Rough and Ready (12 page)

Maybe

later. No, not later. Never. Not with Hilda.

It was still dark, but the sky was graying outside, presaging dawn, when Torolf's eyes shot open and his body went on high alert. He was lying on his back, and Hilda's head was on his shoulder, her hair spread over his chest and her hand on his cock. She was fast asleep.

This is what SEALs, and men throughout history, called the "Oh, no!" second.

Good Lord! What do I do now? If I wake her up, she'll kill me. If I don't wake her, she'll kill me. I better do something pretty quick before my rocket decides to launch… or I do something really stupid, like roll over and fuck her brains out.

As gently as he could, he lifted her hand off his dick, which of course had a mind of its own and tried to follow, jerking upward. Torolf was pretty sure his eyes rolled back in his head at the utter ecstasy.

He placed her hand on his waist, and what did the wench do? With a soft moan, still asleep, she swung one leg halfway over his so that she was sort of straddling his thigh from the side. And she moved her face up into the curve of his neck so that her right breast was now resting on his chest. He looked down and stifled a moan himself.

Her breast was small, as he'd imagined, but nice. Very nice. All pink areola and rosy nipple. He couldn't help himself, his forefinger, like his cock, had a mind of its own and touched her nipple. Just a whisper of a touch. But the nipple pearled and grew bigger.

He closed his eyes and tried to think of something far removed from sex and breasts and raging erections. How about the devastation he'd seen at Norstead and Amberstead? How about the oat fields gone fallow and the cotters' huts burned to the ground? How about the woman he'd rescued from several now-dead hirdsmen of Steinolf's, who had been about to gang rape her after kicking her black and blue? How about how difficult the task would be up ahead to unseat Steinolf and his horde of barbarians?

He drifted back to sleep.

"EEEEK!"

A scream caused Torolf to jackknife up in bed, or half jackknife, since Hilda lay half-sprawled over him. Her hands were beating his chest, and she was yelling for him to release her.

"Release you? How about you release me?"

"You're lying on my hair, you oaf! EEEEEEKKKKK!"

"Hey," he said, "you're taking all the bed fur."

She was covered now, up to the neck, but he was bare-ass naked. Not that he cared all that much, but she probably did. "Is this about our agreement?"

"What agreement?"

"I agreed to let you swive me for a night in return for your ridding the world of Steinolf."

"What… no… it's not about that. I meant to explain—"

"Do not think to get payment in advance. You must give me fair warning afore I submit to your skin-crawling advances."

Torolf started to laugh.

"Get… out… of… my… bedchamber," she said through gritted teeth. The whole time she was staring at his cock sporting its hearty morning erection.

Jeesh! I can't take the thing anywhere!

"EEEEK!" she screamed again when he didn't move quickly enough.

The door slammed open as people drawn by her screams came crowding into the small room, including his buddies with weapons at the ready. For one split second, he and Hilda just stared up at the gawking crowd. Then Hilda realized that they were both naked; her scream could probably be heard across the English Channel. This time a long line of obscenities directed at him accompanied the scream.

Cage studied the situation and observed, "Sweet!" flashing him the victory sign.

JAM and the other guys, laughing like hyenas, began herding everyone out of the bedchamber.

"I will never hear the end of this," she moaned.

"Hah! Neither will I." That statement didn't draw any sympathy from her.

"Why were you in my bed?"

"It was late. I was exhausted. There was no more space on the sleeping benches.

And the thought of a soft mattress was too tempting."

"Can you not cover that… thing?"

He looked down. "Yeah, I can. But, man, what a welcome home! I thought you'd be glad to see me back. I thought you were worried about me. I thought you'd want to know what I found." It's always good to play the guilt card.

She closed her eyes and appeared to be counting. "Of course I want to know those things," she said once she was calmer and her eyes were open, "but I did not expect to get a report from a nude man with a flagpole sticking out from his body."

"You do have a way with words, Hildy. My flagpole and I offer our apologies."

He

drew on his braies and pulled the tunic over his head. Sitting back on the edge of the bed, he was putting on his boots when there was a scratching at the door.

If it was that horny Stig, they were going to be having dog stew for lunch.

