“Sit by the heat,” he ordered, placing a chair in front of the hearth and once Twilla sat, he wrapped a blanket around her. “I will have someone see that your fire remains strong. You should have told me how difficult it has been for you.”
“I don’t like to be a burden,” Twilla said, tears threatening her eyes.
“You’re not a burden and it is my duty to see everyone in my clan kept safe. After all, we are family.”
“You’re much like your father,” she said with a smile, keeping her unfallen tears at bay.
Tarass grabbed the other chair and placed it near Twilla and sat. “Da told me that I could always trust you. You know more about the clan and my family than anyone. If my da was an honorable man, why would someone want revenge against him?”
“Revenge?” Twilla asked, shaking her head slowly. “I know no one who would want revenge against your da, except, of course, Lord Polwarth, but that is settled. Your da was respected here in his homeland.”
“Then why leave here?” Tarass asked the question he had asked repeatedly and never gotten an answer to.
“I have no answer for you,” Twilla said sadly.
“I think you do and I hope someday you will trust me with it.”
Snow tried not to yawn, but she had already managed to keep her husband from seeing a few yawns and this one she just couldn’t hide. If he thought her tired, he wouldn’t make love with her tonight and she so wanted to make love with him. She loved her husband like mad, but when they made love she felt as if they truly became one, that there was no separating them, that their love had become whole. It was like nothing she had ever felt before and she knew she’d only ever feel it with Tarass.
“You’re tired,” Tarass said, leaning down from where he sat in the chair beside her on the dais to plant his face close to hers.
“A little,” she said, trying to make light of it.
“I’m tired,” Willow said, a huge yawn confirming it. “It’s been a good day and since we’ll be staying for at least three days, there’s plenty of time for us to spend together.”
“Your sister is not only reasonable but wise as well,” Tarass said.
“Actually, she’s not being completely truthful,” Slatter whispered not that softly and with a wicked smile. “She really can’t wait to get me in bed and ravish me.”
“Slatter!” Willow said, her cheeks burning red as she jabbed him in the arm.
Snow chuckled along with her husband.
Slatter wrapped his arms around his wife, hugging her as he laughed. “Deny it, wife, go ahead, and deny it if you can.”
“You’re incorrigible,” she chastised.
Slatter snuggled his cheek against hers. “I’m not incorrigible, I’m loveable and that’s why you can’t keep your hands off me.”
“Slatter, so help me!” Willow scolded, her cheeks flaming.
“Aye, wife, I’ll help you straight to bed where you can have your way with me,” he teased and stood, then scooped his wife out of her seat into his arms. “A pleasant night to you all!”
Snow laughed, hearing her sister scold Slatter as he carried her off. She turned to her husband and placed her hand on his chest, about to be as honest with him as Slatter had been with Willow.
“It’s been a busy day, you’re tired, and lovemaking can wait,” Tarass said before she could get a word out. When she turned a wicked little smile on him, he knew he was in trouble, but he intended to be obeyed on this. “You will do as I say, Snow.”
“Of course I will,” she agreed her eyes wide with feigned innocence. “Though, I must admit that I’m pleased to know I’m right.”
Tarass eyed her skeptically. “What are you right about?”
“That I would be too much of a demanding wife when it came to coupling and you wouldn’t be able to keep up with my passion.”
Tarass stood so abruptly that his chair almost toppled over and just as suddenly he snatched Snow up into his arms. “You shouldn’t challenge me, wife.”
He took the stairs two at a time, Thaw following behind him, and once in their bedchamber placed his wife on her feet, stripped her naked, and carried her to bed. After laying her on the bed, he stripped off his garments and got in bed with her, pulling the blanket over them.
Thaw was already curled in a ball by the hearth, his eyes closed.
He slipped his arm around her and tucked her against his side, his hand drifting down along her hip to her backside to give it a squeeze.
“First, I need to ask you something,” Tarass said.
“Later,” she said, her hand going to stroke his aroused manhood.
Tarass grabbed her hand, locking it in his, and brought it to rest on his chest. “No, now.”
She looked at him, but with only the light from the hearth she couldn’t see his face clearly. “I know what you’re doing, trying to delay, and get me to fall asleep while we talk.” She smiled. “It won’t work.”
“Then you need not be concerned about answering my question, since you obviously felt for yourself that I have a need for you,” he challenged.
Snow smiled. “You’re right. Ask what you will.”
“Do you think Fasta could be the person who knows the truth of what goes on?”
“Odd you should ask that, since my sister asked the same as well. She also questioned if Fasta actually suffered a miscarriage. And today John, Helga’s husband, claimed that Fasta wants to bring harm to the clan with her lies. He insists she lied about coupling with him. He says he loves his wife and would never turn to another woman.”
“Nettle told me that when on her night walks through the village, she’s seen Fasta, though couldn’t tell if she was coming from someplace or going someplace. It’s time I have a talk with Fasta.”
“And Runa too,” Snow was quick to add. “So we know for sure if Fasta had a miscarriage or not, though Willow suggests there could be a number of reasons for her to have done so.”
