Transference (2 page)

Her hazel eyes were stony. "I may be dead either way, but I will not make this easy on you, Brad. Not this time."

This was ridiculous. He tapped her temple with two fingers. "Get what I'm telling you through your thick skull, Waverly. I'm all that's standing between you and death right now."

She swatted his hand away. "Do not touch me.
Ever
." Allison shoved against his shoulders in an attempt to distance herself from him.

Big mistake. No more playing nice. Time was running out and when it did, they'd both be greeted with a storm of bullets.

"Enough."

Brad grasped her shoulders and slammed her back against the tree, wishing he didn't have a million much-needed reasons to keep her alive. Especially when she balled her hands into fists and began to blindly strike at him.

He didn't want to hurt her. Okay, that wasn't completely true. There was a part of him that would love nothing more than to take revenge on her for wasting so much of his time when she'd managed to get out of the motel room where he'd held her for information, for making him look incompetent when he'd lost her in the shopping mall, for the baseball bat to the ribs he'd taken from her boyfriend after she was already in custody. But he wouldn't cross that line. His mission was to deliver her to Costa Rica – unharmed.

That didn't mean he couldn't restrain her when she got out of hand though, much like she was right now.

Just hard enough to stun her, he slammed her back against the tree again, knocking the air from her lungs with the force. In the time it took her to draw a breath, he managed to get a grip on her wrists and forced them against the tree's rough bark at either side of her head. He leaned his weight heavily against her so she had no chance of escape.

"Stop fighting me. I'm not here to hurt you, Allison." He shook his head at the look of defiance burning through her gaze. "What? What's that look for?"

Again, he was met with only silence.

Angry now, he tightened his grip on her wrists until she winced slightly in pain. "I swear to God, I will tie you up and toss you in the trunk for the entire drive to the border." He locked his gaze on her, his eyes dangerously serious. "Do not test me on this."

More silence.

"I'm done with the games, princess. Do we understand each other or not?"

Allison flicked her tongue over her lips and cleared her throat, a nervous habit Brad had seen from her countless times. "Yeah. I got it. Play nice or get locked in the trunk...or drowned in a tub. Again."

His eyes narrowed. "Don't forget about the gag so I can get a break from that mouth of yours."

"I bet you'd like that, wouldn't you, Brad?" Her lips curved into a taunting smirk. "I bet you'd really get off on having me silent and compliant."

Brad leaned in so that his face was mere inches from hers. "Don't flatter yourself, princess. This is all business for me." He pulled back an inch or so to see the flare of temper his next barb would cause. "And frankly, you were never that tempting."

Allison struggled against his hold on her to no avail. When she finally stopped trying, she remained perfectly still, save for the heaving of her breasts with every intake of angry breath. Brad started to relax his grip on her wrists, deciding she was ready to stop acting like a spoiled child, bent on getting them both killed with her temper tantrum.

Maybe they'd be able to find some sort of common ground to make the trip more...

Before the thought could finish making its way through his mind, Allison attacked him with angry lips, assaulting his mouth with a violent kiss. He released her hands in surprise, but she only used those to grab the collar of his black polo shirt to keep him from pulling away.

Brad didn't have a clue what game she thought she was playing; didn't know if she actually believed her scam would work on him. That is, until she bit down on his lower lip. He shoved her back against the tree, forgetting not to use his full strength to avoid hurting her. "Bitch!"

She whimpered at the impact and then fixed her dark gaze on him as though she was starving and he was the most delicious meal in existence. "Stop being a pussy and kiss me!"

"I don't have time for this—"

The sting of her hand against his face cut off his words. He was ready for it when she tried again, catching her hand. She again lashed out with her free hand and he caught it as well. That began the stalemate, kicking off the silent war of heated glares and ragged breath.

"To hell with it."

Brad dropped her hands and grabbed either side of her face, aggressively pulling her to him before she could react. He crushed his lips against hers with bruising force before pushing his tongue into her mouth, searching her thoroughly for any reason she'd be worth a million bucks because he sure as shit didn't get it.

