She moved her attention to the other breast. It was like starving to death, only to find an oasis of satisfaction before her, feasting for all she was worth. Jodi moved beneath her. She lifted her lips from Jodi’s breast. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Trust yourself,” Jodi whispered. She found Cole’s hand and guided it down to her heated centre.
The warmth and wetness fascinated Cole. She followed the folds, mesmerized as Jodi’s hips rose and fell, meeting her movements.
“Please,” Jodi breathed.
Cole claimed Jodi’s lips as her fingers ventured in. Jodi clenched and held her in tight, moaning and moving in total synchronicity to her fingers’ commands. She felt the tension grow beneath her as Jodi’s breath quickened. She pulled back and watched Jodi’s face flush with desire, her mouth open, hips writhing beneath her fingers as she increased the pace. Jodi’s thighs trembled, she arched to meet Cole as her breath was seemingly stolen, and she lay, rigid, arched, pulsing around her fingers for the longest of moments until finally she fell back onto the bed, trembling.
Jodi kissed her and pushed her thigh into her own sensitive centre. Their kiss deepened. Jodi pressed high and tight against her and tingles ran from her toes, up her legs, through her spine, to flower in her brain. Cole responded by pressing and grinding against Jodi. A need older than time consumed her as she rocked. She rose and sat astride Jodi, her hips grinding deep and slow. Jodi reached up and squeezed her breasts. Cole arched her back, her need becoming more urgent. She tossed her head back as she allowed her body to answer the primal call, until lights flashed behind her closed eyelids and she fell, boneless, along the length of Jodi’s sweat-soaked body, both of them shaking, breathing heavily, their hearts pounding quickly.
Jodi tucked a stray curl behind Cole’s ear. “You okay?”
“No.” Cole smiled at Jodi’s stricken look. “I’m not okay. I’m…exquisite.”
“Exquisite?” Jodi’s expression changed to a pleasantly surprised one.
“Uh-huh.” Cole grinned and stretched like a feline.
“Is that right?”
Cole rolled onto her side, took Jodi’s hand, and tenderly kissed her fingertips. “I’ve had sex before and enjoyed it, but I think it’s fair to say that today is the first time that I feel I have truly made love.” Cole kissed Jodi, letting her know with every fibre of her being just how wonderful she felt.
Charlie woke to the sound of heavy rain pounding on the tin roof. She pulled the Doona higher, covering herself to just below the shoulders, and Pip up to her neck. Pip snuggled in closer, her naked body draped over Charlie’s. Pip’s head rested on Charlie’s chest, her arm curled around Charlie’s belly, hand tucked just beneath the small of her back.
Pip slid a leg over Charlie’s, and the slight brush of her sock-clad foot made Charlie smile contentedly. Pip never went to bed without socks on, no matter what the temperature was inside or out. Her diabetes affected her circulation, leaving her feet often feeling cold. It was just one of the endearing qualities about Pip that made Charlie fall more in love with her every day.
“Skeek mest ew,” Pip mumbled into Charlie’s breast.
Charlie shifted her boob with her free hand so she could understand Pip, plus avoid the drool that had pooled at the front of Pip’s bottom lip. “I have no idea what you just said.”
Pip swallowed and licked her lips. She had yet to open those gorgeous blue eyes. “Squeak missed you when you were gone.”
“I missed her too.” Squeak was the first macropod she’d been charged with caring for when she first arrived in Australia. Now the once tiny swamp wallaby was nearly full-grown and in the soft release pen. “That’s a funny thing to say before you’re even fully awake.” Charlie lifted her shoulder and tried to wake Pip. “Hey, sleepyhead, are you dreaming?”
“No.”
“I don’t get—” A rumble of thunder rolled across the sky and Charlie finally understood. “Ah. My turn to feed the penned joeys then, is it?”
Pip yawned and slowly nodded.
