Viking Warrior, Unwilling Wife

‘Interesting.’ Vikar stroked his chin and his eyes gleamed. ‘It saves me having to put a sword through an innocent man.’

‘Why would you want to do that?’

‘No man should live if he forces his woman to fight.’ A muscle in Vikar’s cheek jumped. ‘You should never have been out there, Sela. Women are made for other pleasures.’

‘Perhaps I have giantess blood like Skathi in the legends. She put on her father’s armour to avenge his death and marched all the way to Aesgard to challenge the gods.’

‘But your father lives.’ He lifted his eyebrows and had the bad grace to appear amused, as if he had caught her playing in her brother’s armour, instead of trying to defend her hall.

‘Things had to be done. A defence had to be made.’

‘But not by you, Sela. Your father was the jaarl. It is to his banner the men flocked.’

‘My father…’ Sela hated the way her voice faltered. She would have to confess the truth about her father’s affliction. ‘My father is ill. He cannot lift his sword. I had no other choice.’

‘If you father is that ill, that afflicted, why did he allow Hafdan to sail away?’

‘Hafdan wanted more—more power, more everything. My father felt that letting him go to Permia would give him the prestige he craved.’

‘Your tales grow more fantastic by the breath.’

Sela fought the urge to bury her face in her hands. He did not believe her. She had told the truth and he did not believe her. ‘It is the truth, even you must see that.’

‘Hafdan left, knowing you were unmarried and your father about to breathe his last?’ He slapped his hand against his thigh. ‘Hafdan always sailed under your father’s orders. He left to war against the Viken. He is now dead and your father’s plot is in ruins. Everything your father valued belongs to me…including you.’

‘What are you planning to do with me?’

‘You are unmarried.’ Vikar took a step towards her. A lazy smile appeared on his face. ‘You need a protector.’

Sela put her hand to her throat as she stepped backwards and felt the chest digging into her legs. ‘What sort of protector?’

His eyes raked her form, lingered on her breasts. ‘You would make an admirable concubine.’

Chapter Three

‘To you?’ Sela’s mouth went dry as the word echoed in her brain. The walls of her father’s chamber appeared to have shrunk, pushing her towards him, towards his hard unyielding body.

Unbidden, a memory of the last time they had joined assaulted her senses, the way his hands had stroked her body, playing it as expertly as he played the lyre, how his mouth had drawn the cry from her throat as the two reached their peak at the same time. She pushed it away, back in a place where she never ventured. She refused to remember what it was like before his betrayal, before she had learnt the truth. She forced her lip to curl.

‘I will pass, thank you very much.’

‘A challenge? You know I am never one to resist a challenge.’ A hint of laughter echoed in his voice. Sela remembered when that particular sound had sent shivers of delight down her spine. Such things had vanished years ago, along with her girlish illusions. She had grown in the four years since she had last seen him, become a different person. And the person she had become would not be attracted to him and his easy charm.

‘A refusal.’ She crossed her arms over her breasts, stared into his eyes and forced her lips to smile. ‘Surely by now, you must know the difference.’

A muscle in Vikar’s cheek jumped and his body grew still. Sela swallowed hard. Had she gone too far? A tiny shiver passed over her. She took a step backwards and tried to look somewhere other than at the green flame flickering in the depths of his eyes.

Vikar’s hands closed around her upper arms. He hauled her towards him until their bodies collided. The softness of her curves met the unyielding strength of his muscle.

‘Are you saying we were not good together? I seem to recall differently.’

He lowered his lips, captured hers, plundered them with expertise. His mouth drew the breath from her body, replaced it with a growing heat. Her body began to melt. A soft sigh escaped from her throat. His arms came around her, cradled her firmly against his body as her lips gave way under the onslaught.

Practised. Planned. Cynical.

Sela pushed against his chest with her last ounce of resolution, controlled her breathing and his arms fell away. Cool air encircled her as she sought to regain control of her breathing. Even in that brief span of time, her lips ached, longed for the warmth of his touch again, but she forced her body to remember how he had trampled her heart in the dust. She hoped he had missed her response.

‘My point proved.’ He inclined his head and a dimple flashed in the corner of his mouth. ‘We were good together. You and I.’

‘There is more to marriage than sexual attraction.’

‘Agreed, but it does help.’ He ran a finger down her cheek, and another pulse of warmth went unbidden through her. ‘It makes everything easier, less complicated.’

‘Our marriage died a long time ago.’ Sela jerked her head away. ‘It cannot be remade.’

‘I don’t believe I offered marriage. I simply stated the obvious.’ His eyes hardened. ‘You need a protector.’

Sela crossed her arms over her aching breasts. She gave a short laugh. Brittle and too high pitched. She swallowed hard and tried again.

‘I agree—I need protecting…from you and men like you. Men who use and discard women.’ A small sense of satisfaction filled her as Vikar’s jaw tightened. The barb had hit home. Good. She waited another heartbeat, then continued, making sure her voice dripped honey. ‘And you? What does your new wife think of your adventures? Is she more accommodating? How many concubines do you keep?’

Sela sought to keep control of her emotions. She was over him. She had to remember what he was like. She had seen the evidence, seen them with their heads together, laughing over some quip, her hand touching his cheek. It had been a knife in her heart.

His lips twisted into a sardonic smile.

‘I have yet to remarry.’ He gave a slight bow. ‘Like you, my first experience left a bitter taste, but Thorkell keeps trying to convince me that marriage is a worthy state. Apparently I need children tumbling about my hall, like young puppies. Haakon agrees. He says it will change my life. The touch of my own flesh and blood clutching my finger.’

Sela’s heart constricted and she shifted uneasily. How could she explain, if he did not know? How could she tell him about his son? How could she have Kjartan torn from her? She dug her fingernails into the palms of her hand.

‘And Asa? What does she say on the subject?’ The words slipped out before she could stop them—anything to keep away from the potentially disastrous subject of children. It was only when they echoed through the chamber that Sela realised how mean spirited they must sound.

‘Asa understands my reasoning.’ The green in his eyes grew cold. ‘It was a deep regret of hers that you two never became friends.’

Sela tightened her lips. Asa had had no intention of ever being friends with Sela all those years ago. She had taken great delight in humiliating her, pointing out her every mistake, laughing at her dress sense, shaking her head in mock despair at Sela’s unsophisticated ways. It was only when Sela discovered Asa’s love token beside her bed that she had known the truth. But that was in the past. And the past was finished. There was no return. There was only the future.

‘I do not want to make a rash decision. Can I have some time to think about your generous offer?’ Sela nodded towards the hall as the shouts of the men grew louder. ‘Your men will need your expert direction about what to steal.’

Vikar looked at her for a long time. Suddenly his green eyes blazed. ‘There can only be one answer, Sela.’

‘There is always more than one answer in life, Vikar. Haven’t you learnt that by now?’

‘I have bandied words with you for long enough.’

His hand closed around her arm, and he led her to the little room where her father did his accounts.

‘Why have you taken me here?’

‘It is a place for you to be alone. A place where I know there are no secret passages—only one entrance and exit.’ He gave a small nod of satisfaction. ‘And the lock is complex. You need to turn the key three times.’