“Get on your hands and knees, you little bitch!” her new husband ordered her. His hand fastened into her long hair, forcing her back and into the required position.
Alberto hesitated as Bianca began to tremble. When she turned a tearstained face to him in a silent plea, he felt all of his desire drain suddenly away. Despite his young age, he was as lustful as his sire, but he simply could not do this thing that was being demanded of him. She was his new stepmother, and it was incest. Alberto feared the Church perhaps even more than he did his father. His cock withered away.
“I can’t do this,signore.I just can’t!” He fell back away from Bianca.
Sebastiano Rovere began to beat his younger son with his fists.“Cordado,”he snarled. “You would disobey me?” He pounded at the boy mercilessly.
Still shaking, Bianca turned over and managed to gain a half-seated position. “Sebastiano, I beg you to cease beating our son. He has only done what was right.”
Her gentle words cut through his fury, which he now turned on her, slapping her face hard several times as Alberto took the opportunity to slide off the bed, and flee the chamber. “Bitch! You dare to instruct me?” Several more blows followed his query. “Did your mother not teach you to respect your husband, Bianca? You will now learn your place or, with God as my witness, I will kill you with my bare hands. You won’t be the first disobedient woman with whom I have dealt.” He yanked her over his lap and began to spank her tempting bottom until it was bright red and she was sobbing uncontrollably with the stinging pain and burning he was inflicting on her helpless flesh.
“Sebastiano, Sebastiano, you are hurting me,” Bianca cried out. “Stop—I beg of you! Please stop!” She wiggled her body in an attempt to escape his punishment.
“Bitch!” he hissed at her. “I will tell you when it is time to stop,” he said fiercely, but as he did he realized that his cock was suddenly as hard as iron. Quickly rolling her off his thigh and onto her back, he mounted his bride.
She moaned as he drove into her and started moving rhythmically inside her. She shrieked as he forced himself through her maidenhead, the numbing pain engulfing her briefly, and then thankfully receding. Bianca’s face was wet with her tears. Her eyes were closed tightly. She was tighter than any woman he had ever known. The walls of her sheath almost strangled him. It felt wonderful, and he found himself now unable to cease fucking her. “Open your eyes,” he commanded her. “I want you to see me as I use you. You are delicious,cara mia!”
Bianca lay silent now beneath him, her eyes still shut.
“Disobey me,” he said in a pleasant tone, “and I have ways to punish you that you will not like,cara mia. Now open your eyes for me, Bianca, and afterwards I shall give you your wedding gift as a reward.”
She didn’t want him to beat her again. Bianca opened her eyes and looked up at him. She struggled to keep her gaze neutral so he would not see the dislike she felt for him now. She would never like this man. Indeed she already hated him. He had forced her into a mortal sin. How could she confess such a thing to a priest? She would never forgive him or herself for yielding to his depraved nature. Better she had died.
“You have the most beautiful eyes in the world,” he told her. “Never have I seen such a color before,cara mia.” He continued to fuck her as he spoke. “There was obviously a Northman in your family, Bianca. Do you think your ancestress was violated by one, or was she wed to him? Do you know,cara mia? Is there some tale about it in your family’s history?” The thought of it excited him, but then suddenly his crisis overcame him. His juices flooded her, and he fell away from her, groaning. “Sleep now,” he told her. “We will make love again when I have recovered my strength.”
Make love?Was that what he called what had just transpired? Moving away from him, she curled herself into a fetal position and slept to block out her shame and her disappointment. But twice again in the night, Bianca was awakened by her husband so he might satisfy his lust for her. After the third time, he told her to go back to her own rooms. Grateful, the girl covered herself with her silk night robe, and creeping from the bedchamber, made her way back to her own quarters, where Agata was awaiting her.
Seeing her young mistress’s face, Agata said nothing. Instead, she led Bianca to the bathing room, bathed her, and then bringing her back to her own rooms, fed her a goblet of wine with a sleeping potion. Sleep would restore the girl’s spirits, which Agata could see had been badly broken, but it was only temporary. Bianca was a Pietro d’Angelo, and she would not crumble.
Bianca slept well into the next afternoon. She awakened to have to dress in a sapphire blue velvet gown embroidered in gold and crystals, for their guests were shortly due. Her husband came into her apartment unannounced, bringing with him a dark red leather case. He smiled at her and nodded his approval of her garments.
“I have brought you your wedding gift,” he said. “You will wear them tonight when we entertain.” Opening the case, he displayed for her its contents. Nestled on the ivory satin lining of the case was a magnificent necklace of blue aquamarines set in gold. The stones were large, almost vulgar in their size, but the color was pure.
“The first time I saw your eyes I determined you must have a necklace like this,” he told her as he affixed the jewelry about her throat. “Later when we are alone, you will wear them for me naked with your hair loose.” He kissed the side of her neck.
“If it pleases you, Sebastiano,” Bianca said quietly, restraining a shudder, and using his name for the first time. Could he hear the venom in her tone?
“I like the sound of my name on your lips,” he told her. He set the matching ear bobs in her ears. “And yes, it would please me very much.” Now he kissed her lips.
Madre di Dios!Was this how it was going to be? Bianca wondered. He had no idea of her distaste. The necklace seemed to burn her skin. Or was it his kiss?
“Our guests will be arriving. Let us go and greet them together,” he said, taking her arm and leading her from the apartment.
It was her first real party, and oddly it was the company that caused Bianca to enjoy it. They were honored by the presence of Lorenzo di Medici, current head of the great House of Medici, who had inherited the position from his late father, known as Piero the Gouty, the son of Cosimo. Though he was considered ugly by the standards of his day, with his dark, bushy eyebrows, long, flat nose, and large jaw that jutted forward, his dark eyes were intelligent, and his long, thick, straight black hair, which he wore at shoulder length and parted in the middle, was admired. He was known for his kindness, his athletic prowess, and his intellect. The House of Medici had never had such a head. The Medicis’ wealth, banking skills, and wise counsel made them the most influential family in Florence.
He was kind and mannerly. Knowing it was Bianca’s first real adult party, he had insisted on being seated at her right hand rather than at her husband’s. “Why would I want to sit next to you, Sebastiano, when there is such a beautiful young woman at the other end of the table?” While disappointed, Sebastiano Rovere was pleased the Medici had taken notice of his new bride. She was already bringing stature to his house.
“My lord, you are very gracious,” Bianca said to him.
Lorenzo di Medici’s dark eyes twinkled. “While I am with you,signora, no other man in this room will flirt with you, thereby angering your husband. This should be a happy time for you. You are outrageously beautiful, you know. How on earth did Rovere gain such a treasure as you,cara? I had heard your proud mother wished to wed you into Venice and that your princely grandfather was already considering certain families.”
“My father owed my husband a great debt, my lord,” Bianca admitted. “I should not tell that to anyone, but for some reason I trust you. You have a kind face.”
“Your secrets are safe with me,cara,” he replied with a chuckle. “So you think my face kind, eh? Neither my brother nor I is considered handsome. Now, my children are thought to be quite handsome, especially by their mother. They have not my face.”
“I would not know that, my lord,” Bianca admitted. “I have lived a most sheltered life until yesterday. My husband says I will be well cloistered for my own safety, for the city can be a rough place.”
“I cannot blame Rovere for keeping you close,cara. He is right. Florence is a beautiful but dangerous city, but I suspect the world will come to you.” Reaching out, he fingered her necklace. “I collect rare and beautiful things,cara. Your necklace is quite spectacular. A gift?”
