The Other Woman

"What do you mean?" William asked.

"With the advent of the European Union we have lost our traditional markets for meat and fruits so we have to look elsewhere, but other countries don't have the same needs as Britain did and it is unlikely that they will change their requirements just to suit our current production. For instance different Asian countries have different requirements for beef, Japan tends to go for the top end grain fed beast while China and Indonesia consume more of the lower quality beast. We have to look at what Asians eat and tailor our production to meet that."

"That's worth thinking about but not tonight, it's late and we'll be making an early start in the morning."

"What's happening tomorrow?" I asked, hoping that it involved me.

"We have to go out and bring in a small mob of cattle that's decided that it doesn't want to leave a bore even though the feed is running low."

I had just climbed, literally, into bed when my door opened and Rachel came and sat on the bed. "We all agree that we've chosen well and you'll get on just fine with us. Edward in particular is happy while William has accepted you, but before you get too upset about that you should know that you'll never have to worry about him making advances, he's gay."

"Oh, that explains something that I've been worried about. Edward isn't is he?"

"Good heavens no! He's very much the heterosexual macho male."

"But you have no children, how come?"

"That, unfortunately is my problem, I can't have any."

"How sad for you."

"That doesn't stop us from practising, we enjoy each other's company." She chuckled as she leaned over and kissed me lightly on the cheek.

After she had left I remembered that she hadn't warned me about Edward making advances, it was almost as if she accepted that he would. Wondering how I would feel if he did kept me awake for an hour at least.

I was up and ready to go at six in the morning but found that I wasn't the first, Rachel was busy brewing coffee and preparing drinks and food for the day ahead. "Can I help?"

"Sure, can you make a start on breakfast, there's eggs and bacon in the fridge and bread in the larder, two eggs each and two or three rashers of bacon and lots of toast."

Set the task I had it all ready when Edward and William came in from the yard. "Something smells nice." Edward said as he washed his hands in the sink.

"It probably doesn't smell any different to when Rachel cooks it."

"Can't a man compliment a new member of our family without getting his head bitten off?" He chuckled.

"By complimenting me you're telling Rachel that her eggs and bacon don't smell good. I think that you should apologise to her."

He went over and gave her a huge hug. "Your eggs and bacon smell nice too Darling." He went to kiss her but she moved her head away.

"That's not good enough. Too little, too late. Now let me get on with my work or you'll be complaining that I haven't got everything ready when you're ready to leave."

"Alright I give up, I don't stand a chance with the two of you ganging up on me." This time Rachel allowed him to kiss her and as he did so her hand reached down to grab his cock. The kiss went on for quite a while before she broke free.

"Do something useful while I finish up here, give Megan a hand to serve up and then give William a yell and tell him that his breakfast is ready."

"Do you two carry on like this all the time or is it for my benefit." I asked him as her slid eggs and bacon onto plates while I put coffee into the filter and pushed the button.

William came in and we sat down and planned the day over breakfast.

It took almost two hours on the quad bikes to locate the small herd gathered around the bore filled trough. They were reluctant at first to leave the water but with a little urging we had them ambling towards the homestead. I was covering the right flank when one of them made a dash for freedom so I headed out in a circle to cut it off. I had just moved ahead of her and was turning her back to the main group when the front wheel of my bike hit a rabbit burrow and threw me off. I hit the ground hard and was knocked out for about thirty seconds and when I came to Edward and Rachel were kneeling next to me. "Are you alright?"

"I think so although my arm's a little sore, I hope I haven't broken it."

"Let me have a look at it." Rachel said as she reached for it. "I'm afraid it is. Do you think you can hop on behind me so we can get back to the homestead so that I can have a better look at it."

"I think so." I gingerly climbed up behind her and sat on the luggage rack behind her, holding her tightly with my good arm. "I'm ready."

