Cowboy from the Future (20 page)

Cade
squinted at her.  “On second thought, it’s probably not
just
the
unfamiliar time period making you seem odd, lady.”

She
smiled at that grousing.  For a second, he sounded more like the Cade she knew.

“Listen,
I don’t care which route we take.  I’m
no
t going back into the
Wilderness.”  Deke paled at the very idea, visions of the War playing behind
his eyes.  “No way in hell.  I’ll travel with you to Big Rock, but that’s as
far as I can go.”

Cade
nodded.  “Then, I’ll take her to Yellowstone myself.”

“Cade…”

“I’m
taking her
.”  His tone was inflexible.

“You’re
a fucking idiot.”  Deke muttered in disgust.

Cade
flashed him a dark look.  “Do you think I would let Addy stay in this shithole,
when she could go back to a time before the flash and the wars and the death?” 
He snarled.  “A time where she will not be hunted by Outlanders or starve in
the snow?”

Deke
got to his feet and said four words to him in their language.

“No.” 
Cade scraped a hand over his face.  “I can’t.  She will have all the things she
deserves and she will be
safe
.  Everything else… doesn’t matter.”  His jaw
ticked.  “I’ll need supplies before we go into the Wilderness, though.  Big Rock
will have them.  We can start for the polis tomorrow and stay here tonight.”  Cade
headed back out the door.  “I’ll see to the horses.”

Addy
blinked.  “That’s it?”  She called after him.  “That’s all you’re going to
say?”

He
kept walking for the exit, as if he couldn’t escape her fast enough.  “What
else do you want to hear?”

“I’m
trying to talk to you about my world and two minutes into the discussion,
you’re already bored with it?  We’re surrounded by thousands of years’ worth of
human history.  There are things here that even
I
don’t understand and
I’m from the past.  Don’t you have
any
questions?”

Cade
ignored that.  He stalked out of the Hall of Records, slamming the door shut
behind him.

Addy’s
lips tightened into a line and she glanced over at Deke.  “You’re right.  He’s
a fucking idiot.”  She hesitated, her curiosity getting the better of her.  “What
did he say ‘no’ to, anyway?”

“I
told him he should ask you to stay.”  Deke looked frustrated.  “He’s refusing
to get his head out of his ass and do that, though.”

Addy
wasn’t surprised. 
Hurt
but not surprised.  “Whatever.”  She must’ve
been out of her mind to even
care
that she wasn’t invited to join
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show.

Deke
cast her a speculative glance.  “He
wants
you to stay with him.”

“Obviously.
 Because super-handsome, super-powered cowboys from the future
always
want girls like me.”  She rolled her eyes, not wanting to show how disappointed
she was.  “Forget it.  I have a lot of exciting people waiting for me at home. 
Too many to even count.”

“The
same people who don’t think you’re pretty and aren’t looking for you, you
mean?”

“Oh,
shut up.”

“You
belong with Cade.”  Deke said with flat certainty.  “And he belongs with you.  You
have
to do something, Addy.  I don’t think he’ll survive if you leave.”

“That’s
ridiculous.  The man’s so healthy he could carry his horse to Devils Tower and
be fine.”  She shook her head.  “He survived thirty-some years just fine
without me.  Probably
better
, since now he’s sleeping in caves and…”

Deke
cut her off.  “He can’t go back to the way he was before.  I’m telling you, something
inside of him changed when he met you.  He
needs
you, Addy.  If he’s too
stupid to reach up for help, you need to just grab him before he sinks.”

“And
what? 
Stay
in this time?”

“You
won’t even consider it?”

She
had considered it.  Addy missed the twenty-first century, but she could be
convinced to stay in this dismal place, instead.  All her life, she’d wanted a
family and now she felt like she’d found one.  She wanted to be with the
Westins more than she wanted to see her condo again.  Mostly, she just wanted
Cade
. 
He clearly didn’t plan to even discuss the possibility of a permanent
relationship, though.

“Cade
doesn’t want me to stay.”  She reminded Deke.  “He wants me gone.  He just said
so.”

“He
wants you
safe.
”  The World’s Unlikeliest Relationship Counselor
corrected.  “That’s all he’s focused on.  The Voltyn blood just tells him to
protect you, regardless of the cost.”  Deke’s eyes were intent.  “He’s in a lot
more danger than you are, though.  Without you, he really will stop feeling
things.  He’ll stop being Cade.  I
know
it.  You’re the only one who can
save my brother.”

Addy
let out a long sigh.  “I don’t think he wants to be saved.”

“Since
when has that stopped you?”  Deke retorted.  “Look, once that fucking idiot
starts caring about someone, all he thinks about is what’s best for them,
alright?  As soon as Cade saw this place, he started telling me that we need to
get you home.  That you deserve to be in a better world.  It’s how he’s built. 
He doesn’t want you gone.  He just wants you
happy. 
He’ll sacrifice
anything
for that.”

