Page 85 of The Very Virile Viking

"There was that," he conceded, flashing a wide grin her way, "though there are some other body parts of mine that could use equal… slathering."

Magnus looked just as adorable today as Lida, except he was wearing a soft plaid short-sleeved shirt, blue jeans with neat creases (God bless Juanita!), athletic shoes, and a Dodgers baseball cap over his tied-back hair. Surprisingly, his attire did not look out of place with the etched silver bracelets on his upper arms, which he never seemed to take off. Torolf never removed his either, and more than a few teenage girls were giving him and his armrings a second glance. It didn't hurt that he was wearing a black tank top and cutoffs, which showed off his muscles. He wasn't as tall or as muscular as his father, though.

Not for the first time, Angela likened Magnus to a tree.

Just then Magnus caught her checking him out and grinned. He gave her an equally thorough onceover, and his grin widened when he got to the spaghetti straps of her blue sundress, which left her shoulders and arms exposed. Like the other females, she wore a sun visor… in this case a clear blue plastic one, with her ponytail hanging out through the back. On her feet were sandals, which left visible her shocking pink enameled toes… something that seemed to particularly please Magnus.

In fact, he leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Methinks I have the perfect fantasy for later.

Something involving toes and tongues."

"Oh, you!" she said, and slapped him playfully on the arm. But what she thought was, Oh, boy ! It had been seven long days and nights since they'd last made love, and she missed him with a passion.

"Do you want me to take over with Lida?" Torolf asked. "The way you two are gazing at each other, I suspect you will be looking for the nearest hay byre."

"Torolf, you overstep yourself," Magnus cautioned. " 'Tis no way for a son to speak to his father.

Mayhap you will learn some manners if I decide to send you to the same school Kirsten and Dagny want to attend so desperately."

"You would not!"

"Do not test me, son, or you may find out."

"All I did was ask if you wanted me to help with Lida."

"You asked more than that, and you well know it. You can help me, though." He handed Torolf several bills. "I put all the younger boys in your care, especially Njal and Hamr. Do not let them get in trouble."

" Faðir! You know bloody well that is impossible. Njal and Hamr cannot breathe without getting in trouble. Oh, for the love of Frigg! Do you see that?" Torolf scurried off toward the gaming area, where Hamr and Njal were about to throw darts at balloons.

"What's so wrong with darts?" she asked.

"They will hit themselves with the darts, piercing an essential body part, or they will hit the man standing behind the plank under the tent, or they will hit some passerby. That, I guarantee."

"Maybe you are being overprotective."

"Would you like to make a wager?"

"A wager?"

"Yea. Something involving pink toes would suffice."

Where does he come up with this amazing stuff? Why do I find it so tantalizing? "And what do I get if I win? I'm not taking any more of your gold coins."

"Tongue."

Yep. Amazing and tantalizing.

Just then there was a shout of, "Hey!" The guy at the dart booth had fortunately ducked in time, but Njal had apparently almost hit him in the head with a dart. Torolf rushed up and grabbed both boys, apologizing profusely to the game-booth owner.

"I did not get my prize yet," Hamr was shrieking to Torolf, who had him and Njal by the upper arms, dragging them away.

"I will give you a prize… on your puny little arse," Torolf said.

Kirsten and Dagny were standing some distance away, red-faced and pretending not to know their brothers. The girls looked especially pretty today in matching, though different colored shorts and tank-top sets. Instead of their usual braids, their long blond hair hung loose down their backs almost to their waists. Lily had already commented on the pretty color of their hair, referring to them as Loxies…

as in natural blondes in the vein of Goldilocks, as compared to Boxies, which were blondes born of boxed color.

Juan was staring at Kirsten with too much interest, but so were some younger boys who passed by.