Return to Paradise (Torres Family Saga) (36 page)

      
“I do not wish to wed a
harmless
boy. I will have a man to husband.” Her golden eyes appraised him boldly as she had seen some of the older women do.

      
Benjamin knew the situation was quickly getting out of hand. “Pray excuse me, Rani, but after nearly drowning during my untimely rescue this morning, I grow quite weary. I would sleep. Why do you not rejoin the festivities? Tis your party.”

      
Giving him a sultry look, she swished her skirts, letting the small golden bells about her slim ankles tinkle like soft chimes. “Sleep well, Benjamin.” She vanished into the night with Vero silently shadowing her.

      
Benjamin searched out a place to sleep in Sandor's tent, which was large and cluttered with many separate chambers. Agata had assigned the wretched quarters to him. He pulled the heavy woolen curtain closed and then sat down. To ward off the night chill he pulled the least musty and fetid of the blankets about him. The interior was dimly lit by one low candle. Ugh! What a sty, and cold in the bargain. At least the ground was grassy and soft. Soon he slept soundly, oddly comforted by the knowledge that Vero stood guard somewhere out there in the darkness.

      
The dream was amazingly vivid. A woman's small, soft hands were deftly caressing his body, exploring every inch of him from the hair on his chest down to his legs, then back up, pausing at the lacings of his hose where his shaft strained to get free. God, how he ached for her, this creature of the darkness. What did she look like? Who was she? Where in hell
was
he?

      
Then the smell of garlic assaulted his nostrils as she bent closer and kissed him. “Rani?” He sat bolt upright, shoving her busy little fingers away from his hose and the obvious proof of how long he had been without a woman.

      
Rani put her arms about his neck, reveling in the hard evidence of his desire.
Twill work! Once he takes my maidenhead, he must wed me.
She molded her small body to his and renewed the kiss, brushing her bare breasts against his warm furry chest. A tingling ache touched the points of her nipples, then spread in waves lower in her body. It was glorious. He was glorious.

      
Benjamin pried her hands from his neck and peeled her away from his body. He could still feel the tantalizing brush of her small, delicate breasts against his chest. “God's bones, girl, you are scarce betrothed to one man and you climb into another's bed the same night,” he hissed. “Do you want me put to death by old Sandor himself?”

      
“Sandor will not kill you and Michel is too puny to win a fight with you.” Rani had hoped his natural instincts would take over while he was asleep and she could entice him to do the deed before he truly awakened and realized what was happening. Her plan was failing miserably.

      
“I do not wish to fight over you or any other woman, ever again,” he said tightly.

      
But Rani was desperate, imagining Michel's clammy hands on her body. She threw herself at him in the darkness, pressing her naked flesh against his body, feverishly writhing as she tugged at his hose lacings. Never having done this before, Rani was not certain how to proceed, but she knew the way animals mated and surmised it must be little different for humans. Certainly the hard staff beneath Benjamin's breeches left little doubt of his body's response. If only the night had not turned so unseasonably chill, perhaps he would have slept unclothed, making her task far easier.

      
Benjamin could feel her gracefully curved legs entwined with his. When her hands again found the lacings of his hose, he grew desperate, imagining her smelly brown body seducing him to ruin. It would be so easy to give in to her wiles. Lord knew he had been celibate far too long. Then her tangled ebony locks flew across his face. The odor of unwashed hair and reek of garlic killed the insane instincts of his body. He gasped for breath, shoving her away. “Rani, no, damn me, no!”

      
Rolling away from her, he quickly scrambled about in the darkness, searching for the flap of the tent, yanking it open to allow bright moonlight and blessed fresh air to pour in.

      
Rani froze in the chill light, sitting on her heels with her arms crossed protectively over her breasts. Benjamin's eyes widened as he looked at her. “You are mother naked!” He scooped up the pile of gaudy clothes she had shed by the opening of the tent and threw them at her. “Get dressed at once before you catch your death from chill and I catch mine from Sandor's blade!”

