Page 11 of The Shipwreck
It had been a long time since she’d been kissed by a man.And she’d never been kissed so tenderly.
Though she’d tried to deny it, rape had left her damaged.The loss of power, the helplessness had cut her deeply.For a long while afterwards, she hadn’t been able to endure a man’s glance, much less his touch.She’d wanted to crawl away in defeat, to hide in shame and lick her wounds.
But she knew that would have meant her rapist had won and that she’d bear those scars the rest of her life.So instead, she’d decided to deal with the trauma the same way she handled falling off a horse or being knocked down in a swordfight.
She’d faced her fears, diving headfirst back into the fray.Though she wasn’t particularly proud of her rash behavior now, she’d begun bedding men indiscriminately, forcing them to submit to her will, enjoying a heady triumph when they surrendered beneath her.Eventually, she’d overcome her feelings of powerlessness and vulnerability.
It appalled her now to think of the men she’d seduced and cast away.On the other hand, when she’d finally realized that she was pregnant, not one of them had come forward to claim the babe and salvage her honor.
Of course, after she gave birth to a fair-haired girl who was obviously the offspring of a Viking, she was shunned by all.She’d had to face the hard truth—she’d never find a man willing to play father to a Viking’s child and husband to a woman stripped of her title, her land, and her wealth.
She’d shut off that part of her that longed for family, friends, and love, hidden it away behind the locked door to her heart.
But that kiss…that kiss had turned the key in the door and stirred feelings in her she’d forgotten—feelings of tenderness, affection, and hope.And it was a long while before her restless emotions let her drift off to sleep.
Brandr wandered all night in the land between waking and sleeping.He wasn’t sure what was real and what he dreamed.But now morning had arrived, and his body couldn’t have felt more substantial to him.His tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth.His eyes were gummed shut.His hands were numb.
She’d drugged him.He remembered that much.The mead she’d given him had been laced with something that had sent him into a hallucination-riddled oblivion.
If only it had left him there…
Sensing someone near, he cracked open one eyelid.In the dim light, he could see the little blonde girl crouched beside him with an empty chamberpot, studying his face.
“Kimmie!”her mother shouted, startling the child.“Get away from him!”
The little girl did as she was told, dropping the chamberpot beside him with a loud clank.Then she crossed her arms importantly over her chest and said something she’d probably heard before from her mother.“If you can’t take good care of your pets, you can’t keep them.”
“He’s not a—,” she said, snagging the little girl’s hand to drag her back.“I told you, Kimmie, he’s a bad man.”
Brandr opened both eyes now.Even mussed from slumber, the woman was lovely.Tendrils of hair had pulled loose from her braid and framed her face like seaweed draped artfully on a sandy shore.Beneath her kirtle, her rumpled white underdress was untied at the throat, revealing the subtle curve of her bosom.And her sleep-swollen lips…
He frowned.A strange memory tugged at his brain.Had he…kissed the woman?
Her fleeting glance and the guilt in her eyes confirmed his suspicion.Hehadkissed her.But when?And why?
Her gaze drifted and settled upon his lap, and suddenly he wondered if he’d done more than just kiss her.Had he taken liberties with her that he couldn’t recall?
“Kimbery,” she said, continuing to stare with discomfiting boldness, “bring Mama her dagger.”
His breath caught.Her dagger?What did she mean to do?Surely she wouldn’t…cut anything off of him in front of her daughter.Would she?He tried to ask her what she intended, but his mouth was too dry to speak.
Once she had the dagger in her hand, she approached him, and he drew his legs back defensively.
“Listen,” she confided softly so her daughter wouldn’t hear.“I’m going to cut your wrists free.But if you try anything, I swear I’ll plunge this dagger into your throat.”
He looked down at his hands, resting on his lap.No wonder he couldn’t feel them.The ropes were cutting into his swollen wrists, and the fingers of his left hand were blue.
“Do you understand?”she said, narrowing flinty eyes at him.
He nodded.
She sliced him free, and he bit back a groan of pain as sensation suddenly stabbed into his fingers like a thousand agonizing needles.He felt the blood drain from his face as he fought to stay conscious.
“Kimmie, bring me a cup of water, please.”
The little girl hurried to comply.Why the woman was showing him mercy, he didn’t know.Perhaps it was only that she didn’t want his death on her conscience.But he gladly accepted the water as she tipped the cup back for him, coughing as he drank too swiftly.
Whether she would have actually slit his throat in front of the little girl, he didn’t know, but he wasn’t about to put her to the test.
