“Turn around so I can put it on your shoulders and see if it fits properly.”
Thork turned away from her and felt her reach up and place the cape on his shoulders. Actually, he was glad she was taking their parting so well. ‘Twas best to part with a woman amicably, no bad feelings left to ferment. He was a man slow to forgive his enemies, but Thork was in a magnanimous mood on the eve of his departure for Jorvik, and, after all, the wench had not really done anything that evil. True, she had lied about her virginity and more, but ’twas no different from any other self-serving female he had encountered. ‘Twas the nature of the specieS. He turned to tell her that and gasped in astonishment, “Holy blood!”
Ruby had stepped away from him and stood next to the bed holding on to the bed post as if for support. She wore this… this thing that pushed her breasts up and out at the top and exposed her legs from the hip bone all the way down to her… oh, my God!
“What the hell are those things on your feet?” The wench leaned precariously on wobbly legs. No wonder! Her feet were encased in leather slippers with wooden stilts.
“High heels. Do you like them?”
“What purpose do they serve? Can you walk?”
“Yes… no. Well, normally I could, but your village woodworker made one heel shorter than the other. Men in my country think it makes a woman’s legs look sexy. Don’t you?”
“I am not sure. Come near so I can see.” Thork had trouble controlling the twitch in his lips.
Ruby moved closer, using the balls of her feet in a sliding motion so she wouldn’t limp. That gave him a better view of the garment she wore. For the love of Freya! The black silk and lace wisp barely covered her from the tips of her breasts to the vee at her legs, pushing in and out at strategic places. He could see the shadow of her nipples and the dark curly hair that covered her womanhood through the thin lace. Never in all his years of travel had he seen such a marvel—not even in the Eastern harems.
Thork gulped and looked again. It appeared as if she’d shaved part of herself there to accommodate the revealing lines of her garment. He was no longer in the mood for laughing.
“Turn,” he directed through a suddenly dry throat.
The thought that Ruby would go to so much trouble to entice him touched Thork with the force of a rolling boulder. His heart constricted oddly in his chest. No one had ever shown so much caring for him afore.
When she turned, Thork felt the blood drain from his face at the sight of her nether cheeks half exposed by the slant of the outfit’s bottom edge. A burgeoning arousal pulled sharply at his groin.
“Do you like it?” she asked uncertainly when she faced him again.
“I like it fine.” Holy Thor! Was the wench blind? Could she not see just how much he liked it?
“Only fine?” Her lips turned down in disappointment.
“What do you want from me, wench?” Thork grated out between gritted teeth. He wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take or even if he wanted to resist anymore.
“I think you know.” She looked up at him hopefully throUgh the shadows of her half-lowered lids.
“I cannot,” he groaned.
“Why?” she asked softly, tears welling in her eyes.
“You would want more than I could give.”
Ruby shook her head. “For tonight I call a truce. I will ask no more than you are willing to give.”
Thor’s blood! The woman was a tempting negotiator. “And tomorrow?”
She smiled and shrugged. “I can’t make promises about what I’d do after today.”
” ‘Tis a trick.”
“No, just a man and a woman… making memories.”
Thork’s heart lurched at her words. He moaned thickly in surrender and started to move toward her. He was stopped short by a loud pounding at the door.
“Thork! Come quickly,” Olaf yelled.
“Go away,” Thork shouted menacingly.