Devils on Horseback: Gideon, Book 5 (17 page)

“Hell yes I will.” She looked back and forth between them. “You stopped being my kin when you went rogue.”

“Rogue?” Adam’s laugh was chilling. “Girl, you ain’t got no idea what I done if you think taking the wagon is bad.” He moved closer to her, and Gideon got to his knees, trying to rise while pressing his hand into the knife wound.

“Shoot him, Chloe.”

“I will, Gid. First I want to find out why.” She let a bit of her hurt show in her eyes.

Adam, being a predator, recognized the pain beneath the anger. “Why? The world ain’t no happy place no more, sissy. People kill each other for a fucking biscuit. You sold that damn farm out from under me, then packed up everything and headed to Texas.” He was only three feet from her now, and Gideon couldn’t stop him.

They were both going to die out here, and he was powerless. He’d survived a lot, including a war and things that would have broken a lesser man, yet here he was, about to die for a woman. He wished he had married her and had beautiful babies with her before all was said and done. Now he wouldn’t have the chance because of her crazy family.

“Why didn’t you go home?” Gideon’s voice was rough and full of pain. He cursed his own weakness.

“Ain’t no home to go to, stupid.” Adam focused on the pistols in Chloe’s hands.

“After the war there was. It’s been years, Ruskin. Why didn’t you go home before now?” Gideon knew he’d found exactly what would shake the man’s self-control when Adam’s face flushed.

“I ain’t got to tell you nothing. You fuck my sister and then question me? I will fuck your eye sockets before I cut you into pieces.” A dark, twisted madness had stolen who Adam Ruskin had been and turned him into an unrecognizable monster. A monster who would steal children, beat an old woman and kill his own sister. He shook with rage as he looked between Gideon and Chloe. “Those girls are worth a fortune in Mexico. I was gonna take them before, but then this jackass came along and emptied the wagon for us. Made it easy for me to take what was mine.”

“Mexico? You aren’t going to make it a mile before we stop you.” Gideon managed to stand and shake off the lightheaded feeling from blood loss. He couldn’t fail her now, not when she needed him most. To prepare himself, he stood on the balls of his feet, ready to attack or defend.

“Your man here has a big mouth.” Adam’s hands fisted. “I’m gonna enjoy killing him.”

“Adam, how could you do this?” Chloe’s hands began to shake. “I loved you.”

Adam shook his head. “Love died a long time ago, sissy. I take care of myself now and nobody else.”

Gideon watched the other man’s face and knew the exact moment the man chose his victim. Adam launched himself at Chloe, and Gideon’s howl split the night air. He’d forgotten about Tobias though, distracted by the danger to his woman. Stars exploded in the back of his head, and the ground met his face with a painful slap.

Chapter Ten

Chloe jumped back before Adam could reach her. She didn’t want to kill him, so she aimed for his foot and fired. He screeched and stumbled backward just as Gideon fell to the ground, Tobias standing behind him with a tree branch in his hand.

Now it was up to her and only her. They’d either killed or wounded Gideon, and Chloe had to think fast, or all of them might die.

When four shadows appeared and approached the fire, she knew a moment of despair. Six men against one were insurmountable odds. She’d die fighting though. While her brother cursed and tried to get to her, she stepped sideways toward Gideon, ready to defend him until she had no more life in her body.

“Don’t go near him, lady.” A blond man with the coldest brown eyes she’d ever seen walked toward her, guns drawn. Three more behind him had equally deadly weapons and the look of trained killers.

“I’ll kill you if you touch him.” She bared her teeth at him.

“Looks like Gid found himself a woman worthy of a devil.” A one-armed man had Tobias on the ground, a foot on his back.

“I said get away from him.” The cold-eyed blond came closer.

“She’s not going to hurt him, Zeke.” A brown-haired man with impeccably clean clothes had his gun trained on a screeching Adam. “She’s defending him.”

The one called Zeke glanced at the guns in her hands, then at Gideon. “That so?”

“That’s so. Now get your men out of here before I kill all of you.” She had never felt so scared or alive in her life. They were helping her, but they were still a threat.

“Ma’am, we’re Gideon’s friends, his family.” The redheaded one held up his hands as he walked closer. “We came to help, but obviously he already had you.” He smiled, and something inside Chloe gave way. She was ready for help and decided she had to trust them.

She fell to her knees and pulled Gideon’s head into her lap. She managed not to vomit at the sight of the blood on his shirt, but it was damn hard. Oh God, her family had done this to him. She wanted to weep at the heavens and scream until she was raw, but she didn’t.

“He’s been stabbed and beaten. We need someone to doctor him.” She kissed his cheek, so overwhelmed with emotion she barely recognized her own voice.

“Oh hell, she’s gonna cry.” The one-armed man sighed.

“Shut up, Lee. Let her do what she needs to.” The redheaded one knelt beside her. “It’s going to be all right. I can help him if you let me.”

Chloe nodded and gave over care of her man to this stranger with the kind eyes. She stumbled toward the wagon to find the girls, to find her composure, before she cried and lost control completely.

