Falling for Heaven (Four Winds) - By Anne Conley Page 0,26

it cupped her cheek. She looked into his eyes. “I’m not sure why I told you all that.”

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, a surprisingly intimate gesture, coming from him. “You are the light of your family, Heather.” His voice was soft, and Heather was struck again by the intimacy of it.

“Yeah, well. Whatever.” Her head dropped again to his chest, and he continued to stroke her hair. His breathing was even, warm on the top of her head, and his heartbeat was strong in his chest, lulling her into a sense of peace. Before she realized it, her eyelids were droopy, and her own breathing eased.

“Uri…”

“Yes, Heather?” He murmured quietly, his breath warm against the top of her head.

“I’m tired. Would you mind?” She started to sit up.

“No, not at all. I should go.” He rose from the couch, and reached for her arm. “Thank you for telling me that. I know you probably don’t trust everyone with that information.” Clasping her hand in his, he squeezed once before letting go.

“Well, aside from all that angel business, you seem pretty okay. Compared to the rest of the people in my life, you seem normal.” She giggled, a nervous sound coming from within her.

He laughed and pulled her into a hug. Surprised, she froze an instant before relaxing into his powerful embrace. The warmth that emanated from him seemed to intermingle with the heat in her belly and infused her with a satisfying comfort that she hadn’t known since her father was alive.

She inhaled deeply of his spicy scent and released him. “Thank you, Uri. For coming over and…listening to me.”

He looked at her steadily. “And thank you, for feeding me. I can’t remember when I’ve had a meal as good. And thank you for listening to me. Maybe someday, I can do something to make you have a little faith.” Leaning forward, he brushed a kiss across her forehead, turned, and walked out her door.

Locking up behind him, Heather felt a strange sense of loss at his absence. He was definitely a strange man, but something about him brought her comfort. A comfort that she hadn’t realized she needed.

Heather had never told anybody the things that she'd told Uri tonight. She'd never felt comfortable enough to let anyone into her life like that. She'd never trusted anybody the way she trusted Uri. It was weird that he thought he was an archangel. But there was something about him that made Heather feel comfortable in his presence.

Chapter 11

Uri sat in his sparse apartment surrounded by the items that he’d collected through the millennia. He thought back to his various assignments. He remembered each one, since Eden. Once he and his brothers realized that times were changing, they needed to change along with them to fit in, so they each got some sort of storage system.

For Uri, it was a box car. He kept it loaded with clothing, books, and mementoes of certain assignments. He kept the items until they were hopelessly out of date, no longer of use, or rotten. It was a weakness he indulged in.

When he began a new assignment, the box car was shipped to him, and he unloaded it into new lodgings. It usually worked out well for him and kept him from having to start over from scratch each assignment.

This assignment was still a puzzle, though. He could not figure out what this woman’s destiny was. The fact that the Boss wouldn’t tell him, was an enigma in itself, although Uri knew from millennia of experience not to question the Boss. He knew best in all situations, and it did no good to question.

Heather was special, though. Uri could see that. He just didn’t see any special talents, or ideas, or world-changing events in her future. He didn’t see anything in her future, and that bothered him. Not that that meant she didn’t have a future. It just bothered him that he couldn’t see it. He could usually see some sort of future for his targets. That was the point of his job here. To show the target their future, if they chose a certain path…

Heather’s admissions to him last night about her family had managed to stir something inside Uri that he hadn’t felt in thousands of years. Empathy.

He used to empathize with the humans long ago. But their sins became too numerous, too vicious, too immoral. Humans had become corrupt, greedy, and weak in Uri’s eyes. He continued to do