Violence: This is a western, so….yeah, lots of violence but no more than the usual Xena ep.
Sex: Once again, it is a western. And it does involve Xena and Gabrielle lookalikes. So either leave now or….well, stay.
Part 4
February 23rd
Candia groaned and sat up. Morgan was still sleeping peacefully next to her in the bed. Candia glanced about the room. For some reason she had no recollection of how she had gotten into bed…and she felt like a carriage had driven over her head. Her eyes settled on an almost empty bottle of wine atop a table. Her memory suddenly returned as she remembered Morgan carrying her over to the bed. She blushed at the thought of it. Morgan rolled over onto her back and she opened her eyes.
"Ugh." She said as her eyes adjusted to the light. She glanced at Candia. The girl looked positively miserable, and really, Morgan didn't blame her. She could still remember the first time that she had had a hangover. Oh well, might as well embarrass her further, Morgan thought, smiling to herself. "Morning sweetheart." She drawled slowly. Candia turned to her.
"Sweetheart?"
"Yeah, sure, after last night, I think that I should be allowed to call you that."
"What? What happened last night?" Candia asked confused.
"You remember…. When we were here and you were telling me that you loved me…." Morgan said. She sat up.
Candia blushed a deep red. "I didn't…. I couldn't have." She hissed indignantly.
Morgan gave up. "You're a spoilsport. I was only teasing you." She swung her legs out of the bed and crossed the room to the window. "I'm going to head down to a saloon in a few minutes and try to find Jake Daniels." She started to slip out of her britches and into her blue dress. "There's still some food there from last night," Candia's stomach groaned, "help yourself to the bread." Candia slapped a hand over her mouth and rushed into the tiny bathroom.
Morgan walked in as she was finishing over the toiletbowl. "I take it you don't feel well." She said sarcastically. Candia blushed again.
"That's ok. After all the wine you had last night I'm not surprised." Morgan said.
Candia began to vomit again and instantly Morgan was by her side, smoothing back her golden red hair from her forehead. Eventually, Candia finished and Morgan helped her to wash out her mouth. "You get used to the alcohol eventually." Morgan muttered as she helped her back into bed.
"Not likely!" Candia laughed despite her predicament.
"Now, you just stay there while I go find Jake and then I'll see how you feel later, ok?" Morgan asked.
Candia threw the bedcovers back again. "No way. I'm going after him."
"What are you planning on doing?" Morgan snapped, losing her patience, "are you planning on sleeping with him yourself?" She pushed the woman back into the bed, "If I say stay there, then you stay there. Now I'm going out, and don't you dare move until I get back!" She turned sharply and exited the room.
Morgan fastened her buttons on her way down the stairs and she began to head down the main street and into a saloon she knew that Jake Daniels regulated.
"Howdy Miss….?" A bartender greeted her.
"Delilah."
"Miss Delilah, what can I do for you? In search of a job?"
Morgan nodded slowly.
"Well, I gotta try you out myself first of course….care to step into the back for a moment?"
Morgan glared at the man. "This is a legal matter. I'm here as a trap for a dangerous outlaw we know is in Christi." The barman laughed. Morgan continued, "If you allow me to conduct my work here, then I won't tell the Texas Ranger with me that you have excessive amounts of alcohol and illegal Indian drugs here."
The barman cursed out loud and nodded. "Sure, but I have to have your word that you won't harm my reputation as a saloon keeper."
Morgan agreed.
"Who's the outlaw?"
Morgan's mind went blank. "Morgan Delaney."
"Heard that he's one son of a bitch." The barman replied. Morgan bit back a laugh, if only you knew….
"May I have a room key?" She asked. The barman reached for a key.
"And of course I'll want half of your earnings until you catch this outlaw." He said firmly, "The top rate is ten dollars an hour, you look like you'd get more than that." He grinned suggestively and Morgan shrugged.
"You'll get what I want you to have."
The barman looked upset but he didn't try to stop her as she headed upstairs.
Candia was sitting stiffly in the bed. It was late afternoon, and she knew that Morgan would be back soon, so she didn't want to risk getting out of the bed. She had found a dog-eared copy of the bible under the bed and had sat reading it for the past few hours. Her stomach had eventually stopped churning.
There was a knock at the door. Candia slid out of the bed. She opened the door cautiously. "Good afternoon, Madame. My name is Capt. J.F Caesar and I'm representing the Texas Rangers. Would you happen to know of a Mr Morgan Delaney staying in this hotel?"
Candia shook her head fiercely.
"Have you witnessed any strange happenings lately?" The man probed.
"No. My friend and I are staying here before we go on to New Mexico." Candia began, "One of our horses threw a shoe, and it needs to be fixed." She couldn't help but wonder how lying was becoming so easy all of a sudden.
"Sorry to have troubled you then Miss, good day." The man turned and descended the stairs. Candia closed the door and crept back to the bed. Cleo bounded over to her and sat down on her haunches. The wolf was becoming a nuisance after being locked up all day. The manager had brought her upstairs earlier as she was scaring the horses. He just didn't know that the animal was scaring Candia too.