The girls peered out from the wagon with identical expressions of relief when they saw her. As she gathered them into her arms, she let the tears fall.

Finally, finally, they’d found her family, for better or worse. They were safe.

Gideon heard voices but a haze had settled over his mind, and he had trouble focusing on them. For some reason, he heard Zeke and Nate, then Jake and Lee. He knew he was either dying or had been hit on the head so hard he was dreaming with vivid clarity.

“There’s a sewing box under the wagon seat.” Chloe sounded worried. Maybe she was in the dream too.

“He’s breathing, but he’s bleeding like a stuck pig.” Lee never did mince words.

“That’s not especially helpful information, Lee.” Nate’s voice was crisp as always. “Perhaps you can find something to help stanch the wounds.”

A tearing sound preceded something being pressed into his shoulder. A roar of pain erupted from his mouth.

“He’s awake. Where the hell is that girl with the sewing kit? We need to close up that wound on his shoulder.” Zeke usually took charge when Gideon couldn’t. He loved to give orders.

“I ran to the wagon on a bum leg, you ass,” Chloe responded in her prickly way. “One of you could have gone to get it.”

Soon there were many hands touching him. He opened his eyes and looked around, amazed to see everyone he loved and who was most important to him in the world.

His family. For some reason, Lee was bare-chested, and Gideon realized the item currently being used to mop up blood was Lee’s shirt.

Chloe was handing implements to Jake, who was patiently sewing up the knife wound on his shoulder. The needle pricks were nothing compared to the agony left by the blade.

“Ouch,” he managed to whisper.

She glanced at him, and the love he saw in her face hit him like a punch.

“I’m sorry.” She shook her head, that crazy wild hair of hers swaying back and forth. “I’m sorry he stabbed you.”

“He’s been stabbed before.” Jake grinned at him. “Survived it too. One more scar to show off to the ladies.” He waggled his brows.

“Lady. Just one lady.” He glanced at Chloe again, but she looked away.

“Ah, so it’s true. You found somebody.” Jake was always the teaser, the foolish one who lightened the darkest moments. “And she’s meaner than Zeke.”

“You know it would help if you stopped making jokes, Red.” Lee leaned over and touched Gideon’s head. “It would help if you didn’t die either, Gid.”

His eyes pricked with unwanted tears as he took in how much his family was worried about him. No matter what happened, or how bad things got, he always had them.

“He ain’t gonna die, so shut up.” Zeke must’ve tied up Tobias and Adam. They sat on the ground, tied up like prizes for the nearest sheriff.

“How are you here?” Gideon managed to ask.

“You sent a wire to me, remember? Scared everyone to death saying you’d been robbed and were helping some family.” Zeke scowled. “We rode to Westville right away to do what we could. After some convincing, they told us which way you’d headed.”

“The German man in the stables was a little tight-lipped until we told him who we were.” Lee’s expression matched his brother’s. “You made an impression on that town.”

“Nice folks there.” Gideon remembered how Daisy had helped Chloe with new clothes, and how beautiful she’d looked. His heart pinched at the memory.

“The sheriff made us wait while he sent a wire to verify who Zeke was. Those folks liked you, but they sure as hell didn’t like us.” Jake shook his head.

The people of Westville didn’t trust a group of four armed, large men riding into town? How shocking. Gideon didn’t bother pointing out just how intimidating they were.

“You tracked us.” It wasn’t a question. Gideon knew the answer.

“Yep, we did. Lee is still the best.” Zeke’s fierce expression softened. “You really had us worried.”

“Sorry. Had to do what I had to do.”

The four of them had no need to respond. They understood what he meant and likely would have done the same thing, especially for a woman they loved.

“Chloe.” Gideon wanted to grab her hand, but he couldn’t quite make his arms move yet.

“I’m busy, let me be.” She still did not look at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. Shut up and let me work.”

“Should I leave?” Jake looked between them.

“No, I won’t shut up.” Gideon dug deep inside and found the strength to get to one elbow and grab her chin. Much as she fought it, he finally made her look at him. “I love you, Chloe Ruskin. You’re a maddening, bossy little slip of a woman, but there you have it. I love you.”

She stared at him as his heart thumped madly. Jake tried to keep sewing up the wound, while blood slid in a warm stream down Gideon’s arm.

“I…I can’t.” She yanked her chin out of his grasp, and he swore she dashed away some tears.

“Coward.” He was putting himself and his heart at risk one last time. If she didn’t give him what he needed to keep living, hell, keep breathing, then he’d somehow manage to let her go.

“I ain’t a coward, Blackwood.” She slammed the torn strip of cloth into Jake’s hand.

“You’d better do something, Gid, before she hurts both of us,” Jake said under his breath.

“I heard that.” Chloe glared at his redheaded half brother. “I ain’t deaf and stupid, you know.”

Gideon knew she was sliding away from him, emotionally and mentally. She was closing up on herself, and he’d watched it happen. He had spent a lifetime looking for her, and he’d be damned if he let her pride get in the way.

“Chloe Ruskin, will you marry me?”

Her mouth dropped open, and she wasn’t alone. All the Devils stared at him slack-jawed.