Addy
thought for a long moment.  On some level, she knew Deke was right.  Cade was a
protector by nature.  He would do whatever he could to make her happy.  It was
just who he was.  So what would make her happiest?  Being back home with
takeout egg rolls and Netflix, or staying in the gloomy future with the most
infuriating man she’d ever met?

Shit,
that wasn’t a choice, at all.

The
answer was so clear that Addy realized she wasn’t a scatterbrain, after all. 
She knew
exactly
what was important in this world.  It wasn’t
when
you were that mattered.  It was who you were
with
.  She looked around at
the monitors, showing all the wonders of her time and said goodbye without a
drop of regret.  There no place she’d rather be than with Cade and his nutty
family.

They
were where she belonged.

She
took a deep breath.  “I want to be with Cade, but he won’t ask me to stay,
Deke.”

“I
don’t know that he
can
ask.  It’s not that easy with Cade.  Being a
Voltyn has…”

Addy
cut him off.  “I don’t care about the Voltyn thing.  I care about him loving
me.  I want him to
ask
me to stay.”

All
her life she’d been searching for someone to belong to.  Someone who’d give
everything for her.  Someone who’d look for her when she was lost.  She refused
to settle for less, when she knew Cade could give so much more.

Deke’s
eyes narrowed, weighing her resolve.  “Alright.  We’ll get him to ask you,
then.  I got an idea to make that happen.”

She
frowned suspiciously.  “What kind of idea?”

“Probably
better if you don’t know.  No sense in Cade killing both of us.”

“Oh
geez, you’re not going to hold him at gunpoint, are you?”

“That’s
the backup plan.  Just let me handle it, alright?  And don’t leave this century
until it has a chance to work.”

Addy
had no intention of going anywhere.  Now that she’d decided to stay with Cade,
she planned to devote all her energy to securing their future here in the
future.  …Even if that meant dragging him into wedded bliss by his shiny hair.

“Fine,
we’ll go with your idea, but
no guns
.”  She warned Deke.  “It cuts way
down on the sincerity of a proposal.” Shaking her head, she went stalking over
Jacobi, who was goggling at screen that showed images from space.  “Come help
me figure out how to turn off that damn welcome message.  Maria Del Sol is
driving me crazy.”

If you’re
worried about having privacy on this tour, you can relax.

There will
be plenty of opportunities for you to have the time you’ll need to commune with
nature.

Brown’s
Glampling Tours Official Pocket Guide

“This
is your fault.”  Cade stood over Adeline and fixed her with a dark glare, doing
his best to ignore the brilliant glow of her aura.  Even at this hour of the
morning, the woman was beguiling.  He’d spent all night convincing himself to
let her go, but, looking at her tousled red curls and sleepy eyes, it was hard
to remember any of his extremely logical reasoning.  Pissed off at everything,
he shoved the note into her hand.  “Look!”

“What? 
Jesus, what time is it?  Why are you shouting?”  She ran a hand through her
hair and sat up in her sleeping bag.  “What the hell is this?”

“You
tell me.  I
know
you had something to do with it.”

She
squinted down at the note, which was scrawled on the page she’d ripped from
that impossible book the day before.  Deke had written across the surface of it
in ash from the fire and Addy rolled her eyes.  “Are you kidding?  You woke me
up to see
this?
  I can read --like-- three words of this thing.”

That
was because Deke had meant the note for Cade.  The terse sentences were printed
in their language.

Meet
you in Big Rock
.
 Use the time alone to claim your
woman.  Don’t fuck this up.

Both
his brothers were gone and Big Rock was three days ride.  Which meant, for the
next one hundred gantii, it would just be Cade and the small human girl he
desired more than anything.

Alone.

Shit. 
He should have seen it coming.  Deke and Jake wanted Cade to keep Adeline. 
Never mind that Addy deserved to be back in her own time.  That keeping her
here would be selfish and wrong.  His brothers knew Cade wanted the little lunatic,
so they were doing their best to sabotage all his efforts to be an honorable
man.

“It
says they’re gone.”  He told her, gesturing to the note.   “We must travel by
ourselves, now.”

As
if this whole thing wasn’t already hard enough, his siblings had to go and make
it worse.  Being alone with Adeline and not touching her would be
torturous. 
That was their whole plan.  They thought he’d crack.

Godsdamn
it, he was going to crack.  He already knew it.

“They
left us here?”  Adeline blinked still trying to wake up.  She turned the note
in her hand like maybe she’d be able to make out the words if she held it
upside down.  “That’s a
terrible
idea.  Why would they do such a thing?”

