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in her, irresistible.
    He didn’t resist. He lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bedroom.

Chapter Five
    Kowalski carried his wife because it was the fastest way to get to the bedroom. After four months of abstinence, he didn’t want to wait a second more.
    It wasn’t that he was a saint. Hell no. He’d been a soldier all his life and he’d done things he could never tell Allegra about. And it wasn’t that he didn’t desire his wife. Every single night he’d gone to bed with a hard-on. And she’d encouraged him often enough.
    But…God. She’d spent her days since the surgery putting herself back together again. How could he forget the first time she tried to stand up and her knees buckled? Good thing he’d been there to catch her.
    Her eyes were bruised with fatigue in the evening. Each day for her had been like climbing a mountain. She’d looked so fragile, like she’d break if he touched her.
    He’d desired her but he hadn’t had the heart to make love to her. And much as he knew it pained her when night after night he simply held her in his arms, he also knew it was the right thing. For a long while, Allegra had been hanging by a thread.
    But not now. God, not now. These days on Kratior had put the flush of health on her skin. She’d gained a few pounds, too. Pounds she needed. But above all, she’d gained in self-confidence. She moved easily and well.
    And just now—God, he thought his heart would burst open when she played as magically as she had before the surgery. Music had been cruelly snatched away from her these past four months but now it was back, and now he had his Allegra back, whole.
    And so beautiful he thought his heart would stop every time he looked down at her in his arms.
    The room was perfect for them to start having sex again. He wasn’t susceptible to atmosphere—as long as they were naked and together and alone, they could be anywhere. But Allegra was a woman and women liked this sort of thing. Silk cushions and silver bowls with dried petals in them, and silver mirror frames and curtains so sheer they floated every time a breeze blew in.
    Oh yeah. Allegra took a look around the room through half closed eyes and he could see that it pleased her. And then she looked at him and he saw, against all the odds, that he pleased her. It still baffled him, but by now he wasn’t questioning it. He’d been born big and ugly and growing up hadn’t changed anything, except he got uglier with each passing year. The big knife scar along his left jaw was just the icing on the cake, so to speak.
    The women he’d gone to bed with looked at him from the neck down and he hadn’t known better so he’d accepted it as simply the way life was. Hadn’t known what it was like to be seen, the way Allegra saw him. And loved, the way Allegra loved him.
    She smiled up at him as if he were George Clooney and Brad Pitt rolled together, and reached up to cup his face. Right over the scar, dammit, as if it weren’t there. He huffed out a breath, started to bend down but stopped at her hand on his chest.
    There was no way Allegra’s hand could stop him. He outweighed her by 120 pounds. He’d spent his entire life training for combat. Maybe if she shot him, she could stop him, but certainly not with a touch.
    But she did. She wanted him to stop so he did. No question.
    “Not so fast, sailor.” Her face with alive with humor. “I gave you your present. So where’s mine?”
    Oh God. He’d completely forgotten about it. It was in his pants pocket, but no way could he give it to her after her gift to him. She’d given him the most precious thing she had. He knew that she’d spent the past three days teaching herself to play that weird zither-like…thing. Practicing hour after hour because she wanted to give him her music. Probably scared every second because there was no guarantee that she’d pull it off. But it was something she wanted to do for him and she did it.
    It was a magnificent