“I wasn’t trying to trick you.” He stood up and went over to the back wall. “Let’s have some nature sounds while we relax and talk.”
We lay side by side on the mats while the background of a tropical forest played from hidden speakers. No talking for a good ten minutes before Briar said, “Let’s do a little breath work.”
“It doesn’t work on me.”
“Humor me? It’s not a spiritual practice, or at least it doesn’t have to be. It can just be a way to help you destress. Think of it as medicine. Or a way to improve your productivity.”
“Really? It can do that?”
“Sure, a person who is running themselves ragged cannot be as productive as one in top shape.”
“Okay, go for it.” Just lying here in the low light with the soft sounds and the omega’s voice, his warmth next to me was making me feel better.
“I want you to breathe in to a slow count of five, through your nose. Hold it for five, and then release it to the same count. Wait five then start over. We can do it together.”
The first few breaths were hard, as if there wasn’t enough room in my chest for that much air, but Briar encouraged me, and after a little while, breathing in and out together felt incredible. I got past the place where, in the class, I’d tuned it out and gone right back to stressing out. Nothing in my life had changed except knowing this bear and breathing together.
Everything had changed.
After we finished, he propped himself up on an elbow and looked down at me. “And?”
I kissed him.
Chapter Ten
Briar
He kissed me. Damn, it was better than I imagined, and I’d imagined it plenty of times in the past week.
“That was…” I said, pressing my fingertips to my lips, testing if it was real.
“It really was.”
Tiredness pulled at me, but I wasn’t sleepy. Time with Foster seemed more important.
“I have an idea,” I said. Foster’s eyebrows moved upward. “How long has it been since you let your deer out?”
He chuckled. “How do you know I’m a deer? I never told you.”
I tapped my nose. It was one of my special powers. “I have an excellent nose.”
Foster drew closer. His chest briefly touched mine. “And what does this excellent nose say about me other than I’m a deer?”
Oh, my. From this angle, I could see his heartbeat pulsing in his neck. Slow and easy. He was relaxed. “When you came into the studio the first time, you were stressed. Your anxiety clung to my chest, and I wished you had stayed for the class.”
“I’m always stressed.” He looked down. “Sometimes bits of peace feel so foreign now. It’s unsettling how uncomfortable I am with calm and relaxation. People go on vacations and come here seeking tranquility, but for me…I only try and relax when I don’t think I can take any more tension.”
“I was there once too. So frazzled and burned out that I couldn’t think straight. My chest always tight. My breaths short. My mind never stopped.”
“And what did you do?”
“I breathed. Explored all kinds of things until I found what worked. Practiced. It’s a skill, relaxing, especially for those of us who seem to thrive on chaos and business and having too much on our plates.”
“What else, omega? What else did my scent tell you?”
He took one more step. His hips pressed against mine.
My mouth went completely dry. “A lot, alpha.”
