Page 81 of The Viking’s Captive

“Naked bodies?” He grinned at her.

“Do not try to change the subject.”

“All right, so we must be secretive. And we must avoid pressure to wed. Agreed. Any other rules?”

She nodded. “I intend to leave Stoneheim soon … definitely within the next month. I cannot wait till the fjords freeze over. Then it will be too late.”

“To Byzantium?”

“Yea, it is the best thing for me. My mind is made up, regardless of my father’s fate. Rafn is ready to step into his shoes if the worst should happen.”

“I cannot say that I approve. It seems a hard life for a woman.” He raised his hands in surrender when he saw she was about to protest his characterization of females as being softer than males. “But if that is what you want, that is your decision.”

“Will you be leaving Stoneheim, or will you stay the winter?”

“Hah! I’m not staying here if you aren’t. Actually, no offense intended, but even if you are, I have no intention of wintering in this land of ice.”

“Perhaps you could travel partway with me … you and Rashid. He speaks often of a yearning to return to the warmer clime of his homeland.”

Adam shook his head. “Nay. Rashid might go with you, but I am for England. The only home I have is there.”

“One last thing,” she said, and took a deep breath for nerve. “If there should be a babe, you give up all rights.”

He dropped her hand and stared at her incredulously. “Nay!”

At first she was not sure she’d heard him right. “Nay?”

He stood and glared down at her. “You heard me. Nay! My lady, you offend me deeply. How could you think that I would abandon my child?”

She tilted her head and studied him as he clenched and unclenched his fists with anger.

“My sister Adela and I never knew our father. We were adopted by Selik and Rain, who opened an orphanstead in Jorvik. I saw over and over what the lack of a father does to a child. That will never happen to mine. Never!”

“But, Adam, you are not making sense. You have said you do not want to wed.”

“I don’t.” He gave her a direct look, which carried some hidden meaning.

When understanding seeped into her brain, she stood, too. “You would take my child from me?”

“I would. An unwed mother who fights for a living? Please, Tyra, even you must see how unsuitable that would be.”

“You think I would be an unfit mother?” All her life, Tyra had been subjected to criticism. She was too big. Too rough. Too unattractive. But this was the harshest blow to her pride she’d ever been dealt. It struck at the very heart of her.

“That is not what I said.” He tried to take her hand, but she shoved him away, so hard he almost tripped against the chair and only righted himself at the last minute. “Tyra, there are ways to avoid having children.”

“There are?” Now, that was a surprise. Why did men and women, especially those with more offspring than they could feed, not practice these “ways.”

He nodded. “They are not foolproof, of course.”

“Aahhh!” she said. “So, in the end, making love is still a game of chance for the woman. In the end, your seed could take hold in my womb?”

He hesitated, then nodded.

“And you would take that fruit from me?”

“If you are serving in the bloody Varangian Guard, yea, I would.” He was as angry as she was now.

She shook her head sadly at him. “Leave my presence now, Saxon, afore I run you through with my dagger.” And she meant it, too.