Cade
didn’t answer that, because he understood exactly why they’d done it.  He was even
a little bit touched.  So many people hated Cade just for being Voltyn.  His
own father had detested the very sight of him.  But, Deke and Jake had never
ostracized him or treated him differently.  They cared about him.  They wanted
him to have Addy, because they knew what she meant to him.

But,
it wouldn’t work.

Cade
had to let her go.  He
was
Voltyn, bred only to think of survival, and
he knew this world would kill her.  She hadn’t fit in right from the beginning
and now she was on the run from the law.  The harsh weather, the Outlanders, the
danger everywhere.  How could someone so bright ever survive in this horrible
place?  She was meant to exist in the sunlight.  He had to make sure she was
safe and warm, regardless of the cost.

Protecting
Addy was all that mattered.

“Are
your stupid siblings coming back?”  She demanded, tossing the note aside.  “Did
they say where they’re going?”

“The
note says we’re splitting up and they’re meeting us at Big Rock.”  He muttered
and slapped his hat against his thigh.  “Did they tell you about this?”

“No.” 
She paused.  “Well… not exactly.”

Cade
rolled his eyes.  He’d
known
she was involved in this somehow.  Addy was
the brains behind all the stupid plots his brothers got mixed up in.  “Damn it,
Adeline…”

“I
didn’t know they were going to
leave!
”  She interrupted hotly.  “Do you
think I want that?  I
like
having them with us, Cade.  I don’t have a
lot of experience with families.  Your brothers are special to me.”

Just
like that, Cade’s irritation vanished.  Addy adored Jake and Deke.  He saw that
every day.  She was really distressed that they were gone.  The need to sooth
her overrode everything else.  “Alright, we’ll just have to catch up with them
in Big Rock and kick their asses, then.”

Addy
snorted.  “
That
idea I actually like.”

“Good. 
Come on, we need to make about thirty gantii today.”

Addy
made a face at him, not eager to leave her sleeping bag, no matter how much she
wanted to track down his brothers.  This “Hall of Records” was warm and
familiar to her.  She and Jacobi had done something to get the lights dimmed
and the noise stopped, but Addy was still very much at home amid the dormant
magic that lived here.

She
looked cozy and content right where she was.  “I don’t know how far thirty
gantii is, but it sounds like a lot.”

“It
is a lot.”

“Wonderful. 
Just what my backside needs.  More time on a horse.”  Red curls bounced at the
force of her sigh.  “Well, did your brothers leave us any food, at least?  I’m
not going anywhere before breakfast.”

It
took him a moment to process her words, because he was beguiled, again.  Four
gods, she was the most gorgeous creature he’d ever seen.  All Cade wanted to do
was crawl into the sleeping bag beside her warm, rumpled body.  Instead, he
cleared his throat.  “Of course there’s food.”  Deke and Jake had left more
than half the supplies and the two best horses.  “Put your clothes on and I’ll get
you something to eat, alright?”

She
was already somewhat dressed.  As far as he could tell, she’d slept in her
shirt, which was really Jacobi’s old shirt.  Not that Cade had watched her get
ready for bed.  …His eyes following her every movement in the darken room.  …His
body hard as a rock and aching for her.  …His mind boggling over the strange,
lacy underwear she rinsed out and hung to dry.

“Food. 
Good.”  She gave a mumbled sound of agreement, rubbing her eyes.  “Look, I’m
really not a morning person.  I’m pissed at you for being a jackass and I’m going
to brutally kill your brothers, just as soon as I get the chance.  But, right
now I need coffee too much to even stand.  Are you
sure
there isn’t any
coffee around here?”

Addy
asked that every morning, apparently hoping that he’d been lying to her since
she’d arrived.  “I don’t know what coffee is.  I’ve told you that.  Repeatedly.”

She
gave a dismayed groaned, her hand covering her face.  “But, how can you
not
know
what coffee is?  How could humanity have lost such precious
knowledge?”

“I
don’t know.  I’m not human.”

“Oh
Lord. 
Thi
s again.”  She rolled her eyes.  “Look, it’s really, really
early for you to start with the Voltyn crap.  My brain isn’t fully functioning,
so I’m going to end up saying something unsupportive.  Let’s just not, okay?”

“There
is nothing unsupportive you could say to me.  I am immune.”  Cade busied
himself by digging some breakfast out of the bags.  “I have heard it all from
the cradle, so say whatever you wish.”

“Fine.” 
She snapped.  “I’m going to say
exactly
what I’m thinking then: Use your
own head instead of letting other people define who you are, moron.  Their
insults are
not true
.  If you stopped listening to them, you’d know that
you
are
human.  One hundred percent.  How could you even doubt that?”

He
glanced at her from the corner of his eye.  “Because I apparently control
elec-triss-ty.  Name me one other human who can do such a thing.”