But

no, when the door opened a crack, he saw it was not the dog.

"Hilda, this is Brynhil. I brought her back with me." He beckoned with his fingers that Brynhil should come into the room. "Brynhil, this is Hilda. She runs The Sanctuary."

He glanced at Hilda, then did a double take. She was looking at him with such hurt in her eyes.

Huh? Why would Hilda be hurt? Unless she cares about me… and thinks Brynhil and I are… Oh, no! No, no, no!

Before he had a chance to explain, Hilda stood with the bed fur wrapped around her from breasts to ankles. She looked like a hot-damn sex goddess of some kind.

Penthouse would love her, tiny breasts or not… perhaps because of her tiny breasts. Chin pointed northward, she extended her arm with a forefinger pointing to the door. "Out! Both of you!"

Brynhil began to cry.

Stig made an appearance then, nudging the door open wider with his nose. Then he leapt on Torolf's chest, knocking him backward onto the bed.

Hilda was screaming again.

Outside there was male laughter.

And Torolf tried to remember a time when his life had been simpler.

Women!

The best laid plans…

Early that morn, after the first meal, they sat down for a "briefing," which Geek explained was a telling of what Torolf had learned on "reek-on-a-sands"

and

what to do with that information.

Hilda sat with Britta and several of the women who had become adept at SEAL

fighting skills, or at least not abysmal at SEAL fighting skills. All the men were there, too.

Torolf spoke first. She'd avoided him like a stinksome midden after he'd been in her bed and seen her naked… The bloody arse! "I went to Norstead, then Amberstead and a few of the smaller estates between the two. Conditions were as bad or worse than I expected." He then went into detail about the number of men, their weaponry, how many guards, the vanquished people who were still there, everything that he saw.

"Any friendlies?" Geek asked.

"A few. I didn't want to push too hard around Norstead for fear I'd be recognized by my family's old retainers. Then, near Amberstead, those I encountered were distrustful of me. They've been burned before by Steinolf's men pretending to be on their side." Torolf looked directly at Hilda and added, "Some said that I would have been more believable if Hilda were with me."

"I told you so," she said, but he spoke over her. "I did find a man who'd been a soldier under my uncle Jorund at one time. Hervor. I asked him to go into the mountains and tell people who're willing to fight to come here where we'll be gathering forces."

"You did what! You told them where we are located?" Britta questioned.

"You had no right." Hilda stood, so angry her voice wavered.

"Cut me some slack, you two. I wouldn't have entrusted that information to just anyone. This man can be trusted."

"I do not doubt the loyalty of this one man, but you do not know how Steinolf tortures information out of people. This man may not be able to help himself."

Hilda was shaking her head at Torolf with dismay.

"Actually, I do know. There are things I saw that defy humanity. Talk to Brynhil. After I rescued her, she told me what she's seen and experienced the past year."

He rescued her? She is not his bedmate? And that poor woman… I treated her unfairly and gave her no offer of sanctuary!

"Sometimes you have to take a chance," he insisted. "One more thing. Hervor told me that two of my cousins, Thorfinn and Steven, have been looking for any of my family left from Norstead. They came two years ago, and have been seen in the vicinity a month back."

"How is that significant?" Britta wanted to know.

"Well, my aunt Katla married some noble Viking from Norsemandy before I was born. If any of her sons have come here, it would be to help. And hopefully bring warriors with them. In any case, let's plan our mission for one week from today. In the meantime, we continue to train and come up with specific task training and simulated tactical situations."

JAM said, "That forested area down below this fortress would work well."

"Yeah, and during that time, hopefully more men will arrive here to help,"

Pretty Boy added.

Hilda's blood chilled at the thought. Everything was changing here at The Sanctuary, spiraling out of control. Even if these men… these SEALs… were the only ones to ever come here, The Sanctuary was never going to be the same.

"I'll make a computer-like grid of the various sites and terrains allocating our resources where best needed," Geek said. "JAM gave me a couple of blank flyleaf pages from his Bible."

"I can work with you on that," Britta offered.

"Me, too," Pretty Boy added, to no one's surprise.

