Fallen Angel (Hqn) by Eden Bradley Read Free Book Online Page A

me.”
    He straightened up. She seemed sane enough. Or, he wanted to believe she was. But this was some weird shit. He ran a hand through his hair. “You’re telling me you don’t have a name, just…titles?”
    She turned her head to look at him again. She seemed perfectly calm. Too calm, maybe. “If that is how you wish to think of it.”
    “No one has ever called you something else?”
    “Only you. You call me an angel.”
    He was surprised to feel himself blushing. “You heard that?”
    “Yes.”
    “What else… Never mind. I’m just glad you’re awake.”
    “So am I. What is this place? Is this your place?”
    “What? No. It’s the hospital.”
    “Hospital…” She seemed to be testing the word on her tongue. “You do not live here?”
    “Only lately.”
    Her brows drew together in confusion.
    “Sorry. I was making a joke.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “Yeah, neither do I. Look, something has happened to you. You’ve been hurt pretty badly. But you’re going to be okay.”
    “What I am going to be remains to be seen. I’ve not been told yet.”
    “For now you’ll stay here, in the hospital, until you’re well. You’ll be taken care of. I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”
    Where had that come from? But it felt ridiculously important to him, to protect this girl. From what, he wasn’t sure, exactly. But he needed to find out.
    “Do you remember who did this to you?”
    She turned her face away from him once more, pressing her cheek into the pillow, her jaw clenching, her eyes squeezing shut. Another tear slid down her cheek.
    Shit.
    He leaned in closer, said quietly, “You don’t have to tell me right now. Okay? That can wait. Just rest. Get better.”
    “It hurts,” she said quietly.
    “Are you in pain? I’ll get the nurse, have her give you something for it.”
    “It hurts to know I’ve failed. That I did this to myself.”
    “Angel, it’s not possible for you to have done these things to yourself.”
    She shook her head. “It is my own fault, my own failings. If I’d been good enough…”
    He was angry now, at whoever had put these ideas into her head. “No one deserves what happened to you,” he said fiercely. “No one.”
    She turned to look at him, her eyes glossy with tears. “You don’t know that.”
    “I do.” He stared down at her, willing her to believe him. “I don’t know very much about you, but I know that.”
    She was silent for several moments, then her face lit in a slow smile that dazzled him. She nodded her head. “Thank you.”
    He was speechless, overcome by her beauty, by the innocence of her face. By the depth of her blue eyes, as though even in that sweet face, she was a thousand years old, somehow. And beneath that sweetness was a sensual earthiness he couldn’t explain. But his body knew. His body knew the flawless heat of the skin on her cheek, her hand. He was going hard, even as he berated himself for it.
    “The doctor is coming in to see her,” the nurse said, bustling into the room. “We’re going to be taking her out to run some tests. Maybe you want to go get some food, Declan? Come back later?”
    “Yes, sure.” He turned back to the young woman in the bed. “I’ll be back in a little while.”
    She reached for him, and he took her hand in his. She was still smiling at him. He had to force himself to give up her hand, to step out of the room.
    Ridiculous.
    This obsession with her was crazy. But he’d never met anyone like her. Hell, he didn’t know the girl, didn’t even know what he meant by that, exactly. She was like some unearthly creature. Truly like an angel come to earth.
    It had to be some sort of weird amnesia—the way she talked, that she thought she had no name. He’d talk to Stephen about it after he’d had a chance to examine her, run the tests, whatever they planned to do now that she was awake. Meanwhile, he’d see what anyone had found out about who had done this to her, who she was. He’d