Page 105 of The Very Virile Viking

"I would not mind marrying you, but no more children," he said as gently as he could.

"You would not mind…" she sputtered, then spun on her heel and rushed into her bathing chamber, where she locked the door after herself, but not before telling him to do something to himself that he was fairly certain was anatomically impossible… although Balki the Braggart had once claimed to do such.

But then, Balki was the same person who claimed he could tie his man part in a knot and still engage in sexplay.

In any case, it was not the homecoming celebration he had envisioned.

Chapter Sixteen

Gimme a good dumb-man joke…

Angela couldn't sleep much that night, so she went down to the kitchen at fivea.m. and plugged the coffeepot in. She had decided to return to the city for a few more days, to give Magnus breathing room and herself a chance to figure out where she wanted to go with this relationship. Besides, she had more than enough work piled up at the office, and her boss was beginning to gripe about her erratic hours.

Magnus had hurt her deeply with his comments last night. He was clueless in his dumb-man finesse—or lack of it—but if nothing else, he was honest to the bone. And what he had said to her was his heartfelt sentiment. He loved her, but he did not want any more children. Furthermore, he probably preferred not to marry again, after all his past bad experiences.

"Angela!" Magnus exclaimed, coming into the kitchen in his work clothes—faded jeans and a T-shirt.

She should not have been surprised to see him downstairs so early. He liked to start his day at sunrise.

"What are you doing up?" Just then he noticed her luggage sitting near the door. "Oh, nay! You are not leaving again? Please let us talk about this."

She shook her head. "Not now. Give me a couple of days to get my emotions under control. When I'm able to think more clearly, we can talk."

"Do you want me to leave the Blue Dragon?"

"No!" she practically screamed. More softly she said, "No, I don't want you to leave here. Please stay.

I'll be back."

He sat down dejectedly on the bench across from her. "I do not want to lose you."

"I'm only going to L.A. I'll be back by Saturday. Carmen invited all of us to the Cultural Awareness Festival at her college. It's a two-day event featuring all different cultures, their history, their arts and crafts, their foods, their music."

"In other words, boring. If Carmen is involved, it will be 'politically correct,' as well. That is the right term, is it not? Holy Thor, I can just see it. Vikings who use their swords to chop wood. Indians who eat no red meat. Saracen soldiers who recite poetry. Saxons who abhor fighting. Byzantine warriors who discover their feminine sides."

"I promised Carmen that we would come… or, at least, that I would, with some of the kids." She raised an eyebrow at him, clearly inquiring whether he would join them.

He groaned. "Carmen hates me."

"She does not hate you."

"Then why is she always telling those dumb-man jokes in front of me? 'Why is a man's sperm white and his piss yellow? So he can tell whether he's coming or going.' " He told the joke in a perfect imitation of Carmen's condescending voice.

Angela had to smile, despite the grimness of her mood. Carmen did like to jab at Magnus a bit, and he always rose to her bait… which was her point, of course.

"Do not go, Angela," Magnus pleaded, reaching across the table to take her hand in his.

"To the cultural festival?"

He shook his head. "Do not go back to the city today. I am a lackwit betimes. I say lackwit things.

Give me a chance to make it up to you."

"Magnus, you didn't say anything that you didn't mean. You might find a way to sugarcoat your words, but the facts remain the same. You want different things from life than I do."

"I want you."

"I know that." Angela rose from the table and walked toward the door. She had intended to wait till Grandma awakened before leaving, but her nerves were strained to the point of breaking. Much longer in Magnus's presence and she was going to commence bawling. That was something she didn't want her