Page 99 of The Viking’s Captive

Tyra scurried to cover herself.

“That is it! I am closing the door now.” Adam was tired of being the brunt of everyone’s speculations.

“Wait! Just one minute. I have something to say,” Alinor shouted. She shoved her husband and Alrek aside, then advised Adam in a surprisingly warm, almost motherly way, “Treat her well.”

Adam closed and locked the door, then dropped the bed fur. Tyra wasn’t sure if he was talking to Alinor or her when he said, “That is precisely what I intend to do. Very well indeed.”

Tyra hoped so. This was to be her one night of love. It would have to last her a lifetime.

Ah, yes, the famous Viking S-Spot…

After midnight, when most of the keep was abed, he and Tyra slipped outside to the sweat house, where they soaked their aching muscles in the hot springs.

It had been his plan to soap her body from crown to toes with the soft soap that was kept there … to minister to her like the princess she was. But Tyra surprised him once again. Taking charge, as she was wont to do, she lathered him up, rinsed him off, then laid him down on the stone slab outside the pool and kissed him up one side and down the other. But that was not all. Oh, God, that was not all. The enchanting woman, ever the apt pupil whether it be the art of battle or the art of love, brought her mouth down on him till he begged for mercy.

He thought he might be in love.

But many a man thought he was in love when his cock was tickling a lady’s throat. So he did not speak the sentiment aloud. He planned to ponder the question later, though, when his eyeballs were no longer rolling in his head.

They went back to his bedchamber, arm in arm, where he massaged her still sore muscles with one of his special ointments … in this case, sandalwood scented. She kept saying she had not known there were muscles there or there, but he kept assuring her that there were still more muscles he would show her that she’d never imagined. In fact, some time later, he showed her the famous Viking S-Spot, the secret of which had been passed on to him by his stepfather Selik, as well as his uncles Tykir and Eirik. Tyra claimed to be extremely impressed. That must have been why she fainted at the end. It was Adam’s opinion that a man who could make a woman faint in the bedsport had performed admirably. He intended to tell Tyra so when she awakened.

Adam was enthralled with Tyra. Her lack of inhibitions … her enthusiasm for everything he suggested … her ability to laugh while making love … all these made her an incredible bed companion. But it was more than this … much, much more, he suspected. And that prospect both frightened and elated him.

He fell asleep with a smile on his face.

In the still of the night…

Tyra awakened just before dawn.

The one night she’d committed to Adam was over. She could not be unhappy about what she’d given him. He had given her so much more in return.

But it was over now, and she must go on from here. A new life … a new path awaited her. But she would never forget Adam, or this long night of loving. It was a gift from the gods.

She slipped out of the bed, careful not to awaken Adam, who slept soundly on his stomach, his face resting on his folded arms. Once she was hastily clothed, she gazed down at him, gloriously naked.

Adam thought he would have another sennight or so in her presence as she transported him back to his home in Britain, but he was wrong. Tyra had made a decision the previous evening. The agreement to captain the longship back had been made under pressure. It was an unreasonable request her father had made, and she felt no dishonor in disobeying him.

She was going now to Father Efrid’s bedchamber, where she would renounce all her rights as a daughter of Stoneheim. She would never dare do so in front of her father. He would just laugh at her, or deny her request, or lock her in her bedchamber till she did his will. After the ritual denouncement before Father Efrid and two witnesses, Gunter and Egil, she intended to tie the priest up so that he would not warn her father of her actions. A fully manned longship awaited her in the harbor. She would be gone before first light.

There was one twinge of guilt she felt. Placing a palm over her stomach, she wondered if she might even now be carrying Adam’s child. Probably not. But if she was, for once in her life she was going to entertain a female prerogative and change her mind. She had told him they would discuss the situation if it occurred. Well, they would not discuss the fate of any child she might carry. However, she would inform him, some way, if there was a birth … after the fact.

So now it was over. She would have liked to give Adam a good-bye kiss, but he might stir if she did. Instead, she opened the door softly, looked back at him one last time, and mouthed the words she would never get to say aloud.

“I love you.”

It was past dawn when Adam awakened and stretched languidly. There was nothing in the world for a man like the feeling of complete satiation after a night of good bedsport.

He reached for Tyra to give her a good-morning kiss, but found her side of the bed empty. He was not overly alarmed. His warrior wench was, no doubt, out spear throwing with her soldiers, or engaging in some other ridiculously energetic exercise. You would think he’d given her enough exercise the night before, but not his Tyra!

God! When did I start to refer to her as mine? But she is, by damn. If any other man dares to touch her, I will kill him on the spot.

He smiled at his inner vehemence. There were so many questions to be resolved with Tyra, but he had a sennight or more to come to some understanding with her while she transported him back to Britain. He was not sure if he loved her, and he did not know if marriage was a possibility, but now that he’d had her, he never intended to let her go. That decision gave an odd buoyancy to his spirits. It was as if his mind had been in a daze for a very long time. How refreshing to finally know what he wanted!

There was a knock on the door just as he slid his legs over the side of the bed and attempted to stand. He was chuckling at the weakness in his knees as he pulled on a pair of braies and opened the door.

He was not surprised to see Tykir standing there once again.

He was surprised at his uncle’s announcement, though.