Brady's Hellion Read online

  When she left Below she had no idea a new life would throw her into the mainstream so quickly. Or that she would enjoy it so thoroughly.

  “Tomorrow, we go surfing,” she murmured against his throat, inhaling the musky scent of his skin coupled with the minty soap he used. She couldn’t wait until she got him into a shower with her. Talk about showering a man with scents good enough to eat! She smiled and pressed a kiss against the hollow of his throat.

  “Depends on what time we wake up.” He nuzzled her ear then flicked his tongue inside the hollow. She shivered under his caress. “Did I ever tell you there’s nothing better than make up sex?”

  “Yes, you did and I agreed. Both times.” The slow beat of the music vibrated throughout her body. The stop in the club after dinner for dancing turned out to be an excellent idea, although other ideas were popping into their imaginations. She hazily thought what it would be like to dance with him naked in the moonlight. Or even revisiting the cabana where she learned what true magic was.

  “Dancing is like fucking to music,” Brady’s words were whispered against her cheek as he trailed his mouth across her cheek.

  “You are such a romantic.” She nudged her hand between their bodies, tucking her fingers in his shorts waistband then upward to rest her palm against the warm hair-roughened skin of his chest. “You know, we could hear the music just as well from my room.”

  “And here I was going to suggest the very same thing.” He grabbed her hand and gently bur firmly led her off the dance floor.

  Luckily, they didn’t have to wait for an elevator and were in her room within five minutes. Raven breathed a sigh of relief there were no more ugly and smelly Astay flowers waiting for her. She opened the drapes, allowing the moonlight to spill into the room.

  She tugged at his shirt. “I think I like you better naked.”

  “Funny thing, so do I, but it’s you I like better naked.” He made short work of her sheer top and flirty skirt. She had kicked off her high-heeled slides the moment they entered the room. “Woman, you’re going to turn me old before my time.” He slung her over his shoulder and headed for the bedroom.

  “Brady!” Her squeal as she bounced onto the bed turned into a soft sigh when he followed her down.

  “Now for some savoring.” He kissed the top of each breast, and then moved down the center of her chest. He dipped his tongue into her navel swirling it around the stone, nestled there. He glanced up. “It matches your eyes.”

  “It’s my birthstone.”

  He lightly circled the stone with his fingertip then moved further downward to blonde curls curving her center. He watched them wrap around his fingers before trailing down to the pink slit that was already moist with arousal. He dipped a finger in then slowly stuck it into his mouth, slowly licking her juices off the digit. “Why have a snack when I can feast.” He nuzzled his way through the curls and lapped the moisture pooling at her labia.

  “Brady!” Her gasp was abruptly cut off when he pressed his palms against her inner thighs further widening her to his gaze and enjoyment.

  “You taste the way you look. Sweet and spicy.” He blew gently against the ultra-sensitive skin bringing her up off the bed, but he wasn’t finished. He grasped her hips to keep her still while he ran his tongue across the dark pink skin. When he nibbled gently on her clit she about shot off the bed. But he wasn’t about to let her go that easily. Each time she begged him to end it, he backed off just enough for her to catch her breath then he started in again with delicate licks, stabs of the tongue, and nibbling until she was ready to fly apart. When she threatened to drive a fiery spike where it would hurt the most, he relented and moved in for the kill. The last nibble on her clit sent her over the edge. Before her internal earthquake subsided, he moved up and thrust deeply into her, driving as hard as he could, pushing her even further than before. His own orgasm erupted as she sunk her teeth into his shoulder. Brady poured himself into her until he felt he’d been wrung dry. To keep his weight off her body, he rolled to one side and brought her close against him.

  “It just keeps on getting better.”

  “We haven’t even started yet, darling.” Raven sat up and pushed at him until he rolled over onto his stomach. She straddled his hips, sitting on his ass. She leaned forward, pressing her hands on his back, trailing them down in a motion that was part massage but also sent a vibration clear through his bones and setting up a heat that was surrounding his cock.

  “What is this?” he asked, half soothed and half aroused. He thought the latter was gaining on the former.

  “A massage.” Her thumbs dug deeply into the indents by his ass but instead of the muscles relaxing, he felt that heated tingle again.

  “This isn’t like any massage I’ve had and I’ve had my share.”

  “I’m sure you have.” She chuckled in his ear. “This is a special massage. Just relax and enjoy it.”

  He tried to shift to ease the pressure off his dick that was eager for more playtime. “The enjoying part is easy. Relaxing is going to take a lot more work.”

  Now the vibrating heat was moving through his body like a shaft of fire.

  “Tell me, Brady, have you ever read the Kama Sutra?” She breathed in his ear.

  “No, but I’d be only too happy to hear all about it.”

  “Why hear when we can try it. There was something I found very interesting.” She leaned over, brushing her breasts across his back and whispered in his ear. The more she whispered the more Brady’s cock got interested.

  He rolled over and grabbed hold of her so she wouldn’t tumble off the bed. “I’ve always believed in a careful study of good literature.”

