Heaven's Gift aka Kiss of an Angel

about the sensual feelings she experienced for J.T., or that she'd fallen in love with him. Eventually she'd have to tell her Superiors, but not now, not until she understood more about the link she shared with J.T.

'Sometimes I feel like I'm a part of J.T., but I know that's impossible, considering I have a soulmate… right?' she asked tentatively, hoping they'd divulge who her soulmate was.

Silence.

Sighing, Caitlan rubbed her brow wearily. Why couldn't she remember certain things about her own past? 'I feel like a guardian angel with amnesia,' she mumbled.

Christopher chuckled.

'This is not a laughing matter, Christopher. In fact, it's all your fault,' Mary said sternly.

'We need to tell her the truth,' Christopher argued.

'The truth about what?' Caitlan managed to get in.

'Absolutely not,' Mary said emphatically. 'The mission is nearly over and we can't jeopardize J.T.'s life like that.'

'Like what?'

'We can always send down another guardian to take over for Caitlan,' Christopher suggested.

Panic had Caitlan blurting out, 'No!'

Deafening silence.

She definitely had their attention now. She could feel them staring at her, waiting for an explanation. But how could she reveal that she wanted to stay with J.T. as long as possible, for selfish reasons they'd surely disapprove of?

Pasting on a smile, Caitlan shrugged indifferently. 'I mean, I've already come this far in the mission. J.T. believes my reasons for being here, so why start with someone new that he'll have to come to trust? You just said the mission is nearly over.'

'Caitlan is right,' Christopher conceded. 'From what we have on the schedule, in another day or two the mission should be over. Three days tops.'

'What about her memory?' Mary asked.

Caitlan frowned. 'What about my memory?'

'For some reason her memory wasn't completely suppressed,' Christopher supplied.

'Will it hold out for another few days?'

'Possibly. If she takes care with the medallion.'

'I don't like this, Christopher. I warned you how risky it would be to do this… '

Frustration coiled in Caitlan as she listened to her Superiors argue about her, stretching her nerves taut. 'Whatare you talking about?' she grated out.

Silence.

She closed her eyes, fighting back the urge to scream. All she wanted were answers, a clue as to why her soul seemed entwined with J.T.'s past. So far her Superiors hadn't helped her solve anything. In fact, they were arguing about her memory, and keeping J.T. safe. Maybe, if she opted for the truth, if she told them she'd fallen in love with J.T., they'd listen to her and give her the answers she sought. Maybe they'd tell her what was going on.

Dismissing the sudden prickles of awareness radiating from behind her, she clutched her medallion for courage. 'There's something I need to tell you.'

'Go ahead,' Mary said.

The words jammed in her throat. Heaven help her, she couldn't do it! I'm in love with, J.T. Just say it, Caitlan, and get it over with! 'I'm in lo-'

'Who the hell are you talking to, Caitlan?'

Chapter Eleven

Caitlan started at the sound of J.T.'s deep voice, the declaration she'd been about to announce caught in her throat. Whipping her head around, she glanced over her shoulder, meeting his dark gaze, smoldering with annoyance. And anger. The gold in his green eyes sparked like fire, and his mouth compressed into a harsh line. From her vantage point, he looked tall and lean and intimidating. She shivered.

Letting go of the medallion and severing her connection with her Superiors, she willed her heart to stop galloping. She hadn't heard J.T. approach. She was losing her edge, that finely honed instinct that usually kept her so alert. All because she'd fallen in love with him and couldn't keep her emotions under control.

Slowly, she came to her feet, tucking a tousled strand of hair behind her ear. 'How long have you been standing there?' she demanded.

He shifted on his feet, his powerful body seemingly rippling with the movement. 'Long enough to hear you babbling to yourself.'

She knew he couldn't hear her Superiors, but how much of her side of the conversation had he eavesdropped on? And she'd been about to make the ultimate of confessions! Opting for the offensive, she thrust up her chin and gave him what she hoped would pass for a haughty look. 'Aren't I allowed some privacy around here?'

He pinned her with a shrewd look. 'Sure, as long as its near the main house. With all the strange things that have happened around the ranch, you of all people should know better than to run off on your own.' His voice held a heavy dose of censure.

'I wanted some time alone to think. Out loud.' Anxious to change the subject, she brushed past him, heading back toward the house. 'What did you want, J.T.?'

He grabbed her arm before she could pass, bringing her up short. 'An explanation.'

So did she, for so many things, but it looked as though her answers would have to wait until tonight, when she'd have some privacy in which to contact her Superiors again.

The heat of J.T.'s fingers filtered through her sweatshirt, wreaking havoc on her senses and flowing through her blood like a narcotic. The clean, masculine scent of him drifted on the breeze, curling around her. His touch aroused her in a primitive, shameless way. When she looked into his gaze she saw an answering hunger there, a need to take possession and never let go. Had making love bonded them more spiritually than before?

She tugged on her arm and he let it go. The sensations receded and she took a safe step back. 'An explanation for what?' If she could only clear the husky need from her voice, she'd be fine.

He looked disoriented for a moment; then the smoky desire faded from his eyes. He straightened, a determined cast to his features. 'To this.'

Horror ripped through her when he lifted her sketch pad for her to see. Head spinning, the wildflowers around them became a blur of colors as she focused on the one object that betrayed her most private thoughts and visions. She'd been so caught up in everything else, she hadn't noticed the sketch pad in his hand.

She recovered from her shock. Barely. 'You went through my things?' she choked, shaking off the panic creeping up on her. 'You had no right!' She tried to grab the sketch pad, but he jerked it out of her reach.

A ruthless light came into his eyes, made more chilling by the outright anger in his voice. 'You came to my ranch with nothing more than the clothes on your back. This is my pad of paper and you're living under my roof for the time being. Considering the strange things that have happened since your arrival, I had every right to see what you've been drawing.' He flipped the pad open to the sketch of him as a youth. 'Somehow, I hadn't expected this. I'd like an explanation, Caitlan. Now.'

Caitlan trembled from the inside out, and it had nothing to do with the sudden disappearance of the sun behind a cloud. She wrapped her arms around her waist in an effort to ward off the tremors invading her body. How could she tell him she didn't know what possessed her to draw those pictures, that the images had been so clear in her mind that she'd reproduced them without any real effort. 'I… I was just drawing how I thought you'd look as a young boy.' The excuse sounded lame even to her own ears.

His eyes narrowed, skepticism mingling with blatant disbelief. 'And you hit it right on the bull's-eye. It's impossible you could be this accurate when you didn't know me at that age.' He thumbed to another page, his