Springer, Jan - Be My Dream Tonight [The Desperadoes 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (20 page)

A daughter
.
He had a daughter
.

How old would she be now? Mentally, he calculated back. Eve had already been pregnant when she’d been taken to Wolfe’s hideout. Three months along, according to this C.J. chick. So that would make his kid…what…fourteen or fifteen months?

A weird kind of stunned happiness slithered through him.
He had a kid
.

Shit! He should be pissed at himself. Mad for not using condoms properly. He’d sworn he wouldn’t bring any kids into the post-Catastrophic world. But now that idea was shot to the wind, wasn’t it? This morning, he hadn’t used protection either.

Kayne swallowed as his tummy hollowed out in not such a good way. Had he made Eve pregnant again? Was another kid on the way?

How was he going to take care of them? He didn’t have a legitimate job or a secure home to raise them in. He was an outlaw. People wanted him dead.

Before the Catastrophe life had been easier. He would have asked for overtime to get more money. He would have bought a house and put a down payment on it. He’d have a place to raise their kids.

But now…he gazed at the log cabin as they neared it. It was in good shape. It had a metal roof that would last for many years. A good roof kept a house in good shape. Any repairs to the house along the way, he could handle. He was, after all, a contractor. If anyone got sick, they had Mad. He liked to hunt and cook, so there would be plenty of meat on the table. And Riley, he’d had a couple of kids before. He would know how to keep them in line. He could show Kayne what needed doing.

And then there was Eve. She was a damned good shooter. She could teach them her defensive techniques, and they could secure this place from any of their enemies. Yeah, when he thought about it, they had a pretty good support system if they pulled it together right.

Kayne grinned, and a euphoria unlike any he’d ever felt before swept over him. Yeah, they could handle this.

“You’d think the news of him being a daddy would have him wringing his hands like a nervous wreck.” Riley chuckled from beside him.

Maddox chimed in. “Yet, he’s smiling away, and he looks like he’s stepped into heaven. I get the feeling in the way he’s looking at the cabin that we’re staying?”

Kayne’s newfound happiness disintegrated. For a few minutes he’d been living a daydream. Nothing could happen unless they got their hands on that gold Eve had been talking about. Unless, of course, C.J. was setting a trap for them. Just because she’d been Wolfe’s punching bag didn’t mean she still didn’t have loyalties to him, especially if she believed Wolfe was her kid’s father.

“We pull out first thing in the morning, as I said earlier. No sex tonight. We need to rest.”

Ignoring their surprised looks, he brushed past them and headed toward the barn. The horses would need tending for the trip. They would have to be well fed and in good shape in order to get them to Wolfe’s hideout.

Just thinking about Wolfe brought such a violent rage rushing through Kayne that for a moment he swore he saw red. That son of a bitch needed to be taken care of for what he’d threatened Eve with and yeah, for what he’d done to C.J. He didn’t cater to anyone knocking women around. He didn’t like the fact that he’d scared the daylights out of Eve, threatening his gang and eating unborn kids. The guy was a fucking sick son of a bitch.

Kayne also needed to remember that there weren’t any man-made laws holding him back either to carry out his own brand of justice against Wolfe. Civilized life before the Catastrophe was over. These days only the strong survived. He wouldn’t have to answer to anyone if he killed Wolfe. He would do what needed doing to secure the safety of his family and the gang.

With those thoughts firmly in mind, Kayne stepped into the dark interior of the barn.

* * * *

Maddox watched Eve as she bent over his saddlebag and began rummaging through the side pocket where he kept his comfrey salve. Her cheeks were flushed, and her mouth was twisted into a grimace, whether from pain or irritation at not being able to find what she was looking for, he wasn’t sure. Usually he was pretty good at reading her emotions. Kind of hard not to when she wore her emotions on her sleeve, so to speak.

“You looking for this?” He held up the jar of salve that she’d taken from his saddlebag earlier in the day.

She stood and threw him a weak smile of relief. “I couldn’t remember where I’d put it and hoped you’d found it and put it back.”

“You left it on the fireplace mantel in your hurry to get out of here to meet C.J., which brings me to a serious question.” He handed Eve the jar and tried to ignore the interesting throb in his cock as she brushed a few stray strands of her hair away from her face. Cripes, she looked really pretty, and he’d been thanking the good Lord every hour that he’d seen fit to bring her back to them.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Your friend. C.J. Can we truly trust her?”

Eve looked thoroughly stunned. Obviously she trusted this woman, but that didn’t mean she could be trusted.

“She saved me from Wolfe, kept me alive in the mountains by sharing her food and showing me how to survive. She taught me how to hunt and make shelters. She brought my baby into the world, and she told me everything she went through with Wolfe. Believe me, if I didn’t think she was trustworthy one hundred percent, I wouldn’t have come here and told you about the gold.”

“Which makes me wonder why he’s been sitting on that gold for so long? Does he know you two know about it? Does he know you two saw it?”

“I don’t think so. I mean, I’ve never seen it, but C.J. did.”

A bad feeling slipped into
Mad.
He’d been under the impression that Eve had actually physically seen this gold stash that the Durango Gang had once been after. Frig. Kayne was not going to like this bit of news. Not one bit.

“Okay, I’ll leave you to tend to your…um…” Suddenly he didn’t know what to say.

Eve giggled, the sound of her laughter such sweet music to his ears. Her laughter turned him on. Everything about her turned him on. Even the fact that she was now a mother brought a whole new sexy dimension to the love he possessed for Eve.

“You can still say the words
nipples
and
breasts
,
Mad.
Just because I’m a mom doesn’t change my feelings for your or Riley or Kayne. As far as I’m concerned my daughter has three dads. And everything between us stays the way it’s always been.” She wrinkled her forehead in worry. “That is, if that’s okay with you?”

