The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance

on my forehead, spreading tingly waves of heat through my temples, down the sides of my neck, and lower, through my whole body, especially the spot where his hard belly pressed into my ribs. I wanted to lean my head against the warm firmness of his chest, and I wondered if he was making me dizzy somehow, stealing my ability to reason, to be afraid, to even be cautious.
    His face was lowering towards mine, his green eyes sizzling with light and life. I could almost taste his lips. His breath tickled against my chin and nose, and I realized he was doing it again, reading me somehow, and my heartbeat rushed, then slowed, rushed then slowed -
    And he stopped.
    Pulled back.
    Let me go.
    My chest tightened from the shock of the sudden abandonment. It felt wrong, being more than an arm’s length away from Shant, and I wondered if I really had left my sanity back at Riverview.
    His beautiful eyes had gone wide, and for a moment I worried that he’d turn, blast through my balcony doors, and vanish into the dark winter night.
    Instead, the silver glow from his body increased, falling across me like a search beam. “It makes more sense now,” he murmured. “It was you - the danger to you — that brought me here.”
    I saw him touch his chest, trace the spot where his phoenix wounds had been before they healed, but I didn’t understand. I was still aching from wanting to kiss him, and my arms screamed to be around him again.
    When I stepped towards him, he stepped back, and this time, he did bump into the balcony doors. He raised both hands as if to ward me off, then bowed his head.
    “My apologies for my boldness,” he said, his voice rough with shame. “Why didn’t you tell me? If I had known, I would have never . . . Forgive me. Please. But how did you conceal yourself so perfectly?”
    I rubbed one of my eyes to relieve the pressure building anew in my brain. “Shant, what are you talking about?”
    And I just want to be kissing you, not figuring this out.
    “I’m Shaddai,” he said, as if that explained everything, then seemed to realize I truly didn’t know what he meant - about himself, or about me.
    “Shaddai,” he said again, his voice rough with surprise and disbelief. “A protector, nothing more.”
    When I still looked clueless, he came towards me once more, but stopped well shy of grabbing me again, of pulling me against him like I so wanted him to do.
    Shant’s green eyes focused on me, and he folded his heavy arms across his chest. “I’m no angel, Dutch Brennan. But you are.”
Five
    God, but I liked hearing Shant use my name and call me an angel.
    Then I processed what he meant.
    “An angel. An actual angel. That’s funny.” I glared at him. And a heartbeat later . . . “You’re serious.”
    I closed my eyes. Opened them. “And you’re insane. Damn it. Look, today’s my thirtieth birthday. If I was an angel, don’t you think I’d ... um, well, have figured that out by now?” I wiggled my fingers at him. “Look. No beautiful golden lights or heavenly music.” I shrugged my shoulders. “And no wings. Wings are kind of standard issue for angels, wouldn’t you say?”
    Shant kept looking at me, as if puzzling through everything I was saying. I’d seen delusional people do this before, try to fit all the facts into their warped perception of the universe. I’d just never seen a delusional winged man do it before. A winged man who looked like a god and called me an angel.
    “You’re a half-blood. It’s the only answer.” He ran his hand through his hair. “And today, when you came of age, the Raah became aware of you.”
    This was getting worse.
    What would it take to get a supernatural winged being back to Riverview’s admission office? I rubbed the sides of my head with my fingers. Except, Riverview’s first floor had been blasted to bits, I’d gone soppy over said supernatural winged being and let him fly me back to my apartment.
    Greeeeaaat.
    Even better - I still wanted to kiss the crazy son of a bitch.
    I so needed to lose my licence over this.
    “You are an angel.” Shant folded those sexy arms over his to-die-for chest. “Take me to your parents. I’ll prove it to you.”
    “My parents are dead,” I shot back, then clamped my mouth shut.
    Oh.
    Oh God.
    The image of my mother’s face hovered in my mind, as ethereal and beautiful as ever. And I saw Amberd, the fortress in the clouds, with its round, ruined stone towers.
    Shaddai. That’s what my mother had