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Then Rafael drew her against hiainst his chest, her body pressed against his, and Allegra closed her eyes, letting the music wash over her She needed this She closed her eyes, theto overwhelm her senses even as it made her want more, to let herself be swept away on this tide of emotion and see where it took her

Underneath her cheek Rafael’s chest rose and fell in steady, coers stroked her ar about the ra had ever experienced before If only they could go on like this for ever, feeling each other’s breaths, each beat of their hearts

Thecrescendo and then the strains fell away into silence It had been, Allegra knew froht minutes, and yet it felt like a lifetime She felt both drained and intensely alive at the sa stillness neither of them moved or spoke

‘Do you know,’ Allegra finally said softly, ‘the cello is closest instrument to the human voice? I think that’s why it affects h, conscious of the tears on her cheeks, the rawness of the moment The music had affected her more now than it ever had before

‘It is a stunning piece of ently swept it away, stealing her breath,her ache ‘It causes me to both yearn and mourn’

‘Yes’ The sensitive, sincerely spoken observation pierced her to her core This was the connection she craved, and unthinkingly she twisted in his arh her tears, her face tilted up to his Then she caught the blazing look in his eyes, felt its answer in the sudden, desperate thrill that rippled through her body And this connection, even sweeter and more powerful than the last

He dipped his head and she held her breath, the whole world suspended, expectant—and then hishers in a kiss that felt like both a question and an answer, a need both sating and sparking to life It was enough, and yet it made her want so much more

Allegra’s hands clenched on the crisp cotton of his shirt as his entle and yet so sure She’d never known a kiss could be like this, touching her to her very core, piercing her right through, knowing her And right now she wanted to be known

And then it becaly more In one easy movement Rafael swept her up and across the roo down on the soft leather cushions, his face flushed and his eyes jewel-bright as he looked down at her

‘You are so beautiful So lovely’ With gentle hands he pushed her disordered curls away fro her features Allegra closed her eyes, subers on her face felt as intientle and reverent it made her ache in an entirely neay

He slid his hands lower, each touch a question, his fingers feeling her collarbone and then his pal to the curve of her breast

‘A different kind ofthe trail of his hand, and she laughed, the sound shaky and breathless Yes, this was newht feel fear, or at least uncertainty, but she didn’t

She felt wonderful, and she wanted to keep feeling wonderful, to come alive under someone’s hands, feel as close to another person as she could For one night One ain?

Soed to slip her dress from her shoulders, and now her upper half was bare to hiue, and she gasped aloud, the feel of hiainst her sensitised flesh a jolt to her whole body

‘Oh’ The single syllable held a world of newly gained knowledge as pleasure pierced her with sweet arrows Her hands roved over his back, drawing him closer to her, desire an insistent pulse inside her