CHAPTER FIVE
They slept apart that night, yet still beside each other. Olivia had rolled herself into a cocoon of blanket and gave him her back. She woke slowly, which wasn’t normal for her, confused by the body beside her. Sometime in the night she’d snuggled up beside him, her hair loose from the braid she’d put it in the night before. She sat up suddenly, yanking all the covers off them.
Brody’s gun was in his hand before she could even catch her breath.
Although, she did notice his cock was as hard as stone beneath his trousers. When she licked her lips, it jerked beneath the fabric.
He cocked the pistol. “You trying to get yourself killed?”
“What are you talking about?”
He gestured to her with the gun. “You look like you were just tussling under the sheets with a man, your hair wild and mussed. Your lips are red and wet like you’ve been kissed and damned if that blouse is still open. You, woman, are aiming to drive me loco. That’s what I’m talking about.”
She was driving him loco with her hair, breasts and lips? Who would have thought a tough ranger like Brody could be distracted by her less-than-spectacular feminine wiles? This was a piece of knowledge she would tuck away and use to her advantage soon. It was purely satisfying to see she affected him as much as he affected her.
“I didn’t mean to do anything. I woke up and was startled because I didn’t remember where I was.” She got to her knees. “I don’t need to get shot for it, though.”
He blew out a breath and uncocked the pistol. “Jesus, woman, you are gonna kill me.”
“I hope before you kill me.” She rose on shaky legs, her body betraying her with one look at his hard, and utterly virile form. Loathe to admit it, Olivia had dreamed of his cock inside her again, of his mouth on her breasts and his hands between her thighs. It had been a night filled with salacious dreams starring Ranger Brody Armstrong.
“I won’t kill you, for God’s sake. I was just startled.” He ran his hands through his jet-black hair, making it stick every which way. “You’d best get up so we can get going.”
Olivia turned toward her saddlebags. “I’m not the one still in bed.”
He cursed under his breath but she heard it anyway. With a smile, she headed toward the small creek to get ready for the day. After morning ablutions with water that could’ve come from a glacier, she came back to the camp, shivering. To her surprise, Brody had made coffee and had cleaned and packed the bedrolls.
“You have skills as a housekeeper, Ranger.” She didn’t know why she kept baiting the man, but, oh, how fun it was to see his nostrils flare at her jibe.
“Just efficient as any man who lives on the trail is.” He poured himself coffee, then to her annoyance, poured the rest of it onto the ground. “You’ve got two minutes to be on your horse or get left behind.”
“You are a bastard.” She stepped up and tried to take the coffee away from him. With longer arms, he easily kept it out of her reach.
“Nope, my parents were married.” He glared down at her. “You wanted to be partners but you treat me like a naughty schoolboy. I’m a man, Liv, and I deserve better than that.”
“You deserve nothing.” She stepped up until she was nose to chin with him. “You earn my respect. I don’t give it easily.”
He dropped the cup with a clang and yanked her against him. Their lips slammed together and heat flooded through her so fast, she could’ve used that ice cold water again. His tongue invaded her mouth, even as his cock pressed against her throbbing pussy. Just like that, she was ready and willing to be with him again.
Utter madness.
He tore his mouth away and stepped back. “Holy hell, woman. What was that?”
“You kissed me.”
“Like hell I did. You pushed up against me and I reacted.”
“By kissing me?”
“No, by pushing you away. You kissed me.”
“Then why did you drop your precious coffee?” She picked up the cup, shaken to her core, her heart pounding so hard it was about to bust out of her chest.
“You knocked it out of my hand.”
Olivia’s laugh was devoid of humor. “You are fooling only yourself, Ranger. I think we’ve got less than a minute to get moving, right?” She tucked the cup and coffeepot away, nearly burning her hands in the process.
The ranger didn’t say a word, but he turned to his horse and mounted.
With no breakfast and no coffee, Olivia saddled Mariposa with little grace and was ready in minutes.
“You’re late,” he groused as he kneed his horse into motion.
