Viking Ecstasy by Robin Gideon Read Free Book Online Page B

desire to witness firsthand.
    Pushing the disquieting thoughts from his head, Ingmar concentrated on what pleasures he would know when Hugh returned with his full fighting force intact and with fully half of Tabor's men killed. The remaining rival force would be outnumbered four or five to one, and Ingmar and his men would make short work of Tabor's warriors. Perhaps in the end, when Tabor was thoroughly vanquished, Ingmar would slaughter the tall, powerful Viking himself. He had always resented how the villagers in Hedeby, and even in Kaupang in Norway and Birka in Sweden, feared yet respected Tabor, but only feared and despised Ingmar the Savage.
    A smile curling his mouth into a hateful sneer, Ingmar promised himself that he would personally execute Tabor. He would do it publicly, at the slave auction block where so many people had seen him give Tabor the Egyptian slave. That would prove to everyone that he — Ingmar the Savage — was the ultimate Viking who ruled the lands and the seas.
    The woman beside him in the bed shifted slightly, and Ingmar glanced at her. She wasn't bad-looking, but she certainly wasn't as beautiful as Tanaka. Why had he given her to Tabor?
    Ingmar knew why. It was because her skin was dark, not pale like Scandinavian women, and he was afraid that his men would talk behind his back about it. He had pretended that her dark skin made her ugly, but now that he had given her away, he was angry with himself. Something about the Egyptian fascinated and aroused him. In all the time that she had been his captive, her spirit had not broken. Tanaka had not been defeated by her master's open contempt of her. Nor by his physical and sexual demands. Nor the humiliation he had heaped upon her. Even when he sent her to the slave auction she had held her head high, unsubdued, dressed in regal pride no rags could obscure. Perhaps that was the reason she had caught Tabor's interest.
    A new burst of anger fired to life within Ingmar's breast as he thought about Tabor and the Egyptian woman lying in bed together at that very moment. And, as it always did, anger fueled Ingmar's desire for women. He rolled over, cruelly entwining his fingers into the blonde hair of the heavy set woman at his side.
    "Wake up, wench! Wake up and be of use to me!"
    And Ingmar was upon her even before she stirred.
    ❧
    Tabor squinted to see better in the moonlight and recognized Sven's familiar stride. He saw a smaller shape to Sven's right and knew that his friend had found a woman to keep him company while he kept guard.
    "Hail!" Sven called out quietly as he approached.
    "Hail!" Tabor returned, letting his friend know in the age-old sailor's tradition that it was safe to advance.
    When ten yards separated the two men Sven motioned for the woman beside him to stop. Then, coming forward, he spoke privately with his leader. The smile on Sven's face told Tabor he thought the Egyptian woman beautiful and he considered his leader lucky to be the one who shared her bed.
    "You think too much," Tabor said, accurately guessing Sven's thoughts.
    "Out here to catch your breath? I thought you couldn't get tired out until the dawn."
    "I haven't touched her," Tabor replied, his anger aroused, though he couldn't exactly say why. He realized, too, that he had not spoken the truth, and this was particularly disturbing since Tabor never lied.
    Eager to change the subject, he asked, "You've got men watching Ingmar? When did they last report?"
    Sven would not be so easily diverted. "I'll find quarters for all the men. You'll have the hut to yourself all night long."
    "That won't be necessary." Tabor looked away and a muscle flicked in his jaw. "You know my rules. No slaves. No rape. If I should lie with her, it would not be with her consent. I will not violate my law."
    "Aye, your law . . ." Sven replied, letting the words trail off. He cocked an eyebrow to suggest that while laws should not be broken, perhaps the bending of them by the man who had made