Come Back to Me (8 page)

"Boudicae was no legend. She was real."

Boudicae. She was… ? Wait, he remembered. An ancient Briton queen who had stood against the Romans of legend, people Dragon had thought mythical until he went to Byzantium and discovered otherwise. Were he Saxon, he would know of her as the girl did.

"Well, yes, of course, there's Boudicae. But what about the Amazons?"

"The who?"

"Amazons. Mayhap I will tell you of them. What do you wish to do today?"

Caught unawares, she said what first came to her mind. "Leave."

His smile turned swiftly to a grimace. "You are honest, at least."

Of course she was honest, she who dealt with truth as others dealt with breath. She had no choice in the matter. But that he perceived such in her, saw the intrinsic honesty, surprised her. Suddenly he was closer even than he had been in the bed, touching the very essence of her.

Bluntly, she said, "You could have lain with me last night. We both know I could not have stopped you. You did not; therefore I ask you, why do you keep me here?"

"I owe you a debt for injuring you. I will see you to safety if you but allow it."

"I release you from your debt. Let me go."

There was the crux of it. She released him, he could simply walk away or let her do the same. Yet could he not. His concern for her safety was genuine. An unprotected woman, especially one who looked as she did, faced obvious risk. But something else was at work besides concern for her, something about her that drew him despite the reckless complication she presented in his life just then.

As a reasonable man, he could not be swayed by the undeniable attraction he felt for her. How fortunate then that there was also the matter of her safety. He seized hard hold of it and refused to let go.

"Go where?" he challenged. "To your brother, wherever he may be? How do you propose to get there safely? For that matter, how do you even plan to feed yourself?
You have no means of hunting food, and if you have coin to pay for it or anything else, you have it well concealed."

When she did not respond but only looked at him, he pressed harder. "You almost died yesterday. Are you so anxious to depart this life that you would go on alone, taking such risk when there is no need?"

"There is need. I cannot stay here."

"Tell me who you are and I will see you forthwith to safety."

She worried the grass with her toes but faced him squarely. "It must be obvious to you that if I could do that, I would have done it yesterday."

Dragon nodded. He understood full well that she could not trust him. He was a stranger and a warrior, but that was not the sole cause of her distrust. She also harbored a secret that he suspected would drive her to conceal her identity from anyone.

"All right then," he said. "I offer a bargain. Stay here a few days. I promise no harm will come to you, and if at that time you still will not tell me who you are, I will take you wherever you wish and ask no further questions."

Truth.

The tight coil of tension present within her since she had first awakened began to ease a little. He meant what he said. For whatever reason, he truly did want to help her. Heaven knew, she needed help aplenty. Her situation was terrifying, her prospects grim. Without help, she might never reach the coast, much less take ship for Normandy.

Yet she hesitated for right alongside the recognition of her need was need of another sort. She who had never taken any notice of men except to avoid them could scarcely take her eyes from him. She who had thought the strongest emotion she was capable of feeling was fear had just begun to discover the power of desire.

He tempted her, this man of gentleness and truth, tempted her as she had never before been tempted in her life. Indeed, it was a new world of temptation he presented such as she had not known could exist. If he had been merely handsome, even devastatingly so as he was, she might have managed better. It was the combination of his sheer physical beauty and the beauty of his nature that undid her.

Or threatened to, at least. She tried to imagine herself undone but, lacking any such experience, failed. She would be all right then… most likely… and besides, what choice did she really have? A few days in his company, protected and cared for, her secret still locked safe within her, and then his help to accomplish what she would be hard-pressed to do alone. What else could she possibly say but…

"A bargain then." She held out her hand, slim, summer tanned, her palms callused. He gave his own, swallowing hers with gentle care. Touching, they stood and stared at each some little time before remembering themselves. Their hands parted, they each took a cautious step back. Dragon cleared his throat.

"I ask again, what would you like to do today?"

Something well and thoroughly distracting so that she did not have to drag her gaze from him continually. A sudden, happy thought occurred to her. "There are two wonderful horses here."

"You are not well enough to ride." He spoke so quickly and looked so wary that Rycca could not help but wonder why.

"Are they your horses?" she asked.

Reluctantly, he nodded. "They are."

"I have never seen more magnificent steeds. You must be very proud of them."

"They are well enough, I suppose. You will do better with a gentle walk."

