A.N - Yeap. As you can imagine by the chapter's title, I am at it again, addressing the unfinished business. As I have been in bed (sick, unfortunately), it looks like everybody has to be in one now. LOL

M/MA rating for the darker part of this chapter, marked on the text with warnings, so please skip if you are under 16. As before: no "key" filthy words other than "erection", but powerful imaginations don't need them.

Enjoy. And please, review. Thanks.

Chapter 32 – Darker shades of Zorro

That night Diego drank another whole bowl with the mix of the coca leaves and honey. While recovering from his injury he had been taking that mix to provide him with an instant energy and confidence boost, but unfortunately, despite how well the mix would make him feel initially, within a couple of hours he would invariably revert to a period of tiredness, restlessness and irritability. He was aware he was becoming quite dependant on taking that medication every time he had to get out of the house, but he told himself it was a temporary solution to function normally while he healed, rather than extending the convalescent period and staying home resting for much longer. Within a few days he had already gone through the supply of leaves the doctor had left him with, but he had got more from the local Indians and had kept them in the lab at the cave because he had the intention to find a way to extract the active ingredient from the plants in a powdery form, so boiling the leaves would not be necessary.

While the herbal mix got absorbed into his system, he changed his clothes with Zorro's, getting ready to go out. The burn over the gunshot wound still hurt, but not so much as before, and the pain was bearable now to allow him to ride more or less comfortably.

That night he really wanted to see Victoria to talk about their future again. As she had been more interested in Diego recently, he wondered if that would be the right time to try to switch her interest from Zorro to Diego, with or without telling her the secret, breaking the engagement with Zorro for good. The problem was, he couldn't see that working either to get her completely out of danger if he courted her as Diego.

When he arrived at the tavern the last customer was already leaving. While Victoria closed the front door, he went to the back to enter the kitchen, where he waited for her.

"Zorro!" she cried when she saw him there, running to his arms. "I'm so glad you are here! Are you all right now? Have you recovered from your injury?"

He hugged her then, lifting her in his arms, breathing in her scent until he let her back on her feet.

"I am much better, thank you. I'm so sorry I had to disappear for a few days. Did you get my note?"

"Yes, thank you. That little note got me through my time in jail, when I was so worried about you."

"I'm sorry I couldn't prevent that awful thing happening to you," he said then, with his hand caressing her damaged back gently, "but it was a lousy time for the alcalde to do that, taking advantage because Mendoza had just shot me. I'm so sorry. Does it hurt?"

"Not so much now. But it did sting like hell before."

"I should have killed Ramón when I had the chance!" he said, with his anger rising again.

"No, you can't kill him. That would only make matters worse for you. Please, let's forget about that awful man for a moment. You are here, I'm here… let's just pretend for a moment everything is fine," she said, resting her head on his chest, seeking shelter in him, inhaling the familiar male scent she longed to have all over her skin again. He embraced her carefully one more time then, resting his chin on her head.

"We can pretend everything is fine if you wish, but I came here tonight to talk about our future. As much as I want to carry on, I am truly scared for you now. Having you flogged and locked in jail awaiting execution just because of your relationship with me was a wake-up call. I can't carry on putting you in danger like this. We should reconsider and break the engagement before it's too late."

"No!" she cried, shedding some instant tears on his chest. She lifted her head up then, clinging to his neck to kiss him, and the memories of their last night at the tavern came flooding their minds immediately, clouding their good judgement. "I think we should talk about this in my room," she said when she let go of him.

"No. We shouldn't. We can talk here."

"The tavern is empty. I have no guests tonight. Please, don't be afraid; let's go upstairs to talk. Just talk."

"Afraid is not exactly the word, Victoria," he said.

She secured the back door and took the lamp burning in the kitchen. Then, she took his hand and guided him upstairs, blowing all the lights she found along the way, leaving darkness behind them.

"We are adults and we can behave, can we?" she said at the bottom of the stairs.

"Yes. We'll talk, nothing else," he said, knowing perfectly well that would be too difficult. Damn difficult.

