Inherit the Sky (Lang Downs 1 ) (34 page)

expect to find a second release. Macklin was determined, though, the tip of his cock nudging Caine’s prostate relentlessly as Macklin’s treasure trail rubbed against Caine’s erection with every movement.
“Come on, pup,” Macklin urged, breaking their kiss. “Let me see you.”
The expression in Macklin’s eyes as he stared down at Caine stole Caine’s breath. In that moment, he had no doubt that Macklin loved him. The foreman might not ever say the words, but as long as he kept looking at Caine that way, Caine didn’t need them. He stroked Macklin’s cheek gently.
Macklin returned the tender gesture, the emotion on his face and the matching emotion in Caine’s heart enough to trigger a second, unexpected climax. Caine cried out, his body squeezing around Macklin, and that was all Macklin needed, his body tensing, every muscle taut as he groaned and found his release, filling Caine’s body as he filled Caine’s heart.
Caine pulled Macklin down on top of him, refusing to let the foreman roll to the side. He didn’t want the moment to end.
I love you
, he mouthed silently against Macklin’s cheek.
Macklin lifted his head, staring down into Caine’s eyes again before kissing him slowly, tenderly, deeply. Caine returned the embrace, closing his eyes and slumping against the pillows. “Sleep now?” he murmured through a yawn.
“Sleep,” Macklin said.
“Stay?”
“Brumbies couldn’t drag me away,” Macklin promised.

A
FTER a month of standing watch at night, the men were frazzled, frozen, and worn to the bone. “We can’t keep doing this,” Caine told Macklin as they walked to dinner. “Half the men are sick, and if we aren’t careful, the other half are going to fall sick. I know we can’t afford to lose sheep, but we’re going to lose men.”

“I know, pup,” Macklin said. Even his usually implacable face showed signs of strain. Caine doubted the others could see it, but he’d learned to read every nuance of Macklin’s expression over the past month.“I don’t know what else to do.”

“If we had a shelter, something like a drover’s hut, so they could stay dry and warm during the night, we could put two men on a night shift together and then let them sleep through the next day. If we did the schedule right, they wouldn’t have to do it but once every couple of weeks instead of half the men having interrupted sleep one night and the other half the next,” Caine said.

“What else would you suggest?” Caine asked. “I’m out of ideas otherwise.”
“I want to catch the bloody bastard who did this,” Macklin said. “I don’t want this dragging on all summer. Even with the summer jackaroos coming back before long, this will still be a strain. We need every pair of hands for the shearing.”
“I want to catch him too,” Caine agreed, “but I don’t know how else we can do it.”

“Don’t listen to me, pup,” Macklin said, squeezing Caine’s shoulder. “We’ll build your hut and we’ll get the men well and on a better schedule. We’ll catch the person responsible or at least have the peace of mind of knowing he can’t come back and do more damage. We’ll hire a few extra jackaroos if we can find them to ease the load enough to keep the night watch going.”
That little squeeze was all Caine ever got when they were where anyone could see them. Caine hadn’t given Macklin cause to repeat his public kiss, and he intended to keep it that way. Flaunting their relationship wasn’t in either of their natures. The year-rounders knew, and they’d all found subtle—or not so subtle in Kami’s case—ways to show their acceptance and even their approval of the situation, and that was good enough for Caine.
“Hey, boss,” Neil said as Caine and Macklin walked in. “Hey, boss.”
“Hi, Neil,” Caine said. Macklin tipped his head in Neil’s direction. Caine still couldn’t decide if Macklin’s cool reaction was simply the way he was or if Macklin hadn’t forgiven Neil yet for his ugly comments when he’d first found out about Caine being gay. Caine had stopped worrying about it. Neil had stayed true to his word, not uttering another negative statement about Caine and not tolerating it from anyone else either.
They were halfway through dinner when the canteen door opened and Devlin Taylor came in.
“Taylor,” Caine said coolly.“What are you doing here?”
“I need to talk to you,” Taylor said.
“I’m listening,” Caine replied.
“Alone,” Taylor insisted.
Caine could feel the tension in the room growing. With a brief nod to the men, he rose and walked outside. Macklin followed right behind him.
“I’m listening,” Caine repeated.
“I fired a man today,” Taylor said. “I overheard him bragging about how he’d damaged your fences. I don’t like you. You’re a blowin and a pillow biter, and there’s no place for either in the outback, but I

won’t keep a man at Taylor Peak who would do something like that. I thought you should know so you don’t start thinking I had anything to do with it. I don’t want a station war.”
Even if Caine had found proof Taylor was responsible, he wouldn’t have retaliated that way, but he suspected Taylor would have, were their situations reversed.
“It’s good of you to come tell us,” Caine said. “You could have simply left us in the dark.”
“I thought about it,” Taylor admitted, “but I didn’t want the blame to land on me.”
“Everything okay, boss?” Neil asked, sticking his head out onto the veranda.
“I’m surprised to see you still here, Johnson,” Taylor said. “What happened to all that noise about not working for a poofter?”
Neil had crossed the veranda before Caine and Macklin could react. “He might be a poofter, but he’s
our
poofter,” Neil said, hands fisted in Taylor’s coat, “and he’s more of a man than you’ll ever be.” Neil turned back to Caine. “Can I throw him out?”
“No,” Caine said, “but you may escort him back to his ute and make sure he makes it home safely.”
Neil’s face brightened.
“Safely,” Caine repeated. “Taylor came to apologize for the damage one of his former employees did, not to cause trouble.”
“Yes, boss,” Neil said.
“He’s going to get himself in trouble if he goes after every man who makes a comment about you,” Macklin warned as Neil escorted Taylor back to his truck.
“He’ll learn or they will,” Caine said with a shrug. “Let’s go back inside. I’m hungry.”
Macklin caught Caine’s shoulder before he could turn away. “Taylor’s wrong, you know. You aren’t a blow-in who has no business out here. You’re a grazier at heart. You’ve learned so much in five short months. Taylor could learn a thing or two from you if he’d look past his idea of you to see who you really are.”