by Becca Van
Passion, Victoria 12: Jewel of a Jillaroo
Jewel Ellesworth heads south to the town of Passion, in Victoria after being attacked on a cattle station three hours outside of Alice Springs. She has spent eight long years running and searching, but no idea from what, or for.
Ash, Callum, Heath, and Finch hire Jewel on as a farm hand and know she could be the woman they have been waiting for. But it's hard to court a woman who is so close-mouthed all the time.
Jewel has never listened to the voice inside herself, but after meeting the handsome, buff Handley men she can no longer ignore it. Nor the way her body lights up around the four men. But before she can accept them into her life, she has to get to know herself first. It's a shocking revelation when she realises she's been searching for love and somewhere to belong. But will she get her HEA?
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cowboys
Length: 51,704 words
PASSION, VICTORIA 12:
JEWEL OF A JILLAROO
Becca Van
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
PASSION, VICTORIA 12: JEWEL OF A JILLAROO
Copyright © 2015 by Becca Van
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63259-000-8
First E-book Publication: February 2015
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2015 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
If you have purchased this copy of Passion, Victoria 12: Jewel of a Jillaroo by Becca Van from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.
Regarding E-book Piracy
This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.
The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.
This is Becca Van’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Becca Van’s right to earn a living from her work.
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www.SirenPublishing.com
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DEDICATION
I would like to dedicate this book to everyone going through, and to the families of the people with mental illness.
It can be a very debilitating disease and I wish anyone suffering and their families, and their support groups, my very best wishes.
It’s easy for someone who doesn’t understand this condition to tell you to keep your chin up or to pull yourself out of it, or to say this illness doesn’t exist.
Yes, everyone gets down and can go through bouts of depression and even anxiety, but to someone struggling with this disease those words aren’t helpful.
For a person who endures this dreaded condition there are times when weeks, months and even years go by as they struggle through day to day life. There are days when it is hard to just get out of bed and other days you are so high with happiness you want to shout from the rooftops with joy and cry at the same time.
There are times when there is no in between while battling this condition because you are either so high or so low you can’t see your way back down or back up. This illness is just like any other. Similar to type one diabetes, medication can help for a time but if you are like me and the condition is hereditary, there is no cure.
I’m lucky because I have a loving husband and fantastic children to bolster me when I need it or to listen when I want to talk, or just hold me when I cry, but not everyone is as lucky as I am.
For the last six months I have struggled with another bout of depression and anxiety and although I no longer take medication, because sometimes the cure is worse than the cause, I am on the road to recovery. That doesn’t mean it won’t come back again, because unfortunately I know it will.
I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone. It’s good that more and more information is coming to the fore about this dreaded disease and I hope one day, in the not too distant future there will be a cure.
Don’t give up, try not to despair and just know that you are not alone. Surround yourself with people who love you and even if they don’t understand know they have your back.
Love Becca xxoo.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
About the Author
PASSION, VICTORIA 12:
JEWEL OF A JILLAROO
BECCA VAN
Copyright © 2015
Prologue
Two weeks ago.
“Ahh!” Jewel cried out when the back of the bastard’s hand hit her cheek. He was so much bigger than she was that his whole hand covered more than half her face. At least that what it felt like.
The pain was instant, her skin burning, and it felt like her right eye was starting to swell already. She knew she should have made sure that fucker wasn’t about when she’d entered the stables, but she’d been so intent on what needed to be done, she hadn’t thought to see if anyone else was inside the dim interior. She’d headed for the back stall where the stallion was sleeping, ready to pull him out and settle him into the spare one so s
he could begin cleaning all the horse stalls and laying fresh straw on the ground.
Reilly had come up to her from behind before she could open the stall door and pinned her against the back wall of the stables. Of course, she’d struggled to get away from him, but she was only five foot five and he was a couple of inches over six feet. Although he had fat on him, he was also strong and muscular from working the land for their grazier bosses, and she didn’t stand a chance of escaping the prick.