"Nothing else," she repeated, willing to fool herself.

ZZZ

Lucía had struggled with Esteban. He was much heavier than she thought, but in the end she had managed. Unfortunately, with her efforts her pretty dress had ripped by the seam behind her armpit, but before she could change it, she also had to hide Esteban's horse. She put the horse at the end of the stables, with the intention of moving it back at the front later on, and just when she had finished, Don José returned home.

"Lucía, you were wrong. That mare is not due at least for another week."

"Maybe I misunderstood. I thought Paco said tonight. Sorry."

"No. Well, it doesn't matter. I'm really looking forward to see that foal. It should be a champion!"

"Yes."

"What happened to your dress? Shame your mother is not here to fix it. She was so good with the needle, God rest her soul."

"That was not my mother," she said, dryly.

Her mother had died when she was ten, and her stepmother only a year ago. She had never accepted her as a mother, and she didn't like it when her father referred to her as such.

"Never mind. I'll take it to the seamstress tomorrow."

"No need, thank you. I'll fix it, don't worry. Should we have dinner now? María prepared pollo asado; it looks and smells delicious."

"Go on then. I'm starving."

When they got to the table Lucía served him his meal.

"Where is María?" Don José asked, missing the servants, because he could not see any around.

"I told her she could retire early today, if you don't mind. And so did Pedro."

"No problem," Don José said, taking a portion of the chicken to his mouth. "Hum. You are right; this looks and smells delicious. And it tastes as delicious as it looks."

Lucía smiled then, tucking in. Everything was happening according to her plan.

ZZZ

Victoria left the lamp on the side table and then sat at the edge of the bed. Zorro sat on a chair in front of her, keeping some distance because he didn't trust himself.

"So, you want to break our engagement."

"No, is not that "I want to". I do wonder if it would be the best thing. Of course I don't want to."

"Neither do I."

"Victoria, what did you feel when you were in jail waiting to be executed the next day? Weren't you afraid? Do you think it is worth it?"

"Yes. I guess it is."

"Well, I don't think so. I was lucky the alcalde is such a coward he backed off when I threatened him. If he had had an ounce of courage, he would have sent the lancers out to get me and it would have been game over, because I wasn't in a good enough condition to fight them off. That was a lucky escape, but I can't risk that kind of situation happening again."

"I guess you're right. But, I… I… I don't know what I want. Well, no, I do. I want you. That's what I want."

"And I want you, believe me. But, if I can't have you… I should set you free."

She started crying again and then she got her hand under her blouse to get the engagement ring, which she now wore hanging on a gold chain around her neck.

"Is this what you want? Do you want to have this back?"

"Please, don't cry."

"How could I do that? Are you asking me to return this to you to break our engagement and you really expect me not to cry?" She started sobbing then, trying to undo the clasp behind her neck with shaky fingers, struggling with the fastening. He stood up then and sat beside her in bed, embracing her.

"I'm so sorry, Victoria, but I can't see a way out of this."

"Neither do I. But I don't want to let go of you," she said, clinging on to him, crying on his chest again.

"We have to be strong and stop seeing each other."

"I don't think I can!"

"Yes, you can." He carried on caressing her back gently until she calmed down a bit. Then she sat up straight again, with her back to him.

"Help me with the fastener, please."

He took off his leather gloves then and parted her thick hair out of the way. Then he had the first close-up glimpse of her wound. She had a deep, long gash across her back, which was healing already, with a large scab covering it. When he saw it, he got so angry he blamed himself again for allowing that rotten bastard to carry on living.

"I am sorry I couldn't prevent this. I am so sorry," he said, kissing her scar. "This will leave a permanent mark. I should have killed that bastard the first chance I had. Now you'll have to live with this scar because of me."

She had shivered when he kissed the scar, and then again when he passed his finger gently over it.

"Kiss it again and maybe it will heal faster," she said then, still crying. He took his hat off, threw it on the floor, and then proceeded to leave a trail of gentle kisses on her back. It was a very bad move that got them both on edge, longing for more.

