Page 5 of Viktor at Sea

Tonight, I had been a weak man in the arms of two women I shared no love with while thinking of the woman my heart ached for, but not anymore.

Starting right this second, I was on a new mission.

A land mission.

Starting right now, I would go after the one woman who ever made me feel anything, and now that I knew she wanted me as well, I wouldn’t stop until I got to hold her in my arms and call her mine.

CHAPTER THREE

Since the only woman I wanted to wake up next to was Astrid, I asked Chara and Erlene to leave as soon as I returned from the water fountain. Erlene complied immediately and didn’t dawdle around to ask any questions. Chara, on the other hand, was far less agreeable.

Chara stuck around after Erlene had left and tried her best to change my mind. She even went as far as to bend in all sorts of strange and unique ways to show me how flexible she was, claiming that we would have a great time, but I wasn’t tempted once. It only made me feel disgusted with myself for sleeping with her and Erlene in the first place.

That had nothing to do with them as women but rather, more to do with the fact that my heart belonged to Astrid Skau.

It had ever since I met her.

I just wish I had realised it sooner.

I wished I had been honest with Astrid when I first came to that conclusion over a year ago instead of the constant back-and-forth bickering we kept up.

Don’t get me wrong. I loved riling her up, but I did such a good job I think she genuinely hated me. If not that, then she disliked me enough that she didn’t want to see me.

A small smile graced my lips as I vividly remembered the moment I first realised I had feelings for Astrid.

It felt like it was only yesterday.

I was helping pack The Serpent in preparation for a short trip to some nearby islands for trade. That, and one of the islands was notorious for growing the juiciest figs at this time of year, and Barden was determined to get his hands on some as figs were Josephine’s favourite fruit.

I had been carrying a crate of dried beans when Astrid came storming down the beach with Kis in her arms and her signature scowl that she kept specially reserved for me.

“What is wrong with you? Why did you do that?” Astrid snapped at me, her lips turning down.

She must have rushed down here because she was panting slightly, and her chest was heaving. I cursed myself for letting my eyes and mind wander, but that still wasn’t enough to make me feel bad.

How could I when the simple movement was so tantalisingly delicious?

“What did I do this time? I asked, struggling to hold back my twitching lips from curling into a wicked grin and giving away my thoughts.

Astrid would not doubt slap me if she knew what I was thinking about right now. Call me a masochist, but the idea of having her hands on my body, even if it was to slap me, made it seem worth it.

“You stepped on Kis’ tail,” she accused me, reaching around Kis and over the crate I was holding to press her finger into my chest. The tip of her nail poked at my chest in disrespect, but because it was Astrid, I hardly blinked.

“What? No, I didn’t,” I denied, lying through my teeth.

In all honesty, I hadn’t been watching where I was walking when I headed down to The Serpent this morning and hadmistakenly stepped on Kis’ tail. The horrid cat hissed loudly and scratched at my leg before scrambling away, and I just knew that Astrid would march her way to me soon enough to tell me off for the assault. If you could even call it that.

“Look!” She all but growled at me, and despite her horrid attitude, her touch was gentle as she picked up Kis’ black tail with the white tip and presented it to me. I leaned in for close inspection and groaned internally when I noted the matted fur at the tip. A quick wash with some water and the rub of a towel would fix it in no time, but Astrid was mad.

When I wasn’t on the receiving end of her anger, it was endearing how much she loved that cat.

“Look what you’ve done to her! How could you?”

“It’s not that big of a deal. It’ll smooth out soon, and anyway, it looks like Kis hardly cares about it,” I tried to brush it off, but little did I know that I couldn’t have chosen worse words to say to her right now.

“Maybe Kis doesn’t care, but I do,” she growled at me again, reminding me so much of an angry kitten. Perhaps Astrid and Kis were kindred spirits who came back in the form of owner and pet. Her glare was so hard that if looks could kill, I would be twelve feet under right now because six feet simply wasn’t enough. “How could you be so nonchalant about this? You stepped on her tail, and you didn’t even apologise!”

“How can you be so sure I was the one to step on her tail?” I countered with a quirked brow.

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