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.”

She froze when she felt something bump against her shoulder, rub along her arm, bend down toward the man laid prone before her.

“Don’t you bite him!” She winced back as the bear roared at her. She knew he had to be close because she felt wet spittle on her face. “Sorry, sorry,” she muttered back, but she didn’t back down.

“I know I’m crazy for doing this, but if I’m going to die, I’m going to go out doing something.” She huffed. “Yes, like talking to myself.” She tugged tighter on his coat and took in a deep breath before she moved, pushing herself forward and landing on the palms of her hands. She wasn’t prepared for the exact distance of the stop and felt pain radiate through her palms.

She heard movement in the space, from a few directions at once. Squeezing her eyes shut she sucked in a deep breath and let it out, using every ounce of air in her body. “Mine!”

There was a startled silence and then a roar; one side and then the other. Still the same two.

She crouched down over him, trying to cover as much of his body as she could. He may be taller and heavier, but she had a good amount of cover to offer.

Something nudged her thigh, pushing up against her. She didn’t move. Something at her other shoulder, a nose or something she imagined was a nose. Allegra shook her head. “Nope. Not moving.”

Teeth closed over the back of her calf, nearly breaking skin, but not. “You better stop that.” That’s right, talk to the bear, Allegra. It let go and she felt tears run down her cheeks onto her arm.

Pressing herself closer to Valerio she placed a kiss on his cheek. She knew that by the time his brothers got there it was going to be too late. She didn’t have a clue of what to do. All she knew was that she was going to make the most of every stupid second of her life. Turning her cheek against Valerio’s she closed her eyes one last time and reached into the darkness for his light.

Wake up.

* * *

His head ached.

His body was worse.

Something hit him, a vehicle of some sort, slow but hard enough to break bone. And then the fall. He’d turned, putting himself on the bottom.

On the bottom to absorb the impact.

To protect her.

Allegra.

He felt her holding him. He heard her mumbling at him. Mumbling to herself.

His woman could talk.

And he loved every word, because it meant she was alive and awake.

Wake up.

She was pushy too.

He loved that about her.

And hopefully when they mated, she’d be pushy and tell him what she wanted. He’d be more than happy to follow her instructions as long as she was his.

Wake up.

He drew in a breath to answer her back. To tell her to wait just a moment.

But when he took in that breath he stopped short.

Bear.

His senses came alive, energy pulsing through his body like his nerves were on fire. He opened his mouth to talk and only heard the bear bellowing out a challenge.

Allegra was his!

The bears needed to know and move away, or suffer for their mistakes.

He felt Allegra loosen her hold on him as his body began to shift. He wanted to tell her to move back, to give him room, but he didn’t have his own voice, only the bear’s roar as it ripped through his throat.

One of the bears made the mistake of moving closer instead of backing away.

The bear pushed through, making the rest of their shift in the space of a heartbeat.

Valerio felt muscle tear and reform, bones cracked and reset in a different configuration. His heart pushed higher volumes of blood through his body as fur covered him like a cloak had fallen over him.

The curious bear bared fang, but stepped back once and then again. He put a little bit of distance between them but it wasn’t enough. Rolling his enormous shoulders, Valerio surged forward, teeth bared accepting the challenge, a roar ripping from his body as he leapt.

The bear found himself on his side, legs pushing out to run, but finding no purchase on the smooth ground. He tried to twist his neck but couldn’t.

Valerio had his jaws around the bear’s neck. Pinning him to the ground.

The second bear was smart enough. Having backed up into a cave-like rock feature that gave the bears some privacy from prying eyes. Head down, the bear waited for the end of the fight.

Under his massive jaws, the bear gave one more twisting movement, trying to dislodge the hold Valerio had on him, but only succeeded in pushing his fangs through the thick hide covering his neck.

A whine reached his ears and Valerio felt the bear go limp in his grip.

He pressed his teeth in, just a fraction of an inch, enough to let the bear know that could have happened if he hadn’t given up. Once that was done, he let go. The bear’s head slumped down against the ground, making him whine a little more, but he didn’t move, not even to move away from Valerio. He laid still, beaten. Done.

Satisfied that he’d made his point, Valerio stood and turned.

His eyes saw through the darkness and caught sight of Allegra, still on her knees, her hands reached out toward him. He saw the worry on her face, the pain pinched at the corners of her eyes.

He opened his mouth to call her name and only made a soft growling noise.

She tensed before him, her hands pulling back the littlest bit as she bit into her lip.

Valerio didn’t want to frighten her. She’d already been through enough. How long had she been alone with those bears while he lay unconscious? He hoped it wasn’t long, but even just a few moments was too much. He wanted to comfort her, to hold her close. But he needed some time in his shifted state to heal the damage that was caused by the hit and the fall.

Still, he couldn’t leave Allegra literally and figuratively in the dark.

Sitting down on the hard floor of the enclosure he tried to still his movements, readying himself for the shift. It was going to hurt with all of his injuries, but it would be worth it to ease her worry.