When he stopped, she turned around to face him and they looked at each other for a moment, too hungry of each other to stop there. They rushed to merge their lips then, while fumbling with each other's clothes. Zorro took his cape and weapons and dropped them at the side of the bed, and then he lay on his back on the bed, and Victoria followed him.

When she started to undo his buttons, uncovering his muscular chest to play with his bunch of hairs, he had a panic moment when he thought about the burn on his side. If she managed to see that it would be over, but still, he longed to feel her warm skin over his one last time, and he wanted to remove the shirt. Then, he had an idea.

"Wait a second," he said, pushing her off him so he could stand up. He approached the window and closed the shutters tightly, and then went back to the side of the bed and blew the flame on the lamp. In the pitch-black darkness, he removed his shirt and the sash, and reaching for Victoria he took off her blouse as well. He laid her on the bed then, careful not to damage her sore back, and then he embraced her, enjoying the feeling of her naked, turgid breasts pressing against his chest. He moaned then, claiming her mouth, and she melted in his arms. After a few seconds getting used to the dark, when he was sure the small amount of moonlight creeping through the joints of the shutters would not be enough to see his face clearly, other than a dark shadow, he took the mask and left it at the side table, beside the lamp.

"Look, this is what you wanted the other night, didn't you?" he said, taking her hand to his head.

She let out a delighted squeak while raking his thick hair with her fingers, then ruffling it, messing it up completely.

"I'm so thrilled I can touch your hair now," she said in the dark, "but I still want to see your face." Her hands touched every contour of his face then, like a blind person would do, trying to memorize them to create a mental picture of his face, to discover who he was. Unfortunately for her in this case she wasn't a blind person, and she lacked the necessary skills to achieve that. Frustrated because she still didn't have a clue on his identity, she resorted to lift her head to kiss his forehead then, coming down with a trail of kisses to his throat, avoiding his mouth on purpose. She lingered at his neck then, under his jaw, licking and wet-kissing the area, enjoying how his Adam's apple moved when he swallowed, too excited to keep still, with his heart racing, pounding above her chest.

***FADE TO BLACK UNLESS YOU ARE OVER 16***

"Lie down on your back," she said. When he did, she sat in bed by his right side, and her hand travelled from his neck all the way down his chest to his groin. He gasped when her hand stopped there, feeling the bulge under his trousers.

He wriggled then, complaining, willing to put an end to that before it got out of hand.

"Please, don't. Leave that," he said, reaching for her wrist. "We said we were going to talk. We gone too far already."

"Shhh…" she said with her left hand on his lips, while tampering with his trousers with the right. "I still owe you something from the other night. Relax,"

"No, we shouldn't. Please," he complained again weakly still holding her wrist, but she ignored him and continued fumbling with his clothes until she uncovered his erection. "Oh God!" he said then, releasing his soft grip on her, taking his hand to his forehead when she grabbed him. His heart accelerated even more while she explored that area thoroughly, quite curious with his male anatomy, touching every inch, getting familiar with it.

"What should I do now?" she said then, getting very excited by the way he was moaning softly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I want to make you feel as you made me feel the other night."

"All right. I'll show you how."

He grabbed her hand then and took it to his mouth to spit on her palm. Then he guided her back down, gripping his length with her hand under his. He moved his hand then, dragging hers along in his, showing her the way, until he let go and she carried on alone.

"That looks easy."

"Yes, it is. Easy!" he said, with his voice cracking, whining then. "You can also use your thumb."

"On the tip?"

"Yes. Gently."

"Like that?"

He didn't answer then, but for the way he moaned louder she knew she was doing just fine.

"Kiss me."

She did that while she carried on moving her hand, getting lost in that passionate kiss, when none of them could get enough of the other.

"Do you like it?" she said then, leaving his mouth to breathe.

"Of course I like it," he said while panting. "You are doing fine."

"What else should I do?"

"Don't think, just follow your body. It knows what to do."

Following that advice, she shifted her body to kneel on the bed and came down on him.

He gasped then, surprised, grasping the sheets with both hands, holding his breath for a moment, until he gasped again, with short bursts of laughter in between breaths.

