Thork smiled, well satisfied with her answer, and laid the back of his finger along her cleft. Up and down he rubbed in the groove he created. “Look down,” he urged her huskily. “See how you swell for me, just as my manhood grows for you.”
Ruby glanced down. He was right. Even through the cloth, she could see that her nether lips were engorged and that special bud of sensitivity rose slightly in waiting for his eventual touch. She closed her eyes in delicious anticipation of the pleasure to come.
“Nay, look at me. I want to watch your face when it happens,” he whispered as his forefinger circled the nub, testing its shape and readiness. He flicked the tip of his finger up and down quickly, fascinated as it spasmed against him. Then, in earnest, he strummed it back and forth in ever-increasing rapidity until she groaned and arched her back away from him.
The spasms started small and short in duration. The faster he flicked her, moving the bud from side to side, the harder and longer they got.
“Look at me,” he demanded softly.
When she did, Thork pressed her cleft against his rigid manhood. He bucked against her, and Ruby’s spasms became convulsions of pleasure that spiraled into tiny explosions, shaking her so intensely she cried out his name.
Through the misty glaze of her passion, Ruby watched Thork’s face as he continued to thrust against her. Finally he held her against him tightly, with a hand on each of her buttocks, arched his head back over corded neck muscles and came against her on a drawn-out moan deep in his throat.
Weakly, Ruby lay her head against his chest, trying to get her breathing back to normal. She was too embarrassed to look up and see if her violent reaction amused him, but finally Thork put a finger under her chin and raised her face. She needn’t have been self-conscious. Thork’s flushed face and passion-hazy eyes proved he was just as out-of-control.
“And you say we have done this afore, sweetling? Nay, I do not believe I would ever forget such. Not even in another lifetime.” He nibbled at her ear as he spoke.
“Perhaps not in quite the same way, but, yes, we made love so many times I couldn’t count.” She liked the feel of his hot, whispery kisses on her neck. “Can I get down now?”
“Yea, I would say you earned that boon and more.”
He smiled tenderly. As he lowered her shaky legs to the rush-covered floor, Ruby raised flirting eyes to his, “Maybe by morning we will have awakened some of those memories.” Ruby looked at Thork warmly, knowing without a doubt that she loved him, as completely as she’d ever loved Jack. The self-admission filled her, not with guilt, but an overwhelming feeling of incredible rightness. This was where she was meant to be.
Thork laughed warmly at her last words. “’Tis more likely we will have created new memories to keep me awake during the long winter nights in Jomsborg.”
Ruby’s heart sank at his words. He still intended to leave her behind, even after they’d made love. Well, almost made love. She apparently had a lot more work to do in convincing him to take her with him. Ruby grinned with anticipation at that pleasurable task.
Thork undressed then, while Ruby watched. Something tightened inside Ruby at the sight of his naked body. Broad shoulders, slim waist and hips, and a marble-hard stomach outlined his warrior’s six-foot-three frame. His smile mirrored Jack’s right down to the slightly crooked incisor, but innumerable scars and bruises covered much of his finely honed skin. And his body frame was different from Jack’s. To get this kind of muscular development in the twentieth century would require steroids or hours of daily, concentrated workouts.
Thork winked at her, pleased with her perusal. “Do you like what you see?”
“Sweetheart, you are drop-dead gorgeous.”
“Drop-dead gorgeous? What kind of compliment is that?” he asked with mock indignation.
“Believe me, honey, drop-dead gorgeous is good.”
He chuckled and held out his hand invitingly. Ruby stepped into his arms and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck, arching her neck slightly to accommodate the height difference.
“Will you explain step two of your master plan now?” she asked sweetly, nuzzling the warm skin of his collarbone.
“Nay, I will show you, instead,” he laughed. “Will you divulge the next step of your master plan, as well?”
“Never. The advantage is in your being surprised by my next move.” Ruby jiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
“Hah! You have astonished me at every step since first we met. And what benefits have you reaped—exile by Sigtrygg, face slaps from Dar, threat of execution? In truth, you have fared poorly in our society, sweetling.”
