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Clearing his throat, Kaien replied, “Yes, Blair?”
“I haven’t thanked you for saving my life, nor have I been gracious in light of what you’ve sacrificed for me.” Sapphire eyes met his. “Thank you, Kaien.”
“Nothing could keep me from coming to your aid, Blair,” he whispered. “Not even if the stars themselves began to fall.”
A hint of vulnerability entered her gaze before she looked away, and the blush that darkened her cheeks made his lips curl—if only just.
“Fortunately, I don’t think the stars are going to fall anytime soon,” she replied, glancing out the window behind her. “It is gorgeous here. I can see why you like it.”
He shrugged. “I don’t typically go outside when I’m here.”
Her gaze whipped back to him, wide-eyed. “You don’t typically go outside?”
“As I mentioned, I typically come here during the winter months, and reading is more of an indoor activity.”
Blair eyed him, her gaze thinning into something close to bewilderment. “Have you ever simply enjoyed nature, Kaien? Appreciated it without constantly thinking about what’s on your to do list?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you constantly move from one thing to the next, never taking a moment to simply breathe,” she said, exasperated.
“I don’t need to breathe, Blair. I need to—“
Standing suddenly and concealing a wince, she cut off his words with a look. “Stop. Come with me.”
Without warning, her fingers clasped around his, yanking him up from the couch and swiftly exiting out the door. A blast of cool night air rushed into his lungs, and she took him part way between the house and the firewood block.
“Sit down with me.” Blair’s hand left his as she seated herself.
“On the ground?”
She didn’t even glance up. “Yes, lumberjack, on the ground.”
His eyes shifted to the darkened tree line, pitch black with night. They weren’t the only predators who called this area home, and he wanted to make sure he’d be able to push back on any threat that came for Blair.
“Come on, now.” Blair patted the ground beside her. “I promise, no one will laugh at you for sitting in a field of daisies with me.”
Kaien looked at the summer-yellow grass beneath his boots. “These are hardly daisies.”
“Park it.” The muffled sound of her patting the ground chorused her command.
Sighing, he lowered himself to the grass and took a single breath before glancing over at her for his next task. “Okay. What now, vampire?”
“See? That’s what you do. You can never justlet it go.“ Blair took a deep breath and lifted her face toward the sky. “Take all that stuffiness, Kaien, all that structure and order, ball it up and send it sailing.”
For several moments, all Kaien could do was blink at her, trying to wrap his head around the oddity of her request and what felt like an impossible task. Instead of being combative, however, he simply faced front and huffed a sigh.
“Fine.”
Blair’s chuckle told him exactly what she thought of his attempt. “Breathe in, breathe out. Let all that tension just melt away.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you sound like a yoga instructor?”
“You’ve much experience with that, do you?”
Kaien didn’t respond, too busy trying to shift into a comfortable position. Dried grasses and small pebbles bit into his legs and rear, and the slight breeze brought with it the smell of pine and cedar. Everything about him screamed that this was pointless, and his inner taskmaster said there was something better he could be doing.
His lack of an answer had his meditation coach cracking open one eye to glance at him. Uncomfortable, he rolled his shoulders in something just short of agitation.
