Brody (28 page)

“You ask her to marry you?” Matt took a sip of whatever was in his tin cup; it didn’t smell like coffee. Brody was tempted to ask for a cup of his own since he was now facing the head of the family and discussing Olivia.

“Yep, but she didn’t answer me.” His gut had been churning since they’d returned. She had kissed him and hugged him, giving him the peace he needed after his confession. Yet she hadn’t answered the question. It was slowly driving him mad.

“Really? Hmm.” Matt took another sip. “She usually isn’t afraid to tell everyone how she feels or what she thinks.”

“I’ve noticed that about her.” Brody couldn’t see the other man smile, but he could feel it.

“Do you love her?”

“Yes.” No hesitation, no question. He loved her with every bit of whoever he was. Soldier, killer, ranger, man.

“Have you told her?”

This time Brody hesitated. He didn’t know what to say because he was embarrassed to admit he hadn’t told her. After a minute of silence, Matt spoke again.

“Took me a while to tell Hannah too. She was patient, to a point, but what she needed from me was to tell her I loved her.” Matt offered his cup to Brody. “You may as well drink the rest of this. You’re going to need it if you plan on telling Olivia you love her.”

Brody took the cup gratefully. He knocked back some of the strongest homemade liquor he’d ever tasted. His throat burned as it slid down his gullet, but he didn’t dare cough or even gasp, although his eyes watered.

“Until you two get hitched, I can’t let you sleep in the same room with her. And I sure as hell ain’t going to let her follow you to the barn again.” Matt had every right to protect his sister, although he obviously already knew Brody and Olivia had been together in the biblical sense.

Brody finally found his voice, although it was damn raspy. “I respect that, Matt. I want to do this right. I’ll stay in town until we can get married or until she tells me no.”

“She won’t say no.” Matt turned to look at him in the semi-darkness. His eyes were the only thing visible. “She had a beau once who left her high and dry after my parents died. I never saw her look at him the way she looks at you.”

Brody’s heart thumped at the knowledge others could see the love between them. It was as obvious as the sun in the sky. He’d be a fool a million times over if he didn’t grab her for his own.

He got to his feet and handed the empty cup back to Matt. “Much obliged, brother.”

Matt’s smile gleamed in the moonlight. “Go get her.”

Brody walked back into the house to find Eva and Mrs. Dolan at the table drinking coffee. They both looked up at him and waited, brows raised.

“Where is Olivia?”

“Taking a bath, so you best not disturb her, young man. You don’t need to be spying on her naked.” Martha Dolan, Hannah’s grandmother, was a wisecracking woman who never let a thought stay in her head when she could speak it out loud.

Eva shook her head. “I think that horse has already left the barn,
amiga
.”

Brody’s cheeks heated at the bawdy talk between the two older women. “Is she in her room?”

Eva stared at him, without blinking, until he felt the crazy urge to shuffle his feet like a naughty schoolboy. She was a hell of a guard dog.

“If you break her heart, I break you,
comprendes?
”

Brody understood all too well how intense the love was between the Grahams, and that went for Eva and her boys too as extended members of the family. He hadn’t met anyone like them before.

“Comprendo, Eva. Yo amo Olivia.”
He loved her and now he’d said it out loud, albeit in Spanish. Surely he could tell Olivia too?

“
Bueno
. You marry her then and make babies so she can get out of my hair,
sí
?” Eva laughed and Mrs. Dolan joined in.

He left them cackling at the table and walked down to Olivia’s room in the corner. The littlest Graham, Catherine, popped up in the doorway to his right.

“That’s my sister’s room.” She folded her arms and glared up at him.

Brody squatted down, his experience with children limited. He didn’t want to scare her, or worse yet, make her think he was a bad man coming to hurt Olivia.

“I know. Olivia is my sweetheart. Do you know what that means?”

Catherine frowned, then slowly shook her head.

“It means that I love her.” There, he’d said it again. It was almost rolling off his tongue now. “I’m going to marry her and be part of your family.”

“Oh, another brother. That’s no fun.”

Brody smothered the laugh that bubbled up. “I promise I won’t be like your other brothers. I’ll do fun things like go fishing with you.”

