Heavenly Husband. Carolyn Greene

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СКАЧАТЬ it was emblazoned on her garments? “Of course.”

      The goddess appeared relieved for a spare moment, then leaned closer. “Tell me who I am.”

      Jared didn’t know what sport she found in this game, but he decided to humor her. “You’re Adidas.”

      His response appeared not to satisfy her. If she’d tell him the rules of the game, perhaps he’d be a more worthy opponent. Nothing seemed to make sense to him right now.

      With a clatter to announce her entrance, a young woman entered the room pushing a cart laden with trays. “So, Sleeping Beauty finally decided to wake up, eh?” She positioned a narrow, wheeled table so that it reached across the bed where he lay, then placed one of the trays on top of it.

      Jared didn’t know what he’d done to earn such treatment. Here he was, lying upon a chaise of white, with a nubile young goddess beside him and a servant woman to feed him. But he didn’t understand why there were no palm fronds to shade him from the harsh light and no clusters of grapes to be fed to him one by one. He would have to speak to Nahum and find out what was going on.

      “Here’s your lunch, honey.” Turning to Adidas, she added, “I’ll tell the nurse that he’s come around.”

      Adidas thanked the servant woman and moved her chair closer to Jared’s chaise. “Are you hungry?”

      Was he hungry? He’d never experienced such a need in all his existence. Only humans wanted for physical sustenance.

      Then realization dawned. He was now a human serving his earthly apprenticeship. He looked around him at his stark surroundings, taking in the painting that tried desperately to cheer up a wall filled with hoses and silver-colored fixtures. Taking in the clear, fluid-filled bag that hung over his bed—not his chaise—and that dripped liquid into a tube that disappeared under the blanket near his arm. Finally, his gaze fell on the goddess beside him. Could she be a mere human? If so, he wondered why he’d been so reluctant to complete this portion of his training.

      She watched him expectantly, and he remembered she was waiting for his response.

      “I don’t know,” he admitted.

      She picked up a cream-colored box beside his pillow and pressed a button. The bed vibrated and moved upward until he was in a near sitting position. Then she took the cover off his tray of food. “Mmm, vegetable soup. Why don’t you try to eat a little, even if you’re not hungry? It’ll help you get your strength back.”

      Jared tried to lift his arm to pick up the spoon, but the appendage was much heavier than he’d anticipated. And when he put more energy into his effort, his arm jerked upward and flopped heavily against the tray, spattering orange soup on the white blanket.

      “It’s okay,” said Adidas. “I’ll feed you.” She turned her chair until she faced him and dipped the spoon into the soup. Scraping the bottom of the spoon against the bowl, she lifted it to his mouth.

      Jared wasn’t sure how to do this. He watched her as she opened her mouth slightly when the spoon approached his face. Copying her action, he parted his lips. Warm liquid and lumps of vegetables touched his tongue, and he found the sensation quite pleasing. Adidas withdrew the spoon, and the liquid dribbled out of his mouth and down his chin.

      He sat open-mouthed as most of the soup made a drool path down to his neck.

      “It’s okay. I’ll get it.” The auburn-haired woman dabbed at his chin and neck until it was once again dry. “Maybe this time we should use a bib.”

      As she tucked a paper napkin under his chin, a terrifying thought occurred to Jared. It appeared Nahum had changed his mind and decided to make him serve his full apprenticeship, starting as a baby.

      Judging from the equipment in the room and the sterile smell of it, he decided he must be in a hospital. Could it be that he was a newborn and this gorgeous woman was his mother? Mothers feed their babies, and she was certainly doing that. He couldn’t remember the birthing experience, but then he’d heard that all humans forgot the events accompanying their emergence into the world.

      The worst part would be going through life desiring his own mother. There was no way he could stop the strange urge that compelled him to stare at the beauty of her face, listen to the soft melody of her voice, or notice the gentle curves of her earthly form. How could Nahum do this to him!

      But wait. Didn’t babies drink from bottles? Or elsewhere? Jared tried to rein in his errant thoughts as he pictured himself suckling from Adidas’s ample breast. No, if he were a baby, he wouldn’t be having such thoughts.

      In fact, if he were a baby, he wouldn’t have been able to converse with her.

      She pushed another spoonful of soup into his mouth, and this time he closed his lips around it, keeping the savory nourishment inside as she withdrew the spoon. It sat on his tongue as he wondered what to do with it.

      This was quite different from on high. Up there, when they’d sipped wine or sampled grapes, it had been a symbolic procedure. The wine and grapes, having no dimension, had presented no problem, but this soup...

      Reflex took over, and he swallowed. The chunks of vegetables lodged in his throat, bringing on a fit of coughing.

      Adidas leaned forward and patted him on the back. Through a tear-filled haze, Jared was rewarded with a glimpse of the soft white flesh that filled out the front of her upper garments. Thoroughly distracted now, he ceased coughing. Strange, but this unexpected sight created even more pleasure than his first taste of vegetable soup.

      “For goodness’ sake, Gerald, you’ve got to chew your food before you swallow it.”

      “Chew?”

      “Yes. You know, mash it between your teeth.” She stared at him with a mixture of curiosity and exasperation.

      For some unexplained reason, Jared didn’t want her to be displeased with him. He wanted to see her smile, wanted her to lean close again so he could smell her sweet floral scent. And he wanted something else. It was a need that was so deep-rooted he couldn’t put a finger on what it was. What he did know was that this need somehow involved Adidas.

      “Who is Gerald?” he asked.

      She frowned at him a long moment before answering. “You were involved in a car accident...at the Pike Creek Overpass.” She waited a second as if she expected him to be familiar with this information. When he didn’t reply, she continued, her tone slow and careful, as if she was afraid of upsetting him. “You came very close to leaving us.” Her gaze dropped to her lap, and when she looked up again, her eyes glistened with moisture. “Your name is Gerald Kirkland. The doctors said you might suffer a temporary memory loss. But don’t worry, it’ll come back soon, I’m sure.”

      Then Jared recalled Nahum’s words. There is a soul whose hourglass is almost empty. You will inhabit his vessel when he leaves it. So he had been placed in Gerald Kirkland’s body. At first he felt a twinge of guilt for invading the man’s physical casing. Then he remembered that the body would have died if he had not come into it.

      He wondered if Adidas was the woman he was supposed to protect. And if so, how was he supposed to look out for her while confined to a hospital bed?

      Jared lifted his right hand and was surprised to note how large it was. Dark hair covered СКАЧАТЬ