VIKING'S CURSED BRIDE, THE by MACMILLAN MAIRIBETH

Author:MACMILLAN, MAIRIBETH [MACMILLAN, MAIRIBETH]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing
Published: 2019-10-23T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Tears sprang to Aoife’s eyes, but she would not let them fall. So, it was true. Her father really did not care whether she lived or died. She straightened and pushed against Tormod but he held onto her.

“Where are you going?”

She frowned. “Back to the hall, like you said.”

“Go to our room and bar the door,” he said. “I will fight for you. I will keep you safe.”

She stared at him for a second, then shook her head. “No, I will go to the main hall. Find Ragna and do what she tells me. Fight if I have to.”

Tormod opened his mouth as if about to speak, then closed it.

She started to leave, but he pulled her back again.

“Did you know of this?” he asked. “Did you know that he would have you killed even as I thought your presence made us safe?”

She gulped, unsure what the right answer to this was. “No.” She tried to pull away but he held her firm. “I didn’t know. I thought that maybe Ula might have…” She tried to twist in his arms and this time he let her. She wasn’t sure it helped. Now they were pressed against each other, his face close enough to hers that it seemed their breaths mingled and their bodies were almost as one. “I thought my father cared for me, that he would protect me, then…”

“Then he made you marry me.”

“I wondered what his motives were but I didn’t think he would let me die. I knew Ula wanted me out of the way of her own daughters but I thought my father... I fear that everything has changed since I lived at Dun Cadell. I do not think my father is still… I cannot believe he is still in control, or that he would order them to kill me. I just can’t.” She tried to laugh, but it ended up as a choked sob.

“You are not disposable to me.” His mouth closed over hers, hard. He sought to possess her, devour her, steal her will away from her.

She felt him harden against the softness of her stomach, then broke their kiss and blinked up at him in confusion. How could he be thinking of that when he was about to fight? She heard a noise and realised how much closer their attackers were. She had to leave him. Here she was a distraction—she must let him turn his passion to fighting. She took a step away from him. “I will be in the hall with the others. Come back to me.”

“I will.” He kissed her again and pushed her away towards the village.

Aoife crept back to the hall. Just as she reached the main door, she heard a boat scrape on the shore and many feet splash into the water. She heard voices and thought she recognised at least one of them. The knowledge made her feel sick. How could her own kin turn on her like this?

Praying Elisedd was safe at Håkon’s farm, she whispered through the door and Ragna opened it for her.

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