Free Beyond Wild Imaginings by Brieanna Robertson

sounded as if his entire life revolved around it. She supposed it did, considering she had created him to protect her, but it was still strange to hear. She sighed and looked down at her lap again. She snorted. “A secretary,” she grumbled. “How cliché.” Tears pricked her eyes, and she tried to blink them away, but they were persistent. Much to her dismay, one succeeded at rolling down her cheek.
    Garren was quick to catch the falling tear, wiping it away with the most tender touch Kelly had ever felt. Her eyelashes fluttered closed, and she basked in the warmth of his kindness. Her starving soul soaked it up like it was dying for it.
    “I hate him for making you cry,” Garren whispered. “I have never been able to see you cry. It hurts me inside.” He shook his head. “The day the last girl before you turned her back on the Lucienus and you cried in my arms…” He sighed. “You have no idea what your tears do to my heart.”
    She sniffed and shook her head while keeping her eyes downcast. “I spend a lot of time crying lately,” she admitted in a quiet voice.
    He cradled her face in his hands and looked down into her eyes. “That is why I am here.”
    A shiver went through Kelly that she couldn’t stifle. His voice was like a magical velvet caress, and his sincerity made her heart ache. She knew she had created him to be her companion and bodyguard. She had given him the sort of qualities she loved in people. Kindness, gentle compassion and empathy, strength. Each of the girls’ guardians had been different.
    Rachel’s had been amazingly good-looking, of course, the epitome of every teenage girl’s wild imagination. She had been bordering on puberty. Rebecca’s had been soft spoken, quiet and shy, all of the qualities that her father was not. Beth’s had been smart, a genius of sorts, and Lanelle’s had been strong and warriorlike. Each guardian had represented things the girls admired so it was no surprise that Garren still held the qualities Kelly searched for in people. What caught her off guard was the way her heart seemed to react to him. It had felt like a dead weight in her chest ever since the accident, yet it leapt to life around Garren. She couldn’t explain it. It was bizarre and confusing.
    “You are a very kind man, Garren,” she said softly, tears still hovering on her eyelashes.
    “You brought me back,” he said. “You remembered me. You are my little one. I would do anything for you, Kelly.”
    It must have just been the straw to break the camel’s back because her tears burst forth like a dam had broken. She didn’t know how to handle his gentle assurance and selfless words. She hadn’t leaned on anyone since the accident. She’d dealt with everything herself, had kept the people she cared about at arm’s length because she didn’t know how to cope. Garren’s care was what she’d been trying to avoid. She’d known that if she let anyone pin her long enough to show her genuine concern and compassion, she would lose her tentative control. Now, it shattered. She put her face in her hands and let months and months of tears just flow out of her. She couldn’t have stopped if she’d tried.
    Garren pulled her into his arms without hesitation and rocked her while smoothing her hair and whispering soothing words. Kelly curled against him, welcoming the strong haven of his embrace and the warmth of his solid body. It didn’t make sense that he was warm any more than it made sense he had a heartbeat, but she tried to keep her “limited mind” from dwelling on it and just enjoyed how it felt to be held.
    She heard a rustling noise and looked up to see that Garren’s gorgeous, ebony wings had come forth to offer shelter and protection like they had when she’d been a child. She smiled softly and wiped at her eyes, feeling foolish all of a sudden. “I’m sorry,” she said, trying to get a hold of herself. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” She sat up, but his