Page 38 of Viktor at Sea

We were destined for one another. I knew we were.

There wasn’t anything anyone could say or do that could change my mind.

Astrid was mine, just as I was hers.

When Isle came into view, and we spotted Asmund waiting for us on the shore with some of his men, I took over for Manny to ensure safe docking.

Docking a ship was not part of the first lesson.

The Chief of Isle, Asmund, was always a rather eccentric sort of fellow, and while his company was always enjoyable, I wished this to be a swift ordeal. I hoped to drop off the spears, collect the coins he owed Barden and be back on our way to Jorvik.

For Jorvik was where I had left my heart behind.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“Captain Viktor!” Asmund cheered as I dismounted from The Serpent. “I wasn’t aware I would have the pleasure of seeing you today. What’s Barden thinking, sending his Captain on such an insignificant trip? Surely, you have lower men to complete such a job.”

“I wanted to be back at sea,” I explained, returning his grin. “I’ve been on land for far too long.”

“I always suspected you to be a merman,” Asmund chuckled and threw an arm over my shoulder, steering me away from The Serpent. “It’s time for lunch. Join us. There’s more than enough food to go around.”

“Oh no, we couldn’t.” I shook my head and forced him to halt in his steps. “We plan to return to Jorvik before it gets dark.”

“That’s not possible, Captain. You must dine with us before we discuss business, especially with how malnourished you look,” Asmund chuckled and looked toward Caspian and Manny, his eyes lingering on the latter. “Plus, we’ve got a future Chief amongst our midst. I can’t let you leave without a proper meal. We must celebrate.”

I opened my mouth to deny his offer politely, but when he moved to pull Caspian and Manny into his midst, throwing anarm over each of their shoulders, I knew that there was no way of me winning this argument. The sooner we had dinner with Asmund, the sooner we could conduct our business and return to Jorvik.

When Asmund mentioned a celebratory dinner before we discussed business, I should have known it would be so much more than a casual dinner. Nothing was ever casual with Asmund.

Asmund sat in the centre with Manny and Caspian on one side and me on his other side. We indulged in some succulent meat, bread and fresh fruit which had just been picked before we took our seats. All the while, three women danced in front of us, all of them scantily dressed and moving their hips in ways I had only seen in bed before.

“All of this food is so delicious,” I leaned over to speak to Asmund who was enjoying the dancing a bit too much for a man who had a wife and young daughter. “But something tells me that you knew of our arrival beforehand.”

“Barden may have mentioned it to one of my men when he stopped by your island yesterday for some food while on return from his travels,” Asmund chuckled, his eyes trained on one specific dancer.

The way his eyes locked with the main dancer, lingering on the curve of her waist and hips in the skin-tight dress she was wearing, told me that they were far more acquainted than a married man ought to be with a single lady. Especially when she looked more than a decade younger than him and his wife.

My eyebrows shot up in surprise at his admission. Barden had planned this even before my fight with Crosby this morning.

While I was slightly irked by his interference in my life, the larger part of me was grateful that he had taken the initiative to get me away from Jorvik, if even for just a little while. I needed it more than I could imagine.

I already felt refreshed despite the erotic, sultry dancers in front of us. If I weren’t so in love with Astrid, perhaps I would have been turned on by the dirty dancing in front of me. Three thighs poked out from the high slits in their dresses, bent at the knee and moving in all sorts of directions as they skirted around on the invisible stage in front of us. The skirts of their dresses swished around them, their arms entangling and detangling, large, permanent smiles on their overly painted faces, their tight dresses where their boobs looked like they were in danger of popping out at any given moment, and my favourite part of all, the sultry, come-hither looks in their eyes which told me that if given the chance, they would drag me into their bed for some dirty, sweaty fun that would last all night.

So much had changed in such little time, but my heart was still the same. It just took my brain a little longer to decipher what my heart had been trying to tell it the whole time.

Why have one of these women when I had Astrid?

Why settle for one mediocre night when I could spend the rest of eternity with the love of my life in my arms? We could stay like that, just holding each other as we slept, and it would still be more pleasurable than one night with any of these women.

When I turned to the right, I saw Asmund was drooling at the corner of his mouth, his dinner now long forgotten.

How did Asmund get away with this when he was married? Didn’t his wife, the Chiefess of Isle, have anything to say about it? If Barden ever tried to pull something like this, not that I believed his eyes would ever wander from his wife, I knew Josephine would batter him red and blue and then throw him into the deepest depths of the sea for the sharks.

“You can have any of those two dancers that you want,” Asmund leaned over to tell me, a sleazy grin on his face. “You can’t have the one in front though. She’s my special little friend.If you know what I mean.” He winked and playfully shoved my shoulder.

“Oh, I know what you mean,” I chuckled tastelessly. “Thanks, but no, thanks.”

“Why not?” Asmund frowned, seemingly confused by my denial.

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