A Storm of Pleasure (17 page)

T
he next days aboard ship traveling south were not the hardship that the first ones had been. Once Gavin had consented to accompany her to the city of the Scottish king, everything changed.

The small chamber where Gavin had been held prisoner was cleaned and a pallet and some other furnishings returned to it. Though they both spent much time on the upper deck as they sailed the miles of open sea, the chamber became their hideaway from the world…and their future it seemed. They filled their nights with passion and Katla was surprised by his unbridled need for her. Sometimes she would catch a glimpse of terror in his gaze, but joining with him seemed to banish it.

Now, a week later, Katla blushed at his latest suggestion and then agreed as she always did. The bargain had faded away, replaced by his honest desire for her…and by something else that grew with each passing day and each long conversation between them.

The day when he’d revealed his dangerous thoughts about having her tied up as he’d been and taking her from behind had ended with that exact scenario between them. Instead of tying her hands behind her back, he’d tied them in front of her and then knotted that rope around the beam above that supported the upper deck. He’d peeled off her clothes, piece by piece, until she stood there naked and wanting. Kneeling between her legs, he licked and suckled until she begged for release.

Instead of guiding her leg around his waist as he usually did when they coupled standing up, he walked around behind her and played with her from there. With hands between her legs, he made her wet and then spread that moisture over her cleft until he could slide his cock along it easily. He pressed on the small bud between her legs, rubbing it, stroking it, and then he eased himself between the globes of her bottom and into the puckered opening there.

He moved slowly at first, waiting for her body to adjust to such an invasion. When he was seated deep, he pulled the rope free and bent her forward to give himself better access and entry.

Katla could not believe the intensity of it. With his cock deep in one opening and his fingers teasing the other, it took but a few deep strokes to bring her release. He held onto her hips then, thrusting deeper still into that tight channel, not slowing because of her release, but relentlessly filling her over and over until she peaked again…Then he spilled his seed.

He guided her to her knees and held her close until their bodies calmed. Then he eased out of her and soothed the opening with his fingers. She’d had no idea that a man and woman could join in such a manner.

But he was teaching her new pleasures all the time. He waited now for her to initiate things with a touch or a kiss, and then he plowed her deeply and well in a variety of positions that she’d never dreamed of. He did not force her to do anything she did not wish. Gavin let her be the first to indicate willingness.

Even now, he smiled at her surprise and then waited for her to become accustomed to the idea of mutual pleasuring each other in a different way. Her blood heated and her skin tingled as he described in a low, tempting tone how they could accomplish such an act. By the time his words stopped, she lay panting and awaiting the touch of his mouth and the caress of his hands where she ached most.

This time the scandalous suggestion involved him suckling between her legs while she suckled his cock. Uncertain of how it could be accomplished, she allowed him to guide her to it. Within a short but completely pleasurable time Katla lay replete in his arms.

Then the other sensation happened again.

A wave of tremors hit her, not like the ones during bedplay when her body shuddered in release. These tremors were unpleasant and pulled her from the lethargic aftermath of pleasure, making her restless, nervous. When she glanced over at Gavin, she knew he was feeling them, too.

“Gavin?” She turned on her side to find him pale. “What is it?” she asked.

“The noise,” was all he could say.

She held him close, stroking his arm and hoping her nearness would help. Gavin pressed his head against her breasts and seemed to breathe in time with the beating of her heart. It soothed him somehow and he soon fell asleep.

The closer they got to Dunfermline, the more often those tremors occurred, and Katla realized that somehow she was bound to what he felt. And he was being battered with each mile they journeyed closer to the Scottish city and Kali’s destiny.

Godrod left the ship as soon as they docked, but Gavin remained below deck until they could contact Harald and arrangements could be made for their stay. The firth and the ports along it bustled with merchant ships and every other kind as befitted the area where the royal palace and the abbey favored by the previous queen both stood. Across the firth, another city grew on the top of an old mountain, though no one believed it would ever rival the prestige of Dunfermline.

Finally word came from Harald that lodgings had been secured for them near the palace, and they traveled there on horseback with a wagon carrying their clothing. They were taken to their chambers when they arrived, and Harald warned them to remain within, drawing no attention to themselves or to Gavin’s reputation or powers. Kali was being held somewhere within the grounds of the monastery, but he was not allowed visitors.

