Thorn's Challenge Part 7

For an entire week.

She opened her eyes and tried to shove the thoughts away. Too late. There were too many of them firmly planted in her mind. After two years of going without he would no doubt take her at a level that bordered on desperation. He would be like a starving man eating his favorite meal for the first time in a long while. She shuddered slightly as she imagined how his first thrust would feel. Probably painful, considering her virginal state. But then, any that followed would be...

She blinked, noticing Thorn had slowed the bike down. She glanced around, wondering if they had arrived at their destination, and was surprised to see he had brought her back to the wooded area he had said was Westmoreland land. Why? They had taken a walk around the property the last time they were here a couple of weeks ago. Why was he bringing her back here?

Thorn breathed in deeply as he brought his bike to a stop. All he had planned to do was take Tara out to eat and then back home. But the feel of her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, the feel of her pressed so close to his back and the scent of her surrounding him had been too much.

He angled his head over his shoulder and came very close to her face. "We need to talk."

Tara lifted a brow. "Couldn't we have waited until we got to the restaurant?"

He shook his head. "No, it's rather private and not a topic we would want to discuss over dinner."

"Oh," she said, wondering just what topic that could be.

She climbed off the bike and stood back as he turned off the engine, kicked down the motorcycle stand and then swung his leg over the bike. She tried not to look at how tightly stretched his jeans were across his body, especially over his midsection, as he slowly covered the distance that separated them. She met his gaze. He had said that he wanted to talk, but the look in his eyes told another story.

She swallowed when he came to a stop in front of her. "What did you want to talk about?"

Thorn blinked. For a moment he had completely forgotten just what he had wanted to discuss with her. His concentration had gone to her mouth and his desire to devour it. Savor it. Taste it.

"It's about birth control," he finally said.

Now it was Tara's turn to blink. "Birth control?"

"Yes," Thorn answered in a husky voice. "I need to know if you're using any?"

Tara blinked again. "Excuse me?"

Thorn's voice got huskier when he explained. "I need to know if you plan on using birth control when we make love because I don't intend to use anything."

Tara stared at him, momentarily speechless. Never in a million years would she have thought that he was the kind of man who would be the selfish type in the bedroom. They were men who thought all they had to do was to enjoy the act of making love and not contribute to the responsibility of making sure there was not an unwanted pregnancy. She had heard about such men and couldn't believe that Thorn was one of them. She couldn't believe he was actually standing in front of her dumping something like that in her lap.

Looking him squarely in the eye she placed her hands on her hips. "No, I'm not on any type of birth control," she said, deciding not to add that she had started taking the pill six months before her wedding was to take place. She had stopped when the marriage hadn't happened and had not given any thought to going back on them since there had not been a need. As far as she was concerned there still was no need since she had no intention of sleeping with Thorn, although he didn't know that.

Her gaze sharpened and angry fire appeared in her eyes. The expression on her face would probably have killed lesser men. "So if you plan to sleep with me, Thorn Westmoreland, then it will be up to you to wear a condom."

Thorn crossed his arms over his chest. Oh, he intended to sleep with her all right. But sleep was only a portion of what they would do, a very small portion. He watched her glare at him. d.a.m.n, but he liked her feistiness and had from the first time they had met. He knew he had ventured into territory that was probably off limits by the way she was acting, but the sooner she knew the score, the better. First he had to clarify things with her.

"Don't misunderstand me, Tara. If it were any woman other than you, I wouldn't even dream of taking them to bed without my own brand of protection no matter what type of protection they claimed to be using. In addition to that, I would make sure we both knew the state of our health. Safe s.e.x means a lot to me, and I need to be certain it also means a lot to the woman I'm sleeping with. When it comes to bed partners, I'm extremely selective. Because of racing, I routinely take physicals, and I'm sure since you're involved in the medical field, things are probably the same way with you. I apologize if I came off just now as being a man who leaves the responsibility of birth control strictly in the hands of the woman. That is far from the truth. I'm not that selfish nor am I that stupid."