"I will not! I am fully recovered. If you are concerned
I might damage them in some way, I will assure you that I ride well. Please do not think me immodest for saying so, but I love horses and they seem to know that."

He continued to look at her skeptically. "You get along with them?"

"Oh, yes! Truly, if you will only trust me, I promise I will do no harm."

Dark brows rose above topaz eyes. "Trust? I thought that singularly lacking between us."

He had her there, Rycca thought glumly. Now he would throw her lack of trust in him back in her face and that would be that. No chance to ride like the wind on a creature almost as beautiful and compelling as its master.

"All right."

What was that he'd said? "All right?"

Dragon nodded. He did not look happy about the prospect but seemed resigned to it. "Trust has to start somewhere. I will trust you with my horses.
One
of them, at any rate, for be assured I will be on the other and right beside you. Do not even consider going off on your own—"

"I would never!" Actually, she had, but rejected any such notion as foolhardy. He didn't have to know that.

He had agreed. He was actually going to let her ride one of those glorious, thrilling steeds. For just a moment, giddy excitement threatened to overwhelm her. She came
that
close to flinging herself at him in burbling thanks. Praise be to heaven, she caught herself in time, but the nearness of her escape made her heart hammer. Not his nearness, that had nothing to do with it at all.

Quickly, before he could change his mind, Rycca turned toward the stable. Over her shoulder, she called, "I'll saddle yours, too. You don't have to do a thing."

Joy. The most fascinating woman he could remember meeting had kicked him in the balls, refused to tell him even her name, and loved those slobbering, four-footed dolts forever poking about for apples and wanting their manes combed. What were the gods about? Was this all some plot by Loki to resign him to his fate, mayhap even make him grateful for it? The god of mischief was capable of doing that and worse. Mayhap he would be well advised to find himself a plump goat and sacrifice it to the prank-prone deity. At the very least, it couldn't hurt.

Resigned, he trudged after the girl, arriving in time to help her hoist the heavy saddles into place. She gave him a smile of such sheer delight as to rock him back on his heels. Barely had he recovered from that than she was leading the horses out.

"What are their names?" she called.

Dragon thought fast. Both horses had Norse names but he was disinclined to tell her that. She believed him to be Saxon, as why should she not since he spoke Saxon as well as she did. Let her go on believing that there was at least that much bond between them.

"Their names are… Romulus and Remus."

"Strange names. How came you to think of them?"

"Those two were brothers and supposedly the founders of Rome."

Listening, she handed one set of reins to Dragon and, before he could so much as blink, lightly sprang onto the back of the other horse. The horse was taller than the girl herself. For her to mount him without assistance suggested both strength and skill. From her perch, she grinned at his bemusement and asked, "Which one is this?"

"Romulus… that's who he is." Determined not to be outdone, and by a girl no less, Dragon mounted quickly. The newly dubbed Remus shied a little, cursed beast that he was, but he settled down quickly enough.

"I have heard of Rome," she said, "but know little of it. Do you know more?"

"Somewhat. What would you like to know?"

"Anything… everything. Whatever you would tell." Skald-souled as he was, Dragon could not resist.

Would that all audiences were so uncritical and so eager.

"LONG YEARS AGO," DRAGON BEGAN, "MORE years than men know, two infant brothers were abandoned near where a great river runs. They were left to die there by the jealousy of their great-uncle who had usurped their grandfather's throne. Fortunately, they were found by a she-wolf and a woodpecker, who suckled and fed them until a herdsman discovered the boys and took them into his own home to be reared. When they came to manhood, they banded together with other youths, overthrew their treacherous great-uncle, and restored their grandfather to his throne. However, their adventures had only begun. In time…" So they went, riding through the summer forest beside the silver river while Dragon spun images of fierce struggle, betrayal, death, and glory. Rycca forgot her wish to gallop like the wind. Never had she heard such a tale so vividly told. His voice flowed over her like silken rain, beguiling, entrancing, making her forget all else.

"And so," Dragon concluded at length, "having killed his own brother and conquered the Sabine people, Romulus ruled for a time as king of Rome. But one day a mysterious storm descended upon the land. It came not as storms do, with at least some warning, but suddenly and it turned day into night. Wild lightning rent the sky, and the seven hills of the city shuddered from the force of the thunder. A strange, whirling vortex of wind danced upon the ground, right up the steps of the palace and into the building itself. There it seized up Romulus and carried him away. He was never seen again."