“You’re a jackass.” She had the satisfaction of seeing his shoulders tense. Ha! Olivia Graham was not going to lie down and take his rejection. Oh, no, she would be the victor in this war, no matter what.
The buildings of Reidsville rose in the distance before Brody spoke again. He was angry, at himself mostly, for being stupid enough to kiss her. Again. Not only that, he woke up wanting to plunge into her. Again. Then he fought with her. Again.
Leaving her in Reidsville would be the best thing for both of them. He could track the rest of Jeb’s gang into Mexico and be done with the Grahams for good. There was a slim chance he would find Benjamin Graham. The odds were not good he was alive, much less untouched.
The warmth of the morning had given way to afternoon heat. Sweat trickled down the center of his back. Olivia rode in front of him, and to his satisfaction, she had a few sweaty spots on her blouse. He certainly shouldn’t be glad she perspired just like everyone else, but he was glad she wasn’t unaffected by their situation. There was no reason to believe she was as hardnosed as she appeared to be.
In the half a day since they’d been riding in silence he had had half a dozen conversations with her. All of them ended in him yelling at her for twisting him into knots. He needed to get her back home before he truly did lose control.
“What are we doing here?” She finally glanced back at him.
“Stopping to get supplies. I can’t make it for much longer on cracker crumbs and dried beef.” He spurred his horse faster, eager to get away from her as soon as possible. A trained soldier and Texas Ranger did not lose control over a rancher’s daughter with a big mouth.
“You should have packed more.” She flipped the braid over her shoulder. “Then we wouldn’t have to waste time here.”
He counted to ten before he spoke again. “I had planned on packing more, but you came along for the ride before I could.”
“Poor planning on your part.”
“Jesus Christ, Liv, can you let loose your grip on my balls for just five minutes?” He couldn’t believe she’d driven him to this.
She stopped and stared, her mouth open. “What?”
“You have pushed, bullied and manipulated me into this. I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman who twisted people into knots like you do.” A cork popped out and he couldn’t stop his words if he tried. “I didn’t want a partner. I don’t want a partner. I sure as hell didn’t want you.”
Her eyes widened. “What are you fixing to do about it?”
“You are going back home. I will find a wagon, a buggy, or even a goddamn turtle for you to ride back to the Graham ranch.” He pointed at her. “I won’t take you into Mexico with me.”
“It’s a little late for that. You won’t get rid of me that easy, Ranger.” She narrowed her eyes. “I am your partner until we find Benjy. I will follow you into the bowels of hell if I have to.”
He kneed his horse into a run, leaving her behind. Cowardly perhaps, but it was either that or get into a fistfight with her. He wouldn’t degrade himself into losing what was left of his honor over her.
Reidsville was a little stop along the trail, with typical wooden buildings, a mercantile, a restaurant, a hotel, a couple of taverns and blessedly, a whorehouse. He didn’t care what Olivia said or did—he wouldn’t lose his control over her again. She would stay at the hotel tonight and in the morning he would send her on her way.
Brody headed directly for the tavern closest to him. There wasn’t enough whiskey in the world to make him forget Olivia Graham, but he could numb the pain for a little while at least. As he dismounted, he spotted her riding in behind him. No doubt she’d follow him into the tavern too and spoil his drink.
He walked in, blocking out his annoyance for a few minutes. The man behind the bar was burly and hairy, with a scar down his cheek. Obviously noting the scar on Brody’s face, the man nodded at him.
Brody sat down on the tired-looking stool. “Whiskey.”
With no conversation to weigh things down, he sipped at the rotgut. It burned its way down his throat, leaving a path of blessed fire. Yep, that was exactly what he needed.
“Woman troubles?”
“I’d like a whiskey too.” Olivia’s husky voice came from beside him.
The barkeep raised his bushy brows, but poured her a shot and slid it to her.
To Brody’s utter surpise, she slung it back as though she regularly spent time in taverns.
“Will you never do anything normal?”
She snorted. “I am normal to me. Who says what’s normal?”
