The Gunslinger's Gift (4 page)

“He was
actually fairly amused. He’s been around me long enough to know that I always
identify my target before I shoot. I’ve never made a mistake. I won’t keep any
weapons near you, but I will keep one on the nightstand on my side. Otherwise,
I’ll never be able to sleep, even with your hot little self wrapped up in my
arms.” He smiled at her. “The other’s I’ll keep locked down. Promise. As for
fire, you won’t have to worry about it here. We only have electric fireplaces
because the venting isn’t up for real ones.”

“I’m
fine with that.”

He
hugged her close, rubbing her back gently. “Go and get ready for bed, Sophia.
I’ll be back in a couple of minutes, and I’ll remove my stash of things in here
that worry you.”

“Sounds
good.” She watched him for just a moment then, with a nod, headed off. When she
came out of the bathroom, she climbed into the large bed, watching him the
whole time. “Bathroom’s all yours. Hurry?” She was tired, but refused to go to
sleep without him there with her.

“Won’t
be but two shakes.” He was tucking the last of the guns away in what looked
like a large safe in the closet. Closing the heavy door, he spun the wheel and
then tugged. With a nod to himself, he grabbed up an article of clothing from
the top of the dresser and vanished behind the door of the bathroom.

Sophia
was almost asleep when she heard James re-entering the room. She watched him as
he approached and grinned when he paused, turned on his heel, and moved to turn
off the light. He was too cute. When he got into bed with her, she moved close
to him and snuggled against his side.

“That
night on the Island, I loved sleeping in your arms. It was both heaven and
hell. Heaven because I was being held by you, and Hell because I knew that you
didn’t need and want me the same way.” All that mattered was he understood who
she was now. It made her smile as she stroked her fingers over his chest.
“Makes us appreciate each other all the more, don’t you think?”

“I
definitely appreciate you, honey. You could have told me to take a hike, or
shoved me off the mountain, actually. But you gave me a second chance. More
than I deserve. I just hope I can live up to it and don’t make you ever regret
giving me that shot.”

“You’re
all I’ve ever wanted,” Sophia whispered with a smile and yawned again.
“Tomorrow, will you spend the day with me? Tonight, we started too late, and I
would really like to spend the whole day with you. Just getting to know you and
enjoying life with you.”

“We
should tell your sister, though,” he said, with dread coloring his voice.
“She’s not going to be happy with me. Hell, she’s not happy with me right now.
This is really going to push her right over the edge.”

Sophia
shrugged and looked up at him. “It doesn’t matter what she thinks. When she
sees that you finally realize who I am to you, she’ll get over it. I think she
was just worried because I was planning on leaving. She was pretty upset when I
told her.” Upset was a tame word. “Besides, she’ll see us together and be good
with it.” Her sister just wanted her happy, and Sophia knew it.

“If you
say so. But I’m absolutely going to be hiding behind your skirts tomorrow when
we face the dragon lady down. I feel zero shame in admitting it. She bloody
well scares the bejesus out of me,” he said. “And I’m pretty sure she
does
breathe fire.”

Sophia
had to laugh. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you, Billy. I won’t let the dragon
lady get you, promise,” she whispered sleepily, and then yawned again.
“Goodnight.”

Chapter
Two

James
was dragging his heels. She knew it, and she knew that he knew she knew. Not
that Sophia blamed him. They were off to face her sister. Or, as he’d so
quaintly labeled her, “the dragon lady.” She wondered if she should tell Vivian
that. Her sister might be amused to know she scared the big, bad gunslinger.

James
shot her another pleading look as she shook her head. He gave her a pout, his
lower lip sticking out likely as far as he could get it, and he knocked on
Jason and Vivian’s door.

Sophia
grinned when Vivian answered, and she stepped to stand before James. “Hey,
sis.” Sophia gave Vivian a hug. “Before you start on him, he knows. So, just
leave him alone, or you and I will argue, and I don’t think you want that.
Right?”

“No.”
Vivian’s glare was getting on Sophia’s nerves, but her sister added to James,
“I guess you can come in now that you’ve pulled your head out of your ass. What
is it that made you realize that she was your VV? Because there were running
bets around the compound that you wouldn’t figure it out, and that was just
plain sad.”

That
was news to Sophia. She hadn’t realized that everyone knew about the struggles
between her and James.

James
wrapped an arm around Sophia’s waist. “That was uncalled for, Vivian,” he said
quietly, a warning in his voice. “Unlike all these other lucky bastards, my
medallion’s in my head. Makes for one fucked up, nasty headache when it starts
banging around. It also makes it damned hard to concentrate. Had someone
actually thought to be helpful, and maybe say something, perhaps we wouldn’t
have been the target of such childish bets.

“But
then again, everyone here’s all perfect, aren’t they? They can’t do a damned
thing wrong, except for the gunslinger, right?” He was tense at her side now,
and while his voice was perfectly even and soft, Sophia knew he was right
pissed off.

