Hawk's Way: Garth

by Joan Johnston

  Garth’s hands slid over her breasts to her belly and then around to her buttocks. He tightened his arms around her, fitting their bodies together. There was no mistaking the hard length of him, even for someone as inexperienced as she was.

  “Candy,” he murmured. His mouth nuzzled against her brow as his hands slid up her back to hold her tight. “You taste sweet, girl.”

  Candy’s flesh burned everywhere it met his. Her hands roamed over his back as she caressed him the way she had yearned to all those years ago. “Garth, I—”

  Candy hesitated, uncertain whether she ought to admit she was a virgin. It didn’t really matter, she reasoned. In a few more minutes she wouldn’t be one anymore.

  “What is it, sweetheart?”

  “Shouldn’t we be doing this in bed?” she asked in a husky voice.

  Garth laughed, a deep, resonant sound she could feel because he was holding her so close. “I just wanted to make sure you didn’t catch a chill.”

  This time Candy laughed. “Believe me, I’m warm now.”

  Garth wasted no time getting them out of the shower. He wrapped Candy in his white terry-cloth robe and dried himself with a large towel which he knotted around his waist. He picked her up again and carried her into the bedroom.

  “I can walk,” Candy protested.

  “I know, but I like the feel of you in my arms.” Garth stopped beside the bed and bent so she could reach the covers. “Get the quilt, sweetheart.”

  Candy reached out and pulled the patterned quilt away to reveal pristine white sheets. She froze, thinking how they would look stained with virgin’s blood. She opened her mouth to tell him the truth, and he kissed her quick and hard. The ferocity of the kiss left her gasping.

  A moment later she was in bed, and Garth was lying beside her. She might have wished for darkness, because she felt naked even with Garth’s robe surrounding her. But she wouldn’t have missed for anything the look in Garth’s dark eyes as he reached out and spread the two halves of the robe and feasted his eyes on her.

  “You’re so beautiful.”

  Candy was overwhelmed with sensations as Garth’s callused fingertips explored her body, beginning at her collarbone and heading downward between her breasts. He circled them, teasing her nipples before trailing his hand down across her belly.

  Candy’s body arched upward under his caresses. She pulled the towel away from his hips so flesh met flesh. Then she grabbed hold of Garth’s shoulders and held on. His dark eyes never left hers as his hands, and then his warm, wet mouth, roamed her body. She made a small sound in her throat as Garth’s hand slipped down between her legs.

  Instinctively she tightened her thighs to prevent his invasion.

  “Relax, sweetheart. You’re acting just like a—”

  Candy did the first thing she could think of to distract him, so he wouldn’t realize the truth. Her hand slid down his belly and encircled him. She was surprised to discover he was hard and soft all at the same time.

  “Whoa, Candy! Go slow, sweetheart.”

  Candy had no idea what the difference was between fast and slow. But she forced herself to relax, and his hand slid between her legs.

  Candy gasped at the intimate contact as he slid a finger inside her.

  “You’re so tight. Just like a—”

  Candy could see it was going to take constant distraction to keep him from getting suspicious. She did what came naturally. She pulled his head down and kissed him to shut him up. She moaned deep in her throat when his tongue mimicked the thrust and parry of lovers truly joined.

  His voice was harsh when he broke the kiss. “Dammit, Candy! I want to be inside you.”

  “I want you, too, Garth,” she murmured breathlessly.

  He spread her legs with his knees and thrust hard.

  Her body resisted for a second before the barrier tore, and he sank to the hilt inside her. Candy bit her lip until it bled, but a whimper of pain escaped.

  Garth muttered an oath. “A virgin! I should have known. What a fool I am!”

  Candy wrapped her legs around Garth and held tight to his shoulders. “It’s done now, and there’s no going back. Please, Garth. Make love to me.”

  “I’ll hurt you.”

  “No, you won’t.”

