Rose sank onto the bench on the front porch and sighed. Leaning back, she wrapped her hands around the mug of hot chocolate and breathed in the scent. The headache that had lingered in the back of her head all day disappeared and she closed her eyes.

It had a been a long day, but a good one. Stevie had gone out with Alex and the kids to fix fences. They had come back late in the afternoon, tired but happy. Rose and Luke had spent the day cleaning out the shearing shed. The evidence of neglect was everywhere. But they would make this place something to be proud of. She couldn't help thinking about Camelot before things went wrong. The place had been beautiful and prosperous. And Wilgul would be like that it just took time.

But the last person to live on the place had been Kane and he had never been a good farmer. It had been Stevie that had driven Camelot to what it was. Kane was just content to let her do things her way. In the end though, he had ruined everything and for awhile Rose had despaired of all things good.

"Hey, there you are."

Rose looked up and smiled at Luke. "Hey."

Luke sat down and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Rose shifted and snuggled close to him, breathing in the smell of his soap. It was so Luke, strong yet easy on the senses. It reminded her of early mornings with the mist rising off the earth. Everything fresh and new.

"So, big day today?" Luke gently took the mug from her hands and sipped. "Ummm, that's good."

"And that is mine," Rose laughed, tugging the mug back. "I deserve it."

Luke smiled and nodded. "You do. Rose, are you okay with Alex and your mom?"

It had only been a two days but already Rose had seen something in her mother she hadn't seen in an age or so it seemed. Stevie was finally truly happy and Rose was delighted. She nodded. "Yeah, I am. It's not a surprise that they are together."

"I'm kinda surprised it took this long for it to happen," Luke mused. "I mean, he flew all the way to Darwin to get her, took her here, takes crap from his father, all for her."

"I think if Alex had his way it would have happened weeks ago." Rose sipped her hot chocolate while she tried to figure out a way to make Luke understand the effect his brother had had on her mother.

"Was it Kane that's made her so scared to love a man?" Luke buried his fingers in her hair and tugged gently.

"Yes, I think it was. Luke, don't me wrong when I say this, but your brother only knows how to destroy. I don't think he understands love."

"I know. How bad do you think it really was? I mean, I know the night Kana was conceived was horrid, but that was only one night."

Rose laid on hand on Luke's knee and he placed a work roughened hand on top.

"I don't think it was just physical," Rose began. "He said things to her that no husband or man should say to a woman. I think he began to make her doubt herself. In the end I'm pretty sure he could have made her blame herself for the miscarry, for everything that went wrong."

"Do you think Stevie really loved Kane?" Luke asked.

Rose shrugged. "I think she made herself believe it because Alex wouldn't admit he had feelings for her. Or maybe she convinced herself that if she couldn't get Alex, Kane was the next best thing."

Luke made a small noise and smiled sadly. "I wish she would have come talked to me before she jumped in a car with Kane. I could have told her that Kane was never a stayer. He always had to move."

Rose pulled her hand loose and guided Luke's face towards hers. She kissed him lightly, then deeper, pulling him closer and closer.

"Don't blame yourself," she said as she broke away. "We can't change the past. Mom would be the first to say she made her own choices and nothing anyone might have said would've change her mind. She wanted something for herself and Kane was offering what she thought she wanted."

Luke sighed and tugged her in closer. "You know, Rose, I'm glad your mom and my brother got together. If they hadn't, I would never have met you and that would have been a tragedy."

"You would have found someone else to love," Rose said even as his words planted butterflies in her stomach.

Luke shook his head. "No, not someone like you. Of, sure, I would have found someone else to have fun with, to make me want to straighten my life up, but it wouldn't have been the same. You see, Rose, there is something in you that is just so rare in a woman."

"What do mean?"

"I've known women, girls, before you."

"Don't remind me," Rose muttered.

"Sorry, but the thing is, they all wanted something from me. They wanted the perfect boyfriend who would always be there for them. They all figured it was alright to always make it their way. Expect maybe Jodi, not a single other girl thought about what I wanted and needed. But with you, it's always been about what we wanted. Both of us equally. There has been no pushing or shoving. Maybe little nudges here and there."

Rose smiled a little. She knew he was talking about the first night they were together. It had been her idea.

"You see, with the rest of the girls, I couldn't wait to get them in bed because that was what they wanted and that was all our relationship was about."

"And that wasn't what ours was about?" Rose whispered.

Luke shook his head. "From the beginning I knew that this was different and I wanted it to be different. I wanted it to be special. And let me tell you, it has been. It's been a year and half and some and we're still together and every day it's better."

Rose wiped a tear from her eye. She couldn't speak so she kissed him again. Because this was what she had been wanting to hear, only she hadn't known. This was what she wanted, right here, right now, on a porch looking over a place they both loved and knowing that no matter what tomorrow brought there would always be someone to hold her hand.

Pulling back she rested her forehead on his and laid a hand on his chest. She could feel his heart beating evenly beneath her palm.

"Luke, you are a beautiful man. Not in looks. Don't get me wrong, you are gorgeous, but here inside of you is a heart that most women fight to find all their lives. You care more for me and this family of ours than you do for yourself."

Rose took a deep breath before launching into the next part of her speech. "Mom found what she wanted in Alex. He cares so much for her. And even though Kane never hurt me, I was still scared of actually loving someone. I wasn't sure if I could give myself up to a man. What if he hurt me like Kane did Mom? What if I did something he didn't like and he left me alone? Then I met you and even at the beginning you cared for me. Maybe at first it was more like brother and sister but as we grew up and things got bad, you were always there for me. You listened to me and that was what I most worried about; having a man who never listened. I think you understood my heart before my heart understood what it wanted."

Luke smiled and brushed a thumb across her cheeks. She blinked then and felt the tears leaking from her eyes. She hadn't even realized she was crying.

"I love you, Rose Hall."

"I love you, Luke. And I always will."

"God strike me down if I lose you," Luke murmured before drawing her into his arms and kissing her with every fibre of his being.

Rose felt something shift inside of her and realizing it was a new founded love for this man, she let loose with a passion she didn't know she possessed.

When they finally let each other go, Rose found herself gasping for air and willing her heart to stop pounding out of her chest.

"I think we'd better take this inside," Luke whispered, his voice tickling her neck and making goose bumps rise on her back.

She nodded and stood. Holding out a hand she took his and led him to her room. In the doorway she kissed him again before stepping into the room. Luke closed the door and pushed her jumper from her shoulders. Rose let it fall down her arms and to the floor. She grasped the bottom of Luke's shirt and pulled it over his head. Dropping the shirt on the floor she ran her hands along his chest, exploring the shape and contours as if this was the first time she had touched him.

Luke shivered and then pulled her shirt and tank top off in one swift movement. His hands were firm and in control as he unzipped her jeans and slid them from her legs, caressing her thighs, calves and ankles as he did so. She shivered briefly at his touch. There was a fire building in her now and she wanted him as she had never wanted him before.

"Luke," she whispered. "Please."

He smiled and framed her face with his hands. "Wait, my Rose." He kissed her, not softly like he had on the porch, but hard with desire.

She kissed him back, tightening her grip on his waist. Somehow they made it to the bed and his kisses began to trail down her face, across her collarbone and down towards the waistband of her lacy panties.

She closed her eyes and fell into the pool of his love.