How many men were in the living room? Three or four? Could she take them all on and escape the house to her bike?
The front door slammed, and the house grew silent.
Had they all left? Tara knew she couldn’t possibly return to washing the windows right now. She needed time to think. In the past, when her temper threatened to get the best of her she’d usually taken off on her motorcycle and driven until the anger left. When that wasn’t possible, she’d pick a fight with one of the others in her clan until she’d released all her anger on her poor victim.
The house still remained quiet, and Tara wandered cautiously out of the kitchen.
The living room was empty so she went upstairs. Hilda must have been asleep in her room, or at least resting. Tara couldn’t imagine anyone being able to sleep through the tirade that had just occurred in the living room. Was the woman fearful that she had a Runner in her home?
Tara shuddered. She didn’t have time to worry about that right now.
She wandered past the closed doors to her bedroom. The balcony seemed an appealing place to sort through all the thoughts she was having at the moment.
Tara had a compelling urge to leave Gothman and put as much distance between her and this nation as she could. Oddly enough, something just as strong was telling her to stay.
“Tara, you’re back. Will you come down? I’ve waited for you forever, I have.”
Tara looked down to see Torgo standing in the yard looking up to her.
He smiled and waved. “Hurry, I have a surprise. Oh, do hurry. Put on a pair of my pants if you will. But do hurry.”
“Alright, boy. Calm down. I’ll come down to you, I will.” Tara went to the boy’s room and quickly changed into a pair of his pants. She didn’t care if any of the guards saw her like this. It would serve Darius right.
If he had indeed gone and claimed her after she said she wanted the claim to be mutual, then he could suffer the consequences. Or, worse, if he had claimed her before and then mentioned that he
could
claim her just to tease her, he had insulted her intelligence. She fumed as she ran down the stairs.
The blue pullover shirt and tight dark pants she borrowed from Torgo fit snugly, and Tara guessed she probably showed a bit more of her figure through the clinging material than she planned. But she could move easily in the outfit and that mattered more to her than appearance.
“You won’t believe what I got.” The boy danced around her when she entered the yard. “Look!”
Next to the shed was a motorcycle about the same size as Tara’s.
Torgo ran to it and patted the seat. “It’s mine.” He glowed with pride. “Darius gave it to me just this morning.” Torgo looked around and then said quietly, “You can ride. I know you can. I heard my brother talking with his men, I did. Will you teach me? My brother isn’t in a very good mood today. He gave it to me and said we would ride, but then he got some kind of news, he did.”
“What kind of news did he get?” Tara asked.
And what else did you overhear your brother say?
Tara knew asking Torgo would be fruitless. The boy wasn’t interested in conspiracies. He’d just received the most coveted thing a teenager could want—a motorcycle.
“Oh, I don’t know, I’m sure. What I do know is I want to learn to ride. Darius learned to ride when he had twelve winters. He told me so. I almost have thirteen winters, and I don’t know how yet. You’ll teach me, won’t you?” he begged, with gray eyes a softer version of his older brother’s. “I know some of my brother’s men think it’s odd that you know how to fight. But I don’t think it’s strange at all. Your papa was smart to teach you all he did.”
Tara wondered how the boy could be so open-minded when his older brother seemed so closed to new ideas. “Of course I will.” Tara ran her hands over the small bike.
It was well designed, painted a clean metallic red. On the side of the body, the word
Bryton
was written in gold. The seat curving up in the back was of the familiar Gothman style. It was an impressive motorcycle. Tara was just about to straddle the bike but hesitated at the surprised look on Torgo’s face.
She turned her head to see Darius walking around the shed coming toward them.
Torgo looked as if he just got caught with his hands in the cookie jar. “Uh, my lord, I was just letting her look at my new motorcycle.” Torgo blushed and leaned on one foot then the other.
Darius stopped next to Tara. He stared down at her.
She noticed the undeniable lust in his eyes. Her insides quickened in response, but she still felt an outrage with the man and his claiming. She looked up at him and pretended not to notice, then looked back at the boy. “Torgo, a true warrior never lies.” She looked directly into the youngster’s eyes. “My papa said that to my brothers again and again, and I think there is truth in it, I do.”
Torgo took a slow deep breath and squared his shoulders. “Tara was going to teach me how to ride because you’re too busy.”
Tara immediately felt very proud of him.
“Torgo, you’ll make an incredible warrior some day.” Darius gave away his feelings on the matter when a small, crooked smile appeared on his face. He was proud of his younger brother. “You’ll have that lesson, but first I want to speak to Tara. Run on along now, boy.”
Torgo looked at both of them and then slowly walked away from his bike.
Tara turned to face Darius. His shoulders seemed broad enough to block the sun. She felt he towered over her—emphasizing his domination. And that’s when all the anger bottled up inside of Tara raced through her blood once again. If Darius noticed, he hid it well.
“Come here.” He walked back towards the shed and opened it, pointed to the bike inside, then stared back at Tara. “A true warrior never lies, those are your words.”
She stared at her cycle before looking at Darius, and instinctively her hands moved until they clasped behind her back—the stance of a warrior—as she awaited her next orders.
“Can you start this motorcycle?”
She met his gaze and returned it, unwavering. Damn, he had her trapped by her own words. Not to be outdone she issued a challenge. “And you?” Her words shot laser beams his way. “I’ve heard the people say you’re a true warrior.”
Darius walked over to her bike. “Ask me anything. I’ve no reason to lie.” He leaned on the handlebars and stared into her eyes.
“You’ve already lied to me.” She glared back at him, wanting to pounce on his pompous ass and wipe the smug look from his face.
Darius raised his eyebrows, looking surprised. Then his gaze narrowed and grew serious.
