Wages of Sin (27 page)

The pigsty was as she had left it so long ago, and it was the work of a moment to push the snorting animals out of the way and find the corner where she had buried the treasures from the altar. She sighed with relief as she unearthed them. Gold and jewels glinted from the filthy linen. Her stepfather had been wrong; there would be no hunger and no empty hearth. Once sold, these would bring enough to feed her household until the estate was on its feet again - and God would surely not begrudge her them.

Robin was waiting for her. Tucking the precious bundle into her basket she swung herself into the saddle. At the top of the hill she paused. From here she could see both the convent and the castle. She had survived them both, and if Sir Edmund wished her back again, why, then he must come a-courting like any honest gentleman! She smiled wickedly at the thought of his reaction to
that
.

Her horse shied suddenly as a small figure broke from the bushes, ran up to them and stopped, gazing shyly up at her. From behind his back he produced a posy of wild flowers, offered them, then took to his heels and fled. Her eyes misted as she recognised the boy whose leg she had healed. He, and all those like him, were safe now. Her ordeal was over, and all was well.

With a joyous laugh she turned her horse's head towards the sunrise and spurred it towards home and freedom. Just for once the Bible had been wrong. The wages of sin was not death. It was life!

 

-oOo-

 

 

Enjoy more of Kate Benedict's acclaimed damsel in distress stories, all exclusively published as eBooks by us at Chimera:

 

Arena of Shame

 

His good humour restored by the sight of her naked body, he winked at his mates and pulled her against him, his free hand plunging between her thighs as he brought his mouth down over hers. He thrust his thick wet tongue into her mouth and she nearly gagged on his kiss, gasping for breath as she wrenched her head away, but her struggles merely aroused him. When she tried to kick him he laughed and deliberately fell backwards onto the pallet, dragging her with him so she lay helplessly across his lap.

‘You've got to show them you're the boss,' he said to his comrades, running his hand appreciatively over her tight bottom. ‘And the best way to do that is with a good spanking.'

 

Branna's life is torn apart when her tribe is defeated by the hated Romans, her betrothed beaten to death before her eyes, and she is taken as the spoils of war.

From the slave markets her path takes her from innocence to unbridled depravity. Can she survive, or will she become just one more sacrifice on the altar of Roman decadence?

 

 

 

 

Punishment Exercise

 

‘Bad girl!' he wheezed, gloating over her succulent flesh. ‘Bad, bad girl!' She could feel his prick digging into her tummy as she wriggled on his lap, trying to free herself from his iron grasp.

But her struggles only served to excite him further. He was drooling as his hand rose and fell, smacking her bare bottom as it gleamed rosily in the firelight. She squealed as the stinging pain made her squirm and writhe, her feet, in their buttoned shoes, kicking the air. His eyes, fixed on the rippling globes of her bottom, sparkled in the firelight and his breath came in heaving gasps. As she wriggled she could feel him swelling even further, the heat of his excitement radiating through her pink dress. Suddenly she was unceremoniously shoved off his knees and dumped on the floor.

She sat there, legs sprawled, staring at him with wide-eyed dismay as he fumbled with the remaining buttons on his fly, his hands trembling.

 

Paid-off from her teaching post, Cassie is reduced to finding a job with a respectable escort agency in order to pay the rent - only to discover that the agency is a cover for something darker and more sinister. She finds herself in a depraved world where young men and women are bought and sold to satisfy the sadistic appetites of the rich and decadent.

Can she use her newly found appetite for pain and pleasure to survive - and to gain revenge on the people who put her there in the first place?

  

 

 

Puritan Passions

 

He reached out again and seized her by the upper arm, flinging her facedown on the bed. As she struggled to rise he hauled her skirts above her waist, trapping her in the clinging folds. Grabbing her flailing hands at the wrist he wound his belt round them and fastened it to the bed-head so she was stretched out helplessly before him, naked from the waist down.

He ran his hand over her pert buttocks, enjoying the way her flesh cringed at his touch and feeling his manhood swell. ‘Don't run away, sweetheart,' he panted. ‘I shall be back, with a little surprise for you.'

She lay there frozen in the muffling darkness as his footsteps retreated, her heart pounding with horrified anticipation. What was he going to do?

 

England is under the rule of Oliver Cromwell, and young Lucinda Carstairs, daughter of a Royalist family, is in a state of limbo as her betrothed, James Happington, is in exile in Europe with Charles Stuart.

Lucinda unwittingly attracts the eye of their elderly neighbour, Ezekiel Watkins, a Puritan who acquired his estate through his support of Cromwell, and when her brother is seen on a secret visit home to raise money for the Royalist cause, Watkins uses this to blackmail her into marriage, and to her horror she finds that his puritanical mask hides a monster of sexual depravity, and that her life with him is a living hell.

But on the news that Charles has been restored to the throne after Cromwell's death, the loathsome Watkins dies of apoplexy and she is free to marry her beloved James - only to find he has acquired somewhat ‘exotic' tastes whilst abroad, and things may have gone very much from bad to worse.

The final straw comes when James takes to using Lucinda to entertain his associates and settle his gambling debts, and so she must at last try to find a way to freedom and independence...

 

 

  

  

 

And as mentioned in the intro pages of this book, if you're a published author and have existing work, the eBook rights of which remain with or have reverted to you, we would love to
hear from you
.

 

Or if you would like to write and submit your work to us please check out our
Author Guidelines
.

 

Connect with us online:

Twitter