Part 6 (1/2)
”I want one night in your bed furs. Dusk to dawn. You, naked. Me, naked. Oh, do not be enraged without hearing the rest. You would not have to touch me, and I would not touch you... unless you asked.”
He saw anger in her fiery eyes, and hurt as well, as if his proposition offended her deeply. ”Why?”
”Because I want to.”
”Nay!” she declared emphatically and stomped away, muttering something about ”lying lackwit Saxons who think with their male organs.”
”Wisdom has two parts: one, having a great deal to say; and, two, not saying it,” Ras.h.i.+d proclaimed from inside the tent. Apparently, the snoring had been a ruse to cover his eavesdropping. And, apparently, he believed that Adam had said too much... too soon.
”She will be back,” Adam predicted, ever the optimist... or was that ever the egotist?
”Every a.s.s loves to hear himself bray.”
”Ras.h.i.+d! Are you calling me an a.s.s?”
”Nay, it is just that you bray overmuch. Comes from having an overlarge ego, I would say.”
I guess that answers my question about optimist or egotist. Adam laughed, but only for a moment.
Tyra was returning. There was a glow of determination in her eyes, but her cheeks bespoke great embarra.s.sment.
”I agree.”
”You agree?” That part of Adam's body that had come to life miraculously of late now stood at attention.
Talk about miracles! This one was better than any of Alrek's, in Adam's opinion.
”Under my conditions,” she added.
”Oh?” Adam tried not to sound as interested as he was.
”One night, and one night only. No touching.”
”Unless you ask me to... or unless you insist on touching me,” he quickly reminded her.
She glared at him as if to say that would never happen, but in truth she looked adorable when she glared at him. Mayhap he would tell her that... later. ”And do not forget the naked part,” he threw in for good measure.
”How could I? There is one other thing. I agree to this suggestion, scandalous as it is, only if my father lives. If he dies, the pact is canceled.”
Adam wanted to argue, but, really, he had been only half serious to begin with... although the half that was serious was very serious. Besides, who wanted to sleep with a grieving woman?
He nodded his head.
Soon his ropes were cut and Tyra motioned to two of her biggest guardsmen, ordering them to stand outside his tent. Before he knew it, she was gone in a huff.
”I told you she would be back,” Adam gloated to his friend as he crawled into the bed furs inside the tent.
”Feather by feather, the goose will be plucked,” Ras.h.i.+d declared with a laugh, rolling over and away from him.
”Precisely,” Adam said.
”I was referring to you as the rooster, not her,” Ras.h.i.+d said with dry humor.
”I know.”
Chapter Four.
Tyra couldn't stop looking at the man.
He'd caught her in mid-ogle once or twice. On one occasion, the rogue had actually winked at her; the other time, he'd just grinned. In any case, his smirking, as if he thought she was remembering her promise to him-which she was not... definitely not... well, hardly-cured her of her infernal staring... for a few moments, leastways.
It had been a busy day, starting with their early morning turn from the North Sea up the headwaters of Ilsa-fjord-one of the thousands of rivers interlacing the Northlands. Not all of them were connected, unfortunately. In fact, twice today they'd had to portage the two longs.h.i.+ps. Portage was a long, arduous enterprise that involved removing all the men and animals from the crafts, then carrying the boats overland to the next waterway... or pus.h.i.+ng the boats over hastily made wooden rollers, if the distance was far and the pathway open.
All that time, Adam, to his credit, had contributed his fair share of muscle to the hard labor. And, yes, Tyra was beginning to notice, to her chagrin, that, for a healer, he had a fair share of muscle... not like her Viking warriors, whose very livelihood depended on their being in perfect physical condition. But he held his own, and that was remarkable in itself. She supposed it came from being raised in a Norse household, even though he was Saxon by birth.
Tyra suspected that one of the reasons Adam worked so hard was to escape Alrek, who had developed an attachment for the healer, despite Adam's best efforts to avoid the boy and his never-ending questions. He seemed especially uncomfortable with Alrek's view that he was a miracle sent to change his life. Why he could not just laugh off the outrageous notion was beyond Tyra's understanding.
Oh, well. In the next day or so they would enter the edges of her father's vast land holdings. Then she would be faced with a whole other set of problems.
A wicked man's wink would mean nothing to her then.
Well, almost nothing.
She hoped.
”What troubles you, my lady?” Ras.h.i.+d asked, jarring her from her reverie. Ras.h.i.+d and Adam traveled on the same longs.h.i.+p, now that their bonds had been released. Ras.h.i.+d had just given up his spot on a sea chest to Adam, who was teaching Alrek how to row without hitting himself in the face on the backswing of the heavy oar. The boy had gotten two b.l.o.o.d.y noses yesterday. No doubt, Adam's reasoning was that an exhausted Alrek would be a silent Alrek.
Tyra glanced up from the rudder she was steering... easy work now that they'd entered the wide river, Drisafjord. There was no wind to carry the sails, but the current ran smooth.
”What troubles me?” She gave her full attention to the Arab-a handsome, dark-skinned man with a full mustache but a hairless chin, which he plucked meticulously every evening, to the wincing fascination of her men. Tall and slim, he was an attractive man who was probably much favored by women. Alrek, who had latched on to the Arab as well as his new best friend, Adam, claimed that Ras.h.i.+d was the son of some desert sheik. She would have to ask Ras.h.i.+d later why a prince of the desert would have left his homeland. ”Everything troubles me. My warriors and I should be off protecting our southern boundaries. Pirates and outlaws abound. My sisters are up to Odin-knows-what mischief. My father hovers at the doors to Valhalla. I have wasted much time searching for your physician friend to help my father. What should have been an easy task has proved bothersome in the extreme. 'Twould be a shame to have accomplished one goal... saving my father... only to lose his holdings for lack of diligence.”
”Diligence! You toil beside your men. You work your fingers to the bone. With all due respect, my lady, you do your b.l.o.o.d.y well best.”
”With all due respect,” she repeated back at him, ”hard work matters not if there is no success. And do not dare quote me a proverb about that.”
”Why go looking for trouble?” Ras.h.i.+d persisted on the same subject. ”Did a messenger from Stoneheim not arrive this morn, informing you that your father still lives?”
”Yea, but that could change at any moment.”
”Like I said, do not borrow misery. Believe me, trouble finds you, as certain as the thirsty hump-backed beast seeking a desert oasis. Allah willing, of course.”
What was it about her that brought out the religious fervor in these two men? Ras.h.i.+d was always quoting his G.o.d, or the prophet Muhammad. And every time Adam came into her company, he invariably said, ”My G.o.d!” Usually it was after staring unabashedly at her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, or her b.u.t.tocks, of all things.
”You are thinking about my master again, are you not?”