“Wait.”

His bear turned to look at her, watching as she felt for the wall and put one foot up on the ground.

“Wait.” She shook her head and walked both hands up the wall while she managed to get herself up off of her knees. “Don’t shift yet.”

She swallowed a laugh, he could almost feel it rushing up inside of her.

“You feel it too, right?”

Then she laughed for real.

“Not that you could tell me if I got it right.” She shook her head as if she needed to clear her thoughts. “Patricia, my therapist, she told me something about how it works. Somedays telling me little bits and pieces about what it’s like to be a shifter was the only thing that got me to try something again after I walked into a wall. You need to heal and it’s faster as your bear.” She let out a huff. “Just don’t let them eat me and you can have all the time you need before you shift back.”

He started to move toward her at a slow walk, but he heard pounding footsteps above them and rushed closer to put her at his back.

The steps ended in a crunch of gravel and dirt under a heavy foot. “Valerio?” Salvatore’s worried voice called down from the upper level.

“We’re down here!” Allegra answered for them and he heard the other bears retreat into their den.

Valerio sank down to the ground with a low groan of pain.

A moment later, he felt a hand on his back, fingers combing through his thick fur.

Allegra.

She moved higher up along his body, her hand repeating the gentle petting gesture again and again as she did. When she reached his head, he held still and let her touch him. She gently ran her palms over his broad forehead and traced her fingertips along the edges of his ears before smoothing a touch down both cheeks. “That’s really you in there, isn’t it?”

He leaned into her hands and after the initial shock of it, she leaned in to him too, until her cheek pressed against his.

“I’m so glad you’re okay. I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to you.”

Valerio opened his mouth to speak before he realized that he couldn’t sound out the words.

She turned and wrapped her arms around his massive neck. “I know,” she sighed, “you don’t have to say it. All that matters is that we’re walking out of this alive.”

The heavy side door of the enclosure swung open. Valerio could see the cage on the other side of the door standing open as well. Salvatore and then Uberto walked in, their eyes looking into the darkness for danger. Uberto remained in the opening to watch as Salvatore made his way over to them. “Let’s get you two home.”

Allegra felt someone take her arm and she leaned toward the touch. “It’s Salvatore. I’m going to get you to the car, Uberto will take care of Valerio.”

She smiled at him, relief flooding through her at the feel of cool night air that reached her face. “Thanks for coming to get us.”

Salvatore guided her toward the exit. “Looks like you two handled it on your own.” There was a pause and then a warning. “Careful, we’re going through the doorway, watch yourself.”

“Thanks for watching out for me,” she lifted her hand to pull it in closer to her body and ended up hitting it on the edge of the door.

She didn’t make a sound, after years of walking into things, she was used to the sudden jarring pain of impact.

It was Valerio who made a comment with a loud rolling growl in his throat.

“What happened?” The question was from Uberto, who felt his brother’s unease.

Allegra decided not to try and hide it from them. It was better just to get it over with. “I landed on my arm and might have hurt my wrist, but I’m sure it’s fine. Really.”

There was a moment of silence and she knew the brothers were communicating with each other. And this time she knew exactly what they were going to say. Letting out her pent-up sigh, she asked her question to the entire Orsino brotherhood. “Which hospital are we going to?”

* * *

Tucked away in bed, Allegra couldn’t quite go to sleep. Every so often she’d feel Valerio shift against her side and his fingers would sweep through her hair before he’d press a kiss somewhere on her face. “Go to sleep,” he grumbled after a bit, “I’ll watch over you.”

“I know you will,” she sighed into his shoulder, “but I can’t quite get to sleep just yet.”

They lapsed into silence until she traced her fingers over his bare chest, humming to herself.

Valerio gently set his hand over hers to hold it still. “The doctor said to rest your wrist until we see him tomorrow for another check.”

He fell silent again, smoothing his hand down her side from her shoulder to her elbow and then dropping to the hip and over the rise to her thigh before he’d start again.

Instead of soothing her, it only managed to make her warm, tingly.

“Why-” she stopped, struggling to find the right words, “why are we waiting?” She let out a frustrated sigh, she had wanted to broach the subject in a more roundabout way and only ended up blurting out the words. “I heard what Salvatore said to you before he went to check on Natale.”

She felt Valerio’s fingers dig lightly into her hip and heat pooled between her thighs as she imagined his touch against her bare skin.

“I didn’t want to disrupt your life.”

“Disrupt my life?” She couldn’t help the laugh that burst from her lips. “I could use a little good disruption in my life.”

“Things might change after I mark you.”

“Change can be good. What are you worried about?”

“Our connection would be deeper-”

“I don’t see the problem. Natale and Salvatore-”

“Their bond is different,” he growled at her, “their connection began when they met. I think ours… began before that.”

She opened her mouth to ask another question and felt his lips on hers, drawing her bottom lip between his teeth.

“I came to New York because I felt I had to. I did some checking. The day you moved to New York City was the day I started planning to move.”

