The Police Chief himself gave the order to break the locks on the old entrance doors to the subway station and directed the officers to hold back the press and curious onlookers as the Orsino Security SUV backed down into the pitch-dark passage. From there, their own security men took over.

Salvatore slid from the driver’s seat and picked up a bag from the back of the vehicle. Each of the brothers kept a bag in the back of all the company cars, changes of clothing, towels, cleansers. Just enough to make them passable on the street if they had to shift.

By the time Valerio carried Allegra to the main landing of the old subway station, he smiled at the sight before him. Leaning closer to Allegra he gently whispered into her ear. “Salvatore is here. He’s going to take us back home.”

She lifted her head from his shoulder. “The concert-”

“Has been postponed.” Valerio placed a kiss on her forehead.

“Essa sends his love and wants you to rest.” Salvatore’s normally gruff voice was carefully schooled, taking on a lighter tone. “I can set her in the car.”

Valerio felt Allegra tense in his arms.

“Sure,” she managed to keep her tone even, but he felt the tremor that shot through her body, “I can go with Salvatore if you have something to do.”

Valerio answered for himself, turning slightly to nuzzle his cheek against hers. “I’m not letting her go. Not until we’re home and safe.”

He felt Allegra’s shock and then he felt the way she relaxed against him, her arms tightening around his neck, pressing her closer to his chest. His bear agreed that this was much better than the alternative. Even his bear knew that Salvatore was family, but they’d come so close to losing her, that neither of them could part from her. Not for a moment. Not yet.

Salvatore set the bag back in the back of the car and shut the door. “I’ll stay here. We’ll handle the cleanup.”

Valerio moved to the side of the car and one of their security officers opened the door for him, a blanket draped over his arm. It was a thoughtful gesture for their mate and Valerio nodded at the man before turning his attention back to Salvatore. “Can you call Natale and ask her-”

“She’s taken care of everything. Allegra’s clothes are laid out, fresh towels and linens. Food when you’re hungry.”

Allegra’s tears trailed down the side of his neck and he held her closer. He could only nod to his brother before stepping into the car, his mate cuddled against him.

* * *

Allegra lifted her head when they entered the penthouse, listening to the room and finding it empty, her expression pinched into a confused frown.

Valerio knew what she was thinking. “Natale’s asleep. She took care of everything but knew that we’d need some time.”

Nodding, she leaned against him and sighed, feeling the tension draining from her shoulders. “I love your family, but yes, time alone… at least until tomorrow… sounds like heaven.”

“Our family loves you right back, Allegra. Remember that.” He only held her closer, not too tight, but securely against him.

She barely moved when he set her down on the bench inside the shower, leaning back against the cool tile and enjoyed the slight scratch of the sandy texture against the back of her dress. “I can’t imagine what would have happened to me today if I hadn’t met you.”

A soft series of beeps sounded as Valerio set the controls for the shower and she heard the soft hiss of a showerhead and listened to it run. A slight hum reached her ears and then another beep told her that he’d set the temperature for her. A soft smile touched her lips. “If you want to shower first, go ahead and make it hotter. I promise I won’t peek.”

There was a silence and then a soft chuckle. “You are so very brave, Allegra. You humble me.”

And his words, she decided, made her weak in the most delicious of ways.

“I want to bathe you, Allegra,” his words sounded more like a confession. “I need to touch you and know that you’re safe… whole… alive.”

The subtle, humid heat from the water made the air heavy, misting her skin with moisture. Sighing, she gave him a smile, realizing that he needed her just as much as she needed him.

“I want you to touch me, Valerio. I need you to wash away his touch.” She swallowed at the feelings that her own words brought back. “I need to feel alive under your hands… whole with you inside me… and alive and loved in your arms.”

She felt his hands on her face and leaned into him as he pressed his lips against hers and then slanted them over hers as his tongue sought entrance into her mouth. She welcomed him with a gasp, drinking in his heated breath, taking the air from his lungs.

As his tongue tangled with hers she lifted her hands to mirror his gentle hold, feeling the scratch of beard against her palms. The friction sent soft jolts of lightning through her body, making her skin tingle, the tips of her breasts tighten against the damp layer of her clothing.

