The Reluctant Viking Read online

  "I love you, Thork. Always. I've missed you so."

  With her soft words, Thork lost control and plummeted her with his deeply felt, unspoken emotions. "Rube... oh, sweet... oh, Lord, oh, Lord... let me... please... aaargh!" he murmured disjointedly until he reached his soul-shattering climax, taking Ruby over the edge of eternity with him on a flight of pure bliss.

  When they lay spent and gasping for breath in each other's arms, Ruby traced the silky hairs on his chest with a forefinger and whispered against his lips, I thought I was dreaming of you at first, Thork. I thought you said you loved me, and it was the most wonderful feeling in the world. That's what awakened me." Questioningly, she raised her eyes to his face, now relaxed in the afterglow of their sweet loving. She saw conflicting emotions battle in his tense facial muscles, even as he drew her closer in the crook of his arm.

  For several long moments, Thork said nothing. Ruby could feel a nervous pulse in his neck beat erratically. His heart thundered under her palm, still racing from the excitement of their lovemaking.

  He inhaled deeply and began to speak, running his palm caressingly over her shoulder as he spoke, I am not sure I believe in love or that I am capable of such an emotion anymore." He stopped and turned her face so that he could see her eyes. He continued in a thickened voice, "Yea, I said the words, but they just slipped out. I do not even know if I meant them." He grinned sheepishly and admitted, "The words did feel good in the saying, though."

  Tears of joy filled Ruby's eyes and misted her vision. "Oh, Thork, I love you, too." She rolled over on top of him then, bracing her arms on either side of his face so she could see his face more clearly. With a quick brush of her lips, she urged, "Will you say the words again? Oh, please, honey, I need to hear you say them."

  Holding her eyes, Thork lifted her above him and lowered her onto his manhood, which had hardened again on their soft caresses and sweet words. When she straddled him, forging their bodies as one with her heat, Thork rasped out, I love you, sweetling."

  "Again," Ruby demanded as she moved on him.

  I love you, sweetling."

  "Again," she gasped as Thork took hold of her hips and set his own rhythm.

  "I... love... you... ah!... no, do not stop... yes, there... I... love... ," he jerked out brokenly.

  To the tune of those whispered words and others, said over and over between them, Ruby and Thork pledged a love for each other that they swore would never end.

  I will love you till I die," Thork swore on one long, slow endless stroke that ended with her keening wail and his low, prolonged, throat-wrenched growl.

  "Thork, wait a minute. I need to... I... oh oh oh!... I can't stand any more . . please," Ruby said brokenly as each of his deep thrusts took her to a new plane of mounting tension.

  "Rube!" Thork exclaimed softly when he reached his shuddering peak. "We can make it work!"

  Jack's words! Ruby blinked dazedly, not sure if it was Thork or Jack who spoke the familiar words to her. Truly, she no longer knew or cared. Fate had put her in this time and place. Surely, this man was her destiny. On that hazy thought, Ruby snuggled closer in Thork's embrace and fell into a deep sleep.

  They awoke at dawn to a loud pounding, followed by the harsh noise of wood splintering as Hrolf's massive frame broke through the locked door. Three armed retainers and Poppa followed him into the room.

  Their naked bodies told a story that inflamed Hrolf. He spit out a string of expletives, then snarled, "You bloody bastard! You are Harald's son through and through. Stand so I can put a knife through your traitorous heart."

  "No!" Ruby screamed, and stood with a fur wrapped around her nakedness. "Don't hurt him. He came because I wanted him here."

  "Do you stand behind maids now in cowardice?" Hrolf taunted Thork.

  "Nay, I do not!" Thork stood, uncaring of his nudity. The three guards grabbed his arms and held his struggling body in place with his arms pinioned behind his back. Hrolf drew a long-handled knife.

  Poppa pulled at Hrolf's arm, trying to intercede. "They love each other. Do not do this thing. For my sake, if not for your new granddaughter's, spare him."

  The muscles in Hrolf's face were rigid with the self-control he could barely exert. Ruby knew he would just as well kill Thork, but in deference to Poppa he offered grudgingly, "Will you marry my granddaughter if we bring the priest now?"

  Thork's eyes turned bleak. "I cannot. Honor-bound am I to Elise." He looked at Ruby sadly and implored, "Please understand. I would if I could."

