"This place is so beautiful," Emily whispered out in pure amazement as she played with the cold and freshwater of the underground stream that was running through the cave.

Her eyes followed the trail of light pink flowers that were floating on the surface of the water. Dozens of Cherry Blossom trees were standing on the other end of the clearing, next to the little waterfall.

Kaiden came towards where she had been sitting on a rock with her feet touching the surface of the water. He crouched down beside her before signaling her to pull her legs up.

Emily followed his directions and pulled her right foot out of the water, only to find it wrapped in a towel as Kaiden started wiping it.

For a moment she was ready to stop him but at that exact moment, the man with long silver hair raised his face and looked straight at her. His eyes were clearly telling her to not even try stopping him.

Therefore, she just sighed softly and kept silent while watching him taking care of her. It was a great feeling, to be honest, filling her with warmth and softness. It was not like those times when her brothers or friends used to take care of her. It was different, it felt more personal and made butterflies appear in her stomach.

Kaiden pulled her second foot out of the water and started wiping it, making sure to be as tender as if he was afraid to hurt her even a little bit.

A small smile kept playing on Emily's lips as she watched him taking care of her.

"If you kept wiping it then it will turn red because of too much rubbing." She could not help but comment when the man refused to let go of her foot even after a long time.

Kaiden immediately stopped wiping her already dried foot and bent his face forward to plant a soft feathery kiss on her ankle, making her gasp with surprise.

Emily could barely believe her eyes as she felt the soft tingles running through her left foot. The spot where his lips had grazed her skin felt like it was already on fire.

Kaiden once again glanced up at her and this time, there was a beautiful small smile visible on his lips, matching the glow of his icy blue eyes.

He did not speak and just stood up before helping her to stand and putting her shoes on, once again making her feel like he was treating her too softly. She could already feel her heart melting with every tender action that he was showing her.

After making sure that her shoes were perfectly tied, he entangled their hands together and started walking towards the north of the stream where a dinner table for two was set under a small pavilion made of white marble and obsidian.

The black and white colors of the pavilion were so contrasting to each other but at the same time, they created a beautiful view.

"How long did it take you to prepare all this?" Emily asked as she took her seat and curiously looked around.

The pavilion was decorated with dozens of lanterns that filled it with light. The pillars of the pavilion were covered in ivy while the air was carrying the fragrance of cherry blossom and the freshwater of the stream.

There was only a jug of juice and two glasses sitting on the table which made her curiously look around to see if she could find anyone else.

Unfortunately, she found no one as far as her eyes could see. She turned her attention towards the man sitting in front of her as she asked in a suspicious voice, "Are you planning to starve me? I can't see a single human here beside us and there's no food here. And let me tell you........ I'm not eating any magical food, no matter how great it tastes."

Her voice was calm but full of determination. There was no way she would ever be wanting food made of magic. Her first as well as the last experience of eating something made of magic.....was really not great. Every time she recalled that memory, she would almost lose her appetite.

A small twitch appeared on Kaiden's lips as he heard her words and watched her cure expressions. If not for the table that put some distance between them, he would either have pinched her cheeks or kissed her by now

Unfortunately, the bloody table had created so much distance between him and his angel.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. I won't let you starve on my guard. And there won't be any food made of some magical spells. Promise!"

Emily stared at him with suspicious eyes for a second or two before lightly shrugging her shoulders in response. She was putting her trust in him for the time being.

Kaiden poured the juice into the glasses and offered her which she immediately accepted.

"I don't know why but I was imagining a very expensive and rich flavored wine. Not like I want to drink but that's exactly what I've been expecting." Emily told him truthfully as she took a small sip of the juice and found it far too refreshing and tasty than the normal juices.

The smile on Kaiden's lips broadened as he too took a small sip of his juice before replying, "That was exactly my plan. But I don't want to be killed by your brothers by making you drink here, at a place so far away from your home and in the middle of nowhere. You should keep it a secret......that I'm really scared of your overprotective brothers."

Emily frowned a little as she pondered about his last sentence before coming to the decision that she needed to defend her brothers.

"They are not overprotective!"

She said in a stern voice as she folded her arms in front of her chest to appear more determined about her point.

Kaiden arched his eyebrows at her words but stayed silent when she glared back at him. After a silence of the next few moments, he nodded his head slightly as he spoke, "Well.....let me put it like this - They are actually right about being concerned about you because they have more than a dozen reasons to worry about your well being and safety. So, as I'm also an elder brother, I can understand their effectiveness towards you because it's exactly like how I'm towards Ry. But.....as your mate....I just can't make myself understand them even if I try. So...they are indeed overprotective in the eyes of your mate."

Emily chuckled softly at the way he described his point. She could not fight against his point even if she wanted. It was true that her brothers had several reasons to be protective towards her but at the same time, there was no denial that they were clearly overprotective of her.

A clear example of their overprotectiveness was the message alert that she noticed on Kaiden's phone which was sitting on top of the table.

Her eyes landed on the familiar name of Simon Alessandro, which made her hands move faster than her brain. Before Kaiden could realize what was happening, she was already holding his phone, or maybe he just did not try to stop her.

"May I?"

Emily asked for his permission as she looked at him with a small smile visible on her soft pink lips.

The man slightly shrugged his left shoulder in response as he keenly watched her trying to understand the pattern of his screen lock.

"Your name." He told her softly and watched in agony as she softly bit on her lower lip to hide the smile that was threatening to appear on her lips.

He could do nothing but just sat there in silence as he watched his angel unlocking his phone and reading the message that her brother had just sent.

He felt his heart filling with hundreds of butterflies as his ears registered the addicting sound of her soft giggles.

"Oh, God! Don't tell me this is not the first time?" She looked at him to get the answer and once again started giggling when he nodded his head with a dramatic sad look on his face.

"Aww, my brothers are the best!" Emily shouted with love filling her voice for her dear brothers.

The message that Simon had sent Kaiden was -

'If you dared to make her drunk, we will chop off your legs. If you dared to make her cry, we'll chop off your legs. If you make her smile or laugh too much that her stomach will start hurting, we'll still chop off your legs. If you dared to bad mouth us in front of her, we will chop off your legs, and if you dared to hurt her even a little bit, we'll chop off your entire body. It's a real warning and you can even consider it a threat. CHOP! CHOP!'