Viking Ecstasy by Robin Gideon Read Free Book Online Page A

never left her, exploring the contours of her back, hips, thighs, and buttocks, never lingering long, igniting a nameless fire wherever he touched.
    Raising up on her tiptoes, Tanaka slipped her arms around Tabor, touching him cautiously, mystified by her behavior, yet helpless to stop herself. This was folly, she knew. An insanity of sorts. She tried to tell herself that Tabor was forcing her to kiss him, but when she thrust her tongue deep into his mouth to kiss him with as much intensity and yearning as he had kissed her, she knew it for the lie it was. Her breasts throbbed with desire, aching to be touched by the demanding hands that were so capable of such exquisite tenderness.
    It wasn't until Tanaka felt Tabor's hand, the fingertips trailing featherlight caresses, slip around her hip and move toward the front of her body that reality at last registered in her brain.
    "Wait! Tabor, wait!" Tanaka said in a breathy whisper, twisting until she slid out of his embrace and away from his touch. She felt warm and wet, oddly sensitized by this man's embrace. Her heart hammered, and she knew that she would not think clearly as long as she allowed Tabor to touch her, as long as she could taste the sweet, intoxicating nectar of his kisses.
    She took another step backward, colliding with a shield that leaned against the wall. Startled, she turned to Tabor, silently pleading that he understand actions she herself could neither explain nor comprehend.
    Her palms pushed at Tabor. "Please," she implored, the single word a tremulous plea that pulled at Tabor's heartstrings. Only once or twice in his life had Tabor questioned whether or not his personal code of honorable conduct was correct. But as he looked at Tanaka, he wanted to ignore the fear he saw in her eyes. Her slender, naked legs drew his gaze, and she wrenched sideways as though to protect herself from him.
    It would be so easy, he told himself. She was small and wore only the shirt he'd given her. And she was his slave, properly given to him by her previous master, Ingmar the Savage. If he raped her, no one in Hedeby would think the lesser of him for it.
    No one, that is, except himself.
    Tabor growled, "Stand aside. I need to walk."
    Two long strides brought him out of his hut, and he inhaled the cool evening air and wondered why a copper-skinned beauty from a faraway land called Egypt should captivate him so thoroughly. He thought, too, of "visiting" one of the women he knew. There were several in Hedeby —women who would take him into their homes, their arms, their bodies, at a moment's notice, never complaining of how long he had been gone, only happy that he had returned to them. Though he always brought gifts, they were happy just to have Tabor to themselves for an hour or two —or perhaps an entire evening.
    But, somehow, the thought of satisfying his lusts with one of them no longer appealed to Tabor. As he looked up at the moon glowing pale in the dark sky, he cursed Tanaka because she had bewitched him and no other women could spark the fire of want within him.

Chapter 5

    I ngmar was restless, and not even the young woman slave beside him that he'd just purchased could take away his sense of foreboding. It wasn't so much concern for his brother's safety that stirred a sour brew in the pit of his belly but knowledge of what would happen if Hugh had failed in his attack on Tabor's men. Since nightfall made sailing or even rowing through the fjords to Hedeby virtually impossible, Ingmar knew that there was nothing to do but wait until morning to find out if his plan to divide and destroy Tabor and his Viking warriors had proven successful.
    If Hugh had failed, if word of the unprovoked attack should reach Tabor's ears . . .
    The thought sent a shudder through Ingmar. He well knew the tales of what happened to the enemies of Tabor, particularly to anyone foolish enough to hurt one of his Vikings. Tabor's wrath was legendary, and it was something that Ingmar had no