Page 14 of The Outlaw Viking

“Nay, you might escape.”

“Escape? Where would I go?”

“Your wordfame as a healer will no doubt spread like St. Anthony’s Fire. The Saxons will put a price on your head, just as they have on mine, but they will want you alive. Good healers are priceless, especially in the Saxon court.”

Rain felt a warm rush of pleasure at Selik’s backhanded praise for her medical skills. “Well, if I’m going to sleep here, at least get your body off mine.”

Laughing, Selik removed his arm and leg. Rain turned her back on him and squirmed her body into a more comfortable position. She sensed a brooding depression in the quiet that settled over Selik. “Is something wrong?”

“Yea, there is much wrong. So many men…so many friends…died today without a proper burial—neither the last rites of the Christian church, nor the Norse ritual of fire to begin the journey to Valhalla. A man should protect those under his shield. I failed today.”

“Can’t you see how useless that battle was, on both sides? Like all wars, when it’s over, lives are lost for nothing.”

“The war is not over—for me. I will continue to kill every Saxon that crosses my path until I am finally avenged…or in Valhalla.”

“Oh, Selik,” Rain whispered, her heart aching for his pain and his futile quest for vengeance.

After several moments of silence, Selik spoke. “Enough about me. Tell me more about your failure rate, Sleeting.”

“Huh?”

“The bad beddings.”

“Oh, there’s nothing really to tell. It’s just that I can take it or leave it—sex, that is.” Rain frowned. Good Lord! Why would she disclose something so intimate to a virtual stranger? Because Selik was not a stranger to her, she realized; she felt as if she’d known him all her life. Also, by talking of herself, she might take Selik’s mind off his grief.

“Thor’s Blood! You are blunt.”

“You asked,” she said defensively.

“When didst thou last have a man betwixt your thighs?”

“You’re a bit blunt yourself, mister,” Rain laughed, then thought for a moment. “Two years.”

“’Tis true? I can hardly credit it, but then the bed sport does repulse some women. Somehow, though, methought you more hot-blooded than that. Mayhap you did not have a man with the right skills.”

“Oh, please, spare me the male ego. I’m not repulsed by sex, and I can reach an orgasm as well as any woman. After all, there are fifty-seven erotic points on a woman’s body. If a man can’t find one of them, he needs a flashlight and a sex manual.”

Holy Cow! Had she really said all those things? This dream trip of hers must have loosened the hinge on her tongue—or her mind. She hoped Selik appreciated her efforts to take his mind off more serious concerns.

Selik choked with laughter. “Only fifty-seven?” he asked dryly. “And do men have as many, or more?”

Rain knew he mocked her. Well, she’d show him. She gave her best Sex Education 101 clinical lecture straight out of medical school. When she finished, Selik’s chest shook with laughter.

“Really! What’s so funny?”

“You. You know all these details about the mating betwixt a man and woman. Like a bloody book you are, not a woman. Nay, you have ne’er felt as a real woman in a man’s arms, I wager. ’Tis certain you do not even know what you want from a man.”

“Hah! I’ll tell you one thing, Mr. Know-It-All. The best sex I ever had didn’t involve…didn’t involve…well, penetration.” Realizing the corner she was painting herself into with her loose tongue, Rain practically whispered the last word.

But he heard.

At his muffled chuckle, she added with false bravado, “Was that explicit enough for you?”

“Methinks you deliberately try to shock me. You do not mean the outrageous things you say.”

“Yes, I do. I mean, no, I don’t.”

“Do you back down now, wench?”