The pleasure was more than she could bear. Arching her neck, she instinctively pressed her b.r.e.a.s.t.s forward for more of his attentions. He gave them, and more than she had ever bargained for. Cupping her right breast from underneath, he lifted it, then leaned down and took the turgid nipple in his mouth and sucked deeply.

With a whimper, she sank down to the straw. He went with her, never taking his mouth from her breast. Over and over and over, he suckled at her breast with a rhythm that was delicious agony, alternating his sucking action with an occasional nip of his teeth or flick of his tongue.

Then he lifted his face and gave equal punishing attention to her left breast.

Tyra felt as if she were floating, floating, floating toward Valhalla... or some unknown heaven of sorts.

But in the midst of her arousal, she realized that what had started out as a kissing game on her part had turned into something altogether different. She was the one gaining all the pleasure, whereas Adam reaped no rewards.

Taking a deep breath to still her roiling arousal, she grabbed his head by handfuls of hair on each side and lifted him off her body so that she could see his face.

His eyes were glazed with pa.s.sion, his mouth wet and panting. "What?" he inquired huskily. "Do you not like what I am doing to you?"

Her instinct was to deny her feelings, but she was basically honest, and she admitted, "I love what you do to me, but... but... well, it is all one-sided."

His eyes went wide with surprise, then filled with understanding. "Ah, sweetling, did you not know? A woman's pa.s.sion is a man's greatest pleasure."

"Really?"

He nodded and began to sit up. "I'm glad you stopped me, though. I lost control."

She sat up, too, and began to adjust her gown. Disappointment rang through her like a funeral bell. He did not want her after all. "Losing control is a bad thing?"

He turned his gaze on her and smiled softly. "Nay, losing control is a good thing... in the right situation. But I do not intend to take you for the first time on the floor of a stable."

Take? Tyra did not like the sound of that. "What makes you think that you wouldtake me? Mayhap I would takeyou ."

He tossed his hands in the air. "That works equally well for me."

They both stood then and helped each other stand and whisk the wrinkles out of their garments and pick off pieces of straw.

"Do you want to bring your pet back to the castle with you?" Adam asked.

"What pet?"

"The kitten."

"Adam," she said with a long sigh, "why do I have to keep reminding you? I am a soldier. I must exhibit warlike ways. Having a kitten trailing about after me would not be warlike."

He just smiled at her, not believing a word she said.

"Besides, Vana does not allow animals indoors."

He still smiled.

As they were walking back toward the great hall, Tyra ventured a thought that had been nagging at her. "

'Tis odd, this attraction betwixt us, do you not think? I mean, I do not even like you, really." He laughed and chucked her under the chin playfully. No man had ever done that to her before... made playful gestures. But then, no man had ever sucked her b.r.e.a.s.t.s till her blood caught afire either.

"Yea, 'tis odd," he agreed. "And betimes, I do not like you all that much either."

She should have been affronted, but she was not.

"Methinks tonight happened because I had too much to drink," she suggested. "That on top of the stress of my father's illness."

"Mayhap," he said, but not with much conviction. "On the other hand, methinks tonight happened because I saw you in that wanton gown. Or because I have been chaste overlong." This also was said without much conviction.

They were sound excuses: stress, a wanton gown, an ale-head, excessive chast.i.ty... perfectly logical explanations for illogical behavior.

Neither she nor Adam believed any one of them.

"You shoulda tupped 'er when you had a chance." Alrek made that outrageous suggestion as the two of them were walking toward the king's bedchamber, having just finished their morning meal.

"Alrek!" Adam said in his most chastising tone.

"What a thing to say! Especially for a boy your age!"

"I keep tellin' you, I am not a boy. I am a man... almos'."

"What a thing for an almost-man to say, then!"

" 'Tis naught more'n everyone else was sayin' in the hall las' night when you and the Lady Tyra returned from the stables, red-faced and all in disarray. Whoo-ee! Looked like you were rollin' in the hay... leastways, tha.s.s what more'n one soldier said. But yer uncle Tykir, he said, 'Nay, the boy might have got some straw in hisbraies , but I can tell that he has not had his hay raked yet.' Tha.s.s when the Lady Alinor bopped him on the head with a ham bone. And Bolthor sez you definitely lost yer knack. What is a knack anyway? Do you want I should help you find it?"

Adam was getting an immense headache... one of those that made his head feel as if it were splitting. "Do you not have somewhere to go this morning, Alrek? Surely you have something better to do than tag along with me to a sick chamber."

"Nay, I do not. My day is free," Alrek said cheerily. "But, actually, there is a reason why I am goin' to the king's chamber. I wuz hopin' he would wake up and... and..."

It wasn't like Alrek to hesitate to speak his mind. His hesitation p.r.i.c.ked Adam's curiosity. "What is it, Alrek?"

" 'Tis time fer me to get me yearly coin from the king. Besji and Kristin and Tunni all needs new clothes. And I would really like to buy me a sword."

Asword? Whatnext?

"And mayhap a spear if I have enough left over." The boy is going to kill himself. "Well, the king has not awakened yet, and even if he did, I am not sure this is a good time to bring up the subject. He will have more important issues to deal with. Can you not approach the king's steward, or the Lady Tyra?"

Alrek shook his head. "My arrangement wuz a personal one... with the king."

