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angel. Yet they made him look human, and even though
I knew they would heal at a rate faster than a human s
would, I still couldn t shake the image of him lying in
blood. Had he been an ordinary human, he would be
dead.
You ll be home soon. Sleep now.
I don t want to sleep. I want to stay awake with you.
Teagan. He was smiling that magnificent smile I loved
so much. There s no reasoning with you, is there?
Nope. I stifled an enormous yawn.
You re impossible. Number one, you re exhausted. You
should be in a state of shock after all you ve endured.
And, number two, you can t stay awake for this. It s kind
of against the rules.
I m not that tired. I tried to sound convincing but, really,
I was pleading. Besides, don t you think I ve already
witnessed enough that s against the rules?
Have I told you you re adorable when you re flat-out
exhausted? He let out another laugh. And you babble
when you re tired.
I looked at him closely. Tonight was definitely not the
best night to risk talking in my sleep, especially when I
might let something about Hadrian slip out. But who
was I kidding? Garreth was my angel and my life was
an open book to him.
I do not babble.
He raised his eyebrows without uttering a peep and a
little smile grew at the corners of his mouth.
I m afraid you ll disappear if I close my eyes. It was a
whisper that trickled out of me, and he took me in his
arms, saying nothing in response to my fear.
I pressed my face into his chest. As I listened to the
drumbeat of his heart, my eyelids had a preset plan
and there was no point in fighting them any longer. I fell
into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Chapter Twenty-seven
I sat up, sweating. My heart was pounding at a
dangerous rate. It was dark and it took a bit longer for
me to realize where I was. A hand reached out from the
dark and swept my hair from my eyes.
Garreth? My eyes adjusted slowly. How long have I
been asleep?
I tried to look at my clock but couldn t find it, and then
remembered that a lot of things were out of place in my
room. I had a lot of cleaning up to do.
You ve been sleeping for three hours.
Three hours? You should have woken me as soon as
we got back. Didn t he realize how long three hours
is? It s a huge chunk of time lost when it should be
carefully spent now.
He was grinning, enjoying my distress. But you were
babbling. I didn t have the heart to wake you and
deprive you of your...what do girls call it? Beauty rest?
Oh, no. Babbling.
I put my face in my hands. What was I saying? I
couldn t look at him.
Well, for starters, you said you loved me and then
there were a few things I couldn t quite understand.
Like I said, you re prone to babbling.
Okay, I can look up now.
Is it true that you love me? he whispered, leaning
closer.
Yes. It s true.
Then, leaning even closer, he placed the sweetest,
softest kiss his lips could possibly allow on my lips.
You did mention Hadrian s name a few times. Not
many, but a few.
And?
Do I really want to know?
He looked away for a moment, taking his light with him.
I felt left in the dark in more ways than one.
Oops, what have I done?
Garreth?
He turned to me, the dim glow of his skin illuminating
my face.
It was the way you said his name. As you slept, there
were moments when you sounded downright terrified. I
almost woke you up. I feel so guilty for leaving you to
face him. And then, when your panic subsided, you...I
don t know. You sounded almost as if it was Hadrian
you wanted.
He took my hand, carefully cradling it in his own, and
looked at my mark, putting an end to that conversation.
Does it still bother you?
No, it s all right.
His finger traced the scrolling embedded in the skin of
my right hand, then let it follow the tender flesh of my
wrist, trailing it ever so softly up the inside of my arm. I
shivered at the warm, prickling sensation it left behind.
shivered at the warm, prickling sensation it left behind.
I watched, amazed his touch didn t leave behind a
visible trail.
When Garreth raised his face to mine, I was weakened
by how blue his eyes were even in the dim light of my
bedroom.
Thank you for saving me, he whispered.
You re welcome.
I didn t realize until now that we ve sort of come full
circle with each other.
What do you mean?
He tilted his head to the side and gazed at me. I m so
used to being the one to help you that when I was the
one in need of help, I... I m just very grateful.
I smiled back at him. He was right. It was amazing how
things had changed over the last few days. How both
he and I had changed.
It makes me feel sort of...human.
Is that a bad thing?
No. Not at all. Now that you seem to be well in charge
of things, perhaps becoming earthbound isn t such a
foreboding idea.
But you wouldn t be able to save me from anything
anymore.
Ahh, that s where you re mistaken, my dear. He
planted a warm kiss on my lips. I can save you from
the persuasive dark angel in your dreams.
Are you jealous...of a dream?
Very, he answered.
Without warning, his hands were cupped at my jaw and
his lips were on mine, only this time his kisses were
hard, urgent, wildly human. His hands dropped to my
shoulders where he let his thumbs slide the fabric of
my shirt away from my skin. I tore at the buttons of his
shirt but he stopped me, capturing my hands in his. He
let go only to smooth away a lock of hair that had fallen
against my neck. When I felt the soft warmth of his
breath there, kissing the exposed flesh of my
collarbone, it brought goosebumps and odd tremors to
my skin.
Soon my hands were in his hair and with the moonlight
streaming through my window I saw he was perfectly
disheveled when he pulled himself away. His shirt was
practically ripped from his chest, revealing the
smoothness of his skin. His eyes were so blue and
wild that it almost hurt to look at him. He was flawless.
Something I would never be, especially after what I
allowed with Hadrian. Yet, I had just reduced Garreth to
this breathless state. Perhaps there was a bit of power
in me after all.
What was that? Garreth asked me.
As my own breathing became more controlled, I was
pleasantly surprised to see he was still struggling.
Wow. Do I have the same effect on you? I couldn t
hide the smile forming.
What do you mean?
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