by Conn, Phoebe
"What others?" Brendan asked, inordinately pleased by the thought he had succeeded in becoming her first lover when apparently a great many Danes had failed in that quest. Knowing she would no longer be regarded as a great prize, were that fact common knowledge, also gave him a perverse sense of pride.
Soren supplied a rather lengthy list, and then after a slight pause added several more names. '*Dana's a beauty, and our family is a proud one, so naturally she has received many proposals. Isn't it the same in your land?"
"Of course, I'm certain a woman of wealth and beauty is prized everywhere," Brendan admitted grudgingly. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if Dana had discouraged the attentions of other men because she favored Jarald. Or was Jarald merely the latest man to attempt to win her heart? "Probably an impossible feat," he mumbled under his breath.
"Don't you want them to marry?" Soren inquired.
Afraid he had been overheard, Brendan voiced his^true sentiments with a sarcastic sneer. "Why should I care what they do?"
"Because Jarald said he would give you to Dana for a wedding gift, and I think she would see you got your freedom."
Not enjoying the tum their conversation had taken, Brendan's mood darkened even more. "Unless you know that for a fact, you shouldn't mention it, Soren, for I don't take lightly to being called J0m's property."
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**WeII, it's plain to me you and Dana get along so poorly she would set you free just to be rid of you."
While he considered that an insulting opinion, Brendan was still eager to learn what the boy knew for certain and what was merely imaginative speculation. Unfortunately, Thora rode back to join them then, and the chance was lost.
"What's the matter, Thora?" Soren teased. *'Don't you find Jarald's stories amusing?"
The little girl made a face at her brother, but clearly he had guessed the truth and Brendan hoped Dana found Jarald's company even more tiresome than Thora had. He wanted her to suflFer in every way possible, and while he knew she would not actually die of boredom, he hoped it caused her considerable pain.
When they reached the new house, Jarald seemed genuinely impressed with the fine structure that was steadily taking shape. Grateful something new had caught his attention, Dana took Thora's hand and fell behind while Erik and Berit continued to walk with Jarald and explain their plans. Brendan and Soren had already pulled off their kirtles and joined the builders, but when Dana caught his eye, the Celt reluctantly responded to her silent summons.
**There are some pretty flowers blooming by the stream, Thora. Why don't you pick some to take back to your mother?" Brendan suggested with an inviting smile, and eager to collect an armful, the little girl bounded off.
*'That was very clever of you," Dana complimented sincerely. "Couldn't you find any way to get away last night?"
"Last night?" Brendan asked innocently, as though he had no idea what she meant.
Dana glanced over her shoulder to make certain Jarald was still occupied with her half brother and cousin before she hurriedly answered Brendan's question. "Yes, last night. It was a matter of trust, as I recall. I said I would be there, and I was. I knew you were furious about my father's voyage to Erin, but I wanted to at least try and allay your fears. What happened to you?"
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The first flames of anger already glowed in her violet eyes, giving her a sultry gaze Brendan still found appealing, but he forced himself to ignore it. He had been quite proud of himself for staying away, and he hoped Dana had been thoroughly miserable as she had paced the clearing with that restless stride of hers. He thought it a pity he had to keep an eye on Jarald while they spoke, so he wasn't able to gauge the effect of his words in her expression.
"We had made our plans before we knew of Jarald's arrival. That changed everything for me. You'U have to content yourself with his attentions from now on because I can't look at you without remembering where your menfolk have gone, and I'll not betray my own kind by lying with you. Sleep with Jarald if you're lonely. He's obviously eager to bed you." Brendan held his breath as he awaited her response, and when Dana didn't erupt in a shrieking fit of name-calling, he risked looking down at her.
A look of astonished disbelief filled Dana's expression as she replied in a bitter hiss, "I can understand why you would worry about the purpose of my father's voyage, but how can you be so incredibly stupid as to think I would ever stoop to inviting Jarald to my bed? Have you lost your senses completely?" Moving a step closer, she struck his bare chest with a tightly clenched fist. '*You will meet me tonight, and you will not keep me waiting or you will spend tbt rest of the sunmier locked up with the furs with no more tiian bread and water."
Brendan's gaze was every bit as hostile as Dana's. There was nothing he could do to protect his people from Haakon, but the sudden realization that he had already disgraced the wealthy Dane's daughter by stealing her virtue prompted him to agree to her demand. "Yes, mistress," he responded sarcastically, not wanting her to suspect he had given in willingly.
Dana was certainly she had won an important concession from him, but rattier than gloat, she merely nodded slightly before turning away to join Thora by the stream. Lx)ve was not supposed to hurt so badly, she told herself, but she knew what was wrong: she had fallen in love with the wrong man.
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Brendan was an arrogant, thick-headed Celt who would cause her nothing but grief. That was so horrible a mistake she didn't think she could ever correct it, but she would not allow him to hate her out of the mistaken belief hei; father was ravaging his home when she was positive Haakon's riches had all been earned through honest trade. It was a matter of honor that she defend her father's reputation, and she would not give up until Brendan understood the truth about him.
