Kaitlyn opened her eyes. She didn't move, afraid to disturb Jacob. The room was quiet. It was still dark, the light from the lamp gleaming against the walls. She was lying against his warm chest with her head on his shoulder.

She glanced up at him. He was leaning with his back up against the wall, his eyes closed. He looked so handsome: his angular jaw, his long lashes, his flawless skin, the gentleness in his expression. She knew he wasn't sleeping. Still, she didn't want to disturb him. Not when he looked so comfortable, so content. She didn't want to ruin it. She didn't want to ruin something so perfect with what she had to tell him. Her back was sore. Her neck was aching. But worst of all was the nagging knot in the pit of her stomach—what had she done?

'Kaitlyn?'

She winced, then met his emerald eyes. 'I told him about you,' she blurted. 'I'm sorry.'

His eyes widened. 'You did?'

'I'm sorry!'

He raised his eyebrows. 'You've only just told him, after all this time?'

'You're-you're not angry?'

Jacob sighed. 'When are you going to learn, Kaitlyn? I don't get angry—not with you.'

She pressed her face into his shoulder with a gasp of relief.

'Was he surprised?'

'Extremely. But he was also ... happy about it.'

Jacob grunted. 'I'm surprised myself. It's strange that Tyrone didn't inform him. It's something he would have really wanted to know.'

'Yes,' she said. 'I saw.' Kaitlyn would never forget that smile. That laughter. 'He-he wanted me to give you a message.'

He paused. 'What?'

'He said his door is always open.'

Jacob frowned. Kaitlyn waited for a response but he was expressionless and silent.

'What did he mean by that?' she said.

He touched her face with a smile. 'Do not worry. It means nothing.'

Kaitlyn stared at his lips. They looked just as kissable as Satan's, so lush, so soft-looking. His arms were so warm. And he smelled so damn good. Those eyes—did they never stop smiling? Their bodies were so close their hips were touching. The urge to do something suddenly became overwhelming.

She took a breath. Get control of yourself! Remembering how he'd reacted the last time she'd attempted something sexual, she tried to pull away.

He seized her wrist. 'Stay.'

She shook her head. 'I can't. I feel .. I feel ...' She turned her face away with a grimace.

'That's okay.'

Kaitlyn turned back to him with a start. What did he mean? He was watching her strangely, differently. The look in his eyes was no longer simply kind and warm. It was something ... else.

Something more.

'It's okay,' he repeated. 'That's why I'm here.'

'What—what do you mean?' Was this really happening? She shouldn't hope. He had to mean something else. He was an angel: perfect and beautiful and startling. And she was just a woman—and not a particularly great one at that. There was just no way.

Just no way.

But then he leaned in and kissed her and her brain switched off. Her doubts vanished as she closed her eyes and moved her lips with his. He gripped her chin with one of his big, gentle hands. Kaitlyn grabbed onto his shoulder as she kissed back more deeply. He opened his mouth. With a groan, she met his tongue. It was sweet. It was warm. It was everything she'd dreamed it to be.

No. Better. So much better.

She felt heat against her cheeks and she realised that tears were dripping out of her eyes. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed him and kissed him and kissed him again. He kissed her right back, his arms wrapped just as tightly around her. She loved his skin, how smooth and wonderful it felt beneath her fingertips. She loved the sculpted feel of his muscles. She loved the feel of his hair. Everything was just so perfect.

She pulled away so she could breathe, so she could look at him and see what was going on in his eyes. How could he kiss her so passionately and yet look so calm?

Smiling, he dragged his fingers through her hair. Closing her eyes, Kaitlyn arched her neck with a gasp. Without speaking, he kissed her cheek, he kissed her nose. Then he kissed her neck.

'What are you doing?' she gasped again.

'Kissing you, what else?'

'Why?'

'Why?' He chuckled. 'Why do you think?'

She didn't answer.

'Love, of course,' he said.

'Love,' she swallowed. 'But you're an angel. You always feel love.'

'Not like this.'

Kaitlyn swallowed. Her throat was suddenly dry. His words echoed in her mind. They rang in her ears. They thumped in her heart. Had he really just said that?

Gently, he gripped her head. His eyes were so dark now, so not like the Jacob's she was used to. A deep mossy green. His eyelids were heavily hooded, his eyelashes thick and black. 'Not like this.'

He kissed her again and it was so soft and perfect and filled with all the good stuff. She sagged against him with a moan. She hadn't realised how much she wanted it. How much she needed it. It was all so overwhelming.

He pulled away and Kaitlyn wiped at the tears on her face, annoyed with herself. Jacob laughed as he helped her, smoothing them away from under her eyes. He kissed them away from her cheeks.