“Despite all those things, I am where I want to be at the moment, though I must admit I got here through no part of my master plan. My blurting out that stuff in the hall about you shaving my legs was totally unplanned.”
A thoughtul smile played at the edges of his mouth. “Did your husband truly shave your legs?”
Ruby nodded her head, still having trouble reconciling the fact that Thork and Jack might not be the same person. She couldn’t be doing these things with Thork if she didn’t think he was, in some way, her husband. “What I didn’t say was that by the time he was done I had lots of nicks on my upper thighs from his shaky hands.”
Thork hooted with laughter and swung her around in his arms. “Since you’ve been so truthful with me, I will give you fair exchange. The next step of my master plan is to play the Kevin Costner for you—to kiss you till you are mindless with the wanting of me, till your toes curl, till you moan for me to stop, till you drip with nectar, till…”
And he did all those things and more.
Later, during a brief respite, Ruby lay on her side in his arms on the bed, his erection pressing against her leg. Ruby touched his kiss-swollen lips lovingly with her fingertips. He caressed her body gently with callused hands, waiting for her to regroup before his next assault. His heavy breathing told her it wouldn’t be long.
“Are we on schedule with your master plan?” she teased, rubbing her breasts across the soft blond hair that covered his chest, then doing the same with a leg thrown over the curly blond hairs on his thighs.
“Yea, minx, that we are! By my accounts, you have come three times to my one thus far, and we have not yet really begun.”
“Oh ho! Now you keep score. What is your final goal?”
“You know well and good what my final goal is,” Thork whispered as he examined the interior channels of her ear with the tip of his tongue and placed a warm hand between her legs.
There was no more talking then, except for his sensuous whispers of what he liked, answered by her soft moans and writhing body.
“Enough!” she finally begged. “Please…now.”
Thork slowly inserted a finger inside her to further test her readiness and groaned, “For the love of Freya! You are tighter than an untried virgin.”
“Hardly that.” But Ruby was glad she pleased him and could wait no more. She opened her legs wider and pulled Thork up and over her body.
“Now,” she demanded, unable to stand the delicious assault any longer.
He bent her knees and placed himself at her portal. Then he raised himself on his elbows and arched his back, perspiration beading his forehead and upper lips at the control he exerted to hold back. With eyes locked with hers, Thork slowly began his sweet entry. Ruby felt herself relax and stretch to accommodate his size. Then he stopped.
He stopped.
Thork’s eyes widened, then blinked unbelievingly, before he withdrew and rolled over on his side away from her, cursing her with coarse words.
“What? What is it? Did I do something wrong?” she asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.
“Do not touch me!” Thork snarled and shrugged away from her, sitting on the edge of the bed. His shoulders trembled as he tried to bring his aroused body under control. Finally he walked stonily over to the water pitcher and dumped its entire contents on his engorged staff. He pulled on his pa
nts angrily before walking to the edge of the bed.
Ruby sat up in the bed, confused. Thork grabbed her forearms with pincerlike fingers and pulled her roughly toward him. He shook her so hard she fell back on the bed.
“You lying, stinking bitch!”
“What? What did I do now?”
“You are a virgin,” he spit out reproachfully. “All those stories you told of a husband and sons were lies. All lies! Who are you, and what do you here? Who sent you?”
“A virgin! Are you crazy? I’ve made love hundreds of times.”
Thork leaned over her threateningly, pinioning her shoulders to the bed with the palms of his hands. “I know a maidenhead, madam, and you have one. The lies end here.”
Tears streamed down Ruby’s face, blurring her vision. There was nothing—nothing at all—she could tell him that would convince him of the truth.
Sweet Lord! A virgin! Ruby thought. Who would have ever thought it?
“You know you can work your wiles on me. You know how much I want the bedding of you, but know this, too—it will never happen now. Never! And if you lie about your virginity, what other duplicity do you practice? I would sooner bed with a snake than a deceitful woman.”
