He didn't look like a lackwit at all, Ruby thought, mesmerized by the motions of his long fingers as they wielded neat furrows through the foam. His knee-bent stance outlined the corded muscles in his thighs and tight buttocks. Ruby was acutely aware of golden hairs that dusted the planes of his rock-hard chest, trailed down the ridges of his washboard-firm abdomen and disappeared invitingly below his exposed navel. Her eyes shot back upward from that forbidden territory to land on the flat brown nipples. She had to restrain herself from reaching out and touching them, to feel their texture in her fingertips, to test their sensitivity.
Almost done shaving, Thork winked at her devilishly, aware of her too-obvious scrutiny. With a warm chuckle, he said, "Spit it out. What did you want to say to me?"
Ruby dropped her eyes before his perceptive gaze, but then blurted out the first thought that came into her head, "You have a marvelous chest."
Laughter gurgled up out of Thork's throat at her spontaneous remark. He couldn't help but see the flush of embarrassment on her flaming cheeks. How could she have said something so stupid?
"Yours is also... marvelous," he offered graciously, his blue eyes twinkling. Then he scrutinized her chest in mock seriousness. "Leastways, I think it is. Of course, I have only seen it totally uncovered once. Would you care to remove your tunic and show me?"
"No!" Ruby retorted, irritated by his apparent humor at her expense. But then she immediately questioned her overly quick response. Why had she answered negatively when her purpose was supposed to be persuading him to marry her? Some seductress she was turning out to be!
"Oh, all right," she muttered, hot-faced with self-consciousness, as she reached for the hem of her loose tunic and pulled it up over her head.
Thork had just finished wiping his face with a square of linen when he realized what she was doing. "Odin's eyeballs! What are you about now?" he sputtered, then ordered, "Put your garment back on."
"You told me to take it off. You said you wanted to look at my chest," Ruby argued, then finally gave in to her innate modesty and covered her breasts girlishly with her hands.
"I was not serious," he choked out, unable to pull his eyes away from the sight of her standing in her black lace bra and panties. His smoldering eyes took in every inch of her exposed body.
Ruby shifted nervously from foot to foot, uncomfortable with his silent scrutiny, but before he had a chance to kick her out, she forced herself to follow through on her plan of persuasion. Reaching behind, she unsnapped her wispy bra, letting it drop to the floor.
"What do you think?" she squeaked.
Well, that certainly wiped the smile off his face!
Thork dropped his towel and gazed at her in amazement. "I cannot be sure," he said huskily. "Come closer."
The fire in his glittering eyes awakened slumbering embers deep inside Ruby that had been banked for such a long time. One part of Ruby wanted to rebel, to run like crazy from the room and the humiliation of her wanton behavior. The other part, the stronger one, pushed her feet—step by reluctant step—closer to Thork. The odor of his skin intoxicated her—sun, soap and man. Oh, yes, man! When she stopped a mere foot away, he took both breasts in his hands, weighing them, reshaping them. Cupping the undersides, he ran the pads of his thumbs over the already erect tips, and Ruby's knees turned to Jell-o. Trembling, she reached up to his shoulders for balance.
Thork's eyes collided with hers, questioning. His lips parted and he ran his tongue over their dryness.
"Truly, they are a... marvel," he rasped out, "but then one cannot know for sure till the tasting." Lifting her off the floor so her breasts were level with his face, he prolonged the moment agonizingly as his breath fluttered warmly against first one and then the other of the firm mounds. Finally he took a good portion of her breast in his wide mouth, drawing deeply, pulling slowly outward until his lips closed on the nipple.
" 'Tis sweet as honey," Thork whispered against her skin.
Ruby moaned and arched her back, begging softly, "That... feels... so... good! Oh, please, don't stop."
"As if I could!" Thork murmured in a raw voice, using his tongue expertly to lave the aureole, then circle the nipple wetly before flicking the tip in rapid vibrating motions.
Ruby cried out.
He moved to the other breast and repeated all the same motions, growling with satisfaction when she mewled softly. "Oh, yes, little cat, purr for me just so," he coaxed.
