"Here," he said, laying a blanket onto the ground. "I would hate for you to get dirty again."
She lay on the blanket, thinking it would take a long time to drift off in the open with her hair soaking wet. Lennox lay beside her.
She shivered and he moved closer, wrapping his body around hers. She felt the heat of him against her back and as her eyes closed, her heart began to pound in her chest.
"Sleep well," he said, breathing onto the back of her neck. "Tomorrow we will get you home."
She might have been mistaken but he almost sounded sad when he said it.
8
Lennox awoke to find himself wrapped around Rose. She was fast asleep, and for a moment he continued to hold her, unable to tear himself away. She had talked in her sleep but what she said made little sense.
"Mom, come back. Please, come back." Repeated over and over.
She’d sounded scared. He wanted to protect her from whatever she feared.
He jolted backward, sitting up and shaking his head. What was happening to him? He needed to ignore her, concentrate on what mattered.
He had a job to do, and that was to get the letter to Walter. He would not sleep so close to her again. He could not risk it. The scent of her was still in his nostrils, the warmth of her body as he had pressed against her making him tingle again as he stood up and stretched.
It would soon be dawn, the first gray streak of light was already appearing on the horizon.
He left his men to stir and headed into the inn. Rodrick was already up, stirring porridge in a vast cauldron above the fire.
"We are away soon," Lennox said. "Is the food ready?"
"Aye," Rodrick replied, collecting wooden bowls from behind the bar and setting them out in a row on the nearest table. "Want the first bowl?"
"Make it two."
Rodrick scooped generous portions of porridge into the bowls.
Lennox took them from him and carried them outside just as the first sliver of sunlight appeared above the horizon, illuminating the sleeping form of Rose. The light made her look like an angel.
He sat beside her, bowl in hand as she began to slowly wake up. "What time is it?" she asked, blinking as she sat up and stretched her arms.
"Time to eat," he replied, passing her a bowl. "We have a long journey ahead of us." He whistled low, and at once his men were awake, on their feet in seconds. "Food is waiting inside for you," he said, nodding toward the door.
They headed into the inn, leaving Lennox alone with Rose.
"Tonight we retrieve the staff," he said as she took a mouthful of porridge. "By tomorrow night we should be at the stone circle, and you will be home soon after."
"I hope so," she replied.
"You talk in your sleep."
"Do I?" Panic flashed across her eyes. "What did I say?"
"That you want your mother back."
The conversation was interrupted by the return of his men.
Aodh nodded his way. "Rodrick has prepared the horses."
"Good." He turned to Rose. "You will have to ride with me. Acceptable?"
"I'll cope."
