by Linda Wisdom
Brady’s Hellion
by
Linda Wisdom
SMASHWORDS EDITION
* * * * *
PUBLISHED BY:
Linda Wisdom on Smashwords
Brady’s Hellion
Copyright © 2010 by Linda Wisdom
Smashwords Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.
BRADY’S HELLION
Prologue
Favors made up Brady Hayes’ life. Calling them in. Owing them. Personally, he preferred the former since it made his job easier when someone could provide whatever he needed. That same job was miserable when an owed favor had to do with Shar, one of the lords of the Underworld. That kind of deal was pure hell, pardon the pun. But it wasn’t a good idea to just didn't blow off Shar. Not if you wanted to remain intact. The last guy who blew Shar off was shipped home in a million tiny boxes tied in neat little bows using the guy's guts. Nope, not a pleasant prospect at all.
This was why Brady was down here in the intense heat and darkness in response to Shar’s command. He tried not to make eye contact with the woman seated behind the reception desk. She had to be as tall as him and he was a hefty six foot four. He bet she could take down a tank on a good day, her skin was pale as chalk instead of the tan he'd picked up while working in the Middle East, her black hair showed no gleam of health and her lips and nails were the same ebony as her hair. He was amazed she wasn't sweating buckets in the black leather dress that fit her like a condom. She kept looking at him as if he was dinner. He didn't think she was thinking of a few sexy little nibbles either. More like she wanted him in every damn course including dessert! He kept his eyes trained on the coffee table in front of him and ignored the severed fingers that wiggled inside the cursed wood.
"There you are, Brady." The tall portly man in a charcoal wool suit straight from Amani’s latest collection appeared at the inner office door looking more like a successful financier than your typical everyday dark lord. Brady knew better than to underestimate him. The guy had balls of sulfuric acid. Literally. "Come in, come in. Hold my calls, Morticia," he instructed.
"Morticia? You're kidding, right?" Brady followed him into a large rock-walled office that seemed a good fifty degrees hotter than the reception area.
"Better than her real name, which is Annabelle. Besides, I always had a hard-on for Morticia Addams." Shar gestured for him to be seated and took his place behind a mile-long desk hand-carved from lava. "Thank you for coming so swiftly."
"You said I owed you one." Brady preferred to remind the man exactly why he came so quickly. He wondered if anyone had the guts to tell Shar he resembled the actor who played Elwood in The Blues Brothers except the dark lord was a better dresser. And if they did were they still intact.
"Still, I appreciate it.” Shar beamed which was also downright scary. The man didn't seem to understand that smiles were meant to be happy, not horrific. "I have a job for you."
"A job," he repeated, getting that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Shar’s jobs never ended well for anyone.
"I used the term you owing me a favor because I knew you would respond to my summons faster, but I am more than willing to pay you for your time. What I need here is the best and we all know you're the best in your business." Shar grimaced. He fisted his hand and struck his chest. "I apologize. Lunch is just not settling right today.” He released a belch that rocked the room along with a smell of something rotting. "There, that's better. Now, what I need is your services as a bodyguard."
"But you have something like a thousand bodyguards down here already," Brady pointed out. No way would he stay down here on a daily basis. He'd melt to nothing in no time.
"I need someone to watch over a family member." He grimaced and belched again. "While I love Renalda's bloodworm pie it doesn’t love me," he muttered. "I chose you because I require someone discreet for this job. And while you are rough around the edges, you are excellent at what you do plus you know how to keep your mouth shut when it is necessary."
Brady shifted in the chair that seemed to shift with every move his body made. If he wasn’t mistaken something was slithering up toward his crotch. "Sure, I do private security sometimes, but your people," he paused wondering if it was PC to call them people since by no stretch of the imagination had they ever been even remotely human, "they might be better suited for whatever you want."
"They wouldn’t be at all appropriate for this kind of work." Shar leaned back and pressed his fingers together, the razor-sharp tips resting just under his rounded chin. "I’ll be honest with you, Brady. While my private security guards are excellent at what they do, they are used to coping with situations Below, not up above. They aren't equipped to handle a situation like this one even if it's nothing major. I feel a human would blend in better. And since you have the skills, I immediately thought of you."
Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! clanged inside Brady's head. The only reason he thought of me was because I owe him that damn favor and he knew I’d have no choice but to do whatever he needed. Shar doesn’t like it when someone says no.
"What do you need me to do?” He had visions of his having to ride herd over the Hounds of Hell or worse.
Shar smiled. "It has to do with my baby sister, Raven."
"You have a sister?" Okay, not too tactful a way to put it. Even dark lords could have family.
"Actually, she’s my stepsister.” Shar glared at a pile of paperwork that magically appeared on a corner of his desk. The papers immediately burst into flames. "The politics down here have become unbearable." He rested his arms on the desk, hands laced together. "You could even consider this a vacation. My stepsister is visiting an island resort in the Pacific and in a sense, I would like you to look after her."
