“Kali, Kali.” Called Rebecca. Calm down. We are ok. The danger is over for the moment. The gun man appears to have hightailed it when Cooper shot back at him.” She sincerely hoped he had hightailed it anyway. Cooper was scratching his chin in thought.
“I think the mission was to disable our means of escape. And at that they succeeded. Or him anyway, as I think there was only one man. The shot at the house was just a chance to rattle us.”
“Well it rattled me and Kali!” Rebecca exclaimed. Cooper leaned into the video shot so Kali could see him clearly.
“Hi Kali,” he said with a grin. “Exciting times in the bush huh.” He moved back a little and picked up the telephone he had dropped earlier. He could hear shouting coming from it.
Kali was instantly talking to Rebecca. “Ohhh, Rebecca. Don’t you even dream of coming back here without him. I simply have to get a close up look at that man, and phew, what a man!” Cooper of course was right there, blushing to the roots of his hair. He coughed, Kali and Rebecca laughing lightly at his discomfort.
Cooper was now talking to the Sargent, filling him in on the details. After about five minutes, he got off the phone and turned back to Rebecca.
“Help is on the way. They will be here by dusk.” He said. It was still mid-morning. “What’s happening with Kali?”
“Kali has her MI5 friends onto it and they will be here shortly as well apparently. She didn’t say how they were going to achieve that but I guess they know where to come to, as I’ve already sent them map coordinates. How they mean to come I don’t know.” Rebecca was still feeling a little shaken and moved to stand in front of Cooper. He immediately took her in his arms and tilted her face up to him. He kissed her long and hard, not even pulling away when he heard Kali ‘whooping’ in the background. When they puled apart finally, Rebecca almost panting for lack of breath she turned to the laptop and said with a smile. “Goodbye for now Kali” and snapped the lid shut. Rebecca slid back into Cooper's arms and gave herself up to the pleasure of his strength and rock solidness. She hadn't felt this way in many years, and didn't want the moment to end. It was Cooper who eventually eased her away to arms length and looked at her, his deep blue eyes piercing her soul to the core.
"Rebecca, as much as I am enjoying this.... I feel like I have been on a search all of my life and have now finally found what I was seeking, I'm afraid we have more pressing problems. Right now I would think that those people from New World are going to come back. They have taken everyone else, and you can be sure they won't want to leave us here shuffling our feet." He was looking out of the windows now as he spoke.
"It may well be that help is on the way, but will it get here soon enough? We should get some protection in place. Let's face it, we don't even know if if we are being watched right now."
Rebecca was looking at Cooper, her eyes wide in worry. She wasn't exactly afraid, but those rifle shots had been very real, and very powerful. She had no experience of weapons of that caliber, and very little experience with anything smaller. Hand guns were common place in the US, and she had seen and handled a few. Her father had owned a few small rifles that he had kept on their farm in the UK to keep down the foxes and vermin from stealing the chickens and lambs. In fact, her ears were still ringing from the sound of the rifle that Cooper had fired. Just as well she hadn't fired it herself, it would have knocked her flat she was sure.
"What shall we do?" She asked Cooper. "This house is too big to watch all sides. If we can assume that they will come from that direction," here she pointed to the sand dune away out there where the shooter had hidden. "Then perhaps we should watch that side, as it also has the airstrip there, and their plane is still there and in one piece." Rebecca was thinking. "Do you think we could start their plane maybe? It would be too much to think that the keys were left in it."
Chapter 9
Cooper scratched his chin and thought. Rebecca smiled as she realised that every time Cooper was deep in thought he started to scratch his chin with the tips of the fingers of his left hand. She hadn't noticed when he was kissing her, but he had a short stubble on his chin, and his fingers were setting up a faint sand paper sound that seemed to tickle the sensitive nerves in the side of her neck. She all but gasped out loud and crossed her legs in an involuntary movement that surprised her, and sent a red flush washing across her lower neck. Cooper didn't notice, but went over to the window and looked out. No one about, so he stepped out through the window frame onto the wide veranda outside. Still no movement. He looked back to Rebecca.