“Willow’s right and I intend to find out. You and Willow can see to Runa if you would?” Tarass said, knowing both women would learn much more from Runa than he would.
“Of course,”—a yawn interrupted Snow’s words—“but I want to be there when you talk with Fasta.”
“I couldn’t keep you away if I wanted to, and I don’t. You have a good mind for puzzles and offer sound advice.”
“It’s not me. It’s us. We work well together.”
“You’re right. We do. We’re a perfect fit.”
“We are, so slip into me and show me just how perfectly we fit,” she urged.
“You’re tired,” he said not with as much resolve as he had before.
“It can be quick,” she whispered and began to nibble at his neck.
Tarass turned her on her back. “A quick one, then it is sleep for you.”
“As you say, husband, though please take the time to satisfy my nipples that ache terribly for your skilled mouth.”
A groan rumbled in Tarass’s chest and he eagerly dropped his head to her breasts, his tongue licking the tight buds before his mouth settled over one to generously suckle.
After that, Tarass gave no thought to going quickly. He took his time, enjoying every inch of his wife, stroking, tasting, teasing until she begged him to slip inside her.
He dropped his head back and moaned when he felt her clench him after he settled inside her. He had little control after that, passion flaring far too hot and heavy in them both.
Snow climaxed fast, crying out, “Don’t stop! Please don’t stop!”
And he didn’t, knowing another climax was building in her.
She screamed out when the second one hit her, feeling as if she was being devoured in the most delicious way.
A rumbling groan of pleasure shot out of Tarass as he climaxed with her. A slight smile burst from him as well, glad his wife had failed to obey him this time.
Chapter 32
Snow walked arm and arm with her sister to Runa’s cottage, Thaw tro
tting alongside them.
Willow adjusted her hood against the cold and light snow. “It appears Fasta might be guilty after all since she can’t be located.”
“Her absence doesn’t bode well for her. Tarass hasn’t been able to find her and no one has seen her since yesterday.” Snow lowered her voice. “Nettle told me that some think the dwarfs got her and others believe she ran off because she knew everyone believed she was a liar and was bringing harm to the clan.”
“Tongues do spread news fast and one can only hope the clucking tongues are not doing more harm than good,” Willow said.
“There’s always that chance, but Tarass would never let an innocent suffer. If Fasta had nothing to hide, Tarass would have seen her vindicated.”
“Let’s take a brief reprieve from worrisome thoughts, tell me about Nettle and Rannock,” Willow said, squeezing her sister’s arm. “Nettle’s eyes lit and went straight to Rannock when you told her you wouldn’t be needing her for a while.” She chuckled. “Then Rannock’s cheeks heated when Nettle turned a generous smile on him, and I think I caught a wink as well.”
Snow laughed along with her sister. “Rannock doesn’t find it easy talking with women he’s interested in and being he wasn’t interested in Nettle, he talked easily with her.”
“And found love where he least expected,” Willow said. “Just like Slatter and me.”
“I wouldn’t say being lowered down into a pit where a naked man waited was conducive to finding love,” Snow said with a grin.
Willow hugged her sister’s arm and laughed. “No, it was terrifying, but I’m sure glad it was Slatter I found down there.”
“Lady Snow, how nice to see you and this must be your sister Willow who I’ve been so eager to meet,” Runa said, standing in her open doorway. “I was so pleased to receive word that you and your sister were coming to visit. Please come in. I have a hot brew ready for us.”
Willow guided her sister into the cottage and settled her at the table before she took a seat herself and dropped her cloak off her shoulders to rest on the back of her chair as Snow had done.
“I have sweet cakes as well, sent from the keep,” Runa said, filling the tankards on the table with a hot brew from the pitcher that sat near the hearth. “Would it be all right to give Thaw one?”
“I’m sure he’d enjoy it,” Snow said, giving her permission.
Runa gave the pup one of the small cakes and turned to Willow as Thaw eagerly accepted the treat. “I have so much to ask you, Willow.”
“I look forward to talking with you, but first Snow and I have some questions.”
“Aye, of course, how can I be of help?” Runa asked eagerly, joining them at the table.
Snow saw clear enough to see Willow reach out for her hand to give the sweet cake to her and she almost reached for it, but stopped herself. She let Willow take her hand and place the sweet cake in it. She didn’t like keeping the news about her sight from her sister, but she had to tell her husband first. And she planned to do that before the end of Willow’s visit.
“Do you know for sure if Fasta suffered a miscarriage?” Willow asked, breaking a small piece of cake off to taste, not feeling hungry.
“I feared that might be so since she asked if there was something a woman could take to rid herself of an unwanted bairn. I told her there was but it was very dangerous, too little would do nothing and too much the woman could bleed to death. It was why I was so concerned with the amount of blood loss she suffered. I feared she had taken too much rue and would bleed to death. I never expected her to recover as quickly as she did.”
“You gave her the rue?” Willow asked.
Runa shook her head vigorously. “No, I didn’t, but I feared she may have stolen some and when I checked I realized some was missing.”
“Why didn’t you say something?” Snow asked and raised her hand to cover her yawn before finishing a second sweet cake.
“What was there to say. The deed was done,” Runa said.