He threw back the rest of his whiskey and let his tongue and throat burn for a moment before he gestured to the barkeep to pour two more shots.
“You want to get drunk, Miss Graham?”
She turned to him, her eyes full of shadows and a myriad of emotions he didn’t want to know about. “Yes, I do.” When she threw back the second shot of whiskey, even he was impressed.
“I didn’t know you had a taste for whiskey.”
“There is a lot you don’t know about me, Ranger.” Her grin was almost feral, and it sent a shiver up his spine.
“This one’s a keeper, fella.” The barkeep eyed her with more than selling whiskey in his expression. “If ’n you don’t want her, just say the word.”
Although it was the last thing he would admit to her, his protective instincts roared to life. No matter how much she annoyed him, she was his responsibility. As a man of the law, he would not be derelict in his duty. Even if he’d been intimate with her not twelve hours earlier.
“She’s not available.” Brody couldn’t disguise the growl in his voice.
“Hey now. I am the one who gets to decide that.” She pointed at the barkeep. “You keep filling my glass and we’ll see what happens.”
“The hell with that.” Brody grabbed the bottle off the bar. “I’ll pay for the whole bottle, but you don’t get the girl. Ever.”
The barkeep shrugged. “I like a woman who can hold her liquor.”
Olivia raised one brow and smiled. “You see, I’m not a bitch all the time, Brody.”
His name on her tongue was like a caress on his bare skin. His cock twitched against his buttons.
“No, but you choose to be.”
“Ouch, fella. I can’t let you talk to the lady like that.” The barkeep was a big son of a bitch, but he didn’t scare Brody even a smidge.
“Easy. I’m a Texas Ranger.” He flashed the badge he kept tucked in his belt. “She’s helping with an investigation and I’m her keeper.”
Olivia took a long tug right from the bottle of whiskey. “Let’s get drunk, Brody. I wanna get drunk and get messy with you.” She leaned forward and pressed her breasts into his arm, then kissed the ever-loving smarts out of him.
Brody forgot his name.
“I want you. Now.” Her breath gusted across his face, the scent of whiskey strong.
He shouldn’t be touching her again. Or ever for that matter. Yet he was in a hotel room with her, alone. What the hell was he thinking? Well, that was it. He wasn’t thinking at all.
“I said now.” She grabbed at his shirt, popping a few buttons before he could stop her.
His cock nearly tore open his britches wanting to get out. His self-control, already dulled by too much whiskey, jumped out the window when she licked his neck and grabbed his staff through the material.
“Please come out and play. I need you. Now. Now. Now.”
He couldn’t very well refuse a woman in need, now could he? What was left of his conscience spoke up. “You’re drunk.”
“So are you. It doesn’t matter. I wanted you from the second I saw you.” She stripped off her clothes with amazing speed, given the amount of liquor she’d inhaled. “I had dreams about you, did you know that?”
Why no, he didn’t know that. And he didn’t need to know it, but now that he did, there was no way he’d forget it.
“Olivia, we agreed not to do this again.”
“Ha! I didn’t agree to anything. You accused me of tricking you into having sex with you.” She waggled her finger and to his dismay, her breasts jiggled right along with it.
His mouth watered to taste them, lick them, bite them.
“I didn’t accuse you.”
“Yes, you did.” She pushed him back into the chair in the corner, the seat hitting the back of his knees. He dropped onto the cushion and suddenly had a lap full of naked woman on top of him.
He almost came in his britches.
She leaned in and pushed her breasts against his lips. “I want you, Brody,” she repeated. “I want to come again.”
His control shredded the moment his hands cupped her beautiful breasts. They were softer than anything he’d ever felt. He pulled one taut nipple into his mouth and sucked while he reached for the other.
“Oh, God, yesssss. More.” Olivia reached down and unbuttoned his trousers. He groaned when she took his cock in hand, running her slender fingers up and down its pulsing length. “You’re so big. Did any girl ever tell you that?”