She didn’t ask him how he knew. The Orsinos ran a security firm, background research must be child’s play.

“The day you were in the subway, I left my car behind at home and went to take the subway, even though I hate those little tubes. When you were afraid, I felt it. I felt you, Allegra.”

He shifted on the bed, moving so they were nearly nose to nose.

“There’s something connecting us already, I’m afraid what will happen when our connection gets deeper. What that might do to your music, your concentration, if I’m suddenly even more inside of your head. If my emotions affect yours as much as you affect mine.”

“Sure,” she swallowed, but the knot in her throat didn’t go away, “it could make things worse, but it could make things better.”

Her hand moved on his chest, pulling out from under his to travel over the hard wall of muscle and sparse covering of hair that peppered his chest. She traveled over his skin with her curious seeking hand and found the pebbled perfection of his nipple against the side of her fingertip.

“Tonight, when you saved me from the fall, you were unconscious, and I sat there waiting for you to come back to me.”

She felt him pull back, not just physically, but inside of him, and she reached out her hand and grabbed at his bicep to hold him still.

“And when I thought that bear was going to hurt you I nearly lost my mind. I mean, here I was thinking the bear would know who you were, what you were and leave you… us alone. But I guess he saw us for what we were, uninvited… we invaded their space.”

“I heard you.” The admission seems to hurt him physically. She could hear the edge in his tone. “You confronted a bear.” He shook his head slightly. “You were so brave.”

Her laughter felt nearly hysterical. “I was terrified! But I had to try something and went with my gut. The same gut he could have spilt all over the floor.”

“You were magnificent.” She felt his hand on her cheek, and then his fingers as they brushed her hair back from her temple. She was never grateful for unruly waves until that moment. “You claimed me, protected me like I would have done for you as my bear.”

She smiled, overly pleased with herself. “Good.”

“And,” he paused, drawing in a long breath that shifted his skin under her hand, “I felt you, calling to me. I heard your worry… your need.”

Her smile brightened as she grasped onto the lead he’d given her. “And if I had your mark?”

She felt her words hit him like a physical impact, stunning him.

“If I carried your mark. If it had deepened what we have between us,” she knew she was pushing him and didn’t stop, “maybe I could have brought you around sooner. I could have-”

His lips were on hers, his thigh draping over hers as his arms pulled her tight against his chest. She was trapped in his embrace and melted into his kiss.

When she felt his tongue against the seam of her lips she opened her mouth under his heated kiss and her tongue swept against his, drawing him in further.

She felt his hardened length against her thigh and she wiggled in his embrace trying to get in the right position to cradle him against her heat. She couldn’t hope that he’d give in to her. He was nothing if not dedicated to his promises, and still she wanted to feel his heat against hers.

She dragged her fingers down his side, ignoring the slight twinge in her wrist. She didn’t stop until she’d hooked her fingers in the waistband of his soft cotton pants and tugged it down a few inches and stopped when the waistband caught.

A hiss of sound reached her ears, but it wasn’t pain she felt radiating off of him, but hunger.

Hunger for her.

She could smell it on his skin.

She could feel it deep inside of her.

She just wasn’t sure when she would convince him to give into it.

“Allegra.”

She breathed in the sound of her own name, tasted it from his lips, and then fed it back to him on the tip of her tongue as her hand slipped under his waistband.

His hips curled toward her as her hand traced the seam where the top of his thigh met the muscular curve of his backside.

Rolling onto his back he pulled her on top of him, guiding her until she straddled him on the bed.

When she started to sit up, he took her arms in his hands and pulled her down against him. He was tender but unwilling to let her go.

“Do you want my mark, Allegra? Do you want to belong to me forever?” He bit at her bottom lip, soothing the subtle scratch with his tongue. “Do you?”

She chased after his lips when he pulled away and found her breasts pressed tightly against his chest. With the gentle pressure and the sensual shift of her tank top against her skin, her nipples pinched tight and sent sparks of heat through her body.

He wouldn’t give her his lips until he got an answer, holding her in place as he moved, rolling his heat against hers as she sat trapped above him. “If you don’t, just say so.”

“Mark me, Valerio.” A breath heaved from her lungs and the movement sent more delicious sensations through her, pooling her heat deep between her thighs. “I don’t want to wait anymore.”

He moved, releasing her arms to slip his arms around her body, holding her securely against him.

Turning, he set his feet on the ground and stood.

Allegra sucked in a breath at the sudden change of position and lifted her legs to wrap them around his waist. As soon as she felt her ankles cross, she slid just the littlest bit and moaned.

Pressed tight against her core was the tip of his erection. It gave her a full feeling, even before he was inside of her.

He kept moving, his strides smaller than normal, but still with purpose.

When she heard the doorknob turning under his hand she tensed and waited. “Where… where are we going?”

“Trust me, Stellina?”

“Yes,” she answered him and felt his hands curve around to cup her backside and pull her tighter against his muscular form, “oh yes, I do.”

He closed the door behind them and kept walking.