  Poppa pleaded with Hrolf once again, "Do not let your temper rule. Wait till the bloodlust settles."

  Hrolf's angry eyes impaled Thork, but he finally turned to Poppa. "For your sake, I will delay my rage." He told his retainers, "rake him to the guardroom and secure him well until I decide his fate. And someone find that whoreson Selik and bring him to my chamber. The lusty rogue is probably plowing one of my daughters."

  Ruby wept and pleaded for Thork's release after they took him away, but Hrolf shrugged her off coldly. "You shame me, wench. Heed me well, if there is a babe bred on you already, you will have a husband—be it Thork or a stableboy."

  Ruby had no idea what Hrolf said to Selik in his chamber, but the angry shouts could be heard throughout the keep. Selik left the castle soon after under armed guard, and no one would tell Ruby where he went. Hrolf refused to speak with Ruby and banished her to her rooms, under double guard. He suspected, rightly so, that she would try to release Thork. Ruby didn't know if they tortured Thork, or if he was even alive. She feared that Hrolf looked at Thork as a means of finally avenging himself on King Harald.

  Thankfully, Thork escaped two days later, slitting his captors' throats and slipping off into the darkness on one of his ships, which Hrolf had commandeered and which still lay in the harbor. For days Hrolf and his retainers followed Thork in their own ships, but to no avail. They returned to the castle in a rage.

  "The bastard returns to Northumbria, not to Jomsborg," Hrolf announced that night. He looked Ruby coldly in the eye and said, " 'Tis sure he goes to wed the Saxon wench Elise. Why else would he go back there?"

  "Maybe he went back to get troops to return here to fight you," Ruby offered defiantly, trying to keep her eyes wide open so the tears would not spill over and embarrass her.

  "Thor's toenails, girl! Are you so besotted you cannot see in front of your face? Jomsborg is closer than Northumbria. If Thork intended to fight me, he would have sought his Jomsviking comrades."

  Seeing how distraught Ruby was, Poppa interceded for her, "Leave off, Hrolf. Canst you not see how your words wound?"

  "Thor's blood! Would you have me lie to her? The man refused to marry her. 'Tis a fact. The sooner she accepts that, the better."

  Ruby bent her head and let the tears slide silently down her face.

  Softening, Hrolf said gruffly, "If you do not carry the scoundrel's babe, I will find a good husband for you."

  "I'm not pregnant," Ruby snapped, shrugging off the comforting hand he'd put on her shoulder, "and I don't want you to find me a husband."

  "Oh, I will find you a mate, of that you can be sure," he warned on a harder note, displeased with her shrewish attitude, "and it will not be an easy task, with you not having a maidenhead."

  Ruby threw up her hands in disgust. "I haven't had a maidenhead for twenty years."

  Hrolf's eyes hardened at her vulgar, illogical words. "Best you clean your tongue afore I introduce you to any man, or I may cut it out for you."

  The two glared at each other, each refusing to back off. Finally Poppa asked the skald to tell them a good, long saga.

  * * *

  Despite the turmoil over Thork's escape, the castle returned to normal activities. The slaughter of cattle, hogs and other game was held on Michaelmas Day at the end of September. Everyone in the castle and surrounding region was kept busy with the butchering, salting and dividing of the provender for winter. The women cleaned the intestines for sausage making, which cause
d Ruby to remember with a sad smile the condom controversy in Jorvik, but she was too depressed to even joke about it with Poppa.

  As unhappy as she was, Ruby couldn't be sorry that Thork had escaped Hrolf's wrath. She would rather have him married to Elise than tortured or dead in Normandy, especially since she'd heard the servants talk furtively of the harsh treatment Hrolf doled out to his enemies. To Hrolf, Thork now deserved the worst punishment, not only for his treatment of Ruby, but for killing the guards on his escape.

  Poppa and her women watched Ruby closely for several weeks, waiting for her monthly flow to come, which it did, of course, as Ruby knew it would, thanks to Thork's persistent caution. She felt curiously saddened when the blood showed. A baby with Thork would have been like the one she and Jack had planned and never had.

  Hrolf treated Ruby with cool politeness, feeling she'd betrayed him by her actions and lack of remorse. Ruby walked the halls of the great manor for the next month like a zombie. She ate, slept, helped Poppa with the household chores and went to chapel every day for Mass and prayer, but she never laughed, and she refused to sing or tell her stories. She knew Poppa worried about her, but she felt helpless, smothered by the dark mood that settled over her in a weighty cloud.