Willow was glad to see Snow eating since she had had little breakfast this morning. “How would she know which of your plant leaves was the rue?”
“I wondered the same,” Runa said.
Snow shook her head, a fogginess taking hold.
“Something wrong?” Willow asked.
“I don’t know,” Snow said, and shook her head again and as she did, she saw Thaw laying on his side as if lifeless.
She turned to her sister. “Something is wrong. My head grows foggy and…” she couldn’t get the words out and her head had grown too heavy to hold up so she laid it on the table.
“Snow!” Willow hurried to her feet to see to her sister when the door burst open.
Tarass and Slatter entered the Great Hall and sat at a table by the hearth to enjoy some ale.
“Fasta couldn’t have gotten far. The ground is too heavily covered with snow,” Slatter said. “It took double the time it would normally take for Willow and me to get here. And now that you’ve picked up her tracks, it won’t be long before you find her and have your answers.”
“Unless she’s already met up with her cohorts,” Tarass said. “She couldn’t possibly have done this on her own. There has to be others.”
“True, though the tracks were fresh which means she hadn’t left too long ago and you could reach her before she reaches the other culprits,” Slatter said.
Both men turned when Rannock and Nettle entered the Great Hall, their cheeks flushed from the cold or at least that’s what Tarass surmised, not so Slatter.
“I’d say they got to know each other much better,” Slatter said with a chuckle.
“Nettle, where is Lady Snow?” Tarass called out, concerned he hadn’t seen his wife since this morning when she went with Willow to talk with Runa, and it was now mid-day.
“She hasn’t returned from her visit with Runa yet?’ Nettle asked with concern.
“That seems long for the two to be gone,” Slatter said, getting to his feet.
Tarass stood as well.
Rannock and Nettle turned and headed for the door when it burst opened and the young lad, Roy, rushed in.
“Hurry! Hurry, my lord, there’s something wrong at the healer’s cottage!”
“She’s coming around. Force her to take it now, before she has the strength to fight you.”
Snow heard the man’s voice, but her head was too fuzzy to understand until someone pressed down on her shoulders, keeping her from moving, and hands were at her mouth, forcing it open, then something was poured down her throat. She tried to spit it out but more of the liquid was forced down her throat. When they finally released her, she turned on her side on the snow-covered ground and pretended to cry in between sticking her finger in her mouth to rid herself of whatever they had forced on her.
“How long?” the man with the commanding voice asked.
“Not too long after his arrival. Keep him talking, but then there is much you have to say to him. I will let you know when the time is right.”
Snow recognized that voice. It was Fasta.
She quickly covered what had come out of her stomach with snow so that no one could see what she had done. She knew she hadn’t gotten all of it. But she prayed she had gotten enough so that it wouldn’t do her or the bairn harm.
She rolled on her other side, whimpering so that they thought her weak, and scooped up some snow to rub on her face and to help clear the sleep that lingered in her.
Not too long after his arrival.
They had to have been talking about her husband.
Tarass would come for her. He would rescue her like he always did.
Snow only hoped that if what they had forced down her throat was meant to kill her, that she wouldn’t die before she had a chance to tell her husband she loved him one last time.
Tarass sped through the village, Slatter following not far behind.
Tarass was the first to enter the cottage. Helga was there, her eyes filled with fright.
&nb
sp; “I found them like this,” Helga said, a tremble in her voice.
Both Willow and Runa lay on the earth-floor, but Snow was nowhere to be seen.
“Willow!” Slatter called out when he saw his wife crumpled on the floor. He lifted her gently and sat on one of the chairs to cradle her in his arms. Fury raced through him when he saw the lump on the side of her head. Someone had hit her, knocking her out.
Fear at not seeing his wife had Tarass wanted to run out and search for her, but that wouldn’t be wise. He needed to keep his head about him no matter how much fear threatened him.
He turned to see Rannock standing at the open door. “Send the trackers and a group of warriors to follow them, and find where the tracks lead.”
Rannock nodded and hurried out, Helga following after him.
Tarass quickly looked around and saw Thaw laying on his side by the hearth. He went to the pup and shook him. He didn’t move but was grateful the pup was still breathing.
He turned to Slatter. “Willow still breathes?”
“Aye, she does,” Slatter said, relieved and began to tap gently at his wife’s face. “Wake up, Willow. I need you to wake up. You must wake up.”
Tarass went to Runa and gently turned her on her back to see that the side of her head was bleeding. He lifted her and he was relieved to hear her moan. He needed one of them to wake and tell him what happened and who had taken his wife. He laid her on the bed and turned to see Nettle enter the cottage, look about, then grab a bucket and run out to return moments later with the bucket filled with snow.
She took it to Slatter. “This should help wake her.”
Slatter scooped up a handful of snow and laid it against his wife’s face and on the bump that was beginning to bruise.
Nettle went to the bed and began cleaning Runa’s wound, talking to her the whole time.
Tarass almost hugged Nettle when Runa started talking before her eyes were even open.
“I tried to stop him.”
“Who?” Tarass demanded.
“A stranger,” she said, her eyes fighting to open.
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