She gagged when his sloppy, wet lips pressed hard against hers and his slimy tongue pushed between them. Jewel was so scared, but she was also angry, and she bit down hard on his tongue, tasting blood, pleased when he yelled and drew back. She turned her head to the side and spat the disgusting blood and saliva from his mouth, and now her own, onto the ground. As she turned her head back, his palm and fingers slammed into the side of her face, again.
Fuck! Why do men intent on hurting a woman always go for the face?
His left hand was pushing between her breasts so hard she could barely draw a breath, and no matter how hard she pressed against his arm, he wasn’t budging. Her legs were shaking, her heart was racing and she was panting so hard she was beginning to see stars.
Jewel wished she had longer nails so she could claw the prick’s eyes out, but being a jillaroo, she didn’t have the time or the inclination to do girly stuff like grow and paint her nails, or whatever other women did. But it would have been damn handy right now to have long talons instead of the short nails she kept. She dug them into his arm anyway, as hard as she could, and dragged them over his skin. The fucker actually laughed, and then he groped her breast so hard she cried out in pain.
She used her boots to kick out, but other than a grunt, it didn’t seem to affect him. She even tried raising her knee, but he stepped to the side before she could do any damage. He hit her again, this time on her left cheek, and if he hadn’t been pinning her to the wall she would have gone flying. Her knees actually buckled and the pain was so bad she couldn’t even scream, and she nearly passed out. And then she felt like she was floating. It took her a few moments and some deep breaths to realise he’d picked her up. Her back slammed down onto the ground and then he was on top of her.
Jewel yelled as loud and long as she could, hoping to attract the attention of a jackaroo, or stockman, one of the experienced cowboys, or even the graziers, the owners of the station. Her breath left her lungs in a whoosh when his fist slammed into her diaphragm and no matter how hard she tried to draw another breath, she couldn’t.
His hands tore at her shirt and ripped it wide open. Just when she thought she was about to pass out, she gasped in a deep breath. She bucked and wriggled, trying to get him off of her, but he was using a lot of his weight to press her into the dirt and he was too damn heavy. She nearly dislodged him when she bowed up as he shifted, but the arsehole managed to steady himself, and then his knees were on her arms, pinning them down to the ground. He gave her an evil, lascivious grin and then both of his hands tore her bra away and were on her breasts, kneading and squeezing them so hard, she was sure she would have the imprint of his fingers in her skin for days to come.
She shouted when he grabbed a nipple, gripping and twisting it until tears streamed down her face. Jewel wasn’t sure if anyone else was around, but she wasn’t going to give up until someone came to haul the fucker off of her. She drew in another deep breath and squealed as high, loud and as long as she could, but once again, her breath left her in a whoosh as his fist slammed into her side and ribs. The pain was so bad that she didn’t know how she was still conscious, and the first hit wasn’t the last.
Reilly released her breasts and pummelled her until she couldn’t see straight. Her whole body was beyond agony, her ribs on fire and her skin tender and bruised. She kicked out when he stopped hitting her and tugged at the waistband of her jeans. Her button released and then her zipper was being lowered.
Jewel prayed that someone would come and help her before the bastard could rape her, but she wasn’t giving up. He managed to pull her jeans down over her hips, but still somehow kept her pinned to the dirt floor, and then she cried out with fear and pain as he shoved his hand hard against her mound. She yelled again and again, trembling with terror and dread as she wiggled beneath him. Just as she felt one side of her panties rip, his weight was lifted off of her.
She curled up into a ball and watched through her tear-blurred vision as the boss man slammed his fist into Reilly’s face. Jewel would have smiled with satisfaction if she wasn’t hurting so bad when she saw the arsehole go down and Reilly was out for the count.
Jim Hench, one of the station owners, knelt down next to her and brushed her hair back. “God, honey. Are you all right?”
Jewel licked her lips, wincing when she tasted blood, and her lower lip stung where it was obviously split. She was shaking and the lump in her throat was so big she didn’t think she’d be able to talk, so she nodded and then groaned when it felt like her head would split open. She shut her eyes and waited for the pain to abate to a deep, dull throb before opening them again.
