Fallen Angel (13 page)

Nathaniel clenched his
jaw. He no longer felt pity for Devlin. He just wanted to tear him
into a million little pieces and burn his wings off, then send him
spiralling to Hell where he belonged. All of this was just too sad
for Eloise, and she didn’t deserve any of it.

Reaching into his pocket,
he grabbed his gold chain and fixed the broken link, then he
threaded his crucifix back and fastened it around his neck. He had
no intention of letting Devlin or Lucifer get to her. It was his
job to protect her, and protect her he would.

Chapter Ten

A month after her
operation, Eloise came home from school in a mood. Knowing she’d
been struggling to get through her assignments after been ill,
Nathaniel decided to listen to her phone calls to see if there was
anything else troubling her. He couldn’t afford to take any risks
after what had happened at the hospital, and from his past
experiences with teenagers, he knew how sneaky they could
be.

After following Eloise to
her bedroom, he watched as she struggled with a word document on
her laptop. As he started to send her suggestions on how to fix it,
Madeline popped her head around the door.

“
There’s a
new release on at the cinema tonight, honey. If you hurry up and
finish your homework you can come with me. You can ask Brooke to
come too if you like, her mum is coming.”

Eloise rolled her eyes.
“I can’t. I have a heap of homework to do and I don’t understand
it. Why can’t I just leave school and get a job like my friend,
Sally?”

“
No, Eloise,
You’re going to stay on and get a good education.”

“
But I’ll
learn more at TAFE. I want to work with animals and there’s a job
going at the pet shop down at Creed Valley. Please, Mum. Let me
apply for it. I promise to go to night school.”

Madeline frowned. “I
don’t know, honey. You’ll have to ask your father when he gets home
on Friday night. If he says yes, I’ll agree, if not, you’ll have to
stay at school, okay?”

Eloise sighed. “I
guess.”

“
What about
the movie. Are you coming?”

“
No, but
thanks for asking. I’m going to try and get through
this.”

“
Sorry I
can’t help you with it, love. I’m no good with computers.” I’ll see
you later then.”

“
See
ya.”

“
Oh, and
don’t answer the door to strangers, you hear me?”

Eloise scowled. “Mum, I’m
nearly eighteen, not twelve.”

Madeline raised her
brows. “I’m serious, Elle.”

Eloise fiddled with her
computer. “Yes, okay.”

“
Okay, I’m
off,” said her mother, closing the door behind her.

Nathaniel was pleased
Madeline had instructed Eloise not to answer the door to strangers,
though he doubted she’d listen. She was such a warm-hearted girl
and way too trusting of people.

As soon as he mother’s
car had pulled out of the driveway, Eloise phoned someone on her
cell phone. “Hi, it’s me, Elle, can you come over and help me with
my homework. I’m having trouble with my word documents. They keep
freezing on me and my assignment has to be in by tomorrow. I don’t
want to get into trouble again. Great, see you in five.”

As she hung up, Nathaniel
wondered who she’d phoned. From the sound of it, it was one of her
friends from school, probably Brooke or Ruby.

It wasn’t long before
someone knocked on the front door, but when Eloise answered it,
Nathaniel scowled. Instead of one of her girlfriends turning up,
there was a motorbike parked out the front and a tall handsome boy
with dark hair swaggered into the hall. After closing the door,
Eloise smiled at him. “Aw, thanks for coming, you’re a life saver.
Come into my room.”

What? Nathaniel ruffled
his feather in frustration and followed them down the hall.
Madeline wouldn’t approve of this muscly young man coming into the
house when she was out, and she certainly wouldn’t allow him in
Eloise’s bedroom.

Though he was probably in
her class, the boy looked older than Eloise, and apparently he
shaved from look of the dark shadow on his cheeks. Smiling at her,
the young man took his leather jacket off and hung it on a hook on
the door. Wearing nothing but a singlet and tight black jeans, he
looked awfully muscly for a school boy, and he obviously worked out
at a gym. As he sat on a chair in front of the laptop, Eloise
pulled a stool up next to him.

Nathaniel didn’t trust
him for a second and decided to stay close in case he got a bit
frisky. Eloise wouldn’t stand a chance with a hot-blooded guy like
that if he took advantage of her.

After adjusting her word
document, the boy smiled. “There, you go, Elle. It’s all ready for
you to type out your assignment and I’ve made you a template, so
you’ll have one ready for next week.”

Eloise gave him a hug.
“Oh, you’re an angel for doing that. I was totally confused. Hey,
it’s great having you back. Have you moved home with your
parents?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes,
unfortunately.”

Nathaniel frowned. Hmm,
looks like she didn’t need her guardian angel to help with her
assignment tonight. Seems she has a human angel for
that.

The young man stepped
over to the door and grabbed a book from his jacket pocket. “Here,
you can borrow my manual for fixing document problems. If you get
stuck, just give me a call.”

Eloise stood up and
glanced through the book, then put it on her desk. “Aw, thanks,
Tom. That will save me from getting busted tomorrow.”

Nathaniel blinked. Did
she say
Tom
? Surely this solid young man wasn’t the same
skinny little Tom from her class that left home a year
ago?

Looking Eloise up and
down, Tom smiled. “Anything for you, babe.”

Babe?
He called
her
babe.
Nathaniel stood in front him to see if he had a
scar on his brow like the kid from her class, but as he peered at
his face, Tom unexpectedly moved forward, passing right through
him.

Disorientated, Nathaniel
blinked. What happened? Instead of facing Tom, he was facing
Eloise—and she was smiling at him. Surely she couldn’t
see
him again? As he opened his mouth to ask her, she stood on her
tiptoes and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.

Whoa!
Nathaniel
reeled backwards as a volt of electricity zapped his
face.

