“There is no gold.”
“Come morning, we’ll be finding that out. Gordon, come hog-tie this man.”
A lean man whose stench was bigger than his body came over, gun trained on him, and grabbed him by the arm, yanking him forward. Caden pretended to stumble, going with the push. It never hurt for the enemy to believe you were weaker than you were. Gordon shoved him up against the nearest tree.
“Stand there.”
Caden stood.
“Check him for weapons first.”
The man checked his boot tops and pulled out a knife. He checked out his other boot and pulled out a derringer. He ran his hands up his sides, checked his pockets and pulled out assorted necessities. He checked his wrists, found nothing.
“Next time you go hunting in the dark, you might want to grab your gun belt.”
“I’ll remember that.”
They grabbed his hands, put them behind his back up against the tree. The knife between his shoulder blades bruised the bone. Carelessness, pure carelessness not to check to see if he had one at the top of his back as well as the bottom, but he wasn’t going to lecture them on it. Instead of tying his hands behind his back, the man punched him in the gut. Nausea pounded through his stomach right along with the pain. He didn’t have to fake doubling over and gagging. That was real enough.
“Leave him alone!” Maddie called, struggling in her attacker’s arms.
His “Be quiet, Maddie” ended with a grunt as Gordon brought his fist down on his back.
Maddie did no such thing. She clawed at the man’s hands, snapping at his arm with her teeth, her hair flaring about her face as she fought like a wild thing.
“Keep still, bitch, or I’ll put a bullet in your lover.”
She froze with that particular stillness about her that told him she was slipping away. Fuck. No telling what Maddie was going to do when she slipped away.
Caden watched as Maddie changed before his eyes from terrified woman to confident seductress. The transition was eerie in its seamlessness. “Did you gentlemen come to have a good time?” she asked in a sweet, sultry voice.
The gentleman didn’t answer her. He knew why. He was having the same what-the-hell moment.
“There’s no need to be rough on the other patrons. There’s plenty to go around.” Reaching out, she stroked her fingers down Alan’s beard-roughened cheek. “I can handle all you’ve got.”
A tall, skinny man with a hooked nose backed up. “Christ, you’ve got one that ain’t right in the head. I ain’t touching no crazy woman. They’re cursed.”
“You’re a chickenshit, Skeeter, to give up pussy over superstition.”
“Fuck, I’ll touch that any way she comes, right in the head or not,” the man restraining Caden called out.
“You’ll wait your turn, Gordon.”
“I’ll take Skeeter’s.”
“You’re not going to take anything, Gordon, until you tie that bastard up.”
Gordon grabbed up the leather strings from his belt. “Shit. Don’t start without me.”
“I’m not waiting.”
Alan grabbed Maddie’s breasts through her dress and squeezed hard. Skeeter grabbed at Caden’s wrist, missing the first time because he was watching what his friends were doing rather than Caden.
“You like that, huh?” Alan squeezed again. Maddie moaned and melted into his hands.
“Oh.”
Just that. Oh. But Caden was willing to bet every man’s cock jumped.
Alan let her go and laughed over his shoulder at Caden.
“You came out of the woods for a goddamn whore?”
Caden snarled under his breath, “I came for her.”
“Must be a damn good lay. Open that dress, let me see those titties, pretty.”
Maddie smiled a seductive smile and turned around. Every eye was upon her. Caden just needed their attention to slip a bit further.
As if she heard his thought, Maddie started to sway, just a little, as if there was music in the night that only she could hear. Her fingers toyed with the ties on her camisole. The strings slid though her fingers in a silky glide that made a man think of those fingers on his cock.
“Of course.” Maddie started unbuttoning her bodice without an inch of modesty or hesitation. Caden had a glimpse of the woman he’d accused her of being. He didn’t recognize her. She took a step to the side, turning so slightly all he could see was her back, but that little seductive sway as she was unbuttoning was damn potent and he could only imagine what the rest were feeling. As much as he needed their attention diverted, this price was too high. And then he noticed something else. That little move put her directly in the line of fire. She was sacrificing herself for him. Again.
