Beatrix didn't dwell much on that as she realized that a lot of people were staring at them. She has never been used to such attention before for a moment she thought she had had her period or something but when she turned her gaze to Rhys she realized it was him that people were staring at.
The glances were of all kinds, some out of admiration, some of the girls were literally drooling and mothers were hiding their kids behind their back from him.
They entered a garden and came across a beautiful lake filled with aquatic birds like ducks and white swans. Beatrix looked at the raft of white swans on the surface of the water they're were so charming.
She looked at Rhys and realized that he was staring at the ducks lost in thoughts.
Beatrix turned the lens of the camera at him and took a picture of him.
Rhys turned to her when he heard the snap of the camera.
He arched his brows at her. "Did you just snapped a picture of me?"
Beatrix pulled the camera out of her face and removed the film that came out. She stared at his picture with a dreamy look in her eyes.
Beatrix grinned at him, "Hmm."
Rhys smirked at him.
"Rhys?" Beatrix called him softly.
"Yes love?" He replied with a grin.
"How do you make a pool table laugh?"
Rhys furrowed his brows in confusion as if trying to find out why she was asking that question out of the blue.
"How?"
Beatrix flushed before she replied, "Tickle it's balls."
Rhys stared at her in silence for a second before he bursted into laughter.
Beatrix took this chance to snap a picture of him trying to capture the moment that he look so happy.
"Did you just say a dirty joke?"
Beatrix blushed and shrugged, "Ares is always telling me one. He is the only one who makes dirty remakes in the house."
Rhys stiffened, "Who is Ares?" He asked with a scrowl. His eyes burning with firce possessiveness..
Are you jealous?" Beatrix deflected his question, a funny sensation washing over her.
"Maybe." He deadpanned.
"My brother." Beatrix grinned at him.
"Oh." Rhys nodded and rubbed the nape of his neck.
"Now my turn." he said, looking from the camera and back to her face.
Beatrix raised her brows at him. Did he want to take pictures of her? But she looked so ugly in her pictures that she shy away from taking them.
Contemplating for a while, she bit her lips and handed it to him.
Rhys stepped back, bringing the camera up to his
face. He grinned at her and pointed at her.
Beatrix shook her head and looked away, "Trust me you don't want to take a picture of me. I look so ugly."
Her confidence dimished anytime she took a picture of herself.
Rhys walked towards her and grabbed her jaw turning her to face him.
Beatrix's breath hitched. His eyes danced across her with his brows pulled tightly.
"Why would you think you're ugly?"
"Because I am?" Beatrix said quietly, shifting on her feet as her eyes darted around.
Rhys shook his head, looking at her like she was crazy.
"Well I want you to see what I see when I look at you.." He said and took a step back again.
"Think about a happy moment."
Beatrix pouted as she tried to find a happy moment. But nothing was coming. She looked so distraught.
She heard him snapped a picture before he spoke again.
"You're so fucking pretty." He murmured as he focuses his eyes through the lens.
"Smile for me love. Let me see that beautiful smile of yours." He whispered.
A cute blush made it's way to her face as her lips pulled into a soft smile.
"Do you know what you reminded me of when I first met you?"
Rhys asked.
"A mouse?" Beatrix replied, her gentle laugh rippled through the air.
"My little mouse. So precious."
He said and removed the camera from his face.
He was now staring at her with such intensity she couldn't think straight. His gaze darkened as his eyes dropped to her mouth, lingering there.
Beatrix felt lightheaded by how he was looking at her. She had never felt such a strong reaction to anyone before.
It was like she could feel him undressing her with his eyes. Touching her with his fingertips.
Rhys cleared his throat and handed the picture films to her.
Beatrix took it and looked at the first picture. She looked so lost and timid.
"That's how you see yourself, because you have been held in a cage for so long. You can't spread your wings and fly."
Beatrix looked at the subsequent ones and realized they were the ones where she was laughing and blushing.
She looked so beautiful and carefree. She had never seen herself look so happy after the incident.
"Now that" Rhys said , tapping his finger against
the picture.
"That's what I see when I look at you. A beautiful woman full of life and innocence that I want to protect from this cruel world."
Beatrix blinked, she was too stunned to speak. How was he always able to make her feel all of this foreign emotions at once?
He was like the safe place where she knew she could let her darkness shine without him judging her because she knew he would always see the light in her too.
And for that she knew she was completely damned.
Rhys was the temptation that she didn't want to resist. She would let him consume her soul, mind and body; even give him her heart willingly.
Beatrix knew it the first time she led eyes on him and now that this man was going to be her destruction.