“Captain
Marvel.”

“Who?”

She
shook her head.  “Has it ever occurred to you that having powers isn’t a
bad
thing?  We write stories about people like you in my time.  They’re called
superheroes.  They’re the legends that kids admire.  Why don’t you focus on the
positive aspects of being amazing?”

The
woman truly did live in another world.  “Such as?”

“Such
as you can do things that other guys would
love
to do.”

Cade
scoffed at that and crouched down beside her.  “You think so, huh?”  He handed
her some buffalo jerky.

“I
know so.”  Addy gave the jerky a skeptical sniff and tried a small bite.  “Not
many men could get a girl ready to rip her clothes off in an alleyway.  Embrace
your extra-specialness.”  She chewed the food, making a face.  “I miss
pancakes.”

Cade’s
eyebrows shot up.  “You were ready to rip your clothes off?”

“Really? 
That’s
what you got out of my little speech?”

“Well,
it’s what you said.”

“I
didn’t technically
say
it.  You just
inferred
it.  Since, I don’t
rip my clothes off for unromantic jackasses, you must have been hearing things.” 
She made a twirling gesture with her hand.  “Turn around, so I can get
dressed.”

“I
never claimed to be romantic.”  Although he was charmed by the idea that she
wanted him to be.  Had any woman ever expected romance from a Voltyn, before? 
He very much doubted it.  Anonymous couplings in the dark were all they wanted
from his kind.  Softer feelings were reserved for humans.  It was just so
Adeline
to think only the best and most noble things about him.  Cade stood up so his
back faced her, trying very hard not to picture her unclothed body two feet
from his.  “Why are you mad at me exactly?”

“Men
should never ask that question.  It just gets them in deeper trouble, because
you should already
know
.”

“Except
I
don’t
know.”

She
made a frustrated sound.  “You walked out of here last night, not even caring
that I’m from the past, Cade.  Not even one question about where I come from. 
All you focused on was getting rid of me as quickly as possible.”

Was
she kidding?  “
You’re
the one who said you wished to return to your own
time.” He’d only left because he didn’t want to fucking hear about the world
that could offer her so much more than he ever could.  He hated the idyllic
past that was going to steal her away.

“Don’t
try to make this my fault.  I’m totally in the right and you’re being a dick. 
As usual, I might add.  Since I got here, there hasn’t been a single day that
you weren’t actively searching for ways to annoy me.”

“Me
annoy
you?
”
 Cade automatically turned back around, exasperated
with her.  “That’s a joke.  You’re the most impossible woman in the…”  He
stopped short, his tongue no longer fitting in his mouth.  “Shit.”  He spun
back the other way and blinked.  “I forgot you were dressing.  I’m sorry.  I
didn’t mean to do that.  I didn’t see anything.”

“It’s
alright.”  She told him easily.

She
wouldn’t be so forgiving if she knew the truth.  Four
gods,
had he seen
things.

Adeline’s
skin was perfect all over.  He squeezed his eyes shut, every gant of it burned
into his retinas.  How could anyone be so beautiful?  It seemed even more
impossible than the enchanted time she came from.  Her breasts were soft globes
tipped with pink.  Her hips were curved, a neat halo of golden-red curls at the
junction of her thighs.  As many times as he’d imagined her, he’d never
imagined anything quite so perfect.  Cade’s chest couldn’t expand far enough
for him to get oxygen into his lungs.

This
girl is supposed to be yours.

Shit! 
He was already cracking.

“I’m
sorry.”  Cade repeated.  He reached up to rub his temple hard enough to nearly
drill through his skull.  He could feel the glowing power in his hands crackle
against his skin. 
Damn it.
  He wished he could erase the image of her from
his mind.  Wished he could turn back around and just gaze at her naked body for
the next month or so.  Wished things were different.  “I’m so sorry, Addy.”

“Calm
down.  No harm done.”

Only
Adeline would be so casual about this.  He let out a long breath, wanting to
slaughter his brothers.  “There are laws about you consorting with me.  If you
insist on being mad at someone, it should be at Deke and Jacobi for putting you
in this situation.”

“Consorting?” 
She snickered.  “I don’t know how the translation works in your language, but,
in English,
consorting
is a delightfully old-fashioned word.  …And kind
of
romantic.
  Like Romeo and Juliet or something.  Maybe there’s hope
for you, yet.”

He
disregarded that.  It was the only way to deal with some of Addy’s more bizarre
statements.  Instead, he tried to get through to her as clearly as possible.  “Say
you’re right and humans don’t like my kind because they’re envious of the
Voltyns’ powers.  It seems doubtful, but alright.”  He shook his head.  “Well,
they’ve dealt with their jealousy by putting rules in place, making sure ladies
like you stay away from men like me.”