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When she paused to gently caress the velvety leaves of a potted lavender bush, he moved behind her to nuzzle her hair.
"Find anything promising yet?" he murmured.
Iris laughed. "Everything here is divinely promising." She tipped her happy face up for a swift kiss. "Thank you for convincing me to play hooky this morning."
As midday neared, the farmer's market livened with even more shoppers and tantalizing food options. Iris paused to purchase a jar of fresh honeycomb from an apiarist's stand, giggling when Derek couldn't resist swiping a comb chunk to pop directly into his mouth.
"Mmm, that's delightful indeed," he announced with deep rumbling gusto. Iris rolled her eyes in mock exasperation and offered him another piece with her fingers. The gentle intimacy of the moment, her standing tucked against him, feeding him honey, made Derek's heart flutter like a young pup's.
But soon, a smoky, savory scent caught his attention. The meat vendor had just fired up his outdoor grill, and thin slices of venison jerky sizzled over the flames. Derek's mouth watered.
With an apologetic glance toward laughing green eyes, he hustled Iris over to purchase a hearty bagful of the protein-packed treats. The wolf in him demanded such sustenance, after all. Though lean and muscular rather than bulky in build, Derek needed plentiful amounts of meat and wild game to fuel his inner beast.
Iris indulged his enthusiasm with good humor, stealing a single piece for herself with a coy wink. "Can't have you wasting away to nothing," she teased, patting his flat stomach as they continued wandering the market, hand in hand. Derek grinned and pulled her closer under his arm, truly feeling perfectly content.
Derek tucked the venison jerky back in his pack, inner wolf satisfied from the protein boost, and turned to Iris with a playful glint in his blue eyes.
"I believe you'll find this next stop particularly fascinating, my dear," he hinted, tucking her hand securely in the crook of his arm before leading them farther down the market aisle at a purposeful clip.
Iris glanced up at him, eyes dancing with curiosity. "Oh? Such secrets, Alpha wolf," she laughed, having to quicken her steps to match his long stride. "Where exactly are you whisking me off to now?"
"You'll see soon enough." Derek flashed her a rakish wink, enjoying keeping her guessing. In truth, he was specifically taking Iris to the rare herb vendor he knew would intrigue her nature-attuned spirit immensely.
Sure enough, when they rounded the corner to the lush and eccentric botanical stall, Iris released an audible gasp of delight. Derek grinned, giving her small back a guiding nudge forward.
"For you, my love," he offered generously, indulging himself in watching Iris immerse among the specimens with nearly pup-like enthusiasm. This surprise outing was proving even more inspiring than he'd anticipated.
Derek led Iris around a corner to a stall situated at the very edge of the farmer's market square. A riot of flowers in vibrant jewel tones spilled over the rough wooden counter in lush abundance … crimson roses, violet larkspur, emerald orchids, topaz snapdragons, and more. The petite shack seemed ready to burst at the seams, every inch bedecked with organic bounty.
Iris drew closer, awed. The little structure was nearly camouflaged into the landscape, buried under salts of ivy and morning glory vines. Hand-painted signage peeked out through the foliage bursting from old barrels and baskets stacked haphazardly around the entrance. A weathered wooden rack sagged under bundles of drying herbs.
It appeared more like an accidental garden than a place of business. "This is incredible!" Iris stroked the velvety petals of a nearby orchid. "I've never seen such a lush paradise in my forest."
The young woman, minding the overflowing herb stall, peered at Iris and Derek from under the brim of a wildly colorful hat wreathed in flowers and feathers. Her nose and cheeks were splattered with soil as if she'd tumbled straight from the lush banks of potted plants and dangling dried botanicals surrounding her.
"Oh, yes, a true plant whisperer!" she squealed, pumping Iris's hand enthusiastically. "We must swap garden tales. I can tell you're a kindred spirit …"
Iris disappeared with the woman into the riotous greenhouse, lit with bliss. Derek eased back against a mossy barrel, tenderness rising in his chest at watching her uncover unique specimens, firing questions at the amused hedge witch through mouthfuls of exotic fruit.
No sooner had Iris expressed wistful trouble growing delicate feverfew than the vibrant young herbalist Callie grasped her hand with startling intensity. "Let me see, let me see!" Before Iris could react, Callie had tugged her under a ring light and clicked on a large magnifying glass, peering at Iris's palm with hawkish scrutiny.
"Mmm, just as I suspected!" she proclaimed, adjusting the light angle and lens distance, heedless of Iris's bewildered expression. "A clear spiritual blockage disrupting the life force flow."
Straightening, she removed the magnifying glass and patted Iris's shoulder. "Good news is nothing some meditative gardening won't fix. Now, take those feverfew cuttings and this growth-amplification mulch I blended …"
Callie tapped a dirt-smudged finger decisively on a crease crossing Iris's palm. "See that stunted line? Explains everything!"
“Now, are you pruning correctly? Using the right potting soil?” She rushed on without waiting for Iris’s answers. “Here, take some starts and this blessed mix."
Derek just grinned, watching his unpredictable mate bond so effortlessly with the equally eccentric herb vendor.
TEN
DEREK
Iris hit Derek's name on her speed dial, tossing her hair impatiently as she listened to it ring. As soon as he answered, she launched her complaint. "Derek, I know you’re dodging my calls! I refuse to be saddled with these oafs all day while I’m here at the clinic! Call them off. I'm a lone wolf. I don't need babysitters trailing my every move like prison guards …”
The phone clicked, and a faint growl echoed over the line. "Iris, enough. We settled the matter this morning."
