Vanquished by the Viking (4 page)

She wasn’t one to hide from her problems and not discussing the obstacles ahead would not make them go away. She had fled from his brother and her home, leaving behind everything she’d ever known. Would Reinn take her to a neighboring town where she could find shelter? Or, a skeptical part of her brain wondered, had he merely slowed their progress this morn to give the search parties time to catch up to her so Gunnar could drag her back to the Welsh stronghold?

“I think you know what must happen next.” The conquering Norseman tied his braies quickly, moving with smooth efficiency now.

Had their encounter affected him so little that he could forget about it so soon afterward? Her limbs felt languid and heavy, her skin still sensitized to every brush of fabric.

“You give me too much credit for knowing your mind.” She did not understand the ways of men, no matter that she’d grown up with too many of them surrounding her. Warriors thought differently. “I have no notion what is on your mind, although it seems there is a great hurry to go about whatever you plan to do next.”

He stopped in the middle of lacing his tunic.

“Eva. I would linger all day and night here with you if I could, but they will be searching for you. My own men could come upon us at any time since I told them to follow me on the morn and it is long past sunrise.” He squeezed her hand, then lifted it to his mouth to kiss the backs of her fingers. “While my men are loyal first to me before Gunnar, I am more afraid that Gunnar will be scouring land and sea for you by now. He cannot rule the keep without you at his side.”

Fear returned to chasten her. She should not have tarried here for so long.

“Then we must make haste to Cledemutha.” She nodded, seeing the wisdom of it even though a part of her heart wished for another option that would allow them to dally in this newfound pleasure.

What if she never knew his touch again?

“Nay.” He tensed, his whole body going rigid. “Eva. You are mine now. We must return to your keep to claim it for our own.”

Chapter Four

“You’re what?” Her voice was a ghost of a whisper as a chill chased through her veins. “You cannot. Must not.”

The newborn sun could not begin to dissipate the cold.

“You are terrified of my brother from the stories his men spread about his treatment of his wives,” Reinn reminded her, reaching for his sword. “I have turned a blind eye to his cruelty for too long and I have realized that he is not fit to rule under my family’s banner. I have fought for him when he has called upon me, but I keep my own men because Gunnar and I do not see eye to eye.”

“Surely you do not challenge him because of my fears.” She would not be responsible for a potentially deadly rift between the brothers. Moreover, she could not help a rising worry that she was a pawn in a tactical game between territorial warriors.

What if she was simply a convenient excuse for Reinn to attack Gunnar? In truth, she did not know him well. Had taken a grave risk in trusting him with so much.

“I knew when he released the dogs to chase you down that he needed to be confronted. He used to fight with honor. Now he has been tainted.” Reinn’s cold voice betrayed no hint of mercy, even when he talked of fighting his own brother.

“Why must you face him now when we have just...”
Discovered happiness
.

Was she the only one who’d felt transformed by what had happened between them? She had experienced such tenderness toward him. He had become a cold stranger before she’d finished lacing the sides of her gown.

“We do not want him to become too entrenched at your keep. He cannot rule without you—at least not without facing more resistance from your people.” He spoke quickly and moved even faster, tugging down the shelter they’d raised together and bundling it into the bow.

“You will restore my father to power?” She hardly dared to believe it.

He paused in the process of strapping on a double-sided ax.

“You and I will rule, Eva.” His blue eyes locked on hers. “When we return, we will wed. You will be safe in your own home again.”

Wed? Eva reeled with the brusque announcement of nuptials that affected her greatly. Had he any care to ask to wed her? Or was she simply his means to an end all along? She tried to harden her heart before he broke it completely, but she feared it was already too late. He had treated her sweetly to win what he wanted.

Not her. Only her father’s keep. She was simply a means to force out his brother and rule the lands himself.

“I do not recall being asked for my hand.” Her voice trembled and she took a deep breath to chase away the revealing emotions. “Have I bargained away my future by choosing to be with you?”

He tensed.

“I made it very clear there was no going back. I gave you a choice.” The hard line of his jaw seemed chiseled of granite and she wondered where her tender lover had disappeared.

Had he been the vision of a wishful heart and a well-seduced body? Perhaps she had dreamed him as she indulged herself and gave away her maidenhead with both hands. Her heart ached, already missing the man she had thought she’d found.

“I did not realize you claimed a larger prize than my virginity,” she shot back, never one to retreat. “Had I known the fate of my father’s holding rested with me, I would never have let you touch me.”

He turned away at that moment and she thought that was the end of the discussion. He was admitting that he only cared about the holding. Then, she heard the rhythmic swish of oars in the water.

Many oars in the water. Rowing in unison.

That was why Reinn turned from her. He heard it too.

“What is it?” she asked, dread growing in the pit of her stomach.

Around the bend that sheltered the cove, the nose of a great long ship came into view. Lean and fast, it sped into sight with twenty-some oarsmen lifting their oars to slow the craft down. A huge figurehead of a dragon carved into the bow seemed like a dark omen on a day going quickly downhill.

“Gunnar.” Reinn’s voice was that of a stranger, dark and dangerous. He rose to his feet, his massive body now armed to the teeth.

And, seeing Reinn standing on this small vessel with no one beside him but her, next to the much larger dragon ship fortified with twenty men, Eva lost some of her frustration with him. Instead, she feared for him.

