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Conquering Fear	By : emmarae3579 Category: S through Z > Zorro Views: 2149 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Zorro, and do not make any money from writing this story.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
Author’s Note: My insomnia is good for you :) I was going to post this tomorrow, but it’s after midnight anyway. Thank you to those who reviewed and encouraged me. It’s appreciated. Chapter 6-7 were pretty rough, but hopefully the rest of the story is more enjoyable.
There’s more talk of clothes in this and a few other chapters. Earlier I said I dressed them how I wanted. I realized I spent over three hours reading about clothing, and gave up. I’m using something from 1850 next chapter, but I didn’t realize it and I liked it so I kept it. I should have put her in a corset, but they sound so horrible. And she does have one in another story. I do love all feedback, and use it to improve future stories (cause the other story didn’t have a corset before lol).
This chapter is identical across three versions, though Diego has no modesty ;-) And yes, this story was written as MA and edited for other versions.
zzz
Diego wanted to stay here all night. Actually, he wanted to magically disappear and reappear in his own bed with Victoria. For now, they were less than a hundred feet from a cuartel full of soldiers. He’d spent all night reassuring Victoria, but she’d fallen asleep an hour ago. In the silence, her worries were morphing into terrifying visions of what would happen if the alcalde walked into the room right now. He felt exposed, and after four years feeling safe and secure, his skin itched with agitation.
He couldn’t stay. He couldn’t be found at the tavern in the morning. Felipe, his father, and even Toronado would be worried. And he didn’t want to leave her. Wasn’t going to leave her. He used a finger to push some hair away from her face. She hadn’t moved since she’d fallen asleep. Her head was pillowed on his chest, one arm and one leg draped over him. He shifted to see her better, and he smiled when she clutched him tighter in her sleep. His hand trailed lightly up her back and then he held her tighter, gently shaking her awake.
He called her name when she burrowed further into his embrace. Seconds later her eyes opened wide, the shock of waking up holding onto a naked man finally seeping through her tired brain. He rolled her to her back and kissed her neck and then her lips, impatiently waiting while she became fully awake.
“Diego?” She looked to the window, saw no sign of dawn and relaxed a little bit. “It wasn’t a dream.”
Diego shook his head and kissed her again, but he kept it gentle. He wanted her now and forever, but he wanted her as his wife, safe in his home. “It’s time to get up.”
She rubbed at her eyes and he felt another stab of guilt. He should probably let her sleep. They’d had an eventful twenty-four hours. “What time is it?”
“I’m sorry, I know I should let you sleep. But we need to leave. I promise you can go back to sleep at the hacienda.”
“Leave? Now?”
“If Toronado goes home alone, Felipe will think I’m in trouble. And I want to get out of the pueblo before dawn. I want you to come with me.”
She cupped his face and bit her lip. “You are worried.”
Diego sighed and stroked her hair. “We have a lot to talk about. Come with me. Leave a note for Maria that you’ll be gone. Give us a day together before we have to deal with the real world again.”
She dropped her eyes to his chest and he lifted a hand to her cheek. “I won’t push you if you really don’t want to get married right away. But Padre Benitez will marry us right now.”
“In the middle of the night?”
Diego shrugged, embarrassed. “Padre Benitez and I talked, often in the middle of the night. He knows who I am, knows how I feel about you. I promised him I’d be a gentleman.” Diego stroked a finger over her lip. “I promised myself.”
“You really want to elope?”
“This is the new world…people elope all the time. I want you with me. For four years all I’ve wanted was you. I want you to be my wife. If you want a proper wedding, I’ll give you one. But I don’t want you feeling guilty about what we did tonight.” His eyes grew hot as they trailed down her shoulder to where they were still pressed together, skin to skin. “And I don’t want to wait three weeks to do it again, either.”
He dropped the lecherous grin at her serious face. “I know you wouldn’t have invited me to your bed if Sabrina hadn’t died yesterday. I don’t want to start our life together with guilt—yours or mine. If you love me, marry me. Now. If you want to wait, I’ll be patient.”
“You don’t think people would suspect you’re Zorro if I married you?”
“If?” Diego distracted himself by playing with her hair for a moment while he bit back his frustration. “Querida, if someone suspects, they will suspect in three weeks. Three months, years. Zorro hasn’t been seen in the pueblo in over two weeks. You got tired of waiting.”
“A tavern owner marrying a De la Vega?”
Diego grinned at her. “Save me from myself. I’m hopeless, you know. The matchmaker told me so.”
Victoria tugged on his hair. “You have a lot of to answer for, De la Vega.”
“Marry me now. You can start making me pay for it right away.”

Victoria laughed and pushed him away. He rolled off of her, and propped his head on his hand to watch. He loved the second she moved to leave the bed and remembered she was naked. She pulled at the quilt, but he held it tight against his hip as he smiled at her. She lay back down beside him. “Something wrong?” he asked with a grin.
