I scrunched my nose and finally looked at him. “Yuck. No.”
He reached forward and moved my hair behind my ear but left his hand against my cheek. I was going to pull away, but then his hand warmed, and my body immediately relaxed.
I was sure he was putting me under a spell, but I couldn’t bring myself to pull away. My body turned to jelly, and I sank further into the cushions, leaning into his touch.
“You’re worried about four men.” His eyes searched mine. “Interesting.”
“What are you doing to me?” I felt drunk, and my eyelids grew heavy. I had the urge to lean over and lie in his lap, but I couldn’t move.
He yanked his hand away suddenly, as if he had been shocked. He looked at his hand and then at me. “Let me show you to your room.”
I attempted to stand but was going nowhere fast. Whatever he thought had happened didn’t bother him because he scooped me up, my head immediately landing on his shoulder.
He smelled magnificent. It was unlike any scent I’d smelled before, and I could only describe it as a clean hug.
“Don’t think I’m forgetting this.” My words barely left my lips as he opened a door to a bedroom.
The room was all white, with a luxurious bed in the center. He carefully held onto me as he pulled back the covers and set me down.
I moaned as I sank down into the softness and could have sworn his eyes flashed darker. He cleared his throat, pulled off my boots, and moved my legs under the covers.
“Good night, Samara.”
I couldn’t even respond.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
RAPHAEL
Being the archangel of healing was a tough gig. All day, practically every day, I healed. Sometimes it was too late for the person, and I had to watch them die in front of me.
Sometimes I wanted to fly somewhere and hide.
In the past week, I’d only been summoned to heal Lucifer, who had been an idiot and used most of his light. It would take him a while to regain full strength.
It was a vacation of sorts, except now it appeared I had a babysitting job as well.
I rubbed my hands over my face as I got closer to home. What had I gotten myself into?
I should have known Samara would be trouble the second I laid eyes on her. All I wanted was a late-afternoon jolt of caffeine. I hadn’t been tapped into my ability to sense other angels, but when I opened that bathroom door, she lit up like a Christmas tree.
A very beautiful, purple-haired Christmas tree.
Even without the angel feathers she’d had, the lightremained. When I touched her face to get her to relax, I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount she had.
She had more than me.
It was impossible.
I landed on my balcony and stopped short as I walked toward the open French doors. Samara was asleep in my hammock, with the duvet from my bed wrapped around her.
She looked so peaceful that I watched her, not wanting to disturb her. One hand was curled beneath her cheek, the other tucked somewhere in the folds of my duvet. She still radiated light in her sleep, a soft glow I could feel more than see.
She was the most beautiful woman to ever grace my eyes.
And that was saying a lot.
She stirred in the hammock, swaying slightly with the movement. A small sound escaped her lips, something between a sigh and a murmur, and her eyelids fluttered open.
