Outback Thunder (8 page)

"Grab your
mug and I'll pour you a coffee."

He winked at her
and she groaned. Today was not as easy as she had thought it was going to be.
Tomorrow she would wake with aches and pains worse than she had now. That was
just how it went. Jonas was going to love this.

She rummaged in
her tucker bag and gripped her tin mug, wrenching it out. Zoe stumbled over to
her brother and handed it to him before easing herself down onto a fallen tree
trunk. "Ouch, I hurt all over."

"Surely you
expected something? Hell, it's like trying to tackle a marathon without having
any build up." Brandon handed her the coffee. "Just make sure you
warm down before you go to sleep. Do some stretches or something otherwise you
will be a mess tomorrow."

"Yay, thanks,
brother."

Zoe listened to
the gentle teasing from the guys, smiling every now and then. Dinner was pretty
basic but filling and she struggled to eat it without falling asleep.

Before bed she
walked to her horse and brushed him down. Taking Brandon's advice she did some
stretches and then rubbed her thumbs into her calves kneading the tight muscles
until they softened. Feeling better she stood up.

"Bran, could
you please do my neck and shoulders for me?"

Brandon stood up
and gestured her over. She closed her eyes and relaxed under his touch.

The horses started
to fidget and stamp their feet seconds before the drone of the helicopter
sounded in the still night sky. The lights underneath flickered as Jonas
brought the machine to ground away from the camp.

A few minutes
later he strolled into camp, a swag under his arm looking devastatingly
handsome and cheery.

"Slumming it
with the workers, boss?" Tony called.

"Not slumming
in my opinion. It's how I grew up."

Zoe watched as he
laid his battered swag close to hers. Her stomach clenched and she shifted her
feet.

"Steady on,
girl. Just let me finish this," Brandon said holding her by the shoulders.

"Feeling it a
bit eh, Zoe?" Jonas looked at her over the fire, a smirk dancing over his
face.

"I thought
that would have been obvious. It has been ten years after all since I spent a
full day in the saddle and I never doubted I would have a few aches." She
sucked in a deep breath. "But don't let it worry you, Jonas. It won't hold
me up at all tomorrow."

She thanked
Brandon and walked over to the other side of the fire and sat on her bed roll.
Zoe pulled off her boots and stuffed her socks in them. Sliding inside she
tried not to cry out loud when her butt made contact with a lump underneath her
bed. She should have checked the ground before she rolled it out but she had
forgotten. Shuffling around, she managed to avoid it and settled down closing
her eyes. "Night all."

****

Jonas kept his
gaze on her while she fell asleep seconds after she closed her eyes. Her
breathing was shallow and steady and her lips were parted, a soft snore coming
out every now and then.

"Get a load
of that, will you?" He laughed. "Zoe hasn't changed as much as she
thinks she has. Still makes those weird little snore sounds."

"And still as
determined as ever," Brandon said handing Jonas a coffee. "Give her a
chance and she will be back to normal before we know what's happened." He
sat back cradling his coffee, keeping his eyes on his sister.

Bill and Tony both
called it a night and settled down for sleep leaving Brandon and Jonas to keep
the conversation going. They sipped their coffee discussing the stock numbers
before they too headed for bed.

****

A smack in the
face woke Jonas with a start. The night sky was clear and the fire was almost
burned down. A few coals glowed in the dark night competing with the stars
above. He looked over at Zoe who had thrown her arm over his face in her sleep.
Nudging it down he clutched her fingers in his and rolled over in her
direction. She was smiling in her sleep and he watched her eyelids fluttering
while her dream raced through her mind. She muttered and laughed, having an
animated conversation with someone in her dream. She was beautiful when she was
relaxed and forgot to be angry with him.

He closed his eyes
and drifted back to sleep, her hand warm in his.

Jonas snapped
awake when someone kicked the end of his swag.

"Having a
sleep in, boss?"

Zoe stood over
him, coffee in hand and her head cocked to one side as he struggled to wake up.
His gaze travelled slowly up the long jean clad legs to her ass. His palms
itched to rise and grasp her butt cheeks and pull her down to his bed. He
closed his eyes to rid himself of the image.

Unzipping the swag
he pulled himself up and grabbed his boots, shaking them make sure they were
clear of spiders and bugs before pulling them on. Zoe sauntered away as he
stood up and her hips swayed with each exaggerated move.

Jonas watched
every swing before he shook his head and glanced toward the fire when he heard
a slight cough. The boys were all standing there with grins on their faces and
he immediately scowled at them.

"Coffee,
Jonas?" Brandon called, a smirk on his face.

"Thanks."

"We'll just
go saddle our horses," Tony said, Bill nodding as he followed. They
avoided meeting Jonas's gaze.

He rolled his swag
up, tightening the straps. He stood again, searching for Zoe. She leaned
against a tree, one hand slipped inside the front pocket of her jeans, the
other holding the tin mug to her lips. She quirked an eyebrow at him before
running her tongue over her lips.

Jonas couldn't
help but smile at her cheek and the sexual innuendo guaranteed to make his
blood heat up. She knew him so well. That much at least hadn't changed. They
were both so into the sex games of teasing each other and she hadn't lost her
touch. He shook his head and walked over to Brandon. "You sorted for this
morning?"

"Yeah, under
control. The stock hasn't wandered much so just let us know where the rest are
once you're in the air and we can bring them in." He nodded in Zoe's
direction. "I wonder if you should see if Zoe wants a lift home. She
didn't shape up too well yesterday regardless of how she's stirring you up
now."

