Foretold Read online

“I wanted to get home.”

  “What about the witch?” Serle inquired.

  “Her name is Dara. Either of you call her a witch again, I will personally cleave the tongue from your mouth!”

  He watched them clamp their lips together and nod, understanding.

  “Good.”

  Park looked down to the sand. “Where is your home, Lothar?”

  “North.”

  “How long has it been?” Serle asked.

  “Since early spring.”

  “What about the...” Park began. “I mean Dara? Does she know you were leaving?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “None of your affair.”

  “It’s just that I’ve seen the way you look at each other, and I would swear you two were hand-fasted,” Park said.

  “Go back to your King,” Lothar ordered.

  He waited until they were out of sight, then he turned and walked the four miles to the circle of stones. He knew Dara would be there. She told him there would be a celebration of Alban Arthuan that night.

  Back home, he knew his people would also be gathering, to celebrate the Yule season, to welcome the return of the sun when the nights would finally turn into longer days.

  Tonight, from a distance, he’d finally view Dara and her Sisters of the Stone Circle perform one of their rituals, and she would never know he was there.

  Chapter 20

  Walking towards the stone circle in the waxing crescent moonlight, Lothar turned the events from the harbor in his mind. Remembering what Park had said about being hand-fasted was the same thing the knee-bender had asked.

  Lothar wished he and Dara were married.

  He’d denied his own body’s response to her, kept from making love with her because he knew he would have to leave. The winter chill didn’t cool any thoughts of Dara’s warm body next to him, either.

  Like his family crest depicting Fenris, the wolf, he was a skilled hunter, living and caring for his family. He also believed in another wolf characteristic: Once mated, he mated for life. No other would take her place, even after death.

  Lothar recalled his confrontation with Ivarr tonight, and what Ivarr said about meeting Dara sometime. He felt like an idiot. He should have realized he’d placed Dara in danger on the day he met her. Now that Ivarr knew Lothar cared enough for Dara to give up one of his cuffs, Ivarr would use her against him. Lothar knew he wouldn’t be able to thwart the attack now. He needed to stay here, to protect her when his Norse brethren came. She was worth any price he’d have to pay to be with her and keep her safe. He’s need to tell her the truth about where he was from.

  A welcoming relief came over him. He could stay. He could be with her. He had asked her before to be part of his journey, and she hadn’t yet answered. Now, with the weight of having to leave her behind lifted from him, they could begin their life here together. In his excitement to tell her, he started to run.

  Suddenly, he tripped over a gnarled tree root, twisting his ankle. “Loki be damned!” he yelled. Gritting his teeth, he held his ankle until the pain became tolerable, stood up and limped to the edge of the forest. The stone circle was ahead.

  The horizon brightened as it neared the hour before dawn. Lothar hobbled forward to investigate the firelight in the distance.

  From the safety of the trees, he quietly observed the ceremony at the circle of stones near a mound. A fire that blazed in the center of the circle illuminated the surrounding stones. He heard a low humming noise originate from the group of ten robed figures while they walked the perimeter of the stone circle. Each person carried a small basket of food, drink, or a small animal in a cage, and set them near the fire as an offering. The humming grew louder, and the tempo faster.

  He spotted someone come out of the entrance of the mound. He recognized Dara as she pulled the hood back on her robe and joined the group. Fascinated, he continued to watch.

  She stood in front of the tallest stone of the circle, and the music and chanting stopped. She turned, placed her hands along the sides of the stone, and spoke something, but he was too far away to hear her words.

  To his surprise, Dara turned, flashing an enchanting smile in his direction, as she and the other women dropped their robes revealing their skyclad bodies of different shapes and sizes. A couple of the women picked up the drums from the center of the circle and began a rhythmic beat that resonated through the area as the rest of the women danced around the fire. He heard the low hum begin again.

  His erection pressed against the confines of his leggings, but he wouldn’t turn away to cool his arousal. He gazed intently at Dara, his Valkyrie, while the shadows from the flames swept across her body. She bowed towards him, then joined the others in their dance.