“Goddamn it, Maddie.”
“I’ll be with you in just a minute, Caden. I just need to take care of these gentlemen first. They seem very... hungry.”
The filth spilling from her mouth in that sweet singsong voice made Caden want to puke. Maddie shrugged and the dress fell off her shoulders, revealing her undone camisole beneath. She hadn’t had time to button it back up.
“My, my, now, there’s a pretty sight.”
Where the hell is Ace?
“Throw some wood on the fire, give us some light.”
“What color are her nipples, Alan?” Gordon called out. “Are they pretty pink or are they brown?”
Maddie stepped out of her gown, her white petticoat and camisole gleaming as white as her shoulders in the faint light. She looked like a goddess of the forest.
“Can’t tell right yet,” the leader said. “We’ve got another layer. Undo the rest of those strings, baby. Let me see those breasts.”
Maddie giggled a purely seductive giggle. It floated in the night and stabbed like a knife into something soft inside Caden.
“Maddie, don’t you dare.”
The leader lifted his gun and pointed over Maddie’s shoulder straight at Caden. The barrel glinted in the firelight. “Shut the hell up.”
Maddie laughed again. “So impatient.” Her fingers trailed up to the gun. She fondled the barrel of the revolver as if it was a cock, thumb and forefinger pinching delicately, stroking along. Alan groaned. To say Gordon’s tying of Caden’s hands was half-assed was an understatement. All his attention was on those fingers on that gun and those white shoulders, that waist and that plump ass. Caden was going to kill her. Flat-out kill her. That body she was flaunting was his.
Instead of stepping back, she took a step in and then another and another until her shadow blended with Alan’s. Alan didn’t drop the gun, but he dropped his gaze.
“Hello, pretty little thing. Let me and my friends see those breasts.”
“Naturally. Do you have money?”
She paid him and his orders no mind. Reaching up, she knocked the leader’s hat off his head, running her fingers through even what Caden could see from here was greasy hair without a shudder. What the hell was she used to that this man didn’t make her cringe with his smell and his dirt? He shook his head again. It was one thing to know Maddie had been a whore. It was a horrible thing to see her being one.
“If you don’t put that gun down, there’s not much we can do.”
“You got him tied there, Gordon?”
Gordon quickly came from behind the tree and ran forward. “Yep.”
Alan put the gun back in its holster. “Then I guess we got us a way to entertain ourselves while we wait for sunrise.”
Sunrise would be another two hours. Caden didn’t want to know what men like these could do to a woman in two hours.
Alan was happy to show him. He grabbed Maddie’s braid, yanking at it until she arched back, her breasts lifted like offerings. Maddie didn’t even flinch, though it had to hurt. She just kept rubbing her body against his, talking to him and enticing him. She turned again, distracting him, Caden realized, as Alan turned with her. She was using her body to buy them time.
Fuck.
Caden went to wo
rk on his bonds, methodically working the poorly tied knot.
“Now, take off that camisole,” Alan ordered, his voice rough with lust.
Maddie playfully tugged at the strings, not quite pulling them free, her breasts jiggling as she laughed seductively. Alan cursed and grabbed the edges of the material from her shoulder and wrenched downward. The material parted with a harsh rip, Maddie’s breasts spilled free, large and white, so very lush in the night. Caden couldn’t see the color of her nipples, but he found he was as curious as everyone else. What the hell did that say about him?
“Get your goddamn hands off her.”
“I’m not touching her,” Alan mocked. “Yet.”
And he wasn’t. Maddie was the one doing the touching, running her fingers over her breasts from nipple to base, drawing the man’s attention, pinching the peaks, tugging them away from her breasts, jiggling those fleshy mounds. Where the fuck was Ace?
“It’s two dollars a tumble,” she told them.
“Honey, I ain’t paying you shit.”
She didn’t even blink.
“But you’ll want to.”
“Why? Because you’re that good?”
She nodded and ran her tongue over her lips as she pinched her nipples again, drawing her breasts up and out, suspending them from the small red points. “Yes. But that’s not why.”
