Chapter Nine
Sin
His head still reeling, Nathaniel grabbed his robe from the floor and pulled it on. The sister and a nurse were hovering around Eloise and checking her vital signs as she lay unconscious on the bed.
“Her blood pressure is nearly back to normal,” said the nurse.
“That’s great,” said the sister. “Wake her, and then leave her for a while longer.”
Nathaniel sighed with relief. Though he was happy Eloise’s soul was back in her body, he wanted to see her conscious to make sure she was all right.
The nurse patted her hand. “Eloise, it’s time to wake up.”
Opening her eyes, she blinked at the bright lights, then drifted off again.
“Can you hear me, Eloise?” The nurse tapped her arm.
“Yeah,” she mumbled, her eyelashes fluttering open for a second.
The nurse put another blanket over her. “Okay, we’ll leave you for a bit longer.”
“Thank goodness for that,” said the sister, following the nurse out the door. “Check on her again in ten minutes.”
Nathaniel peeked down the corridor to make sure Devlin wasn’t around, then he hurried back to Eloise’s bedside. Why on Earth had he told her he was her guardian angel? Now he had to erase her memory of him before she woke and remembered her dream. Closing his eyes, he made a mental note to delete her memory of Devlin as well. No way was he leaving her thinking an angel as evil as Devlin was her guardian.
Standing near the cot, he gazed down at her and wondered what she was dreaming about. She certainly looked peaceful and serene, so he hoped it was a good dream. But then a frightening thought crossed his mind and he prayed she wasn’t dreaming about him.
Knowing he was about to find out when he entered her psyche, he felt suddenly afraid. What if she was dreaming about him and the kisses she’d given him? As the memory of her touch came flooding back to him, he held his head.
Holy Heaven! He couldn’t stop thinking how good she felt in his arms and how gorgeous she looked in his robe—and without it. Oh, my God, no!
He quickly crossed himself. This couldn’t be happening to him, it just couldn’t. Covering his face with his hands, he fell to his knees and prayed for the lustful thoughts to go away. Angels weren’t supposed to have these emotions and now he was no better than Devlin—probably even worse. After all, Devlin hadn’t kissed her—had he?
He jumped to his feet. Well if Devlin had kissed Eloise, or if she’d kissed him, he had to know. Determined to find out, he closed his eyes and entered her subconscious mind.
Her lips broke into a beautiful smile. “Oh, you came back. Are you going to tell me your name? If you really are my guardian angel, I should at least know that.”
“Eloise, please listen to me. I’ll tell you my name, but first I have to know if Devlin kissed you. Did he?”
She bit her lip. “Why do you want to know that? Are you jealous?”
“Eloise, please, I have no time for games, just tell me, it’s important.”
She folded her arms. “Not until you tell me your name.”
Nathaniel sighed. She was as stubborn as ever. “Look, I’m your guardian angel. Devlin is not. He’s a bad angel. He just wants to tempt you to do bad things.”
Her eyes went wide. “Oh, like what?”
“Just answer my question. Did he kiss you?”
She smiled as if she was enjoying herself. “He might have. He’s quite hot you know.”
“Eloise!”
Smirking, she looked him up and down. “But he’s not as sexy as you, or as pretty.”
Nathaniel held his head. Oh, great. That’s not what he needed to hear. “Come on, please answer me. I haven’t got much time.”
“Why? Where are you going? If you really are my guardian angel, you should be by my side all the time, shouldn’t you?”
“I am by your side all the time. I never leave. You just can’t see me. You’re not supposed to see me.”
“Prove it.”
“For goodness sake, you’re the most infuriating ward I’ve ever had.”
She frowned. “Oh, and how many females have you had?”
“Eloise, don’t be facetious, I’m an angel.”
“But I don’t even know what facetious means, so how can I be it?”
“It means inappropriate, and you know what that means.”
She grinned mischievously. “Okay, if you can prove you’re my guardian angel, I’ll tell you about Devlin.”
“All right, your best friends are Brooke and Ruby. You love One Direction, Johnny Ruffo, Birdy, and ...”
“Oh, my God, you know all that? Okay, what song do I play the most?”
“Well, I don’t know who sings it because it’s new, but you drive me nuts when you play it over and over all the time.”
“What’s it called then?”
Nathaniel rolled his eyes. “It’s called ‘You’, and I should know because I’ve heard it a million times.”
Eloise’s held her mouth. “Crikey! You really must be my guardian angel if you know that.”
“That’s right, so now you know that I’m only looking out for your safety, you can answer my question?”
