“Haakon.”
“Mm. Not a Saxon then, as I thought. You are going to one of the villages of Norsemen by the coast, I daresay, to the west?”
“Yes.”
The woman looked pensive for a while, then shook her head. “Well, you won’t get far before nightfall I’m afraid. The bridge you’d normally use to take the west road collapsed about afortnight ago. You will have to go upstream to cross the river, and that will add a significant amount of riding to your journey.”
Gytha exchanged a glance with him. Having arrived from the nearest town, they had not taken that road and did not know about the collapsed bridge. That was inconvenient indeed. Not that they were in any real hurry, but still, the less time they spent on the road the better.
The old woman took Gytha by the arm. “Tell you what, my dear, go a bit further down the hill, and you will find a small stone shed. It belongs to my brother. He’s a shepherd.” She paused. “He might not be here, come to think of it, as he often spends the night with his flock in the warm months, but if he is, he will welcome you in. If he’s not, you can still take shelter there, I suppose. I will explain it all next time I see him. As long as you leave him some wood for when he comes back, he won’t mind.”
“We will definitely make sure he doesn’t regret offering us a place for the night, thank you.”
It seemed the perfect solution, as he didn’t want to force Gytha to sleep in a ditch, or in the company of another troop of musicians. He had sworn never to accept someone’s dubious hospitality only that morning but this seemed as safe as could be.
For tonight, the shepherd’s shed it would have to be.
They foundthe shed empty with no sign of the man anywhere.
“It would seem that the shepherd has gone with his flock, as his sister suspected.”
Gytha had to admit that she was relieved. Not that she feared an old man on his own would ever get the better of Haakon, butshe preferred not to watch him get into trouble again. Having the shed to themselves was much better than having to sleep in a ditch, especially that it had started raining again.
“Yes.” Haakon seemed to share her relief as he looked around the room to take stock of the situation.
The stone building was small, but well-maintained, nothing like the huts at the village had been. Its occupant seemed to have left days ago; the ashes in the hearth were cold and there was a thin layer of dust on the table. Other than that, it was perfect. They would be able to get a restful night’s sleep in here. After the long ride and the events of the previous night, it was a welcome thought.
“This is just what we needed. I’m grateful to the old woman for her timely offer,” Haakon said, echoing her thoughts.
When he looked at her, a blue fire was dancing in his eyes. Was he thinking the same thing she was thinking? That they were going to spend the night together, alone in a place with a bed and no one to see them if they wanted to finally surrender to the desire torturing them? She knew she had not imagined it. Haakon might not want to build anything with her, but he wanted her in his bed at least once.
“Let me go get the horses settled,” he said slowly. “Then I will bring some more wood in for the fire. I saw some logs and an axe outside.”
Gytha nodded. “I will get the fire going.”
There was a log in the corner of the room and everything she needed to light a fire in a basket by the heart. With the kindling and flint, she could get the flames roaring in no time, which she did. Once the log was burning, she wiped the table and placed cheese and bread on it. It had been an inspired idea to buy food this morning, because there was nothing to eat that she could see in the hut.
While she waited for Haakon to come back, Gytha sat on the stool and started to think.
Tonight they would be alone, and they would sleep in the same bed—she had already seen that there was only one pallet in the corner. Would she have the courage to act on her desire when she felt his warm body next to her?
Just then the door opened on Haakon, one log in each arm, a vision straight from her wildest fantasies, potent and alluring.
In that moment, she knew. With that man, she would indeed have the courage.
Haakon swallowed when he saw Gytha on the stool in the middle of the room, an expression of awe on her face. Awe and unmistakable desire.
Now he was in deep trouble.
He had not lied earlier when he’d said he was grateful to the old woman for the offer of the shed. It was perfect, providing them with protection from the rain and cold and, more importantly, ill-intentioned people. The only worrying thing, and itwasworrying, was the sleeping arrangements. There was only one pallet, and not enough furs to make a second bed by the fire. Odd for a shepherd’s home. The place should be covered with sheep skins. Odd, and very unfortunate.
Well, he would simply have to manage with his own blanket, Haakon decided, as he placed one of the enormous logs in the hearth, because the other option would be to?—
“We are going to have to sleep in that pallet together,” Gytha said from behind him, sounding matter-of-fact.
He blinked. There was nothing obvious in that. In fact, it was just what he had been thinking, that they shouldnot, no matter what happened, find themselves in the same bed at any point. He blinked again when he turned around and saw that she had stood up and started to remove her dress, her mind already made up. Was she mad? It was still too early for bed. And even ifshe was tired and did want to get to bed now, she didn’t have to undress.
Undressing was the last thing she should be doing right now.
