Betrothed to the Enemy Viking by Michelle Styles

Author:Michelle Styles [Styles, Michelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-11-25T19:01:05+00:00

* * *

The dying fire made strange shadows on the rafters, shifting in the slight breeze. The wind had picked up outside, howling and driving rain against the roof, but sleep refused to come despite the softness of the bed. Cynehild toyed with the idea of rising and doing more spinning, but she suspected that if she moved, Kal would wake. Currently his breathing was a steady counterpoint to the rain.

Lately she’d feared sleep because of her dreams about Leofwine, and not doing as he had instructed. Now, though, every time she closed her eyes she remembered Kal’s touch on her waist and the way his mouth had briefly moved over hers. She barely knew the man but he made her feel alive.

And she was about to rob him. It didn’t matter that he probably didn’t even know the gold existed. It was buried on his land.

Cynehild tried to turn her thoughts to more mundane matters—like who would Brother Palni bring back with him? If she was lucky, it would be a few of Moir’s men. If she was unlucky, it would be her brother-in-law himself—or, worse still, her sister too, riding like an avenging angel.

She and Ansithe had always fought as children. They’d grown closer after Ansithe’s marriage to Moir, but Cynehild knew Ansithe wouldn’t understand why she’d taken this risk. She suspected, though, that Brother Palni had guessed about the coins...where they’d come from and her reasons for insisting that they continue.

It had all been much easier when she hadn’t actually known who Jaarl Icebeard was and hadn’t had to consider that he might be a caring person and she would want his regard. All she knew was that she wished Leofwine had never given her this burden in the first place. But because she had taken it on she would continue to the end.

She brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them. A wave of loneliness swept over her. She wasn’t entirely sure she wanted this to end. With Kal, she felt part of a team, wanted for herself. Was sharing a few kisses with him so wrong?

A sudden low moan made her sit up straight. She listened in the darkness. ‘Kal, are you all right?’

Kal began to thrash about on the makeshift pallet, shouting out, ‘Help me. Please someone help. Dying!’

She rushed towards where he lay. His hands were flailing about but she caught them and held them still. He instantly stopped. His eyes blinked open and he stared at her as if he’d never seen her before. She let his hands go and one touched the side of her face, smoothing back a tendril of her hair.

‘You are safe?’ he asked.

‘We both are.’

His eyes fluttered shut. ‘I need to know you are safe.’

He mumbled a word, a name that she couldn’t quite catch. It was probably his wife’s. Cynehild’s heart constricted. Regardless of what he might say, or what she might hope for, he was clearly not yet over her.

She had started to tiptoe away when he moaned again.

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