  When the fire died down, Dara stopped next to the large stone. She raised her hands as the first rays of sunlight reflected off the bracelets, glowing white against her skin.

  His eyebrows rose in amazement when he saw that her silver bracelets with the intricate interlinked three-spiral pattern matched the design carved into the stone behind her.

  He watched her turn, entering the mound once more. The other women gathered the offerings and followed her.

  Lothar waited in silence under the cover of trees, as the sunlight beamed across the rest of the ceremonial area. The women finally came back out, reclaimed their robes, and departed.

  He watched as Dara draped her robe over her body, walked over to the large stone, stared in his direction just as she had during the ceremony, and waited.

  “You can come out now,” Dara yelled.

  He limped from his hiding place, scanning around.

  “We’re alone,” she called out, while she stepped outside the circle.

  “You saw me during your... ” Lothar hesitated remembering how her body moved while she danced in the firelight.

  “Celebration of the Winter Solstice and the rebirth of the sun,” she said while she gathered her belongings. “Yes, I knew you were there.”

  He pulled down on the front edge of his tunic. “Explain the belief for the circle.”

  “Well, it may be difficult to understand.”

  “Tell me anyway.”

  “Very well, then,” she began. “There is power that has no beginning and no end, like a circle. We pray upon the power of that circle to strengthen us in mind, spirit, and body.”

  He gazed at her face, but his body remembered the vision of her skyclad body’s rhythmical movements to the beating drum. “Tell me about the power you feel.”

  “The power is different with each person. That is what makes it difficult to understand.”

  “Try.”

  “You have a power within yourself,” she continued. “It can only be released and used after you understand it. Until then, you’ll be only an innocent.” Dara turned and walked away from him.

  Lothar stood for a moment and gazed at the stones. He remembered hearing a hum echoing from the area of the stones during the ceremony, but now the area was cold and silent. He hesitantly reached to touch a stone.

  “Coming?” she inquired.

  He withdrew his hand before it touched the stone, and limped back to the hut with her.

  Chapter 21

  During the walk home, Dara recalled the moment she sensed Lothar’s arrival at the circle during the celebration of the return of longer days. She felt his gaze caress her in the fire’s light. Tonight, she needed his hands to caress her body.

  She opened the door to her hut. Huddling in her cloak, Dara waited for Lothar to follow her inside and close the door. Shivering, she watched him walk over and stir the embers of the cook fire. He placed kindling on the embers and blew until the small glowing coal caught the new fuel and was set for the night. Dara wanted him to stir the fire within her.

  Rubbing his hands together, Lothar walked to where she stood. “Dara, about last night, I...,” he started.

  “Shh,” she said, and placing her finger on his lips, she tr
aced the outline with slow brush strokes. “I need you tonight, Lothar. I want to feel your warmth inside me.” She removed her finger, took a step back, unpinning her cloak and let it drop to her feet. She felt her nipples rise in the cool air of her hut. She smiled when she heard him quickly inhale. Stepping forward, she placed her fingers on his hands, wrapping them with his, then slowly guided his hands upwards and placed them over her breasts. Marveling at the warmth of his hands, her body arching towards him, her smile deepened as she heard him groan.

  “Dara, wait, I need to tell you.”

  Dara silenced him with a kiss. She removed her hands from his, smiling as his hands remained and roamed under the curve of her breasts, before moving upwards to tease her swollen nipples with his thumbs.

  “Norse,” he said. “I am what you call a Norseman.”

  A chill shot through Dara, and she quickly stepped back and gaped back at him. “Am I to become your prisoner? Are you here to raid us?” Dara turned from Lothar and quickly picked up her cloak, wrapping the material around her shoulders and body.

  “No, I would never harm you,” he declared.

  Dara didn’t hear him step behind her. She inhaled sharply when she felt his hands over her upper arms, gently pulling her against his body, his erection pressing along the curve of her back while he nuzzled behind her ear.

