Page 39 of Summer of the Viking

She tucked her chin into her chest but her being positively glowed. Silently Valdar hoped her late husband was suffering for what he’d done to her.

‘We can begin tomorrow. After you give me your first report.’

‘So...did you? Attain the grandeur that your mother longed for?’ he asked to distract his thoughts. He had no business feeling possessive about this woman. He needed to think about what he owed other people. It was odd how in a few days they felt far less real than the woman who was standing in front of him.

‘My mother died disappointed, but I think my father was pleased. He wanted the match. It suited his purposes for the estate and I was young.’ A sad smile touched her lips.

Valdar realised that he wanted to take the sadness away. He wanted to make her eyes sparkle as they had a few heartbeats ago. He concentrated on the parchment and the promises he had made to his dead friends. The gods demanded he fulfil his duty. Until he had done that, he had no right to want the things a normal man would want. He had no right to hope that the curse had been lifted.

‘These things can happen. More often than you think. Sometimes it works out.’

‘I only found out after we married what my husband was truly like. He had bedded my friend and she was in thrall to him and desperate that her husband not discover the affair.’ Her knuckles were white where she clenched the writing quill.

Giving in to impulse, he leant over and eased the quill from her fingers. ‘I hope that is not your late husband’s neck.’

A quick smile flickered across her face. ‘It was only after he died that I discovered the full truth. I’d had some misgivings, but I hadn’t been aware of the full extent of the mismanagement. I had been living in a rose-tinted dream world, seeing only what I wanted to see and not enquiring too closely about the rest.’

‘Maybe some day people will respect a woman for her brain, rather than looking towards a man with a strong arm.’ Silently he swore that he would be there for her. Telling her the truth about his heritage would only complicate matters. She needed his skill. He could leave this estate viable and then he would have done something, paid back the life debt he owed her, but he knew he would still worry about her and he would never forget her. The realisation shocked him to the core.

‘You are trying to make me feel better about the wool and the flour.’

‘A bit,’ he admitted with a shrug. Silently he thanked the gods that she hadn’t guessed his feelings. ‘You have to stop punishing yourself.’

‘It is working.’ This time her smile was like the pure sunlight coming out after a long spell of rain.

‘Did Gode speak with you? When you visited the other day? Is that why you sent Merri instead?’ he asked, wondering whether the old nurse had let slip anything about his true origins.

Gode had said very little to him after Alwynn had left and he dreaded facing the horror in her eyes when she did find out.

Her face went bright red and he knew she had been avoiding him. Something to do with Gode. ‘You must pay no attention to my nurse. Everyone knows that she is moon-touched. Some days she is better than others, but she is liable to say things which have no meaning.’

He stepped forward. Had Gode already told Alwynn? Or had she spoken in riddles? He hated that the hope sprang in his breast. Maybe the gods were with him and he could enjoy some happiness. ‘What did she say to you, Lady Alwynn?’

Her eyes flickered everywhere but on his face. ‘I should be getting back to where the women are working. There are a thousand things which could go wrong.’

‘Alwynn, what did Gode say to you?’ He put out his hand. ‘Surely you can trust me with that! If we are going to work together, we need to trust each other. If she has done something to upset you, let me know.’

Alwynn spun about on her heel, knowing her face flamed. The last thing she wanted to do was tell Valdar about the conversation with Gode and her proposition that she make him her lover. She mistimed her step and her arms circled several times in the air.

His hand came out and caught her about the middle before she fell. He hauled her against his strong body.

She forgot how to breathe, looking up at him. Her entire world seemed to come down to this instant. She wanted to go on staring at him and the curve of his lower lip, but she also knew it would be a bad idea. And how could she confess about Gode’s suggestion? Particularly as it felt so right to be in his arms. ‘I...I...’

‘Hush.’ He bent his head and his lips touched hers, gently but with firm intent.

The wild fire which had inhabited her being that first night had merely been banked, lying there glowing, waiting its chance. Her entire being fizzed and she knew she wanted more. Her body arched towards him.

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