Valkyrie Heat (3 page)

creepy, like hands were sliding against her and she hastened her

steps.

When Sky walked through the cave opening and into the

brilliant sunlight, she blinked rapidly. She gazed about with

interest. The trees were tall, stretching to the cloudless blue sky.

Mountains were in the distance. The foliage was green and lush.

The sun was blazing high above her. She took a step forward and

yelped when her foot stepped onto something sharp. Sky hopped

to a large rock. She felt panicked. Her hiking boots and socks were

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Viking Warriors Book 3: Valkyrie Heat

gone. When her behind hit the cold hard rock she gasped in

surprise and jumped back up. Not only were her boots and socks

goneso were the rest of her clothes!

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Viking Warriors Book 3: Valkyrie Heat

Chapter 1

Sky wrapped her arm around her breasts, her hand lowered to

shield her vaginal area. Her eyes darted everywhere at once

frantically. What happened to her clothes? She couldn’t let Brody

see her naked. She would never hear the end of it. The jokes he

would crack as he would stare at her chest and declare them the

flatlands. She could use Band-Aids as bras. He would point and

laugh and ask her if it was her mound or had a mouse fallen asleep

on her crotch. She stood, shaking with some indecision, thinking to

run back into the cave, but that was where Rolf was. She didn’t

want him seeing her naked either, comparing her to Colleen’s

voluptuous body.

She shifted from foot to foot uncertainly. She couldn’t just

stand there naked, anyone could come alongno, it would be

safer with Rolf. Feeling positive Rolf wouldn’t hesitate to hand her

his shirt, she crept closer to the cave, waiting, and wondering. At

any minute would someone jump out and yell surprise? It had to be

a joke. But how the hell did they get her clothes? Maybe they had

planted some chemical in the foggy mist. The idea was plausible.

Being an archeologist, Brody was always interested in anything that

could disintegrate cloth but not existing flesh or bone. Brody had

access to some very ‘stupid’ intelligent friends who were also

pranksters. But she wouldn’t believe Rolf was involved, especially

if it were experimental. No, more than likely he would be just as

pissed as she was.

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Viking Warriors Book 3: Valkyrie Heat

When Sky reentered the cave, all the steam seemed to have

disappeared. The cave was cold and dark—stale. She had lost her

flashlight. It was nowhere to be seen. Hesitantly, she ventured

further. She swallowed heavily. It was dim but thankfully the

sunlight behind her cast just enough light to move forward. Her

arms clasped harder at her breasts when she shivered. She could

still feel the coolness of the coins inside the pouch in her one closed

palm.

“Colleen?” she whispered. No response. “
Colleen
.” Louder and

more urgent. She whimpered. “Rolf?”

Only dead silence greeted her. She walked back through the

cave until she came to the original opening she had come

through—or so she thought. When she exited there were no

vehicles. Everything looked different. Like the other entrance, the

foliage out here was lush; the trees so massive five people holding

hands couldn’t span the trunks.
Where is the jeep?

“Rolf?” she called. Her voice seemed lost in the vastness

before her. All sense of propriety vanished. “Brody!” she yelled.

A bird twittered loudly, flying off in a flurry from a low

branch and she spun about. Vegetation crunched under her tender

feet in her moment of panic until she took care where to step. She

realized this wasn’t the same cave entrance they had used. Nothing

looked the same, it was so eerie. The air smelled different…alone.

She knew it was an odd analysis, but no matter where Sky had ever

ventured there had always been the telltale odor of some type of

civilization. Her teeth chattered in her growing fear. Uneasily she

realized this was no joke. Even Brody wouldn’t be this cruel. The

man was dense, but not mean.

“Rolf?”

No one answered.

Sky ventured farther into the forest. Shallow puffs of her

quick intake of breath made her heart pound harder. Tentative

fingers trailed over tree bark and lifted to push at hanging vines.

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Viking Warriors Book 3: Valkyrie Heat

She couldn’t stop her body from quivering. Cautious feet made

minimal sound on the earth floor strewn with old and new leaves.

Tiny twigs snapped and she cringed, treading lighter. Never in her

life had she seen woods such as these. Where on earth was she?

“Hello?” she called, her voice tight and scratchy.

She stopped caring that she was nude, she just wanted to hear

a human voice, throw herself into human armseven Brody’s. She

realized then how frightened she was. Gingerly, she took small

baby steps. She climbed over a few logs and stumps, all the while

wondering if she should head back to the cave. She stopped and

looked back; she had traversed farther than she realized because the

cave was no longer within her sight. Perhaps if she walked far

enough she would find someone. Rolf had to be looking for her,

but he would be looking in the cave. Sky turned and went back. It

became apparent she was already lost. Was the cave to her left or

to her right?

“Rolf?” she cried out loudly.

Find me
.

Sky perched delicately on a fallen log, the moss felt moist and

cool against her bare backside. Her feet were already tender from

the hard ground. Her toes curled in the chill air.
The best thing to do

when lost is to remain right where I am.
She shivered as the sun slowly

began to set in the horizon. Her stomach growled. She wondered if

Rolf was as frantic as she was feeling. No doubt he was. As the sun

dipped lower, Sky felt her hackles rise when a wolf howled in the

distance. Sky scrambled to her feet, once more her heart

hammered within her chest. She dropped her coin pouch onto the

log, not caring as some spilled and climbed the nearest tree. Up,

up she went into its vastness. She hoped her body was undetectable

from the ground to the creatures of the night. Her arms wrapped

around the massive trunk, her behind settling onto a huge limb.

