He lifted his hand to cup her face and heard that click so loud it was deafening. “Alright.” His thumb brushed over her cheek, marveling at the texture of her skin. No one had skin like hers. Until he met Addy, he would’ve said nothing could be so soft.
“I’m sorry that I got you arrested.” She leaned into his palm. “I didn’t think through the ‘kissing you’ part. That happens a lot. Not kissing guys, but the ‘not thinking it through before I act’ thing. My father’s right. I can be a scatterbrain.”
He wasn’t surprised that she regretted kissing him, but it still sent a twinge through his heart. The rejection didn’t matter compared to correcting her faulty vision of herself, though. “Your father’s not right.” He told her quietly. “You are extraordinary, Adeline. None of this was your fault.”
“Sure it was. If I hadn’t come along, you wouldn’t have been arrested. You were way better off without me.”
He hated to even remember what his life had been like before she’d walked in from the snow. “No, I wasn’t better off without you, Addy. Not by a long shot. Without you, everything was very, very dark. Knowing you is like standing in the sunlight for the first time.”
She liked that. “Are you sure you’re not flirting with me?”
Cade’s felt his mouth curve. “I mean it. The fact that you’ve come here to help me…” He shook his head. “You told me to thank you for it later, but I wish to thank you, now. There may not be a later and you should know that I am… overwhelmed that you would do this. Thank you.”
She smiled at him. “You’re welcome.”
For once in Cade’s life, no one had to remind him to be soft. His insides were forever melted where she was concerned. There was no going back.
He cleared his throat. “This plan of yours is,” the most amazing thing anyone has ever done for me, “very sweet. But, it was also reckless. So, when we’re caught, you must tell them that I kidnapped you. Alright?”
“Like even this think-tank of a town would buy that story. How the hell could you kidnap me from your jail cell? Alien transporter gun?”
“They won’t care about logic. They’ll be looking for a way to blame me and you need to let them. Do not say a word in my defense. It will save your life. Promise me.”
“I have a better idea.” Addy lowered her voice to a mocking whisper. “Let’s just not get caught, cowboy.” She winked and slipped away from him, heading down the street.
Cade stared after her.
The woman was insane.
Cursing under his breath, he stalked out the door. Her rescue was truly the high point of his entire existence. The first time anyone had ever risked themselves for him. But, for the life of him, Cade couldn’t think of one rational reason why she’d be taking such a chance. It had to be some kind of lunacy. A genuine mental disorder. Why did he even try to talk to her like she was a normal person, when she so clearly wasn’t normal?
A normal person wouldn’t do these things. A normal person wouldn’t break a Voltyn out of jail, or let him touch her, or knockout a guard like it was any other Resday. In fact, if Addy was a normal person, she wouldn’t be in Shadow-of-the-Gods, at all. She’d be safely ensconced in that little prairie house Michael Landon wished to build for her, surrounded by pretty things and music.
Gods, Cade detested Michael Landon.
The rest of the polis was still convinced Outlanders were about to invade. Cade kept his head down as frantic citizens rushed passed. Pretty soon everyone was going to realize they’d been had. He had to make sure Addy was out of Shadow-of-the-Gods before that happened or she’d be strung up beside him and his idiot brothers.
“Where you running off to, flower?” Manston stepped out from the shadows, where he’d apparently been hiding. No doubt he’d wanted to avoid being drafted for a fight with the Outlanders, so he was laying low. Spotting Adeline walking passed must have seemed like winning the annual sweepstakes.
“Oh great.” Addy skidded to a halt as the son of a bitch shifted into her path. “Look, we’re in a hurry here.” She told him in her language. “Just move out of the way and… ”
Manston cut her off. “No sense with that fancy talk, girlie. I’m not that fucking Voltyn, hanging on your every stuck-up word.”
Addy rolled her eyes. She didn’t need an exact translation to know the guy was a waste of time. “Whatever.”
