Page 32 of His UnBearable Touch

“We need your help.”

“Allegra?”

She didn’t bother with niceties, blathering out what she knew which wasn’t much. And then she didn’t need to say much more because she heard the distinctive angry growl of a pissed off wild animal.

“Allegra? Are you in the bear enclosure?”

She swallowed down a laugh because she really doubted that the bears would find it funny.

“Allegra?”

Heavy footsteps tromped closer, hesitant, but for how long?

“Yes,” she whispered in a rasp, desperate for help, “yes. We are, hurry…”

As soon as she said the last word she felt a puff of hot breath in her face and smelled an unfamiliar scent of fur and suspicion. That’s when she dropped the phone.

Chapter Eight

The phone made a tinny clattering sound, coming to rest somewhere away from her hand, but that was the least of her problems. The heated breath on her face disappeared, but she didn’t hear any sounds.

Clinging to Valerio, she tried to shake him gently. She needed him awake, but not to scare or anger the bears.

The humor of the situation was numbing, riding her spine with claws as the rest of her turned cold.

“Hello?”

She rolled her eyes at her own ridiculous actions. As she took in a breath, she felt a stitch in her side and swallowed the pain-filled moan. She tugged at Valerio’s coat, pulling him closer to her and hopefully away from the bears.

“Please, Valerio. Wake up.”

She moved her hands up along his chest and shoulder and up to his face, placing her hand on his cheek. It was warm.

And his breath fanned out against her fingertips.

A growl, low and deep, reverberated from the walls, swallowing her in the sound. She’d spent years listening to sounds, using them to find dangers in the darkness, but the way they’d built this enclosure made it great for tourists and zoo visitors, but not for her.

Another growl from the same location. The same sounds pushed at her ears, washed over her skin. She prayed that it meant that the bear was in the same place.

And then, another noise. Nails on a hard surface.

Not nails, she reminded herself.

Claws.

Big bear claws came with big paws and a bigger animal.

“Please tell me they feed you well.”

A huff from one direction.

A scratch from another.

She tugged on Valerio and leaned down to his ear. “I swear to God, Valerio. If you don’t wake up soon and get us out of here. I’m going to start screaming and scare these poor bears to death.”

A low bellowing sound came from an unfamiliar throat.

“I’m going to die.” The words fell from her lips before she could stop herself. “I hope it doesn’t hurt too much.” Fisting her hands in his lovely wool coat, she leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his temple. “Please, Valerio. I swear, I’ll go on a diet if you wake up and get us out of here. I probably smushed you when we fell over the railing. It’s not like you have a lot of padding on top of all of those gorgeous muscles.” She gulped in a breath. “Not like I’ve ‘seen’ the muscles, but sleeping beside you… yeah, okay, so I did a little touching while you were sleeping. Sue me if you want. Just wake up.”

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