Brady stiffened. "That sounds more like a babysitting job.”
"Not babysit, I just want you to keep an eye on her and keep her out of trouble. Make sure no one bothers her." Shar made a face, which for him meant his face shifted in multiple directions as if it was fashioned from warm wax. "Raven has a mind of her own. She doesn't realize that the mortal world isn't like it is down here. I’m willing to allow her this time away, but I still want to know that she will be all right up there. I know you will keep an eye on her, but of course, she can never know I hired you. The consequences, well, she does have a temper." He tapped his fingers on the surface of his desk. A slip of paper silently floated upward. Shar handed it to Brady.
The number of zeroes he looked at was enough to quiet any misgivings he had about the assignment that literally was from hell. His smile was a lot more affable.
"When do I start?"
Chapter One
"Hello baby," Brady ignored the nasty tingle on his butt. It was bad enough Shar insisted on marking him, but did he have to mark him there? Brady's argument that Raven would recognize the mark on his wrist for what it was was met with a "that can easily be taken care of" and next he knew the mark was burned onto his ass. Shar's argument that it was purely for Brady's protection was bullshit, but no way you could argue with a dark lord and survive being torn limb from limb after losing said argument. Plus since there were no photographs of Raven, he was assured the mark would alert him when she was close by. He was also promised the mark would be removed once his assignment was over. Yeah, like Shar’s promises were ever kept if they weren’t to
his advantage.
He had to admit if he was supposed to protect a woman there was no better place to do it than at this exclusive resort set on a remote Pacific island. After a little judicious bribery alerted him to his charge’s presence on the beach he sauntered out to the thatch-covered beach side bar that bisected the pool and beach and settled on a stool. From there, he had a good view of both areas along with an even better observation of the bikini-clad beauties lying out by the pool and stretched out on chaise lounges arranged along the white sandy beach. A few interested looks sent his way indicated they wouldn't mind getting to know him better. Too bad he was on the clock.
Brady learned there wasn’t a problem asking for someone named Raven. He should have known better since Cher and Madonna had no problem just using one name.
"Who do we have here?" Behind the protection of his dark glasses he was able to study the beach. So far, every brunette he noticed didn’t create even a tingle in his ass. Even a dark-haired woman with pale skin that looked as if a dose of sun would set her on fire produced nada. He began to wonder if the mark was put there just because Shar wanted to hear him yelp when he’d been branded. "So what the hell is the dark lord’s baby sister doing out here in the sun and sand?” he muttered. “You’d think she’d prefer some dark ugly dungeon with all sorts of torture instruments.” He grinned at a shapely redhead in an emerald green thong bikini who twitched her hips when she walked past. “Still, who am I to complain?”
As his gaze again swept the length of the beach, he noticed a feminine figure making her way out of the water. He moved on since he was convinced she wasn’t the one. Then the burning tingle on his ass intensified to an all out burn. He swung back to the woman he'd first dismissed until the stinging wound warned him he was looking in the right direction. The longer he looked at the woman, the stronger the fiery sensation.
"No way," he muttered, staring at the woman walking up to the registration desk. "Holly shit! I’m expected to babysit Malibu Hellion Barbie?”His mental computer noted that the object of his scrutiny was probably five-foot-six or seven equipped with long legs that was all too easy to imagine wrapped around his hips. She boasted the lean body of a disciplined swimmer and bronze tan of someone who didn’t believe there was such a thing as skin cancer. Did dark lords’ sisters have to worry about skin cancer? To further confuse him was a wealth of sunny blonde hair tied up in a perky ponytail worthy of Gidget. The curvy body that inspired more than a few fantasies rolling around in his head wore a turquoise and white bikini and he could see the glint of a blue stone nestled in her navel. She looked fucking good for someone who had to be a few thousand years old. But what surprised him the most was the surfboard she carried up the sand.
Brady picked up his Jack Daniels on the rocks and downed it like medicine. Considering the way his heart seemed to stop when he saw her and his ass feeling like he was sitting on a volcano, he felt he needed the sharp bite of alcohol. She was not at all what he expected.
No doubt about it. That bastard Shar was enjoying some insane joke at his expense.
*****
She was free!
Raven couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this liberated. She did it. She finally stood up to her brother and took back her life. No more Shar looking over her shoulder, telling her what she could and couldn't do, and explaining she had to remember he was a highly-placed politician and she had to act accordingly. And once that lecture was finished he rolled into his long and boring speech about fulfilling their family destiny.
For one glorious month she didn’t have to attend tedious business functions with her brother and endure polite sneers and side glances because she didn’t fit the preconceived notion of what a dark lord’s relative should look and act like. It was bad enough her stepbrother planned to use her to further his own objectives no matter how she felt about it
Yeah, like she was going to wear black and look pasty-faced the rest of her existence.
