The Gunslinger's Gift (8 page)

“William
was nicknamed ‘Billy the Kid’ because he was always called ‘Billy,’ and when he
got mixed up with the Regulators, the moniker came to full bloom. It’s when he
really made his mark on history. I was always called ‘Wild Bill,’ and a couple
of truly daring folks would call me ‘Billy.’ I would like to state, for the
record, they forever walked with limps until the day they left this world, for
doing so. You’re pretty much the only person I actually let get away with it.”

Sophia
blushed at that. “You have always been Billy to me.” She touched his cheek and
grinned. “Always the blue eyed, blond haired, devil-may-care man that kept me
sane when I wanted to give in and break down.

“You
said earlier that you forgot what a crappy childhood I had because I’m always
so happy. Well, it’s because of you. Even in the worst of times, there was
always something that would come to me from nature while I healed or hid, and
it would give me more insight into the man that I would love with all my heart.
You.”

“For
that alone, you can keep using it,” he said. Dipping his head down, he kissed
her softly. “I love you, Soph. If it makes you happy to call me Billy, you go right
ahead. But not in front of the other Guardians. Let’s not confuse them any more
than necessary.”

“It’s
okay.” She licked her lips and grinned, the taste of James on her tongue. “I
think you should kiss me again, and then we’ll do whatever else it is that we
need to do, before we barricade ourselves once more.” She quickly forgot what
they were doing when he was close. He made her forget everything, but that
wasn’t such a bad thing. He was her salvation, her sanity. “I love you, James
Hickok, and I’m afraid you’re stuck with me now, darling man.”

“Well,
hell,” he said, with a grin. Bending her over his arm, he kissed her deeply.
Sucking her tongue into his mouth, he teased her as he gently cupped her face.
When he let her up, she stayed slumped against his arm, the only thing keeping
her from sliding out of his lap. He snapped his fingers before her face and
chuckled when she blinked. “There you are, honey. Come on, Soph. Let’s finish
eating, and then I plan on tossing you onto the sofa and having my wicked way
with you.”

“I love
how you think.” Sophia smiled and leaned in once more. “Mercy.” She kissed the
side of his neck then pulled back. Gazing up at him, she took in a deep breath
and sighed. “When the paintings come here, you’ll know just how you saved me.”

“You
saved me too, Sophia. Seems only fair,” he told her softly. Pressing another
kiss to her lips, he settled her back into her own chair, lifting her feet back
into his lap. “Finish your rabbit kibble, so I can do wonderful things to you.”

That had
her laughing, and she pulled back so that she could finish eating. “Oh, I know
what we have to do. Go by medical so that I can get all nice and checked out,
and they can start me on birth control stuff. I think that would be a good
thing to do sooner rather than later, don’t you?”

The
pout he gave her had her laughing again. “You would remember that detail,” he
said, with a huge sigh. “You’re right, though. They’ll likely do a blood test
first, make sure there’s nothing that the implant, or whatever they put you on,
will muck up in your system.”

She
stroked her fingers over his cheek and grinned. “You can always teach me how to
put my mouth on you and give you pleasure, you know. We wouldn’t need a condom
for that.”

His
eyes closed as he let out a moan. “Oh gods, woman. Are you trying to kill me?”
he asked, opening his eyes slowly to look at her again. Then, he glanced down
at his lap and let out a groan. “Geez Louise, I’m hard enough to whack nails
into a two-by-four, right now. This is what you do to me when you say things in
that sexy little voice from that made-for-sin mouth of yours.”

Grinning,
she just hugged him. She was happy that she could do that to him, because he
did the same to her with just a look. All he had to do was turn his face to her
and sport that crooked grin of his, and she felt herself getting wet for him.
“I want to give you all the pleasure that you give to me. It’s only fair,
right?”

“I
suppose,” he said. “And I did say that we could do anything you wanted, so I
suppose I did stick my own head in the noose on that one. All right, you have a
deal. If I get to give you pleasure, then I should let you do the same for me,
however you wish. Just know this, Sophia dearest, it goes against my entire
nature.” Dropping a kiss on her mouth, he drew back and pointed at her plate.
“Finish your greens.”

