'I didn't set out to frighten you, at all. You know that's nonsense! If anyone's frightened, it could be me,' he exclaimed grimly, looking very like a man who had fallen an unwilling victim to something that he had realised, too late, was stronger than himself. He looked down on her, unmoved by the glisten of tears in her eyes, apparently more concerned with his own problems than hers. Incredibly all she could think of was the ecstasy she had found in his arms. It remained so intense she had to deny it. 'If you believe I enjoyed being half mauled, you'd better think again!' she cried. 'It's not an experience I'd care to repeat.'
'You little liar!' he snapped softly. 'Next time I'll make you eat your words. You may be innocent, but you're not totally ignorant!'
Her mouth pursed with very young outrage, stung by his male arrogance. 'You've no right to talk to me like that!'
In control of himself again, he countered suavely, 'I think it's time someone took you in hand and showed you this other side to your nature. Consider it all part of growing up.' His eyes glinted. 'You've been well taught, well groomed, in some ways, by someone with some specific object in view, but sadly neglected in others.'
Thinking immediately of her mother, Alex started and shivered.
'I thought so.' There was satisfaction in his voice. 'Maybe tomorrow you might feel like telling me about it, but not now. You've had a long day with a lot packed into it and you might have to face an even longer one tomorrow. Run along in, Alex, and don't forget to say goodnight to Aunt Harriet on your way to bed.'
The next morning brought surprising news if nothing else. Alex hadn't closed her eyes until dawn and then she overslept. The others were having breakfast when she got down after a quick shower and dressing hastily in a pair of cotton jeans and thin top. 'I'm sorry I'm late,' she apologised.
Chase said nothing. As he rose to his feet and pulled out a chair for her she couldn't tell what he was thinking. His grey eyes watched her without giving anything away, yet as his glance touched her face he looked terribly alert, as though he was able to assess, without being told, exactly how long she had spent thinking about him through the night. Thank you,' she murmured as she sat down.
Henry was smiling over the table at her. 'You can be one of the first to congratulate me, Miss Latham Alex. Ruby has agreed to marry me. Chase says you'll be staying for the wedding.' Though Alex felt somewhat confused, she managed to convey to the happy pair that she was delighted. The engagement had happened so smoothly and quietly that she was beginning to wonder what all the fuss had been about. As for staying for the wedding, she would never do that, but this didn't seem the best time to refuse.
When she asked a radiant Ruby if her aunt knew of her engagement yet, Ruby nodded. 'We told her last night when we came in. Aunt Harriet's very pleased.'
Chase confused her even more by drawing up another chair, instead of returning to his place at the top of the table. Ignoring Ruby's raised eyebrows, he sat down beside Alex, practically touching her, pouring her a cup of hot coffee, then filling one for himself. Feeling her cheeks colour as he stared at her profile, she wished he would go away. She couldn't think why he took such pleasure in embarrassing her. Henry had spent the night at Coolabra but was leaving that morning, taking Ruby with him to visit his parents. Alex was to go with them. It was all arranged, and she glanced at Chase in dismay. How much more had been decided on without consulting her? She didn't want to go anywhere, other than back to Melbourne! 'I've only just arrived here,' she was forced to protest. 'I've seen nothing of Coolabra yet.' 'You'll have plenty of time for that,' he assured her, turning to Henry, command in his voice, 'I'll bring Alex myself, this afternoon. You can go ahead with Ruby.'
Ruby looked startled. 'Alex can come with us, Chase. There's no need to put yourself out.' I'm sure Henry's parents won't mind putting me up,' Chase smiled sardonically. 'Alex and I will return tomorrow some time.' He spoke to Alex next. 'Do you ride?'