By the time he lowered her to her tiptoes, brushing her nipples against the silky hairs on his chest in the process, Ruby's mouth was level with his, and she could feel his steely erection pressing against her stomach. When his lips closed in on hers, Thork murmured in a thick, unsteady voice, "Is this what you came to talk to me about, little witch? Didst change your mind about bedding with me?"
His lips were already sealed with hers, devouring, pressing, when Ruby's bemuddled mind registered his words. No, that wasn't what she wanted to talk about, she reminded herself dazedly. What was it? Oh, yes! Now she remembered fuzzily.
"Thork," she whispered. She pulled away from his lips, but he followed her and kissed her once again. This time she spoke louder when she broke the kiss with a gasp, "Thork, this isn't what I wanted to talk about," she said and drew in her breath sharply as his tongue assaulted the sensitive recesses of her ear. "At least, not exactly."
Laughing, he backed up and took her with him, then sat down on the bed. He turned her so she sat on his lap. Ruby could feel the force of his arousal under her legs.
"What is it that's so important?" he whispered in a distracted fashion, obviously as affected by this love play as she was. He kissed the nape of her neck and ran his fingers feather lightly over the inside of her thighs.
"Oh!" she gasped, and something wonderful twisted deep within her body.
"Oh, indeed," Thork chuckled.
"Stop it, Thork. I can't think when you do that."
" 'Tis the idea." Then he pulled his hand away teasingly and nuzzled her neck again. "I'm listening."
"Thork, I've decided... ," Ruby started, finding it hard to speak after his sensual attack, "... I've decided we should... we should... get... married."
"You've decided," Thork hooted derisively, dropping backward to the bed and shifting so that she lay at his side in the crook of his arm. He put his mouth to her breast again, and she could feel his smile. When his infolded lips and grazing teeth brought her to a mindless pitch once again, he looked up with passion-glazed eyes and told her, "I've decided we should make love, without the marriage."
Obviously, he didn't think she was serious.
"No," Ruby protested, trying to pull away, but he held her firmly in his arms. When she stopped struggling, Ruby implored him, "You have to marry me, Thork."
"I do?" he asked seductively, rolling on his back and pulling her up on top of him, chest to breast, straining manhood to throbbing womanhood. He was not making this easy, at all.
"Sweetling, how many times do I have to tell you. I will not marry—ever." Then he laughed and gave her a quick hug. "Leastways, in my country, the woman waits for the man to ask."
"It's pretty much the same in my country, even with women's lib," Ruby confessed, "but I don't have time to wait for you to do the asking."
"Let's talk about this later," he cajoled smoothly and pulled her knees apart and forward so that she straddled him. They both gasped simultaneously at the shock of swirling pleasure, almost too intense to be borne.
Trying to slow down the careening pace of their sexual game, Thork asked, "What is this urgent need to talk of marriage?"
Inhaling deeply to stabilize her heightened senses, Ruby said, bracing her straightened arms on his chest, "I now realize I need your protection when I go before the Althing."
"A wise conclusion."
"Thork, let me move. I can't concentrate."
"Nay," he laughed. "You are just where I have wanted you for a long time."
She laid her right hand gently on his che
ek. "Thork, I'm very concerned about Eirik and Tykir. They need a family unit—a mother and father, living together."
Only the flickering muscle near his mouth betrayed his reaction to her mentioning his sons. "Do you try to cool my ardor by bringing up those subjects I forbade you to address?"
"Oh, Thork! I came to your room to try to make you see... oh, what's the use!" She lay her face on his chest for a moment, then looked up, determined to try once more. "Did you know that Tykir plans to become a Jomsviking like you just so he can spend some time in your company? And Eirik wants to be fostered at King Athelstan's court with his Uncle Haakon. The atmosphere there couldn't be any colder than the one he lives in now."
The surprise on Thork's face showed Ruby he hadn't been aware of his sons' wishes.
"I have already told you why I cannot be with them," he said through gritted teeth.
"I know. I know. That brings me to my third point," she said, nervously drawing circles around his flat brown nipples, barely noticing his small gasp of pleasure.
