Cowboy from the Future (3 page)

Neither
was Cade.

He
was half Voltyn.  The woman would run screaming from him, if she knew.

The
thought did nothing to improve his mood, but forest green eyes kept staring at
him, depending on him for help, and Cade realized he didn’t have a choice.  Voltyn
had been bred to defend.  To fight and sacrifice and die to ensure the safety
of others.  When someone was in their care, all that mattered was offering
protection.

This
woman had been
dropped
here --Handed to him-- like someone was asking
him to shield her.  She was his responsibility.  He knew it.  Cade couldn’t
throw her to the wolves, no matter how much easier it would make his life.  He
just… couldn’t.

This
girl is supposed to be yours.

“She
stays here.”  Cade said in resignation.  “Everybody else get out.”

Manston
glowered at him.  “You can’t keep a human woman…”

“I
can
.”  Cade interrupted, using the local dialect.  “My saloon.  My
rules.”  He gestured towards the woman and his powers crackled the air.  “
Nynan
.” 
He said, using his mother’s hated language.  All humans recognized that word
and the pain that would result if they ignored it.

Manston
backed down with a hateful glare.  “For now, Voltyn.”  He spat out and stalked
from the bar.

Cade’s
jaw ticked.

It
still took the rest of the men a good ten minutes to reluctantly file out.  Probably
twice the time it would take them to spread the story of the Westins’ mysterious
visitor all over the polis.  Cade sighed and crossed the tavern to lock the
door behind them.  If this woman was staying, he might have to hire armed
guards, because she was going to draw every pervert and Outlander for a ganton.

He
slanted Jacobi a glare, blaming him for putting this crazy idea into his head. 
Jake would’ve been the first to agree that he was a perpetual screw up, so why
was Cade even listening to him?  “When she gets us all killed, remember I was
the one who wanted her gone.”

“I
see the way you’re looking at her.  I
know
what you want and it’s not
about her
going
.  It’s about you
coming.
”  Jacobi grinned widely
at that wordplay.  The kid had always been a wiseass.  “Where do you think she
lives, anyway?  Deadwood?”  That possibility delighted him.  “It’s gotta be a big
polis. 
Really
big.  Maybe even Cody.”

“How
the fuck could she get from Cody to here?  Cade snapped, feeling frustrated
with the world at large.  Hardly anyone in Shadow-of-the-Gods had been farther
than Hot Springs.  Even that trip was difficult.  Reaching a huge metropolis
like Cody was next to impossible.

“Well,
she had to come from
somewhere
, right?  She didn’t just drop from the
sky.”

“Wherever
she came from, she’ll have to go back.  She’s
not
staying here for
long.”  Cade was serious about that.  …But he still stopped to add some more
wood to the already healthy fire, because he didn’t like the idea of the woman
being cold.

“Cade,
don’t be an idiot.”  Deke intoned.  “Jake’s right.  You want her so bad that
your hands are as bright as the flames.”

“What
difference does it make?”  He shot back.  “I can’t have her.  You know what
will happen if I even try.”

“I’m
not suggesting you
marry
her.  Just fuck her a few times and get this
out of your system.”

Cade
had the horrible feeling that wasn’t going to be enough to free himself of this
woman.  His heart was pounding, the skin of his palms glowing more than it ever
had before.  “She’s a lady and I’m a Voltyn.”  He reminded his brothers.  “They
will hang me just for looking at her.  The three of us versus a hundred bigoted,
sex-starved miners.  Do those sound like good odds?”

Deke
shrugged.  “If I worried about odds, I’d have been dead in the Wilderness.”

“To
be fair, there’s only eight girls in this polis and two of ‘em are over
eighty.  Your woman would draw notice no matter what she looked like.”  Jacobi
argued.  “It’s just a lady like her is gonna draw a little
more
notice
than most.”

Cade
made a disgusted face at that colossal understatement.  “A
little
more
notice?  We’re going to be dragged into a war, Jake.  Is that what you want?”