Manston quickly blocked her, as she started around him. There was a bottle in his hand and a leer on his face. “That inhuman asshole hasn’t been letting anyone near you, but, now that he’s out of the way, you and I can finally get to know each other a…” His taunt stopped short, as Cade came up behind her. “What the shit?”
“Oh, did I forget to mention the hanging was cancelled?” Addy smirked at Manston. “Ready to move yet, dickhead?”
Manston took a lurching step backwards, his eyes on Cade. “You bastard! You think you’ll get away with this? Huh? The sheriff will hunt you down and kill you, like he shoulda done from the second you took a human woman as your own.”
“She told you to move.” Cade said quietly.
“You shouldn’t be allowed to have her!” Manston continued, intoxicated and belligerent. “She’s my kind, not yours. And once you’re dead, I’ll shove that little bitch down and show her what a human man can offer a…”
Cade punched him. He drew back his fist and slammed it into Manston’s scraggly face. The miner hit the boards of the sidewalk with a reverberating thud, his arms spread wide. His head lulled to the side, his nose flattened into a mush of cartilage and blood.
Cade leaned over the man’s unconscious body. “Next time, just listen to the lady.”
Addy made a ‘”hmm” sound and glanced up at him. “Okay, but the guy I knocked out was tougher.”
“He was not. Besides, I’ve been waiting to hit this asshole for years.”
“I just hope you didn’t hurt your sawing and hammering hand. It would be a nightmare if your carpentry skills got even worse.”
“You’re hilarious.” He held out a palm to her and led her around Manston’s splayed form. “Let’s get out of here, before someone realizes that he’s not just passed out drunk. This polis isn’t safe for either of us.” He looked around, poised for more trouble. “Where are we going on this camping trip?”
“That part of the plan is kind of a work in progress. We’ll figure it out after we escape the posse.”
“And how are we escaping the posse?”
“On the horses we’re stealing, of course.”
“Fine. Where are the horses we’re stealing?”
“With Deke.”
Round and round and round… It was like being rescued by a team of swida monkeys. “Where’s Deke?”
“We’re supposed to meet him by the feed store with Hugo’s prize mounts. He said we could get out of town from that direction.” She shifted her wrist, so her fingers were locked with Cade’s. “Hopefully, they still look like horses. Either way, I’m going to name mine Madonna.”
“I think you sometimes speak random words just to toy with me.”
With her hand holding in his, though, he couldn’t bring himself to mind. Gods, he loved her hands. They would never hit a child for being different or angrily claw in bed because she didn’t care about causing pain. Adeline’s hands were gentle. Watching them move on the keys of the vianorgan was some otherworldly mixture of holy and erotic. He’d known that it would be far less disruptive if she stopped preforming on the damn thing for an audience of half-feral miners, but he couldn’t stand the thought of not hearing the music she created.
Jacobi had been right earlier, when he said that Cade would just embarrass himself if he tried to take the instrument away or insist that she remain in her room. Addy could do whatever she wished and Cade would die for her right to do it.
The woman really did beguile him.
She glanced up at him, like something new occurred to her. “Hey, you can ride a horse, can’t you? I probably should’ve asked th
at sooner. But, it’s something that all guys in big hats can do, right?”
“I can ride a horse.”
She arched a brow. “From your pissy tone, I’m guessing you’re really some champion rodeo star, huh?”
“I like horses.” Cade assured her. “But, I don’t know what a rodeo is.”
“It’s a cowboy show and nice street to shop on.”
He was opening his mouth to respond to that dizzying gibberish, when the sheriff and his men went riding by at full tilt. Cade ducked between two building, dragging Addy with him. He pressed her between his body and the wooden siding. …Although shielding her didn’t make much sense, since he was the one who’d escaped. Ridiculous as they were, his actions meant that her lush curves were pressed up against him.
Voltyn powers started sparking, blocking out petty human concerns. They whispered that worrying about the sheriff was a waste of time. Cade could burn the whole polis to cinders before Zecker could stop him. He could scorch his enemies from the inside out and ignite the flesh of anyone who threatened his family. He didn’t need to concern himself with anything except the woman in his arms.