"We've got to be careful of collateral damage," Torolf emphasized. "Many of the people inside Norstead and Amberstead are there against their will."

Hilda did not understand half of what they said, but she noticed how efficiently the men worked together, almost finishing each other's thoughts. Even if she had not been told so, it was obvious they had worked together in the past. And she had to be impressed the way each man and woman was being assigned a specific role in this mission. She could not help to be impressed with Torolf's leadership, as well. How different from his usual jesting self!

In the end, the group broke apart, chattering among themselves. Britta was slapping Pretty Boy's hands away as he attempted to put an arm over her shoulders. They made an attractive pair.

"You're smiling," Torolf said. "Does that mean you're not still mad at me?"

They were the only ones left. "I am still angry with you. What were you thinking… to crawl into my bed furs?"

"I wasn't thinking."

That is no doubt the first honest thing he has said to me. "Do not do it again."

"I won't… unless you ask me to."

"Hmpfh! Do not flatter yourself. Oh, I see. You are teasing me again."

"That wasn't teasing."

"Yea, 'twas. You have no interest in me… that way."

"I don't know about that. After all, I've seen you naked."

She rolled her eyes at him. "I am not enamored of my own scrawny body. Nor are you. So give up this nonsense."

"Scrawny?" He pretended to be studying her body and pondering. "Nah. Slim, would be my description."

"Let us put an end to this unsavory discussion. I have no breasts to speak of, and everyone knows that men crave big udders."

He choked at her crudity, then grinned. "Haven't you ever heard that the best gifts come in small packages?"

"Enough!" she said, red-faced and mortified that she'd let him draw her into such a bawdy conversation.

He waggled his eyebrows at her before walking away.

Fool that she was, she refused to let him have the last word. To his back, she said, "There are parts on you that are smaller than normal, too."

Immediately,

she regretted her coarse jest.

He turned slowly. "Tsk, tsk, tsk! Now I will have to prove to you how wrong you are. You should have stopped while you were ahead, Hildy. You definitely should have stopped."

"I am not afeared of you, you… lout."

"You should be."

Hilda stared after him in shock and was even more shocked when he spun on his heel and came back to her.

"I am so sorry, Hilda. That was uncalled for. I shouldn't bait you like that.

I

shouldn't be so crude. I shouldn't have made intimate observations about your body. I shouldn't have crawled into bed with you. I honest-to-God don't know what comes over me when I'm around you." He put his hands on both of her upper arms and squeezed. "Forgive me?"

She stared at his face, no longer twitching with humor, and recognized his sincere effort to correct his mistakes with her. Numbly, she nodded.

This time, as he walked away again, he muttered the oddest thing. "I am in serious shit here."

Welcome all you roosters to the henhouse…

The next day, the select group of thirty women and five men drilled from dawn till dusk preparing for a mission that might very well kill them all.

Right now, they were jogging from the keep to the fjord and back again, over and over… an exercise that was as natural as breathing to the SEALs, but that the women considered ridiculous.

Inge said breathily, "I do not care how many muscles my thighs get. My breasts are bouncing like a ship in a storm."

"Good thing I am not nursing," Helwig joked. "Otherwise I might be churning butter here."

The guys looked at each other and rolled their eyes, knowing any words they said would be taken the wrong way.

Hilda's eyes connected with Torolf's, and he knew she was thinking about her small breasts and what he must think about their lack of jiggling.

Lord, how did I get myself in this mess? He decided the best course was to not remark at all… and to definitely not look in the region of her chest. He would never tell her, but he thought her breasts were nice just the way they were…

and, yes, dammit, he had been thinking about them way too much.

Several of the sentries came running through the woods, downstream from the fjord. "Men coming, men coming!"

Everyone immediately took their prearranged positions, weapons at the ready, most of them hidden from sight. Torolf and JAM, Hilda, and Britta waited in the open, though, figuring no men would be coming in such an exposed way unless they were friends… or pretending to be friends. First came Hervor, raising a hand in greeting. Following Hervor were ten men… no, fifteen… no, twenty. As they watched, more and more of them came streaming into view. They were a scruffy bunch, almost emaciated, and filthy.