Chapter 2

He can see her through his mostly closed eyes; the blue-skirted woman is sitting by him, stroking his hand gently, and waiting for him to wake. She smiles gently at him; a smile so beautiful that even the lovely Cristina Vespucci herself would turn green from envy.

She believes him to be asleep, but words do not come from her mouth. Instead there is the gentle pressing of her soft lips upon his own, and she stays there for longer than intended. He tries not to smile against the kiss, but finds it very hard not to, considering how cold she was to him hardly an hour ago.

It doesn't take long for the scene to change. Noting that she is now only in a thin nightdress, he wastes no time as he approaches her, his mouth on hers instantly in a deep, delicious kiss. His fingertips brush against her skin as his hands slip underneath the fabric, gently pushing her nightdress from her shoulders and letting it fall to the floor…

His eyes snap open and he sits up suddenly, pain shooting through his abdomen from the wound. He lets out a disappointed sigh as he brushes his hair back from his face with his hand.

She's not sitting at the edge of the bed waiting for him to wake. Nor is she lying undressed and asleep next to him.

It was just a dream.

He eases himself back down, pulls the sheet over himself, and closes his eyes, trying to find sleep.

But it continuously evades him.

He starts to believe that he simply cannot help it. Especially since there is such a beautiful woman in the same villa as he.

A beautiful woman who had slapped his hand away the moment he began his advances.

It certainly complicates things for him.

And he certainly can't get to sleep with his mind going faster than he would care for it to. He glances around before rising and sitting up slowly, gently pushing the sheet off of himself. He shifts, his feet touching the floor, and he stands carefully.

But luck appears to be against him, for when he does, the floorboards groan loudly under his weight.

He hears hurried steps up the wooden stairs, and she slams the door open, anger marring her features when she sees that he's up.

"I told you to stay in bed!"

His eyes are wide as she storms over to him, shoving him back down.

"Madre di Dio, I will tie you down if you try to get up without assistance again!"

"Oh?" He raises an eyebrow.

"You will rip open your wounds if you try such a thing again! And that means that you will have to stay here longer!" She ignores the implications of tying him down, continuing to scowl. "If you tear your wounds open, you will be more trouble than you are worth!"

"Are you suggesting that I am... trouble?"

She narrows her eyes, and his jesting tone vanishes immediately.

"You seem to be mistaking the need for you to be on your way as concern for your well-being, so I shall make this clear and simple: the longer you rest, the sooner you can leave. I do not know what, nor do I care, but I know you have better things to do than loiter about in my villa!"

And with that, she turns on her heel and leaves, but leaves the door open. True to her word, she returns with a pair of thick sashes while he is sleeping, and binds his hands to his chest and his ankles together.

Needless to say, he is less than pleased when he awakens.

"What is this?"

She stands over him, her eyes narrowed and arms crossed.

"I told you that I would tie you down if you tried to get up again. This guarantees that you do not."

He frowns at her. This is clearly not what he had in mind.

"I will untie you from your comfortable place when the doctor arrives. Until then, you stay where you are."

When her back turns, he frowns. This was nearly as far from comfortable as he could possibly be.

He knows that at some point, she had unbound his wrists; probably, like she said, when the doctor had arrived. He was either asleep or unconscious for all of it, as he did not remember any of it happening. When he awoke, however, his wrists and ankles have been released from their bonds, and his wounds are more cleanly dressed.

He is also missing his trousers.

He knows that she isn't being forced to do anything for his sake, but she continues to do so as if she had made a vow.

She is certainly more benevolent than her words are leading him to believe.