Alinor sighed. “What did Thork do today?”
“He pinched a chambermaid on the arse.”
She giggled. “Did you reprimand him?”
“Of course I did.” Actually, I couldn’t stop laughing, especially when he told me this particular chambermaid had a huge arse which begged to be pinched.
“Now that you bring up your son’s misdeeds…” Alinor began.
Why was it that they were his sons when they did something bad, but her sons when they proved angelic?
“… Starri and Guthrom had a spitting contest over the parapet, some of which hit a milkmaid passing by, which caused her to lose the contents of her stomach.”
Tykir didn’t want to tell her, but he was the one who had taught them about spitting contests. On the other hand, she probably already knew that.
“Back to Toste…” she said.
Holy Thar! She is like a dog with a bone once she gets started on something. She never lets go.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to have a yuletide wedding?” She was moving her hands on him in a most delicious way now.
Tykir placed his hands over his face and said, “I surrender.” He meant it in more ways than one.
Rub-a-dub-dub…
“Why are you bringing a tub in here?” Esme practically shrieked her question because she had a pretty good idea why.
Toste just smiled and said, “Greetings, Esme. Did you miss me?”
“Miss you, you goat-breath idiot? I… don’t… think… so.”
He blew dramatically into a palm placed in front of his mouth and nose, then sniffed. “Smells fresh to me.”
Why does he always home in on the most irrelevant part of what I say? “How could I miss you? You’re here all the time.”
He winked at her. “Bolthor thinks you like me.”
“Bolthor is a dunderhead.”
“I’ll tell him you said so.”
“Nay. Don’t do that,” she said, immediately contrite. It wasn’t the kindly skald’s fault that Toste was behaving like a beast.
Toste had slept with her in the small bed for two nights now and been gone off and on during the daylight hours. Last night he’d tied her wrist to his again, then laid a hand possessively over one of her breasts. Every time she moved he took it as an excuse to fondle her breast. And of course she remained nude and tied to the bedposts every time he left the hut. He hadn’t bothered with the gag, since apparently no one would come to her rescue even if she screamed loudly.
He placed a cauldron over the fire and filled it with a bucket of water from the rain barrel outside. Now he was traipsing in and out, filling the tub. Cold air rushed in from the open doorway, which chilled Esme even though she was covered with the fur pelt.
“I am not getting in that tub,” she declared.
“Wouldst like to wager on that?”
“A lady deserves her privacy when bathing.”
“One, there is no lady here. Two, you gave up any rights to privacy when you deprived me of mine.”
Three, you are a loathsome lout. “What do you hope to gain with this vengeance?”
“Vengeance is its own reward. Besides, I find that I like the idea of having my very own sex slave.”
“Se-sex slave?” she sputtered.
“Yea. You did not think I was going to be satisfied with a loaf of unleavened bread in my bed forever, did you? I mean, there is a charm in looking at you bare-arse naked, flat on your back, legs spread in invitation, but at some point you must earn your keep.”
He was probably teasing her, but she decided not to test him on the issue. Another thought came to her unbidden. “Did anyone see you bringing that tub here?”
“Hah! Everyone saw me.”
She groaned, imagining the jests that must have been made.
The man was an infuriating lout. If he was going to torture her or force himself on her sexually, she wished he’d just do it and get it over with. This procrastination was driving her mad. Which, of course, was his goal.
“What scent do you prefer, Esme? Lavender or rose?”
“Huh?”
While her mind had wandered, Toste had filled the tub half full of cold rainwater, warmed up with two cauldrons of boiling water. Another cauldron was on the fire. He held two cloth packets in the air. “Never mind. I think I prefer the rose.” With that, he dumped the powder in the tub and stirred it about. The scent of roses soon filled the small room. Next, he walked over to the bed and untied her restraints.