The Gunslinger's Gift (7 page)

“Not
usually, no,” he said. “But we should likely see about some contraceptives, if
you want to wait a while. The more we keep going, especially with me spilling
inside of you like I’ve been, the higher the chances are. We’ll stop by the
medical offices and have them give you a check-up and see what options you
might be open to. For now, though, I think I’ll have to use condoms. No method
is a hundred percent, but it’s better than nothing.”

“Okay.
You don’t like that idea, do you? Condoms, that is?” She moved in closer and
once more wrapped her arms around him. “We’ll go to medical and see about
getting me on something. I think that Viv takes a shot…or no, it’s something
that was implanted inside of her, but I’m not sure what it is.” She shrugged.
“Medical will know.”

“They
will at that,” he said. “And no, I don’t really like condoms. But I’ll do
whatever is necessary to ensure you’re happy. If you’re not ready for babies
right away, then we’ll do what’s required until you are. So, try not to worry
so much, Soph.”

“Thank
you.” She didn’t think that anyone else would be as understanding of her needs.
“I think that we should spend a great deal of time together before we think of
babies. We’re both really young, and while I love you, I think that right now,
you and me just getting to know each other, traveling and enjoying life
together, is good. Right?”

“Whatever
you want, Soph.” He smiled. Pressing a kiss to her lips, he squeezed her close.
“Let’s get out of the tub before you start to prune up. You need to eat, and so
do I if you keep attacking me as you are wont to do. Not complaining, just so
you know, making a statement is all. After we eat, I’ll call down to medical
for an appointment.”

“Sounds
good.” Sophia laughed and looked up at him. “And I’m attacking you?” She was
grinning. “Well, okay, so I’ll definitely be the one who owns that. ’Cause I
saw you naked, and I couldn’t help myself.”

“Not
complaining in the least,” he assured her. Pressing another kiss to her lips,
he lifted her to her feet. “Out you get. Careful, now.” Standing up behind her,
he gave her a hand out of the tub, holding on until she had both feet on the
rug. After pulling the plug to drain the water, he stepped out next to her.

She
grabbed a towel from the heated rack and passed him one, as well. “Now, then.
Dry, food, and then we’ll attack each other again.” Okay, so she might have a
one-track mind, and that was the truth. She seriously loved James and the way
that he touched her and felt her and everything. She loved every single part of
it.

“Good
Gods, I’ve created a sexual monster.” Laughing, he bent over to dry his legs.
“I, for one, am eternally glad that you like making love with me, Soph. Let’s
see how you’re feeling after we eat, before you jump my bones again. You might
be a little stiff, honey, and we don’t want to hurt you.”

“So,
what did you bring us for food?” He had helped her sate one hunger, for the
time being. Now, it was time to sate the other.

“Stuff
without faces for you. Not as easy as it sounds in a place that caters to
Guardians who need and demand large quantities of meat. I think I managed,
though. By the skin of my teeth, of course, but you should be nice and full by
the time we finish eating.” James hung up his towel, grabbed up his clothing,
and walked into the bedroom buck ass naked.

She chuckled.
“Well, we’ll just have to make lists for the store. Because I have to have
food. Tofu is a good thing. I know most people turn their noses up to it, but
it’s actually tasty with the right seasonings.”

“That’s
a soybean something or other, isn’t it?” he asked, wrinkling up his nose. “I’ve
heard about it. You can eat whatever you want, Soph. Just don’t expect anyone
around here to jump on board with your unique, ‘no faces’ diet plan. Then
again, we don’t have your same ties to nature, so we’re not as affected by it
as you are.”

“That’s
okay. I wouldn’t even dream of trying to push anyone to eat as I do. I lived
with Viv for the last long while, and I was able to survive with her, and she
was able to survive with me. She’s tried what I eat and didn’t like it, so I
don’t attempt to push it on her again. I wouldn’t do that to you, either.
Especially, since I love the heck out of you.”

