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Amoro carried Morena in his arms. He stopped before the thick oak door of her bedchamber. He tightened his grip of her and used his elbow to push the latch down. A swift kick opened the door. Candles too plentiful to reckon enveloped the room in a serene light.
He laid her on the bed. Morena unwound her arms from his neck and scooted backwards across the coverlet. Her eyes never left his. A deep blush stained her cheeks. She lowered her gaze to the lavish embroidery of the bedcover. Her voice came out in a husky murmur. “Thank you for helping me to my chamber.”
“My pleasure. I’ll do so again and again until your ankle heals.”
Neither one of them spoke. Soft light drenched her pliant shape.
Amoro could not help but stare at her beauty, the rose blush in her cheeks, her eyes alive with heat. His pulse quickened. It seemed arduous to take a breath, and not because of the ambiance in the room.
Amoro thought about their kiss in the courtyard. Every fibre in his body quivered with anticipation, with need. As near as she stood to him, he wanted her closer still. He noticed that she trembled.
She glanced at him past the feathery darkness of her eyelashes.
“Amoro.” Her voice flowed with soft invitation.
“I’m at your command, bellezza.”
Emotion choked her. “You have made me very happy today.”
“Not as happy as you made me.” He believed the sincerity of her words. He took her face into his hands and pressed his lips to hers in a kiss where time stood still. Nothing in the world existed except the two of them. The heat in his loins burgeoned. He could not help himself.
Amoro caressed her breasts and traced the nipples that strained against the fabric of her gown.
A moan escaped her lips. It provided him with the encouragement he needed. He felt her shiver and pushed her back upon the pillows. She softened beneath his touch and moaned louder as his hands roamed to her breasts. Her eyes remained closed, her cheeks flushed. Encouraged, he continued to pay tribute to the beautiful mounds. He renewed his intensity and revelled in her anxiety. He must win her, make her want to submit to him.
She drew her eyes away again. In retaliation, he kissed her. She bit her lip to fight his conquest of her. Her body sagged against the bed. “I want you to be my first.” She murmured.
“I will be.” He smiled, exhilarated by the obvious passion that bloomed within her. Amoro delighted in her innocence.
He moved down her body and lifted a breast and lowered his head to kiss a cerise nipple. With his ardour fully aroused against his tight abdomen, temptation urged him to thrust within her secret depths. He wanted to preserve her virginity for their wedding night.
A look of pure pleasure radiated from Morena. It pleased him to see how his kisses produced tension in her body. She seemed unable to refuse his caresses. Amoro sensed her submission. He drew her even closer to him.
A wanton moan arose from her lips. “I want you,” she cried. “I want you.” The words erupted from her.
Amoro listened to her soft cries, tasted her sweet flesh. Every touch burned like fire. It became torturous to keep from taking her. Blood of Heaven, she aroused him. He relished her reactions to his touch. The need to satisfy her encompassed his entire being.
No shortage of enthusiastic women heated his bed. Morena, however, was a cherished prize, someone to appreciate. Soon she would become his wife. She would not change her mind again about the marriage. She knew the passion he could stir in her. He hardened even more at the thought of claiming her innocence. She pleaded for him not to stop, but he pulled away.
“Please,” she insisted.
How she beguiled him, this woman of noble blood. Morena differed from the type of woman he usually bedded. She possessed a strong will.
He never wanted to break such spirit. At the right time, he would conquer her body, show her how he cherished her. Dio, how he cherished her.
Morena tightened her arms around his neck to pull him back down.
Porco mondo, the woman possessed strength. The knowledge enthralled him. The throb of his erection created a dull sensation through his body that begged for relief. He held her close and felt the trembling of her body. The knowledge he evoked such a reaction made his chest swell with pride.
Amoro tucked her dampened hair behind her ear. “Morena.” He brought her face to his and pressed his mouth over hers. She received his tongue. He lifted her to sit and held her body against him. His hardness pressed between them. He laid her back down and rested beside her.