“Really?” Her face lit up with a smile that reminded him of Olivia. “Then I don’t mind another brother.” She reached over and hugged his neck before kissing his cheek, then skipped back into her room.

Brody knew he’d have a family with the Grahams, but he wasn’t prepared for the way his heart stuttered at the little girl’s affection. He was just getting used to Olivia’s love, and now he had even more to get used to. The lonely boy he’d been wanted to hug Catherine back, but the man he’d become wasn’t quite ready. He would be one day and for now, would secretly treasure his new little sister.

He got to his feet and shook off the swell of emotion that had overcome him, then raised his hand to knock on her door. A splash sounded from behind the barrier. His entire body tensed, including his cock. She was in the bath, naked, a few feet away.

Oh, hell, his erection grew another two inches and pressed against his trouser buttons.

“Who is it?” Her voice floated through the door.

He pressed his head against the wood, focusing on keeping his breathing steady. “Brody.”

“I’m bathing.”

He gritted his teeth against the onslaught of images. “I know that, honey. I need to talk to you and it can’t wait.”

A pause. “Does Eva know you’re here? At my door, I mean.”

“Yes, she does. So does your brother and Mrs. Dolan.”

Please let me come in, Olivia. I need you
.

The words went unsaid and he could have kicked himself for being unable or unwilling to get the knot out of his tongue.

“Come in.” She sounded hesitant and that was unlike his Olivia.

He pushed the door open and stepped in, closing it behind him. Brody didn’t dare look at her until he got his words out. He was having a hard enough time dealing with the marvelous smells in the air, including soap, woman and her unique scent. He was nearly overpowered with the urge to take her. After a stern but short conversation with his wayward cock, he now leaned his head against the other side of the door.

“What are you doing?”

“I can’t look at you, Liv, or I won’t be able to control myself.” His hands pressed against the wood, his palms itching to weigh her perfect breasts in his hands again.

She giggled. “I like the sound of that. You out of control is an unusual sight.”

“Don’t laugh, please. This is uh, hard for me.” As soon as he said it, he wanted to swallow the words back into his stupid mouth. He was hard all right, but that wasn’t the biggest issue.

There was a long pause before she spoke. Her voice this time was small and unsure. “You’re leaving.”

“No, hell no. I’m not going anywhere. Well, wait, I am going to sleep in town, but only because your brother ordered me to.” His thoughts whirled around until he could hardly find one to pluck out. “I need to talk to you.”

“You are talking to me.”

He whirled around, annoyed that she’d gotten him riled in under thirty seconds. She sat in a small hip bath, her body glistening with water, knees not hiding the magnificent pink-tipped breasts behind them.

“Holy God.”

“Remember, Goddess is fine if you have to call me that.” She smirked and the knot in his tongue loosened just a bit.

Brody took off his hat, partly to hide the erection in his trousers, but it was the polite thing to do as well. “You never answered me,” he blurted.

She frowned. “What was the question?”

Tell her. Tell her. Tell her. NOW.

“I, um, asked you to marry me but you didn’t answer.”

“Yes, I most certainly did. I distinctly remember answering you before I joined you on your horse.” She nodded as though her recollection was the only important one.

“No, you squealed, jumped onto my saddle and kissed the bejesus outta me, but you didn’t say yes.” He pulled at his shirt collar, hot and bothered in so many ways. “I remember every second of it.”

She stared at him, her eyes wide. “Ask me again.”

This was the moment, the time for him to be the man she wanted him to be, the man he wanted to be. The moonshine burned a hole in his stomach, sitting there bubbling up, pushing him.

Tell her. Tell her. Tell her. NOW.

“I ain’t good at talking, especially to women, and I sure as hell ain’t no catch. I’m mean, stubborn and talk hardly at all.”

“You paint quite a picture for me, Brody.” The little minx raised one brow.

Tell her NOW.

He almost felt the cork pop within him and words started pouring out of his mouth. “I can’t imagine spending one more minute of my life without you by my side. I want to marry you, Olivia Graham, and spend the rest of my life making love to you, waking up beside you and growing old with you. I want to make beautiful babies who have their mama’s eyes. I want to go to sleep each night with your face the last thing I see before I shut my eyes.”

