Ocean of Fire (17 page)

Tearing her gaze away from Philip in the mirror, she discovered in horror that not only had she swerved to the wrong side of the road, an enormous logging truck was bearing down on her.

It was more a reflex action than forward thinking, which made her spin the steering wheel to the left and slam her foot on the brake.

With the sound of screeching tires, the car lurched savagely off the road, and the truck roared past, its horn blaring. The car came to an abrupt halt with its bonnet in a grassy embankment, jerking Nicole forward in her seat. She sat there in numbed silence, her stunned brain slowly coming to terms with what had happened. I could be dead now, she thought, my car mangled beyond recognition underneath the front of that truck. The realization made her shudder, and her entire body started to shake violently with shock.

Suddenly the car-door was yanked open, and she felt hands reaching for her. A moment later she was being held against a hard male body, comforted by powerful arms.

“A - are you all right?” Philip asked, his voice trembling with emotion.

In her incredible relief to not only be alive, but that he was here holding her, she slid her arms around his neck, burying her flushed face in the cool folds of his leather jacket. It seemed strange that the rest of her was icy cold and her face burning hot.

“Yes- yes I think so,” she stammered.

“Nothing hurts?” he asked, drawing a little away.

“No, no. Just hold me,” she murmured, drawing him to her again. He let her cling to him, stroking her hair soothingly. It took a few minutes, but Nicole finally managed to calm down, and her uncontrollable shaking eased.

“What on earth were you trying to do, Nicole?” he asked finally. “I was standing there, convinced you were on a kamikaze mission determined to get yourself annihilated. Don’t
ever
scare me like that again!”

Those final commanding words compelled her to look up into his face. She realized then he had been equally shaken by the experience, which was understandable, considering he’d lost his entire family in a car accident. But there was something else softening his golden-brown eyes. It was more than concern, a look she had never seen there before. Deep tenderness illuminated the dark depths of his irises. It could only mean one thing. He cared. Philip really did care for her.

“I think I terrified myself more,” Nicole muttered, shifting in her seat. With the sudden urge to get out of the car, she stretched out her cramped legs. He moved away to allow her the space she needed to stand up. She leaned against the inert vehicle, and Philip faced her, resting one of his elbows on the roof.

“What on earth possessed you?” he asked gravely, placing his hand on her arm.

Suddenly she smiled, as she recalled what had caused her to lose her concentration on the first place.

“I was too busy admiring the sexy hitchhiker walking along the side of the road,” she admitted.

“Oh great! Now I’m a traffic hazard,” he scoffed. “May I make a suggestion? Promise not to bite my head off for it?”

She quirked an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to go on.

“Let me do the driving from now on?”

“Does that mean you still want to come with me?”

“If you’ll have me. I’m really sorry for walking out on you like that last night.” From the way he spoke and the way his eyes appealed to her from beneath those long dark lashes of his, she would do more than forgive him. She had already done that when she’d seen him walking along the side of the road.

Nicole stretched up and kissed him on the lips. They were cold, but when he responded, both their mouths and bodies were soon bathed in warm liquid heat. Philip wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her against him.

“Oh Phil,” she sighed, when the deep kiss finally ended. “I’m sorry too. I should never have forced the issue like that. It wasn’t fair.”

“I think you’re going to make a brilliant social worker-“

Nicole started to protest, but he brought a silencing finger to her lips before continuing. “What you did for me was make me realize I had been carrying around all that guilt and pain around with me. Only I was being too pig-headed to see what you were trying to do. I’ve walked for miles thinking about Michael, my past, you and I... You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Nicole and I’d be a bloody idiot to give you up.”

It wasn’t a declaration of love, but at that point in time she didn’t care. All she cared about was having him back in her arms. They still had a chance, a damned good one, if what he had just said was true.

“You know I did it because I care about you,” she finally said. Then something else occurred to her. “Why didn’t you come back last night? You were hitching a ride back to Hobart, weren’t you?” What if someone else had stopped for you? I would still be on my way to Strahan.”

“I was waiting for you to come along, Nicole darling. I knew this was the way you’d have to come. I didn’t come back last night because I’d walked so damn far, I doubted I’d make it back before you left, so I decided to just keep on walking. Besides Hobart’s in the other direction,” he explained.

“Oh you poor thing.”

“It serves me right. Now let’s see if we can get this car started.” He climbed into the driver’s seat. It took a few attempts before it finally turned over. Nicole stood and watched while he reversed it out of the long grass. To her surprise, when she went to check for damages, there was barely a scratch on the paint-work. The soft grass must have cushioned the impact when she’d careered off the road.

There were numerous interesting places to visit along the Lyall Highway, including the magnificent Nelson Waterfall, which Nicole photographed from at least ten different angles. Then for a long time she stood with Philip holding her close, gazing at the rapidly gushing water glittering against the midday sunshine. In the company of one of nature’s most beautiful creations it was easy to forgot her uncertainty and fears for a while. He was with her now. That was all that mattered.

Lake St. Claire was also a spectacular sight. The only place Nicole didn’t appreciate was Queenstown. Although it had become a tourist attraction, she found it went completely against nature. How a town could destroy every tree in the surrounding hills for mining purposes and keep it that way, amazed and saddened her.

They were to stay at a hotel in Strahan that night, and then take a cruise up the Gordon and Franklin Rivers the following morning. After they had eaten in one of the restaurants in town, Nicole made her daily call to her mother, using a public phone as she couldn’t get a descent reception on her mobile.