After her initial gasp of shock, Allison's tongue jolted to action, dueling against his, fighting for dominance as though her very life depended on it. Her hands gradually loosened their death grip on his collar and played through his dark hair that was in desperate need of a haircut before moving fluidly down his torso until they reached the waist of his jeans. She hooked two fingers from each hand between denim and skin and pulled his hips against hers, grinding against him with all the precision of a stripper's lap dance.

A feral growl rumbled from deep within his throat as once more he pushed her back against the tree. This time, he didn't move to restrain her, but instead leaned against his left hand placed just over her shoulder on the tree while the other hand snaked between them under her shirt to cup her breast. Allison moaned and writhed against him in response to his touch, but when he moved to slant another deadly kiss across her lips, she resisted, shoving him away and then slapping him again as she moved past him.

"Don't you ever touch me again, Brad."

He grabbed her wrist and she spun around to slap him again, but he caught her wrist. "You started it, not me."

"Let go of me."

His icy gaze locked on hers in fury. "I'll let go of you as soon as you tell me just what in the sweet fuck you think you're doing, princess."

Allison didn't so much as blink. "Trying to find the car so I can get you back to your boyfriend...
Mark
."

Seriously? She was still pissed off about the gay guy ruse and fake name he'd used to gain her trust when his assignment had strictly been to assess what she might know about her father's activities or the whereabouts of the Barrows brothers? Women.

Brad dropped his arm and began walking away from her, instinctively knowing she'd follow this time. "I'd leave your sorry ass for a government assassin to finish off right here and now if Adam Barrows wasn't paying me a million bucks to get you to Costa Rica."

"You're taking me to Adam?"

He fixed a smarmy smile across his face and turned slowly to regard her. "You couldn't possibly have thought I came for you out of the goodness of my heart or because I actually gave a shit about you." He shook his head slowly, his grin widening slightly at her hurt expression. "Oh, wait. I suppose you did. You really should have known better, princess. A lot better."

Brad turned from her again, satisfied that he'd gotten in what appeared to be a verbal blow that served as sufficient payback for the way she used him for her little pole dance. He cast a glance over his shoulder and drew his weapon when she remained in place. "Don't make me shoot you." To drive his point he flicked off the safety with an audible click. "You know I'll do it gladly if that's what it takes to get you in the car."

"I don't understand how Adam has a million dollars to pay you."

"Because he's a criminal."

"Except...he's not. Not really."

"How well do you really know Adam and Eli Barrows?"

A moment later, Allison lowered her gaze and followed him in silence to their getaway car, thus beginning their unlikely alliance.

If only any of the hurtful things he'd said to her were actually true.

CHAPTER 3

THEY DROVE IN abject silence for the better part of the day, making only the occasional stop for food or facilities. So he was taking her to Adam? That was good. That must mean Adam hadn't forgotten about her. Maybe there was still hope for a clean start for the two of them.

Even if the extent of his criminal activities did apparently extend beyond breaking his brother out of prison for a murder he supposedly didn't commit.

The shredding claw was at work on her insides again. How long would it take them to get to Costa Rica? Just a short flight? Probably not. He'd said earlier they were driving to the border. She let out a breath. How could she possibly cope with a long road trip in the same vehicle as Markenson? She hated him.

She hated herself more for the thoughts that were running through her head about him.

As the first dusky hues of purple and mauve chased across the sky, Allison turned to Brad and broke their silence. "What's the plan?"

He slid a glance in her direction and then fixed his eyes back on the road. "Put as much distance between us and that transport as possible."

"I, uh, sort of figured as much." She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, her skin still burning from his earlier touch. "I meant, how are we getting to Costa Rica?"

"Drive."

She tried to call upon her cursory knowledge from a world geography course she'd taken in high school, but she didn't remember a single thing that counted. "Can we actually drive all the way to Costa Rica?"

"Yes, but we'll dump the car before we get there."

"Then what?"