Sophia
rubbed James’s back and laid her head on his shoulder. “I tried to tell you.
However, I don’t like that there were bets about our personal lives, at all.
That peeves me off on a level I didn’t know was possible.” She looked to her
sister and sighed. “I just wanted to let you know that James and I have worked
out our issues. I love you, sis, but I’m throwing you over for a day with
James.”

James
squeezed her tighter as Vivian stared at them, her mouth hanging open.

Jason,
Vivian’s soul mate, walked up behind her and tapped her chin so she would close
her mouth. “Good on you two. Though I will say, about damned time. I was really
getting sick and tired of the whole ‘no interference’ rule. I’ve been trying to
figure out a way to get you to realize it, but knew I’d screw it up, and then
Mercury would have my ass. Anyway, water under the bridge. Go and have fun, you
two. We’ll catch up with you later in the week.” He winked at Sophia.

Sophia
grinned and looked up at James. “Maybe next week.” They did have a great deal
to catch up on, after all. “Thanks, Jase.” She moved to give him and her sister
a quick hug before dragging James out of there.

Once
the door closed behind them, she let out a breath. “Okay, mister, time for us
to go. What should we do first? Maybe we should get breakfast?”

“Yeah,
breakfast would be good.” James was still tense, but with every step away from
the suite, he relaxed a little bit more. “I’m sorry about that. I had no
intention of getting upset with her. I knew she’d have something to say about
it all, but it pissed me the hell off the way she said it.”

“She
made me upset too,” Sophia admitted to him. “Like crazy whoa, which is why I
got us out of there. Maybe by next week she’ll have the burr out of her
backside. If not, I’ll ask Jason to ensure that it gets out.” She shook her
head. “Vivian’s always been protective of me. I think part of it is because she
couldn’t protect me like she wanted to when we were kids.”

Sophia
shrugged. “The shield she’s able to generate only covered her. She didn’t know
how to make it extend to others. She’s learned to now, though, which is a good
thing. I wish I could do something that cool.”

“Sophia,
what are you talking about?” James asked. “Honey, you’ve an affinity with
Mother Nature, for the love of the gods. That is one hell of a cool ability. It
has so many options for you, if you really work with it. It could protect you
just as easily, if not better, than the shields that Vivian can toss up.”

“It
has. At times. When Jason found me on the Island, I had hidden from the
monsters that broke in. She whispered to me, and I listened.” Sophia was
blushing now. “I love being out in nature, which is part of the reason that I’m
a vegetarian. It makes me icky feeling to think of eating something with a
face.” Off topic completely, but she got nervous talking about her ability and
worried someone might figure out just how much Mother Nature bent to her
commands.

“You’re
in tune with nature, so you can’t interrupt the flow without it affecting your
abilities.” He shrugged at her look. “What? It makes perfect sense to me, but
I’m the outsider looking in. We’ll talk more about your gift later, when we’re
tucked away in our rooms. Speaking of which, I was thinking that if you were of
a mind to, we should move you in there. I mean, if you still want to stay there
with me.”

“Well,
of course I do.” Sophia stopped them mid-stride so she could gaze at him, a
grin on her face. “I want to spend every moment possible with you. It makes me
happy to be able to be close. So, yes please. My painting supplies haven’t
arrived yet, so clothes are all that I have right now.” They had left their
home and had been waiting for it to be packed up and shipped to The Mountain.

“I
didn’t want to push you too fast, but I really hate the idea of you being
somewhere I’m not.” Shrugging, James smiled a little and got her moving again.
“I’m finding I’m a wee bit possessive, and the idea of you being so far away,
with so many other Guardians between the two of us, really irritates me. Even
if most of them aren’t here, still tweaks my tail something fierce.”

Sophia
gave him a squeeze, simply because she could, and walked along at his side. “I
think that I’ll need to find a set of rooms close to yours, however, for my
studio. I’d love to have my own space for painting.”

“The
suites on either side of mine are empty. We used to have a lot more Guardians,
but we’ve lost them over the years. I picked the spot farthest from the others
so that I wasn’t in their space. I really didn’t feel like a part of the whole
team dynamics for a while. Plus, it gave me a semblance of privacy when they
were always watching me early on.

“I’ll
show you the rooms later, and you can pick the one you like best. We’ll have to
do some updates though, at least to the lighting, since not much has been done
in them since we did the last overhaul ten years ago on the base as a whole.”

“Sounds
good to me. Is it because of the medallion in your head that they watched you?
Were they worried it would throw off your game, or whatever?” She had no idea
how he was even here, but she was thankful that he was. “Have I mentioned how
happy I am that you’re here? That you’re a Guardian and you’re mine?”

“You’ve
mentioned it a time or two, but you can mention it as many times as you want. I
kind of like hearing it,” he admitted. “They were worried that the shot had led
to brain damage. The medallion can fix a lot of destruction, but there’s always
scarring left, at least from the original wounds. They didn’t have the
technology like we do now to scan my head.