She
ate, watching him as she did so. Finally, when she finished, she leaned back
and stared at him. “Why would me giving you pleasure go against the grain? I
should be able to give to you as much as you give to me. Right?” she asked
quietly, moving so that she could touch him again. “It won’t hurt me, right?
So, why would it bother you?” She wanted to understand him, and what was going
on between them, always.

“No, it
definitely won’t hurt you. It’s just…” He made a face and wiped his mouth,
tossing the napkin onto his plate. “You likely haven’t noticed, because I’ve
been trying to behave myself, but I’m a little bit of a control freak. Or so
I’m told that’s one of the terms. The other is ‘Dominant.’ I like to be in
absolute control, especially in bed. As I said, I’ve been trying to keep it all
under wraps, so I don’t freak you out. I know that you had a really controlling
father, and I don’t want you to have any flashbacks, not with me.”

Sophia
nodded and found herself reaching up to touch the scars on the back of her head
hidden by her hair. “He was controlling, but I survived.” She flashed James a
smile then found herself asking, “What is a Dominant? Is it like those books
with the Mr. whatever color his name was? You know, the ones people either
loved or hated? I can’t for the life of me think of the name, but I remember
someone talking about them like they were seriously naughty books, or the bible
on…crap, what were those letters?”

She had
confused herself, so she wouldn’t be surprised if she had him. “You know, with
whips and chains and stuff?” So, she was generalizing and likely being
offensive, but she couldn’t think of what the letters were for that lifestyle.

He half
groaned and half laughed. “It’s BDSM, honey. In a BDSM relationship, there’s
the Dominant, or Dom as they’re often referred to, and the submissive, or sub.
There are many different forms of BDSM, and as long as it’s one-hundred percent
consensual between those practicing it together, there is no right or wrong.
The Dominant is the one that’s in control of anything that happens while the
submissive is, well, submissive to the Dominant and his, or her, actions.

“Again,
everything is consensual and agreed upon ahead of time. I’m not into whips, or
bloodletting, or anything that causes another person that sort of pain. I’ve
been on the receiving end of a whip a time or two and, even with some of the
modified ones these days, I just can’t do it to another living person.
Spanking, a little bondage, some intensive play, is about as far as I go. But
control is the one thing I always insist upon. ’Cept with you, it seems.”

“That’s
a very good thing, because whips hurt, a lot. Especially when they have metal
bits at the end that draw blood.” She shivered. She had been there and done
that, and had the scars to prove it. “I think I might like you spanking me,”
she admitted and bit her lower lip. “What is ‘a little bondage’?” Sophia wanted
to do everything that he had in mind. “I don’t mind giving up control to you. I
have no idea what I’m doing, so I think it would be nice to be guided. Will you
help me be submissive?”

He was
frowning at her, his head tipped to the side. “Really?” he asked, sounding
completely stunned. “Don’t answer that. Not yet. Maybe a little more
explanation will help clear some of this confusion up, so you know exactly what
you would be agreeing to. Let’s get comfortable for this talk, though. These
chairs really suck when you have a bare ass.” James leaned one way and winced as
his skin peeled from the wooden seat then the other with the same reaction.

Sophia
winced, too, her eyes never leaving him. When they were settled on the couch,
she climbed onto his lap again and snuggled in to him. It seemed she couldn’t
get close enough, always had to be touching him, and found herself stroking his
cheek or chest far more often than not. “I’m so happy you aren’t running from
me anymore. I much rather enjoy touching you than watching your backside as you
turn the other way.”

“No
more running, honey. Unless it’s toward you.” Hugging her close, he kissed her
forehead gently. “Now, where was I? Oh, right, bondage. For me, it would be
silk scarves that bind you to the bed, stretching you out so you can’t move too
much, yet leaving you fully open to me. We might get a little more adventurous
from there, but not a whole lot, unless you are fully on board. Spanking, I’m
all for. I think you’d look good with a gently warmed ass before I slid my cock
into your pretty little pussy.”