“If
we throw her out, she’ll die or get raped on the street.”  Deke shook his
head.  “I’ve caused enough death.  Give the girl a room and stop being an ass.”

The
woman sat on her barstool, her forehead resting in her palms, as they bickered
around her.  Part of the wooden counter had come free under her elbow and Cade briefly
frowned in annoyance.  Why did his carpentry projects never stay fixed?

“Are
you guys arguing about me?”  She asked in a dull voice.

Cade
knew he should answer that, but he was too busy staring, again.  Just looking
at her small hands, he knew she’d never done any work, at all.  They were
smooth and gentle and her nails were painted purple.  Who painted their godsdamn
fingernails?  Not anyone he knew.  All that time and money wasted on something that
had no practical purpose.  All that time and money wasted just to be… pretty.

Four
gods, she was pretty.

“We’re
just discussing the weather.”  Jake lied.  He really wasn’t
a screw up,
so much as he was young.  One day, he’d have his moment.  Until then, he was
the best possible choice to have around when you needed to talk to a lady.  He
smiled at her, nonthreatening and polite.  “I’m Jacobi Westin and that’s my brother
Deke.”  He pointed across the bar.  “You already met Cade.  The three of us
live here and we’d be
happy
if you stayed with us for a while.”  He
flashed Cade a prompting look.  “Wouldn’t we?”

Cade
knew this was a mistake, but the woman turned to look at him and he was…
beguiled.  “For
one night
.”  He told her grudgingly, shoving his hands
into his pockets again.  “Two at most.  By then your people will have found you,
right?”

No
one around here could afford a woman like this.  No way.  She had to just be
passing through, which meant some stranger was probably scouring the
countryside for her shiny red head.  Hopefully, when the jackass showed up, the
Westins could return her for a nice reward.  Cade had just spared somebody’s
pampered pet from a brutal gang rape by miners, so he figured he
at least
deserved some fair compensation for the trouble.

“When
will your people come for you?”  He repeated when she just frowned in confusion.
 “They must be searching, yes?”

“Maybe,
but I doubt they’re looking in South Dakota.”  Her eyes went to the snow piling
up outside the windows.  “Maybe no one will find me here.”  Her words were so
quiet he barely heard them.  She seemed to be falling into some kind of shock. 
“Maybe no one will even notice I’m gone.”

Cade
sighed at her miserable tone.  He moved his head so he could meet her damp gaze. 
“They will search for you forever.”  He said with absolute certainty.  Whoever
she belonged to would come for her, no matter the hardship.  A human male would
have to be out of his mind to leave her behind.  No other woman like this
existed in the entire world.  “Your man will find you.  I’m sure of it.”

In
fact, what kind of fucking lack-wit would let her get lost to begin with?  Did
the asshole figure it was enough to just buy her expensive lotions and
fingernail paint?  Didn’t he think about keeping her away from places like this
and safe from men like Cade?  Just for spite, Cade added a zero to the end of
the reward amount he’d be “requesting” from the bastard.

“I
don’t know what that means exactly, but sure.”  She gamely nodded.  “Some
search-and-rescue guy will find me.  I mean, think of the bad press Brown’s
Glamping Tours would get, if I never came back.  There’s a reasonable
explanation for
all
of this.  There
has
to be.  And in the
meantime, I’ll just stay here.”

“For
one night.”  Cade reminded her.  “Two at most.”

That
jolted her from her pep talk and she scowled at him.

Jacobi
rolled his eyes and headed up the stairs.  “I’ll go get our most
kinda
clean room ready for her.”  He called in their language.  “Might as well, since
she sure won’t be sleeping in
your
bed tonight.  Great work, idiot.  Way
to win the girl over.”

“I’m
not trying to win her over!”

Deke
ignored that protest, nodding like he was suddenly an authority on the feminine
mind.  “Be softer, Cade.  I know it’s hard for you, but fucking
try
.  The
woman is spooked as it is.  You’re making it worse by antagonizing her.”

