Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

S he did need to scream. Badly. Eyja bit her bottom lip so hard to stop herself from uttering a sound, she tasted blood. She needed to scream so much she feared she would burst with the effort needed to contain it.

Using his lips, his tongue, his teeth, Moon was devouring her.

No, not devour, she amended with the last ounce of clarity she possessed. That was too negative a word. What he was doing was...

She had no idea what it was. Extraordinary. Life changing? Nothing like what she had felt under Thorfinn’s caresses, that was for sure.

“I can’t... Oh, please...” she panted, searching the ground around her for something to hold on to. She only encountered grass. Far from heeding her protests, Moon grunted and lifted her left leg onto his shoulder as if to give him better access. A finger circled her intimate opening then pushed inside slowly. The feeling was so incredible she let out a mewl. And then another, and another. His tongue never ceased lapping at her all through the onslaught.

Oh, this was going to kill her.

But she would die a happy woman.

Trembling, she dug her fingers into his hair, anchoring him in place, forcing him to come closer. She would die if he stopped now, if he retreated even one fraction of an inch. An almost unbearable heat had started to bloom inside her chest. She wanted to rip at her shirt, feel the cool air on her skin. And then…

And then she imploded in a burst of light.

A scream escaped her throat but it made no noise. There was no air left in her lungs, no strength in her limbs, nothing left of her but the part pulsating against Moon’s hot mouth. Merciful gods, his mouth . His mouth had been on her, she had opened her legs for his kisses, had pressed herself against his face, had forced him to lick her harder and to plunge his finger deeper inside.

After sharing such intimacy, she would never be able to look at him again without blushing and remembering the feel of his lips on her. And he would never be able to look at her without tasting her on his tongue. How would they ever recover from there? Whatever they had been to each other, they could never be again. Could they find another way?

She wasn’t sure.

In any case, she could not think right now, she could only lie, eyes closed, body empty and limp, mind blank.

She felt him straighten back up, withdraw his finger from her, then heard the rustle of fabric as he tugged at his clothes. Dimly, Eyja wondered if he was now going to take her, or ask her to pleasure him in turn, like Thorfinn had done. In all probability he was hard and ready for his own release. But he didn’t ask anything, didn’t even touch or speak to her. Kneeling next to her prone form, he saw to his needs himself. It did not take long. There was a series of grunts and groans and then silence.

After a long moment, just as Eyja thought she would fall asleep there on the forest floor, she felt Moon crawl up to her and put his mouth at her ear.

“Don’t provoke me like this again, Imp. I am perfectly able to fuck women and I can’t promise that the next time I won’t do just that.”

“So... Halfdan’s little ‘cousin’ is in fact a woman. Well. I should have guessed.”

Eyja froze in the act of fastening her braies when the nasal voice she had come to hate reached her ear.

Farmon.

Slowly, hoping to be mistaken even though she knew she could not be, she turned to face him.

“Not only a woman but one who enjoys getting fucked,” he carried on, walking toward her with deliberate intent. “I’ve never seen anyone rub herself so frantically against a man’s face. Quite an arousing sight.”

At first she was horrified by the crude description. Had she really done that? Rubbed herself shamelessly against Moon’s face? And then the full meaning of his words hit her, eclipsing everything else. Farmon had watched her and Moon in their most intimate moment and gotten aroused by it. Not only that but he’d then waited for Moon to walk away to make his presence known. This could only mean one thing.

Now that he knew her real identity, he meant to make the most of it, and take her himself.

She scrambled back to her feet and looked around in case Moon had decided to come back for her. Should she call him? He could not be too far away. Why oh why had she not tried to stop him when he’d gone back to the camp? Mortified or not by what they had done, she shouldn’t have stayed on her own.

“Now, that’s what I call an interesting development. My men and I won’t have to wait until we reach the next town to get what we need after all.” Farmon gave what she imagined was supposed to be a smile. Between the glint in his eyes and the wound splitting his cheek, it looked more like an evil grimace. “But I think I will be the first to plough that sweet little furrow of yours. That way I’ll show you what I can do firsthand. You didn’t want to watch me with one of the whores, so you’ll no doubt be relieved.”

The ice that had replaced Eyja’s blood turned to fire. He meant to have her and then hand her over to the rest of his men. Over her dead body! She still had her dagger hidden in her boot. As soon as he came over her, she would bury it into his back.

“I won’t lie down for you or any of your foul friends, so you can forget about it!” she spat, making to rush past him. She had to get to Moon now.

But the man was too fast for her. He grabbed her by the elbow and pinned her against the nearest tree trunk, pressing her face against the rough bark. Desperately, she tried to free herself from his hold. Farmon only laughed.

“I suggest you keep your strength for later, Eirik . You’ll need it,” he whispered into her ear, leaning against her back. Eyja gagged when a foul smell reached her nostrils. “The men will be only too glad to see to your needs. Only I’m not quite sure they’ll want to use their mouths on you, unlike that dim-witted Norseman. What is the man thinking, using his hand to make himself come when there’s a hot woman lying spread open in front of him? I won’t be making the same mistaken, you can be sure of?—”

A cry interrupted the terrible declaration. “Farmon? You have to come see this!”