  Was this how she would live out the rest of her life—a living limbo, never returning to the future and never finding love in the past? Ruby realized that she had somehow subconsciously come up with a reason for her time-travel. She'd rationalized to herself that if she could have brought love to Thork and enhanced his life, it would have made up for what she'd failed to do with Jack. It now looked as if she'd screwed up all over again.

  "Aren't you hungry?" Poppa asked gently, jarring Ruby's thoughts back to the present and the food she pushed around her plate with a small knife.

  "No." Ruby tried not to be rude to Poppa. The dear lady tried so hard to ride the fence between her and Hrolf. She reminded her a lot of Aud.

  Aud! She hadn't thought of her and Dar in ages. Ruby wondered how Tykir was getting on in Aud's household. And Eirik? Would Thork and Elise visit Eirik at Athelstan's palace? On their honeymoon? Would they have a baby together, despite Thork's intentions to the contrary? Were they making love at that very moment?

  Oh, God! Ruby closed her eyes on a silent moan of anguish.

  "Ruby, why do you weep? You must put Thork behind you. 'Tis time to—"

  Poppa's words broke off as a young hesir burst into the hall and ran toward the high table, gasping for breath. Without waiting for permission to speak, he burst out, "Hundreds of armed men come in ships bearing the colors of Thork and his grandfather Dar."

  Pandemonium broke out.

  Hrolf and all the men in the great hall jumped up, grabbed whatever weapons were at hand and ran outside to join their own troops. Hrolf directed some men to the walls, others to follow him to the gate.

  Distraught, Ruby rushed to the tower with Poppa and her ladies to watch. In a field outside the keep, Thork and Hrolf stood arguing, arms gesticulating. Dar held back at least four hundred men, and an equal number of fierce warriors lined up behind Hrolf.

  Finally Thork, Selik, Dar and a handful of other leaders headed toward the manor with Hrolf, while the troops set up a campsite in the distance.

  "What's happening?" Ruby asked Poppa.

  "I have no idea, but at least they do not fight. 'Tis a good sign."

  Hrolf sent a message ordering Ruby and Poppa to stay out of sight, but before they went back to the solar, Ruby got a quick look at Thork's stormy face. He was probably furious over his ill-treatment by Hrolf and had returned for revenge. Still, it was wonderful to see him again.

  For hours Ruby and Poppa fidgeted nervously, trying futilely to work on a tapestry. Finally Poppa sent a servant to see if she could overhear anything in the hall.

  "They negotiate a marriage contract fer her," the wide-eyed thrall reported when she returned, pointing to Ruby.

  "For me? With whom?" Ruby gasped. She turned to Poppa. "Hrolf threatened to find a husband for me, but why would he discuss it with Dar and Thork?"

  "Nay, you mistake my meaning. 'Tis the master Thork fer you," the maid interrupted.

  Ruby and Poppa inhaled sharply and looked at each other in mutual incredulity. Poppa urged the maid to go on.

  " 'Twould seem the Saxon maid Elise cried off onct she learnt that her betrothed traveled here to Normandy with Ruby. Elise bade her father make other marriage arrangements fer her. Sore mad, Dar sez she was. Thork should have wed the maid afore setting sail, the girl's father said."

  Ruby smiled widely and hugged Poppa. "And now Thork wants to marry me?"

  "Well, not quite," the servant said. " 'Tis more like he wants the master, Hrolf, ter send men ter protect his grandfather's lands in payment fer jailin' him. And he blames you fer losin' the Saxon maid and the protection of Dar's neighbors."

  "What?"

  "Now, Ruby, a few hours ago you would have given anything to have Thork back," Poppa chided. "Do not be waspish over the details. And best you pray Hrolf will agree. Sore mad he is at being bested by Thork."

  But Hrolf did agree, to Ruby's immense satisfaction, although no one seemed happy with the marriage pact. Hrolf begrudged the fighting men he would have to pledge to Dar and the son of his hated enemy, Harald. Thork balked at a forced marriage and the vast number of gifts Hrolf demanded for Ruby's dower. And Ruby wasn't so happy that all these plans were being made without her being present.

