This chapter is rated NC-17 for sexual content. If you do not wish to read, please skip this chapter.
Chapter 5
"And so that was the beginning of my life as Zorro." Diego finished with a small smile. Victoria had curled her legs beneath herself and was slumbering gently against his arm.
Alejandro, the padre, the doctor, Felipe and everyone else who was still awake sat around Diego, listening intently as he recounted numerous tales of his adventures as Zorro. He was sitting on the tavern porch, leaning against a support beam, one arm draped casually around his wife's waist.
He glanced around the plaza and smiled. People had fallen asleep where they sat, or watched quietly, all eager to hear his tales of the well-loved masked bandit. It would be light in a few hours and so would begin a new life for all of them.
Diego glanced at his slumbering wife and squeezed her waist gently.
"I think its time you got her home, son." Alejandro indicated the young lady he'd welcomed into his family a few hours prior.
"I'm awake." She responded sleepily but burrowed her head against Diego's chest. Almost instantly he could feel her calm, steady breathing - a clear indication she was asleep once again.
"Sure you are. Go back to sleep, querida." Diego chuckled and kissed her forehead gently.
Alejandro marveled at how easily the endearment fell from his son's lips.
"Felipe," Alejandro nodded to the mute who stood instantly. "Get the carriage, please. We're going home."
"Rather than wake her again, I'm just going to take her upstairs to her room." Diego didn't give his father a chance to protest. He simply lifted his wife into his arms and nodded to Felipe. "Please bring the carriage back in the morn-" Diego chuckled, realizing it already was morning. "Ah…later in the day."
Felipe nodded and Alejandro added, "I imagine the tavern won't be open for business tomorrow." The elder de la Vega's eyes twinkled and Diego was suddenly glad for the darkness that still lingered over the Los Angeles basin. The blush that crept along his cheeks at his father's obvious implication would have been noticed, and if he knew his father, exploited, relentlessly. It didn't matter, because his father continued along a potentially embarrassing vein anyway. "Be sure to hang out the 'Closed' sign, Diego."
Diego shook his nodded and grinned down at his slumbering wife.
Before Diego disappeared into the tavern, Alejandro rested a gentle hand on his arm. "I'm proud of you, son, and I love you."
"I'm not sure I'll be getting any sleep tonight, but, let's go home anyway!" Alejandro clasped Felipe on the shoulder as Diego carried his wife into the tavern and shut the door.
Diego knew his way around her small room better than he probably should have. When he moved to lay her gently atop the bed, she stirred and wrapped her arms tighter about his neck.
"You don't plan to leave, I hope." She whispered, her voice suddenly clear.
"I will never leave you again, querida." Diego pressed a lingering kiss to the side of her mouth as he settled her onto the bed. "You're tired. It's been a very long day. Lay down and rest."
She tilted her head and his lips slid across hers, causing an involuntary shiver to race down her spine. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her against his chest, deepening the kiss.
"I have no intention of sleeping," she whispered against his lips. "This is not the most comfortable place but I want - "
"Are you sure?" He knew his voice shook with thinly veiled passion. It was perfectly proper for him to be here, kissing her like this. No longer did he need to look over his shoulder to make sure there was no one watching. He wanted desperately to make her his wife in every way, but after the day they'd had, full of changes and upheaval, he would leave the decision to her.
"Diego." When her hand slid across his face to cup his cheek, he noticed the passion lingering in her eyes. "I'm your wife now. You have your duties…."
He chuckled at that and sat beside her on the small bed. "I have my duties, hmm?"
"You certainly do." Her eyes twinkled and he grinned wickedly at her.
His eyes darkened as he pulled her against his chest. Long fingers slowly worked the fastenings of her dress free and she sighed as he slowly slid it down the length of her body. How different their evening had turned out. Zorro had presented her with the dress. He couldn't have even imagined that the man behind that mask would be the one removing it.
