A Storm of Pleasure Read Online Free PDF

here on the sea, and the cool air rushing over the surface did clear his mind somewhat. He’d taken another dose of the healer’s brew, but like the last four, it had not lessened his pain. Now, an hour after leaving the refuge and relative silence of the cave, he was headed for the earl’s estate in Birsay. Gavin turned and looked ahead, watching as the hills of Hoy came closer and closer.
    Nearly there.
    He took in a deep breath and steeled himself for the coming assault. Haakon stood a short distance away on the deck of the birlinn. The earl spared no costs in gold or men to provide for his comfort and safety.
    Well, he thought as he counted the number of warriors sent to accompany him, his safety was assured. His comfort was another matter.
    The thoughts of just this handful of men sent dizzying waves of pain through him, but hundreds would be waiting for him at the earl’s estate. Each month his dread at being near others grew stronger, as did the pain and hammering in his head. Gavin took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to listen to the sounds of the sea and not the rest of it. He discovered that for a short time, he could block out the worst of it.
    He could block it!
    Then Gavin thought back to the first time he’d noticed he had some control over the noise and realized it had been the day after that strange yet wonderful dream. The one that included a bout of loveplay with a beautiful angel who had luminous eyes and long, curling pale hair. During that strange interlude, he could focus his thoughts and hear only the sounds of her body as they found pleasure.
    And it had been a pleasure that left him satiated for the first time in as long as he could remember. His body readied itself now, just as it did whenever he brought the image of his angel to mind. It was a strange dream for many reasons, but the funniest part of it was that he’d never removed their clothes. So, though he could remember the feel of her ample breasts and the strength in her legs as she wrapped them around his waist, he could not see the color of her skin as it flushed with pleasure and he did not know if the tips of those breasts were rosy or dusky. Gavin shifted as his hardened flesh pressed against his trews once more, aching to be deep within the angel’s tightness.
    “Haakon,” he called out without turning to face the others. When he heard Haakon’s approach, he spoke without looking at him—asking the same question he’d asked for the last five days. “Was it truly only a dream?”
    “I brought no one to you that day, sir. It took me several hours to return to the cave, and it was nearly full dark when I did. You were sleeping soundly from the healer’s brew. And you know who has visited you since that day.” No one. No one had visited since that day. He’d not asked for a woman in five days.
    The words were the same as ever, repeated by Haakon every time Gavin asked him the same question. Despite his vivid memories of making love to a real woman, it had been only a dream. And though he’d consumed more of the brew, no other dreams had followed those doses, only sleep or calmness.
    Gavin nodded and listened as Haakon returned to his place farther back in the boat. He’d not expected to hear a different explanation, but he could not deny that he’d hoped to. Rubbing the back of his neck, he decided that she had been an apparition. Turning away from the headwind, he called out to the man in charge of their voyage.
    “How much longer to Birsay?” he asked.
    The man squinted into the sun and then glanced at the land to their right side. “We cannot land at Birsay until nearly sundown, about three more hours.”
    The Brough of Birsay was a tidal island, separated each day from the mainland during high tide. Since the earl’s estate lay close to the brough on the mainland, approaching it from the sea involved a tricky bit of timing. A smaller, shallower boat could make it, but those with a deeper hull such as