Bianca by Bertrice Small Read Free Book Online

taking forcibly what you had not offered. Come out and we will return together to your parents.”
    Listening to his words, Bianca wondered how sincere they were. Not at all, she suspected, but he did not want to look a fool before her parents, and the truth was she did not want to put him in that position. As her husband he would have total control over her life, and could make it quite miserable. She needed to remain on his good side.
    “You frightened me,
signore
,” she told him.
    “I know! I know! It was unforgivable of me,
dolce
Bianca,” he agreed. “Your innocence is so very tempting to a man of my experience. I shall endeavor not to frighten you again. Forgive me!”
    Bianca stepped out from behind a row of tall bushes. “I do,
signore
.”
    “Ahh,
cara mia
, you make me the happiest of men,” he swore to her. Little bitch! He would soon show her the extent of his power over her. His cock twitched again.
    Bianca tucked her hand into his arm. “Let us return to my parents,” she said.
    They walked back through the gardens as the evening deepened around them.
    “When will you set our wedding day?” he inquired of her.
    Her mother had advised her to expect such a question, and told her how she must answer it. “Oh,
signore
, first a new wardrobe must be made for me. And my wedding gown will take time. I must make a retreat with the nuns to ensure the success and happiness of our union. It will be at least several months before I am ready.”
    Sebastiano Rovere gritted his teeth at the thought of such a delay, but it was actually no more time than any respectable betrothal would take. “If I must wait,” he told her, “then surely you will allow me the privilege of kisses and caresses in order to whet our appetite for the marriage bed. I will admit to being a man of great desires.”
    “I know naught of such things,” Bianca said. “I will ask my mother if such things are permitted, for I would not sully my family’s name.”
    “Of course, of course,
dolce
Bianca,” he agreed. “Remember, though, that the legalities have all been signed and sealed. As Florence’s premier attorney, I drew them up myself and saw them properly executed. I would not bring shame on either you or your good family.”
    “If my mother says it is allowable,
signore
, then you shall have your kisses and your caresses, I promise you,” Bianca told him. “Ah, here are my parents awaiting us.”
    He almost laughed aloud at the relief on the faces of his in-laws. Did they think he meant to ravish their little virgin in their gardens? Then he realized that had he been able to manage it, he probably would have. She was a most delicious tidbit, and ripe for his picking. “We have had a most delightful stroll,” he told Giovanni Pietro d’Angelo. “I shall look forward to other such rambles while we await our wedding day.” He smiled at Bianca, who was now standing next to her mother. Then he bowed to his hosts. “I shall not overstay my welcome this evening,” he said.
    “Allow me to escort you to the door,” the silk merchant said, and the two men departed the garden, leaving Orianna and Bianca together.
    “You look paler than usual,” her mother noted once the men were out of sight and hearing. “Did he attempt to take liberties with you?”
    “He kissed me,” Bianca said hesitantly, not wanting to go into detail.
    “That was to be expected,” Orianna replied.
    “You did not warn me,
Madre
, that he might do so.”
    “I had forgotten what inexperience was like,” Orianna admitted. “I had older sisters who advised me what a courtship would be like. You had only me. I’m sorry I failed you, and that you were startled, Bianca. What did you speak of?”
    “The wedding day,” the girl said.
    “You told him it would be months away, didn’t you?”
    “I did,
Madre
, and it was then that he said if he had to be patient, I must allow him the privilege of kisses and caresses,” Bianca told her mother. “I