Microsoft Word - RecklessBounty (24 page)

“Good morning, Samantha. I see you look just as lovely as you always do.” Lord Devlin murmured, in his silky tone. Did she detect a trace of sarcasm in his voice? Jerk.

For one brief moment, she contemplated shooting herself in the foot with the pistol that she held. If only, it had some bloody juice left in it! Her life was too damn complicated. Why did it have to be the one man that she hated the most in the galaxy?

Why couldn’t another person hell, she didn’t care who, come to her assistance by giving her a weapon? She groaned loud and long. She slapped her forehead when he smiled and flashed his perfectly straight white teeth at her.

He would remind her of this moment until the day that she died, and revulsion welled in her stomach. The thought of being indebted to such a man, made her want to hurl.
Yep, she was
in for a life sentence of absolute misery.

* * * *

“I must say, Samantha, that you don’t seem to be in top form at the moment. However, I greatly enjoyed that remarkable performance of yours. May I ask for an encore?” he remarked, staring her up and down. She flinched, beneath his unwavering gaze.

“Oh, why don’t you,
piss off!
” she frowned, and attempted to push past him. She didn’t want to be anywhere near him. As always, his smug little grin made her want to smack him.

He put out a restraining arm, and took the useless phase pistol from her. She didn’t fight him for it, as it was useless to her anyway.

“I am not in the mood for your asinine arrogance this morning,” she decided between clenched teeth. He pulled her back toward him and she gave him a dirty look.

She was ticked off by his familiarity with her and promptly kicked him in the shin. He groaned out in pain and she muttered, “You got off lucky. You are very fortunate that I didn’t make your balls do a disappearing act.”

He regarded her with a raised brow, and cautiously removed his arm.

“You’re quite a catty bitch! But then, I’d warrant many men have told you that.”

She resisted the tempting urge to smile.

“Get in the hover car,” he ordered, pointing toward his parked vehicle.

“
The hell I will
. Why don’t you take a long drive off a short bridge?” she retorted, moving farther away from him. For some reason, Lord Devlin thought he could have everything his own way. He must have been a spoiled child.

She slammed up against his bodyguards and let out a muffled grunt, realizing with trepidation that instead of the hulking Amazon women, they were even larger men. She couldn’t possibly fight her way out of this situation without being injured or worse, embarrassed and RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 99

exposed.

“Does it come with a mini bar?” she shot back, moving toward the vehicle of her own accord.

She scowled at the men and snorted, when Lord Devlin waved them away.

“Since when did you want to give me a helping hand?” she grumbled, staring hatefully at the black limousine.

“Since you became my Danny’s property,” he retorted, grinning widely. She didn’t care for the way that he deliberately goaded her temper. He was playing with fire.

Samantha heaved out a long sigh. She knew that losing her temper wouldn’t accomplish her anything but she just had to express her fury at him in some way. If she didn’t, she’d explode.

As a result, she did the only thing that she could think of. She went straight up to him, and hauled off and belted him one, right in the kisser. She cradled her throbbing hand to her chest watching with satisfaction, as blood spilled down his face. Man, he had a hard face.

“The next time, you refer to me as someone’s possession, I will focus on a much more sensitive part of your anatomy!” There that would teach him.

Without saying anything further, she dove into the hover limo and began simmering. He climbed in after her, and sat across from her. He had become silent. As silent as the grave.

Unfortunately, the silence didn’t last for long.

“I may be a great many
things,
Samantha, but you had better count your lucky stars that I don’t strike women. Don’t touch me in anger ever again…I won’t be so kindhearted the second time around.”

“Oh, I’m like shaking in my boots! And don’t worry…touching you…doesn’t exactly give me a thrill.” She glared at him. He served her with a look that nearly froze the air between them.

“You aren’t wearing any boots,” he pointed out, gingerly pressing his handkerchief to his bloody lip. “And if I wanted you to…you’d be begging to touch me.”