Ruby sobbed aloud, but Thork seemed immune to her pain. In truth, Ruby knew he was in as much pain himself.
“Stay away from me if you value your life. I get no joy in my strength over the weaker sex, but you push me too far. I cannot promise I will not hurt you if you approach me again.” Then he got up and stormed out of the room, barefoot and bare-chested. The door slammed after him, shaking the wood door frame.
Ruby cried for hours, alternately sobbing, then racking her brain for answers to the dilemma she was in. When dawn light streamed through the window, Ruby still hadn’t slept, and she knew she needed help. Would it be Dar or Aud? She decided to try Aud first.
Ruby opened the door and saw Vigi sleeping across the entryway, barring her exit. “I’d like to go to the pond to bathe. Will you accompany me?”
“Thor’s blood, woman! ’Tis scarce daylight. Besides, you bathed yestermorn.” He stood and rubbed sleepily at his eyes, then glared at her.
“I need to bathe,” she asserted. “Shall we wake your master Dar to get his permission?”
“Nay,” he muttered grumpily. “I am awake now.”
Ruby went first to her tower room to get a change of clothes and noticed the gift she’d brought for Aud and forgotten to give to her. She put it on the pile of clothing, linen towels and soap she would carry with her. She awakened Ella to come with her to guard against Vigi’s roving eyes when she bathed.
“Are those bruise marks on your arms?”
“Yes.”
“Because you told that barmy tale in the hall yestereve about shaving legs?”
“No.” Ruby didn’t want to tell her the whole story. Besides, she had a bone to pick with Ella. “Did you tell someone about my master plan to get Thork to marry me?”
“Who sez I did?” Ella’s querulous voice rose indignantly.
“Thork knows about it.”
“Well, mayhap I might have mentioned it to Vigi.”
“Vigi! He’s as much a scandalmonger as you are.”
“Well, I never!”
“I don’t mean to argue with you,” Ruby sighed. “I just have to be careful with you, Ella, if you’re going to repeat everything I say.”
“Well, you never said not to say anything.”
“Let’s consider this a blanket statement for the future. From now on, I don’t want you to tell anyone anything I say. Is that clear?”
“Yea, that it is.” Ella shuffled along beside her, having been properly chastised, but it wasn’t long before she asked, “So, why did he bruise you?”
Ruby couldn’t help laughing at Ella’s effrontery.
“Because he discovered I’m a virgin.”
Ella’s mouth dropped open, and Ruby could see a good portion of her discolored teeth. “Nay, it cannot be so!” she exclaimed incredulously.
“That’s what I thought,” Ruby said with a laugh. “Apparently, it can.”
Ella chuckled, then burst into a full-blown guffaw. “A virgin…a virgin…oh, ’tis too much…and I can just imagine how ’twas when the young master found out. Was it before or after he dug his spade in the soil?”
“Ella!”
“That troublemaker Loki must surely love you. He made you a thorn in Thork’s side apurpose, I wager, to punish him for some slight. Prob’ly cuz he has lopped off too many heads. Or broke too many maidenheads.” Ella erupted with a deep belly laugh. At first Ruby glared at her. Then she, too, saw the humor in the situation. By the time they got to the pond, tears of humor streamed down both their faces.
“By the by,” Ella confided later, with a jiggle of her eyebrows, “rumors flew the keep last night of a strange practice being performed in many of the sleeping chambers. Seems maids and matrons alike asked their lovers to send for bowls of water, soft soap and sharp knives.”
“Ella! You’re making that up,” Ruby said with a disbelieving laugh.
“I swear on me eyeballs, ’tis true. Betcha there be lots of knicked legs under ladylike chemises this day.”
“And you’ll be the one to spread gossip about them.”
Not knowing enough to be affronted, Ella concluded, “I tell you this true, my girl, I have not laughed so much in all me life as I have since I met you. I hope they do not chop off yer head.”
Yeah, me, too.
As they walked through the bailey on their return to the castle after her bath, Ruby saw Aud going into the wool shed. She told Ella to go on into the manor, that she needed to talk to her mistress.
