Lair of the Lion

beastly sight.
    Isabella stared directly, belligerently, into Nicolai's blazing eyes. "Scusi, Don DeMarco, but I must insist on your wounds being looked after properly. Growl all you want, it will do you no good." She lifted her chin defiantly at him.
    Nicolai bit back the angry, bitter words welling up inside him. If he were any kind of a man, he would have the courage to send her away. He had sworn to himself he would get around the lions guarding the valley, even if it meant destroying them. Now, looking at her, he knew he wouldn't, couldn't send her away.
    Without her he was lost. She took away the stark loneliness of his existence and replaced it with warmth and laughter, replaced his recurring nightmare with hot, erotic thoughts and the promise of a haven, a refuge in the pleasures of her body. Her mind intrigued him—the way she thought, how outspoken she was, not in the least coquettish but straightforward and genuine with her opinions. Where everyone feared and catered to him, she stood up to him with humor and bravado.
    He needed her if he was to continue his own existence, if he was to continue protecting and guiding his people. He wanted to weep for her. For himself. He had prayed for the strength to send her away, but it wasn't there, and he found he loathed what and who he was.
    She looked beautiful in her defiance, but beyond that, he saw her fear of rejection. A plea mixed with the storm in her gaze. A need to help him. A need for him to want her.
    Something hard and stony around his heart melted away. He reached out, right there in front of Sarina, in front of the guards, and caught Isabella by the nape of her neck, hauling her into the shelter of his body. Fastening his mouth to hers, he kissed her hard, deeply, with the intensity of his volcanic emotions. He poured his feelings into the kiss, fire and ice, love and regret, joy and bitterness. Everything he had to give her.
    Isabella instantly went soft and pliant against him, completely accepting of his wild nature, returning kiss for kiss, demand for demand. Fire leapt between them, instant and hot, sizzling in the air and arcing from one to the other, not seen but certainly felt by the observers. They clung together, two drowning souls, lost in each other's arms, their own sanctuary, their only safe refuge.
    A guard coughed delicately, and Sarina made a sound somewhere between outrage and approval. "Enough of that, young signorina. There is plenty of time after you are wed." The housekeeper feasted her gaze on her don while he was in Isabella's arms. Although she was beaming, she did her best to scowl at the couple.
    Slowly, reluctantly, Nicolai lifted his head. "You may as well come in, as you are already here." He smiled at Sarina over the top of Isabella's head. "She tends to get into trouble quite a bit, doesn't she?"
    "I had her safely locked in," Sarina reminded him.
    Nicolai stepped back to allow them entry. "And we know that once we lock her door, she remains perfectly safe inside at all times." He flashed Isabella a shadow of his heartstoppingly boyish grin, but it was enough to earn him a small smile in return.
    But Sarina took her role as Isabella's protector very seriously, and her amusement faded.
    Her scowl deepened, and she closed the door to Nicolai's room, shutting out the guard's interested expression. "She would have been perfectly safe if no one had crept into her chamber and taken her unaccompanied into the night," she said in reprimand. "You must wed immediately, before this night's misadventures come to light."
    Nicolai nodded. "We will ask the priest to perform the ceremony as soon as it can be arranged. I, too, think it best."
    "Mio fratello," Isabella reminded him. "He'll be upset if he isn't here to see me wed."
    Sarina clucked her disapproval. "Take the don's hand," she directed. "I must see his wounds to know how to treat them."
    "I have news of your brother," Nicolai said, his fingers tightening around Isabella's. "I sent one of my birds to Don Rivellio. The bird just came back with a message. The don has released your brother into my care. He is ill but is traveling. I'm to be held responsible for his future behavior." A grim smile touched his mouth, then faded away, as if the thought of Don Rivellio's holding him responsible for anything set his teeth on edge and brought out every predatory instinct.
    He flinched as Sarina put a mixture of herbs on one of his deepest wounds. Isabella tightened her fingers around