But Thork soon jolted her from her carnal reverie as he brushed her cheek with his warm lips, then whispered into her ear an answer to her earlier comment, ” ‘Twas not your bony arse I was of a mind to kiss.”
At first, the insulting words didn’t register on Ruby’s muddled senses. She pulled away abruptly when sanity returned to jar her from her seductive trance.
Thork followed his outrageous comment with a suggestive wink. The cad!
The only salve to Ruby’s wounded pride was the fact that Thork couldn’t hide his obvious male reaction to her.
“Oh! You always were crude.”
Thork cocked his head quizzically. “Your manner of speaking—’tis strange. Not Saxon. Nor Norman.” A look of determination altered the thoughtful expression on his face, and he warned her, “Before this day ends, by Thor’s blood, I’ll know your whole story or else…”
He pulled her to her feet and put an end to their conversation. “Enough foolery! Too much time I have already wasted on such as you. Important business do I bring to my king. Tell me your tale… or tell Sigtrygg. Little difference it makes to me.”
“I’ll tell you, but I don’t know if you’ll believe me.”
His face showed wary interest but nothing more.
“Thork, this is a dream,” Ruby explained tentatively.
Thork stared at her, expecting more. When she remained silent, he snarled in disgust and turned to go. “That is all? ‘Tis your explanation? Enough! We are off to Sigtrygg where I will be well rid of you.”
“Thork, listen to me,” Ruby pleaded, pulling on his arm as she realized how important his understanding might be when they got to the palace. He held himself stiffly, unyielding, but Ruby plunged ahead anyway. “Thork, I come from the future, the year nineteen hundred and ninety-four. I know, I know. It sounds unbelievable. It is unbelievable. But it’s only a dream.”
Thork’s eyes widened in surprise at her pathetic story. When she didn’t elaborate, he exclaimed in disgust, ” ‘Tis outrageous that you would try to dupe me thus. Can you be so addlewitted that a dream is the best excuse you conjure up for your presence in our land? A dream! The future!” He shot her a haughty look of disdain and laughed snidely. “Fortunate for you that you did not mention this to the harbor mob. ‘Twould be food for the vultures you would be by now.”
“You must believe me, Thork,” Ruby urged, speaking rapidly to forestall him and make sure she got a chance to explain everything. “In the future, your name is Jack and you’re my husband. In fact, we’ve been happily married for twenty years—that is, we were happily married until lately. You left me today. And that’s why this all happened. At least, I think that’s why it happened.”
At first, Thork looked incredulous that she’d spout such an outrageous story; then a slow-burning rage flushed his cheeks.
Ruby rushed to complete her rambling explanation. “I was really upset when you left… to think our twenty-year marriage was over. I was crying and I wished that I was twenty years younger and could start all over again.” She raised her palms in a helpless shrug. “And… and I guess my wish came true, except—did I already tell you?—I’m twenty years younger. Anyhow, I made my wish, but I certainly didn’t expect to travel back in time more than a thousand years.
“The strange thing, though, is this seems so real; yet I know it must be a dream… or something.” She looked up at Thork hopefully when she finished.
“Twen… twenty years of wedlock!” Thork sputtered. Ruby could see his impatience growing to explosive proportions. “Only twenty-nine winters have I seen my entire life. You may dream, but, I assure you, I do not. I swear by Thor’s hammer Mjollnir that I am alive and standing here, not in a damned dream. Explain that. And what would make you think I would believe such a story? Do I strike you as simple?”
“Jack… Thork, it’s the truth. We’re married. We have two beautiful children. Can’t you feel the bond between us?”
“Bond? Hah! Not even a thread!”