On a foggy day in Santa Monica, Faye is arrested for attacking a school bus. Though blind, she has a duty as the spirit hunter to rid the world of rogue spirits. A responsibility, she carries with diligence, as the possessed and their minions stalk her everywhere.
Dispatched to support her, Celestine is cast into a challenging and questionable role that muddles his emotions. His wants and desires swirl out of control in a battle to resist his devastating attraction to the spirit hunter.
Who can Faye trust when her savior is riding a body that doesn’t belong to him? How will they work together to free Faye, keep her safe, and abolish the possessed?
And what happens when Fate steps in and determines that this is not enough?
Whatever they finally settle on, it will certainly break all the rules.
Celestine rushed to her, angry at himself for leaving such a huge obstruction in the room. He had thought it would make a great marker for her. Not anymore, that monstrosity was going to the storage room.
She struggled to rise. Celestine grasped her hand and helped her. “Are you okay?”
“I hurt my knee a little,” she said on a huff.
“Let me see. “ Celestine bent down and examined the abraded skin. “No blood, it is just a graze.” When he touched it she hissed. “But it will hurt for a while. The healing chest…I mean first aid kit is in the…”he trailed off, shuffling through memories for the right place. “In your bathroom. Come with me, I will take care of it.”
“It’s nothing. There’s no need for the hassle.”
“It is no hassle and there is a need if it can be done. Please come with me.”
With his hand under her elbow, Celestine guided her to the bathroom. He closed the toilet lid and seated her on it. Fortunately, Faye gathered the robe in her lap to stop it from sliding open. Unfortunately, it bunched the top part and left suggestive shadows of full soft skin.
He wetted a cloth and cleaned the wound, pausing and blowing on the irritated area every time she gasped in pain.
“I will apply a topical antibiotic to keep it moist and infection free. It will sting.”
She nodded.
He washed his hands and squeezed the cold ointment onto his finger. To distract her, he asked, “How did you manage a shower without help?”
Her lips pursed into a full, plum heart. “You have doubts about my blindness?”
He looked up, his finger poised to rub the medicine. “Not at all. The bathroom has several fixtures. I was only wondering how you avoided them.”
She lowered her eyes, a pink cloud growing on her smooth cheeks. “Not all. I bumped against the sink and almost tripped on the tub’s edge. Vicky took me through the bathroom before she left.”
Celestine smiled and rubbed the ointment. She clamped a hand to his wounded shoulder and held on. He swallowed a wince. “Almost over.”
When done, he wiped his hands on the cloth and pulled her up with him. When she rose fully, she was so close to him that he could see the palest of blue in her beguiling eyes. Fate might have taken the gift of vision from her but had endowed her with arresting and unmatched gaze.
“I’ve been meaning to ask…can I see you?” Faye’s voice came out husky on a whisper.
She would be seeing Gabriel, not him, but he would not deny her. “You May. I have dark—”
“No. Let me.”
She raised her hands and placed them on his face. Soft, feather like touches shifted from one area to another.
“You have a five o’clock shadow,” she murmured and continued her investigation.
“What’s the color of your hair?” Her voice was low and husky.
“Dark brown, almost black.” He resisted the urge to clear the dryness from his throat.
Her soft touch lingered on his hair, which he usually wore slicked back neatly for the office, but at the moment was in disarray. After sweeping her hands through it she moved to his brows.
“Your eyebrows are thick, shapely. What color is your eyes?”
“They—” he cleared the huskiness out of his voice. “They are light brown.”
Her lips stretched in a tight smile. “Like honey?”
Since he didn’t trust his voice, he nodded, trusting her inspecting hands to deliver his response.
His hand came up and reached out to her mouth. Would those velvety lips feel as smooth and soft as they appear?
The sound of a door slamming shut jolted them.