      
Tears filled her eyes and she blinked against them with thick black lashes as she clutched the bundle of clothing in a death grip. Without a word she scrambled to her feet and fled past him into the night, trailing brightly colored scarves and skirts as she ran into the woods. Vero trotted quietly behind her.

      
Benjamin swore furiously as he watched her vanish in the darkness of the trees. There would be hell to pay for this escapade. If anyone saw her running naked and in tears from him, his fate was sealed. Rani's reaction was uncertain as well. Once rejected, might she run to her brothers or the chief with fantastical lies?

      
Pulling on his boots and arming himself with his knife, he gathered his medical satchel and what few other possessions his captors had left him. He would locate Averroes or steal one of their horses, anything to escape. Last night the south side of the encampment had yielded only bears, oxen and dogs. The horses must be penned to the north. Cursing the bright moon at the end of its fullest phase, he headed north through the woods that surrounded the tents and wagons.

      
While Benjamin slowly made his search, Rani sat composing herself. Rubbing her fists into her eyes, she willed the humiliating tears to cease. As she calmed, the cold night air made her shiver. Sharp twigs and scratchy dry leaves dug into her tender buttocks. Wincing, she sat up and began to put on her clothes. “I shall go to Agata, Vero, and ask her for a love philter.” The wolf observed her with quizzical eyes that glowed in the dark. “Do not look at me so. Perhaps she will help. Tis the only chance I have left.”

      
When Rani found Agata, the old crone was wide awake in spite of the late hour, as if expecting her visitor. She sat before a small fire in front of her tent and bid the girl to join her with an abrupt nod of her head. “You should be in bed,” she stated matter of factly, noting the girl's tear-streaked face and half-fastened clothing. “Someone will find your other skirts in the morning,” she said as she poked the low-burning coals.

      
Rani let out a small gasp of surprise. “How do you know so much?”

      
“I have my ways. The question now is what will you do next?”

      
“I...I could not...Benjamin would not...” Her voice trailed off in shame. Then she threw back her head and her golden eyes glowed fiercely. “Will you make a love philter for me?” The words tumbled out rapidly. Then she held her breath.

      
Agata chuckled and pulled a small brown vial from one of the dozens of pockets in her baggy clothes. “This is what will work. Dissolve it in his wine and be certain he drinks it all.”

      
Rani accepted the vial with trembling fingers. “What is in it?”

      
Again, this time more loudly, the
phuri dai
cackled. “Remember last week when you had your bleeding time?” At the girl's nod, she continued, “I scraped the dried blood from one of your rags and pounded it into fine powder. The blood of a woman's womb is the very strongest love potion for her man...if he
is
truly her man. Only then will it work.”

      
“Do you think he is my man, Agata?”

      
Before the old woman could reply a loud cry rent the night air. Then all was silence. The
phuri dai
stood up calmly and said to Rani, “Go quickly to the woods by the horse coral. Benjamin has need of you. You know where his big horse is. Fetch it to him.” Rani hugged Agata, then flew toward the woods where Django's prize horses were kept.

      
Benjamin looked down on the Gypsy's unconscious face. Blood trickled from his right temple. It was not a severe wound, but the guard would have a fearsome headache upon awakening. “Damn my luck to have this brute stumble upon me in the darkness,” he muttered as he dragged the man's fat, heavy body behind an outcropping of rock. No one had yet responded to the cry of alarm, but Benjamin knew he would have to find Averroes quickly. Where in hell could the horse be? It seemed hours since he began the search.

      
The guard had come from beyond that copse of pines. Benjamin began to run in that direction when a snarled curse caused him to draw his knife. Michel and Rasvan moved into his pathway from the shadows. The youth had a crude, rusty arquebus leveled at him, and Rasvan, grinning much like Django, drew his dagger with relish.

      
“Blast the
gadjo
with your weapon if he twitches,” Rasvan instructed Michel, then added, “but shoot only to blow off an arm or a leg.”

