A Caress of Wings Read Free Page B

stood there with him and watched it go up in flames, making certain he knew that his ordeal was well and truly over. He’d been avenged.
    His gratitude and adoration for her was so intense it swamped him. It crashed over him like the gentle waves he laid upon, overflowing his eyes with tears.
    “
Trevor.
”
    He sighed at the sound of his name spoken in her melodious voice. There was a rhythm to her words that moved him, lured him. He thought he might follow that voice anywhere. Even out of blessed, comfortable unconsciousness.
    “Trevor, wake up now.”
    Opening his eyes, he looked up to find his angel leaning over him, and his breath caught at her incandescent beauty. She had such pale, creamy skin and it was beautifully framed by her inky hair. Her lips were plush and berry ripe, so soft-looking he wished he could touch them with his fingertips. She was the first and only thing he’d yet seen after endless days in pitch dark. If she was also the last thing he saw, he’d die a happy man.
    “Thank you.” He was startled by the strength and fullness of his voice. She seemed startled by it, too, blinking a moment before the faintest hint of a frown marred the space between her brows.
    Swallowing, he realized his throat was no longer parched and aching. And then he understood. She hadn’t saved his life; she’d come to collect him after his death.
    “Damn it,” he growled. “I died in that hell pit.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “I’m dead, right?” He looked around, finding heaven to be . . . not what he’d expected. They were in a small, windowless room. He lay on a couch. There was a coffee table and an entertainment center with the standard equipment. A door set off to the side appeared to lead into a bathroom, while another led . . . somewhere else.
    “No, you’re not.” Her mouth curved into something like a smile, and his heart skipped a beat at the sight of it. “How are you feeling?”
    Trevor did a quick mental inventory, amazed to find that he felt pretty good. Awesome, actually. “I feel great.”
    “I did a hack job on your hair,” she said with a regretful wince. “Sorry about that, but it was in bad shape.”
    He sat up, allowing the blankets tucked around his shoulders to fall into his lap. He shoved his hands through his hair, assessing its length. Lowering his arms, he looked for evidence of the bites he’d endured and found none. Then he stared at her, wondering if he’d finally gone insane and this encounter was merely a figment of his warped imagination.
    “Where are your wings?”
    “Tucked away.”
    “I can’t see them.” Shit. What did it mean that he couldn’t see them?
    “Would you like to?”
    “Yes. Yes, I would. Please.”
    She stood and backed up to an open space.
    He watched, riveted, as sinuous tendrils of smoke appeared above her shoulders and gradually took on the shape and substance of wings. The same gorgeous-as-the-dawn wings he remembered. Unable to help himself, he pushed off the blankets and stood. He moved toward her with his hand outstretched, wanting to touch.
    “Trevor.”
    God, he loved her voice. Even now, when it sounded choked. “Yeah?”
    Her wings disappeared an instant before he touched them. “You’re naked.”
    “I am, yes.” He glanced down the length of his body and cringed inwardly. He was way, way too thin. And pale as a ghost.
    “I brought you some clothes.” She gestured to the neatly folded pile of clothes on the coffee table. “They’re probably going to be a little big, but you’ll grow into them. You should put them on.”
    He rubbed the back of his neck. “Is nudity a bad thing around here?”
    Her lips twitched; then an actual smile broke free, dazzling him. “You’re really, truly
not
dead. We’re presently in Ontario, California. And, yes, in Southern California nudity can still get you arrested.”
    “I’m alive.” He tried to let that information sink in, but it continued to hover in the realm of