The Love Goddess Brands Her Cowboys (14 page)

“She tried to kill me!” he cried out at Diego, in shock as Belle waved her fist and cursed at him.

“She won’t get away with it.”

Chad watched, awestruck, as Diego just disappeared then reappeared in front of the racing truck, putting out his hand and causing her little car to come to a full stop, as the engine sputtered to a halt. Wow, how many powers had Diego been suppressing?  And how many scrapes had he gotten him out of without him knowing it?  Without wasting time to marvel at Diego’s abilities, Chad ran to help him out, but found that there was no need. Diego had, by then, deflated all of her tires with a blink of his eyes and Belle was climbing out of the driver’s seat, shrieking. “Bastard! How did you
do
that? Hell, I don’t
care
how you did it! How dare you stop me! This jerk—” she flashed a revolted glance at Chad, “deserves to die for humiliating me!”

Chad stepped forward and grabbed her arms, as she tried to get loose by kicking at him. “You’re not well, Belle,” he said, feeling the truth of his words. “We’re going to call the police and they can decide what to do with you.”

“No!” she shouted. She proceeded to call him every four letter word in the book. “You are not going to help
them
lock me up in that awful hospital again! Everyone is against me!” She let out a pathetic scream that pierced the air and hurt Chad’s ears, even as he felt honest pity for her and gratitude to Diego for his help.

Diego pulled out his cell phone and called the police while Belle accused him of using witchcraft. It was more like
wish
craft Chad thought with an inner smile that he didn’t show her. Chad had nothing else to say to her so he let her get hysterical and by the time the cops arrived, she was babbling incoherently.

A burly cop shook his head sadly as he handcuffed her and took her to his squad car. Chad and Diego watched, Chad wondering how he hadn’t sensed Belle’s insanity before but that was before he’d had the extra insight he did now. He dropped his gaze as Belle was driven away, still screaming.

After the cop car was out of sight, Chad’s heart started to slow down and he turned to Diego, amazed that his friend had reached him in time and a little bothered by it, as he’d always thought he’d stood on his own two feet. Crossing his arms, he said, “So I guess this is an example of how you protect me. I guess I should thank you.” He turned his head, cringing again at the idea of having a guardian angel, but unable to deny it any longer.

“I sensed the danger. It was sudden, but I’m quick. I’m sure you’d have done the same for me.”

Chad said nothing, knowing Diego was right.

“You’ve come to my rescue when I’ve been in fights that I was losing,” Diego said, laughing. “Many, many times, bro, you’ve saved my sorry ass from a beating.”

This was true. A little bit of the tightness in his chest relaxed. “Crazy bitch,” he said about Belle, shaking his head. “I feel sorry for her, but, shit, she really wanted me dead.”

“Yep. Well, I don’t think she’ll be back for a while.”

“Probably not, her folks will see to that.” Chad looked up at the blue sky, tipping his head back, not wanting to look at Diego. “Did you have fun with Star?” he asked waiting for the jealously to hit, surprised when it didn’t

“We’re a triad, Chad, I think you know that we did. If you’re going to be jealous of me, amigo, you’re not going to enjoy our family life. Star is just as bonded to you as she is to me and that can never change.”

“I finally figured that out, pal.” Chad smiled and clasped Diego on the shoulder seeing his friend’s surprise at his attitude adjustment.  “So do we have to move to Venus with our triad?”

“Not full time.  We can spend some time there and come back to tend to the ranch too. When on earth, nobody needs to know of our triad marriage. Put Holden in charge for when we’re, um, traveling.” He punched Chad in the shoulder.

Chad looked at his twinkling gaze, and smirked. “Yes, we’ll be doing a lot of traveling, I suppose. I love the ranch, you know. I’m not staying full time on Venus.”

“It will work out. We can split our time. Can’t you feel that it’s right?”

Chad still felt the warmth and smelled the scent his mother had left. “Yeah, I can. I feel better about it now. My mother visited me.” He gave Diego a sharp stare. Diego nodded, not looking surprised.  “I couldn’t see her, but I heard her and felt her aura, smelled her...”

“Lilacs,” Diego put in with a smile. “Believe me, we’ve met and she’d kick my ass if I let you down. I suppose you want to meet her. She’s a fine lady.”

