Cowboy from the Future (14 page)

“He
thinks a Voltyn is unsuitable company for a lady.”  Jacobi shot Cade a quick
look and loyally added.  “But, he’s
wrong,
Addy.  Really.  You belong
here with us.  Cade isn’t going to hurt you or…”

Addy
cut off that spirited defense of Cade’s honor.  “Oh Lord,
this
again?” 
She whirled back around to Cade.  “Just tell him I’m not a lady.  I know you
keep calling me that, but I’m really not.  Ask my father.  He’s always saying
I’m a scatterbrain and embarrassment.  I got drunk at my own cotillion and
threw up on my date’s shoes.  That’s not what a lady would do.”

Cade’s
attention stayed on Hugo, considering what was best for Addy.  What the hell
was he
doing?
  The mayor had a point.  It really would be impossible for
her to recover if her name was linked to a Voltyn.  She might not understand
that, but Cade did.  How could he ask her to stay with him and ruin her whole
life?

He
let out a long breath.  “Hugo has the largest home in the polis, Adeline.  It
is warmer and more luxurious than your room here.  You’d be very comfortable
there.  And if you stay with him, you will meet people from your own world.”

“I
seriously doubt that.”

“Perhaps
not quite so refined as you’re used to, but he is the richest man around.  He’s
a better companion for you, until spring.”

“No,
I
am the richest person around.”  Addy corrected.  “Or at least Brian
is.”

Cade
had serious doubts that “Brian” even existed.  Just so the man didn’t have
designs on Addy, he didn’t much care, though.  “Adeline, you must…”

She
cut him off.  “Damn it, didn’t we settle this?  Look, I’ll give you more money,
if that’s what it takes to stay.  Lots more.  I know you want me gone, but I
can pay you double.  I swear.”

“She
doesn’t want to go.”  For the first time since the Wilderness War, white
swirled into Deke’s murky aura.  Hope.  Adeline had done that.  “I
knew
I was right about her.”  He glanced at Cade.  “What the fuck are you doing,
trying to sabotage this?  Let the woman decide what she wants.”

“She
doesn’t
know
what she wants.”  Cade retorted.  Godsdammit, why didn’t
she understand the simplest things?  “Adeline, it is not about the money.  It
would just be better for you if you weren’t… connected to me.”

“It
would be better for
you
, you mean.”  She shot back, her face reflecting outrage
and betrayal.  How could she possibly have turned this around so
he
was
the one being unreasonable?  “I know you wanted me gone at the beginning, but I
thought we were getting closer.  I thought…”  Addy trailed off and green eyes
glittered with hurt tears.  “Don’t you like me?”  She asked in a confused
voice.

Gods,
she was going to gut him, if she kept it up.  “I like you too much, lady.” 
Cade whispered helplessly.  “For your own sake, you have to go.”

“No. 
I’m holding you to our deal.  It’s best for
me
to stay here and you
promised I could.  I don’t even know this guy!”  She waved a hand at Hugo. 
“Deke says he’s a bigot.  Didn’t you say that, Deke?”

“I
did say that.  And he is.”

“You
see?”

Cade
let out a long sigh.  “That may be true, but Hugo’s not bigoted towards
you
.”

“Oh,
like that makes it so much better.”  She scoffed, wiping at her eyes.  “So, I
should pal around with bigots, because they haven’t turned on
me
, yet? 
Is that who you think I am?”  She leaned closer to him, her voice going serious. 
“I was the fat kid in school, Cade.  The one nobody wanted to play with and who
even the teachers picked on.”

Cade
couldn’t imagine there would
ever
be a place where Adeline wasn’t
treasured.  It didn’t seem possible.  Yellowstone must be the dankest hole in
the universe to not see her glow.

“I
know the Voltyn prejudice here is even worse,” she continued, “but
do
I
understand at least some of it.  I know what it feels like to be left out and
picked on.  No one deserves that, certainly not you.  It doesn’t matter what
anybody else in this town thinks.  I am on
your
side, Cade.  They can
just hate both of us, if they want to be idiots.”

