Brody (18 page)

“I will kill her and then you if you do not step away from
mi hijo
right now.” Lucinda pushed the gun even harder into Olivia’s skull, enough that she sucked in a breath of pain.

“Don’t hurt her.” Brody wasn’t asking and he sure didn’t look scared. Heck, she was scared enough for both of them. This was all her fault, every heart-pounding second of it.

It could cost her the man she’d come to love and the brother she ached to hold again.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Lucinda clucked her tongue. “Get down on your knees, big man, and put your hands behind your head.” Her thick accent was gone, her voice steely flat. Perhaps she wasn’t Mexican born either.

Olivia had no idea who either of these people were, or even who they pretended to be. She had stepped into a world of shadows and deceit. Brody had been right about her—she had no idea what she was doing. She caught his gaze and saw nothing in his eyes but anger as he got to his knees.

Olivia’s eyes pricked with tears and she had to stomp down the self-pity that rose within her. She was big enough to admit when she’d made a mistake, a huge one.

“I’m sorry,” she mouthed.

He shook his head and looked away, his hands locked behind his head. Rodrigo snatched the gun from Brody’s holster while Lucinda took Olivia’s from her skirt pocket.

Lucinda punched Olivia in the back and pain radiated from the spot. She dropped on her knees and fell forward, landing hard on her wrists; pain shot up her arm.

Olivia bit her lip to keep the moan of agony locked inside as she straightened up. She refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing her suffer.

“I can kill you both right now and no one would care.” Lucinda knocked Brody on the side of his head with the butt of the pistol. It wasn’t hard enough to knock him over, but she drew blood. A few drops welled up at the spot, which was already turning red.

“Whoever had to clean the floor would care.” Olivia hardly believed she’d had the audacity to say that.

Rodrigo chuckled in that low, unusual way of his. “I like you, Meredith.” She noted he wasn’t calling her
querida
any longer. Perhaps Brody’s threat had meant something to him after all.

“Then let us up and you can do business with Stuart.” She clenched her teeth to keep them from chattering. Panic wasn’t pretty and it certainly wasn’t going to help the situation.

“You like her because she is a
bruja
with a big mouth.” Lucinda kicked Olivia in the knee. “Not many women dare to talk back to you.”

Rodrigo smiled at her and in his face, she saw her own death. He would have no compunction about killing her or using her before he did.

“Put them downstairs and tie them up,” Lucinda ordered and Manuel appeared by her side, rope in hand.

Olivia had to do something to stop this.

C
HAPTER
T
EN

B
rody wanted to spank Olivia at the same time he wanted to put her behind him and beat his chest while he roared. She brought out a jealous side of his nature he didn’t even know he had.

His entire body still shook with the rage that had coursed through him when he saw her in Rodrigo’s arms, his mouth on hers. He’d seen red and every smidgen of his training as a soldier and a ranger had left him. He’d been a primal being, not a man.

Even now he had trouble controlling himself. Manuel, Rodrigo and his bitch of a mother pushed them through a trapdoor in the kitchen floor. It led down a set of narrow stairs into what appeared to be a hiding spot. Likely it was used when they were hiding from the army or other outlaws. They might even hide goods, or people down there when needed.

It was dark, pitch black, and several scurrying sounds alerted him to four-legged critters crawling around the dirt floor with them. Rodrigo pushed just enough to make Brody tumble down the last two steps and land on his knees, unable to stop his fall with his hands tied behind his back. The bastard’s laugh was like rusted nails on his skin. He held up the lantern and
tsked
while Manuel stood by holding Brody’s gun, his big face never reflecting a single emotion.

“
Pobrecito
. The big gringo is weak and frail, Mama. He can’t even stay on his own feet.” The outlaw just smiled as he walked around Brody, the pistol in his other hand. He gestured to Olivia, who stood a few steps from the bottom, her hands also tied. Her eyes were wide with fear and anger. “Your hero,
señorita
.”

She walked to his side, her back straight and shoulders squared. Olivia was a soldier whether or not she knew it. Awkwardly, she reached down and pulled under his arm until he got his footing and rose.