Snorting, she looked out the window, and tried to figure out when she had become so dependent on others. She was an independent capable woman. She didn’t need anyone to help her and yet here she was sitting in the back of a bastard’s limo, while he sat in front of her regarding her as if she were some sort of monster. Every which way she turned the last few days someone did something to effectively put the screws to her and she was fed up.

“I find it hard to believe you even care what the Red Falcon would think of your actions against me,” she began. She held her chin up high, and tried to forget what she smelt like. He was staring angrily at her and looked as if he needed a few shots of
New Monaco
Whisky. She cringed, but met his gaze head on. So, she smelt putrid. If she just ignored the smell, maybe he would too. But she wouldn’t hold her breath, even though it would be better than breathing in her rather interesting aroma. She fought the urge to gag.

She could never figure out what her sister had seen in him. She’d been able to resist his charms. Sure, he had those brooding dark good looks, but he seemed to be missing something.

Ah, yes, he was missing a tolerable personality. She watched him as he dabbed at his puffed up lip again.

“I respect Danny, and I care for him. I want to see him happy.”

She pitied the man really, here he was loaded to the point of being one of the richest men on
The Rim
, and he couldn’t even show his affection for another human being without seeming put out by it.

RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 100

“Danny was nothing when I finally found him. He was a street kid and I rescued him from his living hell. In return, he showed me that you don’t always have to be concerned about yourself. I’m appallingly selfish, and yet when I had a ten-year-old boy to look after I had to make some compromises. I taught him everything, and he repays me at every given opportunity.

He would do the same thing for me, if the woman I loved were in danger. After all, he did save you and your sister’s lives, when those pirates were attacking you. I intend to happily attend their executions tomorrow morning. You may despise me, Samantha, but I assure you that I’ll never let anything happen to Johanna. Whether you choose to believe it or not, I would have treated the woman I truly loved as if she were a queen.”

Something in his tone made her think he wasn’t exactly telling her the truth about Jordan, but she shook it off.

“Yes, but you wouldn’t have given her what she really needs,” Samantha countered matter-of-factly.

“Tell me, what exactly would that have been?” he asked, leaning forward. His eyes glittered.

“
Freedom
. You would have put her in a crystal palace and your dangerous life would’ve ultimately been the undoing of that woman. And, if you’d married her, she would be in Lady Devlin’s unfortunate place right now. Because if you didn’t have her murdered, then it was most undoubtedly your
life
that killed her.”

Lord Devlin stared at her with a gaze that if looks could kill she would have been dead ten seconds ago.

RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 101

“I seriously doubt Tyler would’ve killed the woman I wanted as my wife, even he could not be that black hearted. My true love, in no way resembles my dead wife.”

“Guess we’re going to play that game again, huh,” she grumbled, suddenly remembering she hadn’t brought the dog with her. She should’ve run after him.

The mangy mutt had saved her life, and she had repaid him by leaving him behind.

Suddenly, she felt quite nauseas. The dog had just disappeared. She’d seen him leave…but then he’d just vanished in the crowd. Damn, she needed some coffee. That just might jumpstart her brain.

“We have to go back...,” she began, nearly pressing her nose to the window. She could see by the skyline that they hadn’t gone very far. It wouldn’t take them long to return.

Lord Devlin threw his bloody handkerchief away, and gave her a ‘
you’ve lost it look’
.

“Why, so that you can make even more of a spectacle of yourself? Or were you going to add some special effects to your performance?”

She wrinkled her nose at him, grasping the side of the leather upholstery. Did he know about what she could do? Her heart raced at that prospect.

“No, you certified jackass. I wanted to save the dog that helped me,” she blurted out, wondering why she was trying to explain herself to a man that was quite literally the king of all assholes.

“I didn’t see any dog. I believe Samantha that you have gone quite loopy. I would suggest that you have Johanna check you out, at the earliest opportunity. Dog,” he muttered.