Chad nodded.

“Soon. The next time we go to Venus, it will be with Star. Well, the
first
time
you
go.”

Chad nodded again, pressing his lips together. “Yes, it’s right that Star meet her when I do.” After he spoke the words, knowing he owed Star more than he could say for opening him up to love and his true nature. “And it’s right that you come with us too.” He felt his old affection returning for his friend.

Diego broke into a grin.

Chad took a deep breath. This was real and he had to accept. In time, his gut told him, he’d come to like it more and more. He’d always felt so alone and now he had two soulmates who would be with him forever. “Where
is
Star?”

“Taking a nap. You want to walk around a bit to let her rest and to finish clearing your head?”

“Sure,” he said, grateful that Diego knew him so well. He wanted to be all calmed down when he went back to Star.

Diego thumped him on the back. “Let’s go, amigo. I need to clear my head too and we need to make some plans. You had a close call with Belle and if I’d timed it wrong…”

“You didn’t. I don’t want to talk about that. Let’s just walk along the shoreline and you can tell me more about my mother.”

“Sure,” Diego said and the two of them stepped into the sand, heading toward the lake. “She’s quite a character.”

Norris Hart didn’t speak to any of the other sweaty cowboy hands as he mended the fence at the Austin ranch. He was on such a higher plain than them that he could hardly stand to be near them but he knew he couldn’t show his disdain for them yet. Diego had hired him on for the party and had told him he could work for a week to see how he did and Norris grinned when he thought about how he’d fooled him with his humble act. It had been a hurried employment and Norris had been in a disguise of shabby clothes he’d lifted off a clothesline and a battered hat. Nah, he had them all fooled and now he had to act.

Star. He had to snatch her while both Chad and Diego were gone. Human or not, they looked powerful, and his magic, being compromised, could only help him so much.

Norris seethed as he thought about how Star almost didn’t deserve him. The woman he knew to be his soulmate, Star Hart, had the low morals to sneak off with Chad and Diego last night. His hand tightened around the barbed wire as he thought about her having three way human sex while he hid in the trees, looking on, masturbating. How dare the fickle bitch spread her legs for the rotting humans, taking their cocks into her Venusian body!  Luckily for him it didn’t count.  There was no way the human mating counted and maybe it loosened her up for him.  Either way he’d punish her for the act once he secured her powers as his own.

The strange lightning storm had reminded him of a bonding, but it couldn’t be.  Everybody knew that humans and Venusians couldn’t bond so it must have been some strange glitch in earth weather.
He
would fuck her, bind her to him, and steal her away from the stupid cowboys. He knew, in his heart, that she wanted him. She just felt funny about it because he was her cousin; however a third cousin wasn’t really a cousin at all. Everything would be all right once the two of them had sex and he sealed the deal. Of course, at first she would probably not have him willingly, and that angered him. But he had insurance to make sure that she eventually submitted. His puny cock twitched.

As Norris gritted his teeth, doing human work, he cursed his damn relatives for making him sink to this level. The only thing that heartened him was the charm in his pocket, his insurance. Venusian women went wild when shown a love charm. They all wanted sex with whomever was there holding its mighty spell. If he had to use it to get Star’s easy consent, he would.  The love charm was illegal to use on Venus, but this wasn’t Venus.

Suddenly Norris saw Diego come out of the ranch and stalking away from it. His heart sped up. Star was alone and vulnerable.  Excellent!  Chad had already left and if Diego went any distance at all, he was ready to make his move toward Star and tricking her into being his love slave. Norris kept working, albeit clumsily, until he saw Diego disappeared in the thick trees he’d been hiding in the night before. Great, he was heading toward the lake.  That’s where Chad had gone too. Good. Maybe they had to chat about ranch business or wanted another skinny dip he thought with a sneer as he recalled them calling it that. Such stupid fools, humans.

Norris stood, and the hand beside him looked up and asked, “Where ya goin’, Carson?”

“Cigarette break,” Norris said, trying to sound friendly.

The hand nodded then went back to work on the fence. Norris took long strides out of the corral. When he glanced back, as he neared the ranch, he was relieved to see nobody even glancing in his direction. Good, he was a non entity as usual, but this time he welcomed it. Without glancing behind him again, he sauntered to the ranch house’s side entrance. Disabling Chad’s security system was a snap for a Venusian who had an electronics background that far exceeded anything a human being could imagine. After that, he quickly jimmied the lock with a bobby pin and stepped inside, finding himself in a kitchen.

