The Duke and the Dryad (Elemental Series) (10 page)

“Then why don’t you ask Lord Wolfe to help you learn?”

“Never.” She picked up a shovel and started digging. The last thing she would ever do was to give the man the satisfaction of thinking there was anything regarding the earth that she couldn’t do. After all, she was the guardian of the forest, not him. She would never ask a warrior how to hone her own craft, whether it be the human way or not. ’Twould be embarrassing, like if he were to ask her how to handle a sword. Nay, she would do it herself as she didn’t need his help or advice.

After two hours
, Juturna came back from the kitchens to see how she was progressing.

“Wonderful,” said the woman. “You finished digging up and turning
the soil. Now tomorrow you will be ready to start planting.”

“If
’tis so wonderful, then why do my hands hurt so much?” She held her palms upward to discover blisters! She’d never had a blister before. This was not right.

“You are going to have many new experiences now that you are learning the ways of humans.” Juturna took one look at her hands and shook her head. “Let me put on a salve and wrap your hands for you. I should have told you to wear gloves.”

“Too late now,” she said. “Did you happen to get any calendula or thyme?” she asked. “It should heal the blisters quickly.”

“I have both right here in this salve.” Juturna saw t
o her ministrations and sent Rae on her way back home to the forest for the night. She’d always received energy from working with the land, but for some reason, she felt tired. This human way of doing things seemed senseless. Mayhap tomorrow, she’d be able to use her powers to help finish her garden. Then she thought of Juturna and what she’d said about Wolfe and learning the human ways. She hurried back to her hut, not sure any more what to do.

Wolfe watched Rae leave the castle for the night, noticing her hands were wrapped in what looked like bandages. He hurried over to the garden, anxious to see her handiwork. He stopped, and shook his head in confusion when he saw that nothing was done.

“Lord Wolfe,” called out Juturna, coming to greet him. “So I see you came to inspect Rae’s handiwork. So what do you think?”

“What the hell was she doing for the last two hours?” he asked. “Nothing is done.”

“Nay, that is not true. She has dug up and turned over the soil. All of it.”

“This is a small garden, old woman. Even my own mother would have been able to turn the soil in less than half that time.”

“She used a shovel, not her powers. She didn’t want you angry with her any more so she did it the way a human would. She thought that would please you.”

Somehow, he didn’t believe a word she said. He knew the little sprite was not apt to doing anything that she thought would please him. Nay, her motive must have been something entirely different.

“You put her up to it, didn’t you?” he asked with a raised brow.

“What does it matter? She is trying to change, now mayhap you should do the same. She is a wonderful girl and it wouldn’t kill you to be a little nicer to her once in awhile.”

“Old woman, I should have you punished for the way you’ve just spoken to me.”

“But you won’t,” she said, crossing her arms over her ample buxom. “Because you know I’m right. And I’ve seen the way you two look at each other, so don’t think I haven’t. I am sure your knights and even the servants have noticed it too.”

“All right, my busybody matchmaker, I would try to be nicer – for you.”

“Do it for Rae. And yourself,” she told him. “Not for me. Oh, why do I waste my precious time?” She threw her hands up in the air and continued talking as she headed away. “By the rood, I have never seen two people more stubborn nor made for each other than you and Rae-Nyst.”

“All right,” he answered though she could no longer hear him. “I’ll show you I can be nice.” He looked around the garden, noticing plants that were dug up and brought from the forest. They were already starting to wilt, since Rae hadn’t thought of putting them in water overnight. She probably just planned on using her powers to bring them back to life in the morning. Well, she wouldn’t have to. He would get a wooden barrel from the alehouse and fill it with water
from the well. And he would put her plants into the water to keep them from dying. That should please her in the morning. And then he could relay to Juturna his kind deed, and get her approval as well.

Chapter 7

Rae got to the castle early the next morning, planning on working an extra hour or two in the garden before anyone even awoke. She’d snuck in the postern gate, careful to replace the keys to the locks back in their hiding place in the vine wall. The servants weren’t even up and about yet, and she knew she could complete a lot of work before anyone even noticed. This way, she’d have four full hours to work in her garden just this morning alone, and no one would be the wiser. They’d think she accomplished the same amount of work in two hours time.

She made her way anxiously to the garden, walking over the ground softly and effortlessly. She’d borrowed a pair of gloves from one of the villeins on her way home
last night. Her hands were starting to heal, but it would take another day or two yet. She could have asked the earth to help her out, or laid her hands upon the ancient oak and asked it to take away her blisters and her pain. But she knew Juturna would give her grief, so she’d just opted for the gloves instead.

She entered the garden, thinking about
the cute iron bench she’d seen hidden in the brush yesterday. She planned on making an arbor over it, and growing roses up both sides of the trellis.

She stopped in her tracks when she heard the earth warning her that someone had been there while she was away. She looked through the darkness to see the plants she’d left unattended now sitting in a wooden tub filled with water.

“Did Juturna do that?” she asked herself aloud.

“Nay,” came a voice from behind her, “for that, you have me to thank.”

She spun around to see Wolfe standing in the entrance to the garden, shirtless, with tussled hair and bare feet, and looking like he’d just gotten out of bed.

“What are you doing here at this hour?” she blurted out.

“I think the question, my dear, is what are you doing here this early? And don’t think I didn’t notice you sneaking in the postern gate.”

“You are spying on me, and I don’t appreciate it.”

“I have trouble sleeping at night, and go out for rides or walks often. I wasn’t spying on you, but ’tis nice to know what is going on in my own castle.”

“Why did you touch anything in my garden
without my permission?” she asked.

