Branded by a Callahan. Tina Leonard

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СКАЧАТЬ from home. The air’s got a trace of petroleum. Definitely a chemical. I’m guessing somewhere around Houston.”

      “Or Louisiana.”

      It would stand to reason. They’d clearly been on the road a long time because his body was screaming from all the jags and bumps. He needed to hit a rest stop in the worst way. “They must have grabbed you in the lavatory, because I never saw you come out. And I would definitely have remembered.”

      “First bad mark on my record.” Pure annoyance crossed her face. “I didn’t check the bath when I snuck in, and I should have.”

      “Rule number one in the bodyguard manual broken,” he said cheerfully. “I won’t tell if you don’t.” He didn’t care, because she freely admitted sneaking into his room, and from that, he could deduce that this beautiful woman dug her some Callahan cowboy.

      “I failed to protect you,” Ana said.

      “Oh, I won’t hold it against you,” Dante said, thinking he was fine with role reversal. He was the man, he was supposed to be doing the protecting, and moreover, they’d only grabbed her because of him—she was a collateral situation. None of this would be happening right now if he weren’t a Callahan, which left very little blame to be parked at her door. “Anyway, I’m the man, I’m supposed to protect the fairer sex.”

      “Are we going to debate sexual roles or figure out how to get out of this mess?”

      He liked the idea of debating sexual anything with Ana, but he supposed her question was relevant. But then he had a horrible thought: his grandfather, Chief Running Bear, had muttered something about one of the seven Chacon Callahans being the hunted one. Running Bear had intoned the warning with such fierce knowledge, and Dante had always figured it couldn’t possibly be him.

      But what if he was the one of which Running Bear warned? Any last vestige of grogginess from whatever they’d used to dope him disappeared, and his focus returned, laserlike.

      “What?” Ana said. “You look like you want to kill something.”

      He wasn’t going to worry about it now. If he was the hunted one, he’d get unhunted fast. Darkness had fallen, blanketing the truck’s path. His body felt like a yo-yo from the pounding bumps in the road, and Ana couldn’t be in any better shape. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

      “Following you, cowboy.”

      She was a sparky little thing, he’d grant her that. “For what it’s worth, I appreciated finding you in my bed. Hope you don’t let this experience scare you from trying again.”

      Ana gave him a wry look. “Not at all,” she said sweetly. “I’ve picked you to be the father of my child.”

      A hard jolt sent them both rolling, and covered the yelp Dante might have let go upon hearing Ana’s pronouncement. “You meant it wasn’t just about my body?”

      “No.” Ana rolled close to him, which he thought was very sweet of her, very sexy. He liked women who were so pointed about their desire. “Undo my hands, please,” Ana told him.

      “Ah.” Romance would have to wait; this little doll was all about business. He backed up to her, grabbed her bound hand with his and worked off the knotted handkerchief. “Free as a bird.”

      Without creating any movement that would alert their kidnappers, she untied her feet. “Blast, they didn’t bring my shoes. That’s men for you. They never consider the important stuff.”

      “They brought my boots,” Dante said, a bit relieved by that. He could carry Ana on his back if he had to.

      “I may borrow those boots, cowboy.”

      He looked at her. “Oh, no, you don’t, cupcake. If you think for one second that you’re going to take my boots and leave me stranded here with a couple of jokers, you will never get what you came for last night.”

      She reached for a boot, looked him in the eye. “You may not be able to give me a child. It’s a calculated risk.”

      There was absolutely nothing he’d rather do than give impregnating this sweet angel the old college try. “I offer my family tree as Exhibit A. You’re the nanny, you should know that Callahans are prodigious baby makers.”

      She considered that. “True. Yet I find it highly suspicious that you’re not running. Men are supposed to run when a woman tells them they want a child.”

      “Yeah, but I’m not a normal guy.”

      “This, I’ve heard.”

      She undid his hands, which he’d expected, since it was obvious she did indeed want to test his pregnancy prowess. He smirked, trying to look like a man who had full confidence that a baby bingo was as easy as snapping the fingers. “What’s the big hurry on getting pregnant? You have a biological clock going off?”

      Ana barely gave him a glance. “You focus on the mission, which is saving us. Let me worry about my reasons.” She hesitated. “How do I know you’ll keep your promise?”

      He kissed her briefly, just a soft brush of promised pleasure against her lips. “Because, beautiful, I guarantee satisfaction.”

      She finished undoing him and his hands came free. He grabbed her, pulling her lips to his, cradling her head in his hands so that he could kiss her as thoroughly as he’d ever wanted to. “Consider that a down payment.”

      “I do. I promise to make your life miserable if you try to back out of our deal. Remember, I could have taken your boots and left you here.”

      “I’d hate for you to live with those regrets. One day you’ll thank your lucky stars I kept you, despite the fact that you’ll be a drag on the mission.” He pulled on his boots, watching her. She was a spicy girl for sure, and one day, he was going to dive in and enjoy the fire. “Now hang on, this is where it gets rough, gorgeous.”

      He wrapped his arms around her, held her tight.

      “What are you doing?”

      “Watch and learn. Focus,” he whispered in her ear. “The truck has slowed. We’re no longer on the main road, we’re obviously getting closer to the destination. They’ve slowed, looking for a meeting point. The road isn’t hard and rocky anymore, feels more like sand. Perfect.”

      “Perfect for what?”

      “Finding out what little girls are made of. I always heard it was sugar and spice, but let’s hope you’re more spice than sugar.”

      He flipped her over the edge of the truck, still holding her tight. They landed with a thud in a not-so-soft patch of dried sand liberally laced with grit. To Ana’s credit she didn’t make a peep, and Dante held his breath, praying that the truck kept on its slow way to its destination.

      It did. “Let’s go. We have about five minutes, maybe less, before they discover we flew the coop.”

      “Head away from the road,” Ana said, and Dante thought, Yeah, I had a feeling she was spice, and they ran until they crossed a smaller road that was more of a dirt-bike path.

      They СКАЧАТЬ