Brody (19 page)

“Did you loosen your hair?” His voice wasn’t romantic in the least as he spread open her blouse.

“Doing it now, boss man.”

“For once could you stop fighting me and do what I ask?” He stopped and his hot breath blasted across her cheek.

This was her opportunity, the moment to tell him what she thought, felt and needed.

She could be rejected.

She could be insulted.

She could be laughed at.

Despite all that, Olivia reached down deep inside and summoned up the courage to speak.

“If you would ask me, I would follow you to the ends of the earth, barefoot. But you don’t ask.” She reached out blindly and found his whiskered cheeks, cupping the rough-hewn jaw she knew so well. “You bark, order and tell me what to do. In case you hadn’t noticed, Ranger, I’m already in love with you. All you have to do is
ask
.”

Oh, Lord, her stomach picked that moment to get antsy. How embarrassing it would be to vomit on him after telling him she loved him.

The silence between them ticked by with the beats of her heart. Finally, she felt another gust from him. This time, it was a sigh.

Her heart cracked and she caught her breath against the sudden pain. It hadn’t been worth the risk. She had thrown herself wide open for him and he had rejected her. Her luck with men was lousy. There was something about Olivia that made them sample the goods but not stick around to sit at her table.

Intent on forgetting what she’d just done, she removed her hands and made to finish her hair. He grabbed her wrists, stopping her cold. Her aching heart thudded against her ribs as she waited for him to speak.

She waited ten long seconds before she gave up again and tried to pull away from his hold.

“No. I mean, no, please.” Brody sounded different, softer and unsure. This was not the ranger voice she knew. Could her little speech have meant something to him? Dared she hope?

“Brody?”

He pulled her hands toward him and to her surprise he kissed them, his lips warm against her skin.

“I ain’t good with much, but I’m good at being a soldier, at being a ranger.” He slid her hands into his and held tight. “I ain’t very good with people either and don’t give much thought to anything but what needs doing. I’ll try to remember to ask instead of tell.”

It wasn’t the confession of undying love she wanted, but it was enough to make her eyes prick with emotion. He did care for her. She knew that now. He didn’t know how to tell her, so he offered to show her.

By asking because she wanted him to.

It was enough for now. She would take it like the gift it was and be patient for more. Or at least as patient as she could be.

“Thank you, Brody.” She leaned in and found his lips for a soft kiss.

He stood up, bringing him with her and found her mouth again. This wasn’t soft and it wasn’t quick. He plundered her mouth, his tongue rasping against hers, even as he ground his hips against hers. This wasn’t the time to be losing themselves in a kiss, but she didn’t care.

She wrapped her arms around him and pushed her already hard nipples against his chest. Her body was alive, pulsing with a thousand points of light. This was what she found with him, what made them a match. Her former fiancé had never moved her to heights with a simple kiss.

Brody groaned low in his throat, an animal sound that vibrated through her. She scratched at his back, eager for more, to join with him.

Brody tore his mouth away and sucked in a breath. “Much as I’d like to take you right here, right now, I can’t.” He started to pull away from her and she heard herself mewl.

Mewl?

Olivia didn’t remember ever making such a noise. Then again she had never ached with such a need before. Her entire body thrummed with the intense desire to spread her legs and bring him inside her. She needed it. Now.

She reached for him and found his cock hard and pulsing beneath his trousers. As she squeezed, he hissed out a breath.

“We can’t.”

“Please.” She yanked at his buttons, needing him. Now.

He halfheartedly tried to push her hands away. As soon as she released his staff, he stopped pushing away and instead thrust his cock into her questing fingers.

She leaned down and licked at him, his taste salty mixed with his own unique flavor. Her need was desperate, to possess him and be possessed by him.

“I can’t last.” He reached down and picked her up. “Spread your legs. Uh, please.”

Olivia couldn’t stop herself if she tried. She was already wet, throbbing with need, the moisture already coating her folds. She opened her legs wide, wrapping herself around him. He leaned her up against the wall and fumbled to find her in the pitch black.

“Hurry.”

