Page 18 of His UnBearable Touch

“Besides,” his sigh pulled at her like a caress, “I want you back in my arms.”

Allegra couldn’t seem to move. “I slept with you?”

A hand slipped down her side to settle on her hip, and only then did she realize that he’d had a hand on her ribs while she was sleeping. The thought was seductive on its own. She fought down the thought… but her feelings grew.

It was hard enough to relax into the touch of another person, a man, even more so, but she’d slept beside Valerio for at least a few hours if her calculations were correct. She slept beside him and the nightmare hadn’t returned.

She felt the gentle warmth of his hand on her side and she cuddled against him. “I bet I’m taking up a lot of room,” she yawned slightly and settled in even closer against his side, “if you want, I can sleep on the couch or something.”

Valerio swallowed and then she heard him draw in a deep breath. “No.” His voice was rough, she could almost hear it scratch through the tender flesh of his throat.

Allegra struggled to sit up beside him. It would have been easy enough on her bed, she was an active sleeper, turning and tossing enough to kick her blankets to the ground instead of tangling around her legs, but in this case, there was another person in the bed. Where she was tall, she was also curvy, but Valerio seemed to take up every inch that she didn’t.

“Let me help.” A moment later she felt him untangle the sheets from her legs before he sat up beside her in bed. “Better?”

Allegra held still for a moment, drawing in his scent. She hasn’t been this close to a man since… since the darkness and even if she couldn’t see the way he held her or the way he looked at her, she was sure that Valerio was unlike any other man she’d ever been with.

Yet, even that list was a little lacking.

She sighed. “Very lacking.”

He bristled against her. “Explain.”

His breath was warm against her neck, her hair caught against his cheek. She lifted her hand to brush against her cheek and felt the tender spot high on her cheekbone where they’d likely brushed against each other while they were sleeping. The intimate touch burned her cheeks with more heat. “My experience with,” she moved her hand away from her cheek to gesture at the bed beneath them, “this… is sorely lacking.”

His arms tightened around her body but she didn’t feel any pain, or constriction, she felt sheltered, protected. “I’m glad, Allegra.” His voice was barely a whisper in her ears. “The thought of anyone touching you,” she felt a growl vibrate through his body, the sensations rolling through them both, “we don’t like it.”

“We?” The odd choice of words piqued her interest. “What does that mean?”

He tensed against her back, leaning his cheek against the crown of her head. She wondered what he was thinking about.

“I should blame it on the fact that I grew up speaking Italian,” he began, “but there’s something you should know about me. Something that might change the way you think about me, but not how I think… how I feel about you, Allegra.”

“Okay,” she hesitated slightly but didn’t pull away from him, “what is it?”

A knock sounded at the door and even though Valerio tensed initially, he leaned back and let out an indulgent sigh. “Come in.”

The door opened a few inches. “It’s just me and I’m not looking.” Allegra recognized Natale’s voice and the warm humor that spread through it like a smile. “So, if you two are indecent I can’t tell.”

Allegra reached up to touch her shoulder and remembered that she was still wearing her tank top and sleep-pants from the night before. Allegra answered, “I’m dressed,” before turning toward her shoulder to ask, “are you?”

His hand settled on her hip and gave her a squeeze. “Enough.”

“Enough?” Allegra’s question was coupled with a cough of laughter. “What does that mean?”

She felt a quick kiss touch her temple before Valerio swept her hair back behind her ear.

“I’m dressed enough that Natale can come in here and Salvatore won’t rip me apart.”

“Oh please,” Natale entered the room and crossed toward the bed, “Salvatore wouldn’t do that even if you weren’t. He knows how angry I’d be if he hurt you.” Something heavy touched the bedside table. “I brought coffee for you both.”

Allegra hesitated but didn’t say a word.

“If you’d like tea, I have some brewing in the kitchen,” she explained. “Still, we have to get going.”

“Going?”

Valerio doubled Allegra’s question, holding Allegra closer to his chest. She tried to ignore the thick length of his erection under her thigh. “We have time before Allegra needs to go to rehearsal.”

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