I watched, mesmerized as he moved his pointer finger over my palm. He planted his palm once again over mine, and I swear I heard a growl in his throat. It was so erotic a sound and I felt the wetness make my little panties damned uncomfortable.
He whispered my name and a shiver swept through me and my body went into hyper-drive. What the hell?
“Bobbie,” he repeated. “If ye are going to remain here in the evenings, enact the spell before dark sets in.”
“Okay, I will work on it all day ‘til I get it right.” That seemed a reasonable solution.
He turned and stared into the jungle at his back a moment before he dropped his hand and asked, thoughtfully, “Do ye have any special kind of magical locomotion available to ye?”
“What do you mean?” I knew what he meant, but he looked like he was getting ready to leave and I wanted him to stay a bit longer.
“A vampire has super-speed. An ancient vampire—faster than that. If ye needed to escape. Do ye have any kind of speed?”
“Well…I jog and never seem to tire,” I offered.
“That is nae what I mean. Jeremy—for example, has perfected a locomotion known to the Fae as shifting. It is similar to passing through time. He cannae do it over long distances, but it takes a great deal of power and he dinnae like the sensation of being a part of space. He is, as I told ye, an immortal, but he has almost one hundred years on ye, so I am nae sure ye can learn this form of travel quickly enough to matter, lass.”
“I know about ‘shifting’. Auntie Elle told me a great deal about the Fae, but…I don’t know how it works.”
“Devin!” Loli called as she pushed away the lush green vegetation and stroked his arm. “You must come now.”
She couldn’t see me but I could see her, and Devin’s reaction to her. He smiled and took her chin and said, “Why must I coom now?”
“My father and brother say you must.”
“Loli, ye are nae being truthful,” he accused. “What could they want me for now?”
“Come and see then for yourself,” she said as she twirled her black hair around her finger and stared without seeing me. “Who keeps you talking here so much lately?”
“A friend,” he answered, and turned back to smile at me.
“I heard you call your friend lass. Your friend is a woman. You are talking to a woman,” she accused hotly.
“And that, m’dear, is of nae concern to ye.”
She huffed and folded her arms across her bare middle and her elf-like ears turned red. I felt for her. She was obviously infatuated with him.
He eyed me and said with a resigned sigh, “I had better go see what the problem is now.”
“Yup,” I answered, because I suddenly realized that while I felt for her, I also felt a whole lot of jealousy I had no business feeling!
~ Ten ~
JEREMY RETURNED AND DROPPED three leather bound manuscripts on a nearby coffee table in the library and drew my attention to one.
I smiled. “Did you find anything about my Shama?” I asked. I really hoped he had. I would love to know my family’s origins.
“No, not yet, but I will. In the meantime, read that.” He pointed to one page in particular. “All of this is packed with information that can help us proceed with your training, but this page has something you will need right away.” He clucked his tongue and added, “I have to go out for a couple of hours as I have a closing I can’t neglect, but don’t worry, I’ll be back long before dark.”
“I’m not worried. I don’t need a babysitter,” I told him archly.
He smiled and said, “No, that’s good, because when all is said and done, I think I may.”
I laughed. I liked him. I watched him leave and curled up in the corner of my favorite leather sofa and stared at the page he had indicated.
Mrs. Tunny stepped into the room as Jeremy had left both library doors wide open and she cleared her throat.
I smiled and said, “Hi, and good morning, Mrs. Tunny.”