Read Brody for Free Online Page B

prepared to. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do to find Benjy.
    Brody rode up slowly, keeping the side of the horse with the rifle out of the man’s view. He dismounted clumsily, and snorted at his own mistake.
    “Get on with it then. I gotta date with a bottle and a pair of tits over in Eagle Creek.” He leaned against his horse and pulled out a cheroot. As he lit the match on his boot, he met Olivia’s gaze. “I’m gonna start charging you for standing there instead of servicing your customer.”
    She managed to keep her mouth closed at the change in his demeanor. The man would have never been mistaken for a ranger the way he looked right about then. He had thespian skills she wasn’t even aware of, and although she might not admit it, she was impressed with them.
    Olivia turned to the stranger. “You heard the man. How long do you want me?” She ran her finger along the edge of her blouse. The man’s gaze snapped to the digit, following its path. He licked his lips and she held in a shudder with great effort.
    “Half hour. Don’t have no more than a dollar, but I need a good fuck.” He pushed the door open with his boot. “Inside.”
    “Oh, you know I have to see the money first.” She wagged her finger at him. “It is business after all.”
    He reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled bill. “You don’t get it until I get my dick sucked.”
    Olivia’s stomach rolled and she tasted bile in the back of her throat. “Your dollar, sugar.” She walked up toward him and his gaze locked on her cleavage.
    Before she even realized Brody had moved, he had his arm around the man’s throat and his rifle planted in Sanchez’s armpit. She stopped in mid-stride and stared.
    “Fucking bitch. I knowed you was just after my money.” Spittle flew from the man’s mouth and landed on her cheek.
    “Oh, she didn’t want money from you.” Brody’s cold tone was so far removed from his clownlike act a few minutes earlier, she had trouble reconciling the two.
    “What the hell do you want?” The man tried to break the ranger’s hold, but it appeared to be impossible.
    “Jeb Stinson.” The name rippled through the air, leaving a bad taste in her mouth. The stranger stopped struggling.
    “I don’t know that name.”
    Brody tightened his grip, twisting the man’s arm until he groaned. “Don’t lie to me, Sanchez.”
    There was a pause when the man appeared to be weighing his words. “You got the wrong man.”
    “I don’t think so.” He leaned in so he spoke into the man’s hairy ear. “You tell me or I show you what pain really is.”
    “Who are you?” Sanchez didn’t look afraid, but he didn’t look as confident as he had before.
    “Nobody you want to fuck with. Someone who needs information.” Brody glanced at Olivia. “There’s rope in my saddlebags.”
    She turned to follow his directions, glad she wouldn’t have to see whatever he planned to do to Sanchez. There were many things she had already done that no one would approve of. She shouldn’t start judging the ranger’s methods.
    By the time she returned with the rope, Brody had the man on the ground and his knee firmly planted in his back.
    “Tie his hands, then his feet.”
    She leaned over with the rope, giving the ranger a clear view of her breasts. His eyes widened just a fraction before his gaze snapped to hers.
    “And button your shirt.”
    Olivia’s temper reared and when she finished tying Sanchez’s hands, she stood up and let loose another button. She very much enjoyed how Brody’s mouth tightened at her gesture. Too bad. There was no way he was going to order her around. A partner was an equal, not a dog to be told what to do.
    After she tied his feet, she needed to wash her hands. Just touching the stranger made her feel unclean. Thank God, Brody had stepped in before Sanchez had touched her. She wouldn’t have the memory of that to contend with for the rest of her life.
    The ranger flipped the big man