Page 83 of Viktor at Sea

“It’s not because of you that I’m not excited about leaving, my siren. It’s because of us,” I whispered, pressing one last kiss to the back of her hand before cupping her face. Closing the distance between us, I pressed my forehead to hers, and my eyes fluttered closed. “We’ve only been married for a few days. I can’t imagine leaving you behind, Astrid. And for several months. Possibly longer.”

“Youarefeeling this way because of me,” Astrid protested, and the way she sniffled quietly, trying to hide it from me made me so much angrier at Barden. If he had only been a bit more understanding and allowed us some more time to enjoy married life. If only he hadn’t forced this on me by threatening my Captaincy. If only Barden remembered what it was like to be newly married and in love.

I didn’t have anyone before, but now, I have everything and everyone I could possibly need. I had Astrid, the love of my life, and a family and people to call my own, even a cat, and he was trying to take me away from them.

“I’m feeling this way because I love you, and we’ve just gotten married. The thought of not being able to see you again for the next couple of months breaks my heart. I don’t know how I’ll survive those months without you, my siren.”

“Don’t say that,” Astrid protested, but I shook my head, not wanting to listen. Not when my heart broke at the idea of being away from her, the love of my life and the owner of my heart, for so long. “Don’t get me wrong,” she sniffled again, leaning into my touch. “I’m sad you’re leaving, but this is your job. I knowI joke that you’re a pirate, but you’re Captain of The Serpent. I knew that before I agreed to marry you. Eventually, I knew this would happen, that you would have to leave on a mission, possibly one as long as this one, but I hoped it wouldn’t be so soon.”

“I hoped it wouldn’t be so soon either, and I think that’s what is making this so much harder,” I murmured, leaning toward her until the tip of my nose brushed against hers. “Barden didn’t give me a choice,” I admitted, not wanting to hide anything else from her.

“What do you mean?”

“He threatened to take away my Captaincy if I didn’t agree to go on this mission. If he did that, I wouldn’t be able to work in Jorvik again.”

“I can’t believe him!” Astrid gasped and moved to stand.

“Astrid,” I chuckled before she acted on the temptation of marching over to Barden’s hut and giving him a piece of her mind. “I know you’re angry at him, and so am I, but if we look at this from his perspective, this is too good of an opportunity to pass up on.”

“Don’t try to make excuses for that selfish man,” she huffed and leaned into me. “He doesn’t deserve it for how he’s treated you. You’re the best thing to happen to Jorvik. He should show you some respect.”

“I’m not making excuses for him. I just see where he’s coming from,” I chuckled and tightened my arms around her, bringing her impossibly closer until she rested her head on my chest, and some of that anger faded. Her anger and frustration were completely justified, but I hated to see her this way. Especially when we had such little time left together. “There’s something else I need to tell you.”

“What could be worse than this?” Astrid asked in a small voice, taking in the ghastly expression on my face.

“We leave in two days.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

“Why do you have that look on your face?” Astrid groaned as she rolled onto her back, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

“What look?” I asked innocently.

“The kind of look which tells me I’m going to regret asking you this,” she laughed, but instead of answering, I scooped my arms underneath her and carried her out of bed. “I wasn’t done sleeping,” she groaned into my neck.

“We have the rest of our lives to sleep,” I chuckled. “But we only have today left before I leave tomorrow.”

Immediately, I regretted saying that. I could feel her lips turn down at the corners into a sad frown, and she tightened her arms around my neck. Why did I have to go and ruin the mood like that so early in the morning? We were supposed to be making the most of today. Not spending it sad and mopey.

“Today is the last day,” she echoed.

“So, that means we have to make the most of today,” I told her.

As tempting as it was to head back into bed and hold Astrid all day until Barden came to force us apart tomorrow, I was determined to make the most of our limited time. And thatmeant doing all the things we couldn’t do while I was away at sea today. Or at least as many as we could fit in.

“What have you got in mind?” She asked.

“I thought we could start the day off with some breakfast.”

“Sounds like a good plan.”

“In the forest,” I stated, finally letting her down so we could get dressed. “Come on. The sooner we get dressed, the sooner we can leave.”

“The forest?” She echoed in surprise.

“Yes,” I confirmed with a grin, pulling up my trousers before reaching for a tunic. “We’re going to have a breakfast picnic. I packed the hamper last night after you fell asleep.”

“What happened to sleeping at night?” There was a teasing smile on her face.

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