Roark woke so late the dining hall was emptyof people and the tables cleared.In the kitchens, the cook gavehim a thick slice of bread and cheese and told him he could findthe ladies Siusan and Alina at the herb and vegetable garden downby the loch.Stepping out under the noon sun, Roark couldn’tremember the last time he'd slept so late, well, except for the twodays and nights he and Alina had spent sheltering in the cave,where day and night had made no difference.A time and place he’dremember and treasure for the rest of his life, no matter how longor short it turned out to be.
Swallowing the last of the cheese, he walkedpast the smithy and the brewery to the path leading to the loch,where he found Alina and Lady Siusan kneeling in the middle of rowsof newly sprouting spring seedlings, their heads bent together deepin conversation.
“You could sow the seeds in a greenhouse amoon earlier than in the open ground,” Alina was saying, “thentransplant the seedlings outdoors after the frosts have gone.Bydoing this, I’ve found I can get two good crops in a season.Three,if it’s fast growing like greens or beans and radishes.”
“A greenhouse with glass panes in the wallsand roof,” Lady Siusan said.“Intriguing, and quite costly I’mguessing.”
“It is,” Alina said.“At the onset.But itpays for itself within a few short years with the extra crops ityields.”She glanced up, saw Roark, and smiled.“Roark has seen mygreenhouse.Is it not a wonder?”
“It is,” Roark agreed.“As Alina said, itallows you to plant and harvest early and often.Did she tell youabout the herbs she grows year-round in it?Healers from all overthe Northlands visit her greenhouse to study and trade forthem.”
“Impressive,” Lady Siusan said.“I admit, I’mnot much of an herbalist, but Agnes is.She will definitely want tospeak with you about your herbs and greenhouse before youleave.”
“I look forward to it,” Alina said.
Lady Siusan stood and wiped her hands on herapron.“I’m off to the kitchens to speak with cook about supper.Ifyou’ll excuse me.”
Roark and Alina both dipped their heads totheir hostess, and then Alina turned to Roark.
“You’re the sleepyhead today,” she said witha teasing grin.
“Aye.A certain lady owl kept me up half thenight demanding my favors,” he teased.“Glad I am she did,” herumbled, leaning in and nuzzling the tender skin of her nape,thinking of how he’d nuzzled her even more tender flesh thismorning.
He glanced around, and saw nobody elsenearby, folded her into his embrace and kissed her, long and deep.A thirsty man granted the purest, sweetest spring water.“I lookforward to being kept up all night again tonight,” he murmuredagainst her lips.
She bumped her pelvis against his eager cock.“If we don’t stop now, you’ll be up here in broad daylight.”
Roark chuckled.“I cannot help it, Ali girl.I swear I’ve been half-hard since the moment I spied you racingyour mare on the beach with your long legs bared.”He rubbed histhickening cock against her belly.“Now that I’ve had those legswrapped around me, I can hardly think of anything else.You’veenthralled me, my lady owl.”
Alina laughed, low and sultry.“I suffer fromthe same enthrallment, sir stag.”She twined her hands around hisneck, her green eyes darkening with a passion as natural to her asbreathing.“Yet unless we wish to be discovered rutting here in thedirt, we should probably find something else to do with our timeuntil tonight.”
“Agreed,” he said, though every nerve in hisbody was screaming at him to do it.To lay her down in the gardenand have his way with her.But she was right, they needed to act asLady Alina and Roark MacInnes, not curious little owl and ruttingstag, at least in the daylight.He stepped back and offered her hisarm.“Shall we let Etain and Beasty graze away the afternoon in thepaddock?”
***
When Roark woke under the willow tree withAlina tucked into his side, the sun was low in the western sky andthe air had taken on the chill of evening.
“Alina.”He gently nudged her arm.“Time towake up, my sleepy owl.”
“Nnnooo.”She burrowed her nose deeper intohis shoulder.“Not yet.”
Roark pushed a lock of hair damp from sleepbehind her ear and kissed her on the forehead.“I’m afraid so,love,” he said, jostling her again.“By the sun, it’s coming onsupper time, both ours and the horses.We don’t want to be rude toour hosts.”
“No,” she agreed, rolling away from him andpressing her back against the willow’s trunk.“We don’t.”Sheyawned and rubbed her eyes and focused her gaze on his.“How is itI sleep so much better with you on the cold, hard ground than I dowithout you in a warm, soft bed?”
This time he answered her from his heartrather than his head.“Likely for the same reason I cannot look atyou without wanting you, Ali lass,” he said, his voice low andraw.
She smiled, nodded, sniffed, and crumbled.“What are we going to do?”she cried softly.“How am I ever goingto sleep again without you?”
How am I ever going to live withoutyou?“One night at a time, Ali love,” he rasped.“One breath,one step, one long, lonely night at a time.”
She threw her arms around his neck and heldon tight, her heart hammering against his as he clasped her tohim.
“I will never love another the way I loveyou, Roark MacInnes,” she whispered fiercely, and then she broketheir hold and stood and whistled for the horses, who followed herto the stables, Roark trailing behind them.It would do no good tobe seen teary-eyed by the stable hands.
“Did you two have a good sleep?”Lord Owenasked Roark and Alina as they took their seats at the hightable.
“We did,” Roark answered him.“I think we’veboth finally caught up.”