Adam reached into the pouch at his belt and handed Alrek a coin. "Here. Take this."

Alrek jumped away from him. "Nay, I will not be ta-kin' charity from no one. I kin wait." With that, he

turned on his heel and ran away.

Well, is that not just wonderful? Now I've offended a ten-year-old boy... rather a ten-year-old almost-man. He smiled at his own mental correction. "What are you smiling about?" Tykir asked when he entered the king's bedchamber. "Seems to me you have naught to be happy about today... not after last night. Ha, ha, ha!"

"You know, Tykir, you have a big mouth. I heard what you said in the hall last night."

"Me? Me?" Tykir was laughing raucously. He danced away when Adam went to punch him in the arm.

"Shhhh!" Father Efrid said. "Have some decorum before the ailing king."

Adam and Tykir ducked their heads, while Rashid, Rafn, and Bolthor grinned at their discomfort.

"Has he awakened again?" Adam asked Rashid.

"He is in and out of consciousness, but never for very long. Leastways, not whilst I've been here," his

a.s.sistant said, already laying out Adam's tools and medicants on a clean, linen-draped table.

Everyone stepped back so he could examine the patient. Someone must have been in to bathe the king,

because he smelled of Drifa's pine-scented soap, and he wore clean apparel, though it was only a loose, unbelted tunic. Even his mostly gray beard had been trimmed.

"His skin color is improving," Adam remarked, more to himself than the others in the chamber. "And

Ingrith told me that she managed to get a whole bowl of beef marrow broth down his throat today. If

only he would regain consciousness for longer periods of time."

"He spoke to me a tiny bit yesterday," Rafn informed him. "He wanted to know what happened. Mostly, I did the talking, but he seemed to be aware of his surroundings. Is it really so unusual for a man to 'sleep'

so much after such an operation?"

Rafn's long-winded speech seemed odd, though Adam couldn't quite put his finger on the reason why. Perchance it was because he'd kept his eyes averted the entire time. Adam had a sneaky suspicion about the king's continued unconsciousness, but the notion was too outlandish for even this rascally king. Adam changed the linen dressing on the head wound, checked the King's eyes and mouth and ears, and listened to his heartbeat. All seemed normal... or as normal as a man with a hole in his head could be.

He stepped away from the bed and said, "I will stay with him for several hours. Mayhap he will awaken whilst I am here. I would like to see myself how he reacts." "Uh, master, didst know that folks started lining up afore dawn for your medical services?" Rashid informed him. "As I said, I will remain here several hours. This afternoon I will see some people," he said firmly. "Please, Rashid, not too many yet." There was a hidden message in his last statement... a plea for his a.s.sistant to understand that he needed to move slowly back into his medical practice... that he still suffered misgivings. Rashid nodded. No one left right away, though. He and Rashid were gathering up his supplies, setting aside those items to be destroyed and those to be boiled for another use. "Are you planning to wed Tyra?" Rafn inquired without any warning. "Huh?"Now,that is a really intelligent answer. "You overstep your bounds, Rafn." "I know you are attracted to her... do not try to deny it. And, if I overstep my bounds, 'tis with good reason. I want to marry Vana. Five years I have been waiting for her. And the only thing standing in our way is Tyra."

" 'Tis not my responsibility to pave the way for you two lovebirds."

"It may not be your responsibility, but if you intend to marry our lady, then I would appreciate knowing.

Holy Thor, man, you would be saving Tyra's sisters and many Stoneheim warriors much heartbreak if you could take her away with you."

"That doesn't say much for Tyra, does it? She has been a fine chieftain to you all, in her father's stead, and how do you all show your thanks? By making her feel less than a woman... and less than a leader.

Has anyone asked Tyra what she wants?"

There was a stunned silence in the room.

Finally Tykir noted, "You are defending the wench? Uh-oh. Sounds serious to me."

"I think I will write a saga about men who do not know what they want," Bolthor said.

"I think I will throw you in the moat," Adam replied.

"I think I would like to see you try," Bolthor countered.

"There is a famous proverb that goes like this: 'Sad is the man who searches the world over for bra.s.s

and finds gold in his own tent.' "

"What the h.e.l.l does that mean?" Adam snarled. Then, "Never mind." He turned on Rafn. "In answer to your question, I have no intention of marrying Tyra... or any other woman. I can understand perfectly how Tyra must feel, with everyone nagging at her all the time. I never wanted to return to medicine and here I am in the midst of a sickroom with ailing people lined up to who-knows-where. Picking, picking, picking at my bones. Now you want to start on me and marriage. Well, I have had more than enough. All of you, out of here and leave me in peace!"

Four men's jaws gaped open with shock at his outburst. But at least they got the message and left in stunned silence.

Once they were gone, Adam turned back to the bed. He could swear there was a smile on the old man's lips.

Chapter Ten.

"You need to flirt," Vana told her.

"For the love of a troll! You came out to the exercise field to tell me that?"

"If you want the man, you have to take some drastic actions. Flirting, that would be my solution."

"What makes you think I want the man?" Tyra was wiping sweat off her brow with her forearm. Two hours of spear throwing and she still couldn't stop thinking about the rogue who had lured her to the stables. And that stupid kitten kept following her around. She'd had to lock it in the stable finally when it kept wandering onto the exercise fields, where it would have surely been speared.

Not that she cared about the mangy little cat. Even if it was named after her.