Brody was proud to stand next to this woman. His woman.

“We came here to do business.”

“You came here to sniff around,” Lucinda said from the step where she stood. “I do not like gringo
s
who lie.”

“Everyone lies. I told you the truth about doing business.” Brody’s hands were starting to go numb, but he didn’t react to the pain. “We need a buyer for our goods.”

Lucinda shook her head. “I do not think that is all you came for. We will find the answer one way or the other.” She shared a look with Rodrigo before she disappeared back up the stairs.

Rodrigo held the lantern up. “You stay here until you tell us what you want. What you truly want.”

When the outlaw moved toward Olivia, a growl sounded and Brody was surprised to realize it had come from his own throat. He had just snarled at another man for moving toward his woman.

Damn, that felt good.

He still wanted to pound the shit out of him, badly enough he could taste it.

Rodrigo held up his hands and chuckled again. If there was one thing Brody promised himself, it was to stuff that obnoxious laugh down the bastard’s throat.

“I won’t touch her. For now.” With one last wink at Olivia, Rodrigo turned. “
Vamanos,
Manuel.” The outlaw bounded up the steps with the lantern, followed by his hulking man. The thud of the trapdoor closing made Olivia jump beside him. Total darkness closed around them.

For a moment, the only sounds were their breathing and the occasional scuttle from the corner.

“Well, shit,” Olivia snapped.

At first Brody could hardly believe his ears; then he started laughing. He couldn’t help it. The situation was grave as hell, but knowing she was still fighting, and now cursing, gave him a fresh burst of fight.

“Shit is right. We’re in it up to our noses and now we’ve got to get out of it.” He twisted his hands but only succeeded in tightening the already too-tight rough rope. “Turn around and let me see if I can loosen your knots.”

She bumped into him, her trembling hands cold as ice. He knew she was scared but he held his tongue. Her impulsive streak had led both of them to this. Trying to find a buyer was risky enough, but bringing a woman with him into Mexico had to be the dumbest thing he’d ever done. It didn’t matter if he was falling in love with her or that he had been the one who’d announced she was his partner. If he could rewind the clock, he would have left her behind.

At least she’d still be safe.

Instead, she was tied up in a dark root cellar in Mexico. They would both probably be dead within a day. His fingers were going numb and all he could do was pluck at the knots.

“Damn. I can’t even feel my hands anymore.” He gritted his teeth.

“Did you see anything down here we could use to cut the ropes?” She tugged at the knots on his wrists while she talked.

“There’s nothing down here but dirt and rat shit.” From what he saw, Lucinda kept nothing down in the cellar. Likely so she could use it for situations like this. Maybe there were even bodies buried beneath the dirt under his feet.

“Did he have to tie the knots so tight?” she growled and a second later, he felt her tugging at his knots,
with her mouth
.

“What are you doing?”

He didn’t know whether to be proud of her or tell her to stop. The rope was rough on his skin. It would tear up her mouth. Her lips grazed his palm as she snarled at the knots and the wet swipe she left behind could have been spit, snot or blood.

“Stop, Liv.”

“No.” She kept at it, the wet spot growing larger.

The idea she was bleeding on him to loosen the knots was impossible to accept. He was a man, a Texas Ranger, for God’s sake, and his woman was sacrificing herself for him. What the hell kind of man was he? He needed to be the one to save her—she’d already saved him more than once.

“Stop.” His voice had turned colder than the air, harder than the steel in her spine.

Olivia ignored him. Again. Frustration roared through him.

He started to step away and force her to stop when she gave one more huge tug and groaned loudly. To his surprise, the rope loosened. Olivia finally let go and he heard her rear end hit the dirt floor.

“That tasted disgusting.” She spat somewhere to her right.

“Dammit, Olivia. I told you to stop.” He feared that Manuel was stationed at the top of the stairs, but his voice came out as a low growl. How dare she not listen to him and continue doing what would hurt her? Women were not supposed to behave like she did. Yet she continued to do it.