  “So is my word, so is my bond,” he whispered huskily.

  Dara shuddered, ashamed that her body betrayed her thoughts. She straightened, then turned to face him. “How can you ask me to trust you?”

  “Dara, I need you to believe that I am a trader, like my father,” he assured her. “I did not take your friend Colleen. But there is more.”

  “Go on.”

  “I was set to depart on a ship tonight,” Lothar confessed and rubbed her shoulders

  Dara blinked. “You weren’t going to tell me of your leaving?”

  “My absence would be less dangerous for you.”

  Fighting back the tears, Dara sniffed and twisted from his hold. “Then why are you still here?” she stammered.

  “I was tricked. Rolf lead me to believe that, in exchange for my working on the repairs to his ship, he’d take me along on his voyage to the mainland.”

  “And?”

  “Rolf secretly sold the ship to Ivarr, the one who stabbed me with a broken oar the stormy night before you found me. Ivarr already has the one cuff he bought from the taxman to give to my brother, and he wanted the other.”

  “To guarantee your brother would be next in line to be chieftain since he’d have both cuffs?”

  “I fear my father has already joined my mother in the afterlife.”

  “So what will your brother do?”

  “I am certain he will demand the village revert to raiding. I remember Ulin had our father tell stories about his early years, and he especially enjoyed listening to the parts about the fear quick attacks brought.”

  “What will happen now that this Ivarr left you stranded here?”

  “Ivarr knows your village location and its surroundings. Knowing my brother, he will return to raid.”

  Confusing thoughts and feelings assailed her; Dara closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. Could she trust him? Taking a deep breath, she slowly opened her eyes and searched his face. “What about you, Lothar? What do you want?”

  “Dara, ever since that first morning on the beach, I can think of no other woman I’d want to be with.” Lothar raised her chin tenderly with his finger, his thumb caressing her cheek. “Watching you dance tonight, my Valkyrie, I wanted you so much. Loki be damned for my wanting to leave.”

  From the way he gazed down to her, Dara’s body melted as warmth spread from her fingertips to her toes.

  Taking a deep breath, Lothar exhaled, dropped his hand and then stepped back. “I’ve said too much. I need to take a swim.” He turned towards the door.

  Dara felt cold after he stepped away, her stomach clenched in a knot. “Lothar, don’t go,” she pleaded, pulling his arm and turning him to her. “I want you to stay. I need you tonight, as much as you need me.” Rising on her toes, Dara placed her hand behind his neck; pulling his head down towards her lips she kissed him hungrily with enough desire to unravel the knot. She dropped the cloak from around her shoulders. “We’ll figure out the rest later.”

  Lothar placed his lips softly upon hers, taking time to explore her mouth with the tip of his tongue.

  Dara moaned as he traced his hand across her breasts. Her nipples hardened to peaks from his light caress. Biting her lip, Dara’s stomach tightened with anticipation as he stepped back from her and removed his tunic and leggings. She remembered how his manhood looked when she’d removed his leggings that first day. The sight of him now, standing in front of her, with his shaft erect, was more than she’d dreamed of.

  He slowly lowered his arm, sweeping it under her knees, lifting her off the ground. Her head cradled against his chest, her nearness freeing him to gaze at the two breasts he hungered for. Stepping over to the pallet, he eased her back, his body following atop hers.

  Kissing her again, Lothar trailed the tip of his tongue along her lips, down the left side of her neck to her left breast.

  Dara inhaled quickly, his warm hands cupping the underside of her breast and suckling the erect nipple. Lower, she marveled at the sensation of his velvety staff at her feminine curls waiting for entry. Her body was both icy cold and on fire. Desperately needing more of him, she separated her legs, arching back when his shaft touched her inner folds wet with desire. She lifted her hips and bade him to enter.

  LOTHAR EXHALED AS HE sheathed himself deeply within her. He didn’t move as he allowed her warm, silken womanhood to surround his staff, heightening his passion for her.

