A Storm of Pleasure Read Online Free PDF Page B

this one needed a good bit of water in the adjacent bay before they could land.
    It was just as well, for Gavin was in no rush to arrive. The full moon would come in half a sennight’s time, and with it uncontrollable power would surge through him. His will would not be his own. When that time came, ’twas as though his own mind fled and his words were spoken by another. When he came back to himself, he carried no memory of what had been asked or answered. And no matter how much he’d searched or talked with elders from the earl’s domain, or with visitors from other lands, he could never find any explanation for what occurred within him at the zenith of the full moon.
    Even the Norse king’s skald, well versed in stories of many cultures and lands, could provide no understanding of the power that flowed through him or the origin of it. Nor could the earl’s physicians explain it or help control the pain. But worse, in the last few months, his body suffered for days and days after the truthspeaking. Not only did a deep and profound deafness occur, but his body seemed to weaken, too, more and more with each passing month.
    No one knew of the deafness, and only Haakon and a few others knew the extent of the punishment his body took for being the conduit of such power. Punishment that seemed to be getting worse.
    Restlessness now filled Gavin, pushing him to move along the boat as it sailed north over the calm seas. ’Twas not so large that he could walk freely, but he made his way down the center, past the mast, ducking low to avoid the sails. Reaching the back of the boat, Gavin searched the horizon behind them, gazing at the cliffs of the northern coast as they sailed farther away.
    The entrance to his cave could not be seen because it lay shielded by a curve in the coastline that provided him the privacy and solitude he needed. Solitude Earl Magnus had promised he would have. The arrangement seemed to work well for them both: Magnus had someone who could settle disputes in a way that even the Thing could not and Gavin received the protection and patronage of one of the most powerful men in the Norse world. Unfortunately, Gavin was learning that not even a strong, influential man could keep the power he had under control. Haakon approached and waited to be acknowledged before speaking.
    “You seem troubled, sir. Is there anything you need? Some ale? Food?” The other choice was left unsaid, for it could not be accommodated on this voyage.
    “Nay, Haakon. I am well.”
    His servant studied him, clearly with questions on his mind that he dared not ask. But, for once, the man surprised him.
    “Do you think the woman was real and not conjured by the healer’s potion?” The servant somehow understood how important the drug-induced dream had become to Gavin.
    “I know this will not make sense,” he said, lowering his voice so that the others would not hear, “but she was different from any woman I’ve been with before.”
    Gavin watched as sweat broke out on Haakon’s upper lip and forehead. He looked away before speaking to Gavin, but the topic of sexual pleasure was not a comfortable one for either of them. Haakon cleared his throat and coughed before he could reply. He began and then stuttered and shook his head, not able to say the words he’d chosen. Finally, he did speak.
    “Durness is not so large that she would go unnoticed, sir. I can search for her when we return there.”
    Stunned by the words, and the offer, Gavin shook his head. “But why would you think her real? Knowing what the healer said about the effects of his potion, why would she be other than a creature of my dream?”
    He dared not hope, but still, his heart raced at the possibility his angel existed outside the realm of dreams. Now it was his turn to sweat, and he felt the beads of moisture gather on his brow.
    “You slept. Soundly. For hours.”
    Gavin laughed. Such a mundane thing and yet it held such meaning in his life. “Aye.