What did that say about him? He was either half a man or he was lucky enough to have found the one woman in the world who acted like a man, but looked like a woman. With soft skin and a steel spine, she was still his conundrum. One who drove him absolutely loco.

“Too bad for you. I did what I had to.” She grunted and pushed against his leg. “Now help me up so you can untie me.”

He yanked at the rope until he was able to free his hands, then reached down and pulled her to her feet. He wanted to be rough with her because he was furious, blinded by his pride and his frustration.

But he wasn’t.

Instead, he wrapped his arms around her. The thump of her heart against his diffused the righteous anger churning inside him. She pressed her forehead into his neck and blew out a breath, the gust cooling his overheated skin.

“Can you untie me, please? I promise I’ll say I’m sorry if you do.” She made an odd sound and tried to move out of his arms.

“Not yet.” He held on tight, unable to let go. A rush of emotion almost overwhelmed him and he needed to hang onto her. So much of his life had been spent in blissful ignorance of emotions. Until Olivia had to spoil it for him.

Now he was caught in her net, stuck in her web, or whatever else he could think of to call it. He was worried about her, being angry, amused, annoyed, hell, even in love with the damn woman.

What had she done to him?

He swallowed the lump that had appeared in his throat, another nuisance brought about by the infuriating woman in his arms. There had to be a way to save her, regardless of what happened to him. Brody could not watch her die.

“If you don’t untie me, I’m going to kick you in your man parts.”

Brody found himself wondering if she really would kick him and realized he already knew the answer. Of course, she would. He reluctantly let her out of his arms and spun her around.

After untying her, he rubbed her hands to get the blood back in them, and his. A small moan sounded from her and it sent a zing through him, at a completely inappropriate time. He sent his stupid cock a stern order to stop listening to Olivia and released her hands.

“Now we need to get out of here.”

“And how do we do that? Manuel is likely sitting on the trapdoor.” She moved away from him in the dark.

“What are you doing?” He was having trouble thinking straight.

“Looking for something to help us. What are
you
doing?” Rustling sounds and shuffling sounded from the other side of the cellar.

“Trying to figure out why you scramble my brain.”

“That’s not helpful, Ranger. We need to get out of this place before they decide to bury us down here.”

Apparently, she’d had the same thought as he about the dirt floor beneath them. As he listened to her feel her way around the basement, he couldn’t help wondering what any other woman would do in the same situation. Probably fall to pieces.

Not Olivia. Not his woman.

His mind took that moment to start working again.

“Oh, dear God, what was that? I’m going to need to wash my hands.” She stopped moving. “Are you going to help?”

“No.” He walked toward the stairs.

“No?” She shuffled back toward him.

“No. We don’t need to find a weapon. We need to get Manuel down here.” He held out his hand and somehow her small hand slid into his. Yes,
yes
, that was exactly where she belonged.

She squeezed his hand. “What’s your plan?”

He grinned into the darkness. “We’re going to trick him. Do you remember showing your wares for the outlaw back in Texas?”

She chuckled. “So I get to bare my assets again?”

Brody squashed a spurt of jealousy. “They’re certainly pretty enough.”

“You think they’re pretty?” To his surprise, he heard doubt in her voice.

“Jesus, Liv, I can’t stop thinking about them.” He reached down and cupped one breast. “They are just like the rest of you. Beautiful.”

Her breath caught and the silence was thick between them.

“Thank you.” For Olivia, humble was a first.

He kissed her hard. “You’re welcome. Now let’s seduce Manuel.”

Olivia’s throat was dry, her heart pounded and her stomach quivered. It wasn’t because of the danger, or the fact she was currently unbuttoning her blouse. It was because Brody had told her she was beautiful.
Beautiful.

It made her a bit giddy. And apparently stupid because what she should have been thinking about was Manuel and getting out of there, not what the ranger thought of her.

When he reached for her blouse, she reminded herself he was just helping her get ready. His nimble fingers made quick work of the top half of the buttons and soon the dark, damp air caressed her skin. It was likely a good thing he couldn’t see very well or he would have noted how hard her nipples were.