Long fingers slipped into the fastenings of her undergarments and deftly tugged them free. Soon, she was lying on the bed in front of him in nothing but her skin.
He swallowed reflexively. This certainly wasn't the way he'd intended on ending his evening. He watched her carefully, his eyes unable to mask the desire rushing through his body.
"And you have yours," he replied huskily after a few moments of silence, taking in her gloriously beautiful body.
She opened her arms and he fell into them, carefully squeezing his large frame onto her small bed. "In hindsight, perhaps I should have taken you back to the hacienda."
A giggle escaped her lips as she was reminded of a few other times he, as Zorro, had been in her bedroom. In her dreams, she always wondered how he would fit on their bed.
She noticed that while he had removed his tailcoat, he still had every stitch of clothing on. She reached toward his shirt and quickly slipped the buttons from their holes. Her breath caught when she flattened her hands against his muscled chest and pushed the material over his shoulders.
She was encouraged at his low, husky groan as her small hands explored the broad expanse of his chest before boldly stopping at the waistband of his trousers. She wasn't even sure how to unfasten them, not having had a reason to undress a caballero before. The popular fashion of the upper class differed from that of a normal peasant or even vaquero, whose clothing she had mended in the past.
Sensing her confusion, he covered her hands with his and showed her how to locate the fastenings. She blushed furiously, grateful for the darkness that would hide the heat rushing to her cheeks.
Rather than try to slide the trousers off while lying in the small bed, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and removed his boots - otherwise, he wasn't getting the pants off! He could feel Victoria's eyes on him and when he turned and stood, he could see her swallow. With nerves or excitement, he didn't quite know.
He slowly began to lower his pants but she launched herself off the bed and covered his hands with her own.
"Let me."
His eyes danced as she slowly slid the material over his hips and down his legs. If she caught his visible sign of relief to be rid of the restricting garment, she gave no indication.
She laced her fingers through his soft hair and he wrapped his arms around her waist. Effortlessly, he leaned her back into the middle of the bed. When he settled between her legs, she wrapped her arms around his neck and stared into his bright eyes. "Make me your wife, Diego."
He closed his eyes and groaned as she shifted her hips, causing their bodies to touch even more intimately. He'd practiced restraint for so long, he found himself warring with his conscience to go slow. She was so close, all he had to do was arch his hips.
But he wanted this night, and their first time, to be perfect. And that meant that he would make sure she was more than ready for him. He slipped his hand between them and probed at her damp folds. Her eyes flickered toward him, wide with a look of amazement. She trembled when his thumb found and circled the treasure hidden beneath the dark curls.
When a long, slim finger pressed into her slick passage, she whimpered, small hands clutching at the bed covers.
"Ai. . . dios," Diego murmured, finding her more than ready for him.
An unfamiliar pressure began to coil its way through her body as one finger was joined by another. They moved slowly within her, moving only faster as her breathing increased.
"Diego." His name was a breathless whisper on her lips.
"Soon."
"What are you . . . doing to . . . me. . ." she panted. It was not a question and she tossed her head back exposing the long column of her neck to her husband's hungry eyes.
He leaned over her and trailed his lips along her neck, biting and nibbling gently at the soft skin.
"Now." He whispered against her neck. "My passionate love. Show me. Are you ready?"
She cried out as his touch brought her to a heart-stopping release; a sensation stronger than she had ever in her wildest dreams anticipated ripped through her body and left her panting heavily in its tumultuous wake. She collapsed wordlessly into the pillows and glanced longingly up at her husband.
"I won't rush this, querida," he pressed a slow kiss to her neck. "I won't hurt you."
She whimpered and rotated her hips against his hand. His arms shook as he held his weight above her but when he wrapped his arm around her waist and lifted her hips to meet his, he delighted in the feel of her slick warmth enveloping him. He would have entered her slowly, gently, but in her inexperience and desire to pull him closer, she wrapped her legs tightly around his hips, driving the full length of him into her in one long, painful thrust.