  Chapter Five

  There was no sound, nothing other than an odd shift in the air that brought Brady wide-awake. He remained still there, his eyes closed but all senses on high alert as he tried to figure out what woke him up. He didn’t need to hear sirens, gunfire or rockets exploding to know something was wrong.

  After assuring himself that whatever caused the unease in his blood wasn’t in the room, he slowly pushed the sheet aside and crept out of bed. He made his way to the balcony and looked down, scanning the pool and beach. The lack of moon didn’t help, but luckily, he had excellent night vision.

  There!

  He carefully backed into the bedroom.

  “Raven.” He shook her shoulder then covered her mouth with his hand. “You have to get up and get some clothes on.” His whisper didn’t travel any further than her ears.

  She merely nodded and slid off the bed, blindly grabbing shorts and a t-shirt out of dresser drawers and putting them on. “What is it?” she whispered, watching him quickly pull on his shorts and a t-shirt and his shoes.

  “We have to get out of here. Stay here until I get back. I’ll only be a moment.” He snatched up her key card and eased his way out of the suite.

  Raven started toward the balcony to see if anything was visible from there when she heard the click of her door. Brady slipped back in, carrying a backpack.

  He grinned at her questioning look. “I’m like the Boy Scouts. Always prepared.” He opened her mini bar and emptied it of bottled water and cans of energy drinks, adding them to the ones he’d taken from his mini bar.

  “What is going on?” She caught his furtive glance at the balcony and she started toward it.

  “Not now.” He zipped up the backpack and grabbed her hand, pulling her to the door. He opened it a crack and peered out. After a long moment, he gestured for her to follow him. He pressed his fingers to his lips to indicate she remain quiet.

  Raven remained on his heels as they crept down the hallway. Instead of heading for the elevator or the stairs, he chose a room that overlooked the back of the hotel. She watched him withdraw a small zippered case and use what looked like one of their key cards in the slot. He breathed a sigh of relief when it flashed green. He pulled her inside the room.

  “There are people in here,” she whispered. “Let me ensure
they don’t wake up and see us.”

  “All we need to do is be very careful and very quiet.” But the lack of energy in the air bothered him and he moved whisper quiet toward the bed to check the couple lying there.

  Raven held her breath until he returned to her and urged her toward the balcony.

  “Are they—?” She didn’t want to think the worst.

  “It looks like they were drugged,” he said grimly. “But it means we need to be out of here fast.” He looked over the side of the balcony as he took a rope out of his backpack.

  Raven felt a bit queasy as she stared at the stretch of concrete below. “We’re on the fourteenth floor,” she protested, remembering to keep her voice soft even if the room’s occupants couldn’t hear her.

  His teeth flashed white in the night. “Then don’t look down.” He efficiently tied a length of the rope around her waist. “Just think of it as a rock climbing wall at the gym.”

  “I’ve never done that. I don’t like heights.”

  Brady grinned and pressed a hard kiss on her lips. “You dove off that cliff.”

  “That was different! I was falling into nice soft water. Not the chance of landing onto a very hard pavement!”

  “Then you’ll just have to trust me, baby.”

  Raven barely managed to smother her scream, as Brady seemed to toss her overboard, although he was lowering himself and her at the same time. He remained even with her, silently ordering her to look at him and not up or down. Not that she could look down even if she wanted to. She hadn’t lied to Brady. The idea she could fall onto the pavement had her feeling nauseous and dizzy. It was only by focusing on his face and the glint in his eye that she managed to make it to the ground without having a full blown panic attack.

  Once they reached the ground, he had the rope off her in quick order and back in his backpack. He pulled her around the perimeter of the hotel and toward one of the popular hiking trails leading up the mountain.

  Raven remained quiet and close behind him, sometimes even touching his back for reassurance. She was a demon with more strength than the average human and gifts that she could call on to protect herself and Brady, but she didn’t feel this was the time to bring them on. Every so often he stopped to look down at the resort. He eventually steered her off the trail and they moved upward at a fast and steady pace. He didn’t stop until they were a good distance up the mountain and in a protected area that overlooked the resort.

  Never so happy to stop, Raven dropped to the ground and just sat there.

  “This will help.” He bumped her arm with a bottle of water.

  “If this is your idea of a pre dawn hike, it so sucks,” she grumbled, drinking half the contents of the bottle before slowing down to only take small sips. “What was really wrong with those people? And why is it so quiet down there?”

  He dropped down beside her and rummaged through his backpack again, bringing out a couple of packets and a pair of high-powered binoculars. He dropped one packet in her lap. “Trail Mix. You’ll need the energy.”

  “A triple espresso would have been better.” She opened the packet and picked through the contents, eating the chocolate candies first then the cashews and peanuts.

  Brady upended his packet and poured the contents into his mouth. “The raisins won’t hurt you,” he said, amused by the way she carefully picked around them.

  She wrinkled her nose. “You can have them. I won’t even tell you what they remind me of.” She set the packet to one side. “Now are you going to tell me what’s going on and why we snuck out of the resort?” She glared at his back as with binoculars in hand he edged closer to the edge. “Brady!” She smacked his back.

  He ignored her for about five minutes then looked over his shoulder. He gestured for her to join him then scooted back, settling her in front of him and handed her the binoculars.

