Chapter 31:

"Glad you lovebirds can now be all lovey-dovey with clearance, but please if you do it in front of me, then know I'd join." The man spoke, breaking the little moment I and Dmitry had. Dmitry groaned in frustration at the man.

"Shut up, Leviathan." The man threw his hands into the air to notion surrender, but he did not keep quiet.

"Just saying, you know how I get around sexual frustrations. Why don't you guys just go upstairs and never come down." The man's comment bade me blush, I did not use to vulgar suggestions.

"If you don't keep your mouth, I swear I'll sew it shut."

"And what good would that do? My best aspect is my mouth if you know what I mean." He laughed and winked my way. Giggling as a got the innuendo, I felt Dmitry stiffen next to me and place me out of the man's view.

"Over my fucking dead body, Leviathan," Dmitry growled and took a defensive stance before me. Rubbing his arm in reassurance, Dmitry's eyes met mine, his temper subsiding as he gazed deeply into my eyes.

"Well, now that you have accepted your bond, may I get an introduction?" Dmitry scoffed, rolling his eyes and taking my hand. He dragged me next to me in front of Leviathan.

"Hope, meet Leviathan, an old friend." Dmitry declared, the latter more forced as he glared at him. Dmitry's hostility only made Leviathan smirk as he held out his hand for me to shake.

"Nice to meet you, Leviathan. Thank you for your help." I shook his hand back, he held my hand a little too long when Dmitry suddenly forced my hand out of his.

"My pleasure, I must say you are exceptionally beautiful," My cheeks flared at his comment and thanked him. "No, really, you have a unique beauty with your angelic look and pristine almost white hair," Dmitry growled again, the situation getting too much for him. Leviathan only rolled his eyes at Dmitry, no sign of fear for the powerful man that stood next to me. "Well it is nice to meet you, I probably see you around then. Let me go, before Mr I-am-about-to-kill-you, does so." Kissing my hand, Leviathan sauntered out of the study, satisfied with himself.

"I swear, one day that man is going to see my wrath." I laughed at his comment, hearing my laughter Dmitry's demeanour softened. His strict and stoic stance relaxing with every passing giggle, his eyes softened and showed more emotion.

"Who is he anyway to you?"

"An old friend, I have known him for years now and he has helped me out many times before. Just stay away from him, he is very charming." Laughing I noticed the jealousy in his voice.

"Are you jealous?"

"Yes, Hope, I am a jealous man who does not like sharing." He engulfed my face with his hands, cupping both of them on each side of my face. A smile whispered on his face and it looked like he wanted to kiss me. How I wished for him to kiss me. I barely remembered our first kiss and have thought of it many times. I longed for the touch of his lips on mine, but it never came. He diverted his eyes away from my face and let go of my face.

Clearing his throat, his voice hoarse as he spoke, "Let's go get something to eat and then talk?"

"Okay." I disappointedly answered and followed him to the dining area. As we walked to it, Dmitry stiffly walked next to me, our hands bumping into each other.

"Stay here, I'll go and get something from the kitchen." A few minutes past and I was starting to wonder where he was off too. He left me staring at the ceiling for a while and I wondered if he had left me. Walking toward the door Dmitry previously disappeared into, it sprung open with Dmitry rushing out. He searched for my whereabouts around the room before he found me standing with a dishevelled look on my face. Gracing me with a big smile, I noticed the picnic basket in his hand.

"Sorry it took so long, the kitchen staff thought we would like a picnic better." Hardly hearing what he said, my focus solely on his amazing smile that one only got rarely, I nodded my head up and down.

"Let's get going then, I was thinking of we could sit in the garden? It is a rather warm day today." A smile replaced my dishevelled look and Dmitry started to beam more. He strolled towards me and placed his one hand on the small of my back, escorting me to the garden.

The garden was a nice place to relax, it had neatly kept grass and large trees casting big shadows on the ground. It was nothing like a normal garden, the garden had no flowers, guessing that it was too cold for flower bushes. The garden was merely a place where the children went to play, the grass patio was a nice place to play sports. There were wooden benches tugged under trees where the mothers usually sat and watched the children play.

We got strange looks from the Elders as we passed them. They still disliked me, yet Dmitry did not show any evidence of uncomforted or regrets. He kept escorting me outside to the gardens, his hand staying on my lower back causing tension to build up within me.

He chose a spot under a big tree, away from peoples ears and sight. He grabbed a blanket that was tugged into the basket and threw it under the tree. We sat down together, close to each other, but not close enough to touch.

"You hungry?" He asked as he took out the assorted snacks. The kitchen outdid themselves again, there were different sandwiches, small pies, cut up fruits and tiny deserts. They smelled quite deliciously, nodding my head yes he reached out a small plate to me.

We sat and ate in silence for a few minutes, later making small chats amongst each other. "I am sorry for my behaviour, I should never have doubted the bond," Dmitry stated out of the blue, it seemed to still bother him, while I no longer thought of it. I was happy to finally spending time with him.

"I too doubted." I tried to reason with him but saw no such luck when I looked him in the eye. He still felt guilty.

"But you're new to this world, I should have known. And it did not give me the right to have treated you the way I have." He diverted his eyes forward like he was ashamed of his behaviour.

"Will you at least speak to me from now on?" I joked which caught his attention immediately.

"Hope, I will work hard to earn your forgiveness and love from now on." His face was filled with truthfulness and determination, he truly wanted to make it up to me.

"I have forgiven you already, I understand the reasons," being bold and unlike me, I reached out for his hand. I encircled his one hand with the both of mine, them being too large to engulf with one. My action made me scoot closer to him, so close that I felt his breath on the top of my head. The realization of just how taller and stronger he was to me, scaring me.

"No, you forgive too easily. You should have me working overtime for it." He made no means of a joke, serious to every word. My action must have given him a green card to touch me because suddenly he pulled me up into his lap. Running his fingers threw my hair.

"Dmitry, I forgave you the minute I saw you in that room. I was just running on rage and adrenaline."

I went in to hug him, my face in the crook of his neck and lied limply on his shoulder as he played with my hair.

"You are too good for me." No more words were spoken between us as we sat in each other's embrace, enjoying the bit of peace and serenity we had. Both us were content at that moment neither wanting it to end.