Jarald glanced Dana's way in time to see the fierceness of her expression as she turned away from J0m's thrall. He had always considered her a serious young woman, not one given to frequent bursts of giggles as Berit was, but he could not imagine why she would have been speaking to the slave or seem so desperately determined as a result.
Dana was delightfully complex, but that was precisely why he had chosen her for his wife. While he harbored no illusions that she loved him, he was confident that in time she would. She was affectionate with her parents and brothers and sister, if not with him, but he knew his loving would please her so greatly she would soon come to adore him as Freya did Haakon. His present problem was how to gain her consent for their marriage, however, and he didn't want to have to vie for her attentions with the likes of a thrall, even a passably handsome one.
A slow smile raised the ends of his mustache as he decided the Celt slave would suflFer a horrible accident, and soon. Pleased by the thought, he realized that the more problems that developed on Haakon's farm, the more his helpful assistance would be needed by all who resided there. It would not matter if Dana turned to him for comfort rather than love. If she became dependent upon him for any reason, he would consider it a vital step toward winning her hand.
Dana rested all afternoon, and she was wide awake when she left the house to meet Brendan. For Erik's sake and out of regard for her father's friendship with Jarald, she had made more of an effort to entertain the man that evening, but she had not known what to do when he had responded
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by nearly smothering her with affection. He had been surprisingly gentle rather than rough, but it was all she could do to endure his frequent hugs and kisses on the cheek. She knew he had to consider her cold, and she didn't understand why that didn't dim his ardor.
The effort to hide her feehngs all day had left Dana feeling deeply troubled, and she hoped their dispute with Grena could be settled swiftly so that she could tell Jarald the truth: she valued his friendship just as her father did, but tfiere was no hope for a marriage between them. That Brendan could have suggested she sleep witii the man stiU disgusted her, and she was not nearly so eager to see him t
hat night as she had been the previous evening.
Brendan, however, had decided to take full advantage of every opportunity to enjoy Dana's favors, since that cynical view of their romance soothed his badly troubled conscience where she was concerned. She had a way of playing upon his emotions as no other woman ever had, but now that he was aware of the danger, he was certain he could overcome it. He purposely reached the clearing first, and the instant Dana had dismounted from her mare, he drew her into his arms.
Dana had thought the future as daric as the shadows that surrounded them, but when she stepped into Brendan's arms, nothing seemed to matter but the delicious excitement of his warm embrace. She had expected him to be sullen rather than loving, but she was wise enough to know that was a trick of passion rather than truth.
"You must talk with me," she murmured against his already bared chest.
Brendan saw no reason for a conversation that wovld surely lead to another argument. "Words only get in our way," he protested as he tilted her chin to recapture her lips for another near endless kiss. Her taste was delicious, witti a uniquely flavorful sweetness that as always left him craving much more. I am using her just as she is using me, he reminded himself, not understanding why that fact was so terribly difficult to recall.
Dana's fingers slid through the coarse curls covering his chest, but her gesture was a caress, not an attempt to break
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free. Giving up as hopeless the eflfort to gain his ftill attention, she spoke as best she could between kisses. With frequent prolonged interruptions as a result, it took her a long while to convey the message that her father's sole interest was in trade and that her only interest in Jarald was in the help he could provide Erik.
"That's what I wished to tell you last night," she confided when next Brendan allowed her a moment to breathe.
'*So that I'd not be jealous?" the afiFectionate Celt teased, preferring to discuss Jarald rather than Haakon.
"You have no right to be jealous," Dana scolded softly. "You have no more claim on me than Jarald does."
"Oh, really?" Brendan whispered against her temple. Deciding to prove his point, with an agile move he pulled her down on the grass. She was clad only in a cloak and a flimsy silk nightgown that he easily cast aside, hurriedly followed by his own clothing.
Brendan had vowed to enjoy himself thoroughly, and with an appreciative grin he thought the perfection of Dana's lithe body more splendid each time he had the good fortune to strip her nude. He moved his hands over her with an adoring caress, slowly tracing each luscious swell and inviting hollow, and all the while continuing an intoxicating barrage of deep kisses.
He knew her to be a wonderfully responsive woman, but he was seeking more than pleasure that night. He wanted to bend not only Dana's supple body to his will, but her defiant soul as well. He was a man who relished a challenge, and she always provided that. His fingertips created a tingling pathway along the elegant line of her throat, over her pale shoulder to the flushed tips of her breasts. He then repeated that graceful trail with light kisses he gradually deepened to sample her taste more fiilly.
While he could feel Dana's supple body fill with tremors of excitement as his tongue teased her budding nipples, Brendan's lavish seduction had only just begun. He cherished the lush ftillness of her breasts at the same time his knowing caress slid down her thighs, then back up to follow the curve of her hip before brushing over the flatness of her
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Stomach. At last his touch slipped below her navel to comb through the triangle of fiery curis nestled there. Moving lower still, he parted the tender folds which lay hidden from his view, marveling as before at how quickly her body created an inviting wetness.
