Have you read the previous chapter? The reason I ask is I posted less than twenty-four hours after chapter 10. So it is harder to see the chapter got posted.

The story is complete! I only need to do some editing on the two final chapters. (yes, It is hard to believe, but I do try to filter out as many mistakes as possible. No, it isn't perfect.) I did manage to keep it at 14 chapters. As soon as a chapter gets done, I will post it. I think the story will be complete on Friday.

Chapter 12

So much pain. So much love. So much unnamed. Later, Victoria could find no explanation as to what exactly had happened at that moment. One moment she'd been standing at arm's length from Diego. Moments still flashing through her head.
Afraid of what was to happen next. Even more terrified of what if it didn't happen.

Half a second later, Victoria was in his arms, crushed between a muscular chest and strong arms that closed so tightly around her that she couldn't breathe. Soft lips got pressed hard and desperate onto hers.
Resisting was pointless and the last thing she wanted.

As soon as Victoria felt his lips burn against hers, there was no doubt.
This was the man she had been looking for all along. This was the man of her life. The only man she loves. It was impossible. This was Diego, and Zorro was …

Struck by lightning, everything suddenly became clear. Victoria tore her lips from his, found a pair of familiar blue eyes, as cried out. "Zorro."

The arms that had captured her like steel bands mere moments before released her so quickly, and she stumbled backwards.

Diego had always known one kiss or wrong move could betray his secret. How could he have been so stupid, giving in to his despair at the heat of the moment? For a moment, he had given her access to the depths of his heart. It was a heartbeat too long. And with one word, all hopes were dashed, and his heart got pulverized. She had found out.
Only Zorro, Victoria, only loved the mask.

Diego sneered, harsher than intended. "Si, Victoria, Zorro! Are you disappointed? The most boring, annoying, cowardly, ordinary man of the pueblo is the one claim you worship. The one you say you love. I am Zorro! There, I said it. And guess what!? You even married me! Because I was stupid enough to believe you may love me."

Victoria was out of breath, and the world spinning around her. It couldn't be.
It just couldn't be true.
She was dreaming or something. Victoria closed her eyes, squeezed the patch of skin between her thumb and index finger as hard as she could, opened her eyes again, and there was still the same man standing. Something started to tickle in her throat. A burst of uncontrollable laughter welled up in her. Was it relief, joy, stress, anger, who could tell? In any case, she had no control over it. Diego was Zorro. He was the only one. Out of words, she stammered. "Diego… I…, love…, love…," The pain showing in his eyes tore her apart.

"Don't say it, Victoria. I hoped once we got married. And you found out maybe you could love the man behind the mask. How stupid was I? You never cared for me, only for a mask."
She took a step closer and stretched out her arm to touch him. Diego took a larger step back to avoid her.
"You don't even know me." Diego turned around. With the intention to go to the cave, saddle Toronado as quickly as possible and ride until he has found hell. That was where he would live from now on.

Again, Diego made a big mistake. As he turned just for a moment, he glimpsed at her pale face for a moment. Her eyes wide and…, and…, what was it he saw?

Victoria was breathing heavily. She was transfixed. She had found him and was about to lose him at the same moment. She had to stop him somehow. Words fluttered out her mouth. "I know who you are. You are the man I love. You are my destiny." Destiny, where had she heard it before? Victoria ignored the thought. There was something more important at the moment. "Subconsciously, I have known ever since I was seven years old. I never realized it because I never saw it before. No, that is a lie. You let me see you, twice…,

Zorro does it all the time." She tried to excuse herself. Immediate aware of the mistake she had made.
Victoria folded her hands around his cheeks and looked straight into the eyes of her destiny. Tears, rolling over her cheeks. How could she not have seen it?
"Though I didn't know his name, my heart tells me who you are. Diego, you are my other half."

Diego tried to turn his head away from her. "Don't lie to me, Victoria!"

Victoria intensified her grip. "My feelings are honest, sincere and indescribable. Diego, forgive me for not seeing it sooner. I. Love. You! The man. Standing here. Right now."

It was hard to believe, Diego succeeded in turning his head away from her intense glare. By doing so his lips crossed over her gentle fingers.

"I love you. Not Zorro, not Diego. I love the man in here." Her hand moved over his chest. It felt like she was burning her hand on his skin. "I love you." She repeated again.

Next, he didn't kiss her. Diego was plundering her mouth.
When their lips part to suck in oxygen, he hers her pleas. "I love you, Diego. I swear, I love you."