  Regardless, Thork was a glorious sight to Ruby when she walked uncertainly into the hall. Wearing the blue cloak she'd made for him, Thork sat talking in a leisurely fashion with Hrolf, Selik and his grandfather. He stood immediately when he saw her approach and held out his left hand. She took it gladly and twined her fingers intimately with his, then looked up shyly for some message in his stern face.

  Without speaking, he pulled her off to the side where they could talk in private, but not so far away she couldn't see Hrolf's sullen glare and Dar's self-satisfied wink. Thork leaned one shoulder against the stone wall of the keep, but still held her hand firmly, absently rubbing the inside of her wrist with his thumb. His eyes held hers for a long moment, their unfathomable blue heightened by the deep color of the cloak.

  "Do you know why I am here?"

  "Yes, I think so." Ruby's heart beat wildly in fear at Thork's aloof countenance. He could surely feel it through the rapid pulse at her wrist.

  "We will marry on the morrow," he declared. No asking. Just a flat statement of fact.

  Ruby really was beginning to worry now. This was not the way she'd imagined their reunion would be. She nodded, unable to speak over the lump in her throat. Lord, she wished Thork would smile or say something to disclose his feelings about the event.

  I never wanted to wed."

  Ruby's heart dropped and she lowered her eyes to hide the pain. "I know," she said softly. "You told me so often enough." A sense of foreboding enveloped Ruby.

  "Marriage is a trap that ensnares a man in deadly emotions."

  "It doesn't have to be," Ruby said shakily, raising her tear-filled eyes.

  Thork quirked an eyebrow and wiped an errant tear that hung on the edge of her eye with the pad of his thumb.

  "Marriage could be the melding together of two people destined to be together. It could be a sharing—a partnership of a man and a woman with a common goal. It could be a touch of paradise on earth." Ruby couldn't believe she was spouting such flowery words, or that she actually meant them. She closed her eyes bleakly.

  "Is that how you envision our marriage?" Ruby's eyes shot open. For the first time, Ruby noticed the raspiness of Thork's voice, the odd glow in his eyes.

  "Yes," she whispered hopefully and restrained herself from reaching out to brush a strand of hair that fell over his forehead.

  "Even if I wanted that kind of marriage, what do you think my brother Eric would do?" Thork said huskily. "Think you that he would let me plant my feet in one spot for long? That he would not har
m those I cherish?"

  Cherish! Ruby's hopes soared. Hesitating several moments to select just the right words, Ruby finally said, "Life is so short. It seems to me such a waste to spend those precious days looking over your shoulder, worrying about what might happen. We have to grasp the moment." She inhaled deeply and scrutinized his face to see if he understood what she was trying to say. "Oh, Thork, wouldn't you rather have a day of happiness than a lifetime of 'what might have beens'?"

  A gentle smile turned up the corners of Thork's lips. " 'Tis odd that you should say that."

  "Why?"

  " 'Tis the selfsame reason I returned for you."

  Ruby studied his handsome face, which just now seemed to relax from some rigid tension that had held him in its grasp. She frowned in puzzlement, not sure what he meant.

  "When Hrolf and his men bound me and I lay two days with no food or drink in his prison, I had to face the prospect of dying. Oh, 'twas not a new threat. I flaunt death at every turn as a Jomsviking. But the idea of dying and never seeing you again—that, I discovered, I could not bear."

  "Thork, what are you saying?"

  "Nay, let me continue. I asked myself this question as I lay contemplating death: What would you do today if you knew there would be no tomorrow? The answer was simple: I would marry Ruby and cherish each moment, no matter how few they may be."

  Ruby hesitated for only a second, then threw herself into his arms, despite the dozens of people who watched from the other side of the hall. He caught her and lifted her so her toes barely touched the floor. Ruby buried her face in his neck, sobbing out the weeks of desolation she'd suffered in his absence.

  "Shush, sweetling. 'Tis over now."

  "You beast," she accused tearfully, "standing here like a statue, letting me think you didn't care."

  "You deserve a little torture for all you have put me through," Thork teased as he nuzzled her neck. When he pulled away slightly and looked down, he exclaimed with feigned horror, "Good Lord, woman, you are sopping my entire cloak with your tears." Lowering her to the ground but keeping an arm looped over her shoulder, he said in an aside to Hrolf and Dar, who had moved closer, "Is this what I will have to put up with for the rest of my life—a weeping, slobbering woman?"