Days passed and Katla spent most of her time with Gavin. Though they passed many hours in pleasurable bedplay, they also talked about their lives and about those of the people she’d met in Durness. As the moon waxed, Gavin became noticeably more fitful in his sleep and tense when awake.

Then, finally, the king arrived back in Dunfermline and the day of the full moon approached. Soon no amount of physical release eased the tension within either of them and for the first time, Katla feared the worst.

Gavin paced the confines of the chamber, bigger than the one in Caithness but much smaller than his room in Birsay. The days grew shorter as autumn approached, but each night the moon’s light grew brighter as it moved closer to full. He felt the changes more than he had at any time since Katla had entered his life. Even she could not lessen the chaos and pain created by so many people so close by.

Not that she did not try. He smiled thinking on her enthusiasm as they shared a bed since they’d left Caithness.

They often passed the time playing boardgames he’d learned at the earl’s court. They talked for endless hours, especially when the chaos threatened him and his head ached with it. If he thought on the sounds of her body at those times, the pain did ease, but it seemed to return quicker than ever before.

He learned much about her during those quiet times. How her keen mind worked to solve problems. How deeply she felt about her family. How fragile she was in spite of the appearance of strength she presented. It was this last realization that led him once more to his friend Harald, who had made himself scarce during this time. They met the day before the moon would reach its fullness because Gavin wanted arrangements to be made for Katla’s safety in case he did not survive the ritual or Kali was found guilty.

When Gavin turned into the small walkway that led to the monastery’s chapel, Harald stood waiting for him. They walked together in silence for a few minutes before either one was ready to discuss the terrible possibilities ahead for Katla’s brother.

“You have enough men for this, Harald?” he asked after Harald explained his plan. “The king’s steward will not be suspicious of the number?”

Harald’s decision to have several men ready to spirit Katla out of the chamber after the ritual seemed sound, as long as they were not obvious. Harald pointed to places on a crude drawing of the chamber where the ritual would occur.

“As long as none approach Kali, there will be no objections. The king’s men understand that there must be witnesses to whatever is said.”

Gavin waited until several monks walked past them before continuing with his questions. “The journey to Orkney?”

“You need not know the details, Gavin. She will be safe,” Harald said. “What will you do?”

“Haakon has arrived and will see to me after the ritual. Once I can travel, or before that if things go badly, he will make certain I get back to Durness.”

The silence grew between them until finally Harald asked the question that had plagued them both.

“Do you truly believe your end is near, Gavin?”

“My heart slows with each ritual, beginning anew after a longer and longer pause. I fear that it will not beat again if that pause is too long. I believe that time will come at the next ritual.”

“Next one? At the end of the month?” his friend asked.

“Aye. The one that coincides with the anniversary of my birth. Ironic is it not, to die on the day you were born?”

Harald did not quip lightly about so serious a subject, even though death was familiar to a warrior such as he. “And there is nothing you can do? No one who knows about this power of yours?”

“Katla says she does.”

“How would she know such a thing?” Harald scoffed.

“She said Godrod has discovered knowledge about me that she will share once I speak Kali’s truth,” he explained.

“If such knowledge could be found, Magnus’s men would have uncovered it years ago. I believe she would say anything to gain your aid.” Harald stared at him and shook his head.

“You told me once that I should have said the words. Now I challenge you to do the same.”

“I cannot, Harald. If what I suspect is true, I will be dead before the month is out.”

Harald gathered up the scrap of paper with the map of the chamber on it and tucked it in a sack he wore tied to his belt. “Does she know? That you believe you will die because of the ritual? Did she ask this of you knowing it could hasten your death?”

Gavin shook his head. “I did not tell her. She knows all but that part of it. With Kali to fret and grieve over, she does not need something else drawing her attention.”

“Do you know what the worst part of this is?” Harald asked.

“Tell me,” Gavin said, not believing there could be much that was worse than their inadvertent—and sometimes deliberate—actions, which had led to her father’s death. They stopped and Gavin waited for the answer.

“The earl would not have demanded Kali’s death. We spoke before he left with the king. He was planning to exile the boy, not put him to death.”

“Do you jest, Harald?” Gavin asked. “Does Katla know?”

“Nay, but there is more.”

“Tell me now. Delay no more in this,” Gavin warned him.

“The only reason Kali faces death now is because Katla raised the matter so publicly. Once it came to the attention of the two kings, the earl could no longer handle justice in his own manner.”

Gavin lost his balance and tripped then, falling hard against the wall next to him. “How did it come to that?”

