THE OFFER

Disclaimer – I don't own the rights, Zorro Productions Inc does - I just like to play with the characters.

Plot - Diego has a life changing decision to make when two old university friends arrive with a rather tempting offer and Victoria makes a discovery about herself.

This is the second story of my Forever Zorro Trilogy.

Rated M for a later chapter and for some mild swearing.

This is a reposting of this story as I had made a blunder with the chapters out of order. Many thanks to Superfanlol for pointing it out to me.

Chapter 1

It had been three weeks since the death of Emissary Gilberto Risendo and the de la Vegas were in mourning for the loss of a son and brother they never knew existed and they rarely ventured into the pueblo. The citizens of Los Angeles knew of gallant fight between the quiet, peaceful and wounded Diego de la Vega and the Emissary and of the subsequent death of the Emissary at the hands of the Alcalde. The entire district seemed to be in mourning with the de la Vegas and even de Soto seemed subdued.

Diego was walking through the hacienda when his father called out. "Diego, I'm going into the pueblo with Felipe, you coming?"

"No father, I've an experiment that needs checking but I'll come in later." He smiled as he heard his father mutter. "You and your experiments. Oh Diego you have some mail, it's on the table."

"Gracias father." he replied, he crossed to the table in the library, picked up the two letters and sat down on a chair. The first letter, he recognised his cousin's handwriting but the second one he didn't know at all. He opened this one first, his curiosity got the better of him.

My dearest Diego,

I don't know how soon you will receive this letter, knowing how infrequent the mail deliveries can be but I had write and thank you once again for your kindness, your compassion when I needed it most. By now you would have heard of my escape and I can imagine that you are somewhat curious to know how it happened. Do you recall the man that I told you about, the one who seemed to follow me wherever I went? Well I now know that he does work for Gonzales. To cut a long story short, Castro and another man held up the stage and freed me. As they fought with Gomez and the driver, I freed myself and escaped on one of the horses. They never even noticed that I was gone and I managed to get back to Santa Barbara without being recaptured.

Remember when you suggested that I devise a plan to help my family escape from Gonzales, well it didn't quite work that way. There was no time to even think of a plan, let alone carry it out. We had to leave immediately before they caught up with me again and luckily for us, there were several ships in port, all due to depart on the high tide this evening. We took what we could and the four of us are about to board a ship, to start a new life together. I won't say where we are going but I can not thank you enough for your help, your understanding. You have helped to save the lives of four people, and we can never repay you for that.

Diego, I think you know how I felt about you, and I believe that in your own way, you felt something too. But I must say it now as this will be the only chance I have to tell you.

I love you Diego de la Vega.

There, I have said it. Don't be angry with me. And if you don't marry Senorita Escalante within a year, I will come back to Los Angeles and make you forget all about her. You know I could.

All my love,

Isabella

Diego sighed as he leant back in his chair, after reading her letter through twice. He closed his eyes and thought about the beautiful woman who swept into their lives four, five weeks ago as the outlaw Zorra. He was pleased to hear that Isabella and her family had escaped the dreadful life she was leading and although she made no mention of it, he could imagine the utter chaos of their sudden departure, of their fear of discovery, of not knowing what to take with them and what to leave behind. He prayed that they would finally be safe from that criminal who had been holding her to ransom for her stepfather's debt.

He had known of her love and of his own attraction to her and if it hadn't been for Victoria, well...who knows what might have happened. His thoughts then turned to Victoria. He was deeply in love with her, there could be no-one else for him. He smiled to think of Isabella coming back to Los Angeles, if he hadn't married Victoria in a year and stealing him away from her. Would she be able to turn him away from Victoria? Perhaps she could but not without a fight from his lady.

He chuckled to himself, he would have to make sure that he married Victoria before the year was out. Somehow he would make it happen but he didn't think that he could wait that long to make her his wife. Their meetings have become more passionate of late and he feared of what may happen, if they don't marry soon.

Then an idea came to him. Victoria's birthday was approaching, could he reveal his secret to her on her birthday? His heart pounded as he thought about it, her birthday was just over a month away and it would be the perfect opportunity to tell her. He just wasn't sure if he could get past his fear of her possible rejection. But one thing he did know, it had been too long since he last saw her, since he last held her. He grinned as he rose from the chair and pressed the secret latch on the fireplace. He would check on his experiment first, then he would pay a visit to a certain raven haired senorita.

