Brody (23 page)

She would get her man, come hell or high water.

Brody dreamt of Olivia: the softness of her skin, the smell of her hair, the sweetness of her taste. She surrounded him, drew him into her world with that mischievous smile and incredible body. He hardened instantly, aching for her.

Her nimble fingers danced up and down his shaft, making his balls tighten. He grew an inch when she squeezed the head with her other hand. Then her mouth closed around the head of his cock and he gripped the bed. Pure fire leapt from the hot, wet recesses of her mouth. Her tongue lapped at him, even as her mouth sucked.

Her hand cupped his balls, her thumb pressing against the base of his dick. As she bobbed up and down on his length, he groaned aloud, coming fully awake.

It wasn’t a dream.

Olivia was here, giving him the pleasure of a lifetime. He reached out and found her soft, clean hair and ran his fingers through it.

“You’re really here.”

He felt her chuckle against his taut skin. She nibbled at the sensitive head and he sucked in a breath.

“God, that feels good.”

“Goddess.”

It was his turn to chuckle. Olivia might be a loudmouthed, stubborn, tenacious woman but she was
his
woman. There wasn’t another one in the world like her, not that the world could have handled another one.

When his cock touched the back of her throat, he almost came right then and there. His fingers dug into the wooden frame of the cot, embedding a few splinters in the skin.

“Whoa, you need to stop.”

“Nuh-uh.” She did it again, going deep, pulling and sucking at him.

His eyes rolled back in his head. “If you don’t, ah, don’t stop, ah, I’m gonna ... come right in your mouth.”

Brody couldn’t stop it. He’d warned her, told her to stop, but she kept going, sucking, licking and nibbling him. The orgasm rolled through him and he tried to pull her head away but she remained firm. He was blind for a moment, lost in the sweet rush of ecstasy as she continued to pleasure him even as he twitched.

Guilt filled him. “I’m sorry, honey.”

She finally let him loose. “Don’t be. I wanted to pleasure you, to feel your life, to conquer you.” She chuckled. “Are you conquered?”

He smiled. “More than you know.”

Before she could protest, he jumped off the bed and pulled her to her feet. A waft of soap and clean woman made him pause. He realized she smelled wonderful and he smelled like the wrong end of a cow.

“I stink.”

“You could use a bath.” She offered. “But you don’t stink.”

He pulled off her dress, followed quickly by her chemise, and then she was wonderfully naked. She shivered and her nipples hardened in the cool night air.

“God, I mean, Goddess, you are perfect.” With something akin to reverence, he reached out and cupped the perfect orbs waiting for him. Her skin was softer than anything he’d ever touched, the nipples begging him to taste.

Now it was his turn to get on his knees. He laid her down on the narrow cot as though she was more precious than anything. Then he took off the rest of his clothes and he knelt down.

His mouth closed around her right nipple, so tight and hard. He sucked, nibbled and licked the pink peak. She shifted beneath him, a tiny moan coming from deep in her throat. He switched breasts, finding the left one just as tasty as the right. His hand closed around the now damp nipple, tweaking and tugging in rhythm with his mouth.

She tasted of sunshine, of woman, of Olivia. It was enough to make his cock roar to life, pulsing between his legs within minutes. He had to ignore it though. This was about Olivia and her pleasure.

He moved down her belly, kissing the angel-soft skin, biting and licking sensitive spots. She wiggled and shifted the lower he got. He gently pushed her legs open.

“Brody, what—”

“Shut up, Liv.” It was said with as much love as he could put in his voice, but it worked.

Without any further protests, he positioned himself between her legs, sliding up the cot to reach the bounty that awaited. He kissed his way up her legs, delighting in the spot behind her knee that made her gasp each time he licked it. Moving past her knee, he found her inner thighs were as soft as down.

As he drew closer to her core, the scent of her arousal filled his nose. It sent a pulse through him that made his cock, now buried in the blanket, twitch.

He spread her nether lips, the moist folds glistening in the meager light. She was perfect. He ran his fingers down the edges, delighting in the way she shivered at his touch. Brody leaned in and ran his tongue from top to bottom in one long swipe.

Her groan made one of the horses whinny.

