Page 45 of His UnBearable Touch

Allegra turned toward him and Valerio’s gaze poured over her face. It was a dream, he worried. There was always a little doubt in the back of his head that said he’d wake up one morning, alone and suffering again. And yet, with all the years he’d waited, hoping to meet ‘the one’ in such a crowded city, staying on deep-seated faith alone, he’d finally found Allegra.

He watched as she lifted a hand toward his face, showing him the tip of her ring finger that still held a drop of blood.

“I know,” she told him, a little bit of resignation in her tone, “that we’re going to discuss what happened when the others come home.”

“Mmm hmm.” He took her hand in his, drawing her into the elevator when the doors slid open. When he set the floor, he wrapped an arm around his curvaceous mate and pulled her closer, using his other hand to take hold of the finger she’d presented to him.

“Until then,” he pressed a kiss lightly against the cut, “I’m going to take care of this cut and try to make your knees weak.”

“What,” she swallowed as his lips closed over the first part of her finger, “I mean why would you want to do that?” She flushed as his tongue swept over the pad of her finger. “Because you make me weak just by touching me.”

He leaned back to speak and she mourned the loss of his heat. “Because then I can carry you in my arms when I take you to bed, and I do so love carrying you.” He pulled her back into his mouth, slowly tangling his tongue against her finger.

“You’ll get no arguments from me,” she sighed, leaning closer into his embrace.

Chapter Eleven

Allegra listened carefully as Salvatore explained some of what happened after they left the zoo. Uberto was more than happy to embellish his part of the events. “I picked up what was left of the box after Big Foot stepped on it.”

She reached over and laid her hand on Valerio’s thigh, giving it a little squeeze.

“It’s the craziest ‘gift’ I’ve ever seen. And if it’s from a friend of yours, Allegra, it’s time to end that friendship.” She heard some noise on the table, the soft shift of something flat against the glass. “The glass was already broken, inside the box. The pieces were glued down to the bottom of the box so that they wouldn’t move around if someone shook it.

“There was nothing in the box that would have thrown the shards or anything like that. Bastard knew she’d reach into the box to find her present.” He shoved the box further down the table. “Did Mama bear fix up your cuts, Allegra?”

Turning toward his voice, Allegra didn’t know what to answer.

Natale helped, as always, translating the family’s inside jokes. “’Berto calls Salvatore ‘Papa Bear.’”

“Oh,” Allegra winced a little on Valerio’s behalf and then held up her right hand, “all healed up… ‘Baby Bear.’”

The room went silent for a moment before Natale started to laugh. “Nicely done, Allegra.”

Allegra reached out toward Uberto and there was a moment wait before he put his hand under hers. “Sorry.”

He gave her hand a squeeze and then pulled away. “I deserved it.” He laughed a little himself. “Partially I did it because I know he’s likely to be ready to rip something apart by now and I thought we could get in a little fun.”

“Fun?” Allegra laughed. “You wanted Valerio to beat on you?”

“On me?” Uberto nearly choked on the idea. “No. I was willing to let him get a few hits in before I kicked his furry ass, thank you very much.”

Allegra shifted a little, her concern on the man who held her in his lap. “Are you upset?”

“Upset?” he parroted. “Of course, but I want to hear the rest of what they found before deciding what I need to do.”

That got her attention. “There’s more? I thought that this was just some crazy prank.”

Salvatore spoke again. “We found a card. Likely it was on or in the box, but it was on the ground where you were standing. From what I can tell there’s nothing handwritten on it. It’s written with braille.”

A tickle of unease worked its way down her spine. She reached out and someone put the paper in her hand.

It took a minute for her to wrap her head around the idea that someone had come out of the blue to hurt her. It had been so many years of peace.

She knew everyone was waiting for her to read it, so she took in a steadying breath, laid the card on the table and touched her fingers to the edge of the paper. Reading should only have taken a few seconds. The first thing she’d learned when the world went dark was how to read. Audible books were great, but reading on her own had always been one of her greatest pleasures.

She stumbled over a few of the words, more from disbelief than lack of ability to read it clearly. When she was finished she pushed the card away toward the others, not really caring if it ended up back on the floor.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would say it’s from-” her voice died away as if saying his name would conjure him before her. Instead she focused on the message, repeating it out loud.

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