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He shifted impatiently on his stool. Surely Emma had been away longer than necessary? Ever since he’d first laid eyes on her he never wanted to let her out of his sight, wanted her within touching distance. When this was all over, he would take her to his estate and treat her like a queen. She would have a soft bed, fragrant linen, succulent fruits and wine. He would tend her, answer her every whim. His balls tightened at the thought of her silken limbs, of her warm, moist cunt, ready for him. And he would be in her bed, pleasuring her, loving her.
He caught himself. Loving her? Was that what this was, when you ached with longing every moment you were apart? When you prized her safety above all else?
A sudden noise at the opening to the cave startled him, pulling him from his reverie, and he looked up as someone burst into the cave at a full run. He sprang to his feet, a sudden premonition of disaster seizing his mind.
Giova
“Scusi, dottore,” he gasped. “Forgive me, forgive me.”
“What is it, man?” Marco snapped. “Are we under attack? Where is the Englishwoman?” A sick fear gripped him in his gut. “What has happened to her?”
Giova
“Que dice? What are you talking about? Where is she?” For the first time he noticed Giova
Giova
Marco glanced around at the circle of listeners that had drifted close. He took his cousin’s arm in a tight grip and drew him to one side.
“What? For God’s sake, get it out.”
“She seemed to mean what she said. I couldn’t know-”
Marco shook his arm roughly. “Enough. Tell me.”
“Yes, dottore. I’m sorry.” Giova
Damn, he hadn’t seen them. Here was Giova
“I thought it best to send him with them. For protection.”
Idioto. “Go on.”
“She seduced me, dottore. I knew she was a loose woman because she let you-”
Marco clenched his jaw and resisted the temptation to bring his fist up under his cousin’s chin. Giova
Marco cut in. “So where is she? Did you take her?” A large, cold stone had settled on his heart, making it difficult to draw breath, squeezing his chest.
Giova
In pain, Marco closed his eyes for a moment, and his grip tightened even more on the other man’s arm. “Then what?”
“She made me think she wanted me, she lay down on her back and she let me inside her. When I leaned over her to suck her breast-” he paused and gave an eloquent shrug.
“Finish it, man.”
“She hit me on the head with a rock and pushed me in the pool. I could have drowned.” Giova
Marco chewed on the inside of his cheek to keep from lashing out at this idiot. “You didn’t drown.”
“No, no. Thanks be to God.”
“Where is your weapon?”
“She has it. Dottore, I wanted to get it back…”
“She fought you. Resisted you.” Marco gestured towards the blood seeping from his earlobe.
“No, dottore. She was willing.” Giova
“So where is she?”
“I climbed an outcrop and caught a glimpse of her making towards the village of San Sebastian. Where the police unit is. I know she will betray us. I came back here to warn you.”
Giova
“I’ll take the punishment,” she’d said. “I’ll help you maintain the respect of your people.” He clenched his fists to keep them from beating the messenger.
Giova
“She let me inside her.”
Giova
When he’d first called her Bella Do
Poisonous indeed. Deadly.
Should he believe Giova
There was work to do, work that would dull the pain. He barked out orders to the men waiting behind him.
“Capo,” Giova
“My young friend,” Marco said curtly. “If we leave we may avoid a greater disaster. I need my lieutenants with me tonight. Then we will regroup back in our own homes in the village. There we can celebrate our victory.” He slapped Giova
After the men dispersed to follow his orders, he remained tense and immobile. He let out his breath with a conscious effort, trying to relax his shoulders and unclench his fists, but his muscles tightened anew as he recalled Giova
She’d been wet. As she had been in Enrico’s house. With water droplets beading her arms. Her breasts heavy and lush, a small, dark mole on her upper back.
He saw her as clearly as if she’d appeared in front of him. The way the bones of her pelvis stretched the soft, white skin, the magnificent curve of her waist, the arc of her belly to the dark triangle between her legs. Another mole the size of a small coin on her thigh, and an even smaller one on her left breast, just above her glorious nipple. Not blemishes. Adornments.
No matter what Giova
He grabbed a broom leaning nearby and flung it away. It landed softly on the dirt floor. In all the activity no one noticed. He would give his other fingers to learn that Giova
Abruptly he swung back to the people in the cave, converting his shout of anger into an order to move more quickly.
The horse must have thrown her taking the jump over the stream on the far side of the four-acre wood. This time she must have made a mistake lining up the narrow opening between the hedges to make sure the hunter could clear the stile. It was tricky, but she’d done it lots of times. She remembered flying through the air, then a great thud, rattling her bones and driving the air from her lungs as she hit the ground.