"I wouldn't
dream of asking her, not at the risk of losing my head." Jonas looked over
his shoulder at her still lounging against the tree soaking up the morning
sunshine. "Let me know if she struggles and I might put my head on the
block later but it's not how I want to start my day."

"Fair
enough," Brandon said nodding his head. "Here she comes."

"Ready for
the easy ride home, Jonas?"

"Swap you any
day . I enjoy the saddle and riding with the boys." He glanced at her from
head to toe, noting the stiff way in which she held herself. She was still sore
and he had no doubt she would slap him if he said anything.

"I must say I
missed it too. I might be a bit sore by the time we get home but I wouldn't
swap it for your gig." She threw the dregs of her coffee into the hot
coals of the fire grinning like a schoolgirl when the embers spat.

Jonas saw her walk
over to her backpack and jam her mug inside, doing up the strap. She lifted it
up and swung it over her shoulder, wincing slightly as the weight settled
against her back. She whistled for her horse and Midnight lifted his head
gazing at her before slowly sauntering toward her.

This should be
interesting.

He spoke to
Brandon while keeping an eye on her saddling the horse. The stifled gasps
coming from her tight lips let him know how sore she still felt. Gritting his
teeth Jonas jammed his hands in his back pockets, stilling the need to rush
over and help her knowing full well that she would push him aside.

Zoe was hell bent
on hiding how much this was hurting. The last thing she needed was Jonas
preening over how soft she had become while she was away. The blisters on her
hands would have been a lot worse if it wasn't for the new gloves Pete had
handed her but that didn't help her pain. She was used to manicured nails and
soft skin now. Her palms were red raw and most of her nails were chipped,
broken or both. She grimaced and sucked in a deep breath.

Slipping Midnights
bridle on, she did up the buckles, tearing another nail.

"Fuck."

She chewed the
jagged edge and spat it onto the dry dusty ground. Zoe counted to ten before
she plastered a bright smile on her face and walked over to grab her saddle.

"Okay?"
Brandon called out to her.

"Yep, right
as rain, brother."

The muscles in her
back screamed when she leaned down to grab the saddle but she kept the smile on
her face. Not until she turned back to her horse did she screw up her face and
curse to herself. Stars floated in front of her eyes as she carried it back.
Zoe counted three deep breaths before she hoisted the saddle onto Midnight’s
back. The sweat ran down her spine and trickled past her jeans to dampen her
the back of her panties. The salt stung her already chaffed behind and she
longed to strip down and sit in cool water.

A gentle hand
landed on her shoulder just as she pulled the girth strap tight.

"You going to
be alright, kid?"

"Sure Bran,
I'm fine." She looked over his shoulder, putting the smile back on her
face for Jonas's benefit. "You know how it is. It won't take me long to
get used to the saddle again."

Brandon threw her
swag up and tied it behind the saddle for her.

Zoe hooked her
foot in the stirrup and swung herself up and over to rest in the saddle. She
pulled the gloves from her front pocket and pulled them on while she gazed
around at the milling stock. "Let's get moving before it gets too hot and
the stock buggers off looking for a shady spot to cool down."

She turned her
horse and started to round up the first of the wanderers. The sound of the
helicopter soon reached her ears and she relaxed in the saddle now that Jonas
was no longer watching her.

The sound of hoofs
coming toward her got her attention. She turned her head swatting the flies
that were buzzing and crawling over her and grinned at her brother.

"Don't tell
me Jonas thinks I should go home already?"

"Yeah, but
you have to expect it Zoe. You really shouldn't have done this muster without
at least some riding beforehand and I don't believe that outing the other day
to the dam was classed as a decent ride."

"Yeah well,
be that as it may. I have to do this and you know that." She brushed her
hand across her face and growled. "I have missed everything except these
bloody flies."

"Even
Jonas?"

She looked at him,
frowning as she mulled the words over in her mind. Her brother knew her too
well, he always had. How the hell was she supposed to keep anything to herself
on this farm. Her brother and her ex-lover, they both read her like a book.
"I guess the time hasn't dulled the hurt as much as I had hoped. He still
has the uncanny ability to push all the right buttons."

"Well
maybe—"

"No! Don't
even go there or I swear to God I will kick your ass. It's over, okay? He
couldn't keep it in his pants then and from all accounts he hasn't changed at
all. We had different ideas of what we wanted for the future. Let's do
this."

She flicked the
reins and the horse bolted forward stilling the conversation.

All day she rode
hard bringing in the cattle, chasing the strays that didn't want to follow the
herd and reuniting mothers and lost calves. It was after dinner by the time
they reached the home paddock and met up with the other teams who had brought
their cattle in earlier.

Zoe rode to the stable
and slid off Midnight. She leaned into his side until she was certain her weak
legs would hold her. Someone gave her a gentle nudge and bent to unsaddle the
horse.

"No, leave
it," she groaned pushing Pete out of the way.

"Don't be
bloody stubborn. You're knackered and look like you will fall down any
minute."

"I can do
it." Zoe reached up and pulled the saddle down, letting it almost touch
the ground as the weight settled in her sore hands. She struggled to hold it
and walked over to the stable, gingerly lifting it over the rail.

"You don't
have anything to prove, kid, not to me anyway."

"Yeah, I
do." She grabbed a hose and let the water run over her horse cleaning the
dust from his coat and cooling him down.

Pete shook his
head and stormed back to the office slamming the door behind him and leaving
her to do her own thing. Once she had filled the hay net and led Midnight into
the stable, she headed for the house. Her body protested with each movement but
it was like a beacon calling her to safety. She sunk to the bottom step to pull
off her dusty boots and sweaty socks, dumping them on the path.