Chapter Two

Tracey had just left the ER and was glad to be back in her hotel room. Her family had insisted that she go to the ER to get checked out, even though she’d known she was okay. She’d been scared shitless when her car had flipped. Tracey had never had that happen to her before. Sure, she’d experienced spin outs. What race car driver didn’t? Those things happened on the circuit all the time. It was a part of racing. But her heart had jumped in her throat when she was suspended upside down in the car. Still, being scared was a far cry from being hurt, and other than being a little sore she was fine.

Lord, she didn’t even want to turn her television on. She had no doubt that the news reporters would have a field day with this—just one more stroke of bad luck to befall her. Some of the reports would be accurate; however, she knew from experience that most of them would be full of errors, if not outright lies.

With a loud sigh, Tracey headed to the bathroom to shower and change into something more comfortable. She had to brace herself for the phone call from her parents and brother. Sam had been able to hold them off for a little while. Tracey just wasn’t in the mood to have the same old argument with them. They wanted her to quit and let Daniel finish the race. That was not going to happen. Tracey was determined to race for as long as she could. She was in for the long haul. She might not win, but she sure as hell intended to place in the top ten. Or maybe she would win. Why not? She’d show the men of her family—and Daniel. Tracey Powell was going to win this year.

Tracey stripped off her clothes and jumped into the shower. She was just drying off when she heard what sounded like a knock on her hotel room door. Grabbing one of the big, white, fluffy towels, she wrapped it around herself and then took another to wrap her hair in. She would put it in her signature ponytail later. The knock on the door—louder this time had Tracey racing to answer it. It had better not be her brother, Declan. He was flying in this evening, no doubt to give her what for. She loved her brother immensely, but if he came to her with one word of negativity she’d make sure he wouldn’t be able to father children for a long time.

Without asking who it was or looking through the peephole, Tracey jerked the door open—she tried to anyway. Hotel room doors were so heavy and slow that any jerking was fruitless.

“If you’ve come here to give me a lecture you can save…” She stopped midsentence as she saw that the person on the other side of the door was not her brother.

“Trust me, I didn’t come here to give you a lecture,” her visitor said pushing her inside the door and closing it behind them, and then proceeded to lecture her anyway. “You know better than to answer the door half-naked. What if I had been a reporter, or even worse, a crazy fan?”

Tracey’s mouth worked, but no sound came out. Quite frankly she just didn’t know what to say, nor did she know why he was here in her hotel room. She watched him take off his baseball cap and shades and throw them on the table. Yet she still couldn’t form a word, let alone a sentence. The only thing she could hear was his drawled out southern twang which was even more pronounced when he was angry. His blue eyes shot fiery darts, another indication that he was not a happy camper.

“What happened on the track today? Are you okay?” He asked, as he walked over to her and took the towel from around her head. He tilted her jaw first to one side, then the other, looking into her eyes as if he were a doctor or something. “Why aren’t you answering me?”

“Probably, because you haven’t given me a chance to answer yet,” she said, finding her voice at last. “What are you doing here? And why are you angry with me?”

“Never mind that. Are you hurt?”

“No.” She wouldn’t tell him that she’d been scared out of her mind. She’d keep that bit of information to herself.

“Good. Come here.” Her supposed rival, Shane Westbrook, pulled her into the circle of his arms and brought his mouth down to hers. Her lips parted voluntarily, allowing his tongue access.

Tracey’s arms instantly encircled his neck, causing her towel to drop to the floor. She felt his groan of appreciation as he deepened the kiss, grasping her hips, lifting her up off the floor and more intimately into him. Without missing a beat, he walked with her over to the bed and placed her on it—with him on top of her—their lips still locked in a passionate kiss. His legs parted her naked thighs—his cock coming into contact with her center—her juices wetting the front of his jeans.

Tracey couldn’t believe this was happening. That it was real. Yet the thickness between her legs assured her that it was. Her hips gyrated against him. He growled his satisfaction into her mouth.

“I am definitely overdressed,” he whispered against her lips, before lifting up off of her. He removed his clothes swiftly, and joined her back on the bed before she could voice her objections.

She looked at him as he undressed, enjoying the view of his toned body, sun-streaked, short, brownish blond hair, and blue eyes. His long, thick erection, bobbed up and down amidst a triangle of short curls a shade darker than his hair. As much as she wanted all of him inside of her, in her heart of hearts, she knew it would be wrong.

“From the look in those beautiful dark eyes of yours, I can tell you are having second thoughts. Don’t,” he ordered. “This is going to happen, Tracey.”

“We can’t,” she murmured.

“We can and we will,” he said sternly, before taking her lips again in a mind-blowing kiss.

Damn those soft lips of his. She could never resist them. His calloused hands on her breast aroused her more than she had thought possible. Tracey loved nipple play, and he played so well with them. His lips moved from hers, pulled one taught nipple into his mouth, and suckled. The sensations caused her lower body to lift up off the bed.

“Easy, darlin’, you keep doing that and this will be over real quick. Neither of us wants that. Now do we?” He chuckled against her breast and then turned his ministrations to the other breast—taking the hardened peak gently between his teeth, and sucking.

Tracey moaned out loud. “Umm, that feels lovely. Don’t stop.”

“Hadn’t planned on it. Not yet, anyway,” he murmured against her breast, while deftly parting her legs with his hand. Inserting a single finger inside of her slickness, he began thrusting in and out.

“Oh, man,” she cried out, moving her body in tune with his finger. She was a breath away from climaxing.

“Don’t hold back, babe, go with the flow,” he whispered.

Her hair was splayed out on the bed…her head shaking from side to side. Her entire body felt as if it were on fire. It vibrated with a desire she had no control over. She wanted him just that much.