Apparently liquor turned her into a wanton. He couldn’t have resisted her then. If ever. Brody didn’t like simpering, whimpering, whining girls who fluttered and flittered about. Olivia drank like a man, had sex when she wanted, and did what she knew was right. If she’d been a man, they would’ve been friends.
Instead, she had his cock in her hand and he had her breast in his mouth and his hand inside the moist folds of her pussy.
“I need you inside me.” She shifted until she was poised above his cock, her moist heat already coating him.
“Then put me in there.” His voice was nearly unrecognizable, rough and gravelly with the intense arousal coursing through him.
She slid down his shaft with aching slowness, until they were both shaking with the need to move. Brody sucked at her nipple while his other hand flicked her clit. Each time his finger moved, her body tightened around him. He wouldn’t last long that way. He tried to take his hand away, but she bit his shoulder.
“Don’t you dare stop. I want to come, Brody. Now.” She pushed her other breast at his mouth. “Make me come.”
He couldn’t resist the lure of her words or the way they seemed to fit together like a hand in a glove. With just three more flicks on her clit, she came, shuddering and squeezing him so hard his eyes rolled back in his head. His balls tightened as he lost his mind completely and came inside her, buried deep within her heat.
It was the most exciting, exhilarating, frightening moment of his life. Also quite possibly the stupidest. He might have just put a babe in Olivia’s belly.
What had he done?
Olivia’s mouth had turned into a ball of old cotton. She tried to find enough spit to swallow, but there was none. Not even a drop. She cracked one eye open and glanced around. Where was she? The moon shone through the window, illuminating a hotel room she didn’t remember entering. And she was stark naked.
A soft snore beside her scared her enough that she sat up, stifling a scream as her head nearly exploded from the sudden move.
Oh, what had she done?
She peered at the man beside her and recognized Brody. The last thing she remembered was stopping in town for supplies. He’d ridden ahead, hightailing it to the tavern without a backward glance at her. She’d been annoyed at his high-handedness and the way he’d dismissed her.
Olivia had made some mistakes in her life, but having sex with Brody wasn’t one of them. It felt good and she wasn’t ashamed of that. He took precautions and didn’t spend his seed in her so there would be no child. They were adults. No matter how people might judge her, she wouldn’t regret being with him.
And apparently she liked it enough to get drunk in the middle of the afternoon and do it again. There had been whiskey and a hairy barkeep, then the rest was a blur of sensations and pleasures. Her body was well sated, that she could feel even over the pounding in her head.
Her skin fairly throbbed with the aftereffects of whatever they had been doing in the hotel room. She only wished she could remember the details.
Wait, hadn’t there been a chair involved?
She peered through the shadows but could only see vague shapes. It was no use, she wasn’t going to recall all of it. The bald truth was she had consumed too much liquor and tumbled into bed with Brody Armstrong.
Olivia eased her legs out of bed and got to her feet as slowly as she could. Her head swam a little, but it was her stomach that heaved. She wasn’t able to swallow, since her mouth was a pit of dryness, so she had to make her way to the washstand and pray some competent person had left water in the pitcher.
Her body was sticky and sore. She almost sobbed to find lukewarm water in the pitcher and poured some into the basin. She cupped her hand and took a small drink of the water, enough to wet her mouth but not too much lest her stomach decide to heave.
With hands that trembled for more than one reason, she used the water to rinse herself. Feeling marginally better, she felt around the room until she found clothing, recognizing the plain cotton chemise her sister-in-law Hannah had made for her. She slipped it on like a suit of armor, no longer naked and vulnerable.
Olivia sat on the floor with her back to the wall. She wasn’t the same person who had left home two days earlier. There was no doubt in her mind that she would change because of her decision. However, waking up in a hotel room naked with the ranger who drove her mad in every which way, was not what she expected.
“Liv?” His husky voice made her heart hiccup. Now wasn’t the time to develop feelings for the cold man of the law.
“I’m here.” If he was as naked as she’d been, she didn’t want him to jump out of bed.
