Thorn's Challenge - Brenda Jackson [58]
She cleared her throat and covered his hand with hers to stop the movement so she could think straight. “There’s something I think you ought to know about me, Thorn. Something that will determine whether you want to take this any further.”
While she held fast to his one hand, before she realized what he was about to do, his free hand reached out and pushed the straps of her dress completely off her shoulders, exposing her black lace bra.
He stood quietly for a moment, not saying anything but just looking at her. “I don’t think there’s anything you can say that would make me think of not taking this any further, Tara,” he said huskily, not taking his eyes off her.
Tara wasn’t so sure of that. Thorn was an experienced man and more than likely he wouldn’t want a novice in his bed.
Moving with the speed he’d displayed on the speedway, he flicked the front closure of her bra and bared her breasts. Just as quickly he moved his hand to her naked flesh, cupped her breast in his hand and muttered the word, “Nice.”
Tara’s breathing escalated and she felt her body go limp at his touch. Her entire being was becoming a feverish heat. She leaned back and tipped her head, suddenly realizing that at some point Thorn had backed her against a wall. Literally. It was a solid wall that prevented her from going any further, neatly trapping her. She was caught, it seemed, between a rock and a hard place.
And when he leaned down and clamped his damp open
mouth to a nipple and began caressing it gently with the tip of his tongue, she lost her train of thought.
Almost, but not quite. She had to have her say.
“Thorn?”
“Umm?”
She swallowed hard and drew in a deep breath. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see his expression when she said the words. “I’m a virgin.”
She braced, waited for his fury and when minutes passed and he didn’t say anything, she opened her eyes. He seemed not to have heard her since he had left one nipple and was now concentrating on the other. She inhaled a long, fortifying breath at the way his mouth was nibbling her as though she was a treat he had gone without for too long.
“Thorn? Did you hear what I said?” She finally decided to ask, fighting against the astounding sensations that were running through her body.
He lifted his head and met her gaze. “Yes, I heard you.”
Tara lifted a brow, thinking that if he had heard her, he was taking her news rather well. Too well. She frowned as things became obvious to her. “You knew, didn’t you?” The question was a scant whisper in the room.
He gazed at her for a long moment before saying. “Yes, I knew.”
Tara’s eyebrows bunched. How had he known? She hadn’t told another soul other than Delaney, and she knew his sister would not have shared that information with him. “But—but how…?” she asked, barely able to speak.
He shrugged. “I touched you there, several times, and on that first night I found you extremely tight and when my fingers couldn’t go any farther, I suspected as much. But the next time when I touched you, I knew for sure.”
She blinked. You asked Thorn a question and he would definitely give you a straight answer. She then felt a spark of anger that he’d known all this time and she had worried for nothing. But her anger was replaced by curiosity when she wondered why he wasn’t upset. “But aren’t you mad?”
He quirked a brow. “No, I’m not mad, Tara…I’m horny,” he said with a sly chuckle.
“Yes, but I thought most men preferred experienced women in their beds.”
He let out a frustrated sigh. “I want you in my bed, Tara, experienced or not. And as far as you being a virgin, I guess there’s a good reason you waited this long, and I guess there’s a good reason why it was meant for me to do the honor.”
She looked up at him. “And you’re sure about this? Are you sure this is what you want?”
He breathed in