Clothing started to get in the way. The nightgown was pushed down over her shoulders and slid off her body. The buttons of his shirt flew through the air an instant after.
Victoria touched every spot her hands could reach. Diego shook his shoulders until the shirt followed the way of the nightgown.

He kneeled before her on the ground and kissed her skin covered in goosebumps.

Fingers buried in his hair, he hears how she is begging. "Love me, please love me."

Victoria slumped down in the soil and was immediately overwhelmed by his touches. His tongue carved wet traces over her skin. There is no yesterday, today or tomorrow. All that exists is an intense desire that was suppressed far too long.

Victoria wraps her arms around Diego. For him there was nothing but her fragrant warm skin and begging voice. It wasn't nearly enough.
He wanted more. He needed more. With his hands he pushed down his pants, and struggles with the material and his legs until he was as naked as Victoria was. Meanwhile, she had opened her legs. He kneeled between them.
Her plea rang out in despair. "Please, Diego. Love me."
The dark curls between her legs tickled his manhood as he slid a little into her. He knew it was her first time, and he had no intention of hurting her.

Victoria was in pain, her body was aching, and she wanted only one thing, being closer to Diego. And there was only one way to put an end to her pain. She had waited so long for this moment. And if she had to wait for one more second, it would kill her. Victoria lifted her hips and took Diego deep into her.

Because Victoria had moved her hips, he had slid deep into her moist warmth unintentional, too fast. The expected cry of pain failed to materialize. Victoria showed no sign of pain or discomfort. The only sounds she managed to produce got lost in the moaning of his pleasure.

.

Diego was catching his breath after the climax. His head rested against her shoulder. As far as he knew, he had never lost his composure like this.
A confession of love burned on his lips. He was intensely grateful that Victoria hadn't turned him down. His lips slid over her cheeks, and to his horror, he felt...,

Her cheeks were wet and tasted salty.

In a flash, he was aware of what he had done.
He had pounced on her like a young mad bull. Victoria had been a virgin! As soon as he heard confirmation that she loved Diego, he overpowered her with his strength.
Wild with the desire to be as close to her as possible, he had practically raped her. Victoria was fragile and petite. He was almost a foot taller, many pounds heavier, and didn't even need to exert any force if he wanted to overpower her.
He had heard moans and interpreted them as sounds of pleasure and ecstasy.
What if she had cried out in pain? Had the sound she had made been a plea for him to stop? He had been out of his mind.
"Victoria, I'm sorry, forgive me. I didn't mean to…, you...," Diego couldn't get the word out of his lips. Diego began to move to turn away from her.

He sat up next to her and saw her tearful face. It broke his heart. In shame, Diego buried his face in his hands.
He had lost his self-control, believed he found heaven after first thinking he landed in hell. How was he to tell her what had come over him?
"If you want, I will file for divorce and take the blame. Make sure everyone knows it is not your fault." Tears welled up in his eyes.

Victoria rose too, not understanding what was going on. Something was wrong.

It felt wrong as her fingers wiped the tears comfortingly from his cheeks as if she were the wrong one.

"Diego, I want you. I love you."

He must have misunderstood her. "But the way I behaved. You were a virgin, and I raged like the first savage."

Victoria kissed him on his cheek. "I wanted it as much as you did. And what you just did." She blushed. "I did not find it unpleasant."

Not unpleasant, he should give her his dagger and offer her to cut out his heart. "Victoria, you are crying. I must have hurt you."

"Diego, these are tears of joy. I'm so glad it is you I love, and it is not somebody else."

Diego looked away from her. Victoria turned his head, so he got forced to look into her watery eyes. And what he saw…
He saw no pain, hatred or disgust. Reflected in her eyes was what he felt in his heart, love.

"I am serious. Remember when you came back from Spain and walked into the tavern, you looked at me? At that moment, I felt that you were the one I was destined for." She swallowed a lump in her throat. "Later, that feeling disappeared for a reason I did not understand. The few times you did glare at me, something had changed. I felt a distance. Like something was missing. You refused to make eye contact with me ever since.
I thought I was wrong and you, and I, we weren't meant to be.
After that one time, you never looked at me like that again. So I had to accept that I was wrong." Victoria glared shyly and continued.
" As Zorro you did look at me in that way. And with him, the feeling grew stronger. Zorro burned his mark into my soul every time he looked me in my eyes...,
There was only one more moment when you, Diego, looked at me like that and gave me a similar feeling."

Diego swallowed. He knew the precise moment she was talking about. The only time Diego, in a moment of weakness, had been unable to tear his gaze away from her.
"That time in the mill," Diego whispered.