"Pray tell," he laughed, probably expecting her to pop another of her surprises on him.
"You don't have to be sarcastic. I'm just trying to help."
"Odin save me!" he prayed, raising his eyes dramatically upward. "The wench would save me by having me give up Jomsviking to wed her." He wrapped his arms around her tightly, though, amused with her arguments.
"Do you want to hear the rest?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"No, but I wish you'd keep an open mind."
"Oh, I am more than open," Thork countered, moving his thighs apart slightly and spreading her straddled legs in the process, making her sensitized cleft more exposed to his hardness.
She groaned and closed her eyes a moment. When she opened them, she went on doggedly, "I think... I think you could solve all your problems by marrying me and then taking me and Eirik and Tykir to some other country where we would all be safe and not have to worry about any danger." She exhaled after her long-winded plea and looked at him hopefully.
"Like where?" Thork asked distractedly as her navel caught the attention of his exploring fingertips.
"Well, how about Iceland?"
"Are you daft?" he asked, then burst out laughing, hugging her warmly as he rolled her over onto her back. "Oh, Ruby, I love the way you make me laugh," he said with a delighted chuckle as he playfully bit her neck. When his laughter finally stopped, Thork leaned over her, tracing the line of her jaw lazily with his thumb, then the outlines of her lips. A pulse beat wildly at the base of his throat.
" 'Tis time for honesty betwixt us, sweetling. Are you ready to be my bedmate or not?"
Bedmate? Ruby hesitated, hampered by the lump in her throat. "I hoped for more."
"I cannot give more," he said, looking her directly in the eye. "I want you, more than I can ever remember wanting a woman." He, too, seemed to have trouble swallowing.
Ruby closed her eyes for a second to savor his softly spoken words. Lord, she was falling in love with this man—all over again. This heady, overwhelming, dizzy euphoria could only be likened to the way she had felt in the beginning with Jack, when everything was new, and hope made anything possible.
But Thork was not Jack, Ruby had to forcefully remind herself, as he continued, "I can only pledge my protection until the Althing, Ruby. You need to know that. But know this as well—I do not take this powerful attraction we share lightly. In different times, mayhap there could have been more betwixt us, but leastways I can promise you the best loving you have had in your life—for as long as we can be together." He kissed her lips lightly to seal his words.
"For how long?" Ruby asked weakly.
"Until I leave."
Ruby winced. She didn't like Thork's offer, enticing as the prospect of sleeping with him would be, but she knew she had no other choice. And, besides, once she'd slept with him, she might be able to convince him otherwise. "All right. I agree," she finally said and put her hands on both sides of his face, intending to pull him down for her kiss.
But Thork sensed Ruby's hesitancy. "Nay, we must first be clear on this arrangement. You will be satisfied being my bedmate? You will not be hoping for more, trying to change my mind? 'Tis no dishonor in being mistress, but 'tis dishonorable of me to bed you if you are hoping for more."
"Thork, I couldn't stop hoping, but that doesn't mean you would have to change your mind. If I'm willing to take the risk, why can't you?"
Ruby watched various emotions flicker across Thork's face as he fought to make a rational decision. Then he asked thoughtfully, "You would ask much of me, Ruby, to give up my oath of Jomsviking, to stay in the Saxon lands, to enter an institution whose bindings I abhor, but what about you? Would you promise to never leave me? To never return to your own country?"
Oh, my God! How could she have failed to consider that question? What if she returned to the future? There was no way she could ever make such a binding promise to Thork, not knowing when or if the time-travel might be reversed.
Thork scrutinized her face and read her answer. Before she could say anything, he pulled away and moved off the bed, breathing heavily.
"Thork, please let me explain. It's not what you think. It might not be my decision to make."
"And who might be making that decision for you? Ivar? Athelstan?" he snapped icily. He threw up his hands in resignation. "Holy Thor! Why am I ever surprised by women and their machinations? You tried to trap me. And fool that I am, I almost fell for your ploy."
Ruby wept silently, unable to offer Thork an explanation he could accept.
