In Safe Arms by Lee Christine

show you.’
    Ignoring her “I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about” expression, he pointed to her bare feet. ‘You’ll need shoes.’
    While Josie put on her boots, he fetched the Maglite from the WRX then waited in the kitchen. When she appeared a few minutes later, he cocked his head in the direction of the door. ‘Ready?’
    Her eyes widened. ‘We’re going out?’
    He nodded. ‘Don’t look so excited, it’s not exactly clubbing.’
    ‘I hate clubbing.’
    Outside, Josie squinted in the darkness, barely able to make out the overgrown pathway curving through what looked like a cottage garden.
    The house was perched on the edge of the valley, and this afternoon she’d stood at the bedroom window watching the cable car lift tourists high above the heavily wooded valleys and gorges. At that time, the mountains had been bathed in the famous blue light after which they were named. Now, a smattering of stars and a shadowed slice of moon pierced the cloak of darkness wrapping around them.
    ‘See those two luminous stars?’
    Josie looked up and studied the sky. ‘Is that the Southern Cross — because that would be just a little bit creepy?’
    He gave a low chuckle. ‘No, the Southern Cross is the most famous constellation, but the Centaurus is the brightest in the Southern Hemisphere. Alpha Centauri and Beta Centauri. Much brighter up here than in the city.’
    ‘They’re beautiful.’ She glanced at the Alpha Centauri beside her, hyperaware of his hand on her arm. Crickets chirped, and a faint aroma of orange blossom and diosma perfumed the evening air. ‘Where are we going?’
    He pointed with the torch, though he hadn’t switched it on. ‘There’s an old air raid shelter at the bottom of the garden. It’s built into the hill, obscured by vines and shrubs. Undetectable, even in the daylight.’
    ‘Is solitary confinement really necessary?’ She had the urge to tease. He’d been nice about the food thing at lunch, and she was buoyed by the news the operation could move swiftly now.
    ‘Well, let’s consider your misdemeanours. Biting a policeman, kicking a policeman, swearing at a — ‘
    ‘Okay, okay. So it’s rations for me.’
    ‘And a week in the hole — minimum, if you’re lucky.’
    Something big shot out of the grass beside her and she clutched at Nate, the reaction instinctive, her body in motion before her mind could catch up.
    To her surprise, he wrapped a warm, muscular arm around her waist and drew her close against his side. ‘Strange, how I’ve suddenly become the lesser of two evils.’
    Heat flooded through Josie’s body, heart banging in a way she could get used to. ‘What was that ?’
    ‘Probably just a bunny.’ His fingers squeezed her waist through the cotton material of her track top, sending a delightful buzz humming along her veins.
    ‘Really?’
    ‘No not really.’ He dipped his head, mouth close to her ear, breath warm in her hair. ‘There’s a goanna around here. He eats all the bunnies.’
    The night shrouded them in an intimate darkness, so even the shadowy outlines of trees and shrubs were no longer visible. ‘Yeah, yeah, keep going senior, and I might just believe you.’
    Oh gees, was that her voice, all breathy and excited? His body heat seared into her side, igniting a flame within, and suddenly it seemed perfectly natural to angle her body towards him and slide a reciprocal arm around his waist.
    He pulled her closer, the decisive move scrambling her senses like words in a decoding machine. He handled her body with a man’s confidence, a man experienced with female anatomy by the feel of it. Moulded to his side, her hipbone brushed his thigh as they walked, the top of her head barely reaching his chin.
    And then all too soon, it was over.
    He came to a halt and switched on the torch. ‘We’re here.’
    Josie blinked in the sudden light. She was staring at a wall of greenery.
    They separated, and she turned, couldn’t help gasping as