It was a rough trip back, every bump seemed to bigger than on the way out and I was relieved when we arrived back at the homestead. Rachel helped me off with my shirt and took a closer look at my arm. "It seems to be a clean break, I'll put a splint on it and then call the Flying Doctor, they'll probably want to take you to hospital for X-rays just to be on the safe side." She went off and returned a minute later with a comprehensive first aid kit and expertly put my arm in a splint. "That should keep it immobilised until they can take a look at it." She went off to call the Flying Doctor and while she was occupied with them Edward came in through the back door.

"How are you?" He looked at the job Rachel had done on my arm. "Rachel's pretty good at first aid. How do you feel, you had us worried there for a while, you don't feel dizzy at all, you did take a heavy knock and will probably have some concussion. I assume that Rachel's talking to the Flying Doctor."

"I feel okay, the arm is sore but it's not that bad that I need pain killers, at least not yet."

"That's good." He bent and kissed me lightly on the cheek.

"Looks like I came back just in time, trust you to take advantage of the patient's incapacity."

I was just about to say something when I caught the look in her eyes, she wasn't worried about his display of affection.

I was held in hospital overnight and Edward arrived early the next morning to pick me up, having flown down at first light. "Let's get you home." He said as we left the hospital carrying a bag with my medications in one hand and his other hand holding mine. Was he making a pass at me or was he just concerned for my wellbeing?

The flight back didn't take long and Rachel was waiting by the airstrip when we landed. "How are you?"

"I'm fine."

"I hope my husband was a gentleman and carried your things for you and didn't do anything silly or out of place."

"He was fine, no problem." They insisted that I go to bed and rest up so, reluctantly I did. I must have been tireder than I thought because the next thing I remembered was Rachel coming in to my room with a tray with a couple of sandwiches and a mug of tea on it.

"How are you feeling now?"

"Can I get out of this bed, I'm fine and I feel like I'm not pulling my weight stuck in bed like this."

"Okay you can get up, I'll get Edward to run through what needs to be done for his trip to Queensland. You should go with him, a broken arm is hardly going to be a hindrance to you doing your job, and the sooner you get to meet the people that you'll be dealing with the better."

I spent the afternoon going over what needed to be done and Edward gave me a run down on the people that we'd be talking to, there was Reg Pyke, the overseer of his property just out of Longreach, and Bernie Thomas his agent who would be handling the sale of his stock when they were sent to auction.

We arrived at Longreach mid morning and Reg was waiting for us in the Toyota Land Cruiser and we drove out to the station (ranch). We spent the rest of the morning going over the books, I went through the spreadsheets looking at the costs against the income from stock sales. While most grazing properties in this part of the world do well to break even, especially as we'd only just come out of a decade long drought, we had posted a reasonable profit. Our stocking levels had increased following the first year of good rains and were built on as a result of a second good year.

A trip around in the afternoon showed us that there was still good pastures around but a dry year would see the groundwater begin to deplete and we would have to address the need to either transport stock to stations that still had good grazing or begin to sell them off. Discussions went on over dinner and into the night and it was after 10:00pm when a halt was called and we headed for bed.

There's one thing I'll give these new lightweight casts, they're much lighter and less clumsy than the old plaster jobs, but they're still a little awkward for some jobs like doing and undoing bras. I had solved the problem by slipping the shoulder straps off my shoulders and then spinning the bra around so that the clasp was at the front. My shirt was easy enough to get on and off although the cuff of the offending arm wouldn't close, so I had to roll it up so that it didn't flap around and make a nuisance of itself. I only mention this because I don't want you to think that I used this as an excuse to ask Edward to assist me to undress at bed time, he volunteered and I protested, feebly I have to admit, that it was un-necessary, but he insisted.

"Turn around." He told me, and when he saw the puzzled expression on my face he saw the need to explain. "I find it easier to unbutton shirts if I stand behind you." So I turned and felt his strong arms encircle me as he started from the top to unbutton my shirt, brushing my breasts when he reached the fourth button. I felt a tingle up my spine at his touch and, I swear that it was involuntary, I leaned back against him for just a second too long. His lips caressed my neck sending more tingles up my spine, many more. I knew what was about to happen and was powerless to stop it. Shirt removed, the bra came next and with it his hands on my breasts.