There was another knock on the door. "Who is it?" Candia called softly.
"It's me." Morgan's voice came muffled through the door. Candia rushed to open it.
"There was a ranger here, looking for you, but he thinks that you're a man, and I was so scared, and now I'm glad that I signed in under my mothers name, and did he see you? What happened?"
Morgan put her finger to Candia's lips to hush her. "I met Jake Daniels."
"And?"
"And spent an hour with him, he's very boastful, and he's coming back tomorrow."
"Is that good?" Candia asked.
"Depends on how you look at it." Morgan replied, her attention diverted onto Candia. "How do you feel?"
"Just fine and dandy. Considering I've been stuck in here all day with a wolf." Candia complained, her voice coming out in more of a whine than she intended.
"What else did you want to do?" Morgan snapped and immediately regretted it. She sighed at Candia's crestfallen face. "Look, I heard that theres a creek not far from here, fancy taking a ride?"
Candia smiled and Morgan nodded. "Good, get changed and I'll go saddle Argo once I've put on my pants."
They changed quickly and headed towards the stable. Morgan saddled her horse quickly and helped Candia up. She checked in her saddlebags that they had water and matches and then mounted up behind her. She caught up the mare's reins and guided her out into the street. They hurried through the quickly darkening streets and out into the open plains. The rocking motion was erotic and Candia leaned back against Morgan.
"I think that I could be a saloon girl if I wanted too." She said softly.
"Over my dead body." Morgan replied, tensing.
"No, I like your body the way it is." Candia sighed. "Just like this." Without noticing, she let her fingers trail up the inside of Morgan's leg. Morgan breathed deeply and slapped the hand away.
"Don't. My control is at the top and I'm not made of steel, no matter what you think."
Candia snatched her hand back as if she'd been burned. "Sorry." She muttered. They neared the creek and Morgan jumped down, lifting Candia behind her. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Candia pulled away and walked to the base of a tree. She sat down and Morgan turned away, sighing. Cleo had bounded after them all the way from town and now the animal was looking a little worse for wear. Morgan stroked her pet's head for a few minutes before turning back to Candia. "Candia.." She began.
"Go away, darn you…. just go away."
"You're making it hard for me to apologise" She seized her by the shoulders abruptly. "I want to apologise for snapping at you…. and for this morning." Candia averted her gaze. "Nothing happened between us. You passed out in a drunken stupor and all I got for my embarrassment was you mumbling in the middle of the night! I did not, I swear by all the gods, take advantage of you last night. Ok?"
"I don't care." Candia replied stubbornly.
Morgan cupped her chin. "Yes you do. We're friends now aren't we?"
"I.. I guess so." Candia replied. Her fingers separated the small tufts of grass and she still didn't look at Morgan. She felt like a fool for throwing such a tantrum twice today. "I, I suppose that I should apologise too."
"Yeah you should." Morgan replied, but Candia looked up to see that she was smiling. "Come for a swim?" She asked.
Candia looked out across the creek. It was darkening quickly and the water wasn't as clear as she would have liked it. Who knows what was underneath? "No." She replied.
"Suit yourself." Morgan said and backed off. Cleo began to get excited over the prospect of a swim and Morgan patted the grey head again.
Candia sat beneath the tree. A lady was taught to never curse, but she sure felt like it just then. As she looked up to find where Morgan was going, she noticed that the other woman was slowly slipping out of her pants. Then the shirt came off, revealing a long tanned torso. Her boots and hat were already on the floor. The clothes now joined them and Morgan headed over to the waters edge. Her shift fell to the floor as Morgan stood there and Candia watched in wonder as the body disappeared under the waters surface.
Candia kept her gaze at the top of the waters surface, waiting for Morgan to emerge again. She didn't.
Candia stood and walked to the water's edge. "Morgan?" She called. A few air bubbles surfaced and Candia noticed that they stopped after a few seconds. "Morgan?" She called again.
She stepped into the water, careless of the frothy waves splashing against her skirt hems. She stepped out of the intruding fabric and threw it onto the shore. Clad in her corset and stockings, she stepped further into the creek, feeling the water lapping around her ankles, calves, bottom…between her legs. The water was making love to her in the same way that she wished Morgan would have. "Morgan?" She called again, beginning to panic. What if she was caught under the surface and didn't have any air?
A splash erupted in front of her and Candia let out a shriek. "Jesus, you could drown while you're waiting to be rescued out here." Morgan smirked.
Candia struck out at her in anger but Morgan easily caught her arm and pulled the younger woman to her. "Now now." She scolded.
Candia's heart still raced and she wasn't quite sure if it was from the panic or just being close to Morgan again. She stumbled forward and was caught in Morgan's arms. Her own hands slid around the other woman to keep her balance. Morgan's hands grasped at Candia to stop her from falling. As Candia looked up into lawless blue eyes, she realised the truth. Morgan was in love with her too.