He should have told her to be quiet but was enjoying her noises too much. With her musky flavor on his tongue, he dove in for more. He found her nubbin of pleasure swollen, ready for him. As he licked at it, he slowly pushed two fingers into her. She closed around him, pulling him in farther. His cock protested, wanting to bury itself inside her folds, but he ignored it.

“Brody, I can’t, it feels ...”

He continued to lick and nibble at her, his own body reacting with each gasp, moan and shiver she made. Her thighs closed in around his head and he knew she was close. He pushed a third finger into the perfect rosette beneath her pussy.

“Now, now, now,” she chanted.

He fucked her with his fingers and sucked her clit, feeling the flutter of her orgasm on his tongue as it began. She let loose a low keening cry and flooded his mouth with the sweet flavor of her pleasure. He kept sucking, licking and fucking her until she begged him to stop.

“Please, stop. I can’t even see anymore.”

Brody chuckled and kissed her one more time. She twitched and he smiled. He crawled up her body and lay on top of her. They had been in many positions over the week, but never in this one. She was a warm, soft body, but more than that, lying atop her felt like home, as though he had found where he belonged.

As he slid into her wet, tight folds, he shuddered at the emotions, the sensations overwhelming him. This wasn’t the first time they’d been together of course, but it was the first time he’d accepted the fact he made love to Olivia.

“Brody.” The sound of his name in her breathy tone made his eyes prick with tears even as his body hardened to the point of pain, wanting to move.

When he managed to get himself under control, he began to slide in and out. The delicious friction sent zings of pleasure through him. He clutched the blanket beneath them as he thrust into her welcoming core again, then again.

Her nails scratched at his back each time he pushed in. It was another tingle in the mass of pleasure flying through him. He leaned up on his elbows to look at her, to see the expression of ecstasy on her beautiful face.

Those unique green-blue eyes were half closed, her pupils wide, her expression full. She was exquisite, the most incredible sight he’d ever seen.

Brody loved Olivia. Completely, utterly.

“So close,” she whispered. “Close.”

He reached between them to find her clit, the swollen nubbin of pleasure slick with her juices. He flicked her once, twice, three times, then her eyes opened wide.

“I love you.” Her body clenched around him as she reached her climax.

Moments later, Brody’s orgasm roared through him. It was a powerful, knee-buckling force, slamming into him so that stars exploded behind his eyes. Pure joy flooded him as he found the ultimate ecstasy with the woman who owned his heart.

As he came back down to earth, reality hit him in the gut. A Texas Ranger couldn’t have a wife, couldn’t be tied down. He had to be ready to do his job at a moment’s notice.

Brody would have to choose between his job and his woman. He’d never been so unsure of anything in his life.

Olivia knew he was gone the moment she woke. The sounds and smells of the morning went on around her—the hay, the horses, the gentle murmur of voices from the barn. Yet the warmth she had slept with was missing.

And so was Brody.

With a certain amount of pain, she opened her eyes and glanced around. She had been right. His saddlebags, his boots and that blasted black flat-brimmed hat were no longer lying on or beneath Javier’s cot.

Still naked, she pulled on her chemise and dressed quickly, before anyone noted she was sleeping in Lorenzo’s bed alone. It was embarrassing enough to seduce a man, tell him she loved him, then have him disappear like a thief in the night.

She wouldn’t hold out hope that he was in the house having coffee and
huevos
with Eva. No, that wasn’t Brody’s way. He just did what he thought was necessary. In this case, leaving without saying good-bye.

Although she told herself not to look, Olivia opened the door a crack and peered out into the murky barn. His gelding was no longer in the first stall where he’d been the night before when she’d crept in.

Her heart squeezed so hard she couldn’t get a breath in. When her former fiancée had left her following her parents’ murder, she’d been sad and angry. She’d thought she had been nursing a broken heart. Now she knew better.

A broken heart was the most excruciating pain she’d ever endured. She had put herself into his hands, her heart into his keeping, her life into his control. And he had left her behind like a piece of trash he didn’t need to keep.

