Page 29 of His UnBearable Touch

“All the time when I was in Julliard,” she remembered the time well. “The bears were always my favorites, but I wished they were back in the wild. The area looked so small.”

“That’s what we thought when we first came to New York.” Turning, he started to move and she walked on beside him. “So, a few years ago, we made a few changes to the enclosure.”

“Made a few changes?” She laughed heartily. “Did you just sneak into the zoo and bring hammers?”

His hand smoothed up and down her arm, both comforting her and awakening other emotions inside of her.

“We became-”

“Sponsors of the enclosure. You did, didn’t you?”

He cleared his throat but she could swear she heard him laughing behind it. “We wanted to help.”

She covered his hand on her arm with her own, enjoying the heat he shared with her. “That’s what I love about you.”

Allegra swallowed and waited to see how he reacted. She hadn’t planned on saying the words, but they fell out on their own. “I don’t know why I said that,” she hesitated, worried.

“And you bring me light, Stellina. You warm my soul.” They walked along for a bit before he spoke again. “And that’s why I wanted to show you the enclosure. It has a feature that I think you would enjoy.”

“Really?” She held his arm closer to her side. “Just spending time with you is pretty high up there on my list.” She laughed and lifted her face into the night air to take in a deep breath. “So, tell me. What’s this new feature?”

“It’s a sound feature. It uses the natural acoustics of rock to allow visitors to hear the sounds that the bears make, amplified naturally. There’s a whole chamber where you can hear different sounds if you stand in different places.”

A yawn found its way out of her body, bending her back into a gentle arch. She tried to hide it but she knew the moment Valerio felt it as well. He gathered her close. “We can come back another time. It might be better for you in the day.”

“No,” she smiled, “no need to wait. Daylight won’t do anything for me after all.”

He held her closer, and brushed a kiss on her temple. “I didn’t think of it that way.”

She touched his chest, reassuring him with the gentle contact. “I didn’t think you meant anything by it, but I would like to visit the enclosure while we’re here. Do we need to ask the keepers?”

There was a hesitation.

“This may sound strange,” she began, “but it sounds like you’re smiling.”

That got her a laugh. “Not strange at all, love. I was smiling.” Another kiss to her temple and a soft growl from his throat made her feel warm and loved. “We don’t need anyone’s permission to go to the enclosure. The renovations added to the enclosure, the new additional space, the added budget for their care-”

“Came from you and your brothers, didn’t it?”

This time when he leaned down toward her, she was the one that gave him a kiss and held him tight to her. Rubbing her cheek against his, she heard a satisfied growl vibrating in his throat. Laughing, she leaned into his touch. “I hope that doesn’t seem weird to you, but it feels natural to touch you like that. Maybe I’m just marking my territory.”

That got a reaction.

Valerio picked her up, his hands on her hips held her effortlessly as he sat her on a rock wall and covered her mouth with his. His tongue plundered her mouth and rubbed against her teeth as his hands wrapped around to grip her backside and pull her tight against him.

When he stopped the kiss, his chest heaving, his breathing ragged, he still held her close. “I told you before, Allegra. You can mark me any way you want to and I would revel in it. Hearing you speak of it, that I am yours, makes my heart swell.”

She wiggled against him and sighed. “Not just your heart.” His growl was anxious, increasing in its need. “I bet if I could see,” she wondered, “if I could see your eyes turn black, Valerio. Natale told me that your eyes would go black when the bear wants to see through you, when he’s right beneath the surface.”

He nodded and gripped her shoulders. “Yes, he wants to see you, Allegra, but later.”

She gasped as an idea popped into her head. “In the conservatory,” she asked with breathless anticipation, “would you change for me there? Let me feel you under my hands?”

The growl that met her ears was more bear than man. “Don’t give him ideas right now, Allegra. It’s not safe here and if you keep saying those words, I won’t be able to stop him.”

She sobered in a moment, her hand on him more gentle than explorational. “What’s wrong, Valerio?” He didn’t answer immediately, but when he did he almost made her want to give him a slug on the shoulder, if she could find it without help. Instead she scooted over on the wall and slid down to the ground. “Let’s walk and you can tell me while we’re headed for the bears.”

He didn’t argue with her. Valerio wasn’t like that at all. He could be stubborn, but he meant it when she said what she wanted she would get.

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