Snippet: Blaze of Glory
Chapter One
New West Frontier, Prospect Springs, New Earth, 2807
“Jon, what the hell do you think you’re doing? You can’t go riding into town, kicking up a row and laying claim to another man’s property.”
Jonathan MacSweeny glared at his best friend and cousin, Eli MacSweeny. Jonathan’s temperament had been bad to start with. It only worsened since he’d gotten up and this wasn’t helping it along any. At the current rate of progression, he’d be likely to shoot fire from his eyes and tear a man limb from limb before the night was out. The first was out of reach even for someone like Jonathan, but the second was a distinct possibility.
“Just because the man had a hand in fatherin’ her doesn’t mean he owns her,” Jonathan stressed. “And if I feel like making a scene, I will.” He fisted the reins of his horse—the need to be on their way was great for Jonathan. Every second they delayed was a second he could have had with the woman who turned him inside out with nothing more than a glance.
“According to the law, her daddy does own her. Least ‘til she’s married off, then her husband does.” Eli tipped his head slightly, sending dark strands of hair over his shoulders. The jet-black hair was a MacSweeny trait, one the ladies seemed to adore and the church-going elderly women seemed to take as a sign of the devil. Probably didn’t help much that the boys had inhuman eyes. They weren’t exactly human so it sort of went hand-in-hand.
Thankfully, over the years, the religious people in Prospect Springs had come to understand that although by all outward appearances the MacSweeny family was touched by the devil, they meant no harm and were honest boys. Who and what they were wasn’t a total secret because the rumors floated. The boys did nothing to stop the scuttlebutt.
Almost all of them had remained in the area. None had started families yet. It was probably a good thing since there were so many of them. Hell, there were four in his immediate family alone. Eli had two brothers. That had them up to seven already and Jonathan hadn’t even begun to think about his other two uncles and their boys.
All boys.
All rowdy.
All different.
All special.
“The law is wrong, Eli,” Jonathan said. “Plain and simple, the man has no right to force his daughter to wed a lecherous bastard just because it’ll get his parish bigger donations. Gerald Wilson is a snake who has raped more women than not and I’m not about to let him get his hands on Molly.”
Again.
He didn’t voice his last concern but it was evident from the tension that filled the area. Jonathan would rot in the pits of hell before he ever allowed Gerald Wilson near Molly again. He’d spent a decade regretting having been foolish enough to leave her accessible to Gerald to begin with. He should have claimed her as his mate the minute he’d realized that’s what she was to him.
It was an absurd thought and he knew it. They’d been too young for him to go with his gut. Gerald hadn’t cared a bit about Molly’s innocence. For that alone Jonathan had watched the bastard from a distance, waiting for him to step out of line so he’d be justified in killing him.
“Yap, yap, yap,” Parker, Jonathan’s older brother, said, as he rode up next to him. He steadied his horse and nodded out toward the night. “I hear ya talkin’, little brother, but I don’t hear you saying what it is you’re going to do to rectify the situation.”
“Rectify?” Eli grinned. It didn’t take much to figure out he was in the mood for mischief. “Trust the doctor to swoop in and start up with fancy words. We might need to stop by a Frontier Stall and look that there one up.”
Parker put his middle finger in the air and offered a cocky smile. “Doctor that, asshole. And seems to me the lawyer in the family would have some pull in regards to changing the laws but it’d appear you are as worthless as your last girlfriend claimed you to be.” He let his middle finger droop slowly as his gaze slid to Eli’s groin.
Eli shrugged. “Seein’ as how I had her screaming my name out in ecstasy behind the General Store I can’t see how I’d be labeled worthless. A bit randy maybe, but worthless? No.” He rubbed his chin, doing his best to conceal a wicked grin. They got entirely too much joy out of poking fun at one another. “As far as laws go, I don’t get to change ‘em. I only get to twist the already existing ones to my advantage.”
Jonathan’s ears perked as he fingered his sidearm and then his badge. The silver burned slightly as he touched it but still, his hand remained. It was a reminder of not only who he was but what he was. He was the sheriff but was also more than a man. The beast, who suffered a sensitivity to silver, swore an oath to protect Molly and the man supported the decision wholeheartedly. The two had come to a conclusion long ago—she was not to be harmed and, one day, she would be his. “Got any law-twisting planned, cousin?”
“A whole lot of begging, Jon. That’s ‘bout it.” Eli chuckled. “Well, that and I told Parker to bring along some aspirin. You might need it after you go and get yourself hung over a woman. Be thankful a hangin’ won’t kill ya. Just make your head and neck hurt for a few days. Now, if they decide to run silver spikes through your heart or chop your head off, well, that’s another matter.”
“Wonderful.” He didn’t bother to hide his sarcasm. “And thanks for the show of support. It warms me to know my kin are positive I’ll get my neck snapped before the day’s out.”
The tiny snort that came from Eli wasn’t lost on him, neither was the piercing gaze the man gave him. Those lavender eyes always seemed to know the truth.
Eli stated the obvious anyway. “Jon, this is an awful lot of trouble to go through for a girl you ain’t even seen since she was but knee-high. What’s it been? Ten years now?”
It was the truth. Jonathan hadn’t seen Molly Cogan since she was sixteen but that didn’t matter any. When word of her father’s plans reached him, he’d been blinded by rage. Molly had been a free spirit, a female renegade. So much so, her father had sent her away, shamed by her even though there was nothing to be ashamed about. Molly was a rare treasure, or at least she had been.
And damn well always will be, MacSweeny.
He smiled as his inner voice chastised him as quickly and as sharply as Molly would. He held tighter to the reins of his horse. It would’ve been faster to take his steel steed. They were built to look like real horses except for the legs. Steel steeds had none. They hovered just off the ground, six to eight inches. Jonathan had mounted handlebars on the neck of his. They helped to steer better and allowed him to lean forward more, cutting wind resistance. All the MacSweeny boys had steel steeds but the damn mechanical beasts tended to be unpredictable and since they ran on both fuel and solar power, one needed to be sure one had plenty of both. Fuel wasn’t an issue, it was sunlight. There wasn’t a whole heck of a lot of it left for the day and there was no way in hell Jonathan was gonna chance anything ruining him getting to Molly. No, he’d take what was tried and true, his mare.
“Let’s ride.”
REVIEWS
Ronda-Queentutt’s World of Escapism’s review
5 STARS-Fun, Sexy, and Refreshingly Humorous. I absolutely loved it! The writing becomes addicting right away as the story comes alive within the first page. I literally could not put this fast paced book down it was that good. The characters connected beautifully and had me laughing out loud with their bantering.
Megan Hart:Read in bed!
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