"Victoria, you are unbelievable!" he said, caressing her hair. After a short while she lifted her head and broke contact with him.

"What are you doing? Please, don't stop now. Please," he begged. He felt her move in the dark again, repositioning herself on the bed.

"I am following my body, as you said," Victoria said, removing her skirt and underwear. Then she passed one leg over his abdomen to straddle him.

"What are you…? No, no, don't, please… We shouldn't… Oh, God. Don't."

She ignored him and moved her rear end down to find his erection. When she did, she lowered herself down on him very slowly, getting used to his length at her own pace.

"Victoria… no…" he said weakly, with a hopeless whimper, only too keen for her to continue. She was pressing on his wound with her thigh then, but that was a kind of collateral pain he couldn't really complain about.

"Shhh… It's all right. I want this," she said, getting as low as she could go, finally engulfing him, whimpering as she managed that, taking him all in.

"Are you sure? Are you all right?" he said with his voice cracking, placing his hands on her hips, savouring the moment.

"Yes. I am sure. I want you, and you want this too. I know you do," she said, touching his face in the dark, moving up her fingers to caress his hair lightly.

"Does it hurt?"

"A little, yes," she said, using the words Esteban and Diego had used to define their own discomfort. "But it doesn't matter. What do we do now?" she said with her hands resting on his chest.

"We move, very slowly at first. I'll help you. But tell me if it hurts and we'll stop."

He held her bottom and pulled her body up gently, helping her down again, ever so slowly.

"Is that all right?"

"Yes."

"Should I carry on?"

"Yes. Go on."

He repeated the movement in slow motion a few times, giving her the chance to get used to it. When she started to tentatively use her own power to follow the motion, he increased the speed a little bit.

"Victoria, you drive me crazy. I've been waiting for this for so long… I can't believe this is happening!"

She laughed at his words. "I have been waiting too. Maybe we shouldn't have."

"Gosh, how much I love you, mi amor. You'll never know how much!"

She looked quite keen to pick up the pace then, moaning over him when he started using his hips to thrust, leaning forward on him to find the best, more pleasant contact for her. The engagement ring still on that chain around her neck rubbed on Diego's chest as it dangled in the air to and fro, getting him even more excited. They carried on moving faster for a while, until her willingness and her whimpering drove him insane, to the point to lose control. His strong, large hands pinned the area between her hips and her waist, and he started to shake her up and down, faster and faster, harder every time, keen to release all that sexual tension he had accumulated for years, using her body as if it was his own hand, relentlessly, until he felt he had enough and quickly pull her to rest on top of his chest in the nick of time, gasping as he came.

He stood still with his eyes close, shamefully enjoying the waves that got him released, feeling the warm, sticky fluid on his skin. Ashamed of himself for what he had done, he embraced her tightly against his chest, glad she could not see his face full of guilt and regret, a face that was about to cry with remorse.

"I'm so sorry, Victoria. Are you all right? Please, forgive me. I didn't mean to," he whispered while catching his breath, afraid of the reply because he had just come short of raping her, disregarding her needs. "Please, please, mi amor. Forgive me."

"Forgive you? What for?"

"Didn't I hurt you?"

"No. But, why did you stop?" she said, lifting her head from his chest. Then she added softly, embarrassed by her own question: "Can I have some more?"

He burst out laughing and crying at the same time, finding her face to cover her with kisses, until he found her lips and got lost in her again.

"How could I let you go? It's not possible. Not possible," he said then, hugging her again, rocking her in his arms. "I can never let you go. Forget everything I said. Keep the ring."

Still longing, she tried to lower herself down on him one more time, but he grabbed her bottom to stop her.

"No, wait." In the dark, he recalled the cape was on the floor at the side of the bed. He reached for it with his left hand, and when he found it, he wiped off the mess he had created over Victoria's back and on himself. "You'll have to give me a moment down there. But in the meantime, come up here."

