After being out for so long I thought I'd get Charlie and Rachel back on the go again. Thanks goes to me watching 3:10 to Yuma the other night – it made me realise how much I've missed this story. I had SO much fun writing Lady Prince and I hope I can feel that excitement and rush again. As usual, reviews are greatly appreciated!

Chapter One

Rachel woke the next morning to feel the bright light come dancing through the curtains. She sighed and rolled over, only to find an empty half the bed before her. "Charlie?" she called out, sitting upright in bed, the sheets pooled in her lap leaving her naked body bare to the warming sunlight.

"Ah'm only here," Charlie replied softly. Rachel's head moved, following the direction of his voice. He was sat behind her in the wooden chair in only his pants. Charlie's eyes were full of questions that needed answering and also sad memories.

Rachel instantly detected something was wrong and got up from the bed, pulling on Charlie's blue shirt around her shoulders. "Something's wrong," she began, standing next to him and placing her hand on his shoulder. Then she bent down and wound her arms around his shoulders, crossing her arms over his chest. She brushed her cheek against his thick, blonde hair.

"Should ah go after him, Rachel?" Charlie asked. His voice was absent and very distant.

"Who?"

"Ben Wade."

Instantly Rachel took her arms from around Charlie and stepped back. Anger began to fill her to the core and she grit her teeth. Her hands balled into fists. "How could you think of going after that bastard, Charlie?"

"He was like a father to me once. Ah...miss him ah guess..."

"And he would have KILLED you!" Rachel shouted, stepping around so she was stood in front of him. "How can you want to go after a man that would have done that to you? Charlie, I know you love him in your own way. Look what you did, and he still pointed his gun at you! He knew you'd have done anything for him, gone anywhere with him and he was still prepared to put you down." She sighed and looked away. "I can't even believe the thought crossed your mind. I doubt you'd have done that if it was me..."

"You wouldn't point your gun at me in the first place," Charlie replied, looking up at her. A weak smile formed on his lips and he let himself sink into her eyes. "There's no hate or malice inside you, Rachel."

"Not towards you there isn't," Rachel added bitterly. "Piss me off enough and there is." Rachel crossed her arms and pursed her lips, allowing them to grow into nothing more than a tiny slit and become white, the blood draining from them with force. "Why did you change your mind about wanting to get married? I didn't think marriage was the Charlie Prince style."

Charlie grew incredibly uneasy and shifted a little in the seat and immediately Rachel knew she'd hit on a nerve somewhere; he rarely spoke about his inner most thoughts and most of his emotions lay buried under the wall of pride and anger he built from conducting years of raids and general stealing off innocent people. There was so much that swarmed around his mind which he never told Rachel and she always seemed to pick up on this. When she questioned his mood, he'd become uneasy despite Rachel being the only person in the world he'd poured much of his pain out to. Just the day before and he'd snapped at Rachel when she tried to analyse his sadness which she knew sprung from the fact they were going back to his home town of Austin.

"Do ah need to have a reason to want to get married?" Charlie asked, leaning back in the seat. His golden eyebrows furrowed and his eyes grew dark and questioning. "Ah thought most women just shouted 'yes' and that was it?"

Rachel sighed and stepped back to the bed, sitting down slowly. "You want to know the main reason I ask? Because I look at you and I see how much you've changed, and I know it's because of me. Maybe I want to know why I'm so special, and how someone like me could change someone like you so drastically. You've always known I'd go anywhere with you. That's why I came back, but before I left you said marriage wasn't your style. Yet now, three months down the line, you suddenly decide you want to get hitched. That's just something I can't get through my head and I can't understand." Rachel's eyes had grown wide as she spoke and explained herself. "I don't have a problem speaking my mind, but you obviously do, like a lot of men...all unemotional..." With that she sighed and looked away again, shrugging her shoulders almost aggressively. Men had always remained a mystery to her and it often baffled her why they couldn't just tell others how they felt deep down. To women, men speaking their minds didn't make them weaker. In fact, to Rachel, she thought a man who spoke his mind and showed emotion to be stronger. "I hate not knowing what's going on inside your head." That last line made Charlie look up at her and in that split second he felt something lurch inside him, in the very depths of his gut. He knew she was right; he'd always been the typical 'bottle it up' kind of man, especially with the life he lead and the men he rode with. Opening up to women wasn't a common occurrence for outlaws like him. Their life was cold and lonely where only their desire for money and material gain mattered.

