“We're brothers,” Hugin shrugged, “and we're close. We don't have secrets between us, and we weren't going to start with you.” He laughed again, “You got him quite worked up. Robyn said he hadn't felt so desperate for a woman since he'd first reached manhood. Honestly, I wish my manservant had thought of it first.”
“I can bathe you tomorrow,” I offered without thinking.
Hugin's lips parted on a sharp exhale, and his eyes went hot.
“I can't believe I just said that,” I put my fingers to my lips in shock. “I'm shameless.”
“I wish you would say it again,” Hugin's arm slid around my waist. “Do you think I'm as attractive as Robyn?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“So you don't prefer him over me?”
“No, of course not.”
“Then, I'll look forward to tomorrow,” he leaned in closer, but all he did was kiss my cheek. Then Hugin pulled away a mere inch and took his telescope out of a pouch at his waist. “Would you like to see Heaven now?”
The words turned my throat dry, but the vision of him bathed in moonlight made me salivate. I swallowed past the dryness as I took the time to appreciate his perfect masculinity. Hugin looked like one of the marble statues strewn about the garden, come to life to taunt us poor women with his sculpted features and smooth skin. Or maybe he was an angel with golden locks, come down from Heaven to test me. Heaven... hadn't he said something about Heaven? Yes, he could take me there. No! I mean, he could show it to me. Oh God that sounded scandalous too, didn't it? I couldn't think straight with his soft lips so close.
Hugin leaned back to show me the telescope, oblivious to my agitation. The telescope shone beneath the moon, just a small cylinder of silver. But then he extended it into a long tube. Hugin held it up to his eye and peered briefly through it at the sky. Then he smiled and handed it to me.
“The sky is clear tonight,” Hugin said, “perfect for stargazing. Go ahead, Adelysia. The heavens await you.”
Heavens, plural. Right. As in the sky. Was that what he'd said earlier? Was I hearing things now? Hearing what I wanted to? I could have sworn Hugin had implied something else. Something much more erotic than stargazing. But I could have misunderstood. Was I was a licentious woman at heart? Was one sensual interlude all it had taken for my lusts to rise and consume me? Dear God, I was an immoral woman!
“Adelysia?” Hugin cocked his head at me. “If you're not interested in looking at the sky, I understand.”
“No,” I protested, blushing to be caught in contemplation of such carnal things. “I do, I just...”
I gave up trying to explain my behavior and simply held the telescope up to my eye. And gave a sharp gasp. I had looked through such tools before, seen straight across the land and peered at the little sparkling dots in the sky, but this was far different. There were colors out there. Swirling, sparkling, glowing mists of pink, orange, and white. I spanned the firmament, releasing awed breaths as I spotted one magnificent conglomeration after another.
“These are not simply stars,” I whispered.
“No, you are looking beyond them,” Hugin said.
“But how?” I asked without removing my eye from the cool metal.
“I did mention that it's a magic telescope, did I not?” he teased, and I blindly slapped at him.
“Here,” Hugin whispered in my ear, sliding his arm further around me as he used his other hand to adjust the telescope. The view changed again. I saw a large ball encircled by misty debris. “Let me see,” I eased aside, doing my best to hold the scope steady, and he took a brief glimpse. “That's Jupiter; it's a planet like this one.”
“A what?” I gaped at him, lowering the telescope in my confusion.
“Earth is a planet, a great big sphere like that,” he waved to the sky. “Though I'm sure we look much different from afar. My old master taught me a lot of things. He had a telescope like mine, but it was far larger. Through it, he showed me things I never knew existed and told me all about them. No one else on Earth knows these secrets, but I will share them with you, Princess.”
“You will?”
“If you'd like,” he smiled gently.
I nodded, and he smiled brighter.
“There is so much I can show you,” Hugin said excitedly. “Out there, in our Universe, there are more planets. And beyond our Universe are galaxies, entirely different star systems. There are things called black holes, which seem to be made of nothing but darkness, and asteroids, which hurtle through space like fiery arrows. And of course there are the stars, millions of them. I've seen heavenly bodies so beautiful, nothing on Earth can compare to them. Except for you.”
I felt my cheeks heat at his flattery but then frowned in confusion. Similar words had been spoken to me before, by countless men. But this was the first time Hugin had said them, and that made them special. I tucked them away in my mind so that I could recall them over and over. Perhaps I wasn't an indecent woman after all. It was the brothers. They affected me in this way. Only them.
“Thank you,” I whispered, but I wasn't just thanking him for his flattery. I was grateful for Hugin himself.
“This little piece of metal is useless to me now,” he tucked the telescope away. “Why stare at the sky, when a goddess sits beside me? Why search the earth, when I could worship at your feet?”
