Dream of Me/Believe in Me

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    Nor was that the extent of it. Dragon possessed great wealth in his own right. Together, the Hakonson brothers maintained a trading empire that stretched from theirnorthern stronghold to the shores of the Mediterranean and even beyond.
    When she expressed surprise at all this, Wolf merely shrugged. “A strong arm and a useful mind don't seem to go together all that often. When they do, a man finds more opportunity than he can take.”
    She knew he was being too modest. The
strong arm
of which he spoke was a fighting force feared throughout the world, and as for the
useful mind
, she already knew him to be keenly intelligent and perceptive.
    So now here she was, surrounded by bolts of the most exotically beautiful cloth she had ever seen, the vivid colors of silks, satins, linens, and brocades glowing in the sun filtering through the open windows of the lodge to mingle with the barbaric luxury already present there. The fabrics covered the bed, the table, the chairs, and spilled over onto the floor.
    Nor was that all. Set among them were intricate wooden chests banded with bronze and gold, containing within them drawer after drawer of fragrant spices. Cymbra opened one drawer and found sticks of precious cinnamon. In another were pungent mustard seeds. Still another held fragile threads of saffron in such quantity as to make her gasp, for this spice was the rarest and most costly by far. On and on the drawers went until she thought she must surely have enough spices to last her a lifetime.
    “We will need a large chest for the kitchens,” she said to Brita, who was helping her sort through everything. “Something sturdy and big enough to hold all these.”
    The Irish girl, who looked as dazed as Cymbra felt, nodded. “Something with a good lock on it, too, and bolted to the floor. The folk here are honest as the day is long but a stranger just passing through might be foolishly tempted.”
    This was good sense. A handful of spices, easily concealed,could buy a man more than he would see from a year of labor.
    “We'll have to find a place for all this fabric, too,” Cymbra said. “It can't stay in here.”
    Brita shook her head in wonder as she held up a length of deep blue brocade intricately stitched with silver swirls. The effect made Cymbra think of dancing stars weaving complex patterns across the night sky.
    “Have you ever seen the like?” the Irish girl asked. “Or even imagined it existed?”
    “I've seen some beautiful fabrics but never so many in one place at the same time. They are exquisite, but truly I don't know how we can possibly use all this. None of them are what could be called practical.”
    Brita giggled. She draped a link of apricot-hued gauze across the bed and said, “Oh, I don't know, my lady. That one looks very useful to me.”
    “Do you think women really wear such things?” Cymbra asked as she eyed the cloth. It was undeniably beautiful but even the thought of wearing it made her blush. Its purpose was so very evident.
    “Indeed! When I was in Hedeby, I heard many a tale about women in the East and the things they do. Why, do you know some of them shave their pubes and put perfume there?”
    “I wasn't aware of that.” Brita's frankness surprised her but she couldn't deny that she was curious. Dragon certainly had fond memories of the East and she had no doubt her husband's were just as pleasant.
    “And they rouge their nipples,” Brita went on. “Some of them even have little tattoos of flowers and such like on their privates. Oh, and they have all sorts of toys—”
    Cymbra coughed to cover her shock.
“Toys?”
    Brita laughed. “You'd be amazed. There are sheaths to make a man bigger so he feels more potent, some with nubs on them that are supposed to excite women evenmore. There are little balls women can put up inside to excite themselves. And there are even bands men can wear at the base of their cocks to make them stay hard and prolong their pleasure.”
    Cymbra stared at her in amazement so great as to overcome her embarrassment. “People actually use such things?”
    “That and more, my lady. There are ointments to rub on various places with various effects, elixirs of every sort, incantations, magic incense, and on and on.” She laughed. “I know it all sounds unbelievable but it seems there are no limits to people's imagination, at least not when it comes to coupling.”
    “Apparently not.” And to think she had believed herself