Charlie sighed. “Fine. You’re going to lose your pillow, though, princess.” She flung the covers back and slid sideways. She had a moment of satisfaction when Pip’s head and upper body slid off her and onto the mattress with a quiet thud. But that quickly disappeared when Pip merely rolled over and pulled a pillow to her chest. Charlie knew her lover was already sound asleep again and covered her back up.
She dressed quietly in cargo shorts and singlet top. Some days she missed the winter season and all the clothes that went with it. She could stay comfortably warm in them. Even with the barest of clothing, it was sometimes—truthfully, often—impossible to stay cool in the Australian heat.
Chilli followed her out the door, and she headed towards the prep room and Chilli into the rain to do her business. They’d built a covered wooden walkway from the house to the door, which allowed them to keep all their wet-weather and dirty field gear on hooks and stands outside the prep room.
Charlie flipped the kettle on and measured out the milk for the three joeys. She stretched the teats over the bottle tops, put them in the ceramic tray, and waited for the water to boil. She was tempted to make a cup of coffee but knew she’d never make it to the pen without spilling it. Steam finally rose from the spout and she heard rumbling from within, signalling an impending boil. She slid her arms into a raincoat and pulled the hood over her head. Once she’d poured the water into the tray, she headed outside.
The rain had subsided a little. At least it wasn’t pouring any more, just a steady shower. Droplets of moisture rolled off the eucalypt leaves high above and drummed against the ground, blurring into one long whirring noise.
By the time Charlie had walked the ten minutes it took to get to the huge pen, the noise had lessened and the drops faded into a musical chime. The steel-grey clouds had begun to lighten. The sun popped out and cast slanted beams of light across the lightly covered tree grove. She clucked to the joeys, who wasted no time in hopping towards the gate. All except for Squeak, who was content to hang back and wait for Troody and Brooce, two eastern grey kangaroo juveniles of a similar age, to have their feeds and move off. Squeak had somehow figured out she’d get more attention and pampering in exchange for a slightly later breakfast, although Charlie was sure her hissing was her way of telling the others, Hurry the hell up.
She sat on the feeding bench and held a bottle in each hand, offering them to the pair. It took less than a minute for the two of them to suck down the entire contents of the bottles, after which they nuzzled her for more. That quickly came to an end when Squeak shoved her body between them, clearly having lost her remaining patience. She hissed a warning at which the other two macropods quickly scarpered off.
Charlie laughed. “You are a little psycho sometimes, my darling.” She ruffled the soft fuzz on Squeak’s belly with one hand and offered her the bottle with the other. Squeak grabbed the teat and sucked voraciously. She grasped Charlie’s fingers with her little black paws. Charlie had often thought they looked like she had bicycle gloves on. “So, how’s my little girl? Rumour has it you missed me. Did you give Pip a hard time?” Charlie snickered knowing she had. Pip had told her that her little darling had attacked the other two before they were done with their feed. Apparently all hell had broken loose and there’d been spilt milk too. “Good girl. My mom always told me to take what I wanted.”
“Like mother, like psycho then.” Pip sat next to her and handed Charlie a steaming cup of coffee, which she accepted gratefully.
“Oh, she’s not that bad. Are you, Squeak?” Charlie rubbed Squeak beneath her jaw.
“Uh-huh. You weren’t here when I had to go make up more milk because Squeak hit the others so hard the bottles went flying. Quite a tanty chucker, your girl.”
Charlie laughed.
“Or when I had to spend an hour trying to get them to come in to feed because she kept herding them away. Damned near got carried away by the mozzies before I was done.
”
“Guess you should’ve put on some repellent before you came down then.”
Pip rested her hand on Charlie’s thigh. “It’s a good thing I love you, Yank.”
Charlie kissed her lightly on the lips. “I love you too, short stuff.” She took a sip of her coffee and groaned in appreciation. “Thank you for this.”
“I figured I’d be nice since I sent you out into the rain.”
Charlie looked up at the sky. “Looks like it’ll be a nice day, though.”