  Garth knew he was making a mistake. He ought to get out while the getting was good. He hadn’t asked if she was protected, he had simply assumed she was. The kind of woman he normally took to bed wasn’t about to take the chance of getting pregnant. Candy had been a virgin. It was a good bet she hadn’t taken any precautions to prevent pregnancy, and he sure as hell hadn’t, either.

  But right now he wanted her with a need that was beyond anything he had ever felt before in his life. Stopping was out of the question. If there were consequences, he would deal with them. “All right, little rich girl,” he said. “You’ve got what you wanted. Now let’s see how you handle it.”

  Garth moved slightly and saw her wince. “Dammit! I am hurting you!”

  He started to withdraw, but Candy stopped him again. “It’s all right, really. It’s just…I’m not used to…You’re so big that I—”

  She flushed a bright red.

  Garth chuckled. “All right, sweetheart. Let’s start over again.”

  She arched a questioning brow. “Is that possible?”

  He nudged his hips against hers, and Candy felt a spiral of desire twist inside her belly. Her breasts tingled. It appeared it was more than possible.

  “I’m not in any hurry,” Garth said with a grin. “Let’s go back a few steps.”

  Candy didn’t understand at first what Garth meant. Five…fifteen…thirty minutes later she was writhing with pleasure beneath him. He was still inside her, but there wasn’t a spot on her body he hadn’t caressed, licked, bitten, sucked or kissed.

  Of course, she hadn’t been idle. She had learned how to touch him in ways that pushed him close to the edge. His body was covered with a fine sheen of sweat, and she could see the strain in his face as he delayed the culmination of his own pleasure to make sure she reached the pinnacle of desire.

  He seemed in no hurry. He drove her to the edge only to back off again. At last she thought she would go mad if he didn’t finish what he had started.

  “Now!” she insisted. “Now, Garth!”

  Those were the words he had been waiting to hear. Garth thrust slow and easy at first, but Candy wouldn’t allow him to be gentle. Her fingernails left crescents in his flesh as she arched under him. He slipped a hand between them and found the tiny nubbin that was so sensitive by now that it took only a bare touch to set her off.

  He felt her squeezing him, the tight muscles contracting around him until he could barely stand the pleasure. It was Candy’s guttural cry of delight that freed him to find his own satisfaction. His head arched back and his body tautened as he released his seed in powerful racking spasms.

  As Garth relaxed his weight on top of her, Candy wrapped her arms around him. She felt good. She felt wonderful. She felt loved.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  She felt him stiffen immediately. He took his weight on his palms and stared down at her.

  “I don’t want to hear that any more now than I did three years ago,” he said in a harsh voice. “That was sex, sweetheart. You asked for it, and you got it.”

  Candy turned her head away to hide her distress. It was impossible to speak over the lump in her throat.

  Fool! Fool! You should have known he had no heart. You should have protected yourself better!

  Maybe he can change. Maybe all he needs is a woman to love him just for himself and not ask anything in return.

  Right! And if you believe that, I’ve got a spavined horse I’d like to sell you.

  “I’m not asking you for anything,” she managed to say.

  “That’s good. Because I’m not offering anything,” he said. “You should have told me you’d never been with a man!”

  “Would it have made
any difference?”

  “Damn straight! I don’t make a habit of deflowering virgins!”

  She smiled slightly. “But you do it so well!”

  “That isn’t funny!” he snarled.

  Her smile widened. “Oh, I don’t know. I find the idea pretty amusing.”

  “I could have hurt you!”

  “But you didn’t.” She put her hands on either side of his face and forced him to look into her eyes. “You brought me a great deal of pleasure. I’m not asking for any more than that, Garth. Truly I’m not. I know you don’t love me.” She swallowed to try and force down the thickness in her throat. “But you enjoy making love to me. If it’s what we both want, where’s the harm?”

  Garth knew where the harm was. The harm was that he wanted her as much now—more now—than he had before they made love. That had never happened to him. Once the chase was over, he usually tired of the woman quickly. With Candy, all she had to do was look at him, and he was hard all over again. At his age that was nothing short of miraculous.

