Page 99 of The Reluctant Viking

“Oh? Methinks you will.” His blue eyes, warm with promise, locked with hers.

“I want to talk,” Ruby groaned.

“I want to make love,” Thork argued.

His words moved Ruby, despite all her good intentions. The glaze of passion in his misty eyes compelled Ruby to surrender, but still she started to turn away, trying desperately to resist. “Why are you doing this?” she moaned.

“Are you serious?” He looked meaningfully down to his already burgeoning arousal.

Ruby closed her eyes for a moment, hoping to regain some semblance of control, then admonished, “Don’t be crude. I meant, why now? When I tried to seduce you, you thought our making love would be a bad idea. It is a bad idea. I realize that now. Think about it.”

A slight grin tugged at the corners of Thork’s lips as he listened, disbelieving, to her words. “Sweetling, that is all I can think about.” He laid the teddy on the embroidered bed cover and removed his sword and belt and tunic. He sat down to take off his soft leather shoes.

Panicked, Ruby realized she didn’t have much time to convince him. With a shaky voice, she urged, “Thork, let me tell you why we are not going to make love.”

Thork’s lips twitched infuriatingly. “I am listening.”

Hah! His mind was about as open to her arguments right now as a teenager with a bad case of raging hormones. And she wasn’t doing so great herself.

Still, she had to try. But, before she could speak, he walked barefooted to her where she still stood frozen by the door. He gave her a quick, light kiss on the lips and said huskily, “You are beautiful.”

“I am not. You’re beautiful. I’m attractive, at best.”

“You think I am beautiful?” He seemed inordinately pleased at that idea. “Can you imagine the beautiful children we might have made together?” he asked wistfully, then shook his head as if it were a wasted thought. “Not that I want any more children or ever intend to have more, but ’tis a tantalizing idea, is it not?”

“Oh, Thork, even your words prove why this can’t work.”

“How so?” he said, cocking his head quizzically. Meanwhile, he peeled off his slim black pants and stood before her immodestly in only a codpiece that resembled a modern-day jock strap.

Ruby groaned.

The candlelight flickered on the smooth planes and battle scars of his bronzed skin, highlighting the golden strands in his hair, making his eyes appear a darker shade of blue. When he leaned to pick up his clothing and jewelry and place them in a neat pile in the corner, corded muscles in his back and buttocks rippled with his graceful movements.

He looks like a damn golden god, for heaven’s sake!

The servant brought in the tub, followed by four other men carrying two buckets of hot water each. He left with the other coin in his pocket and a big smile on his face, telling Thork to push the tub outside to the hall when he finished.

“Do you want to go first?” Thork asked after he filled the large oval tub, similar in size to a Colonial copper wash boiler. When Ruby shook her head, he dropped his last garment and lowered himself into the steaming water with a shudder and then a sigh. It barely held Thork’s massive frame. He had to draw up his knees to fit.

Ruby swallowed hard and tried to continue her explanation of why they couldn’t do that which she wanted to do so damn bad her teeth ached. While Thork soaped his body and washed his hair, Ruby chattered uneasily. “In the beginning, there were two main reasons why I pursued you, Thork. I was concerned about my safety here in a strange land, and I wanted us to be together to provide a home for Eirik and Tykir.”

“And?”

“Well, I’m safe now, at least until we get to Normandy.”

“And the boys?”

“Tykir lives with your family now and won’t be as lonely as he was in Jorvik, and Eirik, well, the fostering isn’t an ideal situation, but he’s where he wants to be. I’m sure he and Haakon will be good for each other. What I’m saying is that, if I suddenly had to…go away, I wouldn’t worry about them. Well, not too much, anyway.”

“Go away?” Thork snapped. “Do you still harbor plans to escape?” He stood abruptly in the tub and water sloshed over the sides. Reaching for a towel, he dried himself briskly while he glared at her, awaiting an answer.

Ruby chose her words carefully. “It’s not something I’m planning deliberately, but I could be returned to my home suddenly. I wouldn’t have a choice. That’s why I didn’t want to leave loose ends with the children, who are just like my own boys—”

“Nay, do not start that future-life nonsense again. You are an untried virgin. You have no husband, and you most definitely have never borne any children.”

Ruby tried not to look at Thork’s nude body as she continued, “Still…if I suddenly, mysteriously, have to leave, that’s another reason why our making love would be a mistake. You have to know I love you. I have for twenty years. You love me, too. You just don’t know it yet, but—”

“You love me?” Thork asked, choosing selectively which of her words to hear. He moved toward her with open arms and a wide smile.