      
“Best beware you do not blow yourself into eternity with that relic,” Benjamin replied. Blessed Virgin, if that monstrosity was fired it would probably explode and kill them all!

      
Rasvan advanced, knife drawn. Benjamin debated his options for only scant seconds, knowing his enemy's intent. He would not stand still and let the
caraque
carve him like a roasted swan. He dropped his satchel to the ground. Then with a curse, he ducked low and lunged for Rasvan, placing the big Gypsy's bulk between him and Michel's arquebus.

      
The boy hesitated in confusion. As the two men engaged one another, each grasping the other's knife hand, Michel took aim. Suddenly the pounding of hooves filled the woods. Two big horses·thundered upon the scene, followed by Vero. Rani kicked her fleet white mare in her side and raised the oak cudgel above her head, swinging it as she bore down on Michel. The sturdy wood club struck his skull with a satisfying thunk and the youth fell sprawling onto the soft, muddy earth.

      
Rani wheeled the mare about and bore down on Rasvan, who had just rolled atop Benjamin as they thrashed on the ground. Rasvan's blade was dangerously near Benjamin's throat. “Vero!” she commanded. The great gray beast leaped at Rasvan's arm, sinking his fangs into it. Held immobilized for an instant, Rasvan, too, felt Rani's oak cudgel strike his head. He collapsed on top of Benjamin. The wolf held on to Rasvan's arm, dragging him off the struggling man beneath.

      
“Get free of him! Hurry. I have your stallion. We must leave here before the whole camp is upon us,” she cried.

      
Benjamin shoved her unconscious brother away, seized his satchel and leaped to his feet. He caught Averroes' reins from Rani and swung bareback onto the stallion. They took off at a mad gallop into the night, two riders and one large wolf. The light from the waning moon silvered the twisting road into the forest.

Chapter Nineteen

      
They rode until moonset, then stopped by the side of the road when the inky night and twisting trail endangered their horses. “I do not think we have been followed,” Benjamin said.

      
“I am certain since I loosed and stampeded all the horses before I came searching for you. When they do run them to ground, they will have no idea of which way we rode.”

      
“Twas a good idea to switch back the opposite direction from Marseilles toward Vercelli, but how the devil do you know we are on the right trail?”

      
A small smile curved her lips but he could not see it in the dark. “Just because
Rom
do not read and write in your
gadje
language does not mean we are ignorant. We have our own markings, left at every crossroad from Sicily to the Baltic Sea. Each
Rom
band leaves markings for those who follow that trail after them.”

      
“I have heard stories of such, but did not credit them…until now.” They had dismounted and Benjamin sat on a rock with Avarroes' reins in his hand, watching the girl and her wolf closely. He studied her lithe figure by starlight. What would he do with her?

      
“You rescued me by attacking your brother and betrothed. Why did you risk so much, Rani? Can you ever return to your band?”

      
“No.
Kriss
would be swift and terrible for me if they ever caught me,” she said gravely, then brightened and added, “But, of course, they will never catch me. I have you and Vero to protect me.” When he made no reply, she said simply, “Let us move beyond those rocks and sleep a few hours. Vero will guard us.”

      
Benjamin did not know what else to do but agree with her suggestion. They were unable to travel farther until daylight. If only the night air were not so cold. They had no blankets, not even a saddle between them. In her race to steal their horses and scatter the herd, Rani had no time for gathering supplies. As he pondered what to do, she tugged at his hand, pulling him down in a patch of soft grass between several large rocks.

      
“Come, our body heat will keep us warm if we share it. Then we will sleep.”

      
Only if I do not breathe through my nose and smell you,
he thought grimly as he lay down on his side. Before he could say anything, she snuggled against him in the darkness, fitting her small body to his. They lay together like two spoons with her thick mat of hair bunched up around his face. Rani quickly drifted off to sleep, but Benjamin lay with his neck twisted at a most unnatural angle, turning his head away from her stench. He fought not to gag, vowing on the morrow that he would bathe her if he had to drown her doing it!