I felt that I should at least protest. "Rachel. . . ." That was all that I managed to get out before he silenced me with a kiss. He turned me around to face him and bent to me, his lips on mine and his hands holding my head to him. I stood there like an idiot for a second or two before my brain function ordered me to put my arms around his neck and I felt myself submitting to him. I'm not exactly innocent when it comes to sex, but this was nothing like I'd ever experienced before in my life, the fumbling advances of my previous partners were now a distant memory at the hands of Edward, a man I'd only known a couple of days, my boss, oh my god, how wrong is this? God seemed so far away when his finger entered my pussy and even further away when his cock pushed into me and ceased to exist entirely when my orgasm brought me to a godless heaven.

"What's the matter?" He whispered after he'd taken himself from me.

"We shouldn't have done this, I feel that we've betrayed, I've betrayed, the trust that Rachel had in me. How am I going to face her when we get home?"

"You will hug her and look her in the eye and smile at her and nod your head."

I didn't know whether he was serious or not, but I was shocked at his words. "What do you mean?" I looked closely at him. "You're serious aren't you?"

"Very, I've never been more serious in my life, and there's a very good reason for my seriousness which I'm not going to tell you about until we get home and you and I and Rachel can all sit down together and discuss it."

"You're a bastard, do you know that? You seduce me at my most vulnerable and then tell me that there's a reason for it but you aren't going to tell me what that is until we get home and that Rachel is going to accept it. I'm confused, and if having you making love to me hadn't been the best experience in my whole life I'd tell you to get the hell out of my bed."

He took my last statement as my acquiescence, because that's exactly what it was, and took me in his arms and kissed me. "Goodnight my darling Megan."

"Hold me Edward, just hold me."

The look that Reg gave us over breakfast was enough to tell me that he was sure that Edward hadn't slept in his own bed, but he said nothing, and this disturbed me, had this sort of thing happened before, was it a regular occurrence, did Edward bring all his lovers here? My mind was in turmoil and I couldn't get rid of the thought that somehow Rachel approved of all of this, which wasn't helped by waking to find Edward still in my bed with his arm around me and a finger in my pussy. "Mmmm." I sighed. "That feels nice. Shit! What are you doing here, what are we doing? This is so wrong on so many levels."

"No it isn't, it's so right." I was now wide awake and he was obviously very much awake and doing wondrous things to my pussy to confirm the rightness of this situation and I was too happy to stop him. So we made love again before getting out of bed, showering and dressing, with his un-necessary assistance that almost had us back in bed, and heading for the kitchen.

We left straight after breakfast and we arrived home a couple of hours later. Edward circled the homestead before touching down. Rachel was waiting for us as we stopped at the front of the shed. Edward got out and gave her a huge hug and a long lingering kiss. She looked at him and he smiled at her before walking around to me as I was getting the bags from the plane. "Megan, I'm so happy for you, come, we have a lot to talk about." She grabbed my hand and led me still confused into the kitchen. "Sit." She had tea brewing in the pot and poured three cups.

Edward came in and sat down. "I told you that I'd tell you what this is all about once we got home to Rachel, she's very much a part of this. You see the le Tourneau family name is in danger of dying out in this country, and being a very old and very traditional name we just couldn't let that happen. So you can imagine what was going through our minds when we realised that Rachel was unable to conceive and William had no interest in a marriage of convenience to ensure the line continued."

"We go back to the Norman invasion of England in 1066, the original le Tourneau was one of William the Conqueror's staunchest allies and for his allegiance was given a large amount of land which he enlarged over the years. While by Australian standards this landholding was small, it was very productive and the le Tourneau's were very astute land owners. The one thing that set them apart from other of William's allies that received land was that they refused to align themselves to any particular religion so that they were little affected by the Reformation and the Restoration and managed to retain their entire property until well into the last century when inheritance taxes began to bite deeply."

