Page 35 of Seraph's Tears
Eve tried to slide down my body, to set her feet on the balcony floor, but I tightened my grip. “Not until we’re inside.”
I shoved open the doors, heedless of the water we brought inside with us. I kicked the door shut behind us and strode to the fireplace. It was unlit, as I rarely needed it. I set her on the floor in front of the hearth, then moved to her side to gather kindling and matches. I kept one wing draped around her. My panic had eased when I found her, but I was by no means calm.
As soon as the fire was lit I turned to face her. “We need to get you warm,” I growled.
She nodded, rocking backward. She brushed against the sensitive underside of my wings, and I gritted my teeth against the overwhelming sensation.
Eve cried out suddenly, reaching downward.
I instantly reached for her. “Where does it hurt? What happened?”
She bit her lip, face screwed in pain even as she continued to shake from the cold. “I fell a few times. Once the rain started it was slippery, and I stepped in a hole.”
I knelt further before her and my hands went to her ankle. I gently slipped her shoe and sock off and cradled the swelling limb. It was already twice the size, and I imagined the bruising started so deep we wouldn’t see it turn black and blue for a day or two.
She hissed in pain, and I grimaced in sympathy. Humans were so delicate. I wanted to wrap her in silk and set her somewhere safe, somewhere nothing could ever harm her again.
“I’ll be gentle,” I promised, and rotated her ankle.
Her knuckles went white as she gripped her skirts, and a strangled sound emerged from pale lips.
I stopped. “It looks like a bad sprain. You’ll have to stay off it for a few days, I think. Depending on how fast humans heal.”
Two tears leaked from her eyes. My heart clenched, and I reached up to wipe them away.
Sharp burning pain ate at my fingertip. It was so sudden and unexpected I nearly jerked my hand away. My finger burned like it was on fire.
I had never touched a human’s tears before. Bracing against the pain, I controlled my expression and wiped the other tear away. “Shhh,” I told her. “You’re safe now.”
She nodded, eyes shut.
Surreptitiously, I glanced at the tip of my thumb and index finger. The sensitive skin was red, shiny, and puckered, as if I’d stuck those fingers into a fire.
Shoving the pain away, I attempted to focus on Eve. I’d heal in a day. I didn’t know about her. With my uninjured hand I gently traced the pattern the wet sock had pressed into her skin. She was so soft.
Her teeth clacked together, bringing me back to my fear.
“We need to get you undressed.”
The words were innocent, my intent purely practical, but her eyes flew open.
“I’d leave,” I offered, eyeing her wet clothing. “But I don’t think you can do it yourself.” Her dress, plastered to her skin, had the knots and fastenings waterlogged and too swollen to easily pry apart.
“J-j-just hurry,” she choked, eyes turning shiny as she tried to turn to her side to allow me better access.
I quickly stripped her, trying to be careful for the sake of her ankle and other bruises I’m sure were forming. Her skin, pale and bluish, emerged as I pulled layer after layer off her. My hands spanned her ribs, and she shivered beneath me. Goosebumps speckled her skin, clammy and eerily white.
Hastily, I pulled her tight against me, draping one wing around her to trap the heat, and reached for a folded blanket on the edge of the table. The carpet beneath us was soft on my knees, and I hope hers, as well.
Her wet hair clung to my skin, and I let her burrow close and tuck her head under my chin. Her key necklace pressed into my sternum. My grip on her tightened, and the wounded skin on my fingers screeched in protest.
“S-s-so cold,” she chattered.
“We’ll get you warm again,” I promised. The fire was burning merrily, large orange flames filling the place, and between the blanket I draped over us and my wings, she’d warm quickly. It was waiting it out and promising myself her shivers weren’t life threatening.
She slid off my lap, curling on her side on the floor. I jerked off my trousers and followed her, spooning behind to press as much of my hot skin against her as possible. It was awkward and somewhat uncomfortable because of the wing that was stuck in a stiff folded position, but the wing that was free I spread across her as another layer of heat.
She turned away from the fire and tucked her nose right against my collarbone.
