Bree tried to swallow down the nervous lump that had lodged in her throat when Byron stood close enough for her to see the golden flecks in his beautiful blue-green eyes. As he looked down at her, and the sobbing little girl hugging her, his features softened. When he crouched down and gently tapped the little girl's shoulder with his pointer finger, Bree nearly swooned at the gentle look that glowed from his eyes.
The little girl abruptly stopped crying, but she held onto Bree more tightly as she turned her head and pressed her cheek onto Bree possessively. She looked at Byron sideways with her eyes squinted in a suspicious expression. Then her lips popped open and a single word escaped them, "Mine."
Bree could feel her face heating up, but her heart felt like it might suddenly burst from cuteness overload! Her arms instinctively returned the little girl's hug and she chuckled while looking down at her.
She could feel Byron's eyes boring into her, but when she looked up he had turned that gentle look towards her. His blue-green eyes glistened like the ocean and pulled at the longing that she had been trying to bury. She felt herself drawn to him, just as it was clear that he was also drawn to her. His cheeks lightly flushed and he cleared his throat before speaking.
"Midori, why don't you pick some more berries to go with lunch while your...mom and I talk? We have a few things that we need to discuss in private, just us adults."
Midori lifted her head, but her arms were still firmly around Bree. "You're not planning to scare mommy away or tell her to leave...are you?"
Byron reached over and gently patted her little head, "There's no need for you to worry, there are just a few things that I need to discuss with Bree before lunch. Make sure that you pick enough for Bree too, I'm sure she must be famished from walking through the woods and tell your sister to draw up a bath for our visitor."
Midori reluctantly released Bree and stood up with more dignity than Bree was expecting and straightened out her dress. She grabbed her fallen basket and widely grinned down at Bree. "See you later Mommy! Don't let Dad fool you with his gruff tone, he's actually a big softie." Then she turned her grin towards her dad and then ran across the field, hopping and skipping excitedly while berries bounced out from the basket and trailed behind her.
"You're spilling berries!" Byron said.
Midori stopped skipping and looked down at her now half full basket. After just a moment, she started going again, but this time she didn't skip, she just speed walked.
Byron was still chuckling with sparkling eyes when he turned his attention towards Bree and stood in front of her with his hand reaching out to her. "Would you like a hand up? Sorry about my daughter tackling you. She's always been...excitable."
Bree hesitated for a moment, but still took his hand. When she felt his strong callused hand wrap around her smaller one, her heart jumped in her chest, and a little traitorous squeak escaped from her lips. Byron blinked twice while looking down at her and then he burst into laughter. Her whole body flushed in mortified horror as she pulled her hand out of his and walked off before she realized what she was doing.
She managed to walk a few steps before she felt his larger hand wrap around hers again. She looked over and saw the playful grin on his face and his glittering eyes. "Come with me? I'll show you my favorite place to sit and we can talk things out. I'm sure that there's a lot we both want to say."
Bree looked down at their joined hands and bit her lower lip. Then she looked up at his handsome smiling face. At first she was going to pull her hand free, but with the way her heart was jumping in her chest and her skin danced where they touched, she just couldn't do it. She wanted to hold onto this feeling for as long as she could. Just holding his hand was so much more exciting than she would have ever imagined it could be. Is this what that elusive 'spark' feels like?
They walked in silence, next to each other while they held hands. On the outside Bree looked perfectly composed, but on the inside she was squealing. [OMG! What is wrong with you? You're just holding a guys hand. An incredibly hot, strong, guy who's obviously ridiculously out of your league, but still, you're just holding his hand. OMG! OMG! OMG!]
Bree glanced over, while trying to not appear to be looking at him and studied his features. [OMG, you're being creepy. You probably look like a lecherous old man eyeballing a young woman in a short skirt.]
Byron glanced over with mischievous eyes that clearly said he knew she was watching him, but that he didn't mind. More than that, he welcomed her stare. He was getting a thrill from her attention, just as she was getting from his. Her brain had frazzled out, going this way and that, but mostly focusing on the warmth of his hand wrapped around hers.
After walking for some length of time, she wasn't actually sure how long, they had walked around to the other side of the clearing, and the cabin was behind them. In front of them was a sparking blue river dancing with rainbow colored fish, purple fish, green fish, white fish, and silver fish. The banks of the river were lined with berry bushes and fruit trees. There was a bridge across the water and on the other side there was a tree twice as tall at the cabin. It's bark was white and it had silver leaves the size of dinner plates. There were large purple flower buds on all of it's branches.
Near the water's edge, nestled beneath the white tree, there was a wide bench that looked large and sturdy enough to comfortably hold two wrestling bears and maybe an ox for good measure. When they came to the river, Bree looked at the bridge and it reminded her of Monet's water lily pond. Such a pretty bridge seemed out of place in a world like this one. She let her fingers trail across it's smooth surface as they walked across the bridge and she admired the fish swimming in the slow moving river. After they crossed the bridge they stood before the massive silver colored bench. Byron slowly released Bree's hand and turned toward the bench. He dusted off a place for Bree to sit, even though she was clearly the one who was going to dirty the bench and not the other way around. She frowned at the sudden feelings of loss that sprung up inside her and soundly pushed them away. What was wrong with her?
He motioned for her to sit and when he sat right beside her and took her hand in his, she didn't resist. In silence they stared at the light glistening off the ripples on the river's surface and listened to the gentle tinkling of bells in the distance. They sat without speaking, enjoying each other's company and warmth, feeling the bliss of contentment and peace through their mate bond. It wasn't at all awkward or uncomfortable as she assumed that it should have been, it was blissful, pure contented bliss.
Was this what a mate bond is like in this world? She felt a hint of his emotions through her bond while their hands were in each others and she felt grateful. For the first time since she had come to this world, she felt a deep contented peace and she felt safe. She allowed her head to rest on his shoulder without really thinking about it. He turned his head and kissed the top of her head, before sighing. His grip on her hand tightened slightly, not in a painful way, just firmly, as if he was holding something truly precious that he couldn't let slip away.
"I never thought that I would be able to feel a mate bond again," Byron said.
"Again?"
Byron stilled, even seeming to hold his breath before he sighed once more. "I suppose there really are some things you must know before we can start a life together."
He pulled back from her and gently touched the side of her face, tilting her chin up. When their eyes locked together, the blue-green of his eyes glittered with gold until they were overwhelmed and she felt herself captivated by the passion and resolve shining out from their depths.
"Know that whatever I say, I want you. This connection between us, this mate bond is not a typical one, and is worth protecting."
Bree looked away from his eyes which were practically glowing and looked down at the bench while guilt nearly choked her. She couldn't believe that she had even for a moment ruined this before she had even realized what it was. She nearly destroyed something so precious without knowing what it was. Here he was about to tell her something that he kept close to his heart, but she couldn't tell him the truth. How could she when it could possibly dull that shine of joy in his eyes?