Chapter 31
By the time the fire burned low, so did Blade’s resolve.
Above him, the stars shone brightly, the moon in the shape of a sickle.
Blade sat by the fire, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.
Africa and Riot were close by, chewing on some long grass.
Across from him, Dakota lay on her bedroll, staring up at the night sky.
They had reached Houston, but since it was late, they decided to set up camp for the night.
Tomorrow, they would go look for Austin and hopefully find Maxwell, too.
Blade watched Dakota, taking in every detail—the way the fire lit up her face, her long eyelashes, her hand casually resting on her Colt.
Realizing he was in love with her had caused him a lot of confusion, but there was no denying it.
Dakota was his best friend, but she had become so much more than that.
Blade had never been interested in a woman before. Revenge and training had been his only focus. The feelings he had for Dakota were completely raw, very confusing, and undeniable. He had been trying really hard to push them away or to simply ignore them, but it wasn’t working.
Deciding that he had to do something before he drove himself mad, he stood up and walked over to Dakota, sitting down next to her.
“Are you okay?” Dakota asked, sitting up. She looked worried.
Blade nodded. “Yeah, just a little nervous.”
“About facing Austin?”
“No.” Blade shook his head. “I’m excited about that. I’m nervous about right now.”
Confusion washed over her face. “What do you mean?”
Blade didn’t know how to say the words. So instead, he simply acted on what he felt. Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to hers. Dakota didn’t move. He had no idea how she would react and half expected to get punched in the face.
He was just about to pull away and start apologizing when her lips started to move, melting against his.
Blade had never kissed anybody before and didn’t know what he was doing, but it felt good.
He moved his lips faster, eager for more.
Dakota moaned softly and grabbed his shoulders, slipping her arms around his neck.
It felt like his whole body was starting to take flame.
Rising from the pit of his stomach was an overbearing sense of happiness.
It was new but oh so welcome. Blade reached out, his hands finding Dakota’s hips as she moved onto his lap.
This time, he moaned, and he could hear her laughing as she pulled back slightly, parting their lips.
Her eyes found his—dark but brighter than the moon and stars. “You were nervous about kissing me,” she stated, but it sounded more like a question.
“I was nervous about getting punched in the face and losing my best friend.”
“You’ll never lose me,” Dakota assured him. “Punching you in the face is still on the table.”
Blade moved forward, adjusting his position under her so that he could pull her body closer to his. Their lips met again. “Why do you want to punch me?” Blade asked between kisses.
Dakota pulled away again, her lips swollen from the kiss. He had never seen her look more beautiful.
“Because,” she replied, “you’ve been acting strange, had me worried that something was wrong.”
“Sorry,” Blade whispered. “I just couldn’t stop thinking about kissing you and didn’t know how to tell you.”
Dakota shifted on his lap, straddling him with her legs. “You should have told me sooner,” she said, leaning in closer. “We could have been doing this a lot sooner.” She pressed her lips against his, her hands finding their way into his hair.
Blade kissed her back longingly. It was even better than he could have ever imagined.
***
Sleeping under the stars with Dakota in his arms was something that Blade would never forget.
It was the best night of his life. If he were to die today, he would die a happy man, knowing that the woman he loved returned his affections.
Some said that love made you weak, but that was not true at all.
If you love the right person, that love can encourage you to be a better person and to dream bigger.
That is what Dakota did for Blade. Before, he had never thought much about what came after revenge.
Now, as they followed Mrs. Cassidy through the streets of Houston, it was all Blade could think about.
“You need to get your head in the game,” Dakota said from beside him. “You’ve been distracted since we woke up.”
Blade smiled as he looked her up and down. “Can you blame me?”
Dakota shook her head but laughed. “I’m serious.”
“So am I,” Blade replied. Did she even know how stunning she was?
“You’re going to get us both killed if you continue like this.”
Blade had no intention of letting that happen. They were still looking for Austin, and they were being careful. Once they found him, Blade would do what was necessary. There was nothing wrong with having a little fun until then.
“I’ll never let anything happen to you,” Blade said. “You’re stuck with me now.”
In the distance, Mrs. Cassidy’s buggy turned right onto a road leading away from the stores.
Blade and Dakota followed, making sure to keep a safe distance.
They had been busy searching for Austin when they overheard a conversation in the general store.
The store owner had asked a woman, whom he called Mrs. Cassidy, how her husband was doing.
Mrs. Cassidy then proceeded to tell the store owner that her husband, Austin, was doing really well and had gone fishing with some friends.
