Page 24 of His UnBearable Touch

“But it’s more with you.”

Allegra wanted to shake herself for her irrational reaction. She fairly shook with relief.

“It’s always going to be more with you.”

“You don’t need to say that.”

“You’re everything to me.”

He was close enough to touch, not that she heard him close the short distance between them, but when she pushed out her hand to gesture for a moment, her palm collided with the wall of his chest. Funny how she could tell that at a single touch. “I don’t need you to make me feel better.”

“I want to make you feel better, Allegra. The rest of my life, I want to make you feel better, feel loved, adored.”

She heard the truth in his words, it was too easy to hear, but it was so very difficult to believe. “You’re trying to kill me.” She laughed at his sudden growl of denial. “I don’t think you’re trying to hurt me, but your words, your declarations, it’s hard to believe. Those words have always been empty promises.”

His hand closed over hers, and his fingers gently lifted it from his chest and slowly raised it until she felt his lips against her palm, a soft flutter of heat against her skin. “Empty,” he added another kiss and turned her hand, “my heart was empty before I met you.”

She swallowed and tried to blink away the tears that prickled at her eyes. “Please don’t-”

“That you’ve been hurt before, hurts me, but from this moment on, Allegra, things will be different.”

Her palm tickled… scratched and when she felt his breath on her wrist she knew he’d brushed his cheek against her palm.

“They will be different, because I am different from anyone you’ve ever met. You are my equal, my other half, the woman born to complete my heart and inspire my soul.”

Floating. She was sure she was dreaming and the sensations rolling through her body were just her imagination. Her senses were alive and tingling as her body begged to be closer… to be consumed by his words and his promises.

He lifted her as gently as someone might pick up a treasure, setting her down a moment later on his lap, before gently encircling her in his arms. She felt his legs beneath her, the strength of his muscles, the broad wall of his chest, the sensitive scratch of his beard against her forehead, soothed a moment later by his lips.

“I will be here, Allegra, for you. What you need from me you will have. Whatever it takes to make you believe that I’m telling you the truth, is yours.”

She leaned her head down and felt the fine wool of his coat under her cheek. Allegra drew in one breath after another, concentrating on slowing her heartbeat, calming her nerves.

Being with Valerio had been instinct, a jump from the Lion’s head, but conscious thought hadn’t really played a part yet. And now, he was giving her that, sitting still with her as she relaxed against him.

The sound of his heartbeat calmed her, even when his own heartrate thundered within his chest, her own slowed down, easing into a rhythm that echoed the brook just a few feet away. They sat in silence as she brushed her cheek against his shoulder, enjoying the fine fabric under her cheek, the heat of his body against hers, and scent of him as it filled her lungs and whispered over her tongue.

Her body heated, her breath quickened, and her nerves danced just under the sensitive surface of her skin.

“It’s been so long,” she began and her thoughts drew her back into a darker place, “I-”

She felt a hand on her arm. It didn’t hurt, it soothed her. “I’m here.”

And he was, he was a rock that sheltered her in the darkness and gave her his strength.

Allegra turned, ever so slightly, adjusting her seat in his lap to bring her closer, lifting her face toward his, taking a deeper breath of him into her lungs.

“You’re not…” She felt him tense against her, but she didn’t move away. “You’re not completely human.”

* * *

He waited.

Waited for her to push him away.

Waited for her to scream.

To put distance between them.

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