He gave her a little smile. “Yeah, they’re a bit on the nosy side, but they do care.” Then he heaved a sigh and stretched his arms overhead. “I’m getting a little tired myself. How about you?”
She drank from a bottle of water and nodded, admitting the sun and the insects were starting to get to her.
“One more boxful of dirt,” Colin said, wiping his neck, “then we’ll call it quits and go for a swim.”
“Sounds good,” she said. She was starting to feel as if their time together was expiring quickly, as if an hourglass had sprung a leak.
Colin put a few shovels of dirt in the tray, then she picked through it, scrutinizing the smaller rocks for colorful specks, handing off the larger rocks for Colin to split. She rubbed the dirt off a fist-size rock she held and studied the dark surface. Then she squinted—was that a flash of color? She rubbed at the spot, her heart beating faster when she saw it was the brilliant aqua of an opal.
“Colin, I think I found something.” She handed it to him. “Probably another small one.”
“Still,” he said, then wrapped it and gave it a solid whack.
When he opened the cloth, he was silent for a few seconds and Zoe exhaled in quiet disappointment. Then he lifted his gaze and grinned. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”
He extended his hand and Zoe gasped. The opal was the size of a quarter, with an unusual bloodred center, bordered with green and blue rings. The black opals got their name from having a blackish background for the colors to contrast more brilliantly.
“This is a real find, Zoe.”
She picked up the opal, still surrounded by rough, craggy bits of rock, awestruck at its beauty. “I’ve never seen this kind of coloring. It looks like a poached egg.”
“It kind of reminds me of the Flame Queen stone, a famous Australian opal.”
She reverently returned it to the cloth. “The stone is amazing. Maybe you can do something special with it.”
“I’m going to,” he said, then picked it up and folded it into her hand. “It’s yours.”
Zoe gaped and shook her head, holding out her hand to give it back. “Colin, that’s ridiculous. I couldn’t possibly take it.”
“Of course you can,” he said, covering her hand with his. “As a souvenir of our time together.”
“It’s too much,” she protested.
“I don’t think so,” he said quietly, thumbing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Take it. Maybe someday when you’re an old woman with grandkids around your knees, it’ll remind you of the wild, wicked week you spent with an Aussie before you settled down.”
Zoe felt overwhelmed by his gesture. She took a deep breath and collected herself before she opened her mouth, determined to sound as casual as he did about it. “Thank you. It’s remarkable.” Then she conjured up a teasing smile. “When I’m an old woman with grandkids around my knees, I promise I will look at this stone and remember the week I spent with you.”
“Good,” he said, his eyes turning smoky. “Speaking of which, the week isn’t over yet. What do you say we head back for that swim?”
She nodded, holding on tight to the opal, knowing that when the time came, it was going to be hard to say goodbye to this man.
They took a circuitous route back to the house, riding over hills dotted with sheep and grazing cattle. They spotted brilliantly colored Crimson Rosella birds and two more koala bears. The thought entered Zoe’s head that she could live happily on Benbullen, but she knew she was only perpetuating the fantasy. It was easy to romanticize the situation because it would never happen. Spending two days being entertained on a ranch was not the same as living on one.
Just as spending a week with Colin on vacation in bed was not the same as living with him, both of them busy with their careers, dealing with family and the mundane details of life.
After making herself face reality, she was feeling somewhat better by the time they reached the house. She tucked the amazing opal into another drawstring pouch, still in awe of the treasure. They had a late lunch by the inground saltwater pool. She donned a bikini and joined him for a lazy swim. They drank beer and whiled away the afternoon touching and dozing and generally enjoying each other’s company. On the surface, Zoe was breezy and flirty, but deep down, she was very much aware that their time together was growing shorter, almost as if a clock were ticking in her heart.
Dusk was setting when Colin grabbed her hand and brought her fingers to his mouth. “I was thinking about a shower. Care to join me?”
Her breasts reacted instantly, coming to a point. “I’d love to.” As she followed him into the house and upstairs, she wondered if he would use the handcuffs on her tonight. She shivered in anticipation of their last night together.
