My Lord Viking (40 page)

     
“Are you out of your mind?” she cried.

     
“This is the way we had fun.”

     
“In the fjord?”

     
He splashed water at her.
 
“Where the water is not much colder than this in the summer.
 
This is refreshing.
 
We should have taken a swim together before this,
unnasta
.”
 
He slid his hand down along her drenched sleeve.
 
“But without all these clothes.”

     
“You are deranged,” she retorted, but quivered at the thought of touching his sleek body.

     
“No, I wished only to show you that your customs are not so different from mine.
 
You will find yourself at home in my time, if you will come with me.”

     
Jumping to her feet, Linnea ran to shore.
 
She shook water from her hands before wringing her hair out onto the small stones.
 
She kicked off her shoes.
 
Bending, she poured water out of them.

     
“Are they ruined?” Nils asked.

     
“I am afraid so.”

     
“We always took our shoes off before we went into the water.”
 
His voice was as serious as a judge’s exacting a sentence on a felon.

     
“Did you really?”

     
“Yes.”
 
Kneeling in front of her, he said, “Leather does not do well in the water.
 
That is why we always oiled our boots before we went to sea.”

     
“I will remember that.”

     
He cupped her chin as he brought her mouth toward his.
 
“Remember nothing but this,
unnasta
.”

     
Linnea turned her head before he could kiss her and persuade her that he was right.
 
Her heart already was pleading with her to heed him.
 
What did it matter when she lived as long as it was with him?
 
No!
 
It was not that simple!
 
She belonged here.
 
Now.
 

     
With him...

     
Standing, she picked up her soaked shoes and went to the boulders that divided the coves.
 
She might flee him, but she could not escape her thoughts that trailed her.
 
She wanted to be with Nils.
 
She wanted to tell him that she loved him.
 
Both were impossible when he would be gone as soon as they found that accursed knife.

     
“Linnea!”

     
She was amazed when the shout came in front of her rather than from behind.
 
Looking into the next cove, she saw
Randolph
wildly waving to her.
 
She waved back.
 

     
“We have been so worried!” he called as he ran toward the rocks.
 
“I went up to the top of the cliff and you were gone.
 
I—”

     
“Look out!” Linnea cried when Scamp ran in front of him.

     
Nils roared with laughter beside her as
Randolph
did an odd double-step.
 
Randolph
’s arms windmilled.
 
It was no use.
 
He stumbled into a wave breaking onto the beach and fell.

     
“
Niles
, that is not funny!” Linnea chided, scrambling down off the rocks at the best pace she could manage.

     
“And what isn’t funny about it?”

     
She rolled her eyes and tried not to laugh.
 
He was right.
 
Randolph
’s tumble had been comical.
 

     
Nils jumped down from the rocks as her brother came running.
 
“Stay back, Martin,” he shouted.
 
“I am already wet.
 
I’ll help him as soon as I...”
 
He reached up, grasping Linnea at the waist.
 

     
“You are asking for trouble,” she murmured as he slowly, so very slowly, set her on the sand.
 
“
Randolph
is not going to like this one bit.”

     
“I hope you are right.”
 
He gave her a squeeze before walking out into the water and offering his hand.
 
“Let me help you, Tuthill.”

     
Randolph
waved him aside as Scamp bounced through the water, splashing both of them again.
 
“I can manage quite well by myself.”

     
“Are you hurt?” Linnea asked as he wobbled while coming to his feet.

     
“I am fine.”
 
His tone suggested that his dignity had been bruised far more than any other part of him.
 
He glanced at Nils who was wringing out his waterlogged coat.
 
“You will ruin that by crunching it like that.”

     
“I fear it will be ruined anyhow.
 
It is wool.”

     
Linnea smiled, hoping to shove aside the edge of tension between the two men.
 
“I have often wondered why sheep don’t shrink when they are out in the rain.”

     
Taking her arm,
Randolph
steered her away from Nils.
 
Usually she would have protested his overbearing assumption that she would go with him, but just now she needed to put some distance between her and Nils.
 

     
Randolph
eyed her up and down and asked, “How did
you
get wet?
 
Not cavorting with
Barrington
, I hope.”

     
“I fell in the water, and he helped me, as he offered to help you.”

     
“I do not like how much time my future wife is spending with another man.
 
I trust this behavior will end immediately.
 
It would be embarrassing to have word of this being bandied about when we announce our plans at the gathering Saturday.”

     
She stopped in midstep and faced him.
 
“I think it would be for the best if you and I did not announce any plans to wed on Saturday.”

     
“But if we wait...”

     
“I would not wish to keep you from finding the right bride, Randolph.”

     
His mouth straightened.
 
“I have found the right bride.
 
Your father has agreed to this match.
 
Your brother sees the good sense of it.
 
Ask him, if you do not believe me.”

     
“It is not that I disbelieve you, Randolph.”
 

     
“I do not understand why you cannot see the good sense of a match between us.”

     
“I see the good sense, but my heart doesn’t.”

     
“What does that have to do with it?”

     
Linnea stared at him as Nils’s questions rang through her head.
 
Randolph
was not even pretending that he had a
tendre
for her.
 
It was simply that he wanted to be a part of the Sutherland family and the prestige they possessed throughout
England
.
 

     
“
Randolph
,” she said coolly, “I think it would be better if we speak of this when we are not soaking wet.”

     
“If—”

     
“I do not want to speak of it now.”
 
She crossed her arms in front of her and gave him the stubborn glower that he had aimed at her so often.
 

     
He started to retort, but Minnie said, “Linnea was quite clear,
Randolph
.”
                  

     
Linnea turned to smile at her sister-in-law.
 
She had not heard Minnie come up behind her.
 
When she saw Minnie standing beside Nils, her smile faltered.
 
She stared up into his eyes, wishing she could give him the answer he wanted.
 
The answer she wanted, even though what he asked might be so utterly impossible that even discussing it was a waste of time.
 

     
Minnie said something that Linnea did not catch as she went with her husband, following
Randolph
toward the two carriages that had brought them to the shore.
 
Nils was silent.

     
“I should...”
 
Linnea was unsure what she should do, and lying was inconceivable when she was enticed by his eager gaze.
 

     
“If easing your pity for Tuthill is more important to you than seeking a solution here with me,” Nils replied, “then go.”

     
“Pity?
 
It isn’t pity.”

     
“Then what is it?”
 
He cupped her elbows.
 
“Do not lie and tell me it is affection that you feel for Tuthill.
 
I heard what he said to you.”

     
“No, it is not affection.”

     
“Then what?”

     
She looked to where
Randolph
was stepping into his open carriage.
 
“It is guilt.”

     
“Why?”

     
“He believes I will willingly marry him.
 
I let him think that I was falling in love with him, when I have come to see that I was falling in love with being in love.
 
He has been courting me earnestly, but...”

     
He smiled and folded her hands between his.
 
“But you prefer to be in my arms.”

     
“And that is wrong!”

     
“I do not see why.
 
You are not pledged to him.”

     
“No.”

     
“I hear indecision in your voice.”

     
She drew her fingers out of his and clenched them so she could not grasp his again.
 
“I was wrong to let
Randolph
think I was falling in love with him, so now I must find a way to put an end to his expectations that I will wed him.”

     
“Just tell him.”

     
“It isn’t that easy.
 
My parents wish to have me settled.”

     
“But they will never force you to wed a man you do not want to marry.”

     
“No, they would not, but I have duties, too, Nils.
 
You think foremost of your duties.
 
Don’t discount mine.”