Confusion clouded Tara's eyes. "Then why did you ask me that? I still don't understand."

He decided it was time to make her understand. "Because I have wanted you for so long, and my desire for you is so great, I want to explode inside you and know it's happening and actually feel it happening. I want to be skin to skin with you when it happens. More than anything, I desire it to be that way with you."

Tara's chest rose as she took a deep breath, removed her hands from her hips and clenched them by her sides. She met the eyes that bored into hers and whispered in a soft voice the single word that immediately came to her mind. "Why?"

He took a step closer. "Because I want to share more pleasure with you than I've ever shared with another woman. For one solid week I don't want to know where your body begins and where mine ends. And at that moment when I am inside of you, making love to you over and over again, I want to be able to feel, actually feel, you getting wet for me. I want the full effect of reaching the ultimate climax with you."

He reached out and touched her waist and felt the tremors that his words had caused. He pulled her to him, wanting her to feel just what he was feeling too. She was the reason for his constant state of arousal and had been the reason for quite some time. No other woman had been able to do this to him. Only her. He had two years of pent-up s.e.xual frustrations to release and he wanted to do it inside of her. He could think of making love to no one else.

He saw an involvement with someone else as a s.e.xual act that would be empty, meaningless and unfulfilling. Maybe it was a mind game he had gotten caught up in, but there was no help for it. He was convinced that Tara was not only his challenge and his sweetest temptation, he truly believed that she was also his pa.s.sion and the two of them would connect in bed in a special way. They would be fantastic together. He had no illusions that they would not be.

Tara licked her bottom lip. She wondered what Thorn would say if she told him she was a virgin. And better yet, what would he say if she told him she didn't intend to get on any type of birth control just for a week that wouldn't happen? But she couldn't tell him either of those things.

Instead, she said. "And what if I told you I couldn't take the pill due to medical reasons and that I don't feel comfortable using any other type of birth control? Would you use a condom then?"

Without hesitating he said. "Yes."

She nodded, believing that he would. But then, after what he had just told her, she knew that if they ever made love-although there was a very slim chance of that happening-they both knew what it would take to give him the ultimate in s.e.xual satisfaction when he slept with her. He wanted it all and had engrained into his mind that he wanted things to be different with her than they had been with any other woman he had been with.

Tara didn't know whether to be flattered or frightened.

A part of her knew she had nothing to fear from Thorn. Even when he had come across as moodier than h.e.l.l, she hadn't been afraid of him. The reason she had avoided him for the past two years was for the very thing he was talking to her about now.

Wants and desires.

She had always wanted him, from the first. Even now she wanted him. She was woman enough to admit that. But wanting something and having something were two totally different things. Derrick had pretty much killed her emotions, but Thorn had easily brought them back to life. If she was afraid of anything, it was of losing her heart to someone else and getting hurt once more. But she couldn't think about any of that when Thorn was looking at her as if she was a treat he wanted to savor, over and over again.

"Thanks for letting me know what I'm up against, Thorn," she said softly. She watched a slow smile touch the corners of his lips. Everyone knew Thorn's smiles were infrequent, and whenever he smiled, especially at her, pleasant emotions always flooded her body.

"That's not the only thing you will be up against, Tara."

She heard the little hitch in his voice and followed the path of his gaze downward as it settled on his midsection. She shuddered when she saw his arousal straining against the zipper of his jeans.

"But there's no doubt in my mind that you can handle me."

Tara blinked. She wasn't so sure when she saw how large he was. A mixture of desire and antic.i.p.ation rammed through her mind as well as her body. It didn't do any good to try and convince herself that she didn't have a thing to worry about since she and Thorn would never make love. Seeing him standing before her with a determined look on his face made her realize just what she really was was up against. His mind was pretty made up. He would be competing in the race, and he would have her at the end of four weeks and nothing would deter him from his goals. up against. His mind was pretty made up. He would be competing in the race, and he would have her at the end of four weeks and nothing would deter him from his goals.

She would have to see about that. She needed to test his control and let him know just what he was up against as well.