  He told himself he might as well take advantage of her while she was here. Once she learned what she needed to know to run her own stable of cutting horses she would be gone. He felt that same awful weight on his chest he had felt three years ago. He rolled onto his back and pulled her on top of him.

  He tunneled his hands up into her hair and tugged her mouth down to his. He kissed her fiercely, letting her feel his anger and his frustration. Her hands soothed him as they spread across his chest and set him on fire at the same time. How was that possible?

  His hands slid down her back to her buttocks. He grabbed hold, leaving fingerprints where his hands had been as he lifted her and impaled her on his shaft.

  Garth sighed in satisfaction as he slid inside her. Wet. Warm. Tight. How could she be ready for him so soon? His lips twisted. Probably the same way he was ready for her. They were made for each other. Man and his mate.

  His mate.

  Garth denied the strength of his feelings for Candy Baylor. She was just like every other woman. She wasn’t to be trusted. Give your heart to a female, and she would crush it beneath her high-heeled boots. Garth Whitelaw was never going to fall for any woman. Least of all some spoiled little rich girl.

  Garth sat up and pulled Candy’s legs around him. His hands tangled in her hair, and he held her captive for his kiss. His tongue searched her mouth for the sweetness that he couldn’t seem to get enough of. He groaned as her tongue slipped into his mouth, tasting lips and teeth and seeking equal pleasure.

  Garth took Candy to sensual heights she had never imagined as they made love through the afternoon. She reveled in his touch, and touched him in return. The loving was fierce and wild and left them both overwhelmed by tumultuous feelings that threatened an already-fragile relationship.

  At last Candy lay asleep in Garth’s arms, exhausted by the day’s pleasures. Garth lay staring at the ceiling, appalled by how vulnerable he felt. He had never before experienced what had happened in this bedroom with Candice Baylor. He had exhausted himself and her, and still he wanted her. The truth could no longer be denied. His need for her was more than sexual. It seemed to come from deep inside.

  He couldn’t bear the thought of any other man ever laughing with her, holding her, loving her. His feelings were totally irrational, of course. But he knew he would kill the man who touched her. Such powerful emotions left him feeling agitated. And angry.

  He shook Candy. “Wake up!”

  Candy woke from a dream in which Garth had just told her he loved her, so there was a soft smile on her face as she looked up at him with sleepy eyes. “What is it, Garth?” Her hand smoothed over his chest, luxuriating in the feel of him.

  Garth cursed when his body—wrung out from a day of making love to her—immediately hardened with need. He grabbed a handful of Candy’s blond hair and pulled her head back at a painful angle.

  “What’s wrong, Garth?”

  She didn’t struggle, didn’t swear or strike out against his strength. She lay there in his arms, looking up at him with love and concern. Garth felt that now-familiar tightening in his chest. He forced himself to ignore it. He was fighting for his life.

  “I’m not the marrying kind,” he said through gritted teeth. “I want one thing from you. Just one thing!” He laid her down and thrust inside her.

  He cried out in an agony of pleasure as Candy arched up to receive him, welcoming him, taking all of him and asking for whatever more he had to give.

  She was a witch, and he was ensorceled by her. That was the only explanation for the excruciating need he felt for this particular woman. There was no time for thinking once he was inside her, or for talking, either. He thrust and she parried, taking and giving pleasure, fast and hard and deep, until he heard her cry out and joined her in reaching a plateau of pleasure beyond any they had sought or expected to find.

  As he lay panting above her, his body sweat-slick and musky from their lovemaking, he said, “So long as you’re at Hawk’s Way, you belong to me.”

  “All right, Garth.”

  Her demure response did little to ease Garth’s anxiousness. “Anytime you want to cut and leave, it’ll be fine by me.”

  “We have a deal,” Candy said. “You promised to teach me what you know about cutting horses.”

  “And I will.”

  “Then I don’t see that we have anything to argue about.”

  Garth stared at her suspiciously. There was something wrong with her logic, although he hadn’t yet figured it out. “Just so we understand each other,” Garth said. “From now on you’ll sleep in here with me.”

  Candy snuggled closer to him. “All right, Garth.”