Finally he ordered, "Leave my chamber and do not dare to tempt me again, or I swear I will kill you with my bare hands." Furious swear words spouted from Thork's mouth as he threw her tunic at her and pulled her off the bed, shoving her toward the door.
"Vigi!" he yelled out the open doorway into the hall, "Get your bloody arse here, or I will skin you alive."
"Thork, you're making a mistake. Please. You don't understand. Please. It's not what you think."
Thork would not even look at her as she donned her tunic, despite her pleas.
Soon a red-faced Vigi came running from a room down the hall, struggling to lace a hastily donned pair of pants. He cowered under Thork's stormy vindictives, which ended with an order, "Tell Linette I want her—now!"
"Oh, no! Oh, Thork, don't do this. Don't destroy the beauty of this thing between us. How can you be with Linette and not me?" she asked with tears choking her voice.
"Because she expects naught of me," he ground out, "and because she is honest, and you are not."
"Linette, honest? Hah! If you weren't so blind—"
Thork grabbed her by the upper arm and pushed her out into the hallway. "You have teased and tormented me for the last time, wench. Never doubt that the fire you ignited in my belly can just as easily be quenched in another sheath." He looked pointedly at Linette, who was scurrying toward him expectantly with Vigi close behind.
He pulled Linette into his arms and kissed her hungrily, uncaring of Ruby's hurt, watchful eyes. The door slammed soon behind them both, but not before Thork ordered Vigi, "Keep the wench out of my sight, or you will suffer the bloody consequences."
Stunned, Ruby stared at the closed door, knowing what was about to take place. She pounded on the locked door and screamed, "This isn't the end, you bastard. Just you wait and see. Just you wait and see."
Realizing the foolishness of her position, Ruby stopped. How could he? she cried with inner torment. How could he? She rocked back and forth on her heels in pain at his cruelty until Ella put a comforting hand on her shoulder and led her back to her tower room, under Vigi's guard. She stayed with her, holding her hand until the harsh sobs stopped racking her body.
"Your plan did not work, did it?" Ella asked gently when Ruby finally dried her eyes and blew her nose on a linen cloth.
"Yes and no," Ruby snuffled.
"What does that mean?"
"It means I tri
ed to seduce Thork and ended up the seducee."
"Huh?"
Ruby suffered miserably that evening when neither Thork nor Linette showed up in the great hall for dinner. The next morning Ella informed her that Thork had gone off for several days to Jorvik where he would ready his ship for sailing.
"Linette went along fer the company," she added, rolling her eyes dramatically. "And Gyda be spittin' mad that Linette travels with her husband, sez she does not trust the witch with her man. Aud and the master bin' arguing sumpin' fierce all day and she sez she will not speak to him till he gets the wench a husbin. And the master Dar sez all the trouble began when you came to the manor."
"Me?" Ruby exclaimed after Ella's long-winded ramble. "What have I to do with Linette's alley-cat morality?"
" 'Twould seem Linette hid her doin's better till this past few days when you arrived."
Ruby realized as she looked up to the dais that evening that this time Ella had her facts straight. Aud deliberately turned her face away from Dar throughout the meal and talked only to her other eating companions. Dar's face reddened as he downed one horn of ale after another, refusing food. Once he looked directly at Ruby and glared. It seemed Ruby had one more vote against her at the Althing.
The next morning, after breaking her fast on bannock and cheese, Ruby sought out Aud. She found her in the large, separate outside kitchen where she was removing several baskets from their pegs on the walls.
"I go now to gather mushrooms. Tomorrow we will dry them," Aud told the cook.
"Can I come with you?" Ruby asked.
Aud jumped in surprise, clasping her chest. "Why?"
"I used to pick mushrooms with my grandmother. I was pretty good at selecting the nonpoisonous ones, but you may have different varieties here. You could show me."
Aud looked suspicious and not too excited about her company, but she didn't deny Ruby's request.
"Would you object if I asked Eirik and Tykir to come with us? Perhaps we could bring a basket of food with us and eat our midday meal outdoors by the pond."
A brief look of something akin to pain flickered on Aud's face before she deliberately masked her face with blankness. "Eirik went with Thork and Olaf to help load the ships."