Her legs, that had been dangling pulled to her chest. Naked, cold,

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Viking Warriors Book 3: Valkyrie Heat

hungry and frightened, she spent the night clinging precariously to

the tree branches trembling.

When the first hint of morning came, Sky ventured from the

tree. Her body was cramped. She was exhausted and feeling

lethargic from the cold. She stretched and shook out her limbs.

From the very recesses of her mind she knew she had to get mobile

or die. Bending down she picked up the dew-covered coins that

had spilled in her haste the previous night. She emptied the

contents of the pouch into her hand. Twenty coins in all. She

dropped them back into the pouch feeling if she had to, she would

pay someone for food and clothes. Too bad for Rolf that they

belonged to him, because he was part of the reason she was in this

mess. Rolf should have stopped Brody’s teasing long ago. She

didn’t care if the damned man stirred mixed emotions in her. The

next time Brody said something, she would charge him with sexual

harassment!

Sky began walking in what she hoped was the direction of the

cave. She stumbled along for hours, ever wary of the vegetation

that pulled at her unclad body. Thankfully, the sun rose to filter in

through the tall trees to warm her. The forest seemed to go on

forever. It began to grow late in the day again all too soon. She was

terrified she would spend another long, lonely, frigid night alone.

Sky whimpered gratefully when a stream came into view. She

raced to it parched. Huge mouthfuls of cold water slid past her

lips. In her eagerness she choked, coughed, then let the water glide

down her throat until she was finally satisfied. The chilly water was

invigorating. It sharpened her mind.

An enterprising young woman, Sky searched the banks. She

knew she needed to start a fire. Without some type of clothing or

warmth she was subject to hypothermia. But if she had water and

warmth she would survive longer and give her rescuers much

needed time to track her down. There was no doubt in her mind

that someone would find her. Luck was on her side. She found iron

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Viking Warriors Book 3: Valkyrie Heat

pyrite and some flint. She willed her intelligent mind to take

charge of her situation. Iron pyrite, or fool’s gold, was the most

common of sulfide minerals. Flint was a hard sedimentary

cryptocrystalline. When struck together, the two produced a

spark. If she could collect dried kindling, she would have heat and a

modicum of protection from wild animals. If she could gather

some pine needles, they would smoke and perhaps give someone

an indication she was out here.

Her thoughts began to race. She looked down at her hip

where she had banged into a broken branch on a tree. A bruise was

beginning to form. Sky always seemed to be battling anemia. She

had to get food. If she were to turn over a few logs and rocks she

could find worms and insects to fish with. All she needed was some

strong vine and a twig sharpened at each end with a stone.

Sky glanced at her immediate area wondering how to make a

shelter. Her mind filled with determination and optimism. She was

going to survive, she just needed her wits about her. An odd aroma

reached to invade her mind’s ramblings. She stood and sniffed the

air. A familiar smell teased her nostrils and her heart filled with

mounting hope—she smelled smoke. It wasn’t wishful thinking

either. Her eyes lifted to the sky and she saw a dark cloud billow in

the distance. The stones she held clutched within her palm dropped

to the ground in relief. She had never started a fire that way. Now

it would seem she wouldn’t have to. Hurriedly, Sky followed the

distant cloud. Someone must be there; someone had to be there.

On and on she ran until a small village came into view. Sky

ventured closer with caution, she was nude after all. Her eyes grew

wide with puzzlement. No one was about. The homes were odd

structures—wood, stone and mudlike. The thatched roofs were

also made of wood and mud and thick grass. There were eight of

them, one was burnt almost to the ground and still smoldered. It

looked like a movie setting for an old Viking film—a battle scene

of destruction.

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Viking Warriors Book 3: Valkyrie Heat

“Hello?” Her voice cracked and she called out again. Dead

silence greeted her.

She walked cautiously to a door that was partway open and

pushed on the heavy wood. It swung slowly inwards. It was dark

inside, only a small amount of light from an open leather flap at the

window shone in. It took a moment for her to adjust from the light

outside. Her eyes blinked in shocked surprise. A woman was nude

lying across a table belly down. She wasn’t moving, her hands were

tied behind her back. The sight, even though before her, wasn’t

registering. It was a mistake, a hoax. Morbid curiosity moved her

to prove herself wrong. Sky’s feet shuffled forward as though made

of lead as she ventured forth timidly. The woman’s eyes were open

in a sightless terrified stare. When Sky reached to check for a pulse

at the woman’s neck she felt a slickness. When her hand pulled

away, it was covered in blood. She gazed upon it with

incomprehension. She knew what it was, she just couldn’t believe

it was on her hand. Her body began to shake with fear. The woman

was dead, murdered. This was no movie scene, it was real. Sky

threw up the water she had just drunk.

Sky backed out of the hut shaking. She ventured into home

after home, desperate to find someone alive. She became more

horrified with each discovery. Everyone—old men, women and

children of all ages, babes in arms—was dead. Each one

slaughtered. The last home was where she found clothing near a

young man’s body, the only things not saturated in blood. With

repentance she reached for the material feeling guilty as though

stealing, or disturbing the lad’s rest.

“I’m so sorry.”

She heard an apology muttered then realized she had spoken

the words aloud. She threw the shirt over her head; it was way too

big, concealing her hands in cuffs that hung. The baggy material

dropped just past her hips and was bulky, giving her a broader

appearance. It was heavy for such soft material. Her hand lifted to

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Viking Warriors Book 3: Valkyrie Heat

the front of the garment. Across her chest the feel of stiff hardened

leather was apparent, and flattened her already tiny breasts further.