Carpathian 00 - The Scarletti Curse

stop."
    Maria Pia, stiff with outrage at the don's scandalous behavior, obediently opened the door and gave the orders to the manservant. "Perhaps if you give her a good slap, it will startle her out of the hysteria," she offered as she turned back to the don disapprovingly. Her sharp eyes had noticed his hot gaze moving over Nicoletta's very feminine body.
    His black eyes blazed at her with controlled fury. "We will do no such thing!" His arms tightened protectively around Nicoletta, his hands vigorously rubbing her arms through the coverlet. Much to Maria Pia's horror, he pulled Nicoletta onto his lap and began to rock her gently, murmuring softly. Eventually, while Gostanz had the tub brought in and filled, the don stopped speaking and lay his head over Nicoletta's in a strangely protective and tender gesture. He continued to rock her, but the room was silent except for Nicoletta's sobs.
    Giovanni changed tactics in his attempt to soothe her. He reached for her with his mind. Hush, piccola.
    You are breaking my heart, and I cannot stand much more of this. You are not responsible for the death of your friend. You did nothing wrong. You cannot save everyone. Come back to us. You are frightening Maria Pia. You must stop.
    With the tub filled and the servants gone, Maria Pia drew herself up to her full height. " I will warm her in the bath, signore. There is no need for you to stay."
    Don Scarletti lifted his head then, a ruthless, almost cruel stamp to his hard features. "I will not leave her alone in this state. You will not strike her."
    Maria Pia shivered under the whip of menace in his tone. Nicoletta stirred in Giovanni's arms, the first movement she had made since ceasing to fight him. She tilted her head up to look at him. Her large, dark eyes studied his face for a long time. Then a faint smile touched her trembling mouth. "Maria Pia would never really strike me, Don Scarletti. She is my famiglia. She likes to frighten us into decency with her threats, but I did not think a grown man would believe her." Even as she attempted humor, her voice wobbled alarmingly, and her eyes filled with more tears. He could feel the desperate struggle in her to regain her self-control.
    At once he bent his head to brush the tears from her eyes with his mouth, his lips lingering against her skin in an intensely intimate gesture. "She thinks it unseemly of me to see to your bath. She does not realize that people already gossip about me all the time. It matters not what I do; they make up stories to frighten their children. It is your reputation alone that concerns me."
    Nicoletta heard what no one else ever could. Or maybe she felt it—the note of hurt in his voice, as if, for all his hard authority and ruthless ways, it did matter that others feared him. He was stroking her long, Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    damp hair away from her face, and it fell in waves around her body. His hand followed the strands down her back to brush against her rounded bottom, and his black eyes were suddenly so hotly intense that Nicoletta could feel an answering flame smoldering deep within her. She became aware that she was in his anus, cradled in his lap, that his body was hot and hard and thick with need. She could hear his heart beating beneath her ear. She wore nothing above her waist but a coverlet that seemed to have slipped precariously to display a generous view of her breasts. His shirt lay on the floor in a sodden heap beside hers.
    Her eyes widened as she took in the ropes of muscle along his arms and chest, clearly visible beneath his thin undergarment. She could feel the play of his muscles against her own skin. Faintly shocked, she clutched the coverlet more closely around her. "I… I think it best if Maria Pia attends my bath," she said.
    His chin rubbed the top of her head. "I do not know, piccola. One more incidente, and my heart will be unable to stand up under the strain." He was beginning to relax, sensing that the intensity of the storm raging within her had subsided. Very gently, almost reluctantly, he eased his hold on her. "I trust you will call me the moment you are dressed?" His hand slid to her neck beneath the coverlet to caress her bare skin.
    Nicoletta rose quickly and nearly lost the blanket as she scurried away from him, her heart pounding in sudden alarm. Her skin was freezing, but inside, something hot and liquid was becoming an aching need.
    "We will call you at