“What are you doing?” The bed creaked as she saw him rise in the gloom to a sitting position.
“Just sitting and thinking.” How could she explain to him that she was contemplating just how much she’d lost control of herself. She was not this person, not at all. Brody had turned her into a loose, foolish woman with no regard for consequences.
“Oh.” There was a short pause. “Do you want me to sit with you?”
Would she invite him to her spot on the floor? Did she have a choice?
“Yes.” She answered before she had time to think about why she wanted him there.
The bedclothes rustled and she heard him walk toward her, curse when he stubbed his toe and pull on what she thought were his britches. When he sat down beside her, he pulled a blanket up over both of them.
To her dismay, tears pricked her eyes at the gesture. She didn’t want to think Brody Armstrong was a gentleman. He was a temporary presence in her life, not the man she wanted to love.
“It’s chilly down here.”
She couldn’t answer yet so she just nodded, not caring if he could see her in the darkness.
He slid his arm around her and she snuggled against his bare chest. It surprised her that she felt safe and comfortable with him. Just hours earlier they had been fighting and snapping like two dogs sizing each other up. Their time together had been nothing but one impossible situation after another. She had done things she had never done before, including killing two men.
She shivered at the memory and pressed closer, needing to feel his life, his heat. Brody was many things, but he was an honorable man, that much she would admit to herself. She needed him to find Benjy and she needed him for herself. That was a hard truth to accept, particularly considering just how shameless she’d behaved that day.
“I didn’t mean to get drunk,” she whispered.
“Yes, you did, but so did I.” He chuckled, its rumble making his chest vibrate against her ear. “We drank nearly half a bottle.”
“Oh, Lord. If my family knew.” She stopped that thought before it went any further. Right now was about her and Brody, no one else.
“They never will unless you decide to tell them.” He sounded as exhausted as she felt.
“Brody?”
“Hmm?”
“I will find Benjy, no matter what.” She hadn’t come this far only to be pushed aside by her own stupidity or his sideways gallantry.
“I know you will.” He sighed heavily. “It will be dangerous. We have to disguise ourselves.”
She hadn’t thought that far ahead but he was right. There wasn’t a chance she would be mistaken for a Mexican with her light complexion and freckles.
“You won’t leave me behind, will you?” She ran her fingers through the crisp hairs on his chest, loving the warmth of his body and the way it felt comfortable to be there at his side. He was quiet for too long. “Brody?”
“No, but I should. Your brother is going to kill me.”
She smiled against his chest. “No, he won’t. I’ll protect you.”
He chuckled again. “Somehow I believe you will.”
The craziness of the day before slid away and she closed her eyes, this time giving herself over to sleep, knowing whose embrace she was in.
The next time Olivia opened her eyes, the sun was streaming through the same window the moon had graced the night before. It was past sunrise already and she slept on the floor cuddled up with Brody Armstrong.
She couldn’t have thought of a stranger situation.
“My arm’s asleep.” His sleep-tinged voice surprised her. “Can you move off it?”
Oh, yes, that was the ranger for sure.
Olivia shifted away from him and got to her knees. Her body felt as though she’d been beaten with sticks, sore and bruised. After riding for so long, then engaging in other activities twice in two days, well, she deserved to be sore. Then sleeping on the floor just made it all worse.
Why was she on the floor anyway? There was a perfectly good bed, yet she had chosen the floor, away from the man she couldn’t stop being with. And he’d followed her, held her while she slept.
“God, I hate those pins and needles you get.” He got to his feet, still wearing only trousers, half-buttoned trousers. As he shook the sleep out of his arm, she watched him, fascinated by the man fully revealed in the light.
He was more slender than her brothers but had muscles on top of muscles, scars on top of scars. He had a warrior’s body, silly as that sounded, and wore his battle wounds as a true man would. The big scar on his jaw just lent him an air of suave danger. His shoulders were wide, his chest covered with dark black hair, leading down his belly to—
“Do you plan on getting off the floor?” He peered down into the basin. “You could’ve gotten rid of the dirty water.”