Victoria walked through the curtain that separated the kitchen from the taproom of her tavern, placed the tray of dirty plates on the table and sighed. She had only glimpsed her masked love once in the last several weeks, when he had brought in a bandit who had been robbing coaches between Los Angeles and Santa Paula. I wish Zorro would come, I miss him, she thought to herself, and felt a blush creep across her face at the memory of that night in her room, of their passionate kisses, of what had almost happened.

Zorro grinned at the delightful sight of his love blushing. "You're so beautiful when you blush querida." he said softly, he didn't want the patrons on the other side of the curtain to hear him.

Victoria spun around. "Zorro, What are you doing here?" she whispered.

There was laughter from the taproom as Zorro moved away from the wall he had been leaning against. "I came to see you." he took a quick glance towards the curtain as he moved across the room to her and kissed her hand.

"Zorro, it's dangerous for you to be here right now." Victoria whispered as she placed her hand lightly on his chest as she continued. "The Alcalde is in the tavern..."

"Shhh...mi preciosa." Zorro placed his fingers against her lips. "I needed to see you." he whispered as he moved his hand though her hair, his eyes full of love as he slowly lowered his head. She could feel his warm breath on her face and as she closed her eyes, a shiver went through her body in anticipation of his wonderful kisses.

But before their lips could touch, a voice called out from the other side of the curtain. "Senorita Victoria." Mendoza called as he came through the curtain. "Do you have any...? Zorro, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Damn." Zorro swore under his breath as he straightened up.

Victoria stifled a giggle, she never heard him swear before but she understood why; she too felt like cursing at the Sergeant for the interruption.

Zorro grinned as he faced the portly lancer. "Sergeant, your timing is impeccable as always."

"Zorro, you shouldn't be here, don't you know the Alcalde is out there." Mendoza whispered,he admired Zorro and had no wish to get him into trouble.

Zorro leant against the table, smiling. "Sergeant, what the Alcalde doesn't know, won't hurt him."

"But...But..." Mendoza spluttered. "It's my duty to arrest you Zorro." he stated as he hitched his uniform trousers up.

"Then Sergeant, you must do your duty but first, wouldn't you like some of the senorita's enchiladas." he pointed to a plate of freshly cooked enchiladas.

Mendoza eyed the food with great relish as Zorro continued. "You need your strength to do your duty Sergeant."

"Si Zorro, I do need my strength." he replied, his eyes not leaving the plate.

Zorro heard Victoria giggle beside him, he winked at her as he picked up the plate and handed it to the Sergeant.

"I don't know Zorro." he said hesitantly.

Zorro could tell he was wavering and pressed ahead. "You wouldn't want to insult the senorita by refusing to eat her food, now would you?"

"Never Zorro, I love the senorita's cooking." he stated firmly. He finally gave in and took the plate from Zorro's hand. "Thank you, but you must go Zorro."

Zorro nodded. "I will."

"Mendoza." shouted de Soto. "What's taking you so long?" He came through the curtain and stopped short when he saw the masked man. "Zorro, I have you now!" he exclaimed.

"Ah Alcalde, you can always try." Zorro grinned as he pushed the hapless Mendoza into the Alcalde, the plate of enchiladas crashed between the two men.

de Soto and Mendoza stumbled back into the taproom as Zorro laughed at the sight of the two men with food smeared over their pristine uniforms. de Soto summoned up all his dignity and strode out of the tavern, covered in food scraps, with Mendoza apologising profusely behind him.

Once they had left, the entire tavern erupted into gales of laughter.

Zorro quickly turned to Victoria and he smiled as he reached for her hand. "Our time is always so short querida. I must go before the Alcalde cleans up." He kissed her hand before he left through the back door.

Ten minutes later Diego ambled into the tavern and joined his father and his soon to be adopted son Felipe at their table. Diego saw the huge grin on the younger man's face as he recounted, in sign, of how the Alcalde left the tavern.

"That was a quite a risk you took Diego." Don Alejandro said quietly.

Diego glanced at his father. "There was little risk, father."

Don Alejandro was once again surprised by the firmness of his son's voice. Since Diego confirmed that he was Zorro, he had noticed the difference in him, he wasn't the weak and lazy man that he had portrayed for many years. He had been shocked, surprised, and then finally proud at the achievements that his son had done over the years. He had done more for their community, than he had ever thought possible when he ordered his son back from Madrid. He had only hoped that Diego would take his rightful place and to stand up against the injustice of their leaders, but he never expected his son to become a wanted man, a bandit with a price on his head. He shook his head in dismay at the many hurtful comments he had made to Diego especially the time when he had called him a coward to his face.