“Peter and Rob should be home some time tomorrow,” Gail informed her.

“That’s good. How are they faring?” Nicole asked.

“They had a few problems with the engine, but it’s been fixed now. What have you seen today?”

“Today we went to Lake St. Claire and Queenstown...” Nicole stopped, realizing the monumental blunder she’d just made.

“We?” Of course her mother would have to pick up on it.

“Yes, I met a nice Italian couple from Sydney and we spent some time together,” she said, hoping her mother would accept this explanation, as it was half the truth anyway.

“I’m glad you aren’t spending the time entirely on your own. Just be careful. You never know about some of those foreign people. They could be like that awful Spanish fellow your father had the good sense to get rid of, only interested in doing you harm.”

“Oh Mum, he wasn’t like that,” she sighed.

“Come on Nicole. You know exactly what he was after.” Nicole turned on hearing a tap on the glass of the phone booth. Philip pulled a face at her, but Nicole shooed him away, not wanting him to overhear the derogative comments her mother was making about him.

“I have to go now. Someone wants to use the phone. Goodbye Mum.”

“Goodbye Nicole.”

“What was that frown all about?” Philip asked, when she stepped out of the box and faced him.

“Nothing. Mum’s just telling me to be careful as usual.”

“And to watch out for dark foreigners. Am I right?”

“Something like that,” she concurred, wishing he couldn’t read her so well.

“We’ll to have to do something about them when we get back. They’re going to be a right royal pain in the proverbial,” he muttered, thrusting his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

They returned to their motel room, and Philip leaned against the closed door, letting out a sigh.

“Alone at last,” he murmured, pulling Nicole into his arms. “We have to make up for lost time, don’t you think?” he whispered against her hair, taking her earlobe between his lips.

“Do we? And what exactly did you have in mind?” Nicole asked, knowing precisely what he was inferring to.

“Well, first I’d like you to undress me, seeing you were so reluctant to do so the other night.”

There was nothing Nicole wanted more. Obediently she began undoing the buttons of his shirt, pushing it from his smooth, broad shoulders. He gave a little moan of pleasure when she ran her fingers through his coarse dark chest hair. Then she brought her lips to the firm column of his neck.

“Oh Nicole! You really do have the touch of an angel,” he murmured, his body trembling under her touch.

She grew bolder, moving her hands down his body to undo the buckle of his trousers. He helped her by wriggling out of them, letting them drop to the floor along with his shirt.

“And you have the body of a god,” she whispered back, still not believing this perfectly formed man was hers to love. She started raining tiny kisses across his chest, flicking her tongue over the small male nipples.

Suddenly she found herself in his arms, being carried towards the bed. He deposited her upon it, and seconds later he was leaning over her, kissing her with such fervent passion, she cried her pleasure out loud.

“Got too much for you,” she managed in between kisses, but he didn’t answer her. He was too engrossed in devouring her lips, sending her senses reeling, scattering them across the ocean to where dreams came true.

Nicole was soon lost in a whirlpool of sensation, barely conscious of how she ended up naked in his arms. All she was aware of was his mouth, his hands, his skin against hers, as their kisses rose in urgency and intensity.

When they finally joined in the timeless rhythm of love, it was a slow, sensual journey of practiced control on his part, to bring her to the heights he’d promised.

This time Philip took her with him on the journey of no return. Before she knew it she was convulsing around him, her entire body quivering with waves of pulsing heat. Somewhere in the darkness she heard herself whispering his name, until he too followed her into the same convulsive void.

Crying out his triumph, Philip collapsed against her, his face nestled against her shoulder.

Later, how much later, she had no idea, he finally moved from her. Rolling over, he pulled her back into his arms. Nicole snuggled against him, sighing with contentment.

“Now
that
was what I was talking about when I said I wanted to show you ultimate fulfillment,” he whispered against her ear. “Oh, to see your face at that moment, Nicole. You’ll never know how happy that made me.”

“I’m so glad we saved this place for last,” Nicole stretched up to whisper in Philip’s ear. They were standing hand in hand on the front steps of the Kettering Guest House, an attractive white cottage, with a glassed in balcony overlooking a serene bay dotted with moored boats. The house was surrounded by an immaculate garden, and Nicole inhaled the heady scent of jasmine from a nearby bush.

As they stood on the porch, waiting for their host to open the door, Nicole surveyed the township, and couldn’t help imagining herself living in one of the cottages nearby.

The town looked relaxed as it basked in the golden rays of late afternoon sunshine, overlooking the bay and the rugged untouched countryside stretching along the Derwent River. Kettering was no more than forty-five minutes’ drive from Hobart, and Nicole found herself wondering if any social work jobs were going there.

“It’s breath-taking,” Philip acknowledged, placing a kiss on the top of her head. “Someone’s coming now.” With that he lessened his hold on her, but it was obvious they looked like a love-struck couple to the corpulent, middle aged woman who opened the door to them.

“Hello. I’m Carmel Davies,” she said with a smile. “You must be Nicole Cameron, and...” She cast Philip a wary glance. Clad in his skin-tight jeans and leather jacket, with the wind tousling his long dark hair about his face, she no doubt regarded him as a rather dubious customer.

“Philip Pelayo,” He flashed her a debonair smile, which immediately turned her speculative glance into a welcoming one. Nicole was still amazed at the way his smiles softened his face. He was capable of looking so endearing when he wanted to, particularly when his eyes sparkled golden with merriment.