I exhale heavily and give her a friendly pat. “She used to be mine. That’s until Sally offered to buy her to help with some of Dad’s medical expenses. The deal was that I’d eventually get her back, but Sally didn’t keep her end—and Stella, turns out, doesn’t like Sally or Luke. She bites and kicks them and anyone they attempt to sell her to. They can’t get rid of her. So they put her in here, in solitary confinement.”
My heart breaks all over again, and I release a shaky breath.
He whispers, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I reply. “One day she’ll be mine again.” Stella paws the floor impatiently, and I can’t help but chuckle. “She wants you to pet her.”
Pane lets her smell his hand, and then he runs a palm over her neck. “She’s ...” His eyes widen as he drinks her in. “What’s that feeling?”
A smile breaks out across my face. “She can give you any emotion. She gives me love.”
He frowns. “I’m feeling ...” He shakes his head. “It’s impossible to describe.”
“It’s your emotion for you to have. You don’t have to share it.”
His body stills and I watch him, understanding the awe that he’s experiencing. I’ve seen this before when people first meet Stella. They’re overcome with emotion. Some have described it as feeling as if their hearts are too big for their chests.
That might be what Pane’s feeling now.
Wonder fills his voice. “I’ve never seen such a creature.”
“I told you that there’s nothing like meeting a unicorn for the first time.”
He glances at the ceiling and the walls. “She made all these roses for you?”
I grin. “She does that for people she likes.”
He cocks his head and studies me. It feels like Pane’s peeling back the layers of my mind, peeking at the parts that remember how his lips felt, or how luscious it was to experience his fingers curling into my waist.
The urge to run and hide overcomes me.
But thanks to the love that Stella’s pouring into my heart, I find the strength to return Pane’s open stare.
He smiles. “Thank you for letting me meet her.”
“Now we’re even. I saved you, and you have now saved me.”
He steps toward me and looks down, forcing me to tip my chin up to meet his gaze. I let myself stare at him. He truly is beautiful—a blend of masculine strength and quiet determination, all of which mingle in his features: his strong jaw, piercing eyes. Pane Maddox is a work of art.
And as he watches me, a knot closes my throat. I don’t know what’s happening. We’ve been around each other for days, and everything’s been perfectly normal. Maybe it’s because of Stella’s magic.Duh.Of course it’s because of her magic. Her magic is making the air charged. It’s pulling us like magnets toward one another.
This scares the hell out of me.
So of course I pivot with, “So, you figured out how Luke cheats.”
This breaks the tension, and Pane rocks back on his heels. “Yes, sure did.”
I lightly touch the bruise and he flinches, so I draw my hand away. “And he punched you because of it?”
“Something like that.”
“Story, please.”
He tells me what happened, and I know the shock is evident on my face when I say, “He didnotuse unicorn mane.”
“He did.”
“What a jerk.” Anger curdles in my veins at the thought of Luke not only cheating but also doing it maliciously, against people like Ron and Isaac—good people. “Well, here’s the unicorn whose mane he stole from.”