Nynan.
He shifted closer to her warmth, wanting more. Cade was probably still going to die tomorrow and she was literally the most beautiful woman in the world. More importantly, she was Adeline Mulhaney, lunatic and miracle. Just touching her was more than he’d ever expected to have. She did not want to kiss him again, but it was hard for him to think about anything else.
“Where is Deke meeting us?” He asked again, trying to stay in control.
She looked around in confusion. “I told you. Right here. This is next to the feeds store, right?”
“Yes.” Shit, he should’ve known that. With her, he wasn’t even sure where he was anymore. “So, where is he?”
“He’s coming. Don’t worry. Your brother won’t let you down.”
She sounded supremely confident in a man who’d drilled sniper holes in the roof on his first night back from the Wilderness War, because the birds “looked like they were up to something.” Deke had been making progress with Adeline in the house. Her presence really did act like a healing balm for all of them. Deke now stayed mostly coherent and slept longer than five minutes a night. Still, there was always a chance he’d get lost in his own head and take an axe to all their dishware again.
Instead of worrying about Deke’s instability, Addy’s attention was centered on Cade’s hands. “What’s that?”
Oh shit.
He quickly released her palm. “Nothing.” He tried to shove his hands into his pockets, but she wouldn’t let him. Those delicate fingers caught hold of his wrist and Cade couldn’t have pulled away from her if someone held a laz-gun to his head.
“Why are they glowing?” She asked softly, looking fascinated by the purple luminescence that emanated from his skin.
“It’s a Voltyn trait. I’m sorry. I know women find it… unnerving.”
Normal woman, anyway.
Not Adeline Mulhaney. She probably wouldn’t have been unnerved if he was an alien. For whatever reason, she didn’t look at him and see someone less than human. She just saw Cade.
“It’s so beautiful.” She murmured. “What does it mean?”
Cade stared down at her hand cradling his. “It’s a sign of desire.” He should probably lie. It would be for the best. Instead, he found himself telling the truth. “I can usually control it, but not around you. It’s too strong. The Voltyn powers want me to touch you.”
She beamed like that was good news. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” And because he simply couldn’t help it, Cade lifted his free hand to trail one of his fingers across the curve of her jaw and down her neck. “I know you regret kissing me, but I always want to touch you, Addy.”
“Regret it? No, I’m just sorry that I got you tossed in prison for… Oh.” Small frissons of energy arced as he touched her. Addy gasped as if she… liked it.
She liked it.
Cade’s teeth locked together at her breathless sound of pleasure. Their flesh barely had to meet for the powers to spark. Instinct had him tugging her jacket off of her. He wanted to feel every gant of her skin. He needed it. Now.
“Cade?” Her green eyes were wide and shocked. “Hang on. You can’t really use that electricity thing to play, can you…?” Addy broke off in a moan, as his hand slipped down her arm in a long caress.
Cade’s eyes closed in ecstasy. “Voltyn don’t know how to play.” His thumb brushed the pulse of her wrist and she drew in a sharp breath. Just touching her arm was more erotic than being inside any other woman.
Addy arched and he could feel the taunt points of her nipples graze his chest. “I’ll teach you to play.” She whispered. “You’re a natural. I can tell. The electricity is…” Her body jolted. “Oh, yeah. This is going to be good.”
“What is this ‘electricity’ you keep speaking of?” He asked enjoying this more than he’d ever enjoyed anything. It was even better than the kiss, because Adeline had no motive for this except desire. She wasn’t trying to get rid of Hugo this time. She simply liked the feel of Cade’s energy against her flawless skin.
“That is electricity. What you’re doing right now.” Her lips parted as his fingers brushed their way back up to her elbow. “Jesus, you are electricity, Cade.” She whimpered softly, green eyes bright. “Just out of curiosity, can you do that to me… everywhere?”
He dipped his head to her ear. “Everywhere I touch.” Ideas and images danced in his head. Gods, he wanted to make her come with just his hands. Again and again. For once, the Voltyn powers didn’t feel dirty to him. Not if they could accomplish something so beautiful. “Tell me where you’d like to feel the energy and I’ll show you, Addy.”
