Page 12 of Brawler
He could still feel the heat of her gaze on him, the compact slender body, and the imprint of her lips on his palm. His brain kept pulling those data points forward like intel that mattered, even though it didn’t. Shouldn’t.
He shoved it all aside. Safety first. Find her. Contain the threat.
He was sure Beast already had her, and the map in his head wasn’t just terrain and targets anymore.
It had her in it.
Ten minutes later, Brawler emerged from the jungle, stone-faced, with a pint-sized, furious woman slung over his shoulder like a misfired care package. He’d had no choice. After he’d run her down, she wouldn’t listen to him, had tried to attack him again, and he had to restrain both her and Beast. She was panicked, and loud. He expected those two men chasing her to appear at any moment. Their mission was both covert and unsanctioned by the Ecuadorian government, and they had to remain undetected. Duct tape covered her mouth, a zip-tie restraining her hands as a necessary stopgap until they could explain to her who they were and that they had no intentions of hurting her.
She was writhing like a rabid gremlin, muffled curses seething behind the tape, her eyes blazing andlethal,promised vengeance. Violent, creative vengeance. “Easy…we’re not going to hurt you. As I said ten times before, we’re American military.”
She just shook her head and struggled some more.
Flash blinked. Then squinted. “I thought you were going aftertangos, notTinkerbell.” Brawler didn’t answer. Just kept walking, jaw tight, carrying his cargo like a rucksack full of rage. “Where the hell did youfindher?” Flash called after him, incredulous. “Under atoadstool?”
Easy let out a wheeze. “She looks very dangerous, like she might be packing glitter bombs.”
“You duct taped her?” Shark asked, looking both impressed and horrified.
“I had to keep her quiet. This is a covert mission,” he growled. Much too aware of her body over his shoulder.
That got a chorus of low whistles.
“Damn,” Bondo muttered. “Here I thought jungle cats were the dangerous ones.”
Brawler came to a stop, adjusted her like she weighed nothing, and glared at the lot of them. “She ran. Straight into me. Punched me in the nuts and escaped. So, unless one of you wants to deal with her—” He turned his glare toward Flash. “Be my guest.”
She growled behind the tape.
Beast sat down next to Brawler, tail thumping with unmistakable enthusiasm.
Tex tilted his head. “Goddamn. She’s a complication.”
“You keeping her or is this a pixie catch and release?”
“No.” His nuts still ached. She’d left her mark, and not just physically. Complication? Hell, she was a mission killer. Trouble with a capital P. Yet…he couldn’t shake the way she felt against him, small and wired with fire, or the flash of those eyesslamming into him like a blade. That uneasy tug settled low, right where he didn’t want it. A very different dick ache.
Beast barked once, sharp and smug, tail still thumping like he’d just brought home his favorite toy.
Brawler shot the dog a look, irritation twisting low in his gut. Ferocious warhound and here he was acting like she was a prize instead of an unknown threat. Christ. Just what he needed, his partner siding with the enemy.
Flash grinned. “Correction…Beast has made his claim. Tell me, Brawler. Did you pack an extra leash?”
Easy snorted. “Yeah, didn’t they cover pixie wrangling in your dog-handler training? I heard they’re even slipperier than a Malinois.”
Shark rumbled, “Looks like this one bites harder, too.”
Bondo groaned. “Christ, don’t encourage him. He’ll want combat pay for fairy catching.” He eyed the writhing, duct-taped woman and added dryly, “From the looks of her? It’s warranted.”
The pixie muffled something behind the tape that sounded suspiciously like a promise of murder.
I’ll murderyou all in your sleep.Emily seethed, struggled, kicked, and pounded on his big, stupid back.
Finally, the big oaf set her down, boots hitting the spongy earth in a moment so surreal she half expected to wake up in her own bed with Ben standing over her, nagging about hogging the covers. But no. This was worse. This was insane.
She couldn’t concentrate on a word he was saying. She was just so scared and angry.
The big oaf snapped the plastic ties around her wrists, pushing up those goggles so she could see his face. Emily ripped the duct tape from her mouth with a savage yank, wincing as skin burned. Her hair stuck to her cheeks, sweat streaked and wild. Who were these freaking guys?
