Notes: Certain portions of this chapter have been removed for the delicate sensibilities of some readers. When this story is complete, I will post it in its entirety on my site.

Chapter 2

As she lay in bed, he drew the covers over her, carefully shielding most of her body from his view.

Setting his hat on the bedside table and his belt beside it, he lay down beside her – atop the covers.

When she tried to roll over to face him, he stayed her movement with a gentle hand.

He pillowed his head on his arm and spooned his body against her back to prevent her from turning and pressing her delectable body any tighter against him. He rested his arm lightly across her waist, closing his eyes at the delicious feel of her curves beneath his hand.

She relaxed against his chest, melting into his gentle embrace. "Hold me."

"All night," he murmured against her neck, his breath hot on the smooth skin.

He could feel her tremble and was thrilled that he had as much of an effect on her as she did on him.

"Sleep, Querida." He pressed his lips to her neck. "I will be here when you wake."

Sometime in the night the walls began to shake.

Zorro's eyes snapped open and his arm tightened instinctively around Victoria's waist as her body tensed.

"Don't move." His soft, voice whispered in her ear. "Moving around during an earthquake is far more dangerous than staying in one place."

She pressed her back against his chest and pulled his arm tighter around her waist. He pressed his body against her, leaning over her to make sure she would be protected if anything fell off the walls. When the shaking stopped, his hand slipped from her waist to the nape of her neck. Sliding the hair to one side, he dropped his lips to the smooth skin and trailed them lightly along the long column of her neck.

His lips curled into a small grin when a tremor raced through her entire small frame. His mission satisfactorily accomplished – to relax her – he lifted his mouth from her neck.

"Please don't stop," she pleaded, turning her head toward him enough so that he could see the desire heating her eyes.

"Victoria." His voice was a strangled whisper and his body began to betray him as she reached for his hand and drew it to its previous position at her waist.

Almost inadvertently, he flattened the large palm against her stomach, unable to suppress a small groan at the image that flashed into his mind of her growing heavy with his child.

Before he could stop her, she guided his hand to the soft swell of her breast. Her shift was thin and left little to the imagination as he cupped her.

He inhaled sharply as the sensuous curves fit so perfectly into the palm of his hand. The nipple pebbled instantly beneath his touch, sending an overwhelming rush of blood straight to his groin.

"Victoria," he began, his voice tense with growing desire. "Please, I only have so much control."

She said nothing, only tightened her fingers over his hand.

He closed his eyes, willing his body not to respond further to her inviting caress. He sighed, as his usual form of ridding himself of such arousal failed him.

But she felt the rising pressure against her back and arched her neck once more, gazing into his troubled eyes.

His heart skipped wildly as her lips drew near and with a resigned groan, he tilted his head to meet her mouth.

The kiss was soft, searching, and built slowly until they were drinking heavily from one another's lips. His hand instinctively tightened around her breast, squeezing gently. His thumb brushed across the hard nipple, drawing a pleasurable gasp from her lips.

Zorro suddenly realized that the coverlet shielding her body from his view and his touch had slipped to her waist during the last tremor. With a heavy sigh, he removed his hand from her breast and searched around her waist for the forgotten sheet.

Her mouth clung desperately to his all the while, breaking his resolve to cover her sweet, delectable body. When his searching fingers located the edge of the sheet, her hand came down over his.

She gripped the end of the coverlet and tossed it to the end of the bed, now baring her ankles and feet.

"My Victoria,' he murmured against her lips, "you know we cannot –"

Any further comment was lost as her mouth covered his in a kiss that melted what remained of his tightly reined resolve.

As if of their own volition, his fingers traced small circles along her stomach and upper thigh, slowly circling lower toward the bare skin.

The arm he'd so casually been lying on until now slid beneath her head to cup her cheek – bringing her mouth closer, deeper against his own.

Dimly aware of his circling hand slowly sliding beneath her shift, she draped her leg back over his thigh, shooting his hand instantly around to the front of her body.