"The Australian branch of the family was one of the first free settlers in the fledgling colony of New South Wales in the late 18th century and when the country west of the Great Dividing Range was opened up in the early 1800's we were one of the first to see the potential of this land and settle it. With the aid of convict labour we opened it up to sheep grazing and wheat production, becoming quite wealthy in the process. We stocked our flocks with the merino breed that MacArthur had brought over from Spain and concentrated on wool production and this allowed us to expand our land holdings as new areas of the country were opened up, and branching out into cattle grazing on land that was unsuitable for lamb production."

"When we first moved into Queensland and the Northern Territory we had problems with cattle ticks that seriously affected meat quality so we were one of the first to move into those breeds that are tolerant to dry climates and ticks such as the Droughtmaster and Santa Gertrudis which are the mainstay of our northern beef production. With the drop off in wool prices we are moving away from the merinos and into meat sheep, at the moment we are evaluating the White Dorper breed that doesn't need shearing and has a very good quality carcase. We have had enquiries from meat wholesalers and are looking into saltbush lamb production where the sheep are grazed on saltbush which imparts its flavour into the meat."

"We chose this homestead for our base of operations because it's the most central to our whole operation and neither of us can stand living in the city. While this is a publicly listed company all of the shares are owned by family members with William and me the major shareholders. The Office in Adelaide is mainly used for meetings with shareholders and other people that we deal with that we don't want to put to the inconvenience of coming out here to us."

"Getting back to you and where you fit into the scheme of things. After years of trying were reluctantly had to concede that Rachel was unable to have children, at first I was blaming myself because a low sperm count seems to run in the family, but test revealed that not to be the case. William even went as far as donating sperm on the off chance that he could help, although he drew the line at actual intercourse with Rachel. That didn't work and we thought about surrogacy but were against it, so Rachel came up with the idea of finding a suitable woman to bear my child, the difference being that she would become a part of our family, a second wife if you will, with all of the privileges that Rachel enjoys."

"We tried on a number of occasions to find just such a person." Rachel said. "But never seemed to be successful, so we decided to advertise for a Secretary and if she proved to be compatible with our ideals we would put the proposition to her to join us as Edward's wife on an equal footing with me. You are exactly what we're looking for as far as fitting in with our family and our proposed set up, and Edward believes that you would make a perfect wife, so it's now up to you, what do you think?"

"Can I take some time to think about this? I have to admit that the prospect has its attractions but there are some issues that I'll have to address before I can make a decision, not the least of which is what my mother will say about the whole thing."

"You can take all of the time that you need, we aren't going to pressure you in any way."

After lunch I decided to take myself off for a walk, I needed some uninterrupted thinking time, so I grabbed my akubra and a bottle of water and headed off. It was so peaceful out here, not a sound until I heard a noise over my head and looked up to see a wedge tailed eagle riding a thermal, its wings not moving as it circled over my head before swooping down onto something. I headed for the point where it would have landed to see it tearing into a carcase that on closer inspection turned out to be that of a rabbit. "Good on you." I said as I get closer. It looked at me and was about to fly off with its prize when it obviously decided that I posed no threat. So I stood about fifty metres away and watched as this magnificent big bird dined on one of the greatest pests this country has. It was at that moment that I knew that I was where I wanted to be and all I had to do was to find a way to get around my mother's puritanic prejudices."

I lay awake that night waiting for Edward to come to me. I have never felt so lonely in my life than I did that night, just lying there waiting for him and knowing that he wouldn't come. My fingers are a poor substitute for the real thing and my mind slid across to whether I would be jealous of the time that he would spend with Rachel. This matter remained unresolved when I eventually went to sleep as it did when I woke the next morning.

They all looked at me when I went into the kitchen the next morning. "Well?" Edward asked.

"I still need a little time, my main stumbling block is how I'll feel when you and Rachel are together and how Rachel will feel when you are with me."