It
took him a moment to find words.  The woman was going to drive him to his knees. 
“You’re speaking as if some battle is being waged.  It isn’t.  This fight is
long over and the humans have won.  Stand with
them
or you’ll suffer
their wrath, too.  It’s impossible to change the way things are.”

She
met his gaze dead on.  “If we don’t try to change the impossible, then nothing
would
ever
change.”

Cade’s
hands grew hot and he shoved them into his pockets to hide his reaction to her
words.

“What
is she saying?”  Hugo demanded, glowering at Cade.  “She seems upset.  Have you
upset her?”

“She’s
upset at the idea of
leaving
Cade.”  Jacobi corrected quietly. 
Adeline’s speech must have affected him too, because he was regarding her in
something like wonder.  “She wants to stay with him.”

Hugo’s
eyes bugged.  “She wants to stay with a Voltyn?  No.  That’s impossible.  She
must not understand.”  That was true, but it still pissed Cade off to hear
someone else say it.  Hugo focused on Addy with a repressive frown and switched
to her language.  “Cade is… bad… manatee.  You… stout… me… instead… for…
laundry.”  He held out a hand and gestured for her to come close.

Addy
shook her head and moved back from him.  That forest green gaze turned up to
Cade, full of trust that he’d done nothing to earn.  From the moment she’d
walked into his bar, she’d been expecting him to act as a human would.  And not
just
any
human, but the kind of honorable man who didn’t exist outside ridiculous
mermaid stories.  “Don’t let him take me away.  Please.”

Deke
and Jacobi were both staring at him, waiting to see what he’d do.  Even Hugo
hesitated, looking at Cade for some clue as to how they should proceed.

Cade
squeezed his eyes shut.

Fuck.

This
was going to be a disaster.  Every time Addy said “please,” the argument was
over, though.  He had absolutely no defense against it.  No one had ever asked
him for anything using that word before.  Not even his brothers.  It was a
human word.  Using “please” with a Voltyn was pointless, considering they had
no compassion or empathy.  They didn’t say “please.”  They didn’t respond to
“please.”  It was ridiculous to think they even
understood
“please.”

But,
Adeline Mulhaney didn’t seem to know that.  She said “please” like she expected
it to work.  …And because she believed it, it did.

“I
told you, you can stay until spring.”  He muttered.  “I don’t break my
promises.  If you want to ruin your reputation by turning your back on the most
important human in the polis, be my guest.”

His
brothers’ eyebrows shot upward as the ease of his capitulation.  Cade didn’t
capitulate.  Ever.  Surrender wasn’t in the Voltyn blood.

Addy
smiled in triumph, missing the astonished reactions of the others.  She loved
to win, which was lucky since she somehow always ended up as the victor in
their disputes.  The woman could out plan and outmaneuver anyone.  “Then, I’m
not
leaving this hotel.”  She edged back another step as Hugo beckoned her forward. 
“Can cat-guy make me leave this hotel?”

Cade
hesitated.  “No.”  …But Hugo would certainly try.

“Good. 
So tell him to get lost, because he’s freaking me out.”

Cade
snorted at that impatient demand.  The woman didn’t even reach his shoulder,
but she’d taken over his life like a ghaa beast.  How could he ever have
thought to part with her, even one moment sooner than he had to?  Getting rid
of Addy now wouldn’t protect himself from heartbreak.  It was far too late for that.

“Alright.” 
He murmured.  “You’d better go upstairs for real this time, though.  Hugo won’t
like hearing it.”  Neither would his small army of hired men.

“You
must hand her over, at once!”  Hugo blustered.  “It’s basically kidnaping to
keep an innocent human woman locked up here!”

“Locked
up, my ass.”  Jacobi shot back and glanced over to her.  “Addy, who do you want
to stay with?”  He spoke so slowly that even Hugo would understand her
language.  “Cade?”  He motioned to Cade.  “Or Hugo?”  He motioned to Hugo.

Addy
very deliberately pointed at Cade.

So
that
was what it felt like to chosen.

Cade
had always wondered.  Through all the times his father had taken his brothers
hunting and left him behind and his stepmother refused to let him call her “mom.” 
All the children’s games he’d been excluded from and stores that wouldn’t allow
him through the door.  All the women who pretended they didn’t know him in the
morning.  Finally, someone had picked him and it was even better than he’d imagined…
because it was
her
.