"Dios," he whispered against her lips as the irresistible invitation to touch her strengthened.

He continued to touch her until she was completely relaxed. No tension remained in her body as he released her lips and rested his forehead against hers.

Her eyes met his, "That was –"

He nuzzled her cheek with a smile, " – just the beginning, Querida."

"I – I want to give you this kind of pleasure," she breathed.

"Soon. I promise," he whispered, even as he wondered how he would ever keep that vow.

They fell asleep nestled in one another's arms and did not stir again until another low rumbling shook the ground beneath them. This time, the window that he had slipped so quietly into in the night shook so violently that it finally shattered, hurling shards of glass toward the sleeping couple.

Victoria screamed and Zorro rolled atop her to protect her from the flying needle-like shards. He grunted as the sharp pieces struck his back. He rolled off the bed, taking Victoria with him, wincing as the motion drove the shards further into his skin. He pushed her beneath the bed, just as her dresser, and the vanity mirror above it, toppled over, right on top of him.

Victoria felt, rather than saw, Zorro's body jerk as if it was hit and she screamed his name over the rumbling of the earth. When the ground finally stopped moving, Victoria turned wide, uncertain eyes toward the unconscious man lying beside her.

"Zorro!" Victoria cried, trying desperately to see in the dim light. The sun had not quite crested the mountains and there was an eerie light filtering in through the lone window. "Oh, Dios! Please! Answer me!" She slid out from under the bed on the other side, wincing when her hands touched broken glass. Feeling around the floor, she found her shoes and slipped them onto her feet. She crawled onto the bed and looked over the side. All she could see were Zorro's legs poking out from beneath where her dresser had fallen over.

"No!" Victoria cried. She immediately tried to pull the heavy solid wood off the man she loved but she wasn't strong enough. After a few moments, she could hear him speaking very quietly.

She climbed back onto the bed and leaned down toward his head. "I can't lift it!"

"You need something to counterbalance the weight," he breathed and she could tell from his strained voice that he was in great pain.

Suddenly, she remembered that Diego was staying in the next room. He would help them! "Diego!"

She didn't notice the masked man tense at the name.

"He stayed here last night! He will help us!"

"Querida -"

But she had thrown open her door, unconcerned with her appearance and the thinness of her shift. She pounded on the door of the room Diego habitually used when he stayed the night and let herself in when he didn't answer. "Diego! Are you here?"

Victoria scowled and ran back to her room, unwilling to leave her masked man for any longer than was necessary.

"Victoria." His voice was weak and she wiped angrily at the tears slipping down her cheeks.

"Zorro, Diego isn't here. I don't know where –"

"Get on – the bed and – push it off me." He said quietly, his voice straining with the effort to breathe.

Victoria blinked. "Push – But that will hurt –"

"It already hurts, Querida. Please, quickly." He was fighting to stay conscious and she knew it.

Taking a deep, determined breath, Victoria did as he asked. With adrenaline pumping through her veins, she pushed and pushed, slowly inching the heavy solid wood dresser off his body.

The thud as the heavy wood finally slid completely off him echoed in her ears and she jumped off the bed and carefully looked down at him, hands outstretched as if she wasn't sure where to put them. He was on his side, and she could see the shards of glass embedded into his back as she bent closer.

"Oh, Dios." Victoria whispered as she rested a gentle hand on his arm.

"Pull out the glass, first," he instructed, keeping his eyes closed to block out the dizziness whirling around in his head.

"It's getting light, let me get some water and rags!" She disappeared and he drifted in and out of consciousness while she was away. When she returned, she reached around him to try to unfasten the buttons of his shirt so she could bare his back.

"Just tear it. My knife is –" he took a shuddering breath as blackness encroached upon his vision.

"I see it." Victoria slipped the knife from its sheath and slowly cut the back of the black silk shirt. She winced when she noticed the half a dozen or more shards embedded into his back.