She could tell her look and words affected him. But she was the enemy here, on his land. She knew, as he did, that there was no way she could beat him in hand-to-hand combat, yet she’d still take him on if she had to. Her anger was genuine. She’d become involved with this culture and this family.
If
she became a part of this family, it would be her decision, not his. It would not be because some man who didn’t even know her had taken a fancy to how she looked. They had experienced wonderful sex together, but sexual compatibility wasn’t enough to build a relationship. He’d know her first. Of that she demanded. And she planned on him knowing her well, in every respect. Mind, body, emotions. She wanted him to know everything about her.
“You think you know what you need to about me, but you haven’t asked me anything. You don’t even talk to me.” She grabbed on to the back of her bike with clenched fists, growing more outraged at the thought that he would claim her with so little prior knowledge of her wants, her desires.
“You’re even more beautiful when you’re mad.” He smiled and reached for her face.
Tara smacked his hand, knocking it away with all the emotion in her heart. “I’m not unclaimed land to be taken without asking.”
He pulled back his hand slowly and raised one eyebrow. He spoke quietly, almost in a reprimand. “If you’re referring to the claiming, I’ve broken no laws. I’ve a right to any unclaimed lady in Gothman. There’s no discussion required. That’s been the law of the land since before my Papa was born, or his Papa before him. Are you trying to tell me you are not affected by the laws of this land?” He straightened and crossed his arms across his chest.
Tara watched his muscles twitch with the action. He stepped to the side of her bike with his face close to hers. She thought for a moment she saw amusement in his eyes. “It’s a bad law,” she whispered. “I’ll not be claimed unless I say I’ll be claimed.”
Darius slowly moved his gaze from her face down to her breasts. The tip of his finger stroked the fuel tank on her bike. “Can you start it?” he asked softly.
The sultry whisper challenged and seduced her simultaneously. Tara took a step backward.
Darius grabbed her.
His touch sizzled her skin, and the smell of man and leather consumed her senses. But outrage overpowered her.
He must have surmised that his touch wouldn’t cause her to swoon because his expression became serious. “This is your bike…” He wrapped his long fingers around her arms. “…And you are a Runner. Start this bike, and I’ll never tell a soul. I’ll say I started it. At this point your only threat here is me, and my dear lady, I’m no threat at all.”
He yanked quickly before she could react, and she fell against his chest. He let go of one arm, and placed his knuckle under her chin, then tilted her head back so he could meet her lip to lip. Touching her mouth with his, he growled, demanding a response when she did nothing.
Tara pushed away and gasped for air, trying to get her bearings. She studied his face and hoped she wasn’t making a mistake. Darius had told her he was not a threat.
She would honor him as a warrior and trust his word.
Tara broke away from Darius’ grasp and walked around him, and for some reason, he didn’t stop her. Touching the bike, she ran her fingers over the handlebars for a moment, then grabbed it without looking up and rolled the bike into the sunlight.
He followed her with all the eagerness his younger brother had displayed a short time ago. “I’d love to ride it. It must possess a speed not known in Gothman.” He watched her every move as she climbed aboard.
Tara looked around to ensure the yard was empty from any of Darius’ guards. Immediately she took off with a jump, causing the bike to literally leave the ground.
“You can ride it if you can catch me,” she yelled over her shoulder.
“Ah, you want to play, do you?”
Darius literally ran to his motorcycle, which was parked along the side of the shed.
Tara raced her bike to the edge of the backyard and then spun around and stopped. She would make her challenge a fair one. It would not do to beat him and have him say she had some kind of edge.
He quickly pulled his bike up beside hers and stopped, letting the motor of his cycle idle. “We both know your bike is designed to be faster than this one.” There was fire in his eyes.
She could tell at that moment that he was indeed a true warrior. He was thrilled by her daring and excited to take her on in a physical activity other than the act of lovemaking. Tara smiled wickedly. “This bike may be faster, but you know the land like you know the gloves upon your hand. It’ll be a fair race. Just name the destination.”
“We’ll race to the cliff I wanted you to climb. You’re not in a dress today.” He grinned as his gaze raked down her pant-clad body. “And, my lady, the claim stands.”
Tara didn’t respond but instead took off across the meadow with all the skills of her Runner heritage.
Darius was quickly at her side, dodging the rocks and ruts in the earth that opposed both of them.
The two sped so fast across the land that the naked eye had a hard time following.
Although Tara didn’t know the terrain, she’d traveled at high speeds across many a land she hadn’t known. She didn’t look next to her to watch her competitor but instead kept her eyes ahead of her, soaring over the gullies in the land. She passed hill after hill, and when she spotted the crag with the rocky road outlining it, she added to her speed and easily left Darius behind.
The rock-strewn road was steep, and her bike was not designed for such travel. Tara decelerated, fearing the bike would literally slip out from under her. She crept up the hill aware that Darius quickly approached from behind. She knew the dust from the gravel impaired his vision and intentionally spun her tires on the road to further slow him down. A large rock came up on her before she could react, and Tara slid to the side of the road, scraping her leg. The sting in her leg intensified when she put her weight on it, but she would not allow an abrasion to cause her defeat.
She glanced down at Torgo’s torn trousers and the scratched skin underneath.
You can handle it, warrior. It’s no more than a scrape.
Darius came up behind her and slowed his bike. “Are you okay?” His face showed concern.
Tara righted her bike and took off, yelling, “Gothman have never cared about Runners, why start now?” She placed a big smile on her face as she reached the patchy area surrounded by the pine trees where they’d had sex.
She looked at the rocks Darius suggested they climb and drove over to them, then parked. Knowing there was no way she would be able to ride up the jagged rocks to Darius’ cliff, Tara jumped off her bike and lunged for the first group of rocks.