“Thank
the gods above,” he said, with a moan of pure relief. Grinning at her, he
tugged her close and hugged her to him. “We’ll go to the store and get you
whatever you want. We can cook here in our suites. I just never have, because I
don’t know how. It wasn’t exactly a necessary skill set for a gunslinger. I’ll
even try whatever you come up with, once. Because I love you and support all
your choices, no matter how weird I find them to be.”

“I’ll
teach you how to cook. It might not be the necessary trade for a gunslinger,
but it is something that’s good to have when you’re mated. Although, I likely
won’t let you cook a lot, because I love to.”

“Whatever
you want, Soph.” Pressing a kiss to her nose, he let her go. “Do you want a
robe while we’re eating? Or are you comfortable enough wandering around naked?”

“As
long as it is only the two of us, I’m perfectly fine. Seems as if, when I’m
with you, I have absolutely no shame at all.”

“Not in
the least, and we’re completely alone. The front door is locked, so no one can
come in here. I’ll warn you now, Merc does have a full set of keys for all the
doors in this place. It’s just a safety precaution, in case he can’t get ahold
of one of us. Then, he can enter and see if we’re lying unconscious in the
bathtub, or something like that. I don’t think he’s ever even used them, but he
does have them.

“I also
have two, one for me, and now, one for you as well. I’ll have to get a spare
key for whatever space you want to go with eventually, so you can lock it up
behind you when you finish each day.” Taking her hand, he led her out to the
main room and over to the dining table. “Sit, eat,” he ordered, letting her go
to pull out her chair.

Sophia
took a seat and shifted just a little bit. Then, she moved so that she could
put her feet up on James’s lap. “There, much better,” she confessed. “I want a
space close to here, so that you can come to me anytime you want.”

“So
that you can jump my bones whenever you feel the urge?” he asked, with a grin.
Chuckling when she shrugged at him, he pulled a lid off a plate and handed it
over to her. “Hopefully, this will do for tonight. Like I said, not a lot of
options around this place.” He passed her a napkin and utensils.

“Okay,
so we’ll get me a place close after we’ve gone grocery shopping.”

“We
should make sure there’s a bed in there,” he muttered. He’d uncovered the other
plate, with a large steak and a smothered baked potato on it, for himself.
Shifting forward in his seat, he draped his napkin over her feet with a grin.
“Eat up, honey.”

“We
won’t sleep the nights there, though. With the fumes and all, that would be
bad.”

“Yes,
fumes are bad,” he agreed. “We can do whatever you want with the space, Sophia.
It’ll be yours to do with as you wish. We’ll have to look into using the
standing venting for the stove in there to pull out some of the fumes to keep
you safe.”

“That
would be good. With no windows. There are portable venting systems that we
could install. It’s pricy, but I should be able to swing it.” She picked at the
salad before her. “That way, there’ll be something that’s always there and
going, cleaning and recycling the air.”

“You
tell me what you need, or want, and I’ll get it for you. I can afford it. You
find it online, and I’ll put it on my credit card.” He paused. “What’s with the
weird look, Soph?”

“I
just—. I’m surprised,” she admitted to him. “That you have a credit card and
credit history in this day and time. With all of the paper trails and so on
that are in today’s society, how do you keep yourself hidden?”

“Oh,
it’s not under my name. It’s my account, but it’s under the corporation that
Mercury set up. The corporation runs the trust that owns the land The Mountain
sits on. Each of us has a card with the corporate name on it. The numbers are
all different, which means they can link to any account we want.

“We’re
all very carefully hidden behind a wall of corporate names, trusts, and a bunch
of other things. It can never be traced directly to me. Not now, not ever. I
don’t exist in this time. Even my ID is all a careful cover for who I really
am. We’ve been doing this a long time, Soph. Hell, we were all around for the
dawn of the technological age. We saw it coming, and we protected ourselves. As
we protect our own.” He squeezed her ankle gently.

“That’s
seriously impressive.” She hesitated and then frowned. “Wait, what about me? I
have a small name for myself in the art world. Does this mean I have to stop
painting?”