"Indeed, in the mill. You looked at me, and I got totally blown away. How could Diego make me feel like that? I even questioned myself whether you and Zorro could be the same. But by then, I was already skilled in denying and too blind to understand that one plus one must be two. That I hadn't fallen in love with two different men that both felt like they were my soulmate. And so I did what I had been doing for years. I was puzzling until I came to the wrong conclusion and even managed to make it sound logica, if only to me.
I think it was sort of a defence mechanism. If I didn't give in to my feelings for Diego, mocked you instead, I could deny them."

Deep down, hope began to glow inside him. He wasn't going to lose her.

Victoria went on. "You felt it too, didn't you. That was why you never looked me in the eyes. You knew if you did, you might betray you are Zorro. And so you hide your feelings from me."

Now that Victoria had discovered that her worst fears were unfounded, she saw everything crystal clear. "Diego," A soft hand stroked his cheek. So inviting that he naturally lifted his head and looked at her.

"I love you more than anyone or anything. That you are Zorro doesn't matter to me. And, about what just happened, you didn't hurt me, really. What happened, I wanted it to happen. Perhaps even more as you did."

"Are you sure?" Diego wanted to believe her but needed more reassurance.

She nodded again to let him know she was telling the truth. "Very sure."

Diego kissed her hands and stroked her cheek to wipe away the remaining tears. "I'm sorry I let myself in the way I did. I should have taken into account that it was your first time. If you ever allow me, I will make it up to you and make love to you until you have forgetten this experience."

There was the breathtaking smile he had never been able to resist. "What if I don't want to forget? What if I want to cherish this night for the rest of my life?"

Diego still felt ashamed. "But you said it wasn't unpleasant."

"What should I have said? It was the most wonderful thing I've ever felt. That I had no idea, or I was to explode or implode? That if it had lasted a second longer, that probably either would have happened? Diego, it was my first time. And for me, it felt marvellous. You were so close to me. I felt so much love. I hope there will be a second, a hundredth and a thousandth time. I said it wasn't unpleasant because..., well," She lifted her shoulders. "I wasn't sure what to say or do."

"Victoria, I love you." Diego had to kiss her again, feel her again. His skin and soul craved her touch. And when she bit on his lip with her teeth and sucked it into her mouth, there was no saving it.

This time was even more perfect. There could be no doubts afterwards the screams uttered were of delight. And as for both of them, climax began to approach his hands, lifted her buttocks off the ground, and Diego buried himself in her one more time. Victoria shook her head back and forth. She cried out his name and words of love. Nails scratched his back, marking him. Diego and Victoria were two beings in their own universe.

.

Still gasping, Diego said with a grin on his face. "In my imagination, our first night together was to be romantic. You had forgiven me and knew who Zorro was. I would make you mine on a soft bed covered with rose petals. There would be champagne, candlelight and anything else you could wish for."
Victoria lay half over him. Her hair tickled his chest, and was still rising and falling faster than usual.

"Right now, we are under a rosebush. I've always found moonlight to be more romantic than candlelight. And beyond that, champagne has never appealed to me."
Her fingers curled in his hair.
"There is nothing to forgive, except I hope you forgive me I did not recognize you as my soul mate. I belong to you. I always have. The only thing I am missing…,"

"Tell me." Diego wanted to make it as perfect as possible. And if he could do anything to make it better for her. She could ask for the moon, and he would go and get it.

Victoria giggled. "Toronado interrupting."

Diego laughed with relief, "I was glad he stopped me before I lost myself. If you do insist, I'll go get him."

"No way. I hated him for what he did." Victoria confessed.

Diego lifted her chin so he could look her in the eyes again. "Victoria, the reason I stopped back then wasn't Toronado. He only remembered me of the promise I had made myself."

She was curious. "What was that?"

"You would never be Zorro's. That honour I wanted plain, boring Diego to have. That was if you ever allowed me."

Victoria kissed him again. "You are anything but plain. But if I remember correctly, I have already told Zorro that. And now what? You always said I wasn't to know who Zorro was because it was too dangerous for me to know."

"And it still is." Diego thought it was time for another confession. "But it was never the main reason. It only was in the very beginning. The real reason I couldn't tell was simple. I was too scared of you rejecting me. Call it self-preservation. As long as you didn't know, I could permit myself to hope."

"O, Diego."
He kissed her fingers as she caressed his mouth."We have wasted so many years." A new tear rolled over her cheek. He caught it with his finger.

With a subdued voice, Diego whispered. "We have many more to come."

Victoria blinked, and a new tear rolled down. She nodded and laughed. "You're right. And I still have a lot of questions you need to answer."

"And we have a lifetime to answer each and every one of them."

.

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