Recovering her breath, she said yes. 'But I'm not very experienced.' She blinked at him, still slightly bemused by the speed at which everything seemed to be going. She was beginning to feel like a child on a fast roundabout in a fairground, nervously longing for it to stop before she got completely dizzy. Henry Brett, a man a few years older than Ruby, was pleasant enough, and for Ruby's sake Alex felt pleased about their engagement, but wasn't it only yesterday that Ruby had been moaning at even having to see Henry again? Now here she was engaged to him and looking as if it was all she had ever wanted! Nebulously she wondered how much of the credit for Ruby's engagement could be put down to her brother. He had a genius for organisation that stood out a mile! It staggered her that no one thought of opposing him, but she admitted it mightn't be easy. She would liked to have done so herself, by refusing to go riding with him, if that was what he was asking, but was disconcertingly aware she hadn't the courage. Besides, she might not be able to. While ostensibly she was here as Ruby's friend, she was still working for the firm and, unfortunately, the firm appeared to be Chase Marshall! 'I've not been on a horse much for years,' she added quickly, hoping that if he did intend going out with her, this would put him off.
'Never mind, you'll soon get enough experience, if I have anything to do with it,' he assured her crisply. 'We'll see you this afternoon, then?' In the rather blank silence that fell, he took Alex's arm and steered her firmly out into the hall.
'You'll need a hat,' he eyed her pale head decisively, 'otherwise that beautiful complexion will suffer, and I don't want that.'
A sharp retort sprang to her lips, but she never uttered it. With his eyes so steadily on her she found she could not. Instead she said obediently, 'I have one upstairs.'
'Good.' Just one word, but the crisp authority continued and she was helpless against it. As he stood still, apparently to wait for her, she said hesitantly, 'Isn't there anything I can do, Chase? In the office, perhaps? You're paying me and I've always wanted to work in a station office. I can't just idle away my time.'
'You can't work here, not at the moment,' he replied impatiently. 'If you did, you'd soon arouse suspicion. But don't worry,' he smiled slightly into her anxious eyes, 'there'll be plenty to keep you fully occupied soon. Now run and fetch your hat.'
Over an hour later, when they turned to trot back to the homestead, Alex's face was full of delight. Joy bubbled inside her as everything she saw aroused a pleasure she found well nigh impossible to suppress. The station lay on the Georgina river, generally referred to as the Georgina, and named after the wife of a Queensland governor. Most of Coolabra lay in the northern Channel Country, but some of it spilled over into the Barkly Tablelands. The nearest town was the mining town of Mount Isa. The School of the Air was centred there, while Cloncurry, though further away, was the nearest Flying Doctor service.
Waterholes, left by the floods as they receded, were a major feature of the Channel Country. Chase told her they could stretch for up to twenty miles or more and be forty feet deep. He took her to one which, though not as big as this, was impressive. Alex's eyes widened on the huge expanse of water lined with river gum, coolabah and gidgee. Numerous birds flew up as they approached while others took little notice. She saw ibis, a wading bird with a curved bill, alongside ducks, herons, swans and egrets and countless others.
'It's amazing!' Alex exclaimed, unable to contain herself. 'So many birds, and everything so colourful.
It's just as if an artist had run amok with his paintbrush. I've never seen anything like it!'
Chase smiled appreciatively. 'That's one way of putting it, but you express yourself nicely. I couldn't have done better.'
Unaccustomed to riding, she felt hot and looked at the water longingly. 'I'd love a swim,' she said ruefully, but I haven't brought anything.'
'You could always bathe nude,' he teased, knowing she would blush. 'Many's the time I have, especially when I was a boy. There's nothing quite like it.'
She could imagine! She would liked to have tried. Firmly she put a quick rein on thoughts which alrea
dy had her floating sensuously out of her depth, Chase by her side. With a haste that betrayed her she changed to a safer subject, to steady her pulse.
The whole morning had been a kind of revelation to her, from the moment one of the hands had caught and saddled a beautiful little thoroughbred mare. Coolabra might be isolated, in so much as it was almost two hundred miles from another homestead, but the constant movement about the buildings and yards made it hard to believe in the station's isolation. Chase had shown her around the whole of it before they left and she had enjoyed the conducted tour so much she had quickly forgotten her former animosity.