“I can’t,” she moaned.

“Yes, you can. More than once. I can guarantee that,” he said, adding another finger to the other one that was already inside of her, using the palm of his hand to press down on her mound. “Come for me darlin’.”

The sound of his deep southern drawl, his wicked fingers filling her, the sucking of her nipples, and the pressure on her mound from his hand sent her spiraling over the edge. Her body bucked and bowed out of control.

“That’s it, go with it, darlin’,” he said softly.

Tracey gasped as he removed his fingers from inside of her and ran his hands down her body, his fingers spreading her thighs wide. He replaced those fingers with his mouth—using his tongue to part her vaginal lips, delved in, and began to eat her like she was his favorite flavor of ice cream. His wicked tongue did all kinds of things to her, first licking, then sucking on her swollen nub, then licking again.

“OhmyGod, what are you doing to me?” she murmured, her body in a frenzy.

He kept on doing what he was doing, grunting and groaning as if he was enjoying himself immensely.

The feel of his naughty tongue inside her sent little shocks through her. She began to quiver with the awareness that she was on the verge of another orgasm.

“I’m going to come again. Oh my damn,” she breathed out, just before he pushed her over the edge once more. He kept licking and sucking her until the last of her tremors had subsided.

Spreading her thighs even wider, he moved between her legs and entered swiftly. Tracey gasped at the abrupt intrusion.

“Damn, you could give a sistah a warning,” she chided.

“Darlin’ the minute I laid you out on this bed was all the warning you needed. Now hush up and let me give you some good lovin’,” he chuckled, not giving her a chance to respond as his lips took hers in a scorching kiss.

“Wrap your arms and legs around me, darlin’, and hold on for a long, hard ride,” he whispered near her ear. “I can’t hold on, so I hope you can handle me.”

“I can handle anything you bring, lover man,” she sassed, then groaned as he withdrew and thrust back into her—hard. He was hard all over. His corded muscles rippled under the touch of her hands as he pushed in and out of her.

“Good. Let the ride begin,” he growled, using his hands to lift her hips, allowing him better access, as he thrust long and hard into her.

Tracey picked up his rhythm as best she could and hung on for the ride. And a ride it was.

Sweat dripped from both their bodies as they raced over the precipice of climax.

“Oh, baby, I’m coming,” she cried.

“Say that again,” he demanded.

“What?”

“Baby. Call me that again,” he said, this time more softly. “You’ve never said that before.”

Tracey was puzzled as to why it would matter what she called him in a moment of passion. “Why would…?”

“Just say it, darlin’.”

“Baby.”

“Thank you,” he said, sealing her lips with a kiss and pushing up in her for a final time. They both came on a scream.

“Oh, hell yeah,” he screamed as he released his seed into her. Relaxing his grip on her hips, he loosed his hands and collapsed on top of her. “Damn…Damn.”

Tracey screamed so loudly that her voice cracked. Both their breathing was labored.

“Damn, that was sweet,” Shane chuckled. “Darlin’, you screamed so loud we might get a knock on the door from security.”

“Shut up and get off of me, you big lug,” she croaked out.

Shane kissed her lips again before moving off of her.

“What are you doing here, Shane?” Tracey whispered, realizing the question was a good hour or more overdue.

“Adam told me about the accident. I called County and they told me you’d been released. I figured you’d be staying here. I have contacts that got me your room number, and the rest is history,” he said matter-of-factly.

“But what if someone had seen you?”

“They didn’t. Plus, I was incognito,” he chuckled.

Tracey snickered. “You had on a baseball cap and sunglasses. You’re a real private eye.”

“Doesn’t matter. No one saw me.”

“Shane.”

“Yes.”

“You forgot to use a condom again.”

“I really wasn’t thinking about that. I hadn’t planned on this happening. Seems to me anytime we are alone we can’t keep our hands off of each other,” he snickered. “Face it love. We are meant to be together.”

“If you get me pregnant I am going to kick your ass,” she said. “And if you give me a STD…”

“They’re called STI’s now darlin’. You don’t have to worry about any diseases from me. I would never put you or myself in that situation. And if I get you pregnant, then we’ll get married and have a whole bunch of other mini-me’s. Besides, we’ve never used a condom. You’ve been on the pill.”

“Shane, that was last year, you nitwit. We broke up remember? I haven’t had any reason to be on the pill since then.”

“Oh.” He couldn’t help smiling at the thought of her getting pregnant with his child or the fact that she had just admitted that she hadn’t been with anyone since him.

She punched him in the arm. “It’s not funny. I have a race to run, and we are broken up. Not only that, what do I tell people if I suddenly pop up pregnant with no boyfriend or husband in sight? Most people think I’m a lesbian because they never see me with anyone.”

“You and I both know that’s not true. And for the record, you broke up with me. You were the one that chose to keep our relationship a secret. Not me. Quite frankly I don’t give a damn who knows,” he said.

Tracey sighed. “You know the reasons. Anyway, you have to leave before someone discovers you here. This can’t happen again, Shane.”

“It can and it will. I won’t push until after the race. After that, all bets are off,” he said, pulling her on top of him. “But for now, I am taking one for the road. How about showing me what you’re made of?”

“Is that a challenge?” she asked through squinted eyes.

“Hell, yeah.”

“You’re on.” She smirked. “This is the last time for real Shane. I have a race to run.”

“Whatever you say darlin’ now hush up and let me show you what you’ve been missing out on, again,” he grinned.

That was all the talking either of them did for a while.

Shane left around three o’clock in the morning, leaving Tracey sleeping soundly. She’d only stirred when he eased from under her sleeping form, sneaking out the same way he’d come in. Or so he thought.