He sat down to remove his boots, watching her the whole time. She turned on her side away from him, but she assumed he then stepped out of his tight braies, too. She was proven right when he slipped under the bed furs behind her and she felt his nakedness against her back… all of his nakedness. Is it possible to see a man with one’s eyes closed? Well, yea, it must be… because I am seeing vivid pictures behind my eyelids.
“Turn over, Esme, so I can secure your ties.”
Does that mean I have to open my eyes? “Why do you need to tie me when your big body blocks my escape?”
“I might fall asleep and you could crawl over me.” Crawl over him? Naked? I… do… not… think… so! He laughed. “You do not like my big body?”
She didn’t answer. Truth to tell, I like your big body too much.
“Perhaps I will tie you to me,” he said and took her left hand in his right one, palm to palm, fingers entwined, then tied them together at the wrists. He raised both their arms so they rested on the pillow above her head.
“Relax, Esme, I am not going to tup you tonight. I am too tired. But if you move or squirm about, I will interpret that as meaning you want me now. And I may decide to change my mind.”
As a final outrage, he let the fur pelt remain where it was, mid-body, so that her breasts were visible to his eye. And eye them he did. Then he yawned loudly, laid his head next to hers, his mouth against her ear, and proceeded to fall asleep.
Esme couldn’t believe what was happening. She had expected the brute to come back and rape her… or at least have his way with her. Instead, she was lying naked in a bed, her arm tied above her head, her breasts exposed, while he snored beside her, oblivious.
It was utterly humiliating.
Which, of course, was his point.
* * *
Chapter Twelve
« ^ »
Planning a road trip …
“We are going to Ravenshire for a yuletide celebration,” Gorm announced to all those at the high table.
“What? That is the first I have heard of this,” Helga said with alarm. She and Vagn had been at each other like dogs in heat the past sennight, and the prospect of their being separated, even for a short time, filled her with surprising panic. Once separated, would he forget about her? Find someone else? No longer be interested?
“I have known for some time that Eirik and Eadyth planned a great feast, but did not think we would be able to go because of this winter storm that has beset us. Now that the roads are passable again, it seems a grand idea. All of us will go,” Gorm explained, making a sweeping gesture that included Vagn.
Helga breathed a sigh of relief. Not separated, after all.
“Actually, Gorm, I think I will stay here,” Vagn said.
Helga’s heart constricted. There was no way she could stay behind, too, without her father becoming suspicious… if he was not already.
“My side still pains me betimes, and I am not sure I could stand a full day on horseback,” Vagn said, reaching low where no one could see his hand to pinch her buttock… probably a signal to her to attempt to stay, too… which she could not do.
She let out a little yelp of surprise at his pinch.
Her father raised an eyebrow at her.
“Indigestion,” she explained.
Her father nodded, being an expert on chest pains. “I can understand your concern about traveling too soon, Vagn. You have been looking peaked of late, and you have dark circles under your eyes from lack of sleep. Nightmares, I imagine. Actually, I have an ulterior motive for wanting to go.” He winked slyly at Helga.
“What? What have you done now?”
“I have done naught,” he said as if wounded. “But Lord Ravenshire’s son John from Hawk’s Lair will be there, and methinks ’tis time for you to give him another look.”
“For what?”