Thank the gods. His friends needed him.

He pressed himself harder against her and she felt him stiff and hot against the small of her back. Bile rose in her throat. Thus far she had been aroused and flattered when feeling the proof of a man’s arousal because they had been men she desired as well. With Farmon it made her want to vomit.

“We’ll march today, as planned. While we do, I will enjoy telling my men the truth one by one, inform them of what delights awaits them at the end of the day. And then once we stop, you will spread your legs for us and give us the reward we deserve for ensuring your and your lover’s safety.”

Despite knowing she would never succeed in freeing herself, Eyja tried to push him away and only managed to scrape her cheek further against the tree bark. He was not budging an inch. “You think I will just let you?—”

“Yes, you will. Because if you don’t, my friends and I will take our revenge on your little ‘cousin’. It won’t be pretty. He’s strong, I’ll give him that, but there is only one of him and there are eight of us.”

Eight of them. Yes. Eight men who would each want a turn with her, or more. She would not make it out of it unscathed. But Moon would hardly just watch as they each violated her in turn. Whether she protested or not, he would defend her, and then he would be killed, because he would not stop until he was dead. It was too late to save either of them.

What had she done? By provoking Moon she had signed both their death warrants. A sob escaped her lips. Farmon let out a grunt, evidently satisfied with her reaction. She guessed that for him, half the pleasure lay in letting her torture herself over what was to come. The actual possession tonight would be the crowning moment in a day of cruel anticipation.

“Think, while we walk, and then you will see that there is no choice. Tonight, we will have you.”

Eyja was avoiding him.

Moon’s chest tightened. He’d guessed—nay, dreaded—this would happen. After what he’d done to her, she would most probably not know how to behave with him. Everything had been altered by one moment of madness. She would now think him unhinged and depraved at best, too forceful at worst. What had possessed him to get between her legs in such a way? Back at the village if she had accused him of not considering her like a woman he would have laughed, and pointed out that she had only herself to blame for it, as she had done her best to ensure he did not. A few days ago even, he would have been able to let the provocation pass. But today... He had jumped at the chance of showing her she was wrong. It was new but he definitely did see her as a woman now.

And with his forceful demonstration, he’d embarrassed her.

Knowing she would not dare draw attention to them by refusing to have him walk next to her the way they usually did, he drew closer to her. As he’d expected, she didn’t send him away, but she didn’t acknowledge his presence by word or deed. For a while they walked in silence. Despite the foggy, gloomy morning, Farmon was more cheerful than usual and a few of his men seemed to share in his merriment. Moon shrugged. In all probability the prospect of a night of debauchery in the next town was responsible for their buoyant mood. The less he thought about what they would do with the poor women, the better.

This time Eyja did not seem to notice or care what the Saxons were talking about. She walked with her head down and the same focus she’d had when they had marched to York. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought she was heading to her doom once again.

“Imp, I’m sorry. I should never have done that. I don’t know what came over me.”

Moon sighed. Here he was again, apologizing to her for being unable to control himself. The last time he had let his temper get the better of him, this time it was his lust. And he was making a mess of his apology, for he had made it sound as if he had no idea why she could possibly have provoked his desire. It would not surprise him if she sent him to hell.

But to his surprise, she actually answered, even if she didn’t look at him.

“Don’t be sorry. I was the one who pushed you.”

“That is no excuse. I should not have?—”

A noise in the undergrowth caused Eyja to turn her face to him. He hissed in shock when he saw that her right cheek was scratched and bruised. What was that? She’d been fine this morning when he’d left her.

“What happened to you?”

He barely stopped himself from reaching out and stroking her cheek. Tears flooded her eyes at the question, causing a new wave of alarm to crash through him. What had happened? Had she been attacked? But when? By whom? No one had joined their little group, no one had even be seen.

“’Tis nothing. After you left me this morning I-I walked into a tree,” she stammered. “In this fog, I didn’t see where I was going.”

Walked into a tree? Moon blinked. Did she really expect him to believe that? For one, it hadn’t been foggy that morning in the meadow, and even if it had, it would not have been enough to hide a twenty-foot tree standing right in front of her. Unless, of course, she had been so upset and disorientated by what had just happened between them that she had not paid attention to what she was doing... He knew she had a tendency to get distracted.

Remorse mingled with worry, making his guts churn anew. Why had he not stayed with her, made sure she was all right instead of leaving her on her own after such a momentous event? He had thought it best to give her a moment to compose herself but obviously it had been a mistake.

“We need to leave,” she said before he could apologize again for doing the opposite of what he should have done. It was quickly becoming a habit, one he was not proud of. “I don’t want to travel with Farmon and the others anymore.”

The abrupt declaration caused him to stiffen and reevaluate his first impression. Had he gotten it wrong? Was the reason for Eyja’s strange behavior fear rather than embarrassment? Was her altercation with Farmon earlier that morning responsible for her unease? Perhaps she dreaded the Saxon punishing her for the way she had challenged him, with good reason, because he wouldn’t put it past the vile man to do just that. Or was it even worse? Had she noticed a change in the men’s attitude toward her? He had not seen anything, but her feminine instinct would have picked up on the slightest change and she might worry about the possible consequences. If they’d heard her moans this morning then it wouldn’t be long before they saw that all was not as it should be with his “cousin.” He distinctively remembered her whimpers when pleasure had overcome her. It had been the sweetest sound but, undoubtedly, it had not been wise to indulge in such activities with the men lurking so near.