'Don't be embarrassed,' he said. 'Being around angels brings out the best in people. We make you feel with an intensity beyond the human norm. You'll get used to it.'

'No.' Kaitlyn sucked in a breath. She attempted a smile but failed. 'I don't think I ever will.'

Smiling, he kissed her again, then pulled her close. Kaitlyn gripped onto him as she wiped her wet face against his chest. With a shuddering breath, she pressed her face into the nape of his neck.

They held each other without moving, without speaking, for the longest time. Kaitlyn's eyes were closed as she enjoyed all the new and wondrous sensations. She'd forgotten how amazing it was to be in love. To be in real love. Not the fake kind, like with Satan. To feel so utterly content and complete. After all the terror and anxiety and hopelessness it was like a breath of life.

She opened her eyes again to see bright morning light gleaming through the window.

'Good morning,' Jacob smiled as she lifted her head. 'Did you sleep well?'

'I-I slept?' she said in surprise, sitting up. She touched her head. Pain throbbed behind her eyes but it was only mild. She blinked against the light. 'He-he wasn't there.' In fact, she couldn't remember dreaming at all. Had she really slept?

'Good,' he said.

She looked at him in confusion, wondering what he was doing in her bed, why he was holding her so close. Then it all came rushing back. He'd kissed her! He'd touched her! He'd held her! Had it really happened? Or perhaps it was just the dream she thought she hadn't dreamed?

Jacob lowered his lips to hers and the truth was suddenly very clear. Her heart leapt into her throat. Kaitlyn chuckled.

He smiled. 'What's so funny?'

She shook her head. 'I'm just ... such an idiot sometimes.'

He kissed her forehead and hugged her back to his chest. The sun was getting so bright now—and hot. Too hot. Kaitlyn blinked in surprise. 'What time is it?'

'Does it matter?'

She smiled as she gazed into his eyes. The blood rushed through her veins as she leaned in for a kiss, only to stop at a sudden sharp stab in her belly. She jerked away, grabbing at her abdomen when it gave an embarrassing growl. 'Sorry,' she said with an abashed smile.

Jacob merely laughed. 'Come on. Let's get you fed.'

Jacob pulled on his sweater, then waited outside her door as she got changed. They were holding hands as they walked down the hall together. All the doors were closed, the nuns clearly busy with their day. His hand was so big and warm in hers. They looked ahead at the sound of footsteps. A nun turned the corner, stopping in her tracks at the sight of them.

'Oh, hi Grace,' Kaitlyn said with a beaming smile.

The young nun paled at the sight of Jacob. She quickly lowered her face but not quickly enough for Kaitlyn to miss the surprise in her eyes. What was she thinking? Did she know that they'd stayed with each other all night?

'H-hello,' the nun said.

'Well, goodbye,' Kaitlyn said with a wave as they walked past her.

They spent the day together, mostly in the garden where she could feel the sun on her back and they could hide themselves away behind the apple trees, though it was hardly private. The garden might have been unoccupied for the moment but Kaitlyn couldn't help but keep looking towards the doors, checking that they were alone. She couldn't help but feel like she was doing something wrong. She supposed they were. She doubted the abbess would be happy knowing that they were being intimate in her abbey. It made Kaitlyn feel a little guilty.

She suddenly missed the abandoned church they'd stayed at. Right now she'd do anything to be back there in its dark solitude, even if it meant having to deal with the cold, no showers and using a pan again. She'd deal with it all if it meant she could have Jacob to herself.

'I have to clear something up,' Kaitlyn said, studying their linked hands. His was so big it seemed to swallow up hers. A gentle breeze rustled through the leaves of the apple tree they were sitting under. One fell in Jacob's hair.

'What's that?'

She pulled if off of him and twisted it between her fingers. 'I don't think I hate angels anymore.'

Jacob laughed. 'I kind of figured that.' He watched her twisting the leaf as he said, 'Do you still hate God?'

Kaitlyn twisted her mouth, then shifted awkwardly. She dropped her eyes to her lap. 'I-I don't hate him ...'

'Lying is not one of your strong suits.'

Nervously, she looked up at him.

He grinned. 'And I hope it never is.'

Kaitlyn grinned back. He squeezed her hand and she squeezed his.

'I have a question,' she said, throwing the leaf away.

'What is it?'

'Why the change? Why are you ... being with me now? When I spoke to Zeke after ... after the last time, he said that you stopped us because you were protecting me—and you. What did he mean by that?'

Jacob hesitated. 'It's not ... done for an angel and human to be together.'

Kaitlyn thought for a moment. Neither the bible nor any scripture she'd read had been particularly clear about angel and human relations. Was it bad? Was it good? 'What does that mean?'

'It's not your problem, Kaitlyn.'

'But ...'

