Lillian ran back downstairs. The castle looked to be in chaos, but as she looked closer, she noticed that everyone seemed to have a duty and they were going about it precisely. She continued to look for her father and noticed the sun was climbing into the sky when he and his men came out of the drawing room looking grim but earnest. She would never feel the same about that room again after her encounter with the vile Lord Montfort. They seemed intense, perhaps they had a plan. She certainly hoped it was a good one!
Frederick caught a glance of Lillian and stopped to give her a hug and assure her that their walls were high, strong, secure, and would not be overrun. Lillian thought her father knew everything, at least she used to, and his comforting words made her feel better. He told her to go and help the other women with the chores, especially heating the oil they would be pouring onto the enemy’s heads if they tried to scale the walls. She felt even better after hearing about the hot oil. How could the enemy make any progress with hot oil raining down upon their heads. Her father did know everything. It was nice to have something to occupy her mind and keep her busy. It gave her less time to think. She ran off to find Gertrude, their trusted housekeeper.
After all the preparations that could be made were made, the castle settled into a nervous waiting game. They really didn’t know what to do or expect next. This enemy wasn’t acting like any other they had ever encountered. They didn’t attempt to make contact or storm the castle. They were simply making camp and sleeping in shifts. It made no sense. It was like they were on a picnic. One man in the castle that caught Lillian’s attention was Lord Montfort, whining and trying to buy himself passage out of danger. He was screaming so all could hear about how preposterous it was that this ridiculous castle did not have an escape route for the important nobles, such as himself. All he wanted to do was run. He was wretched. No one seemed to be taking him seriously or help him escape though. The thought of his hands on her flesh seemed that much worse knowing what a coward he was. She was sure if her mother knew her thoughts she would say she was being a brat, but she didn’t really care what her mother thought at this moment, or ever really. At any rate, she would not worry about the loathsome lord any more until this was over.
Chapter 4
Eriik and his men finished setting up camp. They sharpened their swords and axes and felled a good sized tree. All the branches were stripped and it would become an effective battering ram. This was the first of several days before the siege would begin. It was all a part of the plan Eriik and his advisors had conceived.
He paced back and forth, north and south, for the most part of the next few days. He wanted to know each and every rock between their camp and the bastion.
On many of these walks, he noticed a particularly fetching sight in the tower. A beautiful girl with long dark hair had bewitched him for some reason and he never got tired of staring at her. The sun would catch the auburn highlights in her hair and it would produce a fiery display for his pleasure. Every time he caught himself gazing at her, his crotch replied with a tightening, uncomfortable feeling that he didn’t often feel without easy relief at hand, but she was there, easy fodder for his observation and he couldn’t seem to stop himself. Whenever he would see Bjorn walking near he would tear himself away, knowing full well how severely he would be teased if Bjorn found out what he was up to.
Eriik and Bjorn would laugh as they spoke of listening to the people in the castle shouting and scurrying around as they prepared for them, knowing full well they were getting no rest. That was a good thing. Tired warriors were sloppy warriors.
“This is rather fun, playing with them like this Eriik, but I must admit to being itchy to swing my sword.”
“Oh, be patient my friend. The way they are running around like geese, we can simply wait around, knock on their door, and they will be so tired, they’ll open the gate and offer us some ale.”
They both guffawed.
“If you can be patient until the moon no longer appears over the horizon in three nights, it will all begin.”
“Ah, the moon will be hidden and provide the darkness we need. They will not be expecting us and then we will pounce, like the wolf.”
Eriik winked, ”That’s the plan. Tell the men to prepare for hot oil being launched off the top of the wall raining down on our heads. I think we would need to avoid that if at all possible.” He grinned. “When it does come, tell the men to gather together under their shields, forming a pod, protecting themselves as much as possible. When the time is right the archers will strike with their arrows straight and true while the others continue to batter the gate with the ram. Spread the word!”
“Aye, brother.” Brothers in arms they were, and had been as long as Eriik could remember, even as boys.
****
When the town nearby received the news that the fortress was under siege by a foreign army, a rescue party of sort showed up quite willing and able to provide encouragement and support, not for the castle, but for Eriik and his men. The rescue party consisted of some very talented ladies who knew their customers would be ripe for the picking for their special talents. There was a lot of money waiting to be made and the ladies were eager to please. The men were ready for the whores, and nary a complaint was made. Eriik had no objections as long as it didn’t interfere with their fighting fitness when the time came. It was actually a delightful diversion from their daily life of swordplay and preparation, and the men reveled in it. They needed the respite after the long voyage and the tense standoff here. The girls sang and danced and soon their clothing ended up in complete disarray, sorely tempting the men until they started disappearing into the tents, more often than not with more than one man.
Bjorn, laughing and completely enjoying the festivities, looked at Eriik and prodded him, “Go on brother, join in, what are you waiting for? You’re usually the first after such a long voyage. Ya going to make do with sloppy seconds, or worse?”
