Thorn's Challenge Read online

  He sucked and licked her nipples to his heart’s content while she slowly moved back and forth, up and down over him, establishing the rhythm and speed of his thrusting. She looked down and watched him devour her breasts, the sight making her go faster and deeper, stimulating her mind as well as her body in a way she hadn’t thought was possible.

  And then it happened again, she became absorbed with pleasure so deep and profound she couldn’t help but cry out as she increased their rhythm. Her climax triggered his and he moved his lips from her breasts to her mouth, as waves of pleasure drowned them, leaving them swirling in a sensuous aftermath.

  * * *

  “Are you sure you want to go to the victory party?”

  Tara glanced up from putting the finishing touches on her makeup. “Of course I want to go. This is a big moment for you and I’m glad to be able to share in it. Besides, how would it look if the honoree didn’t make an appearance?”

  Thorn chuckled as he buttoned up his shirt. “I’m sure my brothers would come up with an excuse.”

  Tara exhaled deeply. That’s what she was worried about since she was certain his brothers were well aware of what they’d been doing closed up in a hotel room for the past four hours. Still she didn’t want anyone to think of their intimate activities as something meaningless and degrading.

  Thorn had assured her that he hadn’t told them about the deal they’d made and she was grateful for that. It would be bad enough seeing them tonight knowing they knew, or had a pretty good idea of, just what she and Thorn had been doing.

  She was sure that most of the time the winner of such a publicized event didn’t disappear behind closed doors right after a race. He would usually start partying, which could go well into the next day. Since it was Sunday, a lot of people would pack up to leave after the race, but most stayed over to Monday or well into the following week.

  “Ready?”

  She glanced over at Thorn. He was completely dressed, and the look he gave her let her know he liked her outfit but preferred her naked in bed with him. She smiled. Leaving the confines of the hotel room was a good idea. Chances were they would be going another couple of rounds tonight.

  * * *

  “I must say, Thorn, you’re in a real good mood, tonight,” Stone said grinning.

  Thorn raised a brow as he glanced at his brothers, Stone, Chase and Storm. The four of them had left the party and stood outside smoking congratulatory cigars, compliments of one of his racing sponsors.

  “Yeah, Thorn, it seems that four hours shut up behind closed doors with Tara did wonders for your disposition and mood,” Chase added, grinning between puffs of his cigar.

  “And I appreciate you helping me to win that bet, Thorn. I told these guys that although Tara was your challenge, you could overcome that little obstacle and would have her eating out of your hands and in your bed in no time,” Storm added. “Yeah, victory today was rather nice for you in more ways than one, wasn’t it Thorn?”

  * * *

  Tara had decided to come outside and round up the brothers to tell them their parents were on Dare’s mobile phone and wanted to congratulate Thorn. She had stopped right before interrupting them, shocked at what she had overheard. There had been a bet between Thorn and his brothers that he would be able to get her in his bed? Today had meant nothing to him but winning a bet?

  Backing up so they wouldn’t see her, she felt tears of humiliation stinging her eyes. She felt just as humiliated now as she had three years ago when Derrick had embarrassed her in front of a church filled with people. And it hurt worse than before because of the magnitude of love she felt for Thorn. Her love for Derrick had been a young girl’s love that had grown from an extended friendship between two families. But her love for Thorn was that of a woman, a woman who, it now seemed, had made a mistake, a big mistake for the second time in her life.

  She quickly turned around and ran smack into Dare. He caught her by the arm to stop her from falling. He frowned when he saw the tears that filled her eyes. “Tara, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

  She swiped away the tears that she couldn’t stop. “No, I’m not okay, Dare, and I don’t appreciate your brothers making a bet on me that way. And you can tell Thorn that I hope never to see him again.” Without saying anything else she pulled away and went back inside.

  * * *

  After Storm’s statement, Thorn’s temper exploded and he looked at his brothers for the longest time without saying anything, fighting down the urge to walk across the space of the veranda that separated them and knock the hell out of each one of them.

  “I think I need to set the record straight about something. My relationship with Tara had nothing to do with the bet the three of you made,” he said through gritted teeth, trying to hold his anger in check and remember the four of them shared the same parents.

  “She means more to me than a chance to score after two years.” He sighed, not giving a royal damn what he was about to admit to his brothers. The way he felt, he would gladly shout it out to the world if he had to. “I love Tara. I love her with everything that’s inside of me, and it’s about time the three of you knew that.”

  Stone’s shoulder was propped against the building and he wore a huge grin. “Oh, we know you love her, Thorn. We’ve known it for a while. Getting you to realize that you loved her was the kicker. The only reason we said what we did a few minutes ago was to get you pissed off enough to admit what Tara means to you.”

  “And it might be too late,” Dare said, walking up to join the group. He wore an angry expression as he faced his brothers. “Your little playacting may have cost Thorn Tara’s love.”

  Thorn frowned. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Dare shook his head, knowing all hell was about to break lose and that somehow he would have to find a way to contain Thorn’s fury. “Mom and Dad called and Tara volunteered to come get you guys. Evidently she overheard the first part of the conversation. When I saw her she was crying so hard she couldn’t see straight and bumped right into me when I came to find out what was taking all of you so long.”