"Honey..." He stopped in mid speech for a moment looking at Rebecca. "Sorry." He didn't even know if she liked or wanted pet names. They had exchanged some pretty hot times, but did that qualify him to start going all soft on her? "Rebecca, honey." Dam, he couldn't help it. 'Oh forget it' he thought. "Keep an eye out, and yell if you see anyone. Don't fire the rifle..." He had seen the look of awe on her face as she had looked at the rifle when he brought it back to the table. Someone in awe of a such a weapon would not be able to handle it safely. It was a tool, like a hammer or power saw. Handle with care, and respect, but don't fear it. It was the people holding the weapon that one had to fear. She would be safer - and so would he be, if she left it alone until he could train her properly in its use.
"I'll be back in a moment." With that he sprinted for the New World plane sitting on the runway, shimmering in the liquid heat. Rebecca had never seen anything like this heat. It shimmered over the plains like a vast sheet of water, seeming to float just above the ground. Objects that were embedded in it like windmills and trees, and even the New World place, seemed to be floating just above the ground, in a shimmering moving mirage. She realised that was what she was looking at. This was a true mirage. No wonder the sight of so much water had driven the explorers mad in the old days. It wasn't water, just a reflection caused by the heat. She could see that even men walking through it seemed to have a surreal quality, not really men, but shifting wriggling shapes that sometimes had legs and sometimes didn't and seemed to progress toward her like ghostly apparitions. Suddenly she was bolt upright. Men! She jumped out of the window onto the veranda and started yelling in the direction of the parked plane. She couldn't see Cooper at all. Where was he. Rebecca was normally a very calm person, but she was a long way out of her element in this place, and her comfort zone was non existent.
Suddenly Cooper was right there beside her, his arm around her waist. He was squinting into the distance, looking in the direction that Rebecca was wildly waving her arms in.
"Sure enough." He said with a final nod of his head. He helped Rebecca back through the window to the interior, and the semi darkness. All the curtains had been drawn previously, leaving just this one window free. He checked the rifles and took up a position near to, but back from the open window. Who ever that was moving about out on the sandy plains was still a long way off. The heat mirages tended to enlarge and telescope objects toward the viewer, so that a person for example may seem as though they were just over the ridge, but could be in fact miles away. Cooper studied the moving images carefully. It was nearly impossible to tell just how close the people were, or even who they were. They could be Billy's people, or they could be the New World people. He would just have to wait and see who came out of the shimmering haze. He said to Rebecca.
"Their aeroplane is locked, but it won't be any use to them anyway, as all the tyres are flat. I don't know who has done that, but they are. We still have a couple of motorbikes in the far shed, and a camel catching truck. Slow but very strong. However, we are safe enough here in the house until help arrives." Cooper couldn't figure out what the New World people were up to though. The prospecting and digging were one thing, but why take all of his people prisoner and try to keep himself and Rebecca on the station by force. It didn't make sense. They must have known that Cooper would have radio-phones and satellite internet at his disposal so their activities would soon be known. Perhaps they were surprised to find so many people ou
t here on the property, thinking perhaps that Cooper and Rebecca were still in Brisbane. He couldn't understand what they hoped to achieve. Maybe that's how they behaved back in their own Eastern European country. Rebecca had told him that she thought they were Eastern European, perhaps Ukrainian or Uzbeks. It was just as likely that that was how they behaved in those countries. He had watched the TV news and read the papers often enough. Well, it wouldn't work out here, and they couldn't have been thinking of the future consequences at all when they started heavy handing the local people. They couldn't possibly have known about Billy's people either. The day dragged on, and Cooper and Rebecca began to doubt that the strangers would turn up. It was apparent that no one else was turning up either. Not the police from town, and not the people promised by Kali's friend from London. Although that didn't surprise Cooper. He had found that people from places like England, or Europe in general really had no idea of the vast distances and utter emptiness of the Australian outback. Cooper's homestead was probably as remote as it was possible to get in this land of remote places.