Cade
gazed down at Addy’s impossible aura and knew what he’d known from the second
he heard that click in his head.  “
Nynan
.”  He breathed.

“See?” 
Jacobi turned to Hugo with a victorious grin.  “It’s Addy’s choice and she wants
to stay with us.”

“Well,
she doesn’t get to make that choice.”  Hugo snapped, furious over Addy’s
slight.  “We have rules in this polis about Voltyn corrupting human women.”

It
was difficult for a Voltyn to smirk, but Cade managed it.  “Rules won’t matter
much to you, if you’re dead.”  The words were a flat vow.  “And if you touch
Adeline, we’re going to have a problem.”

Hugo
gasped in outrage at the threat.  “I’m not afraid of you, you bastard!  Your
family has always been blight on this polis.  Deke’s a madman, Jacobi’s just a screw
up, and you’re a
Voltyn
.  You and your brothers aren’t going to sully
this girl with your insanity and lawlessness.”

Deke
rolled his eyes.

“I’m
not just a screw up!”  Jacobi snapped in a tone that suggested he thought
exactly the opposite.  “One day, I’m going to have my moment and everyone will
see that I can be more that some stupid kid in this…”

Hugo
cut him off, his eyes on Cade.  “You’re giving me the woman, Westin.  If need
be, I’ll go to Sheriff Zecker.”  Hugo arched a smug brow.  “He told me himself
that she should be taken from you, but I thought we could do this the civilized
way.”  Zecker’s sadistic streak and hatred for Voltyn was legendary in
Shadow-of-the-Gods.

Cade
didn’t care.  “I never claimed to be civilized.”  He snarled back.  “Adeline will
stay here, with
me
, for as long as she likes.  Now, get the hell out of
my bar.”

“Is
Garfield the Cat still trying to abduct me away to be respectable?”  Addy was
attempting to follow the argument, as Hugo grew even angrier.

“Yes,
but it won’t work.  And not just because you are an
un
lady who throws up
on shoes.”  Cade wanted to brush a hand over her hair, but touching her in
front of Hugo would just make things worse.  “Go back upstairs, Adeline.  We
will deal with this.”

He
glanced over at Deke, who gave a philosophical shrug.  Jacobi moved towards the
closest weapon.  His brothers weren’t going to argue over the coming
bloodshed.  Addy had aligned herself with the Westins and no one took what
belonged to the Westins without one hell of a fight.

Addy
picked up on the undercurrents, her eyes narrowing.  “Wait, are you three about
to get in a brawl over this?”  She snorted.  “Lord, why am I not surprised.  You
know what, I’ll deal with it myself.  The last time you guys handled things,
there were a bunch of dead bodies and a shootout in the street.  Watch and
learn how to dissuade a jerkoff in a bar.”  She stepped closer to Cade and
yanked his head down.

Their
lips met and Cade’s mind went blank.

Adeline’s
mouth opened against his and everything that he’d been before was swept away. 
No,
burned
away in the bright halo of gold that surrounded her.

His
whole life, he’d been staring through a window of a party he wasn’t invited
to.  Unwanted.  Shunned.  Left out and overlooked.  But, Adeline Mulhaney threw
open the door and dragged him inside.  A woman he wasn’t worthy to desire, but
who he wanted beyond anything he’d ever dreamed.  She tasted like Adeline
had
to taste.  Like clean, hot salvation.  Like touching the top of the sky.  Addy
was in his arms and he was free.

Two
heartbeats of time.  That was all it took.  Cade didn’t even have the chance to
kiss her back, because he was too damn shocked to move.  Then, Addy pulled back
from him, looking as startled as he felt.

Green
eyes blinked up at him, her cheeks flushed.  “Did you just hear a click?”  She
whispered.

Gods
yes.

Addy
shook her head, without waiting for an answer.  She probably noticed that he
was in no condition to come up with an intelligible response.  “Sorry.  Stupid
question, for a second I just thought…”  She trailed off, like she didn’t know
how to explain it.