Sophia
shuddered. She felt herself getting wet just from the way that it sounded, the
pleasure that they would both get from it. “I’d trust you with that—tying me up
and spanking me. I also think that I’d like to try more than that. I’d like to
try everything that you have in mind, as long as it doesn’t make me bleed, and
you’ve already said that you don’t want that either, because of your past.”

“I
would never do anything to cause you pain, Sophia. That isn’t what the control
is for me. I don’t ever need to do something like that to feel in control. For
me, it’s knowing I have your full trust, that we’ve talked things through, and
knowing that both you and I know that you’re safe through it all.
That
is control to me. If that makes any
sense whatsoever. It actually sounded really good in my head,” he muttered.

“It
made complete sense, actually.” She rubbed her cheek to his chest and closed
her eyes. “I trust you, James. Only you.” She’d trusted him before she’d even
met him. “We’ll still be able to make love, right? I mean, you won’t be giving
up being inside of me. Right?”

“Oh,
hell, no,” he said, vehemently. “It’ll be about learning your limits, learning
to expand them, and eventually controlling them. Controlling your orgasms will
be one part of it. Knowing your own body so well that you can hold off on
letting go until I say you can. That denial of instant relief will actually
make the orgasm you eventually have much stronger and more satisfying.

“We’ll
have to set up some safeties too. You’ll need to have a word that you use to
stop anything, and everything, we’re doing. It’s a word you normally wouldn’t
use, something easy to remember for us both, and yet, it’s all you ever need to
say to have me stop. Whether we continue afterwards would be up to you. You
would use it if you’re unsure, maybe a little scared, worried, feeling
uncomfortable, whatever the reason. It’s an instant stop signal for me. It’s
your safety net and security blanket all rolled up into one.”

“Well,
considering that I didn’t even know what an orgasm was until you told me about
it.” She felt herself blushing. “It sounds as if there would be a great deal of
pleasure that we would find with each other with this, is that right? We would
both enjoy it a great deal, I have a feeling. I know that everything you’ve
told me so far are things that I want and need.”

“Absolutely,
there will be a lot of pleasure. At least, that’s the goal,” James said,
softly. “We’ll start slow, work our way through a few things, and learn as we
go. I know that you know next to nothing about any of this, Soph. Which is
pretty amazing to me, I have to admit. I get to teach you everything, and we’ll
learn everything you love to do together. For now…” He looked around. “I need
to find my phone and call down to medical. We should get a time set up sooner
rather than later. They might even have a spot right now.”

“Yes, I
think that’s good.” She pulled back and brushed a kiss to his cheek before she
got off his lap. “Have I mentioned to you just how much I love having you
holding me in your lap? Or hugging me? I feel more relaxed, safer, when you are
touching me.” Which was the truth. She could be surrounded by a platoon of
Marines and wouldn’t feel as safe as she did when James held her close.

“Well,
that’s a good thing, because I happen to love holding you, touching you,
kissing you even, if I might be so bold.” Grinning at her, he pushed to his
feet and headed toward the bedroom. “I think I left it in here,” he called over
his shoulder. He dug through his jeans and came up with his cell. Throwing her
a wink, he dialed and put the phone to his ear.

He
spoke with someone and finally agreed to whatever the person was saying.
Hanging up, he nodded to her. “They’re free and clear right now, if you want to
head down. But you need to put on some clothes, honey. They’ll only make you
take it all back off again, but you need to wear something all the way through
the compound.”

“Good
point.” She looked down at her feet and grinned. “Would you mind if I left my
shoes off? I hate them, to be honest. I guess I’m more of the
flower child
that you called me when we
met than I realized.”

“Can we
forget every idiotic thing I said when we met?” he asked, with a hopeful, if
slightly pained, look on his face. “I never should have said any of that stuff,
Soph. I was wrong, scared out of my pants by you, and freaking the hell out. It
doesn’t excuse anything I said, I know that, but let’s forget it all. Please?”