“They
actually did one a couple years ago and could track the path of the bullet from
the scar tissue inside my skull. It missed everything except for my spinal
column, which is what killed me. It grazed along the bottom side of my brain
before exiting my cheek, but it didn’t do any significant damage to what little
grey matter I actually have up there.”

“Wow.
You amaze me,” she whispered honestly to him. “And don’t give yourself a hard
time. You’re far more intelligent than you give yourself credit for.”

“Some
days,” he said. “Then, there are others that I wonder if they miscalculated how
much damage that one bullet did.” James squeezed her closer. “I very nearly
fucked up the best damn thing to come into my life because I didn’t realize
what was going on. All from a medallion placed in the worst possible spot there
is. I really should let Mercury kick my ass. Which he may still do, given he’s
still a little pissy over my hotel bill, which wasn’t even my fault.”

“I
don’t understand.” She had no idea what he was talking about. “What hotel bill?
You haven’t been anywhere lately, have you?” Maybe he had. God only knew that
she had spent a good deal of time avoiding him so that she could avoid hurt,
and he had avoided her for the same reason.

“From
when we were in Seattle. Apparently, while I was with you on the Island,
someone broke into my room and trashed the place. From evidence of an oily
residue left behind, we’re pretty sure it was the Monsters that were after you.
What I didn’t know when I was beating on them, was that they’d broken one of
the handles on my six shooters.

“Fuckers.
It’s going to cost me a fortune to get the pearl inlay repaired, I’m not happy
in the least. Neither is Mercury, since there was apparently four-thousand
dollars’ worth of damage done to my room. Not including movies,” James muttered
the last bit.

“Movies?”
The blush that stole across his cheeks had her falling for him all the harder.

“I have
a thing for movies.” He stopped walking and looked around them, twice, before
he leaned in. “I have a serious love of romantic comedies. If you ever tell
anyone, I’ll deny it until my last day on this earth, we clear? But I do.
Thankfully, Mercury hasn’t let that cat out of the bag yet, and lets me get
away with watching as many as I can while on the job.”

That
had her grinning. “I love it. Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. Always.
I love Rom-Com’s as well, so that’s a good thing.”
Heavens, can he be any more perfect for me?
“I’m sorry about your
gun. Is it something that you’ve sent out to get repaired?”

“No, we
don’t send any of our weapons out. I had to order the material, and then Eric,
when he returns from his current mission, will do the work on it for me. I
spoke to him about it a couple days ago, and he’s in nearly as much anguish
over it as I am.

“The
guns were a gift back in my first life. I wore them every day, used them a few
times, and they never once failed me. I always carry one with me, practice with
them, and treasure them greatly. It seriously gets my nose out of joint knowing
that they aren’t a set right now. Makes me twitchy as all get out. Even though
I don’t use them very often.”

They’d
reached the dining hall, and he pushed the door open, holding it for her to go
inside. Thankfully, the room was empty of both Guardians and any of the regular
folks that worked there. God only knew how they’d react, seeing the two of them
together all of a sudden.
Sophia
stepped to where the food buffet was set up and began to pile her plate full
with fruits and veggies.
James
picked up his own. She noted he was quite the meat man, heavy on the scrambled
eggs, and not a single piece of fruit hit his plate.

Sophia
continued the previous conversation, “I’m glad your guns can be fixed. I don’t
want to have to worry about you, James. But what do you mean, you don’t use
them a lot?”

“They’re
relics, for the most part.” James poured a big mug of coffee and took a sip
with a look of pleasure on his face. “It’s hard to get replacement parts for
them anymore. Everything has to be hand tooled. Same with the bullets. I have
to make all my ammunition because of how unique the pieces are. So, for
everyday use, I go with a pair of Glocks instead. I carry one of them with me
at all times, because it would be like leaving a leg behind, but I rarely fire
them.”

“Good
point. I hadn’t thought of it like that. Add to it the fact that there are more
bullets in guns today. And please tell me that you won’t get hurt again? When
that sword went through your shoulder, I nearly died myself.” She spoke about
the fight for the first time. “You were covered in blood. It was horrible.” She
felt sick just thinking about it. “But you were ornery and refused to go, and
that was something I was very, very darn happy for.”

Plus,
with him being a Guardian, only taking his head or shattering his medallion
would work, which she had been told repeatedly by all of the Guardian’s medical
staff, and even Mercury, while he was recovering.

Setting
the mug down, he wrapped an arm around her middle and drew her back against his
chest. “You know that a little pinprick isn’t going to put me down for long.
Yes, I bled like a stuck pig, but I’m here, and I’m just fine.” He pressed a
kiss to her cheek then nibbled on her ear a little. “I’m not going anywhere,
Sophia. I plan on making your life very interesting for a long, long time,
honey.”

Sophia
shivered and leaned into him. Licking her lips, she turned to face him. “That’s
a very good thing, because I totally plan on giving you heck and back again for
a very long time to come.” She kissed him again. “I think we should finish our
meal, go and check out the spaces that you had in mind for my studio, and then
spend the rest of our day in our rooms. Thoughts?”