“I’m trying, dammit.”

She squirmed against him, hanging onto his shoulders, her entire body on fire. He pressed at her entrance and her nails dug into his back.

“Yesssss.” Pure pleasure coursed through her and he joined with her in one hard thrust. Oh, yes, yes, yes, this was what she needed.
Needed
.

His mouth found hers. “You’ve got to be quiet or we’ll have company before we’re done.”

Olivia had forgotten where they were but his reminder didn’t put a damper on her need. She squeezed his cock with her inner walls, enjoying the shudder that went through both of them.

She whispered in his ear. “Then fuck me fast and hard. Please.”

If anyone heard her now they wouldn’t believe it. Olivia Graham had become a wanton.

And she loved it. She loved him.

She spurred her man into action by squeezing him again. She reveled in the feeling of having him embedded within her. She’d never felt so perfect, so right, anytime in her life. Brody had been made for loving her and she had obviously been made to hold him inside her. Perfect.

He grasped her hips. “Get ready, honey.”

Olivia hung onto his shoulders, her nose pressed into his collarbone, breathing in his scent. He filled her in every way possible, from her heart, to her body, to her head. Brody became part of her in that moment.

As her body began to reach its peak, she pressed her mouth against his neck, tasting him. The salty tang on her tongue sent her over the edge. She moaned into his skin and she felt an answering moan from him against her temple. He slammed into her, sending her into a whirlpool of pleasure.

She closed her eyes tightly, stars exploding behind the lids. He whispered her name as his seed pumped into her, his cock still as hard as stone.

“Jesus, woman, what have you done to me?” His shaky question made her smile.

“I’m fairly certain the same thing you just did to me.”

He chuckled, the gust of air cooling her overheated skin a little. “We shouldn’t have done that.”

She found his mouth and bit his lip. “What did you say?”

A beat passed, then another, before he spoke. “I’m glad we did that.”

This time she kissed him. “Me too.”

She squeezed him one more time, sending tingles straight from her core out to every nerve ending. With regret, she lowered her legs until her feet touched the dirt floor. He pressed a piece of cloth into her hand without a word.

Again, she was touched by the unspoken way he expressed himself. Although he didn’t say the words, she knew he cared. She cleaned herself up and straightened her clothes. When she took a step forward, her legs shook. Hell, her entire body shook from not only the effort to hold herself up but from the sheer bliss she’d just found with Brody.

He pulled her into his arms. His heat surrounded her and she leaned into him. Brody kissed her forehead. “Are you ready?”

“Yes. I’m ready.” The steady tattoo of his heart beat against hers and she knew then everything would be okay. They had to stay together and work together, but that certainty was enough for her to find another burst of energy and strength.

Time to seduce Manuel.

She pulled away from Brody and ran her fingers through her hair. “You need to lie on the floor.”

“What?” His tone told her there was a deep scowl on his face.

“This won’t work if you question my plan.” She turned toward the stairs. “Lie on the floor, please.”

She felt rather than heard him cursing under his breath, but it was followed by shuffling as he got on the floor. Olivia had no time to enjoy her triumph. She had to get Manuel downstairs, which was easier said than done.

The plan would fail if he wasn’t there or worse, if he ignored her. She had to convince him to get back down there somehow.

Olivia dug down and remembered how she’d felt when she’d come home to find the carnage at her home. The terror and pain at the knowledge her parents were dead and Benjy gone. She tasted all the horror and her stomach roiled at the memory.

Then she put her hands behind her back, opened her mouth and called for help.

“¡Manuel! ¡Ayudame, por favor! ¡Ayudame!”

Tears rolled down her cheeks without even calling them. Memories were powerful enough to evoke the kind of raw emotion she found coursing through her. Perhaps it was due to the fact she’d just confessed to Brody how she truly felt or her very real fear they would die.

It didn’t matter the reason. She heard terror in her own voice, and no doubt the big man upstairs heard it too.

Heavy thumps sounded above her and she repeated her cry for help.

“¡Manuel! ¡Ayudame, por favor! ¡Ayudame!”