“You cannot confront Gunnar in the face of such odds,” she hissed softly to ensure her voice would not carry over the water.

Nearby, the other ship dropped anchor, the shields raised.

“At the first sign of trouble, go ashore,” Reinn told her, taking his eyes from his brother-turned-enemy for only a moment. “My men are nearby. I heard their oars in the water while we lay together. They must be moored around the bend to the west. They will escort you home or—if you choose—Cledemutha.”

The last word hung in the air between them. He would grant her freedom, if she chose?

He turned back toward the dragon ship.

“I don’t understand.” She clutched at his arm, confused at the way her world had turned upside down so fast.

Could she trust Reinn?

Her heart wished that she could. But she feared the tenderness inside her was just simple weakness. She had seen little enough kindness from warriors in her years under her father’s roof.

“Stay safe,” he barked, his voice sharp. Impatient. “No matter what you see, keep yourself safe. It is no weakness to retreat and gather your forces for another day.”

“Reinn!” a voice shouted from the other boat, just as Gunnar Geirsson appeared in a break between the shields.

A huge man with hair the color of straw, he wore a heavy gray fur with a wolf’s head draped over one shoulder.

Eva shivered at the sight of him, remembering the way he’d coldly taken over her home. Demanded her hand. Demeaned her father. He had killed more than he needed to in the battle, securing the keep by using fear as a weapon.

“Gunnar, my forces wait nearby. I would keep this between us and not ask our men to wage a battle that is personal.”

“What battle?” The blond behemoth laughed. “I have come to thank you for capturing my wayward wife. She will be punished for the trouble she’s caused, I assure you.”

Eva could not find any of her usual courage. She had all she could do not to shrink away from the conquering invader even though a strip of sea separated the two vessels.

Reinn, however, only appeared more determined. His hand tightened on the hilt of his ax. His chest leaned forward, as if he would leap right over the sides of the ships to tackle his sibling.

“She is not your wife. Eva belongs to me.” His words sounded calmer than he looked, his jaw jutting. “I do not wish to battle my own brother, but I will if you threaten her in any way.”

* * *

Reinn did not fear his brother. He would not even fear his own death if not for Eva sitting vulnerable behind him.

He cursed himself for not securing her earlier. But then, he did not imagine his brother’s desperation to rule her lands.

He would have to defeat Gunnar to keep Eva safe.

“Return her to me,” Gunnar ordered, his jaw flexing and his cheek ticking in a sign of annoyance that had been a habit since their boyhood days. “You may still fight for me without consequence for this betrayal, but if you do not put her on this ship immediately, you are no longer my kin.”

A flag snapped in the breeze on the sail mast behind him, a banner in the Angle tradition with a gold dragon. Seeing this symbol of authority in a corrupt man’s hands steeled Reinn’s will, preparing him to fight for his family’s honor.

“It seems we have not been kin for some time.” Reinn readied his ax, knowing the moment to act was upon him. “No brother of mine would send bloodthirsty hounds in pursuit of a defenseless woman.”

He felt Eva’s gasp more than he heard it, her anxiety a palpable thing. He prayed she would seek the safety of shore.

“You would let a faithless whore turn you against your family?” Gunnar’s lip curled in distaste. “I will treat this one no differently than any other female captive.”

“I did not realize you’ve resorted to purposeful cruelty.” Reinn would not allow anyone else to suffer Gunnar’s overzealous bloodlust. He hefted his ax, brandishing it in the sun. “It is time to pay the price for preying on the weak.”

Eva made a small sound in the back of her throat, a soft protest that tugged at his heart.

He wanted to survive this for her. To hold her in his arms again. To ask her to wed him instead of informing her of the fact. He should have been kinder after what they’d shared, but he’d been focused on the battle to come.

Gunnar leapt from the deck of his ship with a mighty warrior’s cry, landing in the shallows between them with a furious splash.

* * *

Eva scrambled backward in the
faering
as Reinn jumped overboard to follow his brother.

Double axes raised, the weapons clanged together even before Reinn had fully landed. The sharp clank reverberated through her. Gunnar was broader in the chest, but his sword arm seemed hampered by the soaked wolf pelt around his shoulders. Reinn recovered quickly from his landing. He found his footing in the water while the men in the long ship lowered their shields to watch the contest.

A smaller long ship had arrived in the cove, filled with more men and shields to witness the battle. Eva guessed they were Reinn’s men who he’d promised would take care of her if anything should happen to him. But she could not even think about that.

Even now, Reinn strained against his brother, their arms locked in a physical hold as they fought for position in the water. He was fighting for her against tremendous odds and she knew it was not for the sake of her keep. He had been with Gunnar on other campaigns and had not tried to wrest away his sibling’s spoils. Reinn had been unaware that his kin had turned brutal and fought to punish that lack of honor. Nay, he fought to ensure the heartless knave did not inflict harm upon her or future captives.

How could she have thought he would behave dishonorably toward her when she’d already seen him show mercy on a battlefield? Love for him filled her and she knew she had to find a way to help him. Gunnar was her enemy too. Besides, she would fight for Reinn as he fought for her.

Now, Gunnar knocked the ax from Reinn’s free hand, then capitalