It’s such a cliché — country boy moves to the big city to follow his dreams, leaving his girl and everything he loves behind – but that’s exactly what Gareth Andrews has done. Playing rugby league is Gareth’s dream and he’s signed with one of the best teams in the competition – The Sydney Jets.
Of course that has meant a move to the big city and leaving Emily Mackenzie and everything he loves behind. Not that Gareth hasn’t begged her to join him in the city he has, on bended knee — but Emily needs to stay in Gunnedah and help her father on the family farm until her brother’s stint in the armed forces is over. But Gareth knew it’s more than that. Emily is hiding away, embarrassed by the scars that mar her body in a constant reminder of the bushfire that nearly took her life.
Can love give Emily the courage to face strangers again when her father is badly injured and Gareth shows up at the hospital to support her? Or will she let her fear and shame get the better of her and break her one true love’s heart for a second time? Read excerpt.
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Excerpt 18+
Now, having achieved his goal of getting Emily away from the hospital for a few hours, Gareth had the tormented pleasure of imagining Emily in his shower. Naked in his shower. He could visualise the water sluicing down her nude body, and he had the rock-hard boner to attest to his vivid imagination.
Fuck, man, get it under wraps. The last thing Emily wants or needs, is you trying to get in her pants, Gareth scolded his lust-filled mind. Not that she’s wearing any at the moment, his ever helpful mind added, making him groan even more as that train of thought rampantly took hold.
He was trapped, unable to move, standing outside his own bathroom door. He could hear the sound of the water running, but could not for the life of him take a step away, although he was terrified that at any moment, Emily would open the door and see him standing there stupidly, sporting a boner hard enough to hammer nails into wood.
“Yeah, that would be awesome. She’d appreciate it, I’m sure,” he murmured, his feet still refusing to move. Then he heard it—soft sobs coming from behind the closed door. Emily was crying, and Gareth could not stop himself, was unable to ignore the sounds of the woman he loved in despair. He opened the door and, disregarding the fact he was fully clothed—cowboy boots and all—he stepped into the shower stall. The sight of her crumpled to the floor with her hands over her eyes as she wept was heartbreaking, and he gathered her into his arms.
“Oh, baby… Shhh… Don’t cry. Mac will be fine. He is going to be fine. The worst is over.”
Gareth held her to his chest, stroked the length of her wet hair, felt her chest, her breasts rise against him as her sobs wracked her body. Emily’s tears had more power to bring him to his knees than any opposition player’s tackle. The fact that she was naked in his arms was but a distant observation. He hated seeing her in pain, in distress. Would do anything to stop her tears. He didn’t care that he was now completely soaked, his clothes heavy with water. Consoling his Emily was Gareth’s only concern.
Then he felt her lips on the skin of his neck, their warmth as she kissed him there, and her arms as she reached around behind his head, drawing him down so his mouth was tantalising close to hers. Like a lightning bolt hitting him, awakening his body, Emily’s naked form came back to the forefront of his mind. Like a heavy hit lined up and delivered perfectly from an opposing forward, his need for her slammed into him, robbing him of any previous gallant intentions. He needed Emily, needed to feel her skin. Needed to feel himself buried deep, balls-deep, inside her.
“Love me, Gareth. I need to feel something other than the guilt that’s eating me alive. I should have done more, should have reacted quicker, found Dad sooner… Distract me. Make it go away. Make me think of only you, even if it’s just for a while… ”
“Emily, you did all you could. You probably saved your father’s life, got him help, did all the right things. Stop it. Stop trying to take the blame for everything that happens, every time life deals a blow that’s unfair. Mac’s accident is just one of those things. Working the land comes with its dangers. You know that.”
Gareth was not a saint, and he was not going to give up the opportunity of showing Emily how much he still loved her. If she wanted him to make love to her, distract her, he was going to do that…and more, until she had no doubt of his love.
He took her mouth with his as he steadied her head in his hands, drawing her body hard against his own. He turned her face gently to gain a better angle, a better connection. Their faces mashed up against each other, he devoured her, his tongue demanding as he laved every part of her mouth hungrily, eagerly. The sounds of her sighs—muffled by his mouth, but still audible—sent him into a sexual frenzy. He needed more. Needed to feel her orgasm, needed to be the one that brought his Emily fulfilment. Only him. Always him.
“More, I need more. I need you naked, to run my hands over your chest, Gareth, need to have that experience again,” she begged when she dragged her lips from his.
Donna Gallagher Romance 