“Can you reach my robe?” She whispered, shyly looking behind him at the chair beside her bed.
He shook his head with a lustful grin, and didn’t even turn to look where she pointed. “Diego!”
“Victoria?”
She glowered at him. Then she kissed him. He groaned into the kiss, cradling her face in his hands, rolling onto his back and pulling her with him. He easily changed his mind. “Maybe we can stay a little longer.” His hands flowed over her skin to pull her hips into his.
Then he gasped because he’d released the quilt, and she stood over him triumphantly wrapped in her stolen prize while his manly bits shrank in the cold. She moved toward her robe, but he was too quick. He stood, unashamed, grabbed her robe and held it behind him. “That was very devious, Victoria.”
She shrugged, blushed and stuttered as she tried to avert her eyes. “Are you going to leave so I can get dressed?”
“No, but I’ll help you get dressed.” He took a step toward her and she laughed as he stubbed a toe on his discarded boot and hopped in pain. “Funny.” Giving up on seeing her naked, at least for now, he turned to her wardrobe. He pulled out a blue dress, held it up against his body to model it and grinned at her.
“I always liked this one. Will you wear it?” She laughed when he twirled around and she held her hand out for it. He ignored her and draped it on the bed. He opened a drawer and she blushed when he pulled out a chemise and held it up to her.
“Come on, hurry up. The quicker you get dressed, the faster I can undress you again.” He sighed sadly when she managed to do a prime job of keeping her modesty while putting on the underwear before dropping the quilt. When she caught him staring, the chemise doing more to accentuate than hide her body, she grabbed the dress and he did in fact help her into it. Then he led her to her chair and brushed her hair while she melted and thought how she could get used to this type of attention.
When he was finished, she gasped as she turned because she’d completely forgotten he was still naked. Diego grinned and pulled her to her feet and wrapped her arms around him. She kissed him leisurely, giving herself time to come to terms with everything they had done, of what they might have to face in the near future.
Her eyes fell to his boot laying at her feet. “You’ll have to dress as Zorro again.” She held her breath, glancing at the pile of black on her floor and the other scattered garments.
Diego kicked his clothes over into one pile. “Actually, no.” He fidgeted nervously. “I sort of… hid some clothes in one of the rooms. In case Zorro ever got cornered. The padre has some, too.”
“You have clothes in my tavern?”
Diego shrugged. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.” Victoria shook her head, astonished. Then she opened her door and gestured for him to leave. He stopped before she could close the door after him. “You’re going to let me back in, right?” Diego jumped out of the way as she pushed the door closed in answer.
She pressed her back against the door and looked at her room as if she’d never seen it before. There was a pile of men’s clothing on her floor. She bent to gather the pile and dumped it on her bed. She grabbed something and pulled, lifting a shirt. She ran her fingers over the satin slowly before she shook herself out of her thoughts and folded it. The cape untangled next, and she remembered she was the one who started undressing him last night.
His mask looked strange and foreign to her draped innocently over her hand. All those dreams of unmasking him hadn’t come close to what happened last night. Her heart twisted more when she saw his ruined pants. She’d undressed an outlaw last night, and gone to bed with a man not her husband. But this man knew her well enough he was marching her to church in the middle of the night. She pulled out a bag to stuff everything out of sight.
Silver still glinted from the bed. She picked up the sword, pulled it out of the scabbard. It was heavy, and she had a vague memory of Diego complaining about the weight of a beginner’s sword. This was the sword of an expert. It was sharp. Deadly. Icy fingers crawled down her spine, and she turned at Diego’s soft knock. He opened the door and leaned against the doorjamb. Now he was dressed in a somewhat wrinkled baby blue caballero suit. Her eyes trailed down his body and stopped at his bare feet again. Guess he didn’t think to hide boots.
“Are you alright?” Diego asked, glancing at the sword she still held. She fumbled as she tried to put it away, and he took it from her before she cut herself. He dropped it forgotten on the bed as he took her in his arms. “Everything will be alright, I promise.” He held her for a moment before pulling back to caress her face. “Better if we leave now, though. Are you ready?”
She pointed at the bag of his things. “I put your clothes in there.”
Diego took the bag, digging around for a moment before silently pulling out the pouch holding the rings. He kissed her softly. “Thank you. Everything can stay here until we come back. For now we just need each other.” He took the bag and she followed him into the other room and watched him stash the Zorro clothes where he’d found the suit he was wearing. He was hiding them in case they ran across the alcalde. Who wanted her lover dead. She reached out to clutch his arm and he turned to her. He briskly rubbed her arms, worried about the pallor and chill of her skin.
“You’re not hiding that?” She nodded to the sword he still held.
Diego glanced at the sword a moment before slowly untying his sash. He buckled Zorro’s belt around his waist, then covered it with the dark blue sash, as if that would hide the legendary sword. “We’re just going to church and home. No one will see the sword.” When she still didn’t look up at him, he put a finger under her chin to lift her eyes. “Alright, so I admit there might be some risk. I’m not leaving my sword. No one will see it, but I have it if I need it.”
