Ocean's Breath Plateau I want a heart unbreakable

Perhaps her thoughts had been too loud; perhaps he'd been summoned by them. Marina glanced over her shoulder as Dutch slipped from the lodge after her, gaze drawn to his sunset eyes and the way they burned even under darkness. She looked back to the stars.

Her own heart was a guarded thing, but Dutch laid his heart bare in his words. I hoped to bring you peace. Ah, the hunt; the failing of men, to see hurt and think that some action must be taken to mend it. Revenge. What was that worth to her? Would revenge keep her warm in the night, dry her tears, kiss her sorrows away? Would revenge give her children and stand beside her as she raised them?

Yet Dutch had guarded her husband through this folly of anger and love. And he surprised her now with his recognition, his regret. Marina let out a soft breath. It was as difficult to hold her anger toward him as it was with Chakliux.

No, don't go, Her eyes found him again. I carried your name in my heart. She had never felt this before; the immediacy of attraction, a magnetism she could not explain. It had always taken time to nurture her affections, to see them grow into true want. Was it only her season that made it so? Your words are enough to bring peace. You kept my husband safe in his hunt - and I should thank you for that. It was something he needed. But I would sooner never see that monster's hide again, even torn into strips.

I used to love the stars, Marina continued softly, glancing briefly skyward as she said it. He took that from me. Do you know any stories of the stars, Dutch? He was a story teller, was he not? Perhaps it would heal some part of her to hear the stars in his voice.