Determined to make a point, she leaned up on tiptoe and placed her mouth to his. After overcoming his surprise, he immediately captured her lips with his. At the first touch of his tongue to hers she began to shudder, and he placed his arms around her and brought her closer into the fit of him to thoroughly taste her and devour her mouth. A keen ache throbbed deep within her. She slipped her arms around his neck and held on as his kiss became more demanding. Arching against him she felt the hardness of his erection more firmly against her belly, igniting heat and a deep sense of yearning.

He was giving her just what she wanted, and she suddenly pushed aside her need to make a point. At the moment nothing mattered to her, except the sensation of him against her stomach, and the feel of his hands cupping her backside to secure a closer fit.

Breath whooshed from her lungs the moment he broke off the kiss, and he held her in his arms as they both panted their way back to reality. For the longest moment, neither of them moved. Instead they stood there, on Westmoreland land, with their arms wrapped around each other trying their best to breathe and regain control of their minds and bodies.

Doing so wasn't easy and they both knew, for totally different reasons, they were in deep trouble.

"I understand you were once engaged to be married."

Tara stopped eating abruptly and glanced up at Thorn, startled by his statement. There was a serious glint in the depths of the dark eyes looking at her. Trying to keep her features expressionless, she met his gaze and asked. "Who told you that?"

Thorn contemplated her for a long moment before saying. "One of my brothers. I can't remember which one, though. Was it supposed to have been a secret?"

Tara gave him a considering glance. "No."

He studied her. "So, what happened?"

Tara figured he already knew the full story and wondered why he was asking. The night of Delaney's wedding she had been the one to catch the bouquet, and when the Westmoreland brothers had remarked that she would be next, she'd immediately told them she would never marry and had ended up telling them why.

She sighed. "Derrick, the man I was to marry decided on my wedding day at the church, in front of over three hundred guests, that he loved my maid of honor instead of me. So he stopped the wedding, asked for my forgiveness and he and the woman I'd always considered my best friend took off. They drove to Georgia and got married that same day."

"He was a fool," Thorn didn't hesitate in saying before taking a sip of his coffee. He met her gaze then asked, "Are you over him?"

His question and the way he was looking at her quickened her pulse. "Yes. Why?"

"Curious."

Tara continued eating, wondering why Thorn would be curious about her feelings for Derrick. Deciding she had given him enough information about her past, she decided she wanted to know about the woman who'd been in his past. The one who'd made him leery of getting serious about a woman.

"What about you, Thorn? Have you ever been in love?"

He met her gaze over the rim of the coffee cup he held to his lips. "Why do you ask?"

"Curious."

He set down his cup. "I don't know. I may have thought I was at one time, but when I take the time to a.n.a.lyze the situation, I don't think I've ever been in love."

Tara nodded. "But a woman has hurt you." It was more a statement than a question.

"I think it was more disappointment than hurt. It's hard for anyone to discover they were deceived by someone they cared about, Tara."

She of all people knew how right he was on that one. She thought of how many times Derrick and Danielle had written to her, asking her forgiveness for deceiving her, and how many times she had tossed their letters in the trash.

"But she meant a lot to you?"

He picked up his cup and took another sip before answering. "Yes, at the time I thought she did, but I can say it was nothing but l.u.s.t. What disappointed me the most was finding out I wasn't the only man she was sleeping with, and I'm glad I used protection to the max with her. I make it a point to stay away from women who routinely have multiple bed partners."

Tara nodded. "What did she do for a living?"

He signaled for a waitress to refill his coffee. "She's a freelance photographer."

"Oh." No wonder he hadn't been anxious to do that photo shoot, she thought. "And are you over her?"

He chuckled. Evidently he thought she had scored with that question. She was following the same line of questioning he had used on her earlier.

"Yes, I am definitely over her." He leaned over the table, closer to her and whispered. "You, Tara Matthews, are the only woman on my agenda, and I'm counting the days until I have you in bed with me while I do all kinds of wild and wicked things to you."