In his bathroom he turned on the shower, then slowly removed her string bikini, one tie at a time. Instantly, she knew something was different—his touch was softer, more gentle. He took his time undressing her. She liked it, she realized, this luxurious exploration. She pushed down his swim trunks and he stepped out of them. They clasped hands and pressed their naked bodies together. He kissed her, a warm, long, lingering kiss as they melded into each other’s curves and planes.
Colin broke the kiss and pulled her into the shower with him. They slowly soaped and massaged each other, kissing and licking and soothing reddened areas chafed from bindings or impatient teeth over the past few days.
Zoe felt herself loosening inside, as if she were being brought to a slow boil. By the time they rinsed under the cool water, her breasts were heavy and achy in his big hands, her sex pulsing with need. He turned off the water, wrapped her in a fluffy towel, carried her to his bed and stepped back to look at her.
The sun was setting, casting long shadows in the room. Zoe sank into the soft bedspread and stretched like a cat, unafraid to preen for him. He wet his lips, then turned away. She assumed he was looking for something to bind her hands or her feet and her pulse pounded in anticipation. Instead, he returned with a condom, which he rolled on quickly. Then he climbed onto the bed and covered her with his big body, his eyes intense. She opened her thighs to cradle him, reveling in the way their bodies fit together.
He gathered her in his arms and kissed her slowly, exploring her mouth with gentle thoroughness. Zoe moaned, loving this new, tender side of him. She ran her hands over the muscles in his back, reveling in his strength, marveling that he could have such a light touch. He slid one hand under her hips and rocked her up to meet him, easing his thick erection inside her slowly, one inch at a time, until she had accepted his full length. Wrapped in his arms and around his shaft, she felt as if they were one.
She sighed in contentment and pushed her hands into his hair.
They eased into a long, slow, unhurried rhythm that allowed them to enjoy each nuance of separation, then reunion . For long minutes he pumped in and out of her with measured strokes, awakening an orgasm in her core, caressing it to life and nurturing it to blossom.
But it was the eye contact that left her breathless. He caught her gaze and held it through every sensual thrust, studying her face as if he wanted to ensure she was enjoying every second of his careful lovemaking. A climax swirled in her belly like thick, warm liquid in a vessel, climbing higher and higher to the brim. As the pressure built, he encouraged her with his eyes, thrusting harder and deeper now.
“That’s it,” he murmured. “I want to hear you come, Zoe.”
His erotic words sent her over the edge in a gush of molten ecstasy. She cried out his name and contracted around him, opening her legs wider to pull him deeper inside. The orgasm rolled on and on, seeming to draw from every part of her body. Zoe had never experienced anything so glorious and intense. She bucked beneath him, riding the wave. Then Colin stiffened, arching his body into hers and grunting his release.
“Zoe…mmm, Zoe,” he whispered against her neck.
She smiled and pulled him closer, their bodies pulsing in tandem.
They lay together for a long time. When Colin pulled back, he cupped her face and looked into her eyes. But Zoe wanted to hide because she realized at that moment, without the props and the fantasy sex, that sometime during the week she’d fallen in love with him. It was crazy and wrong. And the only thing she could save at this point was her dignity. Colin would never know that this week had meant more to her than they’d planned.
“That was nice,” she said, trying to sound breezy.
“Yes, it was,” he murmured, then rolled to her side. Within a few minutes he was dozing, but Zoe lay awake wondering how she was going to forget about Colin. What a bind she’d gotten herself into.
Eventually, though, she slept, curled into him, taking solace in his warmth. And hoping that morning was far, far away.
The next thing she knew he was gently shaking her shoulder. Her eyes popped open and from the sunlight filtering in through the window, she realized that morning had come.
And that something was wrong.
“What is it?” she asked, pushing the hair out of her eyes.
“Zoe,” he said, looking solemn. “You need to call home. Your fiancé has been in an accident.”
16
SHEER PANIC PIERCED Zoe as Colin’s words sank in. Your fiancé has been in an accident. She lurched up, disoriented. “What? What happened? How do you know?”