Over the last several weeks, father and son had spoken frequently and were now rebuilding and strengthening their relationship. But now Don Alejandro was worried that Diego took too many unnecessary risks such as this one today.

Diego continued. "Besides it was worth the risk." he said as he watched Victoria laughing with a customer.

Don Alejandro followed his son's gaze to the lovely senorita, he knew that Diego loved her deeply and would one day make her his wife. "You should tell her Diego." he advised.

"I know father."

"The longer you wait, the harder it will become."

Diego just nodded. He couldn't keep his eyes off her.

Later that night, Zorro rode back into town. He had to see Victoria again, she was in his blood, almost like a disease that could only be purged by her burning kisses. He climbed onto the roof of the tavern and leapt to the window ledge, he paused and then grinned as he looked down at her.

Victoria had finished cleaning and was smiling to herself as she swirled around the kitchen, dancing with an invisible partner. She was happy at seeing Zorro after so many weeks, her spirits always lifted whenever she saw him. "I wish Zorro would come more often." she said to herself. "I miss him."

From above her came a familiar voice. "I miss you too querida."

Victoria spun around. "Zorro." she squeaked as she watched him leap nimbly down from her window.

He gave her one of his best smiles as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. He planted a kiss on her hair as she finally recovered from her surprise and placed her arms around his back, buried her face into his firm, broad chest. He removed his gloves to run his fingers through her soft hair, which had a pleasant smell of orange blossoms. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feel of his love in his arms.

She inhaled deeply, she loved his scent, clean, masculine and loved the feel of his strong arms around her. "You never come twice in one day Zorro. Nothing wrong is there?" she asked concerned.

He pulled back slightly, so he could gaze down into her soft brown eyes. "No, nothing is wrong. The good Sergeant interrupted us earlier." he whispered as he leant down and gently pressed his lips against hers. "And I just wanted to make sure no-one interrupted this time." He kissed her again softly, a light touch of his lips.

Victoria shivered at the light touch of his lips, and found that she wanted more and kissed him back, moving her soft lips slowly over his. She delighted in feeling Zorro shiver, amazed that she can achieve a reaction like that from this man, a man who always seemed to be in control except when it came to her. He couldn't get enough of her maddening kisses, so he pulled her closer against him, and deepened the kiss. He gently coaxed her lips apart and entwined his tongue with hers in a loving dance.

They came up for air, both breathless as they gazed into each other's desire filled eyes. Then without a word, they kissed again, deeply, passionately. Their hands roamed over each other's back, making them tremble with desire. His hand fell to her waist, before he slowly moved up to cup her soft breast over her blouse. He moaned at the feel of her softness and flicked his thumb over her hardened peak, his own growing arousal made his trousers tight.

Victoria moaned, he had never touched her there before and she felt like she was on fire. She felt his hardness pressed against her stomach and shivered. She felt that same burning ache, for some unknown need, that she had felt the last time they had embraced and instinctively moved against him.

"Oh Dios, Victoria." Zorro groaned against her lips, he must stop this, before it's too late. Reluctantly he pulled away from their heated embrace. They both panted for breath, their desire and their love showed in their eyes. "Vic...Victoria, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go so far."

"It's...its okay Zorro. I just wish..."

"I know querida, I wish we could too, but you know we can't."

Victoria nodded. "I know. I love you Zorro."

Zorro reached out a hand and caressed her face. "I love you too Victoria." he kissed her forehead before pulling on his gloves. "I must go." this time he softly kissed her swollen lips, before he leapt up to the window sill and fled into the dark night.

Victoria sank down onto the bench and her body shook with unfulfilled desire. This was the second time they had stopped before they could make love. Would they be able to stop the next time? she wondered. She flushed again as she remembered the marvellously hot thrill of Zorro's hand on her breast. She don't want him to stop any more, she thought, blushing deep red. She wanted to make love with him. She no longer cared that it went against all their teachings and against society's morality, she just wanted to be loved and to give love in return.

As he rode back to the cave, Zorro was thinking along similar lines. Would he be able to stop himself from doing what they both desperately wanted? He didn't think he could. He almost turned Toronado around to go back to the tavern, to give in to their desires but one last thread of control, held him back. He realised then, that they could not wait another year. There was only one way their passionate embraces would end and he wanted to be married before he took her to his bed. He took a deep breath and finally made the decision to unmask to Victoria on her birthday, regardless of his fear of her possible rejection. It would be his gift to her.