Dipping the rag into the water, she carefully extricated each and every piece from his bruised and bloody skin. After each extrication, she poured a bit of alcohol over the wound to clean it and then moved on to the next. Soon, she had every piece out and was dabbing at his hot skin with the cool, wet rag.

"You need to get into the bed," Victoria stood and flicked the rag across the mattress to scatter the remaining pieces of glass.

"Not here, another room," Zorro said, his voice weakening.

"I can't carry you to another room and you aren't strong enough to crawl there, much less walk!" Victoria's voice had a hysterical edge to it as she leaned down and tried to lift his arm.

His breath hissed between his teeth and she fell to her knees beside him. "Where does it hurt?" She slid a small hand behind his neck and gently turned his head.

"Everywhere."

'Please. You have to help me get you into the bed." She leaned close, her lips close to his.

"Give me a moment to gather my strength."

She nodded and frantically looked around for another blanket. She would need it to cover him.

"All right." He said after a few moments. "I will only have enough strength for one try. Go to the other side of the bed and pull from that side.

Victoria nodded wordlessly and did as he asked. With a loud grunt of pain, she pulled and he pushed and soon he was lying on his back atop the bed, breathing heavily.

She removed the tattered remains of his shirt and dipped the rag into the water. She brushed it across his chest, hoping to keep the heat his skin was beginning to generate at bay. The blanket she dropped at his waist and tucked around his body before returning the rag to the water and brushing it gently across his skin again.

"Ribs – broken. Arm too." He breathed. "And my head – hurts terribly. Must have – concussion."

A loud knocking startled her and she glanced sharply toward the door. "Oh no."

He was barely conscious but she could feel his body tense at the sound. "If that is the alcalde–"

A loud crash downstairs alerted them that someone had entered the building. Then she heard them calling for her.

"Señorita Victoria!" came Mendoza's shaking voice.

"Check upstairs!" the alcalde ordered.

"Oh, no no no," Victoria closed her eyes. "They can't find you here."

"I cannot move, Victoria." Zorro opened his eyes and she could see the fear burning within the deep blue pools.

"I'll go down, see if I can prevent them from coming up."

But they were already ascending the stairs, and her door was wide open.

She eyed the belt lying on the floor with his hat and gloves. Not far away from those were the remnants of his shirt and cape. She eyed his mask and reached for it. He nodded, realizing that the only way to keep the alcalde from knowing he was there was to remove the mask and pretend that he was an evening boarder.

"Take it off. Hide it," Zorro whispered, searching for her hand. His vision was blurring now and he wasn't sure how much longer he was going to be able to stay awake.

She slid everything beneath the bed as quickly as she could. Then ripped the mask from his face and whirled toward the open door, just as Mendoza reached the frame. She balled the mask behind the bloodied rag she still held and prayed fervently that she had covered all traces of the masked man's presence.

"Señorita!" Mendoza hesitated in the doorway, glancing around the destruction littering the room. "Madre de Dios! Are you hurt?"

"No! No, I'm fine." Victoria forced her voice to remain steady but as Mendoza's gaze shifted over her shoulder to the man lying in her bed, his eyes widened. "But –"

De Soto appeared at Mendoza's back, surveying the damage with a critical eye.

"But Don Diego seems to be injured," Mendoza realized when he noticed the young caballero behind her had his eyes closed and was not moving.

Victoria's eyes widened and she slowly turned to stare at the face of the man behind her hero's mask. Thankfully, her back was to the men at the door when her jaw fall open as the thunderous revelation struck her.

TBC

Aurelia30 – Yes. Yes. And, oh, Yes. To your questions, of course :) Someone always has to get hurt! This isn't a long story though. Just something small. One more chapter.

WolfDaughter – He can't resist, of course. Well, he does – a bit. But you will have to wait to read what I have removed until I'm done posting this story here. And – YAY, you got the series! I'm so glad! The best episodes, unfortunately, are near the end.