On many occasions Charlie had considered walking away from his current life with Rachel and taking on a more commendable and honest role, but he was scared, scared of the unknown and anything different. Could he really fit into a 'normal' way of living? Stealing and even killing was all he knew. But Rachel had been happy to go along with him, working alongside him and the other men. Her alias of Lady Prince which she'd made up jokingly had even gone down amongst the locals. Everyone who knew of Charlie Prince knew he had a woman who rode alongside him, and most of them knew, if not assumed, she was his lover. Some residents of local towns also referred to her as Mrs. Prince and Prince's Lass. In one town where Rachel had acted as a barmaid, Charlie had overheard a blacksmith refer to Rachel as Prince's Bitch.

"Word is Prince's Bitch is in town. Fuck knows where he is though...Probably made her do all the dirty work and then he'll claim the goods," the blacksmith said loudly to one of the stable hands as he hammered shoes onto a black horse. Charlie stood quiet by the end stable where he'd been eyeing up a new horse as his current animal had began to grow slower due to its age.

Later that day before leaving the town, with his new horse, Charlie had shot the blacksmith. No one referred to Rachel as a bitch, and if they did, they wouldn't live much longer to tell about it.

Rachel was unable to comprehend exactly what he was considering. How could he consider going after a man who would have gladly gunned him down like that? Images of his black and white, time-distorted photograph came to her mind and for a second she closed her eyes tightly. It reminded her of so many individuals she'd crossed paths with in her life who would gladly go after those people who think nothing of them and would gladly throw them to the dirt. Charlie had a new life now with Rachel – she was his driving force and his true companion on this ride now.

Slowly, Rachel got to her feet and stood beside Charlie, watching as he kept his head low. Anger was rising in her gut. "You're just like so many people I've known over the years, Charlie - ready to run through hoops for someone who doesn't five a flying fuck about you!" Rachel snapped viciously. "He never thought anything of you, any of you. You were all just his way to money...his scapegoats. If things got tough, he made you and the others go in first, and you'd gladly do it. Doubt you'd do that for me..." Rachel's tone had grown cold and full of brutality.

With no word or warning whatsoever, Charlie jumped to his feet. Fire was burning in his eyes and for a second that flame pierced through Rachel, sending a rod of pulsing electricity down her spine. Fiercely, he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her against the wall. His eyes never lost contact with hers. "You know ah'd do anything for you," he whispered to her and in that precise moments he forced his lips against Rachel's and felt her hot body melt into his. Her hands roamed down his back, grabbing at his skin. His kisses came fast, sending more red hot electricity around Rachel's body. Her back remained firmly against the wall as he tore the shirt from around her shoulders and began exploring her more thoroughly.

Rachel groaned, her expression of pleasure getting caught up in his wild kisses. Without any thought or realisation of what was happening, Rachel's hands delved downwards and angrily pulled his pants down, allowing the evidence of his arousal to spring free. Amidst moans and roaming hands, Charlie picked Rachel up, her legs locking at his waist and pushed himself into her. Her deep throaty cry spurred him on and then his hips began to thrust back and forth; his member ached and the heat rose. Rachel remained lost in their physical self expression and kept her hips in rhythm with his. Charlie forced his head to her neck and kissed ferociously, drawing another wild cry from her as they pulsed back and forth against one another...until finally Rachel's climax came, taking her over the edge and in that moment she pushed herself even closer to him and shook in the turbulence. She lost all reason and all comprehension and the waves danced down her body.

Only seconds later and Charlie let out a guttural groan and his own last wave sent him over the edge where he spent himself inside her. Tired, panting, shaking and sweating, they parted. Rachel slid down the wall but as she landed on her feet she felt as if she were about to lose balance. Charlie merely smiled at her and raised his hand to her cheek, caressing the crimson skin. She always blushed when they had sex.

Charlie put his pants back on and pulled his shirt on around his chest, although leaving it open. Rachel, meanwhile, dressed back into her usual pants and shirt. Suddenly, Charlie turned to Rachel with a boyish grin across his face. "What?" Rachel asked suspiciously.

"Get dressed. We're goin' out," Charlie replied.

"Where to?" Rachel asked again.

"Like back when ah first met ya, always askin' questions," Charlie chuckled. "Just get dressed and ah'll tell ya about it when you're ready."

Rachel did as he requested, although still giving him puzzled glances. She knew full well that Charlie could be unpredictable – the events of the last twenty minutes had been evidence of that. But this was something serious as she couldn't work out exactly what he was doing. Lastly, Rachel pulled on her long jacket and stared at Charlie with her arms folded in an authoritative manner. "Tell me what's going on, Charlie!" she insisted.

Charlie merely grabbed her hand and pulled her out the room. "You'll see."

"What the hell?" Rachel asked as she found herself following Charlie across town. They walked past blacksmith's and clothes stores and even an old lady selling flowers for a penny each. "I'm not going any further." With that, Rachel stopped dead in her tracks and stared at him defiantly.

Charlie just grinned at her again and held out his hand. "The chapel's just up this way. Still wanna get married, dont'cha?"