Eloise stared up at him.
“Are you okay? You’re shaking.”

His eyes grew wide.
Goodness!
Not only could she
see
him, he’d felt the
warmth of her kiss. In all the years he’d been a guardian, he’d
never experienced the physical touch of a human before. Still
trembling from the shock of it, he reached out to see if he could
touch her without passing through her body, but when his fingers
met her face, strange tingles ran up his arms.
Holy Heaven!
He could actually feel the silkiness of her skin, and oh, did she
feel good. He yanked his hand away. “I’m fine, Eloise, and now that
you’re older, I guess it won’t be a problem if you see
me.”

Something sparkled in her
eyes, then without warning, she wrapped her arms around his neck
and crushed her lips to his.

Oh, my
God!

Holding his hands up,
Nathaniel froze as a tremendous surge of energy shot through his
soul.
What on Earth was she doing?
She was so close to him,
her breasts were squashed against his chest. And her hands—Holy
Heaven—they were raking through his hair and sending shivers down
his back. Trembling, he gripped her shoulders to push her away, but
when she moaned into his mouth, he totally lost it.

Closing his eyes, he
gathered her into his arms and tasted the sweetness of her lips,
her breath, her mouth. She felt like nothing he could ever imagine
and the warmth and feel of her curves was blowing his mind. He
tried to pull away, but when she slid her hands around his waist,
an uncontrollable groan escaped his throat and he arched his back
as inexplicable sensations like he’d never known pulsated from his
abdomen and burned into his thighs. Never in his whole existence
had he ever experienced anything so pleasurable or as painful, but
the intensity of so many sensations hitting him at once was
igniting him to the core. With no control over what was happening,
his mind began to spin and he was sure he was about to
spontaneously combust. Pulling away from the kiss, he buried his
face in her hair and held her tight to stop himself from collapsing
onto the floor.

She kissed his ear and
quivered in his arms, awakening something in his soul he never knew
existed. Without even thinking, he slid his arms around her hips,
pulling her closer. As she softly murmured, a tremendous heat
burned through every part of him, but she felt so good, he couldn’t
let her go. He just wanted to stay here and hold her in his arms
forever.

“
Oh, Eloise,”
he whispered. “What have you done to me?”

Though she didn’t answer,
she sucked in a sharp breath. Her sweet innocent nature and her
beautiful soul had captivated him. All he wanted to do was—oh,
Sweet Jesus
.

Realising the depth of
what he’d done, he squeezed his eyes shut.
Holy Heaven,
he
was as bad as Devlin. He was
lusting
after a human—no,
worse, he’d fallen in love with one, and she obviously felt the
same way about him. It was all his fault for encouraging her. He
quickly crossed himself.
Jesus Christ,
what had he done?
Could he sacrifice his wings and all of eternity to spend a
lifetime with her? He gazed out the window and silently
prayed.

Oh, Lord,
give me strength. I’m so sorry, but Eloise is more beautiful than I
ever imagined, and although I never wished or planned to ever hold
her like this, it happened. And now that I love her, I can’t let
her go. Please, Jesus, forgive me?

Eloise rested her hand on
his brow. “Are you okay? Your head is so hot.”

He took her face between
his hands and gazed into her emerald green eyes. “That’s what you
did to me, Eloise.”

“
Oh?”
Blushing, she lowered her lashes and rested her head on his chest,
but when she slipped her hands around his waist again, he flinched
as an excruciating pain ran across his shoulders and down his
back.

When the burning
intensified, he cried out in pain, then somewhere in his hazy spell
of ecstasy, he realised what was happening.

Holy Heaven!
God
was burning his wings off.

Terrified Eloise would
get caught in the flames, he jerked away from her. “Eloise, I’m so
sorry.”

Her brow furrowed with
concern and she grabbed his hand. “Tom, what’s the matter? You look
ill?”

Tom?
She called me
Tom?
Nathaniel’s jaw dropped as he realised what had
happened. Eloise couldn’t see him at all. Somehow he’d accidently
possessed Tom’s body.
Jesus
. He was about to get his wings
burned off for nothing. Eloise didn’t have feelings for him. She
had a crush on Tom. Fearing she’d burn along with him, he tore away
from her and shot out the window. Landing on the grass, he fell to
his knees and covered his face with his hands. How could he have
been so foolish to think Eloise was in love with him? And he’d
never
felt that way about her before—but oh, how she’d felt
in his arms.

As grey smoke billowed
around him, he realised his wings were on fire. “Holly shit!”
Flapping them wildly, he leapt to his feet, then with his arms
stretched out in front of him, he shot towards the beach. When he
reached the ocean, he dived head first into the white-capped surf,
then froze with shock as the icy water hit him like a sword. Oh
Lord! The sea had never hurt him before and for some reason he
couldn’t glide through it like he used to. His chest was killing
him and his throat was filling with water. Raising his arms above
his head, he gagged and kicked until he ascended upwards. When he
hit the surface, he instinctively opened his mouth and gasped for
air, then he coughed and spluttered and thrashed his arms about as
he desperately tried to swim to shore.

Seeing a huge wave behind
him, he stretched his arms out, hoping to catch it, but as it
thundered above him, it dragged him under, tumbling him over and
over and tangling him in seaweed before dumping him on the shore.
Grateful he hadn’t drowned, he collapsed onto the hard wet sand and
panted for breath as salty water poured from his nose. When he
tried to get up, a sharp pain knotted inside of him and he held his
belly and heaved as water and bile shot from his throat. His back
was killing him, and when he glanced over his shoulder and
uncontrollable scream escaped his throat.
Holy Heaven!
It
was too late to pray for forgiveness. He’d already
fallen.