His fingertips were shppery now, easing their entry as he lured the breathless redhead toward the vision of paradise he saw so clearly in his mind. She held him tightly cradled in her arms, her hands slipping through his curls and then over his shoulders as she pressed him close. That she accepted his affection so readily inspired him to give even more. The haunting fragrance of her perfume was now mixed with her own captivatingly feminine scent, and Brendan longed to lose himself in the sensual wonder of her.
When he positioned himself above her, Dana raised her arms to embrace him, but in an instant he had eluded her grasp. He stretched out between her slender legs and spread adoring kisses on the soft, white skin of her belly. His tongue tickled, and she responded with a throaty giggle that served to inspire him to produce several more. In the most charming fashion, he coaxed her with a playful abandon until she was totally relaxed. Taking a firm hold on her hips, he rubbed his cheek against her inner thigh, cleverly spreading her legs wide so that when he lowered his head to enjoy the first of the intimate kisses that would send her to the edge of madness, she had no way to escape him.
Exalting in that momentary triumph, Brendan tasted the salty sweetness of her and was instantly lost in his own desires. The need to possess her more fully than he ever had any other woman overwhelmed him. Dana was His! he shouted in his mind, and as the words echoed in his heart with an emotional truth he could no longer deny, he deepened his kiss to prove his possession would last into eternity.
At first Dana writhed beneath Brendan in a vain attempt to escape the shocking form his affection had taken, but she was soon floating upon an enchanted haze of wonder and surrendered completely to the generous r^ture he bestowed. He did not simply give pleasure; he drenched her in a flood
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of erotic sensation that threatened to cause her heart to burst with the sheer joy of his remarkable devotion. The ecstasy of sharing so passionate an encounter swelled within her, finally cresting at a shattering peak and showering her with splendor.
Robbed of all thoughts save those of Brendan, Dana could only cling to him weakly when he at last sought to find his release deep within her. That their passion for each other could create feelings so intense both shocked and frightened her. Rather than being lulled into a contented sleep, she lay awake in his arms, unable to gather the will to depart nor the wits to fathom just what they had shared.
Brendan could not recall lovemaking ever being so exhausting, but he was completely spent. *'Will you admit it now?" he asked in a slurred whisper.
* Admit what?" Dana asked, too confused to think, let alone remember their earlier conversation.
The days were long, the nights all too brief, and in the pale moonlight that filtered through the trees there was already the promise of the coming dawn. Brendan groaned sadly, unable to believe they might have to part before the stubborn beauty in his arms admitted her need for him ran deep.
* Admit what?" Dana asked again.
Brendan tried to raise himself up on one elbow, slipped, and had to try again. "Admit that you belong to me," he began with a sly grin. "Your body knows the truth. Don't you?"
When Dana sat up to face him, her long curls covered her breasts, and by bending her knees slightly, she demurely shielded still more of herself from his view. 'All I know is that when I am with you, nothing else matters, but that's merely an illusion, not the truth."
Dismayed by the seriousness of her mood, Brendan reached out to take her hand and brought her palm to his lips. "What is the truth as you see it?"
Dana took a deep breath, and forcing her rebellious mind to be coherent, she hastened to explain. "You are too fme a man to be a thrall. I mean to set you free and send you
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home. It's what you deserve, although it means we'll never meet again."
Until that instant Brendan had lived very much for the moment. Earlier tiiat night he had been bent on taking his revenge on Haakon through his lovely daughter, but as Dana's eyes filled with a mist of tears, he knew he should never have attempted such a vindictive quest. He could not dismiss his feelings with Dana, and he had been a fool to try. He despised all Danes, with one lovely exception, and he would never again try to tr
ick himself into believing he hated her.
He was certain no Danish girl ever wed a slave, and even if Dana succeeded in arranging for his freedom, he would have nothing but the clothes on his back to offer her. Surely Haakon would not regard him as a suitable husband for his elder daughter. That Dana wanted to send him home was remarkably generous, but there was no joy in that hope if he would spend the rest of his life without her.
Dropping her hand, Brendan reached over to pick up Dana's gown and handed it to her. He then rose and yanked on his breeches. To boast he was the son of a king seemed absurd to him when he had no way to prove that claim. What Haakon would demand for her would be chests of gold, precious jewels, and bolts of the finest silk, not the elaborate promises any beggar could make. He would never be able to convince anyone he was of royal birth. Furthermore, whatever status he held in Erin was completely irrelevant to the Danes. To them he was but a lowly slave.
'*You're right. I am too fine a man to be a thrall, an(Hhe sooner I'm granted my freedom the better oflF we'll both be."
Dana studied Brendan's pensive frown, stunned he could dismiss her so easily when imagining a future that did not include him was unbearably painful to her. "You see, it's all an illusion. We can't escape the world for more than a night at a time."
Brendan helped her up, then waited until she had donned her cloak before he drew her into his arms. She resisted
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him for an instant, then slipped her arms around his waist. He wanted to promise her a hundred things, but until he had his freedom and had regained his wealth, he could not.
'*I didn't really think you would marry Jarald after knowing me," he remarked in a joking attempt to put an end to the discussion of their dismal situation. *'I promise not to be jealous of him, and I won't give him any reason to be jealous of me either."