Page 95 of Hot & Heavy

"Iceland!" he said with disgust.

"Yep. And the Icelandic language is similar to Old Norse."

"Norse! Oh, hell! This reminds me of Magnusson and all the Viking crap he used to spout." Max was Torolf Magnusson's nickname. "Where is Max these days?" He directed that last question to Cage, who was usually Max's team partner. Max had been the biggest pain in Ian's butt three years ago when Ian had been his instructor in BUD/S training.

"Still in Afghanistan working with a combined special forces team trying to teach fighting skills to guys who ride camels." Cage grinned. "He should be back next week or the week after."

Actually, Ian knew Max would be back by then. His sister was married to Max's brother, Ragnor. In fact, there was a big shindig being planned at Blue Dragon Vineyard in two weeks to celebrate some event related to grapes.

"There's more," Geek said, his voice too serious for Ian's comfort. "Hordaland… that country where Maddie says Norstead is… well, I couldn't find Norstead anywhere, but Hordaland was a region of southwest Norway about a thousand or so years ago. It wasn't called Norway then. There was a king called Olaf… you know, the guy she says was her grandfather's brother. Birka was a market town in Sweden, and Hedeby was a market town in Germany, though they weren't called Sweden or Germany then." Geek paused, not because he was done with his spiel, but because he wanted Ian's reaction.

Apparently, he'd already discussed his discoveries with Omar and Pretty Boy.

Ian was dumbfounded.

His silence gave Pretty Boy an opportunity to offer his input. "On an everyday level, she's clueless. She honest-to-God never heard of a TV, a blender, a camera, the telephone, birth control, breast implants, things everyone knows."

Ian homed in on one thing. "Why would you be discussing birth control with my… with Maddie?"

Pretty Boy shrugged. "She asked. Guess you must have shown her a condom. Right?" The dunce grinned.

Ian refused to answer. "And breast implants? Don't try to tell me she asked about that?"

"Nope. I asked her."

"What?" he yelled.

"Come on, Mac. Even you wondered in the beginning."

"What did she say?" Cage inquired. Geek seemed even more interested.

"Get a life!" Ian advised them all before Pretty Boy could respond. After glaring at each of them in turn, he asked, "So what do you think all this means?"

"I think she's a time-traveler," Geek said.

Ian's jaw dropped.

"Nah! I think she might have a slight mental problem," Omar said. "Maybe even a split personality."

Ian's eyes widened.

"Uh-uh!" Pretty Boy said. "Gotta be reincarnation."

They all looked at Ian to see what he thought.

"I think you all have lost your freakin' minds," he said. "And I think I need to get knee-walking drunk."

As he walked away, he heard Cage say to the others, "Personally, I think he needs to get laid… again."

Yep!

Beware of pre-menstrual women…

Madrene had come to several conclusions.

One, time was of the essence. Soon the seals' mission here would be completed, and she would embark on her own mission. She could not do it alone, even if she hired mercenaries. She needed someone from this country to help her find her way back to hers. 'Twas a sorry fact.

Two, if she might die any day now, or if she didn't die and had to go home alone, she was bloody hell going to enjoy herself in the meantime. That meant sex. With the troll. Lots of it.