Italian Rhapsody

She was naked from the waist up as he caught her to him and loosed her hair. It tumbled about her wet shoulders. Kissing her slowly and deliberately, he forced her mouth open and touched her tongue with his. She trembled and then moved away fro him, crossing her arms in front of her to hide her generous bosom.

"Please, Daniel," she whispered, "not like this. I am a preacher's daughter, not some woman to just be used to satisfy your lust."

"You need not blush. I have seen your body. You are quite beautiful. The human body is nothing to be ashamed of. Especially yours, Roxanne."

She lowered her eyes, and for a few moments they stood in silence. Then he bent and kissed her, he felt her tremble again.

"Do not fear, little virgin. I will not ravish you," he whispered against her lips.

"Daniel..." Her voice was shaky.

He stopped her with a finger to her lips. "You are correct, Roxanne. You are a daughter of a pastor and don't deserve to be used by some lusty man. While you deserve to have someone love you unconditionally, me not being that man, I still would like to be your first lover. I might be lusting after you, but I'd make sure that you are a well satisfied woman."

After she had left him, she went into her bedroom and threw herself onto the bed. Daniel sure made her body feel aware of him. Sooner or later, Roxie knew that she would fall victim to the lusts of the flesh I she couldn't control herself.

5 weeks later

Roxie preened in front of the mirror as she gazed at her figure. She'd lost almost twenty pounds in six weeks, trimmed an inch or two off her hips, an inch or two off her waist and off her thighs. Daniel had her on a low-fat diet, but the intense physical activity is what had trimmed the pounds and inches off her.

Although they didn't get along any better, she had to keep reminding herself that she must not hate a person, only the things that a person does.

Roxie laughed. She loved and treasured Daniel's soul, but hated almost everything the man did. For a while, she'd thought he might be human, but now she thought that he wasn't. He was an unfeeling machine. All he wanted to do was wear her down so that she'll give up and he wouldn't have to fulfill his agreement to take her to Sicily.

For over a year, she had tried, by every legal means possible, to get Carlo out of Sicily. Now she knew, in her heart, that she had to be the one to rescue her nephew. She had come to have faith in her own strength and power.

She surveyed her body from head to toe. She was still plump, but not quite as much. And she was physically stronger than she'd ever been in her life. She had survived six weeks of torment, from a bullying, demanding Daniel Fox. She hadn't fallen victim to the sins of the flesh. The glimpse of kindness she'd seen in him their second morning in this swamp had been the only indication that he was human. After abruptly ending her massage that morning, he had switched back into the same unfeeling man he'd been the day before. But no matter what he'd said or done, no matter how much he had punished her body and hurt her feelings, she had endured. She had accepted every challenge. She'd even learned to use a handgun, as much as she detested the thought of ever firing it at another person. And now triumph was close at hand. Only one more day and Daniel would have to admit defeat. He would have to adhere to the terms of their agreement and take her with him to Sicily.

"Well, when do we leave?" Roxie looked across the dinner table the next day, and smiled at Daniel. She had survived six weeks of training; training that he had made as difficult as possible for her, without endangering her life. Despite his best efforts to break her physically and emotionally, she had met the challenge. She had followed his orders, despite a lot of dirty looks and mumbled death-wishes for him.

As much as he hated to admit it, he admired Roxie's grit and resolve. He'd never met a woman so damned determined to put her own life at risk because she truly believed in what she was doing. It shouldn't matter to him if she wound up getting herself killed. He wouldn't be at fault. He'd done everything he could to prevent her from acting irrationally, hadn't he? So, why was he so damn worried about her?

"I know we had a bargain, but..."

"But you didn't think I'd stick it out the whole six weeks, did you?" Her smiled widened. She tilted her chin triumphantly.

"I'll give you credit for taking everything I dished out. You're a lot tougher than you look. But the fact remains that I can do this job better without you."

Abruptly standing, Roxie knocked over her chair. She threw her napkin down on the table. "We made a deal. I expect you to live up to your part of our bargain. I'm going with you to Sicily and that's that!"

She stormed out of the kitchen. He jumped up and ran after her, catching her in the hallway.

Grabbing her, he whirled her around. She faced him defiantly.

"All right, Roxie, I'll take you with me to Sicily."

"Oh, Daniel, I knew you wouldn't break your promise to me." She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.

Holding the back of her head with one hand, he let his other hand sweep downward to her hips. "You'll follow my orders, no questions asked?"

"Yes. I've already said that I would."

"You'll do whatever I tell you to do, give me whatever I want?"

"Yes, of course, I..." She suddenly stopped. "What do you mean, give you whatever you want?" She dropped her arms from his shoulders and tried to step backward, but he tightened his hold around her neck and drew her soft body up against his.