Cooper wanted to talk to Rebecca. Any reason would do! He just wanted to talk to her, to hear her voice, to feel the... well, he couldn't describe it. feeling that it gave him. He enjoyed hearing her voice. Like eating a sweet ice cream on a sunny day in the park. She gave him a sense of the joy of life. Was this what love was? Love, the one with the big L. Maybe it was.
"Rebecca." He said, almost tasting the sound of her name in his mouth. Her lips were so smooth and soft. She didn't try and force her tongue into his mouth - actually, he didn't like that at all. He did like teasing with his tongue and being teased in return, when he was kissing, he loved the feel of Rebecca against him. She had seemed quite tall when he first met her at the airport, but without her shoes on, she was actually quite a bit shorter than he was. Maybe it was just the way he felt about her.
"Yes Cooper?" Said Rebecca. "Cooper? You said my name... What are you doing, away with the pixies or something?" She was looking at Cooper like he was doing something strange. He snapped back to the moment, to the room. He had been daydreaming about Rebecca he realised.
"Uh, sorry. I was... uh, daydreaming?" He said, none too sure of himself. What was going on? Daydreaming like a love struck school boy. The last time he had done that he had been in boarding school, and Miss History - Miss Marmalade actually, had been his first true love. She hadn't known it of course, but at the time he thought he might just stay in sixth form for the rest of his life so he could be with her.
"Rebecca." He said again, and coughed. "I think I love you. No." He held up his hand to ward off her refusal, as he was sure she would. "No, don't say anything. Please. I'm not asking you to love me back. I'm just letting you know, that for the first time in my life, I am falling hopelessly in love, and falling in love with you." He paused. "In fact, I'd prefer it if you didn't reply. Not until we get out of this place. I should never have brought you out here. I'm amazed at how stupid a man can be."
He dropped his hands to his side and turned to the window again. This was crazy. They couldn't just sit here. He determined to do something about the situation.
"I'm not going to sit here and do nothing. It's time we took the action to them.
"Rebecca, I love you, and I'm going to fix this. This is not - absolutely not the way I wanted you to experience my home for the first time." He moved about the room, flinging open all the curtains and blinds, letting the light in. He picked up the rifle and headed for the door.
"Wait here for me - one more time honey." He didn't hesitate this time over the word honey. "I'm only going to scout around. You will be able to see me most times. Whoever that was in the heat haze, must have been a long way off. I just want to make sure there is no one closer." He set off toward the nearest ridge. He'd be able to see for miles from up there. Rebecca watched him walking away into the shimmering mirage. Perhaps he was a mirage she thought. Their lovemaking last night had been fantastic, he was so careful and attentive to her needs. She knew her experience was very limited. In fact, she was now forced to admit to herself, she had been hiding in her work. The heartbreak of losing her fiancé had hurt so much. The result was, that in matters of relationships with the opposite sex, she was practically virginal. What must Cooper have thought of her? Her girl friends talked openly of some of the things they did with their boyfriends, often making Rebecca blush. Something she tried to hide from them. She was going all warm and fuzzy just thinking about how Cooper had slowly moved inside her last night. She didn't think it was possible for a person to create so much pleasure in another person. She had thrilled from her toes to the top of her head, even now as she stood on the veranda watching him, she could almost feel him slowly entering her, stroking her breasts, nibbling on her ear lobes with gentle teeth bites. She was becoming very aroused, her wetness thrilling her as much as shocking her. In desperation, to break her mood of delicious introspection she started to pace up and down the boards of the veranda.
Finally, Cooper stepped back onto the veranda. He took her in his arms and tilted her chin so she was looking into the depths of his eyes. She couldn't help letting out a small sigh. Oh how she wanted him. Love, yes, she loved him.