She sank to her knees and pressed her forehead into the wood. Finally, she was able to suck in short choppy breaths, enough to make the rushing sound in her head subside. She wouldn’t cry; she had already shed enough tears to last a lifetime.

Her entire body shook as she rode the waves of pain racing through her. If only he had simply told her he was too devoted to being a ranger. Or even that he didn’t want a wife to complicate things. Anything but disappearing as though he didn’t care enough to even say good-bye.

Oh, God, it hurt. So damn much.

She didn’t know how many minutes had passed before she was able to get to her feet. It was pitiful enough she had to use the door to do it; she was absurdly grateful no one could see her. Eva and Hannah didn’t know the depth of her relationship with Brody. Thank God she hadn’t confessed how intimate they’d become, although Matt knew. The worst possible thing she could imagine would be pity from any of them.

With still trembling hands, she opened the door to return to her own bed. She hoped no one would speak to her because she wasn’t in any mood to converse.

Rodrigo stood there, the pistol in his hand pointed straight at her heart. “
Querida,
I’ve missed you. Why did you leave without saying good-bye?”

Brody rode back from town a changed man. He’d had every intention of riding away, back to Austin for good. Instead, he stopped five miles away and yelled at the sky until he recognized he couldn’t live without Olivia by his side.

He’d acted a coward running off like that. She would have confronted the situation head on, ready to fuss and argue about it. Yet he had been the weak one, the man too afraid to tell her he loved her.

Her soft “I love you” the night before had knocked him sideways. She loved him. For all his hard, unyielding and hardass ways, she loved him.

His brothers had loved him in their own way, loyal and steadfast. Yet neither of them had ever shown him what affection was, or that his life would change because of one loudmouthed woman with a gun and an attitude.

There was no other choice but to return to the Graham farm and ask her to marry him, although the prospect made him break out in hives. She was tough enough to live on the trail if need be. He hadn’t told her about the family farm he now owned but neglected. It was half a day’s ride from her family’s ranch, which was not too far from the Graham clan.

He couldn’t even consider the prospect of her saying no. That couldn’t happen. She’d said she loved him.

Then he’d snuck out and left her.

Granted, it was only for an hour but he had left. He winced at the thought she would be angry enough to say no, just because she was stubborn and hurt. If he was lucky, she hadn’t woken up yet. He had left before the sun rose.

The closer he got to the Graham ranch, the tighter his stomach got and the drier his mouth. He was no good with words, no good with women. He had his badge, his gun and his smarts. What else did he need?

Olivia
.

He knew it was the truth. Somehow or other he’d found the woman who matched him in every way, who fought him like a soldier and loved him like a goddess. He’d be two times a fool if he let her get away.

His mind made up, Brody rode toward the ranch house with confidence mixed up with a whole lot of fear. She could still say no, after all.

The front door flew open and banged against the side of the house. Matt Graham stormed out, sparks shooting from his eyes.

“Where the hell is my sister?”

Brody’s excitement vanished to be replaced by a very different kind of fear. “I left her here sleeping an hour ago.”

“She isn’t in the barn or the house or anywhere. Mariposa is in her stall, which means Olivia is missing.” Matt pulled a shotgun out from behind him, keeping it pointed toward the ground. “I’m gonna ask you one more time, where is she?”

The air crackled with tension as Brody weighed what to do. He could shoot the rancher before the shotgun trigger was even touched. Not something he wanted to do. No, he had to do this the hard way and hope the other man could see reason.

Brody dismounted slowly, the creak of the saddle leather the only sound in the still morning air. As soon as his boot hit the ground, he raised his hands.

“I swear I don’t know where she is.” He figured this was the time for the truth. “We were in the bunkroom in the barn. That’s where she was when I left. Why don’t we go look there?”

“I already did.” Matt moved a little closer, although he didn’t yet point the muzzle of the shotgun at Brody. “She’s not there.”

Hannah appeared on the porch, her brown gaze frightened. “Matt, don’t shoot the man. He’s a ranger, for God’s sake. Besides, you sent her out there.”

Brody couldn’t contain his surprise. Her brother had sent her to the barn, where he knew Brody was sleeping? Their relationship must be more obvious than he’d thought. Either that or this would be a shotgun wedding.