A Storm of Pleasure Read Online Free Page B

and gown in her hands and drew it up between her legs, making it easier to climb.
    It took more than an hour to reach the top, and her chest hurt from breathing so hard. Her legs screamed from her efforts, but she pushed on, now needing to get away from the open area. She did not want his servant to see her as he sailed back to the cave. Struggling to gain her balance, Katla searched the horizon to judge how much more time before sunset. Her father’s servant, now her companion, would return for her in five days’ time. She had only that long to discover something she could use to gain the Truthsayer’s help and prove her brother’s innocence. He lacked nothing he wanted or needed. His only demands were for ale and women, and his servant fulfilled those with all haste.
    What could she find that would be valuable to him?
    The village of Durness lay only a few miles away, and she hoped that she could discover something about Gavin’s early years there, something that would expose some need or want of his that she could fulfill in order to gain his cooperation. She had no plans past that, but the almost frantic tension inside her when she thought of Kali’s fate pushed her onward.
    Katla found the rocks that marked her earlier hiding place and retrieved her sack. Pulling her cloak tightly around her shoulders, she started off in the direction of the village. With the jewelry sewn into the hem of her cloak and with the coins she’d managed to hide and bring along with her, she could buy much of what she would need.
    If only silver would purchase the Truthsayer’s help.
    If only…
    But, five days later, she found herself with less silver than when she’d started and no more information to help her in her quest than when she’d arrived.
    The day her companion would return from the north dawned bright and sunny, and even the tumultuous sea glistened calmly beneath the sun’s rays. The rare turn of weather made walking back to Gavin’s cave easier than usual. She trekked along the rough path that connected Durness with the other villages scattered over the north coast, watching the sea for any sign of the small boat that would come for her.
    She reached the clearing where the trail to the cave began and decided to use the time to spy on Gavin once more. Mayhap she would see something or hear something useful. Following the river as it flowed toward the sea, she soon approached the smallest of the openings in the cave’s ceiling. Peering down, she searched for Gavin or his servant.
    And was met by only the sound of rushing water.
    When several minutes had passed with no sign or sound of people below, Katla crept to another of the ceiling holes and watched and waited once more. This one looked down nearer the sleeping area. Protected within one of the back chambers of the cave, he slept in the driest and most private part of the large dwelling. This ceiling hole looked down on the short corridor that led to it.
    Nothing. No sound but that of the falling water.
    Sliding back from the opening and standing, she shaded her eyes with her hand and searched the horizon to the north. A boat bobbed on the sea, still a few miles off but on its way to the shore. She had but a short time to reach the cove.
    Pain sliced through her heart at that moment, for she had failed. Harald had given her a month to find the answers she sought. He’d not asked how she intended to do so, and she’d not bothered to tell him the truth of her quest. Their bargain, that she would return to live with him as his concubine in exchange for his giving her a month to pursue her search, was nearly at an end. It had taken weeks to find the Truthsayer.
    The thought of her failure and what it meant to her brother and the idea of a future as nothing more than a bed warmer for one of the earl’s men left a bitter taste in her mouth. Katla had seen her mother’s life, empty but for the occasional attention from her father, and had vowed never to accept such a