“Now I have heard it all.”

“Oh, shove it,” she whispered, falling silent. Well, if Lord Devlin hadn’t seen the dog, then where had it come from? She hadn’t been imagining or seeing things. She was tired, but not crazy. Why did unexplainable not to mention ultra weird things always seem to happen to her? For once, just once, she’d like to have a logical explanation for the different things she saw.

Her sister Charlotte would tell her that it was her ‘gift’ resurrecting itself. But there was only one kind of sight that she wanted. She would continue to smother the other sight as long as she could.

“Were you always so damnably charming?” Devlin inquired, settling himself back against the black leather seat.

“I was born with my charm,” she smirked.

He shrugged his shoulders, and let out a throaty chuckle.

“
Your poor mother.
”

The hover limo shuddered, and began descending toward his opulent mansion. It was constructed like a fortress, and she shivered keenly wondering how Tyler had managed to break into it. Her husband was talented all right. She wouldn’t know where to begin in infiltrating Lord Devlin’s home. It looked as if it could fight off a bloody army.

The door to the limo opened and Lord Devlin stared back at her in expectation.

“Well, are you
coming?
” he asked, tapping his foot restlessly.

“You don’t have to seem so eager,” she muttered, sliding across the seat. She wrinkled her nose and noticed for the first time that she had rusty lettuce stuck on her. Her stomach rolled RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 102

for what seemed to the fifth time that morning. She was a bloody mess!

“I can hardly wait,” he retorted. He watched with a sour grimace as she flicked the lettuce off of herself.

“You smell,” he muttered.

She groaned. He could be charming with almost any other woman. But whenever he was talking to her he lost all semblance of tact. She made a rude noise through her nose, and gave him a glare.

“And you’re an asshole! But you don’t see me telling you that at every chance I get.” She swore when she hit her head on the roof of the car.

“Don’t worry, no damage will have been done,” he muttered, as she staggered back.

“Your ass is still quite unharmed.”

“Why don’t you pucker your lips up and bust it a big one?”

He quickly reached out a steadying hand she pulled back away from him.

“Take

your

filthy
hand off of me!”

“Yes, you’re right. It will be soiled now that I have touched you,” he murmured.

She gave him another creative glare.

“Now I have to go in and give my hands a good scrubbing. The smell probably won’t air out of my limo for at least a week.”

“Here’s to hoping!” she said brightly, as they walked up to the massive front door.

“You can use one of my bathrooms to clean yourself up. I’ll contact Danny, and your sister. They will in all likelihood be quite worried about you. Later, I will take you back up to
The Emerald Star
.”

“Don’t bother. I don’t think that I could stand one more minute of your company. You make my ass ache.” She tried not to let her jaw drop onto the black and white marble floor.

No matter how much she detested Lord Devlin, she had to admit that he had good taste.

Her heart sank as she realized the kind of lifestyle that a certain someone could be living right now. If she hadn’t broken Johanna and Lord Devlin up, Johanna would never of had to worry about being up to her ass in scary shit, and she never would’ve had to worry about how they were going to pay for things. But then, she’d always known that Devlin had gone after Johanna because someone else had spurned him…. Maybe just maybe, she should have encouraged Johanna to marry Devlin, no matter how she’d felt.

Boy oh, boy, maybe she
had
royally screwed her sister. But then all form of guilt left her, when she saw the three painted women sitting in the front parlor on the couch. They looked like cheap whores. Maybe he’d gotten a group rate.

“Oh, Lord Devlin haven’t you been a naughty boy!” Samantha snickered.

* * * *

Samantha studied the women with interest and nearly stuck her tongue out at them when they suddenly glanced her way. They all frowned at her and then Samantha was reminded that she was still wearing her bright red pajamas. Not knowing of anything else to do, she gave them a wacky grin, as they all put constipated expressions on their faces. “Say, aren’t they stuck up pieces of crap,” she murmured, instantly disliking them.