“Humid. But nice.” Pip picked a blade of grass and offered it to Squeak. She sniffed it once and turned her attention back to Charlie. “Cheeky bugger.”
“What’s on your agenda today? I have to work on my immigration application, so I won’t be of much help.” Charlie gathered the bottles and stood.
Pip stretched her legs out in front of her. “I don’t know. I may just sit here all day and leave you to toil away.” She grinned at Charlie. “Just kidding. I’m going to give Jodi a call and see how she’s doing. I’m a bit worried about her.”
“I understand completely. I just can’t imagine her losing her edge like that.”
“Stress will do it. You know a bit of what that tastes like.”
“Yeah, do I ever. Give her my love when you talk to her. Now how about breakfast before we both keel over?”
“Thought you’d never ask.”
Jodi woke just at dawn when she felt Cole get up out of bed, and the bathroom light turned on. The steady sound of rain against the tin roof matched the buzz running through her body. If she wanted to be poetic, she could almost say she was purring. Last night, with Cole, had blown her away in ways she could never have previously imagined. Their connection and fit, whether in the throes of passion or afterwards, snuggling and talking, sometimes dozing in each other’s arms, felt almost unreal and out of this world, such was the uniqueness of it. It eclipsed any other experience in her recent memory, and she closed her eyes, savouring the flashbacks and the flush of warmth they created.
A piercing squeal shattered her equilibrium. In a single movement she threw the covers off, leapt from the bed, and ran across the room to find Cole cowering in the corner of the bathroom, a bath towel held in front of her.
“What the…?”
“Jesus! Come here!” Cole grabbed her as she entered the doorway and hastily yanked her against her, replacing the soft-shield towel with Jodi’s full naked length.
“Cole. What’s going on?” She tried to turn around but Cole held her tight and didn’t allow any swivel room. Cole pointed over her shoulder to the door lintel and guided her focus to the assailant.
High on the wall, sitting in the crevice where the ceiling met the wall above the door, sat a five-inch-wide huntsman spider with its long hairy legs spread-eagled.
Cole being trapped in the bathroom by a measly old spider was the perfect remedy for her pounding, panicked heart. Jodi smirked. “Oh, don’t mind him. That’s Wolfie. He often comes in when it rains. He won’t hurt you. He’ll be gone in the morning.”
“No. Way. I am not moving while he’s there.”
Jodi shrugged. “Okay. I’ll make you a coffee and bring it in here, then.”
“What?”
Jodi struggled to keep a straight face. “Well, you said you wouldn’t come out. So I’ll just bring breakfast in here. Shall I?”
“Shit. No. You can’t leave me in here all alone with it.”
“Sweetheart, he won’t hurt you. He just doesn’t like getting wet.”
“Nuh-uh. Get rid of it. Kill it. Put a saddle on it and ride it out of here—I don’t care what you do. Just get it the hell away from here. Please.”
Cole trembled in her arms. Her face was pale with fright. Even though Jodi thought it was funny, Cole clearly was struggling, and she took pity on her. “All right. Just give me a minute.”
It took a bit of convincing for Cole to let her go, but she finally released her, reverting to her original towel shield grip.
Jodi slipped out of the room and retrieved a broom and a plastic container. She expertly wrangled the spider from the ceiling and into the box. She walked through the house, opened the sliding glass door onto the veranda, and released the spider outside. “You can come out now,” Jodi said as she closed the door behind her.
“You promise it’s gone?”
“I do.”
Jodi tried valiantly to keep a neutral face as Cole crept out, inch by wary inch, scanning the ceiling and walls for any other creatures. Jodi was aware of Cole’s phobia for creepy crawlies and decided, for all concerned, to impart a safety message. “You okay now?”
Cole was still pale, but nodded.
“Good. Good. Just a heads-up—you might not want to use the loo out the back on the veranda while you’re here.”
Cole shivered. “Do I want to know what’s in there?”