"Oh Morgan I- " She stuttered as she tried to find the words to confess her love. It had been building up inside of her since the day that they met and now seemed ready to pop inside of her. It had inevitably become a secret burden she could no longer bear alone.
"Shh." Came Morgan's comforting response. "Don't talk. Not now." Candia opened her mouth to protest, but her lips were there….inviting, comforting, loving. And invading. Morgan leaned into her with hands on either side of Candia's face. The sweet pressure against her lips penetrated and Candia pulled back. No one had ever kissed her like that.
"You-" She began but was once again silenced as Morgan stole her words with her lips.
She felt Morgan's thighs gliding up on either side of her.
"No!" Candia cried out. Her teeth dug into Morgan's lip, which began spurting drops of blood. "I - I can't. I'm sorry."
Candia scrambled up out of the creek and over to her bag. Morgan remained in the water for some time, nursing her lip.
Eventually she walked up the creek bed and began to strip off her wet clothes to change. Candia had thrown together a sandwich for the two of them and they ate without a word passing between them. They rode back on into town in an unearthly silence.
Later, as they lay in the hotel bed, Candia couldn't help studying the outline of Morgan's face and wondering what it was that had made her so hard.
"Morgan?" She asked softly.
"uh-huh."
"You remember you said about your parents being killed?"
"Uhf-huh."
"Well, who did you live with?" Candia asked. She felt, rather than heard Morgan's small sigh.
"An uncle. "
"And…? You weren't happy were you?"
"Nope. Would you be if he beat you everyday and forced you to do things that….that shouldn't be done?" Morgan asked fiercely. Candia decided that it might be best to shut up around that point.
"'Night Morgan."
There was dust gathering all around her. Morgan stood with her hands tied above her head to a pole. She could feel the blood gushing from a cut in her lip and knew that she had bitten herself. There were tears stinging the corners of her eyes but she firmly told herself that she wouldn't give the bastard the satisfaction of seeing her cry. The cat'o'nine tails whips ripped into her back but Morgan forced back a yell. All this over not milking the cows on time.
Her back was wet with blood and Morgan knew that it would cause her a visit to the doctor.
Out of nowhere, Morgan caught a flash of lilac. She looked up, her long fringe blotting out some of the woman in front of her. The woman drew a gun. "Stop that." She said strongly. There was golden hair in front of her suddenly and Morgan looked up into the greenest eyes she had ever seen.
"Ca-Candia?" She whispered softly. Candia placed a blanket over her shoulders and stepped back to face Morgan's uncle.
"If you ever do that again, I'll kill you."
Morgan sat up. Her bedroll was wet with her sweat and a thick sheen was visible on her skin even through the darkness. Candia was snoring lightly. Something had woken her up. She couldn't seen Cleo at all and slipped out of bed to find her pet. Her feet touched the cold wooden floor but she paid it no heed. Morgan reached for her gun from the nighttable only to find that it wasn't there.
"I moved it." Came a voice behind her. Morgan turned sharply. The voice belonged to a man standing near to the windowsill. "No, what would a nice pair of ladies like you need a gun for? Hmm?"
"Bandits…. thieves…men who sneak into our rooms in the middle of the night. The list is endless." Morgan replied, her voice lofty. "Who are you?"
"Who are you?" The man counter questioned.
"Morgan?" Candia mumbled from the bed.
"Morgan? Help me I'm drowning…." Her words became louder and Morgan crossed over to the bed.
"Hush Candia, Its…its Delilah, not Morgan."
Candia's eyes flickered open and met Morgans own. "Wha-"
"You were having a bad dream about Morgan Delaney…the outlaw…." Morgan said firmly. Candia sat up and noticed Caesar.
"You- " she spluttered.
Morgan stepped in front of her.
"So, your name's Delilah, correct?" Caesar asked. He crossed the room in two long strides and grabbed the collar of Morgan's nightshirt. Careful not to arouse his suspicion, Morgan feigned horror that a man should take liberties with her. "Now tell me, Delilah, how do you know Morgan Delaney?"
Morgan stared at him fiercely. He turned to Candia who was clutching the bed covers. "Maybe I should ask you, you seem to know all about him." He cocked his pistol and placed it against Candia's forehead. The barrel of the gun was cold and terrifying against her temple and Candia whimpered softly.
"What?" Caesar demanded. "Tell me, Delilah, and I won't blow your friends brains out!" he threatened.
Morgan turned away. "Do it. She's not my friend. We're more like….two people engaged in a common purpose. But that'll be murder, and we wouldn't want you hung now, would we?"
Candia's eyes widened in fear that Morgan would desert her.
Caesar dropped his gun down to rest at his side and crossed to the door. "I'll be watching you, don't forget that."
He slammed out of the room and Morgan almost flew across to Candia's side. Candia allowed herself to be held for a moment before shrugging out of Morgan's embrace. "Goodnight Morgan." She said softly.