  “Look down there at about two o’clock,” he murmured.

  “Two what?”

  “Think of a clock and look in that direction.”

  He kept his arms around her and guided the binoculars. When he heard her swift indrawn breath he asked, “What do you see?”

  She handed him back the binoculars. “They shouldn’t be here. It’s not allowed. It took me centuries to gain permission to come up here.”

  Brady took another look, the binoculars bringing the images so close he felt as if he could reach out and touch them. Not that he cared to touch what he was looking at.

  The leader of the group was in no way human even if he tried to look that way. The stiff way he walked and the way his head moved in an odd manner told him what he was looking at came from Shar’s part of the world. The creatures behind the leader didn’t bother with a human disguise. Their reptilian bodies reminded him of the creature from Alien times fifty as they slithered down the walkway. And here he thought Shar’s private guards were ugly.

  What the hell did they do to the people down there and how were we spared? Or were we?

  Then Raven’s words kicked in. They shouldn’t be here.

  He turned around and faced her. “What the fuck are those things?” Brady’s whisper may have been barely audible, but he may as well have shouted the words for the fury in his voice. He laid his binoculars to one side. He’d seen enough to last a lifetime.

  Raven’s shoulders rose and fell in a deep sigh. “The leader’s name is Pahso and those are his private security guards.”

  “And you know this because?”

  She looked down at her fingers lying in her lap. “Shar and Pahso are looking for an alliance between the two familes that will gain both sides a great deal of power in my realm. I’m the conduit. I told my stepbrother I wouldn’t marry Pahso. In our world, knowledge is power. I learned that Pahso wants to destroy Shar and gain all that he has. . I told Shar what I learned in exchange for my coming up here for a month. If Pahso is here, that means that Shar didn’t find anything wrong with his dealings and even though I told them I will not take Pahso at my mate, they still consider the betrothal is on.”

  Brady felt the bile travel up his throat at the thought of the creature down there being linked to Raven. The idea it would actually touch her had him thinking murder.

  Shar expected Raven to marry something like that?

  ”You’re engaged to that thing down there?” He made it a strict rule to never mess around with married women or even engaged ones. He might not have a lot of principles, but those were two rules he never went against. “Shar never said anything about you being engaged. He only talked about your duty to the family.” He snorted. “But I guess that’s part of your family duty, isn’t it?”

  “No!” Raven protested. At his glare, she lowered her voice. “It’s not what you think.”

  “Then why don’t you tell me what it means.”

  She winced at his sarcasm. Not that she could blame him. “Arranged matings are normal among the higher families. My stepbrother set this one up. It’s considered to be an excellent alliance between two powerful families who help rule our world. Shar sees it as a good political move that will further his own ambitions.”

  Brady felt sick to his stomach. “What you’re saying is he’s selling you for political favors?” Damn, why had he taken this job? Correction, Shar called in a favor and to be honest, Brady had no choice no matter how Shar made this assignment sound like your everyday bodyguard job.

  She looked everywhere but him. “I told you. It’s done all the time.”

  “So you’re saying that thing down there is here to claim his bride whether you want him or not?”

  She blew out a breath and nodded jerkily.

  He wondered why Shar hadn’t clued him in on Raven’s pre-marital status. “But you said you bargained for a month for your getaway.”

  This time she did look at him. “That’s correct. But Shar didn’t know that I have other plans. I had already intended on not going back. Not that I would tell Shar that at the time. I-ah-told him when I talked to him that las
t night. I also talked to Pahso and informed him that in no way would I ever be his mate.” Her gaze flickered down toward the resort. “I guess Pahso didn’t like what I said. He’s not used to not having his way and he especially doesn’t like being told no.” A shiver worked its way over her body. Even in that short time, Brady knew every emotion that had gone through her. Seeing her experience fear was a new one.

  “He wants you even if you don’t want him?”

  “He prefers it if someone objects.” She looked away again then turned back to him. “You have to get out of here, Brady. Pahso, well, he could hurt you badly. Bad enough that you would pray for death.”

  Translation, he’d tear Brady apart until there was nothing left to mail home.

  He held her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. “So what are you saying? That you’ve changed your mind and decided to marry tall, slimy, and ugly after all?”

  Her tongue appeared, dampening her upper lip. “Normally he couldn’t have come here without permission. Either he’s gained it or he now has enough power that he doesn’t require authorization to leave the realm.”

  Damn, she was gong to cry. He didn’t think demons had the ability, but he saw the moisture pooling in her eyes and he sensed they’d overflow any moment now. If she cried he was well and truly lost. He gripped her shoulders and pulled her roughly against him. His tongue thrust into her mouth, tasting the heady spice that was pure Raven even as he pulled her tank top up to her waist and shorts down her hips. Understanding his intent and wanting it just as badly, she unzipped his shorts and straddled his hips. As their mouths devoured each other, he held her hips and pushed her down even as his cock surged upward. Her pussy was wet and open; sucking him in until her damp curls nestled against his balls. When he opened his eyes, he found hers already open. This time they were an even deeper blue as if the color matched the intensity of her passion.