The trapdoor opened a sliver, sending a painfully bright shaft of light down into the inky blackness. The sting in her eyes lent more tears to her eyes.

“¿Que paso?”
Manuel sounded unsure. Step one, complete.

“Necessito ayuda, por favor, señor. Mi hombre es muerto.”

Olivia wondered if Brody’s eyebrows had gone up when she’d told Manuel he was dead.

“¿Muerto?”

“Sí, muerto. Por favor, Manuel, ayudame.”
A small sob bubbled up and she let it loose, then stepped into the shaft of light so he could see her.

She wondered what he saw. A woman with wild hair, a blouse open to her breasts, swollen red lips, tear-stained cheeks. She could only pray he found her appealing or her plan wouldn’t work.

A full minute passed before she heard Manuel curse and open the trapdoor completely. His heavy footfalls down the steps made small dirt clods vibrate on the wood beneath him.

Step two, complete.

Olivia backed up so he could still see her but she was out of the direct light.

“Gracias, Manuel.”
She gestured to Brody’s prone form with her shoulder.
“Aquí.”

Manuel didn’t turn to Brody. He licked his lips as his gaze traveled down her body, then back again, stopping on her breasts. Without any underthings, they were clearly visible and her nipples were clearly hard. Stress or leftover passion may have been the cause, but either way, the sight drew him like a moth to flame.

“Señorita, puedo darle el placer.”

I can give you pleasure
.

Olivia opened her eyes wide and prayed Brody was as fast and as capable as she thought he was.

“Señor, mi hombre necessita ayuda.”

Manuel stepped toward her, apparently uncaring that her man needed help.

Step three, complete.

She didn’t even see Brody move. One moment Manuel was looming over her, the next he was face first in the dirt with the ranger’s arm around his neck.

“Gun.”

Olivia jumped at Brody’s terse hiss and reached for the pistol tucked into Manuel’s waistband. Before she could even straighten up, the tables had turned and suddenly Brody was on the bottom, being choked.

She didn’t think, she simply pointed the gun at Manuel and pulled the trigger.

C
HAPTER
E
LEVEN

B
rody pushed the big man off with effort, the body rolling into the dirt. He took a moment to catch his breath before he got to his feet. Someone had probably heard the gunshot. Perhaps they’d thought it had happened out in the street. The earthen walls would muffle it somewhat, but they had to move fast.

Olivia stood with the gun in her hand, staring down at Manuel’s body. She’d committed more acts of violence in the time they’d been together than she had in her entire life. Now she had killed a man again for him. He would owe her his life a few times over.

He took the gun from her without a blink. She looked at him with pain in her eyes. He wanted to take that away from her but he didn’t know how.

“We need to go. Now.”

She nodded but didn’t move. He took her by the hand and led her up the stairs, keeping the sound to a minimum. Before they got completely up, he peered around but didn’t see anyone. The kitchen was quiet so he took a chance and they climbed out of the trapdoor.

He shut the door as carefully as he could, then realized they weren’t alone in the kitchen.

Elena.

She didn’t say a word but stared at them in her intense way. Her hair was down, out of the perpetual braid she wore. The long black waves only accentuated how beautiful she was. Too bad she was all icing and little cake.

“We’re leaving.” He found Olivia’s hand and pulled her close.

“Bueno.”
Her gaze flicked to Olivia’s. “You will not find him here.”

Olivia caught her breath. “What?”

“The boy you look for. You will not find him here.”

“Can you—” Olivia never finished her question. A crash out in the main tavern stopped all of them.

Elena started walking toward the corner of the kitchen. “Come.”

Brody would have made his own decision two weeks ago. Today he looked to the woman at his side and when she nodded, they both followed Elena.

It appeared as though she was taking them straight toward a solid wall, and then she disappeared from view.

“What the hell?” Brody caught up to Elena and realized there was a hidden door behind the wall. It was built to blend in perfectly with the wall.

They squeezed through the small opening into a dark space. He had to trust Elena was not leading them into a trap as he followed her blindly. Olivia kept close behind him, her hand firmly attached to his.