Challenge (Harris Brothers Book 1)

SHE FEELS UNPRACTISED. UNREHEARSED. UNTAINTED. Unwrapped. Indie Porter is like a Christmas gift I’ve been waiting for my entire life that has finally arrived and I don’t know which part I want to play with first.

I pull my tongue out from the deep wetness of her mouth and sink my teeth into her lush lower lip, sucking off the lemony sweetness. This is the same lower lip she was biting seconds earlier as she stared at me in my towel like she wanted to fuck me right then and there.

I probably would have let her. I was mad a minute ago and trying to decide if she was worth the trouble, but this woman has something on me that I can’t seem to step away from. I want her. I want her more than she wants me…and that never happens to me. Ever. I woke up with a raging boner this morning thinking about this sexy redhead. Then she stood there watching me like I was some regular patient she was taking care of.

I’m putting a stop to that right now. With this kiss, I’m determined to remind her what it means to be mouth-fucked by Camden Harris. I have to even out the stakes between us.

Strangely, now that I’ve confirmed that kissing Indie Porter really is this bloody fantastic, I actually care what she has to say. I want to peel back the layers of this uniquely wrapped present and discover why she is the way she is, which is also a novel concept for me.

Whatever she is, it’s working for me.

Last night I felt different with her beside me. Normally when I spend the night with a bird, I’m anxious for the morning so I can bugger off. I didn’t feel that at all with Indie. In fact, I felt disappointed that I couldn’t hold her throughout the night. I don’t know if it was the pain meds or the Indie Porter Valium I had injected in me from our first kiss. All I know is that I needed to feel the warmth of her.

Now that this kiss is as hot as I had hoped, I want more. I want to feel every breath, every gasp, every shift, every contented sigh. She refused to fully let go with me last night, but tonight I see the desire in the pools of her eyes. She needs something from me and, whatever it is, I hope she lets me give it to her.

I pull my mouth away from her pillowy-soft lips and rest my forehead against hers. “Why do you always taste like lemons?” I exhale. “Tell me.”

“Are you actually going to let me finish a thought this time? You cut me off before.” The corner of her mouth tilts up and I cover it with mine again, kissing her sarcasm good and dead.

I break away once more, satisfied when she pulls in a big gulp of air. My morbid fascination is still demanding. “I have to know. Why lemons?” I pull back further so my eyes can feast on hers.

“Sherbet lemons.” She licks her lips slowly. “I keep them in my pockets because sometimes I don’t get to eat all day. It helps to keep my blood sugar up.”

She smirks up at me, her toffee eyes twinkling within the frames of her glasses. I huff a soft laugh against her face. I’m grateful that she’s answering my question and not ruining this moment by letting her fears seep back in.

“I like them,” I say before I briefly kiss her again for one more taste.

When I pull away and open my eyes, she tilts her head. Her brown eyes flash on mine with a bewildered look. I wish I could read her mind because she seems to be making some sort of decision that I’m not privy to.

Before I can ask her about it, she wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me hard against her lips. She drives her tongue so deep into my mouth, it sends my body into overdrive.

She’s definitely not afraid anymore.

“I want you, Indie,” I groan, breaking our kiss and dragging my forehead down her cheek until my mouth is on her neck. It’s cold and wet from her impromptu shower but feels utterly perfect. Her hand braces on my chest as she tilts back to give me more access to her towel-covered chest.

“I need you,” I croak, clasping her hand and sliding it down my chest, along my abs, and over top of the towel to the firmness between my legs. She lets out an audible, throaty gasp at the proof beneath the fabric. “Now,” I demand, even though I know I would get down on my knees and beg if she asked me to.

“Oh my God,” she moans loudly into my mouth as her small, delicate fingers slide against the length of me.

I quickly kiss her to quiet her voice. We can’t be interrupted. I need this to happen. I need to hear her voice cry out while I’m buried inside of her, even if I do have to swallow every whimper.

“I’ve got condoms.” I pull her down onto the bed so we’re sitting on the edge, angled toward each other. The relief in my knee is appreciated.

I lick and nibble my way up to her ear. She tastes like rain. Now I’m thinking that taking her in the shower sounds about perfect…and concealed. “Tell me you want me, Indie.”

“I want you,” she says without a second’s hesitation.

Pleased, I smile against her collarbone. “Give me a second to fetch one. I’ll be right back.”

“Condoms.” She grips my arms back toward her in some strange state of delirium. Her eyes are wide as she adds, “Condoms. No. We can’t, Cam. Not here.”

I cup her face, my brow furrowing with concern. “We have plenty of time. If it’s my knee you’re worried about, I’ll let you ride on top. I’m dying to feel you, Indie.” My hand trails between her towel-covered breasts, venturing lower. Her eyes flutter closed as I find a small gap between her thighs. She spreads her legs for me, shifting further toward the edge of the bed and inviting me in. She wants this just as much as I do. Buggered knee or not, we can handle this.

I push the rough fabric of the towel between her thighs. I could easily slip my hand in and palm her, skin on skin, but I want to wait. I want to be ready to slide into her before I feel all that I know she will be. She pumps her hips into my touch with shameless need, and I groan as her pink tongue darts out to lick her lips.

“What do you want me to do? Name it, Specs, and I’ll do it. I know what I want.”

Her drooped eyes hang on every one of my words, but she lets out a mournful groan and abruptly grabs my hand and pulls it away from her. “You don’t get it.” She stands up on shaky legs and awkwardly covers herself with her hands. Her eyes look wide with fear. “We seriously can’t.”

“Why? Is it the herpes thing?” I ask, thinking a joke might lighten her up a bit. I reach up and take her hand, stroking the soft skin of her wrist with my thumb. “I was being a sod, I told you.”

