A/N: I am so sorry about deleting the last few chapters. I feel that the way the story will go from now on will be for the better. I'm back! Enjoy! And once again, thank you SO much for your kind words and continued encouragement; I really couldn't do it if it wasn't for all of you.

Chapter Fourteen

Rachel was the first to wake the next morning. She opened her tired, aching eyes to see Charlie sleeping beside her. She couldn't help but lie there for a moment, propped up on her arm, and watch him. The feelings that took hold of her when she was with him was something she'd never felt before; whenever he graced a doorway she felt her heart drum so much quicker in her chest. And last night had been wonderful beyond words. She and Charlie had made love for the second time, but this time Rachel felt as if his behaviour had changed. The first time they'd given in to their feelings it had been demanding and hot. This time around Charlie seemed to spend more time savouring the moment and enjoying their intimacy the longer it lasted.

After a short while Rachel slid across the hard mattress and stood up from the bed, sighing and brushing a hand through her long locks of hair. She was hoping she'd be able to have a bath today, but she knew that in this time period filling baths of hot water took quite a long time. Places such as Arizona in this year didn't have water piping; everything involved trailing up and downstairs with buckets of water, and she didn't want to have to bother anyone with that.

The bright morning sun was shining through the lace curtains, beckoning for Rachel to go outside and enjoy the air. But she knew Charlie wouldn't like that. He'd already made his opinions known on her going out alone.

"Oh, sod it," Rachel muttered to herself and got dressed quickly, pulling the old pants back on and shirt she'd been wearing now continuously for at least a week. Being stuck in this room was suffocating her. However, before Rachel exited the room, she picked up the gun Charlie had given her, his old Schofield.

Downstairs was pretty quiet. There was only a maid flitting between tables making sure everything was clean. Rachel sighed to herself, wondering exactly what this woman's life was like here in the Old West. Surely it wasn't as cosy as some of the Westerns portrayed it to be, and even some of those gave a not-so-happy picture at life here.

"Can ah help you with somethin', Miss?" the maid asked, turning on her heel after sensing someone's presence behind her. Her long blonde curls bounced as she turned and there complimenting her well styled hair was a pretty face. She smiled at Rachel and pushed the old cloth she'd been cleaning the tables with into a cotton apron at her waist.

"Oh, no, I'm fine," Rachel replied. "I was just on my way out."

"You're bunking with the Prince guy, ain't you?" she asked, placing her hand on her hip, but the smile never faulted. "Ah've seen him around a few times. Doesn't seem to be the type'a person you get on the wrong side of, if you catch mah meanin'."

Rachel smiled to herself and stepped into the saloon slowly, her boots tapping loudly on the wooden flooring and echoing around the empty space. "He's not all bad. A lot of people seem to see the bad side of him."

The maid took out her cleaning cloth and began cleaning again, her hands tracing the outlines of the tables, making sure all dust was removed. "Ah suppose we all have good and bad sides to us."

"Do you need any help with that?" Rachel asked sheepishly, not wanting to appear rude.

"Oh, ah'm fine, Miss. Thanks for the offer though. Just makes me wonder what you're doin' with those guys. Not many girls would trade in their normal life to ride with men like that and be the type to offer a helpin' hand to a mere maid like mahself," she said, wiping her hand across her brow.

Rachel's face blanched as she was asked such a question. The truth would come over as insane, and she knew that even Wade still had a problem accepting it. Charlie was the only one who believed her. "I, um, left home and Charlie found me. He took me under his wing so to speak and looks after me." Rachel smiled again, not able to hold back how she felt about him.

The maid recognised the look in Rachel's eyes. "Ah know that look. You love him."

"Yeah, I do," Rachel replied, looking at the wooden flooring. "He's nothing like the man I imaged myself falling in love with though."

"That's somethin' none of us can ever predict. Ah fell for a man just short of my sixteenth birthday, and my father always reminded me that he was a nobody and would never be good enough for me."

"How did you end up here if you don't mind me asking?" Rachel asked in curiosity.

The maid's eyes filled with tears, but she forced a smile onto her face and looked up at Rachel. "None of that matters, Miss. Everythin' happens for a reason so ah know windin' up here will lead me to somethin' better. Ah pray every night for something to get me out."

"I'm sorry," Rachel said softly.

"It's not your fault. Do what makes you happy and keep your man while you have him."

Rachel didn't quite know what to say after that and said her farewells to the maid, walking out of the saloon in silence. The maid's words had pierced her heart, and it made her want to find a way out for the poor girl herself. She didn't look much older than Rachel, around twenty, and was stuck in a life she obviously didn't want to be in. Why did some people get what they wanted handed to them so readily, yet others had to go through so many trials for what they wanted? That was something which Rachel had always wondered. In many respects she counted herself as one of those lucky few, despite being in a time period so different from her own. She had Charlie's protection and devotion.

