Blackpeak Station by Holly Ford Read Free Book Online

nasty.’
    ‘I’ll come,’ said Rob.
    Charlotte looked at him dubiously. ‘Are you sure? It’ll take a couple of days.’
    ‘All the more reason for me to come too.’ His eyes gleamed. ‘We’re supposed to be having a long weekend — remember? I took Monday off?’
    ‘I know. Sorry. It’s just—’
    ‘Hey. Who wouldn’t want to go camping in weather like this?’
    They set out after lunch, riding side by side across the flats and into the rain, a trio of dogs trailing behind them. They’d reach Fred’s Gully Hut by dark, recapture the cattle the muster had missed the following day, and on the next, bring them back down to the low country where they belonged, before the snows set in.
    The track up into the bush-clad gully was steep. The horses picked their way up, hooves sliding on the wet ground. Charlotte surveyed their progress through a curtain of rain running down from the brim of her hat. The dogs jogged ahead, their hair plastered to their sides, bony shadows of their usual well-furred selves. Away to the left, the creek rushed loudly.
    Charlotte’s horse slipped on a piece of wet schist, coming down on one knee and jolting Charlotte back to the task at hand. The track had got steeper. She dismounted, landing up to her ankles in mud, and led old Archie up. Behind her,Rob did the same with his horse. The dogs scurried back, excited to see them on the ground.
    After an hour or so, the track levelled out onto open tussock, and they were able to scrape the mud off their boots and remount. Still the rain fell, a little pattering heartbeat, constant as breathing. Ahead, the bush loomed wetly.
    The heavy cloud cut the late-autumn day even shorter, and the light was nearly gone by the time they reached the hut. They worked quickly in the last of it, unpacking their gear, tending to the horses, fetching water and wood.
    Charlotte lit the kerosene lamps and coaxed a fire out of the damp wood. She could barely make out Rob’s figure against the bush as he carried the billy cans down to the creek. In the hearth, the beech wood crackled and spat. Outside, she could hear the dogs shifting and scratching against the wall of the hut as they settled down for the night.
    She removed her boots and put them to dry by the fire, then stripped off quickly, peeling away sodden socks, trousers and underwear. Her oilskin had been no match for five hours of rain.
    ‘I knew I’d come for a reason,’ grinned Rob, ducking in through the door. He hung the billies on the fire and took off his borrowed parka. As if on cue, the drumming of the rain on the roof redoubled.
    Charlotte turned and reached down into her pack for a towel. ‘Come here,’ his voice growled behind her. ‘And let me do that.’
    She turned back with a smile. He had to be kidding. She was exhausted — surely he must be too? Rob was standing in front of the fire, his shirt already off, the top two buttons of his jeans undone. The firelight played on his wet skin as he held out a hand to her. God, he looked good. Maybe she did have a little energy left. She took a step forward.
    He took the towel from her, running it gently from the point of her jaw down between her breasts and on to her navel. Charlotte was pretty sure that Fred’s Gully Hut had never seen anything like this before — or at least, she hoped not.
    ‘Tired, babe?’ he murmured.
    She nodded, though she wasn’t really feeling it now.
    He smiled. ‘Let me take the weight off your feet.’ Lifting her up to meet his lips, he spun her round and pressed her back against the wall.
    Oh … Charlotte ran her hands up his shoulders, the solid, muscular mass of his neck. He really did have the most spectacular upper body. As for the lower half … she ran her hands back down. High time she finished what he’d started with those jeans.
     
    They rode out with the first rain-sodden light in search of the missing cattle. When Rex had spotted them from the neighbouring station’s helicopter