  Dare shook his head sadly. “She gave me a message to give you. She told me to tell you that she doesn’t want to see you again.”

  Hearing enough, Thorn spun around, and, without giving his brothers another glance, he quickly went back into the building in search of Tara.

  * * *

  “She left, Thorn,” Shelly Westmoreland said, frowning at her brother-in-law. “She was crying and came back inside just long enough to get her purse. She left through that side door. Exactly what did you do to her?”

  Thorn couldn’t wait to give Shelly an answer. More than likely Tara had returned to the hotel and he planned to be right on her heels. He had a lot of explaining to do and he also intended to tell her just what she meant to him.

  * * *

  When Thorn got to the hotel he saw that Tara had not been there, and he started to worry. One of the members of his work crew indicated he had given Tara a lift from the victory party back to the hotel to get her rental car. When hours passed and she still hadn’t come, his worry increased. Even when his brothers showed up to apologize and discovered Tara hadn’t returned, he could tell that it made them feel worse, which, as far as he was concerned, served them right.

  He had finally gotten them to leave after Dare had placed a call to the sheriff in Daytona, whom he knew personally. After checking things out, the sheriff had informed them that a vehicle fitting the description of the rental car that Tara was driving had been spotted on the interstate heading toward Bunnell.

  Thorn paced the confines of the hotel room. He was angry with his brothers but angrier with himself. He should have spilled his heart and soul to her when he’d had the chance. Now she would assume that what she had overheard was true and would believe that he was another man who had humiliated her.

  He knew he had to let her know how much he loved her and just how much she meant to him. Over the past tw
o years she had been many things to him: his challenge, his sweetest temptation and his woman.

  Now he had to convince her that he loved her and more than anything he wanted her as his wife.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Tara woke up early the next morning in her old bedroom. She glanced around. Her parents had pretty much kept things the same, and she was glad that when she’d left home two years ago she hadn’t packed every stitch she owned, otherwise she would not have had a thing to wear. Luckily for her, her closets and dresser drawers were filled with both inner and outerwear that still fit her.

  She knew her parents had been surprised to see her when she had unexpectedly shown up last night asking if she could stay for the next couple of days, just long enough to get a flight back to Atlanta. They hadn’t asked her any questions but had welcomed her with open arms and told her she knew she could stay for as long as she liked. She had also contacted the rental car agency to let them know she intended to keep the vehicle a while longer.

  She sighed deeply. Her parents had always been super and she appreciated them for everything they had ever done for her. Her brothers had returned to college and her baby sister had left that day for an out of town trip with the school’s band for a week. In a way she was glad none of her siblings were there to see her go through heartbreak a second time.

  Flipping onto her back she knew she had decisions to make. Maybe it was time for her to leave the Atlanta area. A friend of hers from med school was trying to get her to think about coming to Boston to work. Maybe relocating to Massachusetts was exactly the change she needed.

  * * *

  “I see that young man of yours won the big race yesterday in Daytona, Tara Lynn. It was in the newspapers this morning and the whole town has been talking about it. You must be proud of him.”

  Tara smiled over the dinner table at her father. As usual, he had closed his office at noon on Monday and had come home for an early dinner. As long as she could remember, her parents had been members of a bowling league and usually headed for the bowling lanes every Monday afternoon.

  “Yes, I’m proud of him,” she said stiffly. She knew her parents had figured out that Thorn had somehow played a part in her unexpected appearance on their doorstep last night. She sighed, deciding to tell them an abbreviated version of things, just enough for them to know her relationship with Thorn was over.

  She was about to open her mouth to speak when the phone rang. Her father got up quickly to answer it in case it was a parent needing his help with a sick child. He still did house calls occasionally.

  “Yes, sheriff, I’m fine, what about you?” Tara heard her father say. She frowned, wondering why the sheriff was calling her father. She then remembered the sheriff and his wife were part of her parents’ bowling team. He was probably calling regarding that.

  She noticed her father’s gaze had moved to her and she raised a brow when moments later she heard him say, “All right. I’ll let her know.”

  After he hung up the phone he rejoined her and her mother at the table. Her mother asked what the sheriff had wanted before Tara got the chance to do so. Frank Matthews leaned back in his chair with his gaze locked on his daughter while answering his wife’s question. “It seemed that Deke just issued a special permit.”

  Her mother’s brow rose. “What sort of special permit?”

  Before her father could respond, the sound of thunder suddenly filled the house. “My God,” Lynn Matthews said, getting up from the table. “That sounds like thunder. I don’t recall the weatherman saying anything about rain this evening.”

  Frank Matthews shook his head. “That’s not thunder, Lynn,” he said to his wife while keeping his gaze fixed on his daughter. “Deke issued a special permit for a bunch of bikers to parade peacefully through the streets of Bunnell.”

  Lynn Matthews’s features reflected surprise. “Bikers? What on earth for? Bunnell is such a small peaceful town; I can’t imagine such a thing happening.”

  A smile touched the corners of Frank Matthews’s lips when he answered. “It appears one of the bikers, the one leading the pack, who also happens to be the winner of yesterday’s championship motorcycle race in Daytona, is headed for our house. It seems he’s coming for our daughter.”