Olivia started chuckling, which turned into a full-fledged laugh. She laughed until her stomach hurt and tears leaked from her eyes. Brody just went about the business of dumping the water out the window and pouring some fresh into the basin. He didn’t even look at her, giggling like a lunatic on the floor.
A sudden thought had set her off. Here she was, sitting in front of a man in only her chemise on the floor of an unknown hotel room somewhere in Texas, and yet she was not frightened. Brody was the only man she could picture in this scene.
The only man.
Something about the two of them fit together, black to white, a key to a lock. She couldn’t explain it to anyone but she recognized it as the truth. God surely did have a strange sense of humor to leave her with a man she wanted to kiss and kick at the same time.
Olivia was falling in love.
Brody sipped at the hot coffee and stared across the table at Olivia. Her jaw was set, her chin up and her eyes flashing. Miss Graham was not going to go down easily on this fight.
“It’s not just dangerous like getting lost in the dark out on the prairie. You can and might be killed.” The coffee was nice and strong, which he desperately needed after last night.
“I understand that. I heard what you said and I know Mexico is dangerous.” Her brows slammed together. “I’m twenty-one years old and capable of making my own decision on whether I will risk my life.”
“You’re twenty-one?” She acted so independent, Brody had thought she was older.
“Not a word out of you about my advanced spinster age.” She speared her egg with a vengeance.
He was glad he hadn’t sprouted from a chicken’s ass.
“I wouldn’t think of it.” Brody considered how he could convince Olivia to stay behind. He didn’t want her to think too much about what her younger brother might be going through, but he wasn’t above punching low. Sometimes he had to push people away to keep them safe.
She would not thank him for it though.
“Why are you doing this?” He watched her carefully, looking for anything he could use.
“Because it’s been more than half a year since Benjy disappeared. Our circle is not complete without him.” She didn’t flinch, blink or blush. That told him she completely believed every word she said.
Damn.
“You would risk your life to go on a hard ride into hostile territory on the slim chance we’ll find him.” He knew he would have done the same for either of his brothers, had they survived the war. But men were different; there was honor at stake.
“Without a second thought.” She pushed a forkful of eggs in her mouth and there it was. He saw it. Her hand trembled. Now was his chance to scare her back home.
“You will probably not make it back home. If you do, you won’t be the same.” He leaned toward her and lowered his voice. “There will be men who will kill you for looking at them, or rape you for not. There are men who will steal every stitch of clothing from your body, then rape you and leave you to die. There are others who will steal from you, rape you, torture you, and only then kill you.”
She blinked rapidly. “Only if they catch me.”
Brody frowned at her. “I ain’t funnin’ with you, Liv. I’m not trying to scare you.”
“Yes, you are but I expected that.” She took another forkful of eggs. “I won’t change my mind though.”
He sipped his coffee and watched for a minute before he spoke again. “He might be dead.”
Her fork froze in mid-air. “I know.” This time her voice was softer.
“Or worse.”
Her gaze snapped to his and those blue-green orbs were fairly shooting fire at him. “I know.”
“No, you don’t. You think this is going to be like riding in to town to fetch him from a schoolhouse.” He leaned even farther forward until he was six inches from her face. “There are men and women who would pay top dollar for a little white boy. They don’t want him to shine their shoes, Liv. They want young boys so they can play with them in their beds and sometimes in their parlor during a party.”
Her face blanched, making her freckles stand out. “You don’t have to say that.”
“Yes, I do. I need you to understand what we might find so you don’t get the vapors if we do find it.” Before he knew it, he had taken her hands in his. They were cold, clammy and shaking. “He won’t be the same boy you loved and lost. He is no longer Benjy Graham. Even if we find him, you won’t get Benjy back.”