Tara swallowed as her pulse rate increased. She dropped her gaze to her plate, but the sensations that swept through her with his words forced her to meet his gaze again. The look he was giving her was dark, s.e.xy and brooding and she knew that if things worked out the way he planned, he would have her in his bed after the race so fast it would make her head spin.

She lowered her gaze and began eating her food again. Thorn was seducing her and she couldn't let him do that. They had already played their love games for the day. She needed to think smart and stay in control. She decided to maneuver their conversation to a safer topic.

"Why do you race?"

His mouth twitched, and a smile appeared. She knew he saw through her ploy but decided to go along with her. "I like the excitement of taking risks. I've always liked to compete. Motorcycle racing stimulates that side of me."

For the next twenty minutes she listened while he talked about racing and what benefits, promotions and recognition his company would receive if he won the first race of the year, the one during Bike Week at the Daytona Speedway. He also told her about his desire one day to compete on the European circuit.

"Do you race a lot?"

"I do my share. Last year I was in a total of twelve races. That averaged out to be a race a month, so I was on the road quite a bit. The men who're my crew chief and mechanic are the best in the business. And I also have the best d.a.m.n wrench around."

"Wrench?"

"Yeah, just like a wrench is a mechanic's basic tool, the same holds true of a human wrench in racing. He's the person I most depend on. I have an eighteen-wheeler that transports my bikes from race to race and wherever I go, my wrench travels with me. Racing is a team sport and if I win, my team wins."

By the time the evening was over, Tara had received a very extensive education on motorcycle racing. For most of an hour, they had avoided bringing s.e.x into their conversation and when they left the restaurant to head home, Tara looked at Thorn and smiled before getting on the motorcycle. Unlike the last time, when they had ended their meal with tempers flaring, tonight she had thoroughly enjoyed the time she had spent with him.

Later that night, as she lay in bed, half asleep with thoughts of Thorn running through her head, she couldn't help but remember their conversation about birth control.

She inhaled a lengthy, deep, fortifying breath when she thought of what Thorn wanted to do to her. Closing her eyes she thought of the picture Thorn had painted at the restaurant of them in bed together. She imagined him climbing on her, straddling her and burying himself deep within her, stroking her insides, making it last while his desire raged for her at a level that wasn't normally possible. Then finally, as she imagined him climaxing inside her, with nothing separating them, feeling everything, the complete essence of him, she felt the area around the juncture of her legs get hot and sensitive.

Tara opened her eyes. She'd better play it safe. Just in case there was a slim possibility that she and Thorn ever actually did make love, she knew she would want it just as he described. Tara decided to make an appointment with her gynecologist this week.

Eight.

T ara glanced at the clock on the wall. Thorn would be arriving any minute. ara glanced at the clock on the wall. Thorn would be arriving any minute.

She had called him at the shop asking if he knew anything about repairing a leaking faucet. It was the perfect ploy since his brothers had gone on a camping trip for the weekend. Had they been available, he would wonder why she had summoned him instead of one of them.

She nearly jumped at the sound of the doorbell. It had been a couple of days since she had seen him, and today she had a plan. She was intent on testing his control to the limit, with the hope that he would finally see that was more trouble than she was worth and a threat to his winning his race; especially if he strongly believed in this celibacy thing.

She looked down at herself before walking to the door. Although her outfit wasn't outright provocative, she thought it would definitely grab his attention. After glancing out of the peephole in the door, she opened it.

"Thorn, thanks for coming. I really hated to bother you but that dripping faucet was driving me crazy and I knew if I didn't get it taken care of, I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight."

"No problem," he said, stepping inside with a toolbox in his hand. "I'm sure this will only take a minute."

His gaze traveled down the length of her, taking in her very short cut-off jeans and her barely-there, thin tank top. It wasn't transparent but it might as well have been the way her nipples showed through. It left very little to the imagination.

His face turned into a frown. "You went somewhere dressed like that?"

She glanced down at herself. "What's wrong with the way I'm dressed?"