He froze and squeezed his eyes shut as the sweet tightness of her body enveloped him. The only sound she made was a sharp hiss through clenched teeth. After a few short moments, she relaxed. And to his great surprise, she tilted her hips, urging him to move. He was lost then. Lost in the exquisite sensation of her sweet body enveloping, tugging at his very sanity.
"Ah. Bella." He groaned against her neck as he pressed slow, lingering kisses to her eyelids, her cheeks, her lips.
"Take your pleasure from my body, Diego." Victoria whimpered, clutching him as he moved fluidly within her.
The first rays of the new day poured into the room just as his release rushed through his body, leaving him trembling in its life-altering wake.
A solemn but excited air had settled over the pueblo. And there were still unconscious revelers, as well as fallen decorations, littered across the plaza. Diego grinned when he exited the tavern, Victoria's hand tightly wrapped in his own.
Toronado snorted at him, as if he'd been annoyed at being tied to the post all night long. Diego knew Felipe must have just brought him and Victoria's eyes widened when she saw the familiar stallion.
"Felipe, I would guess." Diego grinned at her and her eyes narrowed. There were a great many secrets her husband still had to reveal and she surmised this was one of them.
"Are you well enough for a ride, Señora de la Vega?" He grinned mischievously down at her and she smiled widely.
She was a bit sore from their evening together, but she wouldn't let the discomfort prevent her from riding, or from going anywhere with her new husband.
"A ride with Zorro unmasked," She leaned into his arms and pressed a kiss to his jaw. "I can think of no better way to spend my morning."
Diego lifted her effortlessly into the saddle and leapt up behind her. With one hand he grasped Toronado's reins and with his other he brushed the hair off her neck and dropped a gentle kiss to the sensitive skin.
"Oh, I can." She could feel him grin against her neck.
Victoria giggled and leaned her back against his chest. "Then what are you waiting for?" She asked, shooting a coy look over her shoulder at her husband.
They rode for a few miles, galloping across the countryside until Diego could no longer resist the allure of her body so close to his. He needed to get her home, and quickly. It took no time at all for Toronado to trot into the de la Vega garden with his passengers.
The house staff peered out the windows and watched as Diego lifted his wife from the saddle of Zorro's famous steed. The night before, their young master was a single, quiet man and now he was married - well, betrothed, but it was essentially the same thing! The news of his secret had flown like wild-fire through the pueblo and now everyone at the hacienda had come out of the woodwork to see their young master return home with his bride.
Everyone knew of Zorro's romance with Victoria Escalante. It was the talk of the pueblo and had been for years. None of them would ever have imagined that young Diego had been the one to capture the young señorita's heart or be the true man behind Zorro's mask.
They all vanished as Diego and Victoria made their way toward the door, but a few peeked around the corners to catch that one final glimpse of the newly married couple.
"Welcome home, Señora de la Vega," Diego smiled brightly as he lifted his wife into his arms and carried her into the hacienda.
Victoria tightened her arms around her husband's neck and pressed a lingering kiss to his cheek.
Diego left the door open as he carried Victoria down the hallway to his bedroom and simply stood in front of the door and glanced down at her expectantly.
"Like some help, would you?" her eyes danced as she looked from him to the closed door and back again.
"I certainly don't wish to scandalize the indoor staff by taking my new wife against the door." The husky tone behind his words sent a thrilling tremor straight down her spine. She was so exhausted, she could barely keep her eyes open, but the thought of his mouth, his lips, his body covering hers like it had this morning was enough to keep her awake for hours.
She turned the knob and he pushed through the door. She chuckled when he used the back of his leg to slam the door shut and winced when the sound echoed down the hallway. Well, if no one had heard them come in, the entire hacienda knew they were home now.
Any further thought was driven from her mind when he laid her atop the soft bed and stole her breath with a kiss that curled her very toes.
TBC