He held his hand out to her, and she took it and followed him down the stairs and to her secret wedding.
Zzz
Padre Benitez truly didn’t look put-out to see Diego when the father answered his knock. Victoria, on the other hand, did surprise him, and the padre turned shrewd eyes to Diego. Diego shrugged one shoulder uncomfortably. Padre Benitez shook his head at Diego, though he knew this would happen one day.
Padre Benitez held out his hands to Victoria. “Victoria, how are you this morning? It’s very early.”
Victoria widened her eyes. “It’s the middle of the night.”
“Yes, well, Diego does tend to keep strange hours.”
Victoria saw the padre’s condemning look at Diego. She took a deep breath, she couldn’t let Diego shoulder the responsibility. “Father, it was me. I … I seduced him.”
Padre Benitez chuckled and kissed her cheek. “Don’t look so scared, my child. Let’s go talk.”
“Father, we are in a little hurry,” Diego said.
“Is someone after you? Who found out?”
Diego scrubbed the back of his neck with a hand. “Not now. My father also knows. We need to get home before I’m missed.”
“You told your father?”
Victoria glanced around at the empty mission, her eyes always straying back to the sword and its reminder of violence as Diego and Padre chatted calmly. “Padre, we need to leave. There will be plenty of time to talk later.”
Padre Benitez looked at Victoria’s pale face and pulled her several steps away from Diego. “I know Diego’s heart, but you’re looking a little ragged. This is a big step. Take a deep breath.” He held Victoria’s hands as she followed his instructions. “You’re here so I’m sure Diego told you we talked about a special license.” Victoria glanced at Diego again before she nodded.
“You’ve waited for Zorro a long time. But you’re here with Diego.” She smiled, and Padre Benitez relaxed some. “You’re marrying a man who carries a dangerous secret. His wife will—“
“I understand. Can we not talk about it, please?” Victoria begged.
Benitez studied her for a long moment and then smiled. “Then it won’t last forever. Be sure you are marrying the man, and not the legend. Forget whatever happened tonight. Are you in love with Diego?”
“He asked me the same thing.” Victoria looked over at Diego again, and he looked odd trying to hide his impatience and vulnerability at the same time. “I love the man. And I’ll be there for him. We need each other.”
“That’s what I’ve always thought. So let’s get married.” Benitez turned to Diego. “And don’t think you’re getting out of confession.”
Diego grinned at Victoria, his eyes trailing down her body before he shrugged. “Worth it.”
Zzz
Victoria didn’t speak or let go of him as they walked to the edge of the pueblo. Diego himself felt exposed without the black cape to hide in. He had to pry her fingers loose so he could find Toronado and get mounted to pull her up in front of him. He called himself every name in the book as they rode silently home. No matter what he said, she was terrified and trembling. She shouldn’t have to sneak out of the pueblo like this. He should have let her sleep.
He knew he was being selfish, but he wanted her with him. People would be surprised Diego took a wife, surprised Victoria had accepted him, but no one would imagine he’s Zorro. The talk would die down of Victoria and Zorro’s love, and life would go on, only now he would be happy. He’d served selflessly long enough. They deserved to be together.
Felipe was sleeping at his desk when he returned. Victoria had gradually relaxed the further they got from danger, and was dozing by the time they’d reached the cave. Felipe’s eyes widened when he saw Victoria. He grinned hugely, but kept silent to not wake her. A sense of sheer joy energized Diego as he carried her to his bedroom, gently laying her on his bed. Felipe pushed his shoulder when Diego just stood staring at her. Diego gave a short explanation and a firm order not to disturb them tomorrow. Felipe hugged him happily and promised to stand guard in the morning before he ran back to the cave to take care of Toronado.
Diego once again felt guilty at how boneless Victoria was. She muttered protests in her sleep as he pulled her dress off, leaving her in her chemise and tucking her under the covers. He carefully hung up her dress before removing his own clothes and spooning behind her. He’d take her to the hot spring tomorrow. Take time to relax and enjoy being with each other. She wouldn’t talk to him in that condescending tone she used when Diego made up some foolish excuse. He could look at her and show her how much he loves her without fear of giving himself away. Life couldn’t get any better than this. One hand smoothed over her stomach. It would get better. He’d have a son to teach. A daughter to worry about. Diego smiled as he finally fell asleep.
Zzz
Author’s Note 2: I’m sorry if you’re disappointed. I can’t write a wedding because I can’t figure out how they were done. I’d rather skip it than mess up something so important to so many people. And this story was just supposed to be Diego coming over, he and Victoria giving in to temptation, the end. I like how it turns out though, so please keep reading.
If you enjoyed, please review. Having a rough week, and comments make me smile!
Is there a way to respond to reviews on this site? I love all your comments and agree with everyone.
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Conquering Fear