Australian Quinns. Kate Hoffmann

and began to walk the opposite way, east, toward the station.

      The outback looked deceptively flat, yet as she walked, she realized that a gentle rise could easily hide things in the distance. She tried to keep moving in a straight line, finding a cluster of stars to keep over her right shoulder. But it was difficult to maintain her bearings in the dark. In the end, she decided to give her horse its head. He knew how to get home better than she did.

      But, to her surprise, the horse didn’t lead her back to the station. Instead, she found herself standing at a low iron gate. She hadn’t come through any fence on her way out, but the horse seemed to know what it was doing. “Do I trust the horse or do I trust myself?”

      In the end, she opened the gate and led the horse through. A few seconds later, she noticed the outline of a small building, just barely visible in the growing moonlight. Obviously, the horse had been to the spot in the recent past. “What is this?”

      The front door was unlocked, but she could see nothing in the black interior. Closing her eyes, she felt around with her hands, stumbling over what felt like beds along the walls. She wandered back to the porch, then noticed a lantern hanging beside the door and a tin box of matches nailed below it.

      The match flared and she lit the lantern, then walked back into the small shack. It was obvious it was some kind of remote bunkhouse, though it seemed to be awfully close to Kerry Creek to be of much use. She found a couple more lanterns and, after lighting them, took the first one out onto the porch to serve as a sign that she was there.

      Someone would come looking for her sooner or later. And if they didn’t come tonight, she’d simply wait until the morning and then head toward the sunrise. Payton walked over to her horse and took off his saddle, dropping it onto the front steps of the shack.

      She folded the saddle blanket and threw it on top. Then she carefully tethered the horse to a hitching rail in front of the cabin before stepping inside.

      The interior of the cabin was cozy and almost as comfortable as the bunkhouse, though a bit dustier. From what she could tell, the place had been used recently. There was a stack of firewood next to the cast-iron stove and canned food in the small cupboard above the dry sink. She picked through the assortment and found a can of nuts.

      A shelf of paperback novels, mostly mysteries, caught Payton’s attention and she chose one and sat down at the small wooden table. Though it was hard to read in the flickering light, she managed to finish a few pages before her eyes grew tired. With a frustrated sigh, she laid her head down on the table and closed her eyes.

      She wasn’t sure whether she’d fallen asleep or not, but a loud crash brought her upright. She saw a shadow in the doorway and screamed. But a moment later, Brody stepped into the light.

      He crossed the room in a few long strides, grabbed her arms and yanked her into his embrace. “What the hell were you thinking?” he muttered. “I got back to the station and they said you’d left on horseback.”

      “I was just going to ride out to meet you and then my horse came up lame. I thought he’d lead me back to the stable, but he came here.”

      “You’re on Fraser land,” Brody said. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and then took a deep breath. “Do you know how dangerous it is out here? You can walk for a day and not see anything familiar.”

      “That’s why I decided to stay here.”

      “The first smart move you made all day.” He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her, his mouth harsh and demanding, as if he was exacting punishment for what she’d done.

      But he didn’t stop there. He tore off his jacket and tossed it aside, then began to work at the buttons of her shirt. When he wasn’t removing her clothes, he was strip-ping out of his, and within a minute, they were both naked.

      Payton wasn’t sure what to say. She knew he was angry and maybe a bit shaken, but he seemed to need reassurance that she was safe. He buried his face in the curve of her neck, his hands skimming over her body as if to prove to himself she was unhurt.

      Brody turned her around in his arms. Payton knew what was coming, but she wasn’t prepared for the intensity of his need. “I don’t have protection,” he murmured.

      “It’s all right,” Payton said, arching against him. She’d taken care of birth control a long time ago, choosing a method that was both constant and convenient. She wanted to experience him without any barriers, to feel just him inside her.

      He buried himself deep in a single thrust, then held her, drawing a deep breath. She wriggled against him, silently pleading for him to move, but he held her still until he regained control.

      He began slowly at first, with a delicious rhythm that she couldn’t deny. Her mind whirled with a maelstrom of sensation and she felt herself losing touch with reality. Every stroke brought her closer to completion.

      Payton moved with him, sending him even deeper. Every movement felt like perfection, as though their bodies were made to do just this. His fingers grasped her hips as she urged him on, so close to release that she was afraid they might both collapse onto the floor before they were through.

      Brody moaned and she knew he was close. But then, suddenly he stopped. “Say it,” he murmured. “Tell me you’ll never leave me.”

      At first, she wasn’t sure what he meant. Did he just want to hear the words, or was he demanding the promise behind them. In the end, Payton didn’t really care. If he wanted her to stay, she would, for as long as this passion lasted. “I won’t,” she said. “I promise.”

      “Promise me,” he said, his voice raw as he moved again.

      “I promise.”

      Satisfied, he brought them both closer and closer. And then, in a blinding instant, Payton cried out and dissolved into powerful spasms of pleasure. He was there with her, his body shuddering with every stroke.

      Brody sighed as he kissed her nape, his teeth grazing her skin. When he stumbled, Payton steadied them both, their bodies still joined. “I think we should sit down,” she said.

      “No,” he murmured. “I want to stay just like this.”

      “All right,” she said, reaching back to wrap her arm around his neck. She shifted and he groaned, slipping out of her.

      Brody moved over to one of the bunks and gently lowered her onto the rough wool blanket. Then he stretched out beside her. Goose bumps prickled her skin and she pulled the edges of the blanket up around them both. “It’s not as comfy as your bed,” she said. “But it will do.”

      “We’re trespassing. Considering the feud between the Frasers and the Quinns, we might end up shot, or in jail.”

      “It was worth it,” she teased.

      “No more adventures in the outback for you.”

      “I’ll just take you with me.” She closed her eyes and snuggled against him. At that moment, Payton couldn’t imagine ever doing without this passion. Or without this man. What that meant, she wasn’t sure. But it did mean something.

      “TEAGUE?”

      Brody awoke to the sound of a woman’s voice. The door creaked and he pushed up on his elbow, squinting against the sunlight that shone through the door, Payton still sound asleep beside him. “Brody,” he said.

      He heard hurried footsteps on the front steps, then carefully rolled out of bed and tugged his jeans on. When he got outside, Brody found Hayley Fraser mounting her horse.

      “Wait,” he called, raking his hand through his tousled hair.

      She paused, watching him warily from atop her horse. Brody hadn’t seen Hayley in ages, not since she and Teague were teenagers. But he had seen photos of her in magazines and on television. Teague’s ex-girlfriend had become one of Australia’s most popular young actresses. She had a part on a television show that almost everyone in Oz watched every Thursday evening,