Page 127 of Come the Morning

“Will you have some wine?” Eleanora inquired. “Your husband’s chalice is there.”

“Are you hungry?” Peter asked. “After dancing so …”

“Peter!” Eleanora murmured, rolling her eyes.

“Well, she was … spectacular.”

“Peter, dear, don’t let Waryk forget we’re all friends. Would you like something to eat, Mellyora?”

She shook her head. “No, thank you, we dined in the village.”

“We?” Eleanora asked politely.

“Angus is with me, of course. I wouldn’t ride out alone.”

Waryk looked across the clearing. Angus was indeed there, grave, heavily armed. Waryk tried not to smile. Angus did the same, but then shrugged helplessly and grinned. His nod indicated that he had been on watch, and would remain on watch.

“Well, if there’s nothing you require …” Waryk murmured absently to Mellyora. “If you’ll excuse us?” he said to Peter andEleanora, suddenly entirely focused on his intent. “I’m anxious to hear about Blue Isle in my absence.”

He steered Mellyora from the table and down a trail in the forest. The moon was full, high in the sky, casting down a golden glow to guide them. Waryk knew, from the resistance he felt from his wife, that she had come here, anxious to see him—and anxious to spy on him—and now that her performance had been carried out, she was slightly unnerved, and uncertain as to what his reaction would be.

“Where are we going?” she asked him.

“Down by the loch.”

“Why?”

He smiled wickedly. “Because no one will hear you scream there.”

She stopped, trying to tug free from him. “Waryk, you’ve no right to be angry, to throw out threats! You should be pleased that your wife came out to meet you and see—”

“If I was sleeping with Eleanora?” he inquired.

She flushed, and he knew that had been her plan exactly. She hadn’t sent ahead any messages, she had wanted to catch him by surprise.

“You were very close.”

“Aye. Let’s go, come on.”

He caught her hand. She tried to pull free. “Waryk—”

“Come, my love, down to the loch. And by the way, how is Ewan? Hale and hearty and strong, so I hear.”

“Out of danger, at best!” she protested. “And I am here, having left Ewan, while I arrive to find you head to head with Eleanora—”

“Ah! So you did come to spy, and for no other reason!”

The trail curved. They came upon the loch in the middle of the night, with the full globe of the moon playing upon it. The water rippled in a soft reflection, the earth beside it was soft andredolent and the trees grew with great trooping branches that cast gentle fingers upon the strangely glowing landscape. Soft leaves carpeted the ground, and Waryk drew her around to stand before him just at the water’s edge. He caught both her hands, lacing his fingers with hers, and pinning her arms behind her back. “Indeed, my love, you came to spy.”

“I came to—” she began, but he didn’t really care why she had come. She was there. He had wanted her. She had tormented his dreams, left him lying awake and wanting, and now she was with him. She couldn’t finish speaking because his lips found hers. Hard, hungry. He ravished her lips, plundered the depths of her mouth. Searched and delved and tasted. And at last he lifted his head, and she tried to speak again. “Waryk, she is beautiful, and if you’ve been with her—”

“Aye?” He touched her lips again with his own, softly now, seductively.

“Waryk!” she struggled to free her arms. He would not let her go. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “If you’ve been with her …”

“Aye …” He pressed his lips to her throat, teased her earlobe with a brush of his teeth and tongue, found her throat again, and again.

“Let me go … because …”