'It's not your problem,' he repeated in a stern, deep voice. 'And it's nothing to worry about. Not anymore.'

Kaitlyn boldly gazed back into his emerald eyes. She recalled their first kiss—and that was when she suddenly understood. 'That's why you left, isn't it? You left because you had to think about our situation.'

'You're too perceptive for your own good, Kaitlyn.' He bowed his head. 'Yes. That's exactly why. I had to be alone, away from you so I could think clearly. I needed some space to talk about it with God.'

Kaitlyn paused. 'With-with God? What did he say?'

'He gave me His blessing.'

Kaitlyn's heart did a little somersault. 'Oh. Well ... that's good.'

Taking her chin, Jacob kissed her on the forehead.

'But it's strange, isn't it?' Kaitlyn said hesitantly. 'I thought God didn't approve of affairs like ours. Not married, I mean.' She bit her lip. 'We're at the very least fornicators.' And doing it in an abbey of all places.

'Things change. As humanity evolves, so does God. Besides, not everything penned by man is God's truth.'

Kaitlyn's eyes widened. Her mouth dropped open. Her mind suddenly raced with questions, but she didn't dare ask them. It would make for a much too heavy conversation. One she just could not deal with right now. At this point all she wanted to do was enjoy Jacob's company, the garden, the sunshine and warmth and all the simple things.

"God talk" could wait for later.

At the sound of footsteps, Kaitlyn jerked away from him, leaping to her feet as she dusted off her dress. A nun holding a basket was standing at the entrance to the courtyard, frozen on the spot. The woman kept her eyes lowered, though it was clear she'd seen them.

Kaitlyn and Jacob left her to her gardening.

For the rest of the day, they wandered the abbey together, hand in hand, content and at peace. Much of the time they didn't speak, simply enjoying each other's company. But when they did, it was small talk. Something Kaitlyn hadn't thought he'd be capable of. It made her relax. It made her feel comfortable in his presence in a way she'd never felt before. She loved baseball. They spoke about some of her favourite books and movies. Jacob even had a favourite colour—pink. Of all colours!

'Why?' she asked.

He pursed his lips as he thought. 'I'm not sure. Perhaps because it's such a free colour, such a fun colour. It doesn't take itself too seriously.'

Kaitlyn laughed. 'I didn't know colours could be serious.'

Jacob smiled. His warm eyes met hers. 'And because it reminds me of you. Inside you, your aura, it's full of pink. Of all your colours it shines the brightest.'

Kaitlyn's cheeks burned. 'O-oh.'

'What's your favourite colour?'

She gazed back into his emerald eyes. 'Well, it used to be blue.'

His smile broadened.

Kaitlyn went silent as she quietly sifted through his words. Pink. He liked pink because it reminded him of her. Kaitlyn bit her lip as her heart soared.

But you always feel love.

Not like this.

Amid her tumble of thoughts, she wondered where Zeke and the others were and what they were thinking. They had to know what was going on. Zeke had said that they could see into each other's hearts. Did they approve? She wanted to ask Jacob about it but couldn't find the right moment to bring it up.

Kaitlyn couldn't keep her eyes off him. Though they walked down beautiful halls, she hardly saw them. She fought against the urge to kiss him, to touch him too often. She wouldn't do it in the presence of the nuns. Besides, would it make him feel overwhelmed? Would it turn him off her? Were his needs different to hers? There was still so much they needed to figure out. All she wanted was to go back to her room and love him to her heart's content but she didn't have the guts to ask. What if he wasn't ready? What if he didn't want it?

Kaitlyn wished she could shut off her thoughts and fears and just enjoy the experience. She wished their time could last forever even as she knew it was impossible.

All too soon night fell and her dreams were waiting.

'Good night, Jacob.'

'Good night, Kaitlyn.'

They were lying together in her bed, facing each other, his long body stretched out against hers. Tonight she kept the light off, his aura enough to brighten the room. Besides, she no longer needed to chase the shadows away. Not with Jacob holding her so close, so tightly. Protecting her.

'Have no fear,' he said.

Kaitlyn swallowed. 'But what if he—what if he hurts me again?' She touched her neck where the hicky had been.

'I will be here with you. I will stop the pain, the hurt.'

'How?'

'Just know that I can.' His jaw suddenly hardened. His eyes narrowed. 'I wish I could do more for you. I wish I could reach into your dreams and seize his throat.'

'But you can't.' She took a breath. 'It'll be all up to me. I guess I'll just have to be brave.'

He touched her cheek. 'You are brave.'

Kaitlyn turned her face to kiss his palm. 'A possible thing when you're here with me.' She smiled. 'I'm glad God chose you to be my angel.'

'So am I.'

Snuggling in close, she buried her face into his neck.