d be
indifferent or angry. Why, instead, did she cry so hard?

_It must be that she wants me but cannot believe it is possible._

The sight of her slender body shaking with sobs tore at his heart. He
could not hold himself back; even if she fought him again, he must put
his arms around her. He reached out to hold her. She fell against him.
She felt wonderful in his arms, solid enough to assure him that this was
no dream, yet light enough to allow him to feel that he could do
anything he wanted with her.

He remembered how angry she had been in the pine forest outside Orvieto
when he had tried to make love to her. Though he might be eaten up with
longing for her, he must just hold her and be glad she allowed him to do
that.

She raised her tear-streaked face and kissed him lightly on the lips.

The soft pressure of her lips on his made his arms ache to hold her
tighter. But he fought the feeling down.

"Why do you cry so hard when I speak to you of love?" he whispered.

"Because no one has ever loved me as you do," she said. She rested her
head against his chest, and he stroked her hair. His eyes lingered over
the curves of her breasts. He wanted to drop his hand from her hair to
her breast. He felt the yearning to touch her breast as a pain in the
palm of his hand.

"But you have been married," he said. "Did not your husband love you?"

He felt her head shaking. His heart was beating so hard he was sure she
must hear it.

"We were little more than children."

"I am not a child, and neither are you. Believe me when I say I want to
marry you."

"Oh, Simon, I do believe you!" she cried, and she broke out in a fresh
storm of sobs.

Now he could not help himself; he had to hold her tight. She leaned
against him, and they slipped back until they were both lying down, he
on his back and she on top of him. His hand felt the small of her back.
How narrow her waist was!

He felt her move against him in a new way.

Her arms slid around him, her hands on his neck. Her lips were on his
again, but this time pressing hard, ferocious, devouring. He felt her
teeth and tongue, her breath hot in his mouth.

She was suddenly a different woman, not the shy cardinal's niece. She
was demanding, brimming over with a need to match his. Their hands
hurried over each other's bodies, touching through their clothes and
then under their clothes. Simon had no time to be surprised at the
change that had come over her.

She was u