She turns to her Bible

Charlotte tried to still the thoughts that raced through her head. Ever since her traumatic encounter with Black Brand her life had been spinning out of control, she had lied to her family and just tonight made a deal with Lieutenant Easton condemning Mr. Fuller to capture and imprisonment. Worst of all her body had burned with lust, even her dreams has been invaded by the bold brigand.

Her gaze fell on the bible bound in fine white calf's leather embossed in silver. The bedside bible was a confirmation gift from her mother, and Charlotte had read it from cover to cover many times in the eight years since her mother's funeral. More than once when she couldn't sleep she opened the volume at random and read the lines it contained.

Usually the words of the disciples and prophets were comforting although not always. The Old Testament narratives of captive maidens being taken as spoils of war and given to the Israelite warriors as slaves had disturbed her sleep more than once. How could a just God order his chosen people to act so unspeakably?

What Charlotte found even more disturbing than the questions of morality and justice was the excitement she felt as she read these passages every time ever since she was a young teen. Her encounter with Black Brand brought those nebulous emotions into a sharp clarity. She now knew exactly what it felt like to be dragged away by her family's enemy, bound and helpless as he took what he wanted from her. His kisses had been as ruthless and strong as one of those ancient warriors and his hands had roamed over her body like a slaver's evaluating her worth ...

Pushing aside the thought Charlotte opened the volume deliberately flipping past the troubling stories of the conquest of the promised lands. She settled instead on the poetry of the psalms, recognizing the Song of Solomon immediately as she read the passage.

"How graceful are your feet in sandals, O queenly maiden! Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of a master hand. Your navel is a rounded bowl that never lacks mixed wine. Your belly is a heap of wheat, encircled with lilies. Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle."

This was no better than the passages describing the division of virgins as spoils, but she could not look away. Suddenly itchy and uncomfortably hot under her long night gown - in an act that would surely shock her aunts if they knew - she slipped out of the night dress and lay nude under the bed covers. She reread the passage touching her naked thighs, belly and breasts imagining it was Black Brand stroking her body as she hung helplessly from her wrists.

"Your neck is like an ivory tower." Her fingers left her aching breasts and climbed to her long neck "Your eyes are pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim. Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon, overlooking Damascus. Your head crowns you like Carmel, and your flowing locks are like purple veil; a king is held captive in the tresses." Her hands pulled off the net that held her hair and spread the long locks across her chest, the long thick hair just covered her breasts, and the soft brush of the curls on her nipples made them peak with desire. Charlotte could not imagine an outlaw like Fuller held powerless with her wavy tresses? It would take thick ropes or chains to bind a man like him.

"How fair and pleasant you are, O loved one, delectable maiden! You are stately as a palm tree..." In this passage the maiden's height seemed desirable, not something to be mocked "...and your breasts are like its clusters. I say I will climb the palm tree and lay hold of its branches. Oh, may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the scent of your breath like apples, and your kisses like the best wine that goes down smoothly, gliding over lips and teeth." Her lips where burning with the memory of his kisses, Charlotte bit her lips sharply to keep from crying out loud. Then in an act of brazenness she brushed her nipples with a tuft of hair, teasing them into the same throbbing she remembered from Mr. Fuller's stroking fingers.

The verses continued, but Charlotte dropped the white volume in frustration, needing her other hand between her thighs. It seemed that no matter what she did her thoughts flowed to Mr. Fuller like water flowing to the sea. These thoughts blended into a confused mélange of images, feelings and memories, she was trapped in an endless cycle of sin and shame.

She could still remember the strength of his body pressing against hers and the warmth of his lips exploring her body. What if she hadn't been able to leave - it was becoming less and less clear in her mind if she had escaped from him or if he had simply let her go - there was no way she could have stopped a powerful outlaw like Mr. Fuller from taking her as many times as he wanted. She should be relieved to have escaped the **** and defilement by a common outlaw, but somehow she wasn't.

Her fingers pressed deeply into her womanhood, plunging rapidly as her climax approached. She had pleasured herself like this before, but always before her lover was faceless and unknown. This time the flowing blond hair and blue eyes as he stood over her were as clear as her own image in the mirror, not the colonial woodsman of her dream but a giant bare-chested Philistine warrior. He gestured abruptly with his hand and she instinctively understood what he was demanding.

Charlotte pulled her hair from her chest exposing her breasts to him; she cupped one of her warm tits and lifted it up to him offering herself in surrender.

Then she came! Harder and more explosively than she could ever remember. She tried to remain silent but a small shriek escaped her lips before she rolled onto her belly and pressed her face into the pillow. Even after the initial rush, Charlotte squirmed against the bed rubbing her tits and belly wildly against the bed as her hips pumped against her fingers pressing her sex into her hand.

She lay naked under one rumpled sheet as she tried to recover her breath. Something had to break, she only hoped that Mr. Fuller would be captured and somehow that would ease the demons that had been tormenting her.