  He gazed into her fire-lit eyes, noticing the color change from the grassy meadow to the dark emerald of passion. He realized he could lose himself in those green depths.

  Her body began to move against him, and he withdrew his shaft slowly, until just the tip remained inside. Then he thrust forward fully as her womanhood tightened around him.

  She raised her hips as he his withdraws his shaft, only to plunge back again, filling her deeply with passion. She rocked her hips back and forth against him, her hands on his buttocks, gently guiding him to move with her, faster and faster.

  He heard her breathing change to a soft moan as he matched her trusts with his, their hips coming together only to separate slightly and meet repeatedly. Her hands kneaded his buttocks, pulling him deeper until he felt her nails dig into him as she cried out her ecstasy.

  Climaxing within her, Lothar howled loudly.

  Surprised, Dara pushed him off her, then scurried to the other side of the room.

  Lothar lay on his side, spilling the rest of his seed on the blanket they’d just shared.

  “What was that for?” she asked while clutching her cloak to her breast.

  Rising to his elbow, he gazed at her, then grinned. “I thought that’s what people did after mating”

  She stared at him. “Haven’t you made love before?”

  “No, I’ve never had the pleasure of a woman before,” he stated matter-of-factly.

  Her mouth dropped open and she just stood there, motionless. “I just assumed that... that...”

  He rose, then walked over to her. “Being a man, I was knowledgeable and practiced in the ways of satisfying a woman.”

  “Well, yes,” she said dropping her gaze, ashamed of herself and what she’d assumed. “So you were a virgin then.”

  He fixed his gaze on her. The tousled copper hair was even more alluring to him than before. The word ‘virgin’ rang in his ear. “No longer, thanks to you.”

  Her emotions were in turmoil, then a little thrill shot up her spine. She was his first, but he in turn, conquered her body with amorous pleasure. Dara slowly stepped closer. “Don’t howl, or at least not so loud next time. Someone may come to investigate. Wolves are known to roam in sheep country.”

/>   LOTHAR AWAKENED HOLDING Dara in his arms. His hair was intimately mingled with hers as she nuzzled next to him for warmth. He’d enjoy spending the morning just holding her close; but the growing sounds of Dara’s animals, impatiently waiting to be fed, drew him out of bed.

  Lothar quietly wrapped the extra blanket around his shoulders, tugged on his boots, and opened the door. Rays of sunshine peeked between the gray clouds on the horizon. Drawing the blanket ends closer, he quickly went outside.

  A short time later, Lothar returned. He spotted Dara, the bed blanket wrapped around her torso and her cloak hung over her shoulders. She’d already rekindled the cook fire. A pot hung from the hook above it.

  He shivered, removed his blanket to arrange it on the pallet, then scampered under the blanket to warm up.

  “And just what were you doing out there in nothing but your blanket?” Dara stirred the contents of the pot.

  “Feeding your hungry beasts quickly, so we can have more time to ourselves.” He shivered. “Listen, they’re quite happy now and will leave us be for a while.” Rubbing his legs with his hands, he burrowed his head in the blanket.

  The blanket was pulled back slightly, and he peered out. Dara held out a bowl and spoon in front of him. “It’s half-warm now,” she said. “Eat some, while the rest of the porridge heats up.”

  Lothar rose sideways, lounged on his elbow and reached for the bowl. Their hands touched briefly; his index finger softly stroked hers, as her hand lingered on the bowl.

  He cocked his eyebrow, noticing her fluster at his touch, then after a smirk rose to his lips; he ate a spoonful of porridge. He watched her turn back to the pot, stir the contents and scooped out and fill a bowl of porridge for herself. He scooped another spoonful of porridge from his bowl, letting the oatmeal warm him as he watched her, with seduction on his mind.

  She walked over to the table, removed her cloak, leaning over to drape it over the side. As she rose, the end of the blanket unwrapped from her body and fell to the ground. He nearly dropped his bowl as he gazed her beautiful body again.