Jodi pulled on her earlobe. “Yeah. Um, maybe not. Probably best just to steer clear of that one for the time being.”
Cole groaned weakly.
“Cheer up, love. If I’m not here, you can always trust that your shield of quality cotton will save you.” Jodi gave Cole’s towel a gentle shake.
“Oh, get stuffed.”
The giggle started slowly and built in Jodi until she laughed openly, while her new lover, naked, frowning, and trying her best to look indignant, clutched the towel and tried to look anything other than ridiculous and nervous.
Cole finally gave in and laughed along with her until they gasped for breath. Cole punched her lightly in the arm. “You might be good in bed, but you’re still a shit.”
Jodi wiggled her eyebrows playfully. “A sexy, exquisite shit, who just happens to have rescued your sorry arse from a wild and ferocious arachnid. So don’t you forget it, cutie.”
“Pfft.” Cole waved her hand vaguely in the air.
“How ’bout I go and put the kettle on? Fancy a cuppa?”
“Mm, please.”
As Jodi put the jug on to boil and set some plates out for breakfast, her phone rang.
“Got it.” Cole waved her back to her culinary duties and picked up the handset. “Hello?” Cole straightened and squinted her eyes. A tidal line of pink blush slowly crawled up Cole’s neck and fanned over her face. “Oh, hi, Pip.” Cole closed her eyes. “Yes. No, no, it’s not too early.” Cole opened her eyes and looked at Jodi, her gaze silently pleading for help. “Uh-huh. Yes, we got some nice rain too. Same time, around dawn.” Cole must have realized what she had just said and grimaced, having given away enormous clues that she’d spent the night. She raised her hand and wildly gesticulated for Jodi’s help.
Jodi leaned against the kitchen bench, enjoying herself. The view of Cole trying to gain some dignity, attempting to wrap the towel around her naked torso while on the phone with Pip, was quite entertaining. She toyed with the idea of letting Cole squirm just a little longer before taking over the phone. But a wild wave from Cole made her chuckle softly and relent. She padded across the room and relieved Cole.
“Hey, Pipsqueak.” Jodi wrapped her free arm around Cole, who snuggled in close and buried her face in her neck. “Yeah. Cole’s here.” Jodi could almost hear the wheels turning in Pip’s mind as she put two and two together. Jodi knew her best friend had pegged what was going on. And she couldn’t think of anyone else, apart from Cole, she wanted more to know of her news. “She says hi. Or she would if she could stop blushing long enough.”
Cole snapped her head up, a shocked look upon her face. She slapped Jodi on the upper arm.
“Ow!” Jodi laughed. “Yup. A definite good morning.” That earned her another slap, which only made her laugh more. She pulled Cole close, softly kissing her lips and forehead. “Thanks for last night and the kick in the butt.” Jodi softened her voice. If there was one person who she’d listen to, then it was Pip.
Jodi blinked as lips traversed the length of her neck and the line of her collarbone and fingers danced along the length of her sides. And maybe
now Cole. She involuntarily shivered as Cole’s fingers left tangible tingling trails. She almost lost what Pip was saying. “Uh-huh. No. We’re pretty good here for the minute, I reckon.”
Cole’s towel dropped to the floor and she closed the gap between them. Jodi gasped as the full lengths of their bodies met and morphed, one into the other, every square inch seeming to delight in the sensory overload of skin on skin.
“Uh-huh. Yep. Sure. I’ll call you.” Jodi vaguely registered Pip chuckling before the phone slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor. “I reckon breakfast can wait.” She stole a kiss as Cole raised her face from its attentions along her jawline.
“I reckon you might be right.”
Jodi gave in and answered the call of Cole’s sensuous lips and slowly tango-walked back to the bedroom.
Chapter Twelve
Charlie ran her finger down the checklist of information and forms that she had to supply to the Australian Department of Immigration. It was a daunting task, but after months of working on it, the number of items needing her attention now numbered only two. Unfortunately, they were ones requiring the most work and time to complete.
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