She had seen the stores, the office, the quarters for the staff men. The laundries, kitchens and cool-rooms the stockyards and stables. It had been a tour of some magnitude and she suspected she had asked too many eager questions, but it was one she would never forget. Chase stayed by her side, often holding her arm to control her young enthusiasm, which was apt to run away with her, or just helping her over a rough piece of ground. With a patience she hadn't previously attributed him with, he answered all her queries and explained a lot more. It was a wonder there had been enough time left to come out here.
Away from the homestead the plains rolled endlessly, criss-crossed by the narrow channels from which this huge area of country took its name. Parts of this Channel Country, Chase remarked, when she told him her father was interested in grassland, could be more intensively developed for the beef industry.
The pastures held their nutritional value for up to eight to ten months after rain. The spinifex, growing in wide clumps, would fatten cattle in drought, when there was nothing else, but it was the plants which sprang up quickly after watering that gave the area its reputation for turning off prime beef.
'I think you've had enough for your first morning,' he glanced at her glowing cheeks. 'You don't look exhausted, but I want you to enjoy the rest of the day. If we go much farther you might not, and I want to spend an hour in the office.'
'Yes, Chase,' she agreed, sure there was nothing else she could say. He had shown her a lot, she couldn't take up more of his time.
His mouth quirked. 'How deceptively meek you seem when you speak like that! You sound like a girl used to doing what she's told.'
'At home I suppose I am.'
He rode nearer, so that his leg brushed hers gently as the horses moved together.' Your mother?'
Silently she nodded, a world of understated tension in her face. Without realising it some of her bright vitality faded as her eyes clouded. 'In a way…' she admitted.
'What's the trouble, exactly?' Casually he leaned towards her, cleverly finding just the right note to win her confidence.
Alex decided she could trust him. Perhaps, as a stranger, he might be safer than most to tell about her mother. He seemed to have guessed, anyway, and it might be a relief to mention it to someone. She needn't say much. She could make a joke of it to deceive him. For most people it would be a joke! 'She would like to see me married to a millionaire.'
'Why not?' he drawled. 'You're lovely enough.'
She wished she hadn't told him. 'You're laughing at me!' she accused bitterly.
He sighed. 'I wish I were. I take it your mother is ambitious, Alex. Unfortunately there aren't that many millionaires around.'
Swallowing hard, she retorted, 'I'm only joking about a millionaire, of course. I suppose any man with a lot of money would do for Mother.'
'But not for you? I take it you aren't very keen on the idea?'
'Don't be silly,' she forced a light smile, 'I can't see myself with anyone like that. A man with a quite ordinary income would satisfy me if I loved him.'
'I see.' She had tried to lighten the atmosphere with a smile, but he didn't appear to be responding. His features seemed suddenly to tighten, although his voice remained laconic. 'Has she anyone specific in mind?'
'One or two…'
' So that's why you fled from Sydney?'
'Not particularly,' she hedged, knowing he didn't believe her for a moment. His brow had darkened formidably, his eyes narrowing characteristically. 'I went to Melbourne,' she explained, 'while my mother was in England. I just thought we needed a break from each other.'
'Hasn't she caught up with you yet?' he asked, catching hold of her rein to pull her horse to a standstill, as if her answer was important to him. He held her gaze with his own, refusing to let her look away.
'Answer me, Alex. Has she? Does she know where you are?'
'She thinks I'm up north, working. You don't have to get angry about it. I couldn't very well explain all this business about Ruby, could I?'
'I still don't feel I've got anywhere near the real truth,' he snapped, between his teeth. For a moment he looked dangerous, ready to drag the truth violently out of her. The brilliant eyes he lowered over her seemed to lance right through her.
In panic Alex lost her usual cool self-possession. Without thinking she jerked her reins too fiercely from his hands. The horse she rode, being young and fairly highly strung, didn't appreciate this kind of treatment. Sharply she reared and bounded forward, her fine hooves kicking wildly up behind her as she flung Alex in a beautiful arch, right over her head.
