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  Summer Down Under Two

  Willa Fox

  WARNING: Adult content. Explicit sex and language. Not intended for readers under eighteen.

  Text Copyright © 2019 by Willa Fox

  All rights reserved.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, (electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher of this book. For more information visit www.willafox.com.

  All names, characters, groups and events portrayed in this book are fictitious, and all opinions expressed by the characters, whose preferences and attitudes are entirely their own. Any similarities to real persons or groups, living or dead are coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  1. Liam

  2. Julie

  3. Liam

  4. Julie

  5. Liam

  6. Julie

  7. Liam

  8. Julie

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  About the Author

  Other Books by Willa

  1

  Liam

  My favourite time of the day on the beach is twilight. The heat has lessened but the sand is still warm beneath my feet as I run along the shore. I’m concentrating on getting a good rhythm to my strides when the primal, lifeguard part of my brain picks up a high-pitched noise. Turning my attention to the water, I slow down to a light jog. Scanning the surface of the waves, I spot the flash of peachy skin against the dark swell. It bobs in the water for a moment before it’s gone.

  Instinct grips me. I kick off my trainers and remove my singlet. Adrenaline courses through my veins as I race into the shallow water and then dive. A million thoughts run through my head but I block them out to concentrate on my breathing. This isn’t a lifeguard patrolled part of the beach. The water isn’t treacherous enough to warrant our presence. If somebody is having trouble it usually means some kind of substance is involved. Usually alcohol. My teeth grit in irritation as my body cuts through the water.

  Growing up at the beach, my parents forced my siblings and me to learn to swim as soon as we could walk. My older brother Jared and I joined the lifeguards when we were in high school. We’ve been doing it ever since. Now that we’ve both got careers we only really come back in the summer for the fun of it. But I thank God for the training as I slide through the water towards the drowning person.

  The street lights on the pier have turned on but visibility is crap. I come to a stop in the water, my head breaking the surface. Gasping and with my heart in my throat, I cast around for the other person. I squint against the moon’s early reflection on the water and think I see something not far away. Diving under again, I take a couple of strokes in that direction. When my palm hits soft flesh, the balloon of panic in my chest deflates a little.

  A woman. She’s got long, dark hair that splays out in the water. When I grab her arm, she’s shaking. It’s not because she’s cold. Her eyes are closed but I don’t waste time trying to figure out right then and there if she’s breathing. Making sure to keep her head out of the water, I kick my way back to the shore.

  When I deposit her on the sand, dread wraps itself around me. The jerking of her body that I hadn’t been able to distinguish in the water is obvious as she kicks sand around her. She’s having some kind of fit. Her eyes roll back in her head and her mouth is slightly ajar. I have an advanced first aid qualification and I’ve been around enough sick people to know not to touch them when they’re like this. I think about calling for an ambulance but it would be faster if I took her to the hospital myself. Only I have to wait until her spasms subside. If I try and get her into the car she might hit her head.

  Time feels like it slows down to an almost grinding halt. All I can do is kneel a short distance from her and wait for her shaking to finish. She looks so hurt and helpless it digs at a primal, protective part of me.

  Patience is not something I do well. I couldn’t do it at school and I don’t do well with it at work. Mum got so sick of my hyperactiveness that she diverted me into a carpentry course that eventually led into me becoming a builder. Now I own my own construction business but I still enjoy making things with my hands. I clench my fists to stop them balling as I wait.

  When her fit finally subsides, she rolls over onto her side and gags. I drew up beside her and place my palm on her back as she retches. Saltwater gushes from her mouth. When she coughs, I run my hand soothingly down her back. As she fights to get her breathing under control, she turns her head in my direction and I freeze.

  Huge brown eyes peer at me through long, thick lashes. Her skin is pale from the cold of the water but there’s a definite golden tan to it. Little goose bumps raise the hair on her skin but it does nothing to dampen the soft curves of her body. My heart jolts like it’s been hit with a thousand volts of electricity. She’s stunning and she’s looking at me like a wounded puppy. I want to bundle her up in my arms. When I do exactly that, she doesn’t struggle.

  I lift her up off the sand and start jogging towards my car. “I’m taking you to the hospital,” I tell her.

  She makes a small, keening noise but it makes her start coughing again. A couple of people are on the sidewalk and give us strange looks. I ignore them as I settle her gently in the passenger seat. I grab a towel and my T-shirt out of the boot and cover her with them.

  “Thank you,” she finally says. Her voice is raspy. I’m not sure if it’s natural or because of her recent fit. “I’m okay. We don’t need to go to the hospital.”

  “Yes, we do.” There’s a strange catch in my voice that makes her eyes widen. I don’t bother to say anything else. This thing that has come alive inside of me at the sight of her is ferocious. I won’t stop until I know she’s okay.

  I might be breaking the speed limit a little as I weave down the highway to get to the closest hospital. I’ve been here often enough over the years that the paramedics and the staff know me. It’s not a nice way to get to know people but it’s part of what I do. When I barge through the emergency doors, they wheel a gurney up right away.