“Then why?”
She nodded toward Caden. “He’ll kill you if you don’t.”
Any other woman would be screaming, but Maddie, Christ, only Maddie could think he was her pimp.
Alan spat. “He’s not going to do a goddamn thing.”
Caden felt the knot start to give. Like hell he wasn’t.
Maddie smiled and twirled around, her braid sweeping around. “You don’t know him. I’ve seen him kill men with his bare hands, and you know how Madam Tia is. He works for Madam Tia.”
Christ, now she had Tia in the game.
“She doesn’t tolerate anybody messing with what’s hers.”
And that was the truth. Tia was like a lioness when it came to anyone she loved.
“Well, Tia isn’t here right now, pretty lady, and your guardian is tied up over there. He can’t do shit, so why don’t you bring that pretty mouth here and kiss me.”
She shook her head. “I don’t kiss men.”
He blinked. “Well, honey, you’re kissing me.”
“Not on the mouth,” she said. “I never kiss on the mouth.”
Gordon chuckled and unbuttoned his belt. “I can live with that.”
Caden couldn’t, but he didn’t have any choice. He was forced to watch as Maddie, his sweet, fragile Maddie, drooped as graceful as a dove to her knees.
“Goddamn it, Maddie, get up.”
“In a minute, Caden.”
“Now!”
He might as well have been talking to the wind. Where the fuck was Ace?
Alan pulled his cock from his pants, stroking his fingers along its length. “It’s going to take more than a minute to satisfy me, pretty.”
“Oh.”
Again with the “oh.” Caden didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want to see Alan’s hand cup Maggie’s head, see his dirty fingers sink into her fiery hair and draw her in. He didn’t want to remember Maddie kneeling in the dirt, servicing a man to save him. He ripped at his bonds, tearing his flesh. Blood soaked his skin, wetting the leather strings. Fuck.
“I don’t want this, Maddie,” he snapped at her. “You’re never a trade. Not ever. For anything.”
He thought he saw her flinch, but she didn’t stop.
Alan sneered at him over her head. “You might as well watch, mister. It’s the only pleasure you’re going to get tonight.”
“Fuck you.”
“It’s this little lady we’re all going to be fucking.”
And he was the first one Caden was going to kill. The knife chafed against his spine as he strained at the restraints, rubbing them up and down the tree, the muscles in his shoulders burning with the effort. Sweat stung his eyes. Agony lanced up his arms as the leather cut to the bone, but it was giving. It was giving.
“Dammit, Maddie, stop.”
She didn’t listen this time any better than the last. He wanted to close his eyes as Maddie leaned forward, but he didn’t. He owed her more than the bliss of ignorance, so he stayed with her, watching it all, wanting to kill Alan, hug her. He watched as she parted her plump red lips in a seductive smile, wrapped her delicate fingers around the base of his cock and leaned in. When her mouth spread over the tip, Alan groaned. Caden had to look away. He couldn’t watch another piece of her soul be stolen away. To save him.
“I’m not worth it, Maddie.”
“Son of a bitch,” Gordon whispered, his hand fumbling in his pants, going for his own cock.
With a cry of rage, Caden tore his hands free. Blood sprayed as the leather gave way. He let out a snarl of victory, lunging toward Alan just as the other man let out an unearthly scream of agony. He writhed, holding Maddie’s head.
“You crazy bitch!” He looked around wildly, a scream carrying his words. Not holding, Caden realized, but pushing her away. “Get her off me! Get her off!”
Maddie was on her feet, fast as lightning, grabbing for Alan’s hand. They struggled. A gunshot rang out. Alan went down. Gordon yanked his hand out of his pants and fumbled for his guns. From the woods came another man’s scream. Ace. Caden grabbed the knife from his back and threw it. It buried in Gordon’s throat.
Maddie spun around. He could see the dark red stain of blood on her lips, then a gun shaking in her hand.
“Easy, Maddie.”
“Ace!” Caden called. “Any more?” There was a choked-off cry and then Ace called back, “No more.”
