Page 53 of Heart of the Hunted
Taredd wasn't sure if he should mention that it didn't matter if she was further away, he would have still been able to throw it next to her, so he kept it to himself.
Taredd replaced his hands in the water so he could catch another one. This time he didn't throw it to the shore, he carried it out of the water instead, and made his way over to where Natalia was currently standing. He bent down and picked up the other fish as he walked passed where it landed, still flopping around on the ground.
As he reached Natalia side, he said "I hope you like fish."
"If it's anything like the rabbit, then I probably do."
"You've not even tried fish before?" he asked in surprise.
"Nope," she said, shaking her head as she smiled. "We tried to catch one once, but all we got was soaking wet."
Taredd had never seen Natalia smile before, but that wasn't what halted him. No, that was all down to Natalia's laugh. The sound was so magical it ensnared him instantly. Taredd wanted to hear more of it, so he swore… to himself at least… to make her laugh more often. Taredd didn't know how he was going to accomplish that feat, but he was definitely going to give it his best shot.
When she noticed him staring at her, she suddenly stopped laughing. He instantly missed the sound, and hated the fact it was because of him that she stopped.
"What?" she asked.
When he didn't reply straight away, she started looking behind and all around her.
"What is it?" she asked again.
"Nothing," he finally said.
"Then why were you staring at me like that?"
"Sorry, it's just..."
"What?"
"Nothing," he said again, shaking his head. "Just forget about it."
"I don't want to forget about it," she told him, placing her hands on her hips. "I want to know why you were staring at me like that."
Taredd didn't say a word. He just walked passed her and headed towards the trees, so he could collect some firewood.
"I'm not going to give up, you know," she said, following hot on his heels. "You look as if you’ve seen a ghost or something."
Spinning around to see the look on her face as he admitted: "Because I liked the sound, okay?"
"Oh..." she said.
"Happy now?" he asked. "Does knowing that a Demon likes the sound of a human laughing make you happy?"
When she didn't reply, just stood there staring at him, he spun back around and stormed off towards the trees.