  “How much water has she taken?” Rob, one of the nurses asks.

  “Not much I don’t think. I’m more concerned about the fit she was having when I rescued her.”

  “What’s your name, sweetheart?” Rob says. Something goes off in my head at the endearment. Even though I know Rob bats for the other team, the thought of another man talking to her, giving her comfort, grates at my skin.

  “Julie,” she rasps. She’s looking at me still with those pretty doe-eyes. When I catch her eye, she lowers her head. She gained some colour back on the drive to the hospital. A pink blush streaks across her cheeks.

  “Okay, Julie,” Rob says. “We’re going to run some tests to see what’s wrong.” He starts to wheel her through the swinging doors. Her hand whips out and latches to my wrist. She glances down at where our fingers touch, her expression puzzled like she doesn’t know why she did that. Heat floods through my chest from where our skin is touching. I can feel her unease through the contact.

  “I’m coming with her,” I tell Rob.

  He frowns. “It’s not policy –”

  I cut him off with a glare. “I wasn’t asking.”

  Knowing that I can be bull-headed when I want to be, Rob sighs and motions for me to follow. Julie removes her hand and flexes it, still looking at her palm like she doesn’t have control of what she was doing.

  But when I take her hand again as the doctor comes in to start her tests, she leans into me inst
ead of away. Right then something clicks in my mind. I know for certain life is never going to be the same again.

  2

  Julie

  I don’t need the doctors to run tests on me to know what’s wrong. When I give the doctor my family medical history, his face twitches before he can catch his reaction. My mum passed away a year ago. She had multiple sclerosis.

  As I wait for the doctors to give me the all clear, at least for the night, I can’t help sneaking glances at the god in the armchair beside my bed. Even while I was trying to catch my breath on the beach, the sheer magnitude of him lapped at me. He’s gorgeous. Big, bronzed and beautiful. I can’t help wondering if maybe they’re filming a movie nearby and he just walked off the set. The fluorescent lighting is hell on my complexion but it throws shadows over his sharply cut muscles.

  Every female nurse that comes in to check on me does a double-take when they see him. I’m not imagining that my checkups seem to happen a lot more frequently after that. Something painful pulses in my stomach when they smile at him.

  Liam. That’s what the male nurse had called him. I imagine shaping the words in my mouth and it makes heat crawl up my neck. I’m not sure why I reached out to him when they first wheeled me in here. Maybe I was still oxygen deprived. All I know was that they were taking me into a strange room, the smell of the hospital bringing back unpleasant memories. What shocked me even more was that instead of pulling back like anyone else would, Liam had threaded his fingers through mine and refused to let go. Even when the nurse tried to tell him off.

  Now he just watches as the doctors come in and out of the room. I should tell him to leave. After all, they’ve said that I won’t have any ill effects from the water. I take a deep breath that shudders on the way in. Liam shifts in his chair.

  “Are you cold?” he asks.

  I’m still in his over sized T-shirt. My bathing suit sticks to my skin. It’s uncomfortable but I’m not cold. Not with him so close.

  “No, I’m fine.”

  He glances at me, his clear grey eyes searching. “Is there anyone I can call for you? Parents? A boyfriend?”

  Am I imagining the way his jaw clenches when he says the last one? I must be. Shaking my head, I lean back on the pillow.

  “No. I’m by myself.” My gut clenches. Alone. I’ve been alone since mum passed away. For some reason, it isn’t until this moment when it hits me. My vision becomes blurry with tears. While I blink them back, Liam rises. He places his arm around my shoulder.

  “You’re not alone,” he says. “You’ve got me.”

  I can’t help but smile even though what he’s saying is ridiculous. I’m about to tell him so when the doctor returns.

  “We’d like to run some more tests,” he announces. The doctor glances towards Liam who has refused to leave my side the whole time I’ve been here. “She’ll need to go into the machines alone.”

  Liam’s arm is still around me. I feel his muscles tense but there’s nothing that can be done. He stays with me as far as they’ll allow him for the tests to be completed. Hours later, the doctor tells me they’ll ring me to make an appointment when the results are in. I’m discharged and sent home.

  Liam leads me to his car as though it’s the most natural thing in the world. I follow without thinking, my stomach a knot of anxiety and something else warmer, hotter, not as unpleasant. He doesn’t ask where I live but just starts the car and drives. The adrenaline subsides and a wave of fatigue crawls over me. I think it’s why I don’t startle until we pull into a driveway that’s not mine.

  “Where are we?” I ask.

  “My place,” Liam says.

  My expression must be startled because he reaches out and runs the back of his fingers over the apple of my cheek. “You said you were alone,” he says. “The doctors said you still need some monitoring.”

  “So you brought me back to your place? We don’t even know each other! For all I know, you could be a –” I stop short as a grin pulls at his lips. The effect it has on me is disconcerting. Warmth gathers in my stomach and pushes lower into the space between my legs. There’s something very wrong with me. I almost drowned tonight because I had a seizure while swimming. But all I can think about is just how big his shoulders are as he turns in his seat to look at me.