“No,
ma’am, not for a long time,” he said. “Eventually, you’ll have to for a while.
But then, you can come back as someone new. Using your previous self as your
inspiration. There are plenty of options, honey. We have plenty of time to talk
about it and decide how you want it all handled.”

“Yeah.
Besides, most of my paintings have been locked away in my studio. They’re
personal to me. The landscapes, however, have always sold like crazy. People
love the sceneries from your past.”

“Really?
Weird.” James shook his head. He cut into his steak and took a bite. “Then
again, given how much they’ve torn up the territories we once rode freely
through, I guess I can understand it. It was so pure and untouched back then.
Towns were barely a blip in the big picture of this country. ’Course, most of
those towns turned into the modern cities you know so well in the here and
now.”

“Exactly,
that’s why they sell so well. They’re amazing places that you’ve been to in
your lifetime. You’ve met some interesting characters too. A couple of
portraits sold, but I don’t like doing them, because they aren’t you, and the
paintings I did of you, I kept. No one was allowed to see those.”

He shot
her a look. “You’ve mentioned that before. Are you going to let me look at
them, or am I going to wonder forever what dirty little secrets you’ve
uncovered? ’Cause, ma’am, I’ve gotta tell ya, I think ya’ll need to fess up to
what ya’ll’s been painting of me right quick,” he told her, laying the accent
on super thick at the end.

“Oh,
I’ll let you look your fill,” she disclosed happily. “Just keep in mind that
they’re memories that you have of your friends, places you’ve been to, and
impression of your own body from mirrors and such.” She was blushing now, and
when he growled at her, she sighed. “Okay, so there might be one or two nudes
of you where I painted myself up there, as well.”

He
slapped a hand over his mouth and water squirted out his nose a second later.
Then, he started to cough as he banged on his own chest. When he had control
again, he stared at her, wide-eyed. “You what?” he croaked. “Sophia Anne
Duffy!”

“Oh,
shush,” she said, with a laugh. “I did it because I was lonely, and I wanted to
feel closer to you while I waited for you to find me.” She sighed.

Shifting
in his chair, he pulled her out of hers and into his lap. “Honey,” he whispered
against her temple. “I’m sorry, Soph. I keep forgetting you didn’t have
anything remotely close to an ideal childhood. You’re just so happy,
well-balanced, and so damn normal, it keeps slipping my mind. I do have to ask,
now that my mind is headed down that path, when did you first start picking
stuff up from me?”

Sophia
shrugged and chewed her lower lip. “I’ve been doodling you all my life. You and
another man, for the longest time. And then, it all shifted maybe fifteen years
ago, when all I saw was you. Three years ago is when I painted you nude for the
first time.” On the night of her eighteenth birthday, actually.

She
felt him tense. “Are you sure, fifteen years ago?” he asked, softly. At her
nod, he swallowed hard enough she could hear it. “Do you remember the first day
you noticed he wasn’t in any of my memories, or whatever you pick up on?”

“I do.
I felt such an intense loss that day that it burned into my mind. It was August
Ninth, fifteen years ago. I was six. Why? What’s wrong? You look pale. Are you
okay, Billy?” She reached out for him, needing to move closer. Wanting to touch
him once again.

He
nodded slowly, licking his lips. “Yeah,” he whispered. “That’s the day that
William vanished. He showed up later, about three years ago, and tried to kill
us all while we were on a job. Fucking nearly got a couple of us too. We were
so shocked to see him that not a one of us could even react for a moment. Soph,
honey, William was known in the day as Billy the Kid.”

“Okay.”
Sophia frowned then cocked her head to the side. “Wait. How were you both
Billy?” She was seriously confused and lost right then. “And the two of you
were very close before you died, right? Why would he have turned from the
light? Why would he allow himself to go to the Dark?”

“He was
captured on a job, tortured, and turned from good. At least, that’s our guess,
but we can’t know for sure. He’s always been a bit of a wild card, so he could
have figured the odds and thrown his lot in with them because he wanted to be
on the side that looked to be winning.