Aud looked up from where she was sorting bolts of fabric and took in Ruby’s appearance in a glance, dwelling momentarily on the dark finger marks on her arms and her tear-ridden, sleepless eyes. “It did not go well, I take it.”
Ruby nodded.
Aud touched the purpling bruise of one arm gently. “I have never known Thork to deliberately hurt a woman afore. He must have been sore angry at the words you spoke yestereve before our guests.”
“No, it was something else.”
“Do not tell me,” Aud said with feigned sternness, “though I am dying to know. I have grown fond of you, and ’tis best I do not get involved and be forced to choose sides.”
“You’re a very wise woman, and I like you, as well. Here,” Ruby said, handing her a linen-wrapped package.
Aud took it and raised her eyes questioningly at Ruby.
“It’s a gift for you. I haven’t had a chance to give it to you before this.”
When she opened the package, Aud gasped, then put her hand over her mouth to muffle a giggle. It was a set of blue silk and white lace lingerie.
“Much have I heard about your undergarments,” Aud said, running her fingers over the material admiringly and examining the fine needlework critically. “Do you think I dare to wear such at my age?”
“Of course. My grandmother wore similar lingerie, and she was much older than you. Besides, Dar told me to bring you a set.”
“He did?” Aud’s eyebrows arched in surprise. At Ruby’s nod, she accepted the gift graciously. “Well, then, thank you very much.” She held the panties up against herself shyly. “And you say my husband asked for such frivolous apparel? Hmmm. Tell me, did your grandmother shave her legs, as well?”
“Yes, she did.” Ruby laughed at the Viking woman’s shy curiosity. “But listen, Aud, I need to ask a favor.”
Aud looked at her dubiously, wondering if she’d been hasty in accepting the gift.
“It’s nothing bad.” Ruby pulled the gold chain and emerald pendant over her head and handed it to Aud. “I have no money but I think this is valuable. Could I purchase some things from you with this?”
Aud examined the necklace with appreciation, then asked suspiciously, “What would you want to buy?”
“Fabrics…some silk, laces, whalebone if you
have it, a needle, thread, and a few other items. Oh, I also want to prepare some food in the kitchen.”
“Tsk tsk! You have not given up yet, have you, child?” Aud chastised her in a soft-spoken voice.
“How can I? I have everything to gain and nothing to lose.” Ruby shrugged.
“You may have whatever fabrics you need, but this gem is worth much more than the few trifles you mentioned.” She handed it back to Ruby. “Make another set of your lingerie for me. That will be payment enough.”
Ruby agreed, thankful for Aud’s generosity.
“What do you want to cook in my kitchen?”
Ruby grinned impishly. “I’m going to make Thork a cheeseburger for his dinner with baklava for dessert.”
“After he treated you so, you would cook a meal for him?” Aud chided Ruby, indicating the marks on her arms.
“I intend to wear him down with all his favorite things. I’ll conquer him with kindness.” Ruby pressed her lips together in determination.
“Afeard I am to ask why you need the fabrics.”
“I’m going to try to duplicate a gift my husband gave to me once. He bought it from Frederick’s of Hollywood before I started my own lingerie company.” Ruby rolled her eyes meaningfully. “The garment was a fitted black silk and lace teddy with a strapless, push-up bustier top and sides cut up practically to the hip bone.”
Aud stared at her in open-mouthed amazement as she began to understand exactly what Ruby planned.
Chapter Fourteen
Dar’s storage room was a treasure trove of exquisite fabrics, jewelry, tapestries, carpets, sterling and gold objects. Ruby controlled her impulses and selected only those items she really needed.
First she chose black silk and lace for her own teddy, along with thread and one precious needle. Then she cut lengths of blue, yellow, red and white silk to be made into lingerie for Aud and for the bartering required in subsequent steps of her plan.
She found a piece of flexible whalebone buried in the back of the room beneath two ivory tusks, probably intended for a craftsman. She needed the whalebone for support under the cups of her bustier and to tuck in and accentuate her waist.
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