She leaned into the kiss and his fingers traced the column of her neck, careful of the tender skin where she’d felt the painful squeeze of Lance’s hands less than an hour before. The thought only crossed her mind for a moment, because when the tips of his fingers feathered over her mark, a keening cry burst from her lips as the faint echo of an orgasm arced through her body pooling liquid heat between her legs.

Her hands reached out and grabbed onto his shoulders for support.

“More,” she demanded, “I need you against my skin.”

His hands grasped the neckline of her dress and a moment later she offered up a silent prayer of thanks that the fabric gave under the needy pressure of his hands. Peeling her top from her shoulders to her elbows, he reached his arms around her, leaning her forward from the wall into his open embrace as he opened the back of her bra and brought it down her arms to settled against the fabric of her dress.

She felt his hesitation and smiled. “I can stand.” And instead of waiting for him to argue, she shifted her position on the bench and stood. She might have shocked him, but he recovered well, peeling her dress down to her waist where his thumbs hooked into the elastic waistband of her panties and drew the rest of her clothes down to her feet.

Before she could sit back down, she felt his hands on her hips and wondered again how he could make her feel so loved and desired, and that was before she felt the reverent kiss he placed on her belly.

“I want a family with you, Allegra. How truly beautiful our children will be with your heart and your beauty.”

She blushed at the compliment and sought to reassure him as well. “How brave they will be because of you.”

She moaned as she felt his tongue sweep over her skin, licking the moisture from her skin.

“If they have your courage, Allegra, then they will truly be gifted.” She felt him tremble through his hands on her skin. “I have never known such terror,” he laid himself bare before her, “I could only see one outcome of the moment. I needed you back in my arms. And if I had to kill hundreds of men to save you, then I would have done it.” He shook his head and she felt the soft brush of his hair against her belly. “I was not brave,” the words stumbled across his tongue, “I was desperate to save your life, for you hold mine in your hands, Allegra. Without you, I would be empty.”

She lifted her hand and set it on the top of his head and then comb it through his hair until she cupped his cheek in her palm. “The same would have been true for me, Valerio.” She couldn’t stop the hitch in her voice. “Take me to bed, my love… my mate. Fill me until we’re sure, so delightfully sure, that we’ve begun both our lives together and our new family.”

* * *

He stood and easily lifted her against him as she wrapped her legs around his waist. He wanted to wait until they’d reached the bed, but she’d pulled her lower lip in between her teeth and angled her hips against him, touching her full curve of her luscious backside against the sensitive tip of his erection.

“Love you,” the words growled from his lips. He shifted her slightly and lowered her over his thick length until he felt her body swallow the tip of him and ripple against him, “need you.”

“Then have me, Valerio,” she rolled her hips and took him deeper in her body. “Now.”

He kissed her, not just as a distraction, but because he needed to taste her and have his tongue stroke hers until his body could take over.

He laid her out beneath him, cushioned by the comforter that had been left on the bed. Valerio shifted his hold on her, cupping the rounded swell of her behind in both hands he held her in place as he began the long slide into her tight body. The single stroke only ended when he felt himself fully seated in his mate.

The bear roared his satisfaction as Valerio held still inside of her. Her body welcomed his, wet and tight around his thickness. He felt her wiggle a little, and the grip of her walls eased enough to let him pull back. He felt her close around him, holding tight to the tip of his cock as if she was afraid he’d pull all the way out of her.

“Easy, my love,” he groaned and slide back into her tight sheath, “I’m not leaving you.”

She shook her head from one side to the other. “I’m not leaving again,” she groaned and he felt a ripple of sensation along his erection. “Faster, Valerio, harder. Don’t hold back.”

He heard the need in her voice and felt the same hunger for her. She’d given herself into his care and taken his own love into her heart for safekeeping. There was nothing that he would ever deny her, not when she brought him such joy.

He leaned over her, thrust into her, and as their hands caressed each other, they wrought such infinite pleasure from each other’s bodies that when they collapsed, boneless into each other’s arms, they didn’t need a single word to speak, all they had to do was touch.