“After painting such a lovely picture, I’m really looking forward to it.” He cocked his head with a smirk.
“Well, you can look at the stars all night and receive no loving, I’m staking my territory and getting some ass!” He strode to the fire with long even strides.
Eriik looked at the woman with long blonde hair who was gazing back at him with desire written all over her face, and she was very appealing, but for some reason he could only picture the sun dancing off sable tresses. This woman’s skin was brown from the sun, and he could only see beautiful fair skin in his mind’s eye. What in bloody hell was wrong with him?
He walked with ground eating strides over to the girl, took her arm, smiled his most charming smile, and practically stole her off her feet as he headed for his tent. He placed her on his robes and covered her with his massive form.
She was smiling. “You will be particularly fun,” she said teasingly. “You’re a handsome lad and I can see and feel you are endowed quite well. The money’s the bait but I’m already looking forward to tussling with you a bit. I know you can’t understand a word I’m saying but I bet you can understand this.”
She parted her blouse and he could easily see her full and heavy breasts. They were also browned by the sun. Her nipples were large and erect and she squeezed them as she lifted one breast high enough so she could lick her own nipple, already hardened by her tongue seductively. He was taking in the sight and his cock was strong, bulging, hard, and throbbing. She was squirming under him, parting his tunic to get a feel of his impressive chest rippling with pure muscle. She was grinding herself right on target on his swollen flesh. She was ready for him. What was he waiting for? All he wanted to do was push himself inside to his hilt, fill her completely and ram her until his sublime release. By Thor, he couldn’t move! All he could think of was the lady in the tower. He would ram himself into this one and think about the sable strands of silk he had been staring at for the past few days. He couldn’t understand why he was so fixated on this particular girl when he couldn’t even really see h
er, just basically a figure. A quite nice one, but just a figure nonetheless. He suddenly looked at this whore and stopped himself. Why? He got up and backed away. He couldn’t imagine why he was doing such a thing. It wasn’t as if he had never found relief in the arms of a prostitute before. She slithered over to him and rubbed her crotch against his swollen cock as her fingertips stroked his chest. He grabbed her hands, looked into her eyes and instead of saying something seductive, he said in a controlled, but firm voice, “I can indeed understand everything you said and I tell you now, you need to get out girl, go on now, do as I say.” She winced, gathered her clothing and ran out as if the tent was on fire. After she was outside, she looked back with what looked like regret. Eriik would probably live to regret his actions as well.
The other men had no such problems. They were coupling with everything they could get their hands on, waiting in line at times. After getting finished with one girl, some of the men would go to another tent to take on another. They were having quite an enjoyable evening. They couldn’t say much for the English warriors, but their whores were impressive.
Eriik was glad his men could burn off their energy and frustrations. They would need a release after these days of waiting and it would do them good when the time came for battle. He rested, tried to sleep but only the lady paraded through his head. He knew not if it was a dream or if he was wide awake. Nevertheless, he was wondering if he was losing his mind.
Chapter 5
The days in the castle went by and everyone was on pins and needles. The talk was of these heathens’ plans, and non-stop gossiping about the men themselves, mostly of their leader, the tallest and most muscular of these giants. With his long, golden hair, he fought with a sword, axe, javelin, and bow expertly. The men were talking about his expertise with his weapons and how to defeat him but their women spoke of him in much different ways, usually giggling and blushing. They knew he was their enemy, but couldn’t help themselves when it came to his obvious physical attributes. When their husbands came along, their conversation changed to terror again, their feelings being a little of both. Lillian and all the young ladies of the court were also terrified and fascinated with him at the same time. Lillian couldn’t help herself when she ran up to the tower to sneak a look at him when no one noticed. A couple of times some of her ladies in waiting accompanied her as they watched him pace up and down the field and practice weaponry with his men. As they stared Lillian felt thrilling sensations that she couldn’t quite explain and realized that if her mother knew, she would be locked in her room for a week as punishment. It all seemed so innocent up in the tower so far beyond his reach. But sometimes she noticed that he would be looking back at her and could imagine their eyes locking even if it was too far away to really know. She thought perhaps she was imagining it, but some strange feelings would jolt her stomach and between her thighs and while Lillian had never had these particular sensations before, they were very disconcerting.
She really had no rationalization for such strange emotions and the tingling was not all that dreadful, so she decided to treat this like everything else she couldn’t, or didn’t want to explain, and place it in the back of her mind until another time.
Eriik, on the other hand couldn’t stop thinking of the lady of the manor with the pale, beautiful skin, and the long dark locks. Surely it was because he had not had a woman in such a long time. And whose fault was that? Why else would he be focusing on this particular girl, this Saxon wench, probably not hardy enough to lay with him without swooning. What the hell was he thinking about lying with a Saxon girl anyway? He must pray to Thor to get his mind back on the siege, not burying himself in an English lady. He had plenty of time to bury himself between the thighs of a willing woman in Jaedon after he got home, the conquering hero. He had let the lady best him in one arena already, without so much as a skirmish. He had given his archers strict orders not to aim at her or her ladies when she visited the tower. What was her stupid father thinking, letting her put herself out in the open like that? Didn’t he know she would be an easy target for an archer sneaking up on the castle unseen? Eriik’s judgment had already been compromised by a beautiful woman. That had never happened before. He should let them take the shot and cripple the castle before the battle even began. He wasn’t much for murdering young maidens anyway, he tried to convince himself. This would have to be the first and the last time he let this happen though. By the Gods, he promised himself. Mind over body, victory must be his goal.