Tears hovered behind her lashes, but she didn’t let them fall. “I don’t care. I can’t just abandon him because bad things happened to him. He’s a little boy and he needs his family. Right now that’s me. Me. If there was a fire in the house, I would go after him, no matter if I got burned. If he fell into a ravine and would die within an hour, I would go after him, no matter if I died too.” She pulled her hands away. “I will not give up looking for him, no matter what.”
Brody sat back, strangely satisfied by her response. He expected most women would have turned tail and gone back home where they belonged. Olivia Graham was not that kind of woman. She was the strongest woman he’d ever met, not that he’d tell her that.
“I wanted to make sure you were riding into this with your eyes open.”
“Oh, they’re open, Ranger. And I can see you trying to scare me back home. It isn’t going to work. I will never give up looking until I find him or—” She swallowed hard. “Or his body.”
He was satisfied she at least understood what might or probably would happen to her, and what, on the slim chance they found Benjamin Graham, they would find. There couldn’t be any misunderstandings now.
“Fine then. Finish up your breakfast so we can get going.”
He’d just accepted the fact he was riding into Mexico with Olivia Graham.
Ah, hell.
They finished their breakfast in silence. His mind was whirling with ideas of how to get into Mexico with a woman at his side, one who stood out for more than one reason. They needed to hide her whiteness.
As they rose from their seats, she stopped his musings in their tracks. “If we use some red clay, we can mix it up with water, make my skin and hair darker.”
“What?” He frowned at her. “What did you say?”
She rolled her eyes. “If you expect me not to think, it’s never going to happen.” She took his face in her hands. “Now listen to my words so I don’t have to say this a third time. I’m going to use red clay to darken my skin and hair. It stains everything else, why not me?”
Brody wanted to shake her for talking to him like that. Damned if she didn’t sound just like him too. That annoyed him more than anything.
“Fine. Let’s go get you some mud.”
“Clay.”
“Shut up, Liv.”
They found a vein of rich red clay on the bank of a creek just outside the small town. Olivia didn’t want to be smug until she made sure it was going to work. She dismounted and looked down at herself. If she was right, the clay would stain everything. There was no help for it, she’d have to take off at least the first layer of clothes. She had two buttons undone before he made a noise.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Trying not to stain my clothes while I stain me.” She was halfway down her blouse when his hand landed on hers.
“That’s foolish.”
She shook off his hands. “I don’t have money to spend for new clothes. I want these to last.”
He stared at her as though she had grown a second head. “I don’t understand females.”
“That’s probably a blessing.” She took off her shirt and his mouth tightened. “I’m wearing a chemise, Brody. It’s not as though I’m naked.”
“Might as well be.” He glanced around as though someone was about to come upon them and attack.
She took off her riding skirt and he slapped his forehead.
“Jesus Christ, Liv.”
Olivia chose to ignore him and laid her clothes on the saddle. She put her hair back in a leather strip and stepped toward the creek. After finding a level spot, she knelt down in the grass and took a handful of red clay and a scoopful of water. Mashing them together between her fingers felt good. More than good, it reminded her of playing in the mud with Matt when she was a little girl. She almost enjoyed the cool squish of the clay on her skin.
“You appear to like that mud a bit too much.”
“It’s clay, Brody.”
“I don’t care what the hell it is. Don’t play with it.” He stood beside her, arms crossed, exuding annoyance through every pore.
She rolled her eyes and started rubbing the clay into her skin in a circular motion until she reached her elbows; then she moved to her face.
“You might want to try this yourself.” She closed her eyes and made sure to get her eyelids and forehead covered. “You don’t look Mexican.”
“A little dust and different clothes are all I need.” She heard his boots shift in the dirt behind her. “You plan on keeping that mud on you long?”
“I still have to do my hair.” She sat down cross-legged on the grass and lifted her face toward the sun. “Give me ten minutes to let the clay soak in and then I’ll do my hair.”
More shuffling and cursing behind her; then a gust of air went past her ear.
“Just sit still and I’ll do your damn hair.”
Olivia couldn’t do anything but sit still, mostly from shock. He was helping her?
Sure enough, he tugged on the strip in her hair, then ran his hands through it. Memories of the last time he’d done that rippled through her. He had wonderful hands, even if he had a bossy streak a mile wide. With a surprising amount of speed, he worked the clay into her hair.
“Damn disgusting is what it is,” he grumbled, followed by a lot of splashing. She presumed he was getting the clay off his hands.
Her head felt heavy, weighed down by the thickness coating her skin and hair. The first batch she’d smeared on her arms was already starting to dry and it itched. She should have expected that, but that didn’t make it any easier not to scratch.
She cracked her eye open and peered at him. He sat back on his haunches watching her, the strangest expression on his face. It was the first time she’d seen an emotion other than annoyance or cold anger on his face. If she wasn’t mistaken, she saw concern, a first for the cool-eyed ranger.
They sat in silence for ten minutes while the mud dried on her skin and she tried in vain to ignore the itchiness.
“You look like a mud doll.”
“It’s clay, not mud.” She waited for him to snap back at her but he didn’t.
“You still look like a mud doll.”
Her lips twitched and the clay cracked on her cheeks. “If it works, you’re going to have to apologize.”
“Like hell I will.”
This time she smiled and a chunk of clay fell onto her arm. “I think it’s time I wash it off.” She opened her eyes and glanced down at the dried remnants.
“Do you plan on jumping in the creek?”
It wasn’t a bad idea actually. He might not approve, but her underthings would dry quickly. It would be easier to rinse off her hair if she could dunk her head.
Before she could change her mind, she got to her feet and took off her boots.
“I wasn’t serious, Liv. We don’t have time for you to frolic in the water.”
“I don’t plan on frolicking. I’m just getting clean.” She waded into the water and sucked in a breath as cold water hit her feet. It was definitely no deeper than two feet, but that was enough for what she needed to do.
“Now you look like an abandoned mud doll someone threw in the creek.” He stood on the bank and put his hands on his hips. “Your chemise just turned into a peekaboo.”
Olivia tried to ignore him and his jibes. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t seen her breasts before, and giving her underclothes a quick rinse wouldn’t hurt.
The clay came away from her skin easily, turning back into a mushy mess that she sloughed off into the gentle current. However, it stuck to her hair and she had to scrub at it for a good five minutes before her hair squeaked between her fingers.
When she emerged from the water, she shivered in the breeze that ran across her wet skin. Goosebumps raced up and down her body. Brody stared hard, his gaze as cold as the water she’d just left.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” She resisted the urge to cover her breasts, knowing her nipples were standing at attention.
“Damn, woman, you almost look Mexican.”
It was the closest thing she was probably going to get to his admitting she was right. She nodded, unwilling to dance triumphantly around him, but she kept the knowledge she was right close to her heart.
As she dressed in her dry clothes, he watched, still as stone. Olivia wasn’t one to hurry for a man, especially one who was so doggone bossy, but she found herself moving quickly. Perhaps this was the beginning of a dangerous adventure, or better yet, the promise of doing something to find Benjy.
“Keep your hair tucked under your hat for now. Maybe later we’ll find some more of that mud to darken it again.” He rubbed some dry dirt into his cheeks and neck. “You might want to dirty yourself up too.”
“I just got clean.” She finished buttoning her blouse and began twisting her hair into a tight bun.
“You want to look like a Mexican woman? Your skin isn’t bronze yet, Liv. You need to darken it more.” He rubbed his dirty hands on her cheeks, then dipped down toward her chest.
Darned if her nipples didn’t pop again after just having relaxed. She moved back a step, out of his reach.
“I can dirty myself up, thank you.”
“I don’t doubt that,” he mumbled as he turned toward his horse. “Let’s get going then. Daylight’s burning.”
Olivia’s heart slammed into her throat and the reality of what she was about to do hit her hard. All of the horrible possibilities Brody had outlined ran through her head. She might never see her family again but it would be worth it if she found Benjy. It didn’t matter what happened to her. He was more important than anything. Without the eighth link in their circle, they’d never be whole again.