“Gary, get a blanket,” Jim yelled to his brother.
Jewel had no idea that Gary was in the stables, too, until Jim had called out, but she was pleased that he was, and sighed with relief when a blanket covered her near-naked body.
“I’ve called for the Royal Flying Doctor’s Service and the police,” Gary said as he crouched down. “The doctor’s just delivered a patient home and should be here in the next fifteen minutes, and the cops will be waiting to see you at the hospital when you get there.”
“Thank God,” Jim replied. “If they hadn’t been out this way already, we could have been waiting at least an hour.”
“Jewel,” Gary said, drawing her gaze, “I don’t want to leave you here on the ground. Do you think you have any broken bones?”
“P–possibly my r–ribs,” she managed to reply.
“Fucking arsehole.” Jim pushed to his feet and paced away. “I wish I hadn’t knocked him out. I want to kill that fucker.”
“It’s…okay. I’m…all right.”
“I think it’s best that we leave her where she is,” Gary said. “If we move her and she has got broken ribs, we could end up puncturing a lung.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Jim squatted down next to her with a frown on his face. “I hate asking you this, Jewel, but did he—ˮ
“No,” she answered before he’d completed his question. “You got here just in time.”
“No. I didn’t. You wouldn’t be hurt if I had.”
“It’s not your f–fault.”
“Yes, it is.” Gary sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “We should have been more diligent. You told us you didn’t like the way he looked at you.”
“You couldn’t be with me every minute of every day.”
“I know that, but we’d spread the word for the others to keep an eye on you and the fucker,” Gary said in a growly voice.
“It was still our responsibility to keep you safe on our station,” Jim said. “But we’ll make sure that arsehole is locked up. When the doctors get here, we’ll fly him into Alice Springs and make sure the law throws the book at him.”
By the time the Royal Flying Doctor’s Service had arrived, Jewel was so tired she couldn’t keep her eyes open. The adrenaline had worn off and she had drifted into a pain-filled, restless sleep as they loaded her onto the small plane. She was lucky to have just bruised ribs instead of broken ones, but that didn’t make it less painful. She’d ended up staying in the hospital for a total of five days.
Once she’d recovered enough to leave the hospital, she’d spent the day in the Alice Springs courthouse giving her testimony, and was glad that her bosses had flown in to give theirs as well. Usually there was a few months’ wait for a trial to happen, but there must have been a lull in crime, or maybe her bosses had told the court of the distance they needed to travel from the station or the lack of time they had,
since they had so much land and lots of cattle to look after. Jewel was just grateful she didn’t have to hang around for months on end just to testify.
Reilly had been given a three-month sentence for assault-and-battery and attempted rape, but the judge had said he could get out earlier for good behaviour. Jewel had been shocked at the judge’s sentencing. She’d thought he would have earned a lot more jail time after what he had done and tried to do to her. She’d sat frozen in her seat as Reilly had been dragged out of the courtroom, and when she’d met his evil, intent glare, she felt cold to the bones. She’d seen revenge in his eyes and knew she wouldn’t be safe if she stayed in the Northern Territory. She had a feeling that as soon as he got out of jail, he would be coming for her.
Jewel flew back to the station with her bosses in the small Cessna, and after arriving back on the station, she’d given her notice on the spot, packed up her stuff from the bunkhouse and driven away in her Kombi-van. There was no way she was sticking around in the Northern Territory or the outback anymore. She was going to go as far south as she could and get another job on a farm. As much as she would miss her kind bosses and the Australian Outback, she wanted to stay alive.
Jewel figured that getting away from Reilly as early as possible was the only thing to do, because he’d had been really close to Kenny. She wouldn’t put it past the prick to ask where she was or what she was doing when Kenny visited the fucker. Kenny had kept away from her, but she’d caught him watching her a few times before Reilly’s attack and she wasn’t about to hang around to let him have a go at her. She had a minimum of six weeks to hide and decided it was better to go early rather than wait until Reilly was close to getting out of jail. Plus, she didn’t want to have to be looking over her shoulder all the time while working with Kenny.
