“Aye, well.” Clearly not happy about it, Ma laid a hand to Quarrie’s cheek. “A promise is a sacred thing. I only hope we will no’ pay dear for this one.”
A promise was, aye, sacred. Trust even more so. He believed in Hulda. And that reached deepest of all.
Chapter Thirty-Three
TheFreyabarelynegotiated the passage into the small bay. Indeed, it took all Garik’s skill to get her through, and he swore they would never make the passage at low tide.
A forlorn sort of place, one of the men declared it. But they were young, Hulda’s crew, and still looked upon everything they did as an adventure. They adapted quickly and soon had a camp set up above the rocky shore.
“’Tis a good hiding place,” Helje declared, as they stood watchingFreyaride the still waters. “Even better than the island. No one will know we are here.”
“Save for that great settlement of fierce Scots,” said Varg, rolling his eyes. “What is to keep them from creeping through the thistles and killing us in the night?”
“The word of their chief,” Hulda replied. She must trust Quarrie. Else she might get all these lads killed.
Varg snorted.
An experienced crew, so Hulda reflected, an older one, would never have agreed with this scheme. She herself had to hope Loki had no hand in it.
But nei. She did trust Quarrie. Just as she ached to see him again.To lie with him.
She had been with only one man in her life, besides Haakon, who had taken those rights as given. Olaf had been his name, and a handsome, tall boy he had been. She’d possessed no real feelings for him and had accepted him mainly out of curiosity,to discover what all the furor was about. Because she was much in the company of men, and they spoke about rutting almost constantly.
It had been quick, with much fumbling, and not overly pleasant for her, though Olaf had seemed to enjoy himself. He was dead now, having fallen in a battle far north of here, and would never tell.
Things with Haakon had been quite different. He it was who had taught her the means of pleasure, and though he had expected her to spend her passion on him far more than ever he had troubled to please her, she had tasted what could be and learned that she was a woman beneath it all.
But ja, she knew the ins and outs of it, so to speak. The prospect of those ins and outs when it came to Quarrie flushed her with heat.
A very different proposition from Olaf or even Haakon, for she sensed that with this man, everything would be deeper and more immediate. She would consume Quarrie. Her body would, and her spirit.
She must make it happen.
Yet she felt as if she walked a rope line strung high above the sea. She wanted to reach the end so badly, but the way was perilous and she could take only one step at a time.
Those kisses they had shared, though—those had been a leap. She had never known a man, a mere man, could taste so good.
Since Haakon, with her heart bruised, her body satisfied and mayhap thwarted, she’d wanted little to do with another mating. In the company of men too often, no doubt.
Now she felt starved for Quarrie.
Ja, she would have him. It must be soon.
“We shall set a strong guard tonight,” she told Helje. “And every night we are here.”
“And then we will go out raiding?” He looked anxious.
“Ja, sure. Are we not perfectly set for it?”
Another of the crew came up to join them. “Mistress, do you think you could trade with yon chief, Murtray, for some supplies? If we are to stay here, that is.”
Hulda smiled. “I just might.” Any excuse made a good excuse to tramp over the stones and the headland to see Quarrie.
*
She went alone,though both Helje and Garik clamored to accompany her. She wore her sword, with no less than three knives secreted about her person.
“Let us test the waters,” she told the men. “You understand I can take care of myself.”