There were houses on both sides of the road, and it was clear that the people who owned them had money.
These weren’t the type of houses that normal folks lived in.
They were built for the wealthy. Knowing how Austin made his money sent a flare of anger through Blade’s body.
He welcomed the feeling. It was what he needed to fuel him for the fight that lay ahead.
Mrs. Cassidy stopped at a house that was so fancy, it even stood out among the others.
As they watched Mrs. Cassidy carry her groceries into the house, Blade wondered if she knew who her husband was.
He doubted it. Austin was an evil man, but he wasn’t dumb.
He hadn’t run one of the largest gangs in America while staying anonymous for the last seven years by telling people his secrets.
“What do we do now?” Dakota asked.
“Austin isn’t here, and I don’t believe for a second that he has gone fishing, but I do believe he is hiding somewhere with his friends.”
“How do we find him? If he lied to his wife, she wouldn’t be of any use to us.”
“We look for horse prints,” Blade replied as he slowly started steering Africa forward.
“And how exactly are we going to figure out which of these prints belongs to him?” Dakota asked with a frown. “People use this road daily.”
It was true, but he doubted that any of the wealthy folks left town on horseback. They would likely have buggies. There were a lot of horse prints in the road, though, so they would have to rely on a little luck.
“The houses only stretch to where the woods begin. I bet if we continue down this road, the horse prints will get fewer, and we’ll be able to see if anybody left town recently.”
Turned out luck was on their side. As Blade had thought, the horse prints became less and less as they headed further down the road. By the time they reached the woods, there was only one set of prints.
“Remind me to never doubt your tracking skills,” Dakota said, looking at him proudly. “You really think these belong to him?”
“I do,” Blade confirmed. “But there is only one way to find out.”
As they followed the tracks, they found more and more.
Men had come from different directions and paths, but they were all heading in the same direction.
The road they were on grew narrower, and the woods surrounding it grew thicker.
There were many smaller roads and paths leading out from it, but the horse prints continued on. Then suddenly, they disappeared.
Blade brought Africa to a stop as he scanned the surrounding area. At first, he didn’t see it, but then, between two big trees, he spotted an overgrown path. It was narrow and had been long forgotten, but it was the only way they could have gone.
Slipping off Africa’s back, he walked over to the path and crouched down. Pulling the long grass to the side, he saw horse prints. They were definitely on the right track.
“They headed through there,” he told Dakota as he made his way to her. “I think we’re close.”
Dakota nodded. “Then what are we waiting for?”
“I don’t know about you,” Blade replied seriously, “but I’m waiting for my woman to give me a kiss.”
Dakota shook her head and rolled her eyes but leaned down anyway. Holding onto his shoulders for balance, she gave him a peck and then pulled away with a mischievous glint in her eye.
Blade stared up at her. “Unbelievable.”
Dakota laughed, clearly pleased with herself, but then surprised him by grabbing his shoulders and crashing her lips to his. The second kiss lasted much longer, and when they finally parted, they were both out of breath.
“Better,” Blade said, feeling satisfied. “That’s the kind of kiss a man needs before a fight.”
“This woman needed it too,” Dakota teased. “Now, how about we go kill these bastards so that we can do it again?”
Blade liked that idea a lot. “Sounds like a plan.”
The overgrown path led them far into the woods and to a little clearing with a trapper’s cabin right in the center. The horses were all tied up behind the cabin. Blade counted twelve in total. That meant that there were twelve men inside the cabin and that Blade and Dakota were heavily outnumbered.
“Are all of them inside?” Dakota asked from where they stood, hidden by the shadows and foliage of the trees.
“I don’t know.” Blade slowly moved to his right, being careful not to make any noise. The last thing they wanted was to alert the gang that they were there before coming up with a plan.
They had slipped on their masks as soon as they saw the cabin. Then they had dismounted from Africa and Riot and tied them to a tree where they would be safe and out of the way.
Blade knew deep down that Austin was there. He could feel his uncle’s evil presence, but they still hadn’t seen him.
Dakota was stealthy. He couldn’t even hear her behind him as they circled the cabin.
The tree line moved closer to the cabin on one side, and finally, they got some confirmation that the gang was there.
From within, they could hear voices talking, and then standing out among all of them was Austin’s.
Hearing it sent a chill down Blade’s spine.
He would be able to recognize that voice anywhere. Watch me kill your precious son. Those were the last words Blade had heard before Austin shot him. They were ingrained in his memory.