A Storm of Pleasure Read Online Free

thoughts in their minds at once, speeded up and unintelligible.
    He avoided crowds, he avoided people, all in the hope of lessening the maddening pain in his head, but in vain. It seemed that as his powers grew, so did his ability to pick up the jumbled thoughts of every person in his vicinity.
    Yet, now, as his limbs and eyelids grew too heavy to move, he breathed in deeply and let the silence wash over him. After months and months of pain and torment, Gavin could not fight the supreme pleasure brought by this coupling and the complete silence. Another breath and he felt sleep pulling him into its grasp.
    “My angel,” he whispered, both in thanks and as a plea for her to stay.
    He smiled, realizing even in his stupor, she was most likely only imagined while under the influence of the healer’s brew. Ah, if he had to have a dream, even one caused by herbs and ale, this was a wondrous one to have. He might have Haakon seek more of the potion after all.
    Then sleep claimed him and he thought and heard nothing.

Chapter Two
    K atla watched as the Truthsayer faded into sleep before she moved a muscle. Her body ached in a not-unpleasant way from his use of her, but it had been nothing like Harald’s way of swiving her. That warrior had not shamed her as he could have by sharing her with his men once he had taken her maidenhead. His attentions to her were frequent, brief, and unremarkable. He’d even offered to take her as his second wife, giving her an honorable place in his household.
    Nothing she’d done with Harald could have prepared her for what the Truthsayer had done. Her body had reacted under his touch like a thing unknown to her, shivering and trembling from her skin to deep inside as he caressed and kissed and even licked places she had not paid attention to before. Another ripple of pleasure shook her as she tried to move away from him without disturbing his sleep. Tugging her tunic down over her legs as she eased away, Katla sat a few feet from him and studied him now that passion no longer ruled her.
    He was called Gavin of Durness, for the place where he’d been found and raised. His blond hair and light eyes spoke of Norse parentage, but none had ever claimed a link to him. That was all she’d discovered about him, other than some rumors of his powers.
    No one, none of the earl’s trusted servants or men, spoke of his impairment, of the pain he suffered constantly or why he did not live on Orkney, closer to the earl’s palace. Clearly, he was mad or going mad and the earl used the churning, dangerous waters of the firth that separated Orkney from the rest of the southern lands to keep him from the view of his court.
    For several days, she had watched him from above, through a hole worn by the river as it flowed into his cave, observing as he dosed and drugged and drank himself into a stupor—or as he tried to. He ranted, he cursed, he called out to people not present, and he swore to any god and against all of them. When he was not yelling, he was swiving. His servant came and went each day, bringing woman after woman to serve his master’s needs.
    Gold seemed of no matter to him, nor did comfort or lack thereof. He lived in a cave that opened to the unruly ocean when he could live in the comforts of a noble’s palace. Because of the service he provided to the earl, one of the most powerful men in the Norse world, his every whim and command was fulfilled and obeyed. If she’d not spoken to trustworthy people, people who still held her in high esteem despite her father’s death and her brother’s uncertain fate, Katla would never have believed some of the wild stories and rumors.
    A touch of his hand during the peak of the full moon could bring forth the truth from anyone he chose. No secret could remained hidden from his ability to hear the truth within a person’s mind.
    She sighed, seeing no sign of otherworldly power just now. He snored loudly as though to confirm her low opinion. But, there had