“Holy shit.”

“Did he just ask her to marry him?”

“Maybe it’s the blood loss.”

“Maybe it’s love.” Jake looked between them, and his grin grew as wide as the sky. “I think, fellow Devils, that we have ourselves a genuine case of true love.”

Chloe shook her head and started to back away. Gideon wasn’t about to let that happen. He grabbed her uninjured leg and crawled toward her, the bloody needle and thread dangling from his arm. A whoosh echoed through his head and the world tilted a bit, but he ignored it. All that mattered was Chloe.

“That blood’s not very romantic.”

“Didn’t you propose in a barn?”

“I think it was a jail cell.”

“Shut up, all of you.” Zeke hushed them up.

All Gideon saw was Chloe. All he heard was her heart beating in concert with his. He managed to press up against her and kiss her parted lips.

“Marry me. I love you, Chloe.” His voice broke on her name, his heart unable to contemplate life without the little curmudgeon who had taken up permanent residence in its chambers.

“I-I love you too.” She stuttered on each syllable. “B-but my kin tried to k-kill you.” She shook so hard her bones rattled together.

Chloe Ruskin was scared.

“Ah, honey, my kin is a bunch of crazy ex-soldiers who have drinking problems, missing limbs and surly dispositions. You can’t pick your family, but you can pick your wife.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “Please, Chloe, say yes.”

Her breath puffed out in gasps as he held his until he thought he’d pass out from lack of air.

“Yes.” Her whisper was barely audible, but he heard it.

Gideon closed his eyes to keep away the tears that threatened at the joy he felt in that one little word. It marched through his body, leaving him trembling as much as she was.

The last Devil had finally found where he belonged. In Chloe Ruskin’s arms.

* * * * *

Over the course of two days, they rode slowly back to Westville as a group, Gideon in the wagon with Granny and the girls. Adam and Tobias walked behind them, tied at the wrist and to Zeke’s saddle. At night she hardly slept a wink, watching Gideon to make sure he didn’t die. Their journey was a relatively quiet one, except for Adam and Tobias complaining.

Chloe drove the team and listened for Gideon, making sure he didn’t sound as though he was in too much pain. She didn’t want him to fall out of the wagon if he passed out again. When she’d suggested it might happen, he looked at her as if she had grown a second head.

She might have laughed, but she was afraid he would be more offended. She wisely held in the unwanted mirth, swallowing it down amidst the emotions churning in her gut. She swung between joy, disbelief and misery. How could the most amazing thing in her life coincide with the absolute worst? Her brother was a monster, and his blood ran through her veins. What did that say about her?

How could Gideon ignore that? His family consisted of honorable men, albeit rough around the edges. The fact her family was a river of dirt should send him running the other direction. Yet he didn’t. In fact, the foolish man had proposed to her. It had nearly sent her running. He’d been sincere, and she’d seen the love in his eyes, heard it in his voice. Chloe should have said no, should have ignored the tug she felt in her heart every time she saw him.

But she couldn’t and she hadn’t. Chloe had said yes to his proposal, and now panic raced through her as the reality of marrying Gideon slammed into her. He came from a high-society family, was a good man who deserved more than the ignorant daughter of a dirt farmer with thieving murderers for kin.

Some of his family were noisy and talkative, while others were quiet. The four men were as big as Gideon, and together they were more intimidating than anything she’d experienced, which was saying a lot. She could imagine how formidable they had been during the war. They still were. Chloe liked the redheaded man, Jake. He smiled a lot, putting her at ease, as much as she could be at ease. He was also funny, earning sharp comments from the blond men, Zeke and Lee. The dark-haired, well-dressed man, Nate, was unfailingly polite and used words she didn’t understand.

This was the family she would be marrying into, and they not only scared her, they made her wonder if she should disappear once they arrived in Westville. As much as she fought against it, her love for Gideon had become firmly entrenched in her heart, in her soul. There would be no other man in her life to take his place, no matter what happened.

With her stomach in a knot, the big group rode through Westville, earning a few curious stares from the late-night inhabitants, which made her want to laugh like a crazy woman. The nice folks in this little town had no idea what they were getting into when they had helped Gideon and Chloe a few days earlier. Now the Blackwood clan had descended on them.

“Where to?”

“The doctor’s place is down the street a bit. He took care of Chloe after the horse fell on her leg.” Gideon looked pale and sweaty, and his bloody shirt made her want to turn away and hide. She didn’t even want to consider what would happen if he died. She’d already accepted him into her life; to lose him now would devastate her.

“A horse fell on her leg?” Jake looked her over, as if assessing just how clumsy she was. “How did that happen?”

“An accident,” was her only response. She didn’t want to talk to them about it. It still saddened her to think of the horse’s death. The trauma of that moment would live in her memories for years. No need to relive it so soon after it happened.

“I think we need to sit down and hear the entire story.” Zeke eyed them both with an intense stare. “Naomi almost kicked me out the door to come help you. The wire you sent turned Tanger on its ear.”

Chloe assumed Naomi was his wife, and she tried to imagine what Gideon had put in his wire that affected an entire town.