He pulled Victoria up to sit straddled over his face. When she felt his tongue she immediately moaned, arching her body. Her hands got down to meet his head again, and she ruffled his hair with her fingers, getting tangled in that luscious mop while he played with her breasts. It didn't take long before she moaned louder, wriggling her body as she came. Fully satisfied then, she slid down to lie on top of him, resting her whole body on his, caressing his face with one hand while he embraced her back.

***YOU CAN PUT THE LIGHTS BACK ON***

"Please, let me see your face. Let me see who you are. Please," she begged.

"I can't. I want to, believe me. I really want to, but I can't. It is better this way. It's better if you don't know."

"The alcalde said he would kill me, regardless. So what's the point to keep the secret from me?"

"You won't be able to look at me with the same indifference as you do now. And that will give me away."

"That's such a sad thing to say. Am I that indifferent?"

"It's sad, but it's true." And I will be the one having trouble to erase a silly smile from my face when I see you tomorrow, he thought.

"Te quiero," she said.

"Me too. More than anything in this world," he said, kissing her head.

He knew he had to go, but he wanted to enjoy her warmth just a bit longer, so he grabbed the discarded blanket at the other side of the bed and covered her naked body with it.

ZZZ

It felt as if he had been dozing for five minutes, but he woke up with the first light of dawn coming through the shutters.

What the…?

Victoria was still asleep in his arms, which was lucky, because otherwise she would have been able to see his face clearly on that light.

"Joder. Joder. Joder!" Diego muttered to himself, panicking.

The first thing he did was reaching for the mask he had left at the side table to put it on before he attempted to move her, just in case she would wake up. But such move wasn't necessary, because she rolled off him and continued sleeping on the bed, unaware he had slipped away from under her body. He gathered his clothes and weapons and put them all on, resenting how stiff his body was and how the wound was aching again. And now that the effects of the coca leaves had run out, he felt out of energy again, like drained.

He got out of the window hoping Toronado was still around and had not returned to the cave without him. He whistled, and he was grateful to see the mighty horse approaching. But his ride wasn't a happy soul, because when Zorro jumped to the saddle Toronado moved away and he fell to the ground, landing on his knees and then dropping on his face.

He groaned in pain and stood up slowly, calling the horse back. He grabbed the reins then and tried to climb up using the stirrup, but the black stallion wasn't keen on that either. Not until he could have an apology.

"I'm sorry I left you hanging out here all night, all right? I didn't mean it, sorry! Stand still, will you?"

The horse stood still then, allowing his rider to mount up, and then he started a canter to go back to the cave, fed up of that pueblo.

ZZZ

Don José looked at the clock that morning. It wasn't usual for his daughter to be late for breakfast. She was an early riser, and she hardly ever stayed in bed after 8am unless she was sick. As it was already 9am, he walked to her room, worried. He knocked on the door softly, twice, and because he didn't get an answer, he came into the room.

"Lucía, are you here? Are you alright?"

He stopped in his tracks when he saw a man asleep in her bed. She woke up then, and she started screaming.

"Dad! What are you doing here? Get out! Get out!"

She was naked, and she tried to cover herself with the sheets, hysterical.

"Lucía! How could you? And in my own house!"

The man sharing her bed woke up then, looking drowsy.

"De la Vega!" Don José cried when he recognized him. "Sinvergüenza! Refusing to marry my daughter and then taking advantage of her like this again!"

"What? What's going on?" Esteban said, looking around, utterly confused. It didn't take long to realize what was happening. "Lucía! What have you done?"

He got out of her bed quickly, realizing too late he was naked like the day he was born. He grabbed a pillow then to cover his privates while Lucía carried on screaming.

"How… How did this happen? How could you frame me like this? You are evil!" he said, so flustered he stood there with his jaw dropped, not moving from the spot, until Don José closed his mouth with an impressive uppercut that knocked him semi-conscious, sprawled on the floor, with the pillow miraculously still covering his crotch.

"Now you'll marry her, you bastard! Wait until I tell your uncle! He is going to hit the roof!" Don José cried, kicking the fallen man's side. And he was right: Don Alejandro did hit the roof, and then burned it.

ZZZZZ