Page 25 of Unseen Lord

"I have two llamas," I said. "But I can't summon them."

"I've never met a llama before," he said.

"I can introduce you tomorrow after breakfast if you want."

He smiled. "That would be nice."

* * *

And so the summer went.Devon and I were inseparable. For weeks we ate together, explored the grounds together. I showed him secret passages and introduced him to our regulars. It would have been the perfect summer if not for one thing.

That was the summer Callie and I had the worst fight of our friendship. And it was because of Devon.

"I'm happy for you, Iris, I really am," she said, her cute little horns polished and glittering in the lights of the crystal chandeliers suspended above us. "Just… be careful. You don't know him. Not really. And it's just gotten… really intense, really fast."

Tears burned my eyes and my temper flared to cover the pain in my heart. "You just can't stand that a boy likes me and not you for the first time ever. Why can't you just let me have this one thing?"

She jerked back as if I'd slapped her. "I can't believe you would think that of me. I want you to be happy, I just think you're going too fast."

"You're just a selfish bitch who needs the attention of everyone all the time!" I screamed at her, spittle flying from my mouth.

Her lips puckered and face hardened, but she held her tongue, turning on her heels to walk away. We didn't speak for the next several weeks.

Which seriously sucked, because she's the one person I needed to talk to when Devon and I kissed for the first time.

It was magical. In our secret garden under a crescent moon. He held my face in his hand, caressing my cheek. "You're the most beautiful girl I've ever known," he said, before bringing his face down until our lips touched. It was a soft kiss, gentle and timid at first, and my body was lit on fire by the contact. I'd kissed a boy before, when I was fourteen. He was a Fae visiting with his family and it was a peck on the lips while we were in the barn with the llamas. It was my first kiss. His too, I think.

But it was nothing like this.

As the kiss deepened into something more than a kiss, I pressed my body closer to Devon and his arm slipped around my waist, pulling me closer still. My arms drifted to his shoulders, my fingers twining into his messy dark hair.

When he pulled away, I felt breathless and weak-kneed. It was incredible.

"I wish you didn't have to go at the end of the summer," I said after, as we walked hand in hand through the garden.

"I would stay forever if I could."

Keeping in touch through different worlds is tricky. There are ways. Uncle Sly has a system, and I vowed I would write letters. They would take forever to get there, but it was something.

As the summer drew to a close, and our days and nights together became numbered, he led me to his guest room. The bed was covered in rose petals and a fire blazed to cut the cold.

We had done everything but the actual deed of sex, and I was ready. I was ready to lose myself in the ultimate bliss.

He was gentle. Tender. Loving. It hurt only a moment, and then it felt right. Perfect.

After, he held me and we kissed and talked and I didn't think life could get more perfect than it was in that moment.

"You are still my personal enigma," he said that night, brushing a dark lock of hair off my forehead.

I didn't know what to say to that, so I just smiled and laid my head on his chest. I could hear his heartbeat. Thump thump. Thump thump. I wanted to stay this way forever.

"You and Sly seem very close," he said after a time.

It was an odd moment to bring up my uncle, but he wasn't wrong. "Yes. Very."

"He must tell you things he doesn't tell anyone else."

I shrugged. "I guess so."