“Oh, so now it is your garden as well as your forest, is it?”

“This is my time, now leave me alone.”

“This is the beginning of your two hours. And
since you arrived so early, I would expect you at my side now at sunrise instead.” He turned and left and she felt not only embarrassed but demoralized as well. He must have known about her blisters. And the worse part was he meddled into her affairs and basically showed her how it was supposed to be done. Well, she’d show him that she knew how to take care of the land. And this time Juturna wouldn’t be here to stop her from using her powers.

Wolfe had been excited to see Rae sneaking across the bailey in the dark when he’d glanced out his solar window. Once again he couldn’t sleep because thoughts of her kept him awake all night. He’d rushed to the garden thinking she’d be happy that he’d helped her out. Hopefully, so happy that she’d want to show her appreciation between his sheets.

He wasn’t sure what he’d done wrong. He was trying to be nice, like Juturna suggested. Instea
d, he’d only made her angrier. And that meant one more day of frustration as she sat next to him at the dais for the meals and followed him around all day long. He’d go crazy smelling her sweet essence of roses and lilacs, all the time drinking in her beauty, but never allowing himself to touch her.

Damn, this woman was going to drive him from his mind.

Instead of going back to bed, he decided to head to the fish pond on the other side of the orchard. No one would be awake yet, and he was so hot and bothered, he needed the bite of the cold water against his bare flesh to snap him back to his senses.

“There, that’s beautiful.” Rae lowered her hands from over her head, pleased at the work she’d done. It hadn’t been twenty minutes since Wolfe left, but she had the garden finished, and the plants in the ground as well. Thanks to the help of the earth, they were not only growing but blooming already. “So what’s wrong with that?” she asked aloud.

She looked to the gloves she’d brought with, still tied at her waist. She hadn’t needed them after all. She’d done all this work in such a small amount of time, and managed not to even get her hands dirty.

“Now, the finishing touch,” she said, making her way to the iron bench she’d seen hidden in the brush. She found it, and was thinking about how to move it, when the sound of a splash in the distance caught her attention. “What was that?” she asked, following the sound.

She made her
way past the orchard, and somewhere behind the tall grass, she heard the splashing again. She pulled aside the horse-tail reeds and gasped. The sun was just starting to rise, and in the faint light she saw the naked muscled back end of a man as he emerged from the water. Then, having heard her gasp, he turned and looked directly at her. To her surprise and delight, there stood Wolfe in all his glory. She’d never expected to see this, nor did she even know there was a hidden pond on the castle grounds.

“Rae?” he asked, doing
naught to hide or save them both from embarrassment.

He
r eyes fastened to his strong, lean chest, and she couldn’t help herself. She let her gaze drop to see what he looked like below the waist as well. Then, obviously seeing that she feasted upon his perfect male form, his manhood started to grow before her very eyes. In a mere matter of seconds, he stood straight and proud and obviously ready for coupling.

She gasped again, and let go of the reeds, blocking his view from her site.
She heard him call to her, but she turned and ran, wondering how she was ever going to face him now.

Wolfe swore under his breath, turning and diving back into the water. Nothing was working out as planned, and he could already tell this was going to be one hell of a day. He’d meant to come to the pool to cool his sizzling desire for the wood nymph. Instead, he’d be leaving more hot and bothered than when he’d arrived.

And the worst part was, he’d insisted she follow him around all day. He was never going to be able to concentrate on his
meeting with Amos, his steward, to go over the tally sheets or assist in the inventory of his larder now. And though he planned on joining his men in the guardhouse later for a game of dice, he knew he’d never be able to bring her there. Drinking men were rowdy and randy. He didn’t want her anywhere near any of his soldiers for fear she’d affect them the way she did him.

He was starting to regret the limitations he’d put on the girl. But the part he regretted most was that he didn’t take her that first night he’d brought her to the castle. Now, he couldn’t take her to his bed without her consent, even though it was driving him mad. He didn’t really understand it, but ’twas almost as if he cared for her too much to treat her like a common
lightskirt. And he felt a little apprehensive about bedding a fae as well.

He’d heard some of his men talking when they didn’t know he listened. The way it sounded, no one knew for sure, but the rumors were that sprites were not only lusty
but filled with undying vigor. Supposedly the best bedding a man could ever want. He didn’t know what to expect but could only hope he’d have the opportunity to find out for himself. And sadly enough, though no woman had ever complained about his talents in bed before, he had to admit to himself that he feared his lovemaking might just not be adequate for someone like her.

Chapter 8

Wolfe stormed across the bailey, soaking wet and madder than hell. Why had Rae ran away after seeing his naked body? She obviously was used to something else, and he wished to hell he knew what that was.

He should have covered himself instead of standing
there, embarrassing himself by growing before her very eyes. But he couldn’t help it. Mayhap secretly he was trying to entice her. Too damned bad it had backfired. And too damned bad he seemed to have an adverse affect on a fae.

“Lord Wolfe, you are up early,” said Sir Braden, spying him as he ended his shift on the battlements and hurried down the stairs to meet him. Wolfe didn’t answer, nor did he stop, but just kept walking briskly back to his solar.

“Lord Wolfe, wait up!” he called out, then bolted across the bailey to join him. Wolfe had no choice but to turn, giving the man full view of the lump beneath his hose.

“What is it, Sir Braden?”

“I . . . egads, you really should not walk around like that in public.”

“Well, I was trying to get back to the solar before everyone awoke, but now that you detained me, that put an end to that idea.”
He turned and continued walking, and to his dismay, Sir Braden followed.