Their arms entwined, they held each other for a long time.
It pleased him to have her fall asleep in his arms. He waited until her breaths grew deep and steady. Then he removed his arms and kissed her forehead. With the light of the moon that streamed through the window to light his way, he crept from the bedchamber.
***
AMORO DREAMT...
He found himself in a cavernous room, dark except for one small torch that burned in a sconce in the corner. He sat at a small table set with gem-encrusted platters and goblets of gold.
Hands came out from below the table and opened his silk robe. The brazen act robbed him of breath. Fingers massaged his inner thighs. Ah, Morena, he moaned. He felt himself harden.
Petal-soft hands skimmed gently back and forth over his sex as if it were a precious treasure. She spread open his robe and her splayed fingers roamed up to his stomach and back down to his manhood. In ecstasy, he hardened even more. Morena. Her resourcefulness and passion amazed him.
Further thoughts faded to the pure lust that burned in his loins.
Warm breath breezed over his manhood. Soft lips brushed against its head. A moist mouth surrounded him with delectable snugness. Swirls of tongue delighted him. “Morena.” His impassioned moan echoed in the vast silence. The sound of his own voice stirred him from his dream.
The mouth disengaged. This was no dream. His eyes adjusted to the darkness of his room. He raised his head and looked down. “Laria!” he gasped. A flood of fury engulfed him.
Laria lifted her head from below his waist and smiled. “It is I, mio amore. Have you already forgotten the heat of my lips against your skin?” She whipped her hair from her shoulders with a flourish and preened before him, prideful, insolent.
Amoro noted she wore his favourite tunic - golden yellow trimmed with an olive coloured embroidered trim. It always set off the red and gold highlights of her hair.
“What are you doing here?” Exasperation reverberated from his voice.
Her hands began to roam again. He halted them with his. “You were to have departed.” Uncertain of her state of mind, he took care to choose his words.
A powerful jealousy smouldered in her eyes. “Well, you thought wrong.” She wrung her hands from his and climbed up to the pillows to lie beside him.
“I’m to marry soon.” Amoro sat up and moved closer to the edge.
“Yes, I have already had the misfortune of meeting your new bride.”
Laria paused. She reached her hand to his chest and swirled a finger around his nipple. “Your marriage need not affect us. It will please me to live as your mistress.”
Again, he pushed her hand away. “You knew the time would come for me to take a wife and then I would free you.” His tone was curt. He swung his legs off the bed and donned his robe.
“I hoped to change your mind. I would willingly share you.”
“No. I do not believe in infidelity.”
Her mouth dipped into an uneven frown, “Why must you do this? I love you and need you. You need me.” She crossed the bed, rose to her knees, and clutched his neck.
Amoro remained passive and did not return the embrace. He pried her hands loose and forced them away from him. “I’m sorry, Laria, I will not.”
Amoro withdrew a pouch of tooled leather from the small table beside the bed. He tossed it into the air and caught it. The heavy jingle of the contents broke the silence. Amoro placed the pouch into her hands.
“Inside are twenty gold coins. Take them. It is not much, but it will pay for an escort to take you wherever you wish to go.”
Laria stared at the pouch as if it contained snake venom. When she raised her eyes to him again, Amoro saw fury. “You think to buy me off with this sack of coin. I offer you my heart and body, and you respond with this?”
“Take it to help you begin a new life. Find yourself a man who deserves your heart, your love. You are a beautiful woman. I never intended to give you false hope.”
“All this time I was nothing more than a diversion to you.” Laria’s ire turned to tears. “You unmitigated rogue.”
Amoro remained firm. “I’m sorry. I truly am.”
Laria met Amoro’s gaze. Something dangerous and unreadable flickered in her eyes and vanished. She said nothing more as she dressed.
Then she turned on her heel and stormed from his bedchamber without another glance.
Amoro watched her leave. He smiled. The minx remembered to take the gold with her. She would survive.