Surrender to the Highlander(Terri Brisbin)(38)

       
           



       

"Your pardon," she began to say as she regained her balance and stepped back. "I was rushing and not looking."

Keeping her face tilted down, for she really did not want to answer  questions about why she was leaving Rurik's chambers, she pulled from  the man's grasp. "My thanks for your help, sir."

"'Twas my pleasure, my sweet," he answered.

At first she knew he must think her a harlot visiting Rurik, but the  voice was too familiar. She did not dare to stop as she tried to  remember which of the men in their company of travelers had that tone.  'Twas not Donald, for his voice tended to go high, and Leathen's was  deeper than this one. Sven and Magnus had the right accents, but 'twas  neither of them.

Margriet reached the other side of the chamber when she realized the  truth. Glancing back, she caught sight of the man, still standing where  she'd left him. The distance was large and the candles threw only a dim  light, but she could see his face.

His beard was gone now and his hair was longer, but it made no  difference. Margriet was certain of his identity. For some reason she  could not define, instead of running to him, she ran away.

Hoping he had not seen her face, she made it to her father's chambers,  checking several times to reassure herself that he did not follow her.  When she reached her bed, she climbed into it without undressing and  pulled the blankets up to cover her. Her stomach heaved and she thought  she would be ill, but she lay still and tried to calm herself.

Finn was here! He'd not lied; he was here in Kirkvaw waiting for her arrival. Did he recognize her?

Although in some ways this comforted her, in more ways it unnerved her,  for now her father would find out the truth and her fate would be  sealed. Judgment day was here for her and after all of her hoping and  praying, she had no idea of what would happen.



He'd been truly surprised by her, running down the stairs that led to  his half brother's chambers. Thorfinn had been watching her since she  arrived earlier this day, but did not want to expose her yet. He needed  to make certain that Rurik had a good taste of his "new life" before  Thorfinn ripped it from his hands and sent him back to where he  belonged. For now, he watched as she staggered away from him and he  could tell she was not certain of his identity yet.

Aye, he'd changed his appearance somewhat, shaving the beard he wore  when he met and ruined her, and letting his hair grow back to the length  he preferred, but still, he would think she would recognize the first  man she let into her body. Especially when she swore her undying love  for him as he pushed into her, pummeling her virtue and her honor with  one thrust.

She was just as much a whore as the rest of them, swiving so many that  she remembered none. He suspected that she'd let Rurik have her as well,  for his spy reported that an incident had happened between them outside  of Thurso to him and he had no doubt that his half brother would take  what she offered. The fact that Rurik took her on the floor and left her  there when he finished just proved that they both deserved each other.

Though he himself had been her first, she would be fit for no one else  when he finished with her, or mayhap he would share her with many, he  had not decided yet. The bastard she carried in her belly, for he felt  the hardness there when their bodies collided, was of no consequence to  him and would more than likely not survive his plans for her. It worried  him not, for in that he was better than his father before him who  indiscriminately spread his seed, allowing his whore to bring forth his  bastard. Thorfinn would not let that happen.

He heard the steps of someone approaching and waited for Rurik to find  him there. How touching! He followed her, probably panting after her and  wanting more.

"Brother," he said in greeting, though the very word burned his mouth  with its insult. "Was that Gunnar's daughter I just saw?" Rurik  hesitated in his answer, so he urged him on. "Sigurd pointed her out to  me when she arrived earlier."

"Aye, it was."

He raised his brow and demanded an answer with just that simple gesture … and he got it.

"We needed to talk."

"Ah, talking with Gunnar's daughter," he said, with all the sincerity he  could muster. "The two of you must have much to talk about." He paused  just long enough and then added, "You both being newly arrived and  strangers to most here, of course."                       
       
           



       

Rurik nodded at his words and, with a curt farewell, he climbed back up  the steps to his chambers, his pursuit of the slut interrupted for now.

So when questioned about this, he could truthfully say that he saw  Margriet coming from Rurik's chambers in the middle of the night and  Rurik, man of honor that he was, would have to corroborate his words … and  damn them both. Thorfinn laughed to himself at the ease with which some  were led to slaughter.

One of Rurik's biggest problems was that he needed to learn that there  was only one use for a woman's mouth … and it was not talking. 'Twas a  lesson those who served him knew well, as would Margriet in due time.





Chapter Nineteen





Five days had passed since Margriet came to his chambers and he'd not  seen her since. He followed her to deny her claim about them, but when  he found Thorfinn returning to his own chambers, he decided against it.  Torn between finally accepting that there could be nothing between them  and begging for her to accept the love he had for her, he took her  disappearance as her answer.

Now he'd traveled with his father and Thorfinn to their outlying  properties near Birsay and learned more about their interests in and  ownership of several businesses in Kirkvaw. Their fishing boats made up  half of those who fished the waters off the main islands here and their  grain counted as more than one third of all grain leaving for Scotland  and Norway. Erengisl would remain a very wealthy man on just his income  here alone.

Erengisl also introduced him to one of Lady Agnes's kin who was also kin  to Denmark's king. Lady Ingeborg was lovely and demure and respectful  and wealthy and of royal blood-everything that Margriet was not-and he  found himself hoping she would wink at him or question something he said  or refuse his request, anything but comply with unceasing politeness.  After spending a few hours in her company, Rurik knew she would never do  anything unseemly, such as disguise herself as a nun or purposely fall  into a river because she was too hot. Or follow him when he was in  anger's grasp.

But she would, after all the negotiations were finalized, become his  wife and mother to his children. When he thought of it in that way, his  life stretched out before him with every possibility of him being bored  to death by her, for Ingeborg would be the perfect wife for Erengisl's  son.

Over the next days, Rurik was invited to the homes of a few of the more  important merchants and each tried to impress him with their wealth and  generosity, gifting him with horses, silver and even a few servants. The  most surprising gift was presented one night when he stayed with the  merchant who ran two market towns for his father and was in charge of  importing cattle and other livestock to the islands.

He would have expected to receive several heads of cattle or some newly  butchered pigs or goats, but instead Rurik opened the door to his room  just before dawn to find the man's daughter there, naked but for the  ribbons and jewels in her hair. At first he thought her lost or confused  or mayhap even drunk, but when he looked out into the corridor, both  the merchant and his wife stood waiting expectantly for him to accept  her.

Once he thanked them and refused their gift, though not their good  wishes, he realized the lesson in it-some would do anything to win the  favor of Erengisl and his sons. Even giving their daughters to him for  bedplay.

He had never had a problem finding a woman when he had the need or  desire when he lived in Scotland, but his change in circumstances  brought them out in droves to his door, the corridor outside his door  and even into his bed when one enterprising young woman bribed a servant  to allow her in. The servant and the woman were dismissed.

He found himself out of sorts with no desire to bed those he initially  found appealing. Each time he kissed them or touched them, he found  himself comparing them to Margriet and her reactions to his kiss and his  touch. Desire fled then and he slept alone.

By far, the most bizarre occurrence happened in Thorfinn's chambers when  he answered his brother's invitation for the noon meal and instead was  met by a serving girl barely ten-and-five who began to undress him while  he waited for Thorfinn's return. When he stopped her from removing his  tunic and breeches, she tried to touch him through them. Finally, he  held her apart from him and she dropped to the floor, begging him to let  her pleasure him or to kill her for she did not want to face her master  if he found she disobeyed his orders.