Carpathian 00 - The Scarletti Curse

angel trapped in the devil's realm. "I wanted to find the perfect wedding gift for you," he said softly, kissing the corner of her mouth, drifting lower to her chin. "I was told you have an uncommon interest in cleanliness, in hot water."
    At once her eyes became shadowed, haunted, her young face mirroring her fear. Giovanni bent once more to kiss her lush mouth. "You do have strange habits, piccola. You cannot deny it." He sounded amused.
    Nicoletta shifted in an attempt to gain freedom. Was this some cruelty? A veiled threat that, should she not please him, he would name her witch? The word had been twice used, a frightening thing should the don wish to rid himself of her. She knew she was different, and she was intelligent enough to know the payment that had been demanded of her villaggio for those differences. The Scarletti who had bargained with the ancestors of the village elders had wanted to introduce those rare abilities into his bloodline. He had allowed them to establish their villaggio under the don's protection in return for the Bridal Covenant.
    Cara mia. His voice was a drawling caress, a gentle chastisement. "You look at me with such fear in your beautiful eyes." It was becoming far easier to connect with her; when her emotions were intense, he could reach out to her, his voice strong in her mind. Giovanni moved then, a swift, fluid flowing of his muscles. Her heart nearly stopped as he gathered her up as if she weighed no more than a child. He could be very deceptive in that when he was still, he was completely still, and when he moved it was fast and unexpected. She knew why he was reputed to be a dangerous adversary.
    "What do you plan to do with me?" She was completely naked, the evidence of her innocence trickling along her leg. "This is unseemly, Don Scarletti." It was humiliating to be so helpless, not to understand the demands of one's own body and to know she was completely at the mercy of her husband.
    Giovanni moved straight to one of the closed doors, thrusting it open with one quick motion and took her into a huge, elaborate marble chamber. Nicoletta gasped, clutching his neck with her slender arms.
    She had never seen anything remotely like it. She had heard of such sinful luxuries, of course; the Roman emperors were reputed to have such things.
    Watching her face closely, Giovanni lowered her feet to the marbled tiles. Nicoletta was so awed, she forgot she was naked. The bath was built almost as large as the community baths and sunken deep, with stairs leading down into it. The hot water lapped at the edges, beckoning, steam clouding the room, lending the illusion of clouds. Beneath the deep water mosaic tiles wove colors like a tapestry. Large columns at the perimeter held lifelike sculptures of fearsome lions. The beasts faced outward from the Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    bath, as if standing guard.
    "My ancestors believed in their creature comforts."
    Nicoletta abruptly remembered Giovanni was there and immediately hid herself behind one of the lions.
    "Do you worship in the Holy Church?" she asked, suspicious. In their small villaggio, it was rumored that in the outside world things like kissing and bathing could lead to sinful, wicked things, even between husband and wife, who rightly mate but solely to produce children. Nicoletta was rather afraid that what she and Giovanni had already done came under the heading of sinful and wicked. She had liked his ministrations far too much to consider herself a decent woman. The thought was frightening, yet exciting at the same time.
    He arched one black eyebrow at her, standing tall and naked, looking every inch a Greek god. We have not even begun to be sinful and wicked. The words brushed at the inside of her mind, spreading heat through her body until the very core of her burned. "There is so much more to what is between a man and a woman," he said aloud, watching the breath rush out of her lungs, watching the way her breasts beckoned him, swelling with aching desire.
    Nicoletta hurried down the steps of the pool to immerse her body in the water, hoping he could no longer see her. The colored mosaic tiles created a strange, shimmering effect in the water. She felt like a water nymph, her long hair floating like silky blue-black seaweed on the surface.
    The hot water lapped at her skin, easing her soreness. She closed her eyes, savoring the feeling, savoring the heat and even the possible