Soren reached out as though to wipe them but he stopped himself. Instead he lifted the hem of her cloak and handed it to her to use.
“What do we do now, Soren? Do we give in to this evil and keep my father alive, knowing we endanger so many more by doing so?” she asked. Soren looked startled by her words.
“I think he will be busy searching for the stone circle he believes is here in Orkney. Releasing the ships and him gives us time to find a way to stop them. If it is your intention to do that?”
He watched her with those deep, blue eyes, waiting for her answer. Two years ago, that intense stare would have melted her heart and given him whatever he wanted of her. But now, now she wondered what it meant.
“Do we have a choice?” she asked him. “These powers did not just appear for no reason. If we believe the story Father Ander found, we are part of a group of people who can stop this evil. The only ones who can.” She let out a sigh.
Just weeks ago, her intention had been to have a short visit home before leaving on the journey to a new land, a marriage and a new life. At that time, everything in her life was settled and the pain of the past eased for the first time in two years.
Now, she sat here looking at the one man she could not trust being asked to put her trust in him and in some ancient plan begun eons ago. If there was an old god in charge of this, it had to be Loki, the Norse trickster god who disrupted with guile and deception.
“Are you ready to loose the winds and I will release him from the sea’s grasp?” she asked, climbing to her feet with his help. Ran glanced around the area. “I know not how to influence the sea without being near it or in it,” she admitted.
“The evil one said you command all the water,” Soren said. “So the water that hides in the ground and runs to the lakes and sea is also yours to control. Give your order and I will give mine.”
Release the ships,she said in her thoughts as she closed her eyes.Release my father’s ships.
After a few minutes of silence, she opened her eyes and found Soren staring at her. The expression she recognized. Two years may have passed, but she knew that look and what it meant. And the worst thing was that she was certain she returned it.
Oh God, how she wanted him! Whether it was more intense because of the danger or if she’d simply lied to herself all along, she knew now that she wanted him with every muscle and fiber in her body. Ran could imagine what would happen if she gave in—the passion between them would soar and be that much stronger and more explosive for their time apart. Her body ached for him. Her body readied for him. Her body . . .
She stumbled back away, making the next step impossible. Ran wiped her lips even though there was no kiss to wipe away. Passion and its play were not difficult for them. Nay, their bodies spoke the same language from the first time they’d touched. Lying with Soren had been a joyful thing. And though her body would be exhausted and sometimes sore from his strength and relentless bed play, it would welcome him in the next instant.
It could not happen. It could not happen again.
“I need . . . my . . . from the pack,” she stuttered as she walked away from him and over to where the horses were. Walking anywhere but into his embrace. He let her go but his eyes followed her every step. She moved over to the packs and found hers, tugging the ties loose and looking inside it.
For nothing. For anything. She looked for something that would give her an opportunity to regain control over her wayward self. How was she going to manage being so close to him, risking everything at his side, and not give in to the terrible, complete need for him?
“Do you need help?” Soren called out.
“Nay,” she said, “I have found it.” She pulled a woolen blanket from the pack and walked back to the hut. Unfolding it, she tossed it on the one they were sitting on. “A bit more if we’re to sleep on it,” she explained.
“Go ahead then,” Soren said, pointing to the spot sheltered by the wooden frame. “I will watch for a while.”
“Are we in danger?” she asked.
“I think not, but I would rather be certain. Go. Rest.”
When she finally was able to look at him directly, she recognized his own discomfort in this situation. At his friend’s farm, he could have slept in a separate place from her. Now, they would pass the night in close confines. She nodded and sought a place on the blankets while he stood outside.
“Soren?”
“Aye?”
“What will we do next?” she asked. They needed a plan, something that made sense.
“De Gifford does not know where the circle is,” he said. “He said something about it being hidden from sight. It being disguised by the other circles built to hide its location.”
Lying on her back, she thought on it. “So it would not be the ones here then?”
“I think not, but there are other places marked on my grandfather’s drawing.”
“Or in clues he left at those places?”
“Aye. So I think we should continue to search as we’d planned. And when we meet Ander at the coast, he may have more answers for us.”