  * * *

  Tara blinked, not sure she had heard her father correctly. “Thorn? He’s coming here?”

  Her father nodded. “Yes. It seems he and his band of followers are making their way round the corner as we speak.”

  Tara frowned, wondering why Thorn and the other cyclists would be coming here and why her father thought he was coming for her. Before she could voice that question, the roar of cycles nearly shook the house.

  She sighed deeply as she stood up from the table. The reason Thorn had come meant absolutely nothing to her. The bottom line was that she didn’t want to see him. “Send him away, Daddy, please. I don’t want to see him.”

  Frank gazed lovingly at his daughter. Her heart had been broken once and he didn’t want to see it broken again, but he felt the least Tara should do was to listen to what the young man had to say. He told her as much.

  “But there’s nothing he can say to change things. I love him but he doesn’t love me. It’s as simple as that.”

  Frank sighed. If that was what his daughter believed then it wasn’t as simple as she thought. According to the sheriff, Thorn Westmoreland was wearing his heart on his sleeve. Frank knew he had to be firm and make Tara face the fact that she might be wrong in her assumption that Thorn didn’t love her.

  “All right, Tara, if that’s how you feel, but this is something you should handle. If you want him to go away, then it’s you who should send him away. Tell him that you don’t want to see him anymore. I won’t do it for you.”

  Tara met her father’s eyes and nodded. That was fine with her. She would just march outside and tell Thorn what she thought and how she felt. Evidently Dare hadn’t delivered her message. “Very well, I’ll tell him.”

  Marching out of the kitchen Tara passed through the living room and snatched open the front door. Stepping outside she stopped dead in her tracks. Motorcycle riders were everywhere. There wasn’t just a bunch of them, there were hundreds, and they were still coming around the corner, causing more excitement in Bunnell than she could ever remember.

  It seemed the entire town had come out to witness what was going on. And what made matters worse, Thorn and his group had gotten a police escort straight to her parents’ home. Blue lights were flashing everywhere. She had never seen anything like it.

  But what really caught her attention was the man who sat out in front of the pack, straddling the big bike that had come to a stop in front of her parents’ home. She glanced around. In addition to Thorn, his four brothers were on bikes and two of them carried a huge banner extending between their bikes that said Thorn Loves Tara.

  Realizing what the banner was proclaiming made tears appear in Tara’s eyes. In a public display, Thorn was letting everyone in the entire town of Bunnell—his friends, biking partners, associates, his family, just about anyone who wanted to know—what she meant to him. She had been more than a bet to him.

  She watched as Thorn got off the bike and slowly began walking toward her. She inhaled deeply as she watched him, clad in jeans, a T-shirt and biker boots and holding his helmet in his hand, come to a stop in front of her.

  He met her gaze and reached out and gently wiped a tear from her eye. “You should know my brothers well enough by now to know they’re full of it and you can’t take them seriously the majority of the time, Tara. I didn’t make a bet with them, but they did make a bet among themselves. They wagered that I wouldn’t realize how much I loved you until it was almost too late.”

  He glanced behind her, saw her parents standing in the doorway and decided to lower his voice to a whisper so they wouldn’t hear the next words he had to say. This part was personal and between him and Tara.

  “And it was more than just sex between us
, Tara. I love you and should have told you yesterday, but the physical loving we shared blew me away, and I didn’t get around to telling you how I felt emotionally. But I’m telling you now that I love you with all my heart and with all my soul.”

  The tone of his voice then went higher as he said, “And I want to proclaim my love to you in front of everyone here. And I want them to see that I’m wearing my heart on my sleeve.”

  He turned slightly and showed her the sleeve of his T-shirt. There was a big heart on it with the words Thorn Loves Tara. He got down on one knee and took her hand into his. “I, Thorn Westmoreland, love you, Tara Lynn Matthews. And in front of everyone, I am pledging my love to you and promising to love you for the rest of my life. I promise to love you, honor you and protect you. And I’m asking you now, Tara, on bended knee, with my heart on my sleeve, in front of everyone, to marry me and become my wife and soul mate. Will you?”

  Tears clouded Tara’s eyes and the words she longed to say got caught in the thickness of her throat, but somehow she managed to get them out, words that would ultimately join her life with Thorn’s. “Yes, Thorn, I’ll marry you.”

  It seemed people everywhere began clapping, shouting and cheering. In the middle of the pack of cyclists, someone released a bunch of helium balloons that went soaring high into the sky. Each one had on it the words Thorn Loves Tara. Tara was touched at the extent Thorn had gone to in broadcasting his love for her.

  Thorn got back to his feet and it seemed that Dare materialized at his side with a small white box which he handed to Thorn. Thorn opened up the box and took out a sparkling diamond ring. He reached for Tara’s left hand and placed the huge diamond on the third finger, then brought her hand to his lips.

  “Thorn’s lady and soon to be Thorn’s wife,” he said softly, his eyes still meeting hers as he kissed her hand. He then pulled her into his arms and kissed her lips, ignoring the cheers and applause.