Well, if she had noticed something, he had better heed her warning. Eyja was a highly intuitive woman.

There was safety in numbers and he would have preferred to travel in a group but if that group was made up of men who could turn into a danger at any time, then they were better off taking their chances on their own. He’d had enough of Farmon and his cronies anyway.

“I agree,” he said eventually, grateful for the fact that they could converse in a language no one around them understood. It made it easier to be private. “We’ll just tell them we want to?—”

“No. We can’t let them suspect we’re leaving.” Eyja sounded panicked at the thought of confronting the men. He frowned. This was unusual. She was no coward. In fact, he would not have been surprised to see her march straight to the men and tell them she was done with their boorish ways. Something was definitely amiss.

“Why do you not want to?—”

Another, louder rustling in the undergrowth had them all stopping again and looking around. Was a band of ruffians about to attack them? Moon groaned. That was the last thing he needed right now! Just when he’d started to think he might well be able to bring Eyja home in one piece, they were set upon.

Well, the men, whoever they were, would have a hard time bringing him down. He was pumped up and ready to go.

No sooner had he withdrawn one of his axes out of its sheath than a sounder of boars, at least twenty strong, erupted through the bushes, scattering the men. Everyone started to flee to avoid the wild animals, who, being accompanied by their young, would not hesitate to charge if they felt under threat. Moon took Eyja by the hand and led her away from the mayhem. This was their chance to leave the Saxons without any explanation. The propitious interruption would give them the head start they needed. By the time the company was whole again, they would be far enough away to hide. The fog would help as well, and tonight, they would be free.

Yes, this was their best, perhaps their only chance to give the men the slip without any unnecessary bother.

“Come. Now is the perfect time to lose Farmon and his friends.”

He didn’t need to say more. Eyja started to run, her hand still clasped in his. Such was her agility and speed that he had difficulty keeping up. After a while, she slowed down. “Wait. We had better climb up a tree.”

“What? Why? There’s no need.” The boars were nowhere to be seen. They were safe.

But Eyja shook her head. “When the men start looking for us, they won’t think of looking up. Between the foliage and the fog, they will never see us, it will be as if we had vanished into thin air.”

It wasn’t a bad idea, and he knew she climbed trees as well as any squirrel. Perhaps they should hide in the trees. Just then, as if to help him make a decision, they heard a shout in the distance.

“Halfdan? Eirik? Where are you? The boars are gone. You can come back.”

Without a word, Eyja started to climb the nearest tree. He followed, doing his best to remain silent. A moment later they heard two men’s voices.

“Where the devil have they gone? I don’t care if we never see the Norseman again but I’m not letting that ‘cousin’ of his slip away before I’ve had a good poke at what she’s hiding between her legs.”

“Well, you’ll have to wait for your turn. I’ll go first and I guarantee it will be a long while before I’m satisfied.”

Moon barely repressed a curse. Damnation, he’d been right! They knew. Of course, they did. Now that they had time to pay attention instead of blindly marching as fast as they could, they would have seen that “Eirik” was much more than a frail youth. He placed his hand over Eyja’s in silent support. He could all too well imagine what it would do to her to hear the men talk so blithely about raping her.

When they walked under the tree the two Saxons didn’t even slow down. Moon stole a glance toward Eyja. She was hugging the tree trunk, trembling, and no wonder. The fate the men had in store for her was terrible. It made no doubt that all of them would have wanted a “poke,” and there were eight of them, each more crude and dangerous than the next. She would never have gotten out of the ordeal unscathed, both physically and mentally.

As for him, he would not have made it either. He would have been killed, pure and simple, when he’d jumped to her aid. At one against eight, he wouldn’t have stood a chance.

“That’s why you wanted to leave, is it not?” he whispered once the men’s voices had died down. It was exactly as he’d thought. As a woman, she would be used to seeing men look at her with desire in their eyes and would have recognized the signs he’d missed.

She nodded, her eyes huge with fright.

“Don’t worry.” He placed a hand over hers again, wishing he could do more. “I swear they will not touch a hair on your head.”

All they had to do now was wait. The Saxons would search a while but would sooner or later admit defeat and head toward the nearest town.

Once night had fallen and the moon was up, they finally dared to climb down from their perch.

As soon as they touched the ground, Moon engulfed Eyja into his arms. He’d fought the need to do so for too long and he could not contain himself any longer. After the fright she’d just suffered, she needed it. Hell, he needed it too. Besides, there was no need to pretend anymore. Away from strangers, they could behave as a man and a woman behaved, and not worry about what others would think. To his relief, she melted against him. He sighed.

Peace was restored.

“Here, Imp, it’s over,” he said, speaking into her hair. “From now on, everything will be all right. We’re safe, we’re on our own, and soon we will be home.”