He couldn’t help but breathe a sigh at her confession. He hadn’t even realized those thoughts had been spinning about in his head.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Good, now if you don’t mind, I’d like to take care of a little personal business.” Having said that, she disappeared into the adjoining living room, and a moment later when he took a peek, he saw Eve removing her top and watched her smear the ointment over her breasts and nipples.

Oh fuck. He shouldn’t have been playing Peeping Tom. No siree, and now he was paying for his sins with a cock so damned spike hard, he doubted he’d get any sleep tonight.

Which brought Maddox back to what Eve had said about not seeing the gold. He needed to find Riley and discuss this newest bit of information with Kayne.

* * * *

“She what?” Kayne growled as Maddox revealed what he’d just learned from Eve inside the house. Riley could understand Kayne’s anger. He’d reacted the same way once he’d left the house and the news had really set in.

“She didn’t see the gold. She’s basing everything on this C.J. chick,” Maddox explained.

Kayne didn’t reply, and Maddox turned to Riley, throwing him a
now it’s your turn to say something
look. Which he did.

“I was thinking that maybe we should call this whole thing off,” Riley ventured into the silence. “I mean we can get your kid and come live here. There’s a nice garden out back, we can hunt and fish and use Trader Jack’s smokehouse for meat—”

“I want that gold.” Kayne growled. “But if Eve hasn’t seen it herself, then as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t exist there. We’ll pull out tomorrow and get my kid and bring her back here. If you guys have any objections, I’d like to hear them now.”

Riley could tell Kayne was really trying to keep it together. This newest tidbit about the gold seemed to have devastated him. But he could also tell he wanted to see his kid bad. Riley could understand that. He’d been a dad himself, and he still wanted to see his kids.
Bad.

“No objections from me,” Riley acknowledged. Hell, he wanted to stick around here. Wanted to settle down in this nice valley. It would be nice to hear a little girl’s laughter again.

Beside him Maddox also stated he had no objections, which sent another volley of relief through Riley. He knew having a kid around was going to change things. He knew that from firsthand experience. He’d had two daughters himself, and he and his wife had been at the freaking park around the corner from their apartment with them that sunny, hot afternoon when the solar flares had come calling. One minute his two daughters, Katie, three, and Sandie, five, were there, laughing and giggling as he and his wife pushed them on the swings.

The laughter had been like music to his ears. Life had been good. His kids were good. His wife just perfect. And in one second it had all been taken from him. Bright flashes of light and the next thing he’d known he’d been pushing smoking ashes and then this damned chilly wind had come, and life had never been the same again.

Fuck.

Riley forced himself to snap out of the sadness that had momentarily wrapped its bony arms around him again. He never wanted to think about his old life. Didn’t want to deal with it. It was way too damned painful. It was why he’d never shared what had happened on that day with anyone. Not even Eve. And he never would. He didn’t want her feeling sorry for him. He’d done a good enough job of it himself until he’d met up with Kayne.

Now he had a new life. And he would stay in the present. He had to, because his sanity depended on it.

“Eve’s not going to like this change of events. I get the feeling she wants to get that gold bad,” Maddox said.

Kayne nodded. “I understand her feeling. The gold would have been good security for all of us, not to mention all the other people we could help out. But I’m not willing to risk our lives over this. We don’t even know this woman.”

“Eve says she trusts her. Maybe that should be good enough for us?” Just saying that had Riley mentally kicking himself. He wanted to stay here, dammit!

Maddox and Kayne both grinned at him. “Either you want to stay or you want to go, Ri. You can’t have both,” Mad replied, lifting his eyebrows in question.

“The matter is settled. We’re not going for the gold,” Kayne said firmly. Riley knew that when their leader spoke in that firm tone of voice, he wouldn’t be swayed to change his mind.

“We tell Eve nothing until we’re ready to leave in the morning.” Having said that, Kayne returned to brushing down Eve’s white horse. Riley watched as Maddox headed over to take care of his own horse, and Riley figured he may as well give his horse a good brushing as well.

Nope, Eve wasn’t going to be happy with their decision. Not one bit.

* * * *

Bastards. They’d betrayed her
. Emotions, thick, raw, and painful, swept through Eve as she ducked back out of the open doorway of the barn. A few minutes ago she’d come out of the cabin to see what the guys had been up to in the barn. When she’d heard their voices carrying through the cold afternoon breeze, she’d quietly entered the barn and to her horror caught the tail end of their conversation about deciding not to trust C.J.

Impulses had her wanting to go in there and tell them where they could go with their decision. If they didn’t trust C.J., then as far as she was concerned, they didn’t trust her.

Obviously they were never going to bring her into the loop. She was a better shooter than they were. A better rider and hunter, and she was a better cook, too.

Now she understood why C.J. hated men. They were dominating assholes, and she would hook up with C.J., and they’d go in and get the gold themselves. No man was going to tell her what she could or couldn’t do. Not ever again!

* * * *

“Where’s Eve? I thought she was in here with you two?” Kayne asked as he stomped into the kitchen, tugging off his gloves and blowing on his cold hands. He’d come in through the front door to find the interior of the house exploding from both Maddox and Riley singing at the tops of their lungs. They were creating such a racket that his ears hurt from them singing so off-tune. Professional singers they would not make, that’s for sure.

He’d also been expecting to see Eve nestled snugly in front of the roaring fireplace as late afternoon approached, but she hadn’t been there.

Thankfully, the men stopped singing at Kayne’s question.

“When we came back in from the barn earlier, after our conversation about the gold, we found her in here getting into her outside gear. She said she was going down to the creek for a short walk. She took her rifle with her so she should be okay. We thought maybe you two had hooked up again?” Riley questioned as he stirred some funny-looking white concoction in a cast-iron pot he’d set on the electric stove.