Caden grabbed one of the blankets off the ground and headed to Maddie. She stood over Alan, looking like a broken angel, her camisole falling down over her petticoats, the gun still in her hand, a slight wildness about her as she kept turning and looking as if there must be more. He didn’t know if she was with him or not. It didn’t matter.
Alan writhed on the ground, moaning, his hands clutching at his dick as blood pumped from his chest. It wasn’t a clean shot, but it was a mortal one. He’d be dead soon enough.
Caden carefully took the gun from Maddie’s hands before draping the blanket around her shoulders. With the edge he wiped the blood from her mouth. Damn. If he hadn’t been there, she might have just saved herself.
“You’re quite a woman, Maddie Miller.” Hooking his hand behind her neck, he drew her to him. “Where the hell did you learn to do that?”
She looked at him then, all the pain and knowledge of her life in her eyes as she said quite simply, “Men always seem to forget that a whore knows how to take care of herself.”
CHAPTER TEN
A WHORE KNOWS how to take care of herself.
Caden had opportunity to debate those words over the next two days and to study the possible meanings and for whom they were intended. He’d always known how Maddie had lived her life before coming to Hell’s Eight, but watching her do what she’d done, taking the chance that she’d taken to protect him, he shook his head as he put a rope around another rock and started hauling it away from the mine. In the process, he’d come to realize he didn’t know shit.
Maddie Miller was a very complicated woman. Part lost child, part avenging angel, part loving, passionate woman, she was a mix of contradictions wrapped up in a package of total honesty. And he hadn’t been able to get near her since that night. Immediately after the attack, she’d let him hold her while she’d cried and shaken. He’d needed that. Needed to comfort her and take away her pain. He still did, but then she’d pulled back behind an invisible wall and he hadn’t been able to touch her since. He didn’t know if her reaction was because of how she saw herself or how she thought he saw her, but either way he was getting tired of her hiding. She was his wife. It was his right to care for her.
He looked over to where she w
as working on clearing her own small, self-assigned section of the mine. The skirt of her yellow dress was torn, her hands dirty, and her hair was tumbling around her sweaty face. She was working herself into the ground. Had been ever since that night. As if she had something to prove to herself. Or to him. He glanced over to where Ace was sifting through a mountain of rubble. Ace gave him that same look he’d been giving him for two days. The one that said, “Fix it.”
Maddie suddenly cried out. She was holding her hand, shaking it. Smashed her fingers again, no doubt. He knew if he went over there she’d tell him to go to hell. Well, maybe not go to hell in so many words, but a look would say it. She hadn’t slipped away since that night. She was firmly planted in the here and now. It was kind of a shame. That steady beat of her anger was wearing.
He shortened up the harness. Ace put down his sifting tray and came over.
“How long are you going to take to fix this?” Ace asked.
Caden ran his thumb under the harness. “My wife, my business.”
Ace shook his head. “She’s Hell’s Eight. She proved that the other night doing what she did to save your sorry ass.”
“I know.”
Ace continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “She had no way of knowing I was out there. She’s never worked with us before. They were tying you up and hurting you, so she sacrificed herself for you because that’s what she fucking does. It’s all she knows how to do.”
“What do you want me to do about it, Ace?”
“Make her stop punishing herself. You’re her goddamn husband. If anybody in this world should make her feel like something, it should be you.”
Ace thought he had all the answers. “One of these days, Ace, someone’s going to come along and knock you six ways to Sunday and you’re not going to know if you’re coming or going.”
“Yeah?”
“And when she does,” Caden said, “I hope to hell I’m around to watch you spin.”
Ace laughed. “Never gonna happen.”
“Never say never, my friend.” He looked over at Maddie. Because there was no way in hell he ever thought he’d end up being married to Maddie, no way in hell he thought he’d be able to hurt her, but he’d done both. She stopped and wiped the sweat from her brow. The morning sun was giving way to the intensity of the afternoon. Plain and simple, it was too hot to be doing what she was doing. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think my wife needs rescuing.”
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