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Clanging in the back of her mind, she knew all the things Ash had said before about his dreams and what he wanted to accomplish in his life. They had been dreams of glory and travel, not harvests and hearths. What if she started to count on him and he decided to go off adventuring again?
‘Kara?’ He gave her a questioning glance. ‘Did you hear me? Your eyes have a faraway look. We are going to our home. I want to see what you have done to it.’
‘I look forward to showing you, but now I need to see to getting my horse ready for the journey. The saddle kept slipping yesterday.’
‘You suffered in silence? Speak and it can be fixed, but I have to know what the problem is.’
‘You are impossible. That is the problem.’
Ash watched Kara stalk off. Her dress swished, revealing the shape of her ankles and the delicious curve of her bottom. He felt his body respond to the sight.
The years had enhanced her. The gods favoured him finally. Or perhaps they were playing one of their many tricks like the time three years ago when he’d thought he had enough money, only to be cheated.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. He had refused to look back and remember his old pleasures because it was soul-destroying and pointless to long for things which he couldn’t have.
Memories assaulted him of how her skin flushed after they made love and how pleasant it had been to wake up with that bottom snuggled tight into him.
He shook his head and attempted to get his body under control.
It amazed him that simply being near to her did this to him. He wanted to learn all about her and the things she’d accomplished. Every time he encountered her, he wanted her more rather than less.
Women had not affected him in all the time he’d been gone. He had always supposed that it was because regaining his honour was far more important than a quick tumble. But it was more than that. And the fact scared him far more than facing any horde of warriors or the sea in full fury.
He hadn’t allowed himself to think about her properly for years, but now that he was here, he wondered how he’d ever forgotten her. He had to hope that he could be the hero of her dreams. He certainly wanted to be.
‘What made you so reluctant to take a risk?’ he whispered. ‘Who did this to you? And how can I get the trusting woman I married back? Can you accept me as I am or do I have to prove myself?’
* * *
Kara sat bolt upright in her saddle, willing the road to grow shorter and take less time. The closer they got to Jaarlshiem, the slower time seemed to go.
Always when she had been away she searched for the changes. Something was always different. This time there was no need to search. She knew—the man who rode beside her brought change.
She had left Jaarlshiem thinking she would be the bride of one man and had returned home with a different husband.
As Jaarlshiem and her reunion with Rurik came ever closer she had to seriously consider how she was going to break the news to him that his father had not died before he was born, but was alive. That his new father would not be Valdar, the man he nightly prayed to be his father, but instead his real father. Would it be better if she could convince Ash to wait and to gain Rurik’s trust first? Rurik could be shy, particularly with strangers. She wanted the meeting to go well, rather than be strained.
‘You’re miles away,’ Ash said, catching the reins.
Her horse stumbled and she managed to keep from falling by grabbing on to the saddle for dear life.
‘What are you doing?’ Indignation rose in her throat. Ash had no business grabbing the reins. He had nearly caused a bad accident.
‘You allowed your horse to wander off the path. You were headed straight for the bog. It would have impeded our progress. Those bogs are notoriously tricky. Until my father had this road built, we lost men and horses every year, particularly in the autumn. When I was ten, my father made me find my way out. I was covered in stinking mud and shaking with cold by the time I reached home.’
‘Your father was cruel.’
‘But effective. I never boasted about my ability to navigate again. It helped me survive after I’d escaped.’ He shrugged. ‘I’ve no idea what you think about your horse’s life, but I value it and yours.’
Kara saw where Ash pointed. A shiver went down her back. She hadn’t even realised that they were that close to the bog.
‘I was thinking about home and what waited for us,’ she admitted, keeping her gaze straight ahead of her. ‘There are so many things to be done once we arrive. I keep getting this feeling that something is wrong. Something has happened... It is always this way when I am away from Jaarlshiem. I can’t wait to be back, but I worry that something terrible has happened.’
