Page 83 of Shared By the Vikings

Erik was taller and wider than Raud, though also a little older and heavier. It would be too close for comfort and she couldn’t bear the thought of losing either of them.

They will fight to the death.

“Please, Raud, no. I’m so happy to see you. I thought you dead, that Aegir had taken you. I imagined you feasting with the gods in Valhalla but you’re not and for that I am thankful. I am joyful.”

“I’m not in Valhalla, I’ve been searching for you.” Raud eyed Erik cautiously but he didn’t raise his sword again.

“And you’ve found me, please, I want to hold you.”

“You’re ours now,” Gunnvar said, his voice low and dangerous.

“But I am also his.” She frowned. “I was Raud’s first, remember.”

“Things have changed.”

“Not in my heart.” She banged her palm onto her chest. “Raud, please.”

Raud allowed his sword tip to trace the sand. As it did so, his shoulders hunched forward and he sighed.

Erik stabbed his weapon downward, the end disappearing completely. “It is true, Gunnvar. She did belong to Raud first.” He kept his fist wrapped around the handle of his sword.

“Gunnvar.” Ingrid finally tugged from his hold. “You have to see it from Raud’s point of view. We came to this land to marry and be together and now—”

“Now you have found us.”

“Ja.” She rested her hand on his shoulder. “I have, but that hasn’t stopped me missing Raud while we have been here or changed my desire to have him in my life.”

“Ingrid,” Raud said. “I don’t understand. You’re with all three of these men now?”

“I am a princess. I may take many husbands.” She tipped her chin. Tali had already asked to wed her, and he’d been sure Erik and Gunnvar would too, soon. She’d accept all of them. How could she not?

“Ja, you are a princess.” Raud released his sword. It fell to the sand with a soft thump. “And you should be treated as such.” He rushed up to her and dropped to one knee. He took her right hand in his and rested his cheek on her palm with his eyes closed. “And I will make a sacrifice to Thor to thank him for your safe delivery from the storm that night.”

Ingrid looked down at his messy blond hair and wide shoulders. He had a streak of dirt on his cheek and his lashes were golden tipped from the many days of sun.

“Thank you.” She stroked his hair, watching how the strands feathered through her fingers.

“I am sorry I did not save you when the boat was ripped apart by Aegir’s ocean.”

“It was not your destiny to,” Erik said. “But ours.”

“I thank you.” Raud clenched his jaw. “My heart is grateful for that act.”

“It was for her, not you,” Erik said. “And also for me. A seer told me Ingrid was in my future. I had no choice but to follow the path fate had dealt us.”

“It is true,” Ingrid said, running her hand to Raud’s shoulder, and enjoying reminding herself of the feel of him. “We are each other’s destiny... all of us.”

“All of us,” he repeated as though the words were settling, like snowflakes, in his mind and soul.

“You must accept that I cannot be solely yours now, Raud. That you will have to share my love and sex.”

He raised his head and she studied his familiar blue eyes. They were like coming home, yet there was something new in their depths—confusion, uncertainty, disappointment, and also maybe, after a moment, the dawn of acceptance.

“It is the way of the gods,” she said. “And they have created me with enough love for all of you.”

“With your heart and your body?” he asked quietly. “Can you truly be sure of that?”

“Ja, with my heart and my body.”

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