“It’s not you, it’s me.” She pulls back from me and fists her hands against her sides.

“You have herpes?” I ask, rearing back. All arousal is sucked dry.

“No!” she croaks. “That wouldn’t even be possible.”

“What are you saying? I’m the man-whore footballer, so I’m the only one in this scenario who could ever get the herp?” I snap defensively.

“Sensitive much? That’s not what I’m saying at all. Although, if either of us were to have it, it would have to be you.”

“Oh bollocks, I always use protection. I don’t go bareback with anyone. Ever. And I get checked regularly. It’s you innocent-looking types that are the most dangerous.”

Her mouth falls open. “What does that mean?”

This is escalating quickly, but I can’t stop snapping at her. She makes me crazy. “Well, the quiet ones always have the most secrets.”

“I’m not quiet!”

“No, but you have the innocent bit down to a science.”

“It’s not a bit.”

“Don’t come off like you’re too perfect to get an STD. You and I aren’t that different.”

“Typically you’d have to have some type of sex to get herpes, Cam!” she exclaims with a frustrated stomp of her foot. A deep blush crawls up her neck and hits her cheeks within seconds like she just realised what she blurted out.

I scowl, feeling completely mind-fucked. I run my hands through my hair and rise up from the bed and into her space. “Indie, spell it out for me. I have a raging boner doing all my proper thinking at the moment and he’s got a one-track mind.”

“Aside from the fact that I’m not going to let you rail me at my place of work…I’m a virgin, okay?” she groans and her hands move to cover the deep, crimson red consuming her face.

I swear her voice echoes in the distance like a shout from the top of a mountain.

Virgin…virgin…virgin…virgin.

My sarcasm arrives first on the scene. “Why don’t you shout that one more time? We want to be sure Beardie heard it in the cheap seats.”

“Shut it,” she snaps, shoving me in the chest. I limp to keep the impact off my bad knee. “There is something horribly wrong with me. What am I doing? You’re my patient…”

While she goes off on a rant to herself, I look down at poor Camden Junior still looking mighty strong beneath the towel. A virgin is a game changer. At least inside the walls of this hospital. Outside, on the other hand…

I look up at her, my face still the picture of stunned. “I can hardly believe it.”

“What?” she barks.

“I’ve heard of women like you. Women that save themselves for their wedding night. But I thought you were an urban myth.”

“I’m not saving myself for marriage.” Her tone is admonishing.

“Then why?” I frown, wondering what other reason anyone could possibly have for staying a virgin this long, especially someone as beautiful as her.

She shrugs and murmurs, “I want it to be good.”

“Your first time?” My face screws up in confusion.

“Yes, keep up!”

Her snappy outburst elicits a smirk on my face. She’s cute all revved up like this. “I’m not having a go. I promise. I’m just trying to wrap my head around all this.”

“There’s not much to grasp. I’m a virgin. End of.”

She crosses her arms and turns away from me, throwing a proper fit in a towel. It’s comical really. But she’s holding on to her virginity just because she wants it to be good? That can’t be the only reason, can it? Most people’s first time is utter crap. Then again, I suppose most people’s first time is in their teens when they’re poking around in the back of a vehicle to hide from their mum and dad. Their priority isn’t for pleasure. It’s so they can tell all their mates at school.

I’m not sure I believed in destiny until this second.

I stride up to her, mindful of my knee, and lean over her back to whisper in her ear, “Why settle for just good?”

She stiffens slightly but turns her head and answers, “Well, I want more than good I guess.” She adjusts the frames of her glasses and turns to face me again. I love how small she is next to me like this. I love that when she looks up at me, her eyes have to squint a little from the lighting above my head. “I’m twenty-four, Camden. I’ve waited this long. Surely it isn’t an impossible task to find a great shag at this age.”

I chuckle at her pensive expression. “Sweetheart, you needn’t even ask.”

Her jaw drops as her eyes snap to mine. “Well, aren’t you just a cocky sod.”

I shake my head, tilting her chin up so she looks at me instead of my chest. “Specs, if you want your first time to be greatness, I’m right fucking here.” I close the last twelve inches between us and twine my fingers with hers, pulling her back to my bed. “But you’re right, it can’t be here.”

“Obviously.” Her voice is wobbly as she looks away with a small flicker of disappointment and a huge splash of shame marring her pretty features.

“But it will be me.” My voice is self-assured.

She pulls her large pink lower lip into her mouth and chews it nervously before looking at me and saying, “I don’t think you could be any cockier.”

All humour drains from my face. “I’m not cocky. I’m certain.” I reach out to pull her lower lip from between her teeth and rub the pad of my thumb along it. Bits of it are raw and chapped from the overtime she’s been working on it.

Her eyes flutter closed as she says, “I’m mortified.”

I smile at her hunched posture. “You don’t need to be embarrassed.” I turn her face to look at me. “But I do think you need to stop lying to yourself about what you think we could be for each other.” Her eyes flicker quickly between mine. They look sad but hopeful. “After I’m out of here and you don’t have the stress of getting caught hanging over you, we’re going to do this. And I’ll make it better than good, Indie. I’ll make it so great that when I walk away, you’ll compare every bloke you ever meet to me.”

She smiles, a resigned look of satisfaction on every inch of her face. “Just sex?”

“That’s all I’m offering.” I watch her for her reaction.

An appreciative smile takes over her face. “You couldn’t be more right for this than if I hand-picked you from a catalogue.”

“You’re damn straight.” I wink and silently beg my cock to simmer down. “Now let’s get some sleep before my blue balls create a new colour in the rainbow.”