They
were taking
her
side?  God, Cade wished he’d been born an only child. 
“Fuck you both.  You’re not looking at this human’s aura.  It’s like she’s
surrounded by godsdamn magic.  Do you really think someone like her belongs
here?
”
 
He shook his head.  “I said she could stay the night.  What more do you
want from me?”

“I
want you to not be an idiot.”  Deke summed up flatly.

The
woman kept glowering at Cade.  She might not know their language, but that
didn’t stop her from weighing in.  “Are your brothers telling you you’re an idiot? 
I hope so, because you’re being an idiot.  I don’t want to be here anymore than
you want me here, but it might take a little time for the rescue party to arrive,
alright?  When you’re lost, you should stay put until help comes.  McGruff the
Crime Dog taught me that in kindergarten.”

“Who?”

The
woman kept talking.  “Besides, I’ll die if I stay out in those woods alone.”

“Which
is not my concern.”

“I’m
making
it your concern.  Before I freeze, I’ll be pinning a note to my
hypothermic body so the cops know
you’re
the one who tossed me out.”

Cade
scowled at her, weighing his options.  This woman belonged to someone important
and Shadow-of-the-Gods wasn’t important, at all.  If she died, her pissed off
benefactor could execute all the Westins for failing to protect her, and no one
would care enough to stop him.  Cade should let her stay just to avoid a bigger
fight down the road.

That
logic appealed to him.  Yes. 
That
was why he was agreeing to this.  It
would save him trouble in the long run if he allowed her to stay for a night.  Two
at most.  That was the only reason he wasn’t booting her out the door.

That
godsdamn click sounded in his ears, just to mock him.

“What
is your name, lady?”  Cade finally demanded.

“Adeline
Mulhaney.”

“Adeline?” 
That wasn’t a name, but, for some reason, he loved the sound of it.  “Of
course, you’re Adeline.”  He taunted.  “You’re very…
Adeline
looking,
aren’t you?”

Green
eyes narrowed, not appreciating her own words being turned against her.  “Except,
no one ever calls me Adeline outside of the DMV.  My friends all call me Addy.”

“We’re
not friends.”  Cade warned.  Four gods, just insinuating that would get them
both lynched.  Ladies didn’t befriend Voltyn.  Ever.  “Do you have gold,
Adeline?
 
Or do you think you should just move into our home for free?”

She
swiped a hand under her nose and seemed to think for a minute.  “I don’t have a
lot of cash on me and you guys don’t seem to like the taste of credit cards,
but I can trade you something if you let me stay here.”

“…Trade?” 
A thousand thoughts went through Cade’s head, all of them obscenely graphic.

Deke
flashed him a dry look, as if he was reading Cade’s mind.

“Yeah. 
I have a bunch of stuff.”  Addy lugged her spotted bag up onto the counter and
opened it with some quick movement that sounded like a hiss of metal.  “I’ve got…
let’s see… Oh!  A brand new bear whistle.  Becky-the-glamping-ranger said it
was state-of-the-art.”  The odd name was pronounced as one long word.  “You
could probably use a state-of-the-art bear whistle here on the range, right?”

Cade
didn’t see how.

The
woman kept going.  “Or --um-- some nice, healthy granola bars or… Oh God! 
Cookies!”  She pulled out a clear bag of some kind and tugged the edges of it
apart.  “I forgot I bought these.  Here, I’ll give you a snickerdoodle for a
drink.  We can talk about trading my brand new iPhone for a room, after I get a
little bit drunk.”

Cade
hesitantly took a “snicker doodle” from her strange bag, waiting for her to
start eating one herself before he risked taking a bite of his own.

“
Fucking
hell
.”  He groaned in ecstasy as the sweet flavor exploded on his tongue.

Deke
frowned and edged closer.  “What is that food?”

“I
have no idea, but it’s better than sex.”  Not as good as sex with Adeline
Mulhaney and her acres of perfect skin would be, but better than with any other
woman.  He’d never tasted anything so good in his entire life.  He broke off a
piece and tossed it to his brother.  “See for yourself.”