"We are alone for now." Cooper said. His steady look changed to surprise as Rebecca started hauling at his shirt to get it out from his waist, fumbling and eventually tearing the buttons in her haste to get his shirt off. Cooper began responding, lifting her cotton dress over her head in one swift motion, her arms coming up and falling around his neck. He reached down and moved her hips away slightly, she was pressing into his hardness, whimpering in little gasps. His hand began to explore her sex, softly stroking back and forth, her wetness making his tentative entry so much easier. She started sagging at the knees, and in a single motion undoing his belt buckle and sliding his trousers and underpants down. 'Oh My God' She thought as she released him from the confines of his clothes. Cooper's breathing was like a rushing wind as he fought against the over whelming desire that was burning through him. He needed the feel of Rebecca around him, his erection was tingling as he longed for the sensation, when suddenly Rebecca crouched down and took him fully into her mouth, drawing him into a dizzying black hole of rushing sensation. He drew in a mighty rush of breath and his back arched as Rebecca held him against her, drawing him ever deeper. He couldn't stand it any longer and tried to draw Rebecca to her feet so he could make love to her, entering into her delicious sweetness. She shook her head violently in protest and he couldn't hold out any longer, his climax shuddering his body from head to toe as her sudden movement drove him over the edge. Cooper gave voice to a primal cry as the orgasm wracked his body, until eventually he came back to his senses, stroking Rebecca's head as she rested her cheek against his now spent sex. She slowly stood up, putting her arms around his waist, she said.
"Now you can call me honey." She smiled. "Now you can sample my... Honey trap." As she took his hand and guided it between her thighs. 'Oh what have I been missing' She thought to herself as Coopers fingers began to bring her alive in ways she didn't think possible.
"Cooper, my sweet love, my gorgeous man. Oh Cooper, yes, oh yes...Do it to me, don't ever stop." Rebecca heard herself, and although she couldn't believe the words were coming from her, she didn't care, Cooper was steadily bringing her to her own climax, right out here in the open air. Not a soul for perhaps a hundred miles. Suddenly Cooper reached down, cupping her bottom in his huge strong hands and lifted her up and carefully guided himself into her. He was hard and huge again, taking her breath away. Rebecca moaned aloud, matching Coopers long sigh as she slid down the length of him, her legs gripping tight around his waist. Slowly their movement built, in perfect synchronicity until Rebecca felt herself climaxing in huge waves of passion, thrashing her head from side to side, biting Coopers lips, his cheeks, his neck as though she wanted to take all of him inside her, while her pulsing contractions were bringing Cooper to a massive veranda shaking climax again. He rested his ba
ck against a veranda post and clutched Rebecca to him tightly. He never wanted to let her go. Referral wanted to stay locked to Cooper forever.
"Rebecca, honey honey honey..." Gasped Cooper, "my God. If that's making love, I am never letting you go." He slowly let Rebecca ease down and stand with him, still holding her tightly against him. "This is not just sex talking. I love you more than words can express."
Rebecca clasped him tightly. "I love you too Cooper. But..." The air rushed out of Cooper.
"But?" He croaked. "What? What is it? But what?" He moved Rebecca away slightly. Her naked beauty dazzling him like the midday sun. He was getting hard again. 'No' He shouted to himself, 'I need to find out the but.' Too late, Rebecca had taken his rigid member in her hand and was slowly stroking him back and forth, his knees almost buckling.
"But What!" He almost shouted at the roof.
Rebecca smiled with a mischievous grin, all the while drawing him toward the bedroom, and like a tiny puppy on a leash he followed. They tumbled onto the bed, and Rebecca straddled him, saying,
"But... I want lots and lots of this. It's the way you make love to me. It's in the way you hold me. It's in the way we make love. There is no one in the world but us." She gave up talking, throwing her head back and slowly rocking on him, their dark bushes merged as she rocked on the divine fulcrum, their love melting them into one person.
Rebecca wished, no less than Cooper that their peace together could go on forever. Eventually they were completely spent, and lay together for a long while, just in each other's arms.
Rebecca was first to surface, quietly heading for the bathroom and a quick shower. She finished and quickly dressed, heading for the kitchen to give Cooper some space, and her some thinking time while he showered and changed.
The Innimincka Affair Page 11