Page 58 of The Outlaw Viking

“Mayhap. There was a battle. Many Saxons and Norsemen died that day. It could have been Selik, or any other, but Steven needed a target for his hatred, and he chose Selik.”

“But what he did to Selik’s wife—Oh, Ubbi! No wonder Selik is so bitter!”

The little man turned on her then and stabbed her with his defiant eyes. “Yea, he is bitter and with good reason. For that is not all the bloody demon did that day. He left the crushed, headless body of the babe on the ground near his mother’s body. It took Selik weeks to discover where the head was.”

Rain remembered Selik’s words then. “This Earl of Gravely carried Thorkel’s skull on his pike, didn’t he?”

“Yea, he hoped ter lure Selik into the open, ter his death. We finally recovered the poor babe’s rotting head and buried it with the body, but Selik still tries to capture the elusive Steven—and any other bloody Saxon who crosses his path.”

Rain looked down and saw a dark patch on the front of her tunic—Selik’s tunic—and realized that she’d been crying and her tears made a steady, hot stream down to her breasts. Like blood, she thought.

Oh, sweet God. Now I understand why you have sent me here.

“So now you know,” Ubbi said with finality as he stood and tried to straighten his back in challenge. “Will you be able to help the lad?”

“I don’t know, Ubbi. I just don’t know, but I’m going to try.”

He smiled then, a smile that didn’t reach his sad eyes. “You will, if anyone can, I warrant.” He watched as she stood and brushed the dirt off her clothing. “The master has gone to the pond. Find him, lass. Methinks he needs you.”

Chapter Nine

Selik was doing energetic laps from one end of the pond to the other—over and over and over. His face buried in the icy water, he moved his powerful arms expertly in a neat breast stroke, slicing through the calm surface with precision.

Rain sank to the ground near the edge of the pond and drew her legs up, wrapping her arms around them and resting her chin on her knees. She waited patiently for him to vent his rage through the brutal exercise.

Rain’s heart went out to Selik, knowing that her words of love had somehow triggered painful memories of his horrid tragedy. She now understood fully the daily torment he suffered and how he’d been caught in a bloody spiral of violence. When the voice in her head referred to saving Selik, this must be what it referred to.

Finally, Selik sprang upward like a beautiful dolphin. He spat out a spray of water, then shook his long hair back off his face. After he swam to lower water, he stood and his legs, weakened by the strenuous swim, almost buckled. Rain wanted to go forward to help him but bided her time, not wanting to startle her outlaw Viking. Her sweet, fierce soulmate.

He stumbled forward through the shallow depths, not yet seeing Rain. Wide shoulders tapered down to a narrow waist and hips, providing a perfect framework for finely formed genitals and long, sinewy thighs and calves.

Inner torment hazed his eyes, and his lips thinned into a hard line of determination. He was fighting his demons in his usual fashion. Alone.

This is the man I love, Rain thought with a sense of certainty. Awe and pride filled her almost to overflowing as her eyes swept over him caressingly.

Selik stopped suddenly when he saw her, then leaned down to pick up his garments from the ground. Brazen and unashamed of his nudity, he dressed slowly in leggings and tunic. After he cinched his waist with a wide leather belt, he asked in a flat voice, “Why do you follow me?”

Rain just stared up at him, unsure how much to disclose, but sympathy must have shown in her face.

Selik exhaled sharply with disgust. “Who told you?”

“You did.”

Selik frowned, then seemed to realize that, in his furor, he’d spoken his thoughts aloud.

“And Ubbi filled in all the spaces.”

“I should cut out the man’s tongue,” Selik commented wearily as he dropped down to the ground next to her and began drying his hair with a shoulder mantle. Then he declared firmly, “I will not discuss my past with you, Rain. So for once, put a lock on your tongue.”

Rain started to speak, then decided he was right. Now was not the time. Selik had suffered enough that day. Later. For now, though, she wanted to brighten his life, not add to his misery. To help him forget some of the agony that must pound incessantly in his brain.

She began to tell him about all the mundane happenings at Ravenshire in his absence. When she finally got to Gorm and his pursuit of Blanche, she saw the muscles in his face begin to relax. He actually smiled when she told him of Bertha’s lovelorn advice to her and Blanche. He even laughed, his gray eyes glittering with amusement, when she related how Bertha likened him to a stallion and her a mare in heat.

“Are you in heat?” Selik asked finally, seemingly pleased with the blush his teasing words brought to her face.

“Hardly.”

“Ah, you persist in these claims of distaste for the bed sport, for a man’s touch? Nay, do not think to lift your haughty chin in defense of that lie. I have witnessed proof of your true lustiness.”