  Garth pulled her tight and closed his eyes. A few moments later, sated at long last, he slept.

  Candy was wide awake.

  She stared beyond Garth’s shoulder to the framed picture of the older man, a man without a woman by his side. She knew some people would tell her she was tilting at windmills to even hope that she could change Garth’s attitude about women—about having a wife.

  But he had brought her here to the bed of his forebears, and when he had discovered her virginity he hadn’t tossed her out. In fact, he had made love to her again and again. Sex was a strong lure, one women had used for aeons. Candy was not above using every source of ammunition she had to lay claim to her man.

  She would love him so much he wouldn’t be able to live without her. She would succeed where every other woman had failed. She would wait him out. Sooner or later Garth would have to admit that what they had done wasn’t having sex, it was making love. Then he would ask her to be his wife.

  She just had to make sure all that happened before she learned everything she needed to know to start her own stable. Otherwise, he might kick her out before she was ready to go. Well, Garth’s deft, capable pupil might suddenly have to become all thumbs.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “He’s so savage! How can you hope to tame him?” Candy’s eyes anxiously sought Garth’s, then skipped back to the black stallion that was rearing and kicking and screaming his fury in the corral. “Is there a way to make him trust humans again?”

  “It will take time. And patience. Maybe even that won’t be enough. Señor Santos sent Midnight to me because none of his men could do anything with the horse.”

  “What made him so mean?” Candy asked.

  “Probably somebody beat him once upon a time. Santos bought him at auction, but the horse had gone through three or four owners by then, so there’s no telling, really.”

  Candy was aghast. “Beat him! How could anyone be so cruel?”

  Garth’s lips pursed. “You’re living in a dreamworld if you think there aren’t people out there who mistreat animals. It’s too bad. Santos said if I couldn’t tame that black beast he’d have to put him down.”

  “Oh, no, Garth! You can’t let him be killed!” Candy grasped the wrangler’s arm as though to stop him from such an action. She
felt a jolt of electricity the instant she touched him. Candy stared up into Garth’s dark eyes and saw that he was as aroused as she was by the simple contact. “You can tame him. I know you can!”

  “I don’t have the time to waste,” Garth said. “Santos didn’t tell me what bad shape the horse is in, or I never would have let him ship the stud here.”

  “I’ve got the time!” Candy said. “I’ll do it. If you’ll just tell me what to do.”

  Garth frowned. “I don’t know. You need to concentrate on learning what you came here to learn.”

  Candy flushed with embarrassment. Garth hadn’t said it aloud, but over the past week her learning curve had dipped considerably. She had manipulated the slowdown purposely, of course. But Garth didn’t know that.

  “I—I can learn,” she stuttered. “This is important to me, Garth. Please let me try.”

  Garth scrutinized the magnificent quarter horse stallion. “He’s a good-looking animal. It would be a shame to put him down.”

  “It’s settled, then,” Candy said. “I’ll work with him.” She put her arms around Garth’s waist and hugged him. “Thanks, Garth.”

  Garth folded Candy into his embrace. “Don’t think it’s going to be a picnic, because it isn’t.”

  “Oh, I know that. But if Midnight can be tamed, you’ll show me how to do it.”

  “I’m glad you have so much confidence in me.” Garth was appalled by how good her compliment made him feel. It was one more sign of what he had begun to recognize as his growing dependence on her. He wasn’t sure how it had happened, because nothing had changed in his life. At least not where outward appearances were concerned.

  He still worked from dawn to dusk, only with Candy by his side. After supper in the dining room—he hadn’t been stubborn fool enough to insist they keep on eating in the kitchen—he and Candy would retire to the parlor where she would read and he would work on the business end of his business. Then they would retire to his bedroom, where he would make love to her once or twice or sometimes even three times in a night.

  She was always willing, and she had learned enough over the past week to incite him to passions even he hadn’t known he was capable of. He felt his loins tighten as vivid memories of their lovemaking replayed in his head. The tastes, the scents, the sounds all combined to bring him to full arousal.