Leaning towards him, she ran her fingers though his curls, sending a thrill across his head and down his neck. As quick as he could, he yanked her hands away. “Please don’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m an angel. Do you want me to get my wings burned off?”
She bit her lower lip. “Oh, so you do fancy me after all.”
“Eloise, just stop this, please.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she gazed into his eyes. “If you did get your wings burned off, would you kiss me?”
Oh no! Her beautiful heart-shaped mouth was so close to his, he was tempted to kiss her. Instead, he closed his eyes and wrenched her arms away. “Eloise, this is serious.”
“So am I.” She grabbed his wrist, sending a pleasure buzz right up his arm.
Terrified of how she was making him feel, he pulled his hand away and glared at her.
She sighed. “Okay, I’ll tell you about Devlin if you tell me your name. I promise.”
He stared at her. “You know, I can find out by reading your thoughts if I have to.”
She squinted at him. “So how come you’re begging me to tell you?”
Glancing upwards with exasperation, he sighed. “Because I want to hear what you have to say. Thoughts can change, but spoken words can’t.”
Folding her arms, she grinned. “Well, if you don’t tell me your name, I’ll just have to call on Devlin when I’m in trouble.”
Nathaniel glowered at her. “That’s not funny, and if you knew what he had planned for you, you wouldn’t say such a thing.”
Her mouth opened wide. “What do you mean?”
From the look on her face he’d obviously scared her, but time was running out and there was no time left for her silly games. “Okay, Eloise, I’ll tell you my name, but you’d better keep your word.”
“I will, I promise.”
“I’m Nathaniel, Angel of Fire, and I am your guardian angel. Devlin is not, so don’t ever trust or believe him.”
Without warning, she stretched up and wrapped her arms around his neck, then before he could stop her, she crushed her lips to his—and just like before, he was zapped with a powerful volt of electricity that thrilled him to the very core.
Gripping her wrists, he pushed her away. “You mustn’t do that!”
“Why not?”
“Because angels are not supposed to kiss human girls.”
A huge smile spread across her pretty face. “You felt it too, didn’t you?”
He blinked twice. “Felt what?”
She held her hands out. “Electricity. Every time I kiss you, I get a zapped—and you twitch.”
Nathaniel’s jaw dropped. “That’s because it shocks me that you do it.”
She grinned. “Ma
ybe, but you still like it. I can tell, so why don’t you admit it?”
“Don’t be absurd. I’m not admitting any such thing. I’m an angel.”
“Well, guess what? That song I play all the time is sung by a singer called Nathaniel. How cool is that?”
Speechless, he just stared at her, but when she grabbed his hand again, his whole being vibrated with joy. Good Heavens, what was she doing to him? Now he had an urge to take her in his arms and fly up to his cloud with her. He yanked his arm away and crossed himself again. Then he realised with horror that if he didn’t erase her memory of him in the next minute, he’d get his wings burned off for sure.
In a panic, he shouted at her. “What about your promise?”
A look of humiliation crossed her face and she lowered her eyes. “So you don’t even think it’s cool about the song?”
“Eloise,” he said in a softer voice. “I’m sorry, but I really do have to go now, so if you want to keep your word, you have less than a minute.”
“Okay. Devlin did try to kiss me, but I turned away, so he just kissed my cheek.”
As Nathaniel stared at her pretty face, a sudden rage took over him and he clenched his fists. How dare Devlin take her soul away and try to kiss her? Now he knew what he was up against, he felt no guilt about burning Devlin’s wings off, but first, he had to remove Eloise’s memory of both of them, as well as her romantic feelings for him.
Gripping her arms, he looked deep into her beautiful eyes. “Eloise, you must never have anything to do with Devlin. He’s a bad angel and he will put your life and soul in danger. You must wear your crucifix at all times and order him to go away. Promise me you will?”
She looked up at him. “Okay, but only if you kiss me before you leave.”
He shook her shoulders. “Eloise, I’m deadly serious about this. It’s no joke.”
Bowing her head as if he’d crushed her very spirit, she gazed up through her thick dark lashes. “Now you’re angry with me.”
He let go of her. She was melting his soul, but he daren’t smile at her. It was difficult enough to do what he had to do, especially when she looked at him like that. But just as he was about to wipe her memory of him, she whispered, “I so love you, Nathaniel.”
Shocked at her words and hurting deep in his psyche, he entered the most intimate part of her subconscious mind and zapped out her memory of him, then he deleted all of her recollections of Devlin.