Brad changed lanes to get around a slow-moving truck. "Oh, so we're talking now?"

"Sort of. Yeah."

"Funny. I tried to talk to you about this five hours ago."

That was true. He had. Unfortunately, five hours ago they'd just gotten into the car and she'd still been too shaken from what had almost happened between them. Not that she'd ever let him know how affected she was by that.

Or by him.

"I was still...
processing
. I'm ready to listen now."

"Processing." He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, being extracted is traumatic." After a beat, he said, "We'll have to zigzag our way across the country. They'll be expecting you to get out of the country quick so it only makes sense to wait it out until things cool down."

"How long?"

"Probably a few weeks."

"Oh." That was a long time – longer than she was comfortable with. She bit her lip, wincing at the puffiness she felt. It wasn't as though she needed a reminder of what she'd done earlier. "Uh...then what?"

He shrugged. "Cross into Mexico, use some connections to get to Costa Rica. Not really a lot to it once we get out of the US." Brad turned to meet her wide eyes. "And no, I am not trying to drag out this little road trip from hell."

His words shocked her. "I...I didn't think you were."

"So long as we're clear." He turned his attention back to the deserted stretch of road in front of him. "You started all that shit before, Allison, not me."

"I know." Allison fixed her gaze on the scenery flying by her window. More than anything, she didn't want to talk about that. She didn't want to talk about the raw attraction she felt toward the man who'd tried to kill her – probably on multiple occasions. She didn't want to think about the way his kiss had filled her body with the same electric charge the curling iron in the bathtub had. She didn't want any of it.

And yet it was there.

When she'd known him before - first as Mark, the supportive fellow recovering addict and new sponsor sincere in trying to keep her from using, and then as Markenson, the cold-blooded man who'd just as soon kill her as listen to the information he tortured her for - his dark hair had been cut short, making him the picture of a government agent if she'd ever cared to notice at the time. But now...Brad's hair was longer, wilder. It wasn't rockstar long or anything like that, but it was definitely long enough to run her fingers through, to pull on if she needed to redirect the placement of his mouth on her body.

Of all the cruel tricks life could throw at her, the Brad Markenson who'd rescued her from the prison transport van was dead sexy. The fact that he'd just killed people right in front of her didn't dull it. Maybe it was even part of the reason his raw sexuality had intensified for her. Allison knew that said something about her. She just didn't care to analyze it.

Something in the distance caught her eye and stoked her appetite. She tapped on the glass with her finger. "Can we stop for a while?"

"Yeah. What do you..." His face hardened when he saw what had caught her interest. "No."

"We have to stop sometime, Brad."

"Not at a bar we do not."

She bit out her words through clenched teeth. "I need a drink."

"How stupid do you think I am? I'm not taking someone in recovery to get a drink."

"I'm not an alcoholic."

"No, but first we stop now to get you a drink and then in a week or so I'm having to pull over so you can buy smack from some guy named Chill or Tweak on the street corner. My association with the brothers is already tenuous enough without delivering a junkie to them."

"I just want a drink." Want probably wasn't a strong enough word. She needed it to keep her head clear. Without it she would surely do something stupid.

Again.

"It's not gonna happen. The only thing your insistence is doing is reminding me to find a room without a mini bar."

"A room?"

"Does that surprise you?"

"Uh..."

"Well, you're welcome to sleep in the car for the next few weeks, but I for one prefer to have the option of taking a shower after having to kill people."

A shower did sound nice. Just the thought of the hot water cascading down her skin was enough to momentarily take her mind off the drink she so desperately needed. But it wasn't long before her thoughts turned on a dime and she began to imagine Brad in the shower with her, his hands sliding over her wet skin, his lips on her, his hard body treating her to a sinful punishment.

Her breath snagged in her chest at the thought. Though she wanted to believe it would be an awful experience because she hated him, Allison knew that to be a lie. After having her body crushed up against him, she'd felt firsthand that everything under those clothes was hard and dangerous. Fucking him would prove to be an unfathomable high, one like she'd never experienced in her life.