“Jesus, this is going to be so good.”
Cade smiled.
“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Deke snapped from the darkness, ruining the first perfect moment of Cade’s life. “Cade, put it back in your pants and let’s get out of here, huh? There’s about to be lynch mob after us and I’m not in the mood to die.”
Chapter Nine
Devils Tower National Monument is a sacred site for a half-dozen Native America tribes.
According to Lakota legend, it was created when children were running from a huge bear. They prayed to the Great Spirit to protect them and he lifted the ground to create the flat-topped rock.
The children were safe atop it, while the bear was left scratching huge ridges in the sides, trying to reach his prey.
Maybe that’s why it’s such a wonderful retreat, even today.
Brown’s Glampling Tours Official Pocket Guide
“I can’t believe I helped break you out of jail and you punched me for it.” Deke complained for the ninety-eighth time. “It’s just wrong, man.”
“You’re lucky I didn’t take your head off.” Cade retorted. “Not only did you risk Adeline and our kid brother in that rescue plan…”
“How was I supposed to stop them, huh? Chain ‘em to the wall. Your woman was determined and Jakey listens to every crazed word she says like she’s a character from one of his stupid adventure tales.”
“You were with us on every step of the jailbreak, so don’t be blaming me and Addy.” Jake retorted. “And I’m not a kid, Cade, so nobody was going to stop me from helping you.” He arched a smug brow. “Besides, the plan worked, didn’t it?”
Cade kept going, ignoring the interruptions. “…but you also have the worse fucking timing in the polis, Dekon.”
“I’m sorry. I thought we should actually escape during your escape.” Deke mocked. “I guess we should’ve just followed your lead: Hold hands with a pretty girl and wait to get recaptured. Much better idea, asshole.”
“Are you three ever going to shut-up?” Addy asked, barely listening to their bickering. It was cold, she was tired, and she wanted off the damn horse. Riding through South Dakota was different than at the Scottsdale Country Club and
not in a good way. She should’ve invented a padded saddle instead of a wind chime.
It didn’t help matters that Mr. “I Like Horses” rode like the frigging Lone Ranger. Cade and his mount moved as if they one being; graceful and sure. Watching his casual athleticism, it was clear the guy understood the animal in some magical, Horse Whisperer way. From the second he’d swung himself into the saddle, Cade looked confident and at ease. Like he was right where he belonged.
Addy was not where she belonged. Madonna was a lovely horse, but Addy belonged in a car. A big, shiny, comfortable car. She just wanted to get wherever it was they were going, so she’d be one step closer to reuniting with her loyal Mercedes.
Of course, the problem was: Where in the hell where they going to go? So far, they were just traveling away from Shadow-of-the-Gods, but they needed someplace to hide from the posse. Lord, in her whole life, she never thought she’d be running from a frigging posse.
On the plus side, the Black Hills were stunningly beautiful. Everywhere she looked there were massive ponderosa pines and amazing stone formations. Addy used some of her depleted iPhone battery snapping pictures of the endless, pristine views. Even in the snow, the colors were incredible. The sky was an impossible shade of sapphire blue. The rocks were richly painted in golds and reds. It was the most magical setting she’d ever seen.
Too bad she was the only one present who appreciated it.
“We should try to reach Big Rock.” Jacobi suggested from the horse beside her, not even noticing the landscape. Unlike Addy, the Westins were used to living in a Currier and Ives calendar. “We might be able to hold up there.”
Deke had stolen four mounts from Hugo’s stables. They weren’t Arabians, but Addy was still delighted with them. Everything else in the future might have been Avatar-ed, but horses still looked like horses. Mostly. It was a little unusual to see pintos with royal blue markings, but Addy figured it was close enough.
“Only criminals go to Big Rock.” Deke complained. He was very insistent that they were the White Hats of this Western, posse or no posse.
Cowboy from the Future Page 14