Chapter 31

MITCH felt a happy sense of satisfaction as he drove away from his sister's home. Jenny's parting words, whispered as he kissed her goodbye—'She's lovely, Mitch. So right for you.'—and Kathryn sitting beside him now with an air of relaxed contentment…the uncertainties that had plagued him had been largely lifted.

Jenny had felt the magic. Kathryn's parents had, too.

And the cloud Haynes had left on Kathryn's mind had been dispelled.

He felt far more confident now that he was winning the woman he wanted. Three more months to consolidate their relationship, then…he had to do it…had to take her to Gundamurra for Christmas. He hoped that being there would help her understand, meeting Patrick, feeling how that wise old man of the land and the immense space of the outback had taught him the futility of burning up with anger.

Far better for the explosive energy to be channelled into constructive purpose—achieving, not destroying, pursuing positive outcomes, not giving in to negativity. He'd done that, ever since he'd left Gundamurra. But he had snapped with Haynes, his fist flying out, connecting. Would Kathryn tie that to his earlier assault on Gary Chappel and worry about his capacity for violence? Would she be able to justify it in her mind, let it go, love him… without reservation?

'Thank you for taking me to meet Jenny and her family, Mitch.'

She was smiling at him, her beautiful green eyes lit with gold sparkles.

His heart lifted, soaring with hope. 'Jenny thinks you're lovely,' he informed her, returning the smile.

'So is she. And Hal. And the children.' 'I'm glad you had a good time with them.' 'Very good. In lots of ways.'

He threw her a quizzical glance. 'Want to elaborate on that?'

She grimaced but her eyes held apologetic appeal. 'It hammered home what a fool I'd been to worry about this weekend.'

'New steps always carry uncertainties,' he said, knowing the feeling all too well.

'You know what the worst thing about it has been?' 'No. Tell me the worst.'

'Not having you with me all the time.'

It jolted his gaze from the road. Heat was flooding into her cheeks. There was a vulnerable look in her eyes, wanting him to agree, afraid he might not.

'I missed you, too, Kathryn,' he assured her. 'In fact, I was severely tempted to crash your mother's birthday party yesterday.'

'You would have been welcome, Mitch. I would have loved to have you there. We would all have welcomed you,' she said with a fervour that left no room for doubt.

'It's okay.' He reached over and took her hand in his. 'We're together now.' Much more so than on the trip from Sydney, he thought, which was eloquent proof that controlling his anger over Haynes and arguing it through to a winning situation had earned him the result he'd aimed for.

Her other hand covered his, transmitting a desire for more contact with him, instantly arousing the strong sexual urge she'd always stirred in him.

'I want you to stay with me tonight, Mitch.'

His whole body clamoured for instant gratification. His mind dictated that waiting for the right time had to be enforced. Though it was impossible to keep the anticipation of it from simmering through his smile as he answered, 'I was hoping you'd want that, Kathryn.'

She laughed, a delightful gurgle of nervous pleasure.

Mitch wasn't sure how they made it back to Sydney. His driving had to have been on automatic pilot because he only became aware of the outside world when he brought the Jaguar to a halt in front of Kathryn's apartment building at Bondi Junction.

He managed to remember her bag…carried it for her.

She had the key to her apartment ready in her hand, unlocking the door with barely a pause.

They were inside.

He dropped the bag on the floor.

She flung her arms around his neck, her body rocketing against his, and the hunger for her he'd kept contained all weekend exploded through him. He kissed her, needing to draw her into him. His hands took their own urgent fill of her, roving greedily, possessively, over every delectable curve of her femininity, wanting the affirmation that she was his.

They tore off their clothes, her need as pressing as his, exciting him to a wild exhilaration. The caveman in him swung into action, scooping her off her feet, carrying her to the bedroom, and she was laughing with the mad rush of feeling, loving it, kissing him with joy, her hands running over him, inciting him to take her, intensely immediate.

He could not have waited anyway. She wound her legs around his hips, raising her body to meet the thrust of his, arching from the sheer ecstatic pleasure of instant satisfaction, the thrill of her response driving him hard and fast to the centre of her being. He wanted to feel her innermost self embracing him, engulfing, possessing, claiming her man.

It was awesome the feeling she gave him…the sense of utter euphoria.

It ignited all the pent-up energy of the past few days and they rocked together in a wild, exultant rhythm, soaring to the crests of waves of excitement, wallowing in the shallows of voluptuous sensuality, revelling in every nuance of pleasure, loving each other.

It went beyond the physical. Mitch was sure of it. It wasn't just a sexual merging. He could see it in her eyes…the total giving of herself, becoming one with him, belonging together. And when he finally climaxed, a sigh of sweet fulfilment whispered from her lips, a sigh that rippled through her entire body, telling him she felt complete in every sense with him.

He hugged her close, savouring this new level of intimacy, believing in it so strongly he wouldn't let himself think anything other than she felt it, too. It had to be. Right from the beginning he'd known instinctively she was the one. And she'd admitted being drawn to him, too, at their first meeting, drawn into wishing she wasn't wearing another man's ring.

He'd buy her a ring. Not a diamond.

Something that would be special to her. 'Mitch…'

'Mmm…?' He smiled as her fingers played with the hair on his chest, twining it between them, surely another sign of her liking the sense of being joined with him.

'Jenny told me about Gary Chappel and Gundamurra.' And his heart stopped.

Kathryn instantly felt the tight stillness of his chest. She was lying with her head resting on it, her ear close to the pleasant drumbeat of his heart—a heart fully relaxed from all tension. The beat was suddenly suspended. And the steady rhythm of his breathing came to a dead halt.

Shock, she thought, tingles of alarm racing through her brain. She hitched herself up to plead for his understanding, her eyes frantically trying to break through the glassy stare of his. 'I didn't bring up the rape, Mitch. I swear it. It was Jenny, wanting to know about Gary Chappel and Lara. And it just all came out because she needed to…to put everything together. I had to help her, Mitch. She was so deeply distressed…'

The shock in his eyes gave way to appalled disbelief. 'Jenny…' The name was expelled with the trapped breath released from his lungs. It carried the sound of some completely unanticipated betrayal.

Thinking he was hurt by his sister's choice to confide in her rather than the brother who cared so much, she quickly tried to explain Jenny's reasoning. 'It was the guilt thing, Mitch. She didn't want to lay it on you because she knows you don't want her to feel guilty. And neither she should. I think I convinced her of that in the end.'

'Guilt…' he repeated, seeming to struggle with taking that concept in. 'About not charging Gary Chappel with what he'd done to her, not

testifying in court for you, letting you be sent to Gundamurra, then Ric's Lara being abused by the same man who should have been put away instead of going free to hurt other women.'

He stared at her with intense concentration, saying nothing. Kathryn thought he was waiting for more, perhaps still questioning why Jenny had unloaded all this on her instead of him. Deciding it was probably best to recount the whole conversation, how it had happened, she explained that Jenny had thought she knew everything because of her working with Ric and being with her brother.

'I understand what your sister then told me was private stuff, Mitch,' she went on anxiously, acutely aware of how tense he still was. 'But I thought it was more important to help than back off.'