Brady's Hellion by Linda Wisdom Page B

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