The town was fairly quiet as Rachel walked up the main high street, keeping her head low. At least she now blended in compared to how she was when she first arrived her in her pyjamas.

"Rachel?" a voice came suddenly out of nowhere. It was tinged with authority, and as she turned around, searching for the source of the voice she saw Ben Wade standing just behind her. "Out for a mornin' stroll?" he asked, looking at her, his face full of a stern expression which still made Rachel nervous.

"Yes. I just wanted to stretch my legs and get some air," she replied.

"Does Charlie know you're out an' about?" Wade asked with a hint of sarcasm present in his tone.

"No. I didn't want to wake him."

"Ah'm gonna be honest with you, ah don't like havin' you with us, but ah'm not prepared to lose Charlie because of you. If you wanna stay with him, ah suggest you clue yourself up on how to use a gun."

Rachel looked up at him and frowned, feeing extremely intimidated by him, but she wasn't going to let him see that and be amused by it. "If you're that much against having me anywhere near you, I'll go," Rachel said, standing her ground.

"And ah know Charlie wouldn't stand for that. He'd follow you. He has a loyal heart which will one day no doubt be the death of him."

"Then he'll die for you, not me," Rachel half snapped.

"Men do stupid things for women, Rachel. Why do you think ah've never tied mahself to a woman or let one join the outfit?"

"Probably because you're the type of man who only uses women for one thing."

Wade stared at Rachel for a moment, his grey eyes burning into her, but she wouldn't allow herself to back down. Then he turned around and walked away, never bothering to turn back to look at her.

Rachel thought on Wade's words which concluded everything she'd been thinking the last week and a half: the men hated her. And in all honesty, she hated them too. Charlie was the only thing which kept her close by. If it wasn't for him she'd be far away from her, making her own way.

xxx

Charlie woke suddenly, falling out of the edge of a dream. His eyes snapped open and he exhaled loudly, his heart racing after his dream. It had been yet another nightmare about his long deceased father. In his mind he'd gone back to when he was a young boy and treated no better than a dog.

Tears lingered in Charlie's eyes as he focussed and then wiped the salty beads away with his hands. As he rolled over he noticed that Rachel wasn't next to him. "Oh, shit!" he cursed, gritting his teeth and getting up. That girl seriously irritated him, but he still loved her all the same. It was her determination which bounced off him and that had gradually built up into a respect between them which had turned into a burning love for one another.

Memories swirled around his mind, taking him back to the night earlier. And he smiled. The way Rachel made him feel was nothing like what he'd ever felt before. Sex with her was unlike all the times he'd laid with prostitutes. All sensation was much more intense as she moved against him, whispering his name and wanting him inside her so readily.

Eventually he got up but in the corner of his eye he noticed something white by the door. Furrowing his golden eyebrows, Charlie got up and approached the white paper on the floor and bent down slowly to pick it up. His dirty hands unfolded the paper and inside was something he'd never even imagined. There, in bold writing were the words: Take me to this time and place, a time where I belong. Take me back to this time and place.

This could have only come from the old woman he'd seen out on the streets the day earlier. But how on Earth did she know about Rachel? No one else did, only him. His heart was pounding, and as he felt it thundering, he closed his eyes. How could it have been this easy? The solution to the problem had come to him instead of him searching for it, even though deep down something had prayed that Rachel could stay with him.

Charlie stepped back uneasily and fell to the bed. The paper remained in his hand for some time as his mind contemplated his next move. He couldn't go back on his promise now, but his heart so desperately yearned for Rachel and he couldn't let go of that. Rachel was the way to amend all the wrongs he'd done in his life and be the person he knew he could be rather than be the man he was out of convenience. Despite being a cold blooded killer, Charlie knew that he could never harm a single hair on Rachel's head; he'd gladly kill a thousand men to keep her safe.

All of a sudden the door to the bedroom opened and Rachel stepped back inside. Her face erupted into a beautiful smile and she walked toward him. Just seeing her walk in made up Charlie's mind for him. He couldn't sit by and let her be at risk every day.

"You alright?" she asked, sitting beside him and placing her head on his bare shoulder.

"Ah'm fine," he replied, scrunching the paper up further into his hand.

Rachel placed her hand on his cheek and smiled, then moved in closer and kissed him. The warmth of Rachel melted his cold heart. Their lips moulded together and then their tongues met.

But as they kissed, the paper in Charlie's hand still weighed heavy along with so much indecisiveness on his mind and pain in his heart.