"We'll be two people, alone on a dangerous mission, counting on each other every minute. We'll be going as a married couple." He lowered his head until his lips were only a hairbreadth from hers. "We'll eat together, sleep together, bathe together, and make love to each other."

Her face flushed bright red. She squirmed, trying to free herself from his strong hold. "Are you saying that when we're in Sicily, you expect us to...me to...?"

He took her mouth in a devastatingly passionate kiss, planning to frighten her with the intensity of his desire. He would show her what he could do to her with only one kiss.

She fought him, shoving against his chest, thrashing her head from side to side in an effort to break the kiss. But he held fast, pushing his tongue inside her mouth, taking her against her will. She whimpered. He explored her mouth, deepening the kiss. She went limp in his arms. Releasing her neck, he cupped her buttocks in both of his hands and pulled her up against his crotch, allowing her to feel how hard and hungry he was for her.

Suddenly she slid her arms around his waist, holding on to him with a fierce possessiveness. Tentatively, shyly, she began responding to his kiss. She touched her tongue to his and sighed when he groaned.

Daniel hardened painfully. Damn it all, this wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to respond, and he wasn't supposed to like it. If he didn't put a stop to this immediately, he would be backing her up against the wall and taking her right where she stood. He broke the kiss. She clung to him. His breathing was labored. Sweat dotted his forehead. He grasped Roxie's shoulders and shoved her away from him. They stood there in the semi-darkness of the hallway and stared at each other for an endless moment. He had only one shot left, only one last chance to make her back out on their deal. It might be a cheap, dirty, unfair shot, but he'd never let that stop him before.

"Well, honey, this mission could turn out to be more interesting than I thought." He gently pressed his index finger to the hollow of her throat, then ran it down between her breasts.

She sucked in a deep breath. He glided his finger over one breast, circled the nipple but not touching it, then repeated the process on her other breast. She stood there, transfixed, holding her breath, gazing into his eyes.

He pressed her back against the wall, spreading her legs with his knees as he lifted her dress with one hand. He slid a hand under her sweater and cupped a breast. She still didn't stop him. Then he reached for his zipper, his intention was to scare her. He was not in a position to take her against the wall. She was too short. So he did what was sure to anger her. "I've never had me a little fat virgin before." He scanned her from breasts to hips and grinned wickedly. "But I need a new experience from time to time."

That did it. She kneed him in the stomach. When he bent forward in surprise, she punched him in the face. Her solid blow knocked him to the floor, stunning him. He didn't know how he had expected her to react, but he certainly hadn't expected her to hit him. She sure had a good, solid right. He looked up at her from her feet, feeling like a lowlife.

"You are a real..." she hesitated, "...bastard, Mr. Fox"

"You've got that right, lady. I am a real bastard, in every sense of the word. I have no idea who my old man was." He laughed loudly. "Hell, I don't even know who my mother was. I am an unwanted nobody." He continued laughing.

Tears welled up in Roxie's eyes and threatened to overflow. She turned and ran down the hall.

He watched her as she escaped from his evil-sounding laughter. He couldn't ever remember feeling so ashamed of something he'd done. He'd hurt her in order to be kind, in order to prevent her from making a monumental mistake, hadn't he? So why did he feel like such a son-of-a-bitch? Why did he want to go after her and tell her that he was sorry, that he hadn't meant what he'd said? That all he wanted to do was make love to her amazingly gorgeous body.

Downstairs in her bedroom, Roxie threw herself on the bed and cried. She cried loud, long, and hard, even screamed a couple of times. She pounded her fists into the pillow beside her, pretending it was Daniel Fox's face. She hated him! Hated him! Hated him! He was the vilest, cruelest, most despicable man on God's green earth. It was his own fault that she'd kneed and punched him. She hadn't thought about it, hadn't even realized that she intended to do it, until she'd already struck the blows. She had never hit anyone in her life. But he had brought her to this, making her act like a heathen. She should have known he wouldn't keep his promise, wouldn't uphold his end of their deal. So what was she going to do now? She had to go to Sicily, and if he wouldn't take her, she would have to find another way. She tried to ignore the knocking on the door. Let him knock. Let him stand outside and wait.

When she didn't answer his knock. He flung open the door and blew into her bedroom. "Pack up. I've contacted my man in Italy. He's expecting us to arrive in southern Italy tomorrow night."

"Us?" She wiped the tears from her face with her fingers.

"Yes, damn it. Us."

"You're taking me with you?"

"Yes, I'm taking you with me. Heaven help us both."

She scooted to the edge of the bed. "Do you expect me to...I mean will I have to..."

Daniel clenched his jaw tightly. The pulse in his neck throbbed. "Lady, I wouldn't touch you if you were the last woman on earth," he lied.

To be continued...