The Angel of Soriano: A Renaissance Romance Read Free Page A

after today, what did it matter? Because of Borgia’s lusting, her father would need to entomb her in the country. This might be her only chance to tell someone the whole truth.
    As delicately as possible, she tucked her nun’s habit and sat down across his upper thighs. Then folded her hands and placed them in her lap.
    He smiled fully and wrapped his arms around her waist, obviously pleased she’d given in.
    She leaned in toward his ear. “You can’t tell a soul. Understand?”
    Nodding, his nostrils flared and a calloused finger tucked a curl behind her ear causing chills to run up and down her spine.
    “My father is not all that clever with medicines. I am, in truth, the doctor. The one who can heal.”
    He stared dubiously for a moment, then laughed so hard his legs jerked, bouncing her up and down.
    When he finally noted she was quite serious, he wiped a tear of mirth from one eye. “But surely he went to university. That much is true?”
    “Si. Si. But his heart lies with philosophy. I’m afraid all other learning does not stick. It’s as if his mind has only enough room for one area of study. All other knowledge leaks out as if poured through a sieve.”
    When he looked as if he might burst into merriment again, her palms shot out to cup both of his rough cheeks. “I tell you. I am the doctor. As a child, my only friends were books. My tutors, well-educated nuns. Due to my fair skin and light hair, my mother locked me away from all men. She said I was a temptation.”
    His eyes studied her lips as she spoke and locked her in his gaze. When she squirmed, the intensity too much to endure, he moaned.
    “Oh, I’m so sorry. Did I hurt you?” She tried to lift off his legs and scoot onto the floor.
    “No apologies. Just a moment.” His large hands surrounded her hips, then he shifted her off his lap and onto his thighs.
    Is that a blush on the tops of his masculine cheeks? When she glanced down, he pulled down his tunic, too late to hide his lust.
    Good heavens, the lump was very large.
    She tried to rise. “Perhaps I should stand?”
    Again his hands shot to her sides, this time holding her in place. “I shall struggle to endure. So what happened after Cardinal Nardini died?”
    “For a while, I lived with my Uncle Pino and Aunt Mia, not really relatives but very close friends. They live on the border between Vignanello and Soriano. They minister to the sick for miles around. You’ve surely heard of them, no?”
    He shook his head. “I’ve only lived up north for a short while. My home is in Spain.”
    “Well I must tell you, should you ever need a remedy, they’re the ones to see. They’ve the greatest collection of herbs in the whole peninsula.”
    By his dark expression, the infuriating man still didn’t believe her. Just once, she needed someone to have faith in her. One finger at a time, she counted off the books she owned. “De Materia Medica, Arderne’s Medical Treatises, Medic...Have you heard of any of these?”
    The corner of one side of his mouth lifted. “You’re serious. Aren’t you?”
    “Si. Si. Si. It’s not amusing. If I don’t travel with my father, our livelihood would be at an end. He doesn’t know a baby’s bottom rash from the plague.”
    An eyebrow lifted. “So you’re the one writing the book on Roman Fever? Extraordinary.”
    “Not so much when you think about it. In all of God’s kingdom, the male species is not more intelligent than the female. Have you ever thought upon that?”
    Laughing, he shook his head, no.
    “’Tis no jest. In fact, I’ve read, for some animals, the female is much more cunning. She must be in order to care for the young when the male leaves.”
    “I firmly believe you.” His eyes crinkled at the corners.
    “About the animals or being the doctor.”
    “Both.”
    For a moment her heart stopped and she added, “But you must not tell anyone.”
    “Who would believe me?” A warm chuckle escaped from deep within his chest.
    His