This is way too intimate, I thought belatedly. But I couldn’t have taken my hand away for anything. Seb’s angel and I gazed at each other in awe; slowly, he stroked his hand up my arm and, without quite knowing how, I found myself doing the same to him – feeling the slight resistance against my fingers as they caressed their way through his energy; the warm shiver in me as he explored my own.

In our human forms below, Seb and I had both gone very still. He pulled away a little as his gaze searched mine, the golden flecks in his hazel eyes clear in the candlelight. I was trembling. I could feel the depth of his love for me; how much he longed to hold me in a way that wasn’t brotherly at all. Somewhere far away where I couldn’t face it was the pain over Alex – but right now there was only Seb, my friend Seb, who I cared about so much that it almost hurt, and whose angel-hands were making me feel things I’d never felt before in my life. In that moment I didn’t know whether I loved him only as a friend or something more – I just knew that I never wanted him to stop touching me, never.

I’m not sure which of us moved first. I saw Seb swallow; one or maybe both of us leaned forward...and then somehow I was running my hands through his loose curls and his lips were on mine, so warm and gentle that I was falling.

Time faded to nothing as our mouths teased each other – tiny, sipping kisses that sent electricity pulsing through me. Seb’s curls were so soft under my fingers, just as soft as I’d always imagined, and I could feel the prickle of stubble near his mouth; the strength of his hand as he lightly cupped it around the back of my neck. He murmured my name, pulling me to him. The kiss slowed, deepening into heat as our mouths opened together, exploring each other. Seb’s arms were locked around me as I pressed tightly against him, stroking his firm back and feeling his heartbeat pounding with mine, and if I could have gotten even closer to him, I would have – and meanwhile our angels were still touching hands above, and there was nothing in the world but this kiss; this kiss that was the most amazing thing I’d ever felt.