“Her uncle appealed to the king after she spoke at the ritual. He wanted them both executed, but there has been no question raised of her involvement, only Kali’s. So to appease Olaf, the king sent Kali here to face judgment.”

“Though you said my words proved Olaf trustworthy, I have no liking for a man who pursues the death of his kin in such a manner,” Gavin said.

“Aye,” Harald agreed. “And one who manages to get others to do the deed for him.”

The sound of footsteps on the other side of the wall startled them both. “Come,” Harald said. “There is much to be set in place before the ritual.”

Katla stumbled away, barely able to stand or walk. She’d gone looking for Harald with a question, and one of the servants had told her to seek him here, in the yard between the palace and the monastery. Having taken the wrong corridor, she searched but could not find them until she heard their muffled voices speaking and spotted their heads above a garden wall.

About to call out to them, she’d been stunned into silence by the words she heard.

If Kali died, it would be her fault.

Her stomach rebelled at such a thing and she fell to her knees on the ground. When the spasms ceased, she was weak and horrified at the truth.

If she’d simply lived with Harald and kept quiet, Kali would be safe.

If she’d been obedient and listened instead of believing herself always right, Kali would be exiled, but alive and not facing execution.

When she raised her head, she was so confused that she could not face anyone. It took hours to regain control before she could face either Harald or Gavin. And that night she sought oblivion when she joined with Gavin, asking him to pour out his scent so she could lose herself of the pain of this discovery. If he thought it strange that she wanted him to do the one thing that set her apart from the other women he’d had, he said nothing.

And for a few minutes that night, she forgot everything that caused such pain in her heart and allowed the pleasure he could create when he ensorcelled her body to control her.

T
he abbott of Dunfermline monastery wanted no part of what he called an “unholy thing.” He was certain the truthspeaking was an abomination and evil in the sight of God. Harald had shown his intelligence by bringing with him the abbott from the monastery on the Brough of Birsay, who declared that Gavin had held the holy relics of their church and not been burned by them—as any sinner or abomination would have been. After several hours of discussion, the king’s intervention, and a large donation, the ritual was set to be held in a private chamber of the royal palace next to the monastery’s lands.

The power had grown again, Gavin could feel the surges of it within him, and he could hear the thoughts of some in the room even without touching. He paced the chamber, feeling it heat his blood and make his heart race. He searched for Katla and found her, standing in the corner near Harald. Though he wanted to tell her everything would be fine, he feared he knew what the outcome would be. At least his friend would be there to help Katla through what would happen.

Kali stood closest to him now, next to a chair they’d placed in the front of the room. King Edgar’s witnesses stood close as well. The king would not be present, for though this matter had been brought to his attention, it was not important enough to require his royal presence. The monks offered a prayer and left, not at ease with these proceedings. The witnesses had been told of the ritual and knew what to expect, but that rarely prepared anyone who observed it for the first time.

When Gavin could no longer contain the flow of it, he walked to the seat and took his place. This time he would try to stay awake as the truthspeaking happened so that he could guide the ritual. But despite Gavin’s resolve, the last thing he remembered was the terror in Katla’s eyes as she watched him take Kali’s hand in his.

Harald had men spread throughout the chamber, but if the worst happened, there would be nothing he could do. And the tightness in his gut told him to prepare for just that. Katla trembled at his side, grasping his cloak like a child seeking comfort. In many ways she was just that—now orphaned, abandoned by her uncle, and about to lose the only other family she had.

“Harald,” she whispered, tugging on his hand, “Tell him to stop.” Her face paled and her eyes widened in desperation. “I was wrong to ask for this.”

Her admission, surprising as it was, came too late to save her brother now. If only she’d not pursued this….

“Too late,” he whispered back, shaking his head. “’Tis too late, Katla.”

The king, having been forced to this by the earl of Orkney, would dispense justice swiftly, he’d been told. Harald understood his displeasure at having his judgment questioned, but Edgar had acquiesced in anticipation of future benefits from granting the earl, his neighbor to the north, this small gesture of friendship. Assured that punishment was his to determine, the Scots king had allowed the earl’s truthsayer to be called.

Harald watched as Gavin sat in the chair provided and began to change before their eyes. If Harald watched this a hundred more times, he would never easily accept what he saw. His mind rebelled at the sight of his friend changing into someone, or something, else and then entering the mind and memories of another. There was a moment during the ritual he’d undergone when their thoughts were joined and he could hear the pain and confusion within Gavin. Once the questions began though, he could think of nothing else. And he remembered giving answers without hesitation, feeling compelled by the force of Gavin’s mind over his own. His thoughts, his mind, did the bidding of another.