  “I promise I’m not going to hurt you.” There’s something wicked in the flash in his eyes. For the briefest moment his gaze drops to my lips, to my chest and then lower. The T-shirt he gave me is white. In the dim lamplight it’s probably transparent. My cheeks flame as I think of my slightly pudgy tummy and the cellulite on my thighs. I cross my arms in front of my chest as though that’s going to do anything.

  He opens his door and then comes around to my side to open mine. The hand he extends me is solid. It’s so warm when I slip mine into it. “I don’t know,” I start to say. And then the dizzy spell hits me. My legs topple. Liam laces his arm around my waist and pulls me into his embrace.

  “You were saying?” he drawls, his mouth suddenly right beside my ear.

  “I’m sure I’ll be fine after a little while.”

  “Okay,” he says. “You’ll stay here until you’re fine.” He threads his arm under my knees and picks me up as though I weight nothing. Believe me, that’s not the case. I can squeeze into a size twelve if I’m lucky. Without thinking I throw mine around his shoulders. Despite everything, I press myself against the scalding heat of him and breathe in his masculine scent. He pauses just in front of his door. Something drops in my gut when I think he might be reconsidering. “I just realised I didn’t think to ask if you had any belongings you left at the beach.”

  I smile at how considerate he is. “I walked there. My place isn’t far away from where you found me.”

  Nodding, his shoulders relaxing, he slots his key in the door and walks us in. His place is neat and decorated in tones of blue and green. My attention pinpoints to the photo he’s got on a shelf above his microwave. It’s of two women smiling. Both of them are sandy haired. Both utterly gorgeous. My stomach does an awful little flip.

  Liam sees where I’m looking. “My sister and cousin.”

  “Oh.”

  There’s a smirk on his face. He doesn’t say anything as he takes me to the bathroom and sets me down. “I’ll get you a fresh T-shirt and a bathrobe he says. After that he closes the door and I’m left standing in a stranger’s bathroom wondering how on earth this happened. I shower. The hot water soothes some of the shock I’ve had. The robe cuts off at my calves. It smells like Liam as I wrap it around me after towelling my hair dry.

  I step out of the bathroom to the smell of a gas barbecue. The back screen door is open. Liam is standing beside the open flames with a pair of kitchen tongs and a beer in his hand. He sets both down when he sees me and comes back inside.

  “I thought you might be hungry,” he says.

  I can only nod.

  “Make yourself comfortable on the couch and I’ll bring you some food. Do you want a drink?”

  “Just water.”

  I’m snuggling into the massive cushions on the couch, my eyes blinking sleepily when he comes back and sets a plate of steak and grilled vegetables in front of me. For some reason, the sweet gesture makes the enormity of everything come rushing at me. The first tear trickles down my cheek before I can stop it. Soon I’m hiccupping. I push the plate onto the coffee table for fear of ruining it.

  “Hey,” Liam says. His big form is beside me in an instant, bundling me up onto his lap as he makes soothing noises. “Please don’t cry. Everything will be okay. I’m sure the test results will come back clear.”

  It’s exactly what my dad used to say before Mum was diagnosed with MS. He’d also said that he would be there for her no matter what. And then, three years into her diagnosis, he cut and ran because it all got too much for him. The memory acts as a cold bucket of water over me. I don’t know what I was thinking up to this point. There’s a reason why the last two dates I went on didn’t get p
ast first base.

  But when I try to push off him, Liam winches his arms around me to keep me in place. “Thank you for being so nice,” I say. “But I really should get home.”

  “You can barely keep your eyes open,” he says. “I’m not leaving you alone.”

  “It’s really not any of your business.”

  His devilishly handsome face twists into a frightening expression that doesn’t scare me so much as steals my breath. It reminds me of the faces of some of the babies I’ve seen in the park when they lose a toy. Possessive.

  “I saved your life tonight,” Liam says. “I’m not letting you out of my sight when you’re in danger.”

  He stills for a second, a ripple of something sliding across his face. My whole body clenches when he leans forward and kisses me. It’s everything I’ve been imagining all night and more. His lips are warm and firm, daring me to contradict him. I don’t have the presence of mind to put up a fight. Not when I’ve been imaging what he would taste like since the moment we met. The answer is incredible.

  My mouth opens to allow his tongue access. He bites my bottom lip and sucks. The pleasure from that small gesture radiates through my whole body. Beneath my bottom, I can feel his erection pulsing against my thigh. He’s huge. It makes my skin flush again so that when Liam pulls away, I have difficulty breathing.

  “Stay,” he says. All I can do is nod.

  3

  Liam

  It’s the moment she sighs after she’s eaten every morsel on her plate that I realise I’m going to keep her. Julie’s eyes can barely remain open. It’s a good thing because if she wasn’t so tired, I’d probably spread her apart and sink into her balls deep. The tingle of her pliant lips on mine still burns my skin.