Although Norris had compromised powers, he could feel Star’s aura surrounding him and felt a little ribbon of her power come to him, probably due to the love charm. As he took it in, his heart pounded faster as his small dick hardened. He hadn’t expected to gain power even before he fucked her.  Things were finally going his way. Happy that, at least at such a close distance he could still track her, he found himself walking through the kitchen to a trendy, bachelor living room and then climbing the stairs, following her scent. In the hallway were two bedrooms, one with the door shut. Star’s aura called to him from behind the closed door. She was in there, waiting for him, even though she didn’t know it yet. He took out his lucky charm and held it tightly in his fist, determined to get her this time. Then he opened the door and slammed it shut behind him, his gaze raking over Star in the bed asleep.  As if he’d disturbed her aura, she opened her eyes and sat up with a gasp, her pretty eyes large as two dark saucers.

“Yes,” he said, waving the lucky charm at her. “It’s me. Did you miss me, lover? No, I guess you didn’t, seeing as how you’re opening your legs for dirty cowboys. I’m going to have to cure you of that, but first I’m going to bond with my soulmate. And we’ll live happily ever after, like they say in all those dumb earth fairy tales you liked to read.”

He saw Star’s gaze on the charm. “No,” she said, in a weak voice, covering her eyes. “I’ll never bond with you. Besides you can’t rape me, fool. I’m bonded!”

“Oh, please,” he sneered.  “As for rape, you’ll be screaming for me and you know it.” He held up the charm and watched her wince. “What do you take me for, an idiot?”

“It’s true, damn it! Even the charm can’t help you, moron!  And you know what will happen to you if you try anything funny,” she said her worried eyes flicking to the charm again.  “Get away from me while you still can!” She dropped her hand and blinked at him like she was trying to blink him away and he laughed when nothing happened.  The shocked look on her pretty face made him gloat. She hadn’t expected that.

“This charm overpowers Venusian women, even powerful ones. You know this, my pretty girl.” 

Star lifted her chin, and it trembled a little, but she managed to look strong. Damn, she turned him on! “Norris, a bonding even supersedes a love charm. It supersedes everything because it’s a blessing from the Gods. Don’t do this or you’ll regret it!”

“Bonding bullshit.” He grinned at her helplessness. Then he flipped the charm in the air and caught it with a thought.   Stalking up to her bed, his confidence growing along with his hard on, he blinked his clothes away. Only it didn’t work. “Damn!” he muttered, as she laughed at him. So the charm had power, but not him. Well, that would change as soon as she fucked him. “Shut up!” he yelled at her, “and look at this!” He unzipped his jeans and pulled out his dick.

Star gave him attitude, even now, even knowing she was toast. “Where is it?” She tossed her head and smirked.

“Shut up!
” He seethed. So it wasn’t as big as the cowboy’s dicks. He would drive her wild with his magnificent foreplay. “You’ll love what I can do!” he snapped.

His words seemed to frighten her, like she finally realized he was serious or maybe she could feel the sexual effect from the love charm. She started to slide off the bed but it was too late, and he pounced on top of her, letting his weight confine her for his pleasure while he rubbed the love charm over her cheek. And she rubbed against his dick, as if against her will, she glared at him with tears in her eyes.

“I hate you!” she shouted trying to bite his cheek.

He laughed and rubbed the lucky charm all over her face making her rub against it like a cat in heat. Sexual catnip, he thought with a chuckle, at his own wit.  He was really quite a catch and soon she would see it.

“No!” she cried out, but it was weaker and she had stopped fighting him.

I am winning!
He smiled, triumphant, and tried to blink their clothes off, and started cussing when his magic failed again.   He needed to fuck her to get all her powers.  But first he’d have to undress himself like a lowly human. At least he wouldn’t have to go to the trouble of stripping her because she’d been slumbering nude.  Probably after fucking the cowboys, he thought with a scowl, but decided not to punish her for that just yet when he saw the glazed look in her eyes.  She was under the charms, no
his,
power.  He almost crowed with delight.