As Kali would in just moments.

Katla stiffened next to him, and he took her hand in his. He wondered whether the feelings that existed between her and Gavin would be destroyed when she heard him prove her brother guilty of treason against the earl and the king. It would shock her, but he sensed a deep emotional connection between Gavin and Katla that he suspected would never be broken in life.

No matter what, he accepted that she would never be his in the way he wanted her to be. Oh, he did not doubt she would honor their agreement and return to him, but her heart had been given and would remain forever with his friend.

If what Gavin feared came to pass, Harald would take her back. In his household, as his mistress, she would be protected. And with the passing of time, she might even come to have some tender feelings for him. He could be content with that and honor his pledge to Gavin to see to her welfare when he was gone.

Gavin’s voice called out, asking who summoned the Truthsayer, and Kali answered, his voice shaking. Was it fear or guilt that caused his trembling?

“I am Kali Svenson,” he said.

“I am Kali Svenson,” Gavin repeated in the voice of someone else.

“I am Kali Svenson,” they said in one voice that was neither but both at the same time. Chills ran down Harald’s spine at the unnatural sound.

The king’s minister asked the first question about Kali’s knowledge of his father’s plotting, and he damned himself from his first word. Question after question revealed that the son was as integral to the plans as the father. Harald’s heart hurt for Katla, and when he dared to look at her, he saw her shock and horror at being confronted by the truth.

The king’s soldiers moved to surround Kali even before the questions ended, and Harald knew he must get Katla out of the chamber before they took her brother. Once the shock wore off, she would take action, and he would be hard pressed to control her or guarantee her safety. If the king’s soldiers thought her involved, her life could be forfeit as well.

Harald nodded to his men and caught Haakon’s eye, giving him the signal they’d agreed upon earlier. With one arm around her shoulders and the other placed hastily over her mouth, Harald dragged her from the chamber and down the long corridor to the steps. Running and half carrying her, he did not stop until they were out of the palace and across the yard to where the rest of his men and their horses awaited. With a nod to those already mounted, he tossed Katla onto the horse, climbed up behind her, and rode to the cottage on the outskirts of Dunfermline where he’d arranged to stay the night.

Through it all she said not a word. She stared off as though watching something in the distance. Hours later, the man who’d remained behind caught up with them and delivered the news.

Kali Svenson had been beheaded at Dunfermline Palace within minutes of the ritual’s end. Gavin had delivered the truth, and Edgar had delivered swift justice.

Harald did not tell her. The rational part of her knew it already, and he was afraid that saying the words would destroy the fragile control she had over herself. She ate nothing, said nothing, and moved not at all once he sat her in the chair in the cottage. No words he spoke to her brought any response or reply or even a glance in his direction. She resisted when he tried to move her to the bed, so he left her as she sat and covered her with several thick blankets.

The other men slept outside, but he would stay inside and see to her during the night. He’d only intended to rest on the bed, but when he opened his eyes, he discovered her gone from the cottage. Believing that she sought to relieve herself outside, he went in search of her. An hour later, after they’d searched the entire area around the cottage, Harald had to accept that she was gone…and he feared he knew where she’d gone. Without knowledge of the roads, Harald had to wait until morning to return to the palace in Dunfermline.

The next day’s search for her was unsuccessful, and Harald was faced with few choices. Finding her among the Scots would be nearly impossible. He and his men were strangers here and knew little of the area. If anyone gave them any help, it would surprise him.

The only thing he could do would be to ask the help of the Scots king, and the earl had fobidden him to do that exact thing. This incident had caused problems for Earl Magnus and his king at a time when the new treaty between the Norse and the Scots was shaky at best. Bringing more attention to Sven Rognvaldson and his family would cause trouble that neither Magnus the King nor Magnus the Earl wanted at their door.

Harald made his way back to the palace and called on Haakon to find out Gavin’s condition and whether he had any knowledge of Katla’s plans. The ever-efficient servant could tell him nothing, and the lady’s own servant had disappeared, too.

Harald had never felt so useless—the two people he most cared about were in trouble and mayhap in danger, and he could help neither of them. Not willing to give up yet, he left word with Haakon for Gavin to seek him out once he’d recovered from the ritual.