It took a lot of bargaining on her part, but demons are good with negotiating. Between threats that involved turning Shar inside out, tears in hopes he’d feel guilty – he didn’t – and flat out pleading, she finally managed to talk her protective older brother into allowing her to leave Below and venture into the mortal world. Before, she’d only seen it on viewers and experienced it in fantasy rooms. Once here, she quickly learned she saw in her realmwas nothing compared to the real thing. And now that she was here, she was determined to never go back. As far as she was concerned, someone else could take up the family duties.
Raven was staying up here in the sun and she was going to have the life she felt she deserved. One where she didn’t have interfering, even if well-meaning, relatives who totally cramped her style. Plus Shar and her mother had plans that involved her settling down with the mate of their choosing. They talked about how some politically based marriages could succeed personally. Their example was Shar’s marriage.
Oh right. It was a well-known secret that Shar’s wife Matthis, was fucking every member of her private guard.
She wasn’t going to allow her family to dictate her future the way they had her past.
She stopped at the chaise lounge that held her towel and beach bag. She dug her toes in the sand lifting her face to the sun.
This was the world she belonged in.
Raven looked as if she wasn’t doing anything more important than standing there enjoying the heat stealing through her body. Except there was the sensation that someone was watching her. It wasn’t anything unsettling, more a heated exchange that sent her pulse racing. She set her surfboard down by her chaise and made a casual sweep of the area to see if she could find her secret admirer.
It turned out not to be too difficult. And what she saw she liked. Very much. He looked to be several inches over six feet, which went very well with her lean five-foot-ten. Muscles that she gauged didn’t come from a gym, short-cropped brown hair and one of those little beards that should make him look like a university professor but made him look hot instead. She could see a jagged scar running up the outside of one leg to burrow under the hem of his khaki cargo shorts. She flirted with the idea of wondering just how far up that scar traveled. He looked incredibly fit otherwise. Extremely fit. No, amazingly sexy with an olive-green t-shirt that stretched over a broad chest. At first sight she would assume he was a soldier here on leave, but she couldn’t imagine a regular soldier could afford an exclusive resort where a week’s stay typically cost the price of a small car and that was just for one of the low budge rooms.
She was positive it wouldn’t take much to find out who he was. The nice thing about being a dark lord’s sister, even if only a stepsister, was the powers she had. But she didn’t want to use her gift. And as tempting as he was, she told herself she didn’t want a man either.
She came here to lie on the beach, soak up the sun, surf, and see how many umbrella decorated drinks she could down in one evening. Sex wasn't on her to-do list.
Still, a sweep of her eyes in that direction gave her a new look at the man, sprawled in the tall cane-backed stool that because of his height was more like a chair. His legs were spread out in front of him making him look like some sort of Grand Poobah. She wouldn’t have been surprised if a serving girl approached him on her knees and serviced him. Dark glasses covered his eyes, but she knew he was watching her with an intensity she could feel like a layer of heat covering her skin.
And this heat was nothing like the heat at home.
Determinedly turning her back on him, she picked up her towel and dried her arms and shoulder then bent over to dry her legs so that he had a perfect view of her ass.
No reason not to give him something to look at.
*****
Whoa Mama! Brady almost choked on his drink. Luckily, the burning from the mark disappeared as soon as he acknowledged his charge. Considering the way his dick was standing at attention he was amazed that Shar trusted him to watch over this incredibly sexy woman when the overlo
rd insisted Brady was there to keep her safe. But who was going to keep her safe from Brady?
“Raven is young and isn’t well-versed with the outside world. I’m also worried about someone taking advantage of her,” Shar had told him.
“Are you talking physical danger?” He didn’t even want to think what would be after any of Shar’s relatives or if bullets could stop them.
“I’m in a political battle down here, Brady,” Shar said pompously. “Some factions don’t agree with my vision of what we need to do next. I’d hoped that Raven would help the family in furthering my agenda, but she has this crazy need to visit the human world. She has this crazy idea she needs freedom to do her own thing.” He shook his head in frustration. “I’m certain once she has thissilly vacation she’ll come to her senses and do what’s right for the family.”
Brady began to wonder if this Raven wasn’t some bratty teenager who was prone to temper tantrums. “I still say you’d be better off using your own people.”
“That wouldn’t work well at all. They don’t do well among humans.” The dark lord grimaced. “There have been incidents in the past that are best not to be repeated.”
Brady thought of the private guards he passed as he was escorted to Shar’s office. Each one a healthy eight-foot-ten inch of pure muscle, soulless eyes that could see even through pitch-black, hooked nose that could track down anything living or dead, razor-sharp teeth that could probably tear steel apart. Yep, Definitely not creatures to let loose on unsuspecting humans.
“You see…” Shar hesitated, “the time will come when Raven will have to assume her duties down here. It won’t be long before she can no longer ignore family obligations”
“So you’re letting her out to sow her wild oats, so to speak,” Brady said.