The ground Alex landed on was hard. Momentarily she saw stars. Which must be crazy, she assured herself hazily, as she had fallen on her face. Her hands clenched, her fingers curling desperately around some coarse grasses. Then giving in to a great swirling weakness, she closed her eyes helplessly against the further punishment which she felt instinctively was about to descend on her already suffering head.
CHAPTER FIVE
Alex lay quite still, in a pathetic heap, the breath knocked out of her. It wasn't the first time she had taken a fall from a horse., but it was the first time she had done anything quite so foolish. She had asked for all she got. She kept her eyes closed, not just because she was winded, but because she couldn't bear to see the contempt on Chase Marshall's face when he looked at her. He would be no admirer of anyone who treated a horse's mouth as roughly as she had done. She lay without moving. Almost immediately he was beside her.
'Alex?' She heard a roughness in his voice that suggested he was shaken. Touching her carefully, he turned her gently over, his hands sliding expertly over her limp body, feeling for broken bones. He muttered something she couldn't make out, but he sounded oddly distraught.
Ashamed of her cowardice, she made herself open her eyes. She smiled at him, so he would know she was all right as she tried to find her voice.
'I'm not hurt. See…' She moved her arms and slender legs, showing him.
'Why, you stupid little fool!' Now he was enraged, his eyes leaping in his pale face. 'Had you no more sense? You could have killed yourself!'
'Hardly,' she began, then broke off, her eyes pleading, trying to soothe him, 'I'm sorry…' 'Sorry!' Suddenly, as if he could express his disgust no other way, he bent his head, his mouth crushing hers.
If the fall had stunned her this was worse. Last night he had been comparatively gentle, now he was savage, ridding himself of his frustration through the pressure of his mouth.
She hated it, the pain he aroused, and held herself rigid. 'Give,' he said thickly, something suddenly in his eyes that sent shock waves shooting right through her. She had never seen that in a man's eyes before, and panic hit her, stronger than the other emotions he awakened.
'Let me go!' she gasped, struggling against the tightening of his arms as he lowered himself to the grass beside her. The grass, dried by the summer heat, crackled and was still.
His mouth hesitated. He took it slowly from hers, lifting himself away from her. Her heart stopped going frantic in her breast.
'I'm sorry,' she scrambled to her feet. 'It was silly of me to frighten my horse like that. I just wasn't thinking .'
'You should learn to control your temper. You're like a child!'
His eyes narrowed. Alex could see he was still feeling violent about something. Anxiously searching, she stared up at him. In
his face she could see anger, but that peculiar lustful expression had gone. It had frightened her, though, and she wished she could forget it.
Another moment and Chase's anger faded too. He turned to the horses, calmly grazing a few yards away. 'Let's get home.' He spoke abruptly, lifting her on to the filly's back.
After lunch she flew with him to visit the Brett station. 'Can you spare the time?' she asked. If I couldn't I wouldn't,' he said flatly. Drew Blake's a good manager. He wouldn't be here if he couldn't get along without me, and I'm away a lot.'
Alex considered her hands, relaxing their tightness. Chase didn't give much away, but he sounded friendlier than he had done an hour ago. He might have forgiven her. Unhappy with her thoughts, she went on talking. 'Could you ever give up most of your other interests to live here permanently?' 'If I get married I will.' Smiling, she said, 'Wouldn't you have to ask if she was prepared to live on an Outback cattle station before you proposed?'
'I fancy she would be willing to live anywhere with me.' His mouth quirked as he threw her a glance.
'How about you, Alex? Do you intend spending the rest of your life in an office? Your mother might be slightly misguided, but her ideas could be better than yours.'
'I like working, and office work needn't be dull.' She kept her smile pinned on. 'It doesn't represent every hour of my life. I have plenty of spare time.'
'Do you ever think of a husband and family?'
Thinking of Don Fisher, she rejected this immediately. 'I might, one day, but not for years yet.'
'Maybe I could change your mind.'
Quickly she looked at him, aware that he enjoyed teasing her. She had never seen Chase as her husband, but that couldn't be what he meant. 'You mean you're thinking of pointing out the advantages of marriage for a girl, to pass the time?'
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