Free Fallen Angel by Melissa Jones Page A

leaned forward to rest her head on them.
    “ Luke is a complicated man.”
    “Mm-hmm.” Angelica sighed not lifting her head. Suddenly Angelica jerked herself upright.  “Thank you for the tea.” She turned and walked back out the door. She wasn’t sure why but she suddenly felt driven to go and check on Ice. She rubbed her eyes as she walked, they were burning, her throat was burning but she needed to check on Ice.  She had her head down as she rubbed her watering eyes and walked headlong into something hard.
    “Whoa, are you alright?” James caught her shoulders to steady her.
    “I’m sorry, I wasn’t watching.”
    “No problem.”  He released her shoulders and she blinked trying to get her eyes to clear.
    “I just wanted to check on Ice.” She started to step around him toward the corral.
    “Luke just took her back to the barn.” Angelica changed course and turned toward the barn instead.
    “I’ll do that.” She said when she found Luke feeding Ice. Luke looked at her for a long moment, her hair was falling in strings around her face and she was still covered in soot. He thought about telling her not to worry about it, he could handle it but he knew she would argue with him. He didn’t trust himself, strange things happened to him when he argued with her. So he simply stood and handed her the bottle as he passed by her out of the stall and then out of the barn. Angelica watched him go then sank down into the straw. She could barely keep her eyes open, she felt tired all the way to her bones. Her arms were aching from the water buckets. She held the bottle until Ice finished then she slumped over where she was sitting and promptly fell asleep.
     
    Luke stood watching her sleep as dawn light crept through the barn. She still looked as disheveled as the night before but she was so beautiful. Everything about this situation felt surreal. She had appeared out of nowhere, he had no idea who she was and yet she stirred something in him he had never experienced before. She was so unlike any woman he had ever known.  She had risked her life to save the animals and then the barn, his barn a place she had no stake in. He had kissed her, the idea seemed unfathomable and yet he could still feel the way her lips had felt under his.
    She began to stir as he watched he r. At first she was only slightly stirring then she began to thrash and all at once she sat up and let out a piercing scream. Luke jerked open the stall door and dropped to his knees in front of her. He gently grasped her shoulders.
    “Angie, are you alright?”
    “So much blood,” She breathed frantically rubbing her hands over her arms and legs as if she were trying to wipe it off. “Why is there so much blood? Whose blood is this?” She squirmed still trying wipe invisible blood off her hands and arms. Luke gave her shoulders a quick shake.
    “Angie, what are you talking about? There is no blood.” She looked up and her eyes focused on him.
    “Luke.” She said, her voice barely a whisper then she threw her arms around his neck. He could feel her heart pounding, she was nearly shaking. Whatever she had seen in her nightmare had terrified her. As he felt her breathing coming in short gasps he was left to wonder if the nightmare was something her mind had conjured or something she had experienced.
    “Boss?” Luke looked over his shoulder at the sound of Tom’s voice and saw every man in his employ, with the exception of those on duty with the herd, standing outside the stall. Obviously Angie’s scream had brought them all in.
    “She had a nightmare.”  He said softly. Tom nodded and motioned to the other men and they turned and shuffled back out. Angie hadn’t lifted her head from where her face was pressed into his chest so he didn’t move either. She wasn’t speaking or squirming anymore and he could feel her heart rate starting to slow. He held her tightly against him, she smelled like a mixture of smoke and soap.
    “Are you