs. “Ow, ow.”

  “Just a reminder,” he exclaimed as the spanking picked up pace. “Going out in this weather is reckless, and you know it, right?”

  “Yes, Sir,” she yelped.

  “You know better than to take such crazy risks, don’t you, Emma?”

  “Yes, Sir,” she cried, gyrating and twisting as his stinging hand continued to deliver its chastising message.

  “Because?” he asked, pausing to hear what she had to say.

  “You, Sir,” she panted.

  “Because I’ll spank you?”

  “No, Sir, because…because…you care about me and don’t want anything to happen to me, and now I feel like that too,” she stammered.

  It was everything he wanted to hear, and pulling her up he nestled her tightly, kissing her forehead.
<
br />   “Sweet angel,” he purred, “that’s exactly right.”

  “Sorry, Sir,” she gasped. “Thank you for reminding me.”

  “Perhaps one day you won’t need reminding,” he said softly.

  “Perhaps,” she agreed, “but there’s a part of me-”

  “I know,” he interrupted. “That’s why you need maintenance,” though how I’m going to manage that with you on the other side of the Pacific I have no idea.

  Curling back under the covers she laid on her side to snuggle against him, and though the storm continued to lash out its fury, the hail began to dissipate.

  “Thank goodness,” she sighed, “but that rain still sounds heavy.”

  “So is the wind,” he remarked. “It’s going to be a mess out there when this thing passes.”

  “You sound worried,” she replied.

  “I am. I’m worried about the track back to the main road. God only knows what condition it’ll be in. The Land Rover can handle just about anything nature throws at us out here, but this is a helluva storm, and it’s dumping a ton of rain.”

  “Are you saying we could be stuck here a while?”

  “Could be. We have plenty of provisions, and the sat phone if things get too hairy.”

  “I can think of worse places to be,” she purred.

  “Is that right?” he grinned.

  “To be perfectly honest,” she said, dropping her voice, “I know this isn’t the real world, but I think I could be perfectly content living here.”

  “Maybe for about a month,” he remarked.

  “Maybe more,” she smiled.

  She sounded so earnest and sincere he wasn’t sure how to respond, so he moved his lips to hers, kissing her with a deep, loving energy, wanting her to know that he too, would be happy living in the cabin in the middle of nowhere, if she was with him.

  “I think we should have some sustenance,” he finally suggested, changing the subject and moving his lips to her neck.

  “I think that’s a really good idea,” she sighed, lifting her chest to meet his attention, “and I’d like to cook up something for you this time.”