Rough and Ready by Sandra Hill

Author:Sandra Hill
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, Viking Series II, Adult, Humour, Time Travel
ISBN: 0425213021
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2006-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

Just a little male bonding . . .

Torolf and his buddies sat around a campfire with Thorfinn and Steven, sipping fine ale, following a day of hard military exercise.

The two Norsemen had no knowledge of modern weapons or military maneuvers, but they were excellent warriors, just the same. All of the SEALs, himself included, had been impressed at how well they had kept up with a hard routine today. And, actually, the two men had taught them a thing or two about fighting, as well.

“I know we believe in different types of fighting,” Torolf started off with his cousins, “but there are some basic tenets we all have to follow on this mission . . . or all bets are off.”

“What tenets?” Thorfinn asked suspiciously.

“First of all, we—the five of us—are U.S. Navy SEALs.”

Steven grinned and made a barklike sound mimicking seals: “Ork, ork, ork!”

“Not that kind of seal, lamebrain,” he remarked to Steven, not unkindly. It was hard not to like Steven. Hilda would say it was because they were cut from the same “jestsome” cloth. “SEALs is the name of an elite military group that stands for sea, air, and land.”

Thorfinn studied him closely. “Why did you not just say so, instead of taking on that silly name?”

Aaarrgh! “One of our integral exercises is based on CQD, or Close Quarter Defense. That’s what we insist be followed in taking Steinolf down.”

“Insist? What gives you the right to insist?” Thorfinn again. The jerk!

“Norstead is mine, and Amberstead belongs to Hilda. That gives me the right.”

“You cannot win without our help,” Thorfinn pointed out. Torolf shrugged. Asshole!

“Tell us what you have in mind,” Steven intervened, “and then we will all decide what is best.”

“Your brother could take personality lessons from you,” Torolf told Steven.

“Dost really think I care what you think of me?” Thorfinn gave him a superior, snoot-up-in-the-air glance of disdain.

“That chip on your shoulder must really weigh you down.”

“You do not even speak like a Viking anymore.”

“Please!” JAM stood and raised his hands in the air like a referee or a priest. “Let’s calm down and work together.”

Torolf and Thorfinn both grinned at each other. They’d enjoyed the verbal sparring.

“CQD is a combination of martial arts, commando-style fighting, and spiritual focusing. It’s based on the idea of an inner warrior.” Torolf was having a hard time explaining modern military terms in eleventh-century language.

“Speak clearly, cousin. Your words are clear as mud,” Thorfinn told him.

“There’s one part of CQD that is important to us, and we think it has to be followed here. CQD can be explosively violent in one situation and mild in another. It’s called earned treatment. In other words, not all of the enemy deserve to be killed, and that decision has to be made on the spot. There may be people, even soldiers, in Norstead and Amberstead who do not deserve death.”

Thorfinn drew his lips in thoughtfully. “It has always been my policy to spare women and bairns.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“How do you tell the good enemy from the bad?” Steven asked.

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