Brody approached the tub and dropped to his knees. His voice cracked like a young boy’s when he finally said the words they both needed to hear.

“I love you.”

She was out of the tub in a flash, pressing her wet, naked body to his and her lips against his waiting mouth. He could hardly get ahold of her she was so dang slippery. His cock hammered against her belly, wanting to join in the party.

Brody managed to grab her shoulders and break the kiss. They were both breathing heavily and damned if her hard nipples didn’t make his mouth water.

“You didn’t answer the question.”

She grinned. “Yes, you silly ranger. Of course, I’ll marry you.” She placed his hands on her nipples. “Now show me how much you love me.”

“Your brother will kick my ass.” Brody had just made his peace with Matt five minutes earlier, but the feel of Olivia in his arms, naked, was overpowering.

“Then lock the door.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. Without letting go of her perfectly delectable body, he reached over and turned the key in the lock. The soft
snick
echoed in the room.

“Make love to me, Brody.”

“My pleasure.”

They didn’t have much time before someone came knocking. Brody shucked his trousers and shirt quick as lightning. His cock bobbed toward her, eager to touch, plunge, rub.

She stood there waiting, still wet, incredibly beautiful. He stopped in mid-motion, dumbstruck by the extraordinary gift of a woman like Olivia. She frowned.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. I’m just counting my blessings is all.” He scooped her up and she giggled. “You, Olivia Graham, are the beginning, middle and end of the list.”

She smiled, her eyes filled with the love he now cherished. “You’re not so bad yourself, Ranger Armstrong. I’m still waiting for that lovemaking to start, though.”

Brody kissed her hard, then set her on the bed. He intended to see to her pleasure, but she opened her arms and gestured for him to lie on her now. His cock didn’t mind that at all.

As he crawled on top of his woman, flesh met flesh, heat met heat. Goose bumps raced up and down his skin at the sensation. Before he could gather his thoughts, her legs fell open. He inched forward, his staff nudging her entrance.

He levered himself up on his elbows so he could see her face. Her amazingly expressive face. There wasn’t an emotion she didn’t feel that wasn’t on that face. This time he saw love, pleasure and joy.

It was the joy that made his throat tighten up. That was the strange emotion knocking around inside his heart.
Joy
.

Brody didn’t remember feeling joy before he met Olivia. There were quite a few emotions he’d not experienced before her, but joy was unexpected.

As he slid into her, he watched her face and she watched him. Her eyes opened wide when he was fully sheathed within her. His cock pulsed with the need to move but he stopped.

It was the most perfect moment of his life and time slowed. He felt his heart thump against hers, and her warm breath against his chin. She surrounded him, physically and emotionally, just as he did her.

Brody had never understood the fuss about loving someone, but this exquisite moment gave him all the understanding in the world. This was what life was all about. The perfect moments were the treasures to be tucked away in his heart, to build into the life they would share together.

“God, I love you.” The words were out, his voice thick with unshed tears.

One brow went up and her smile grew wider.

Brody smiled back. “Goddess, I love you.”

“I love you too, Ranger.”

He began to move within her, slow measured thrusts to build the pleasure together. She raised her knees, drawing him in deeper, then deeper still.

Brody leaned down and captured one dark pink nipple, sucking and nibbling at it. She made kittenish moans each time his teeth closed around it. He could time the squeeze of her inner walls with the moan and the bite. It was a rhythm he moved to, heightening his and her pleasure.

When he switched to the other nipple, she scratched at his back in protest. The rhythm began again, and this time Olivia pushed up as he pushed in. It was like diving into a pool of pure bliss.

His balls tightened without warning and his orgasm hovered. He reached over and tweaked her other nipple, pinching and tugging. She contracted tighter and tighter around him. He knew she was close and he hung on, squeezing his eyes shut to hold back the floodgates of his own release.

“Brody, now, now, now.” She arched her back as her hands dug into the bed frame.

She tightened around him so fast and hard, his orgasm slammed into him instantly. He whispered her name, unable to form any coherent thought except Olivia.