It was time. The moon had almost completely disappeared. The sky appeared as a beautiful length of black velvet dotted with diamonds thrown up in the heavens in complete disarray. Eriik’s men all knew this was the night. As the days had passed, the castle settled down at night and fewer men patrolled the walls. The castle was letting down their guard and that was what the Norsemen were waiting for as well. It inevitably happened after days and days of high alert when nothing occurred. The men walked as quietly as a predator stealing up on its prey, until they were at the walls, seemingly unnoticed. The men carrying the tree trunk were stealthy, even with such a heavy load; to them it was nothing, and they made absolutely no sound. It was all going according to plan. Eriik expected no less. Everything was dead quiet and the castle was calm until the entire building shook to its core with an explosive sound that awoke everyone inside with terror. They thought the world was coming to an end or possibly it was judgment day. Perhaps it was.
The battering ram crashed into the castle gates with such force that the ground shook. Birds took to the sky and animals in the fields ran for their lives. For quite awhile, the Saxons had no idea what was happening. After gathering their wits, they started for the oil, but it was not hot, and no one was up to heat it. This was beginning to look like a rout. The Saxons had never seen fighting like this. Were these mere men or demons from hell?
Eriik’s men kept smashing into the heavy wooden gates, time after time. No one inside could imagine the strength it must take to move that tree again and again. As archers appeared on the walls, they flew their arrows and screams of pain radiated from the ground through the air. Eriik noticed men carrying buckets and he knew that this must be the oil.
He screamed out, “Form the pods!”
All the men formed the pods as the oil came rushing down the walls to fall on a solid wall of shields, hurting no Norseman. When the buckets were empty, the ramming continued. This went on all night and the next day and the gates were looking the worse for wear. After a full night and day of tireless work, Eriik called it and the men retired to their camp for food, rest, and to gather their dead. The English couldn’t believe what strength it took to fight tirelessly all night and day with no food and barely any water. They couldn’t help but wonder if these were mere men or something from another realm.
The next day proved to be the same as the last. By the end of the second day, the gates looked as if a small child could knock them off their hinges. Eriik called the day again and decided to give the castle an ultimatum tomorrow at dawn. Unlike many of his kinsmen, Eriik was not fond of killing for no good reason, if he could achieve the goal peacefully. Through the days of the siege, his one failure was the girl, dammit. He was expecting victory and already dreading leaving her.
Damnation! Stop it. What in the name of Thor was wrong with him? Enough! He finally fell into a restless sleep with thoughts of long russet silk falling in wave after wave down a slender alluring back. He awoke with a start. It was nearing dawn.
Chapter 6
The day awoke sunny. The air was as crisp as a summer apple and Eriik breathed it in deeply, almost being able to taste it. It invigorated his senses and strengthened his purpose.
The men were stirring and in barely a moment, they were ready. They gathered around him and started the walk in their battle formation toward the castle. Eriik, in front, stood firm.
“Lord of the Castle. Listen and live, you and your people. Your fortress will not stand another day. Submit to our demands
and your citadel will not be crushed, your women will not be taken, your men will not be beheaded and your castle will not be occupied. Give us your treasure willingly and go about your business in peace.”
Lord Devorn appeared at the top of the wall, looking sheepish as his voice shook, “Never, as long as I live.”
Eriik’s voice was strong as he shrugged, “I’m afraid Lord, that will not be long.”
Eriik pointed to the fortress and the men with the ram took their place. The battle started again, but with pleasure, the Norsemen noticed there was no oil showering down upon them this day. The castle’s archers were still busy but it seemed each day they were fewer and the Norsemen’s archers were still strong in number and aim.
Each time the ram struck, the gates groaned and shuttered. They were starting to open the slightest bit in the mid-section. It shouldn’t be long now.
Inside the fortress, the able-bodied, fighting men, were armed and at the ready, just waiting now for the inevitable. Lillian stood at the top of the stairs and wept. She caught her father’s eye as she started to descend the steps and she knew he was telling her not to come down under any circumstances. She obeyed.
The ram made its final surge and the gates crumpled. The Norseman exploded inside the walls of the fortress that all inside had thought would protect them and their families. It looked like a certain bloodbath but Eriik shouted in a full and strong voice, “Stop, everyone now!” For some reason, not only did his men honor the command but everyone in the castle did so as well. Perhaps they thought this could save their lives and most of them looked on with hope.
Viking's Desire: Sexy-Romance Novel: A Viking Love Story Page 2