Riding back to the croft, he tried to come up with other ways to find Katla and get her safely home. They could make other decisions once she was safe.

Gavin struggled against the pain. Though his ears hurt, it was in a strange and different way from the months before, almost a freezing burn rather than one from heat. He could hear nothing—not the voices of those around him, not the usual sounds of a busy household, not questions asked or words spoken in reply. He lay on a pallet in the small chamber he’d been taken to once the ritual ended, with only Haakon attending him.

In spite of the fear and suspicion of the monks at the abbey, Gavin was treated now as an honored guest, and any request for his comfort was fulfilled with haste. For all the good it did him. Three days passed before he could even rise from the pallet, a fourth day before he could remain upright through his waking hours. Not until the fifth day did he feel as though his mind was clear enough to function.

He waited for the voices to return, wondering how he would control them without Katla nearby. He feared that Kali’s would now join the chaos of sound since their thoughts had joined for that time. For two months now, because of Katla, he could control the other thoughts that invaded his mind right after the ritual, even when his strength had been drained by the flow of power and he could do little to protect himself from the onslaught. But Gavin feared the loss of that control and only wondered how long it would take before the last shreds of it slipped out of his grasp completely.

His heart hurt with the realization that in spite of what he owed her and had promised her against his own good sense, he’d destroyed her by destroying her beloved brother. Oh, he could tell himself that he had no control over what truths he heard or whose thoughts he listened to, but he could have warned her about what he did know and what he suspected. In trying to protect her tender heart, he’d destroyed her.

And he could try to comfort himself with the fact that she had broken her promise to him and not helped him discover more about the origins of this terrible power. How she’d lied to him when she’d sworn she would share what knowledge she had with him once he’d saved her brother.

Part of him, his foolish heart most likely, always suspected she had nothing to bargain with but herself. He should have been able to tell she was lying to him, but he was content with having her in his bed, in his life and in his heart, even if it was for a short time. If it meant another day with her, he would believe whatever she told him.

When he’d regained himself just after the ritual, he’d seen Harald dragging her out, seen the stricken expression in her blue eyes as King Edgar’s men took her brother. Condemned by Gavin’s words, Kali would be executed immediately by the Scots for his involvement in his father’s plans. No mercy would be offered or shown to a traitor—other than the quick death Earl Magnus had requested.

Gavin waited for Harald to send word, needing to know she was safe. They’d come to an understanding, he and Harald, for Gavin knew it was time to set Katla free. Fear struck deep in his heart at the thought of not seeing her again, not holding her, not loving her, but she’d been a pawn too long and now deserved a chance at a life of her own. One that Harald had promised to provide for her.

And if Gavin could survive the pain and madness that would surely strike harder than ever with her gone, he would not have to fret much longer. He now believed that he would face his end on the anniversary of his birth. When the other one left him after the ritual and he had regained a sense of himself, he felt the beating of his heart slow once more. So slow, so faint that he could almost not feel it at all and, worse, for a moment, a brief bit of time, his heart had stopped.

He’d noticed it several months ago, but the pain always seemed more important and required all his attention to deal with. Now, her presence, her nearness, her passion, gave him the necessary strength to overpower the pain and hold the voices and the clamor in a stranglehold of his own making.

At least he’d regained his humanity with Katla’s help. So many things he’d ignored or left behind in his climb from obscurity to Truthsayer now seemed so much more important because Katla had brought them back into his life and given him the strength he needed to focus on life and living once more.

Farming. He’d forgotten how much enjoyment he received from working a long, hard day in the fields. Cultivating the soil and watching it become fruitful because of that work. Once Katla calmed the torment in his mind, he could spend days free of pain with enough strength to leave his seclusion and to be among people without fear of the overwhelming clamor.

People. Gavin had long given up being around others because of the pain. Because of his need to dull it with strong drink or other remedies. Because he heard voices that no one else could hear and he sometimes reacted to them without thinking.

Hope. He had lived in despair of ever having a normal life, a wife, or a family. Katla had eased his pain long enough to allow the last flicker of hope in his soul to burst into flame. In spite of his belief that his end was near, she’d given him a glimpse of what he could have had.

Now, he needed to tamp down that hope and release her to live her own life. And he would, for she’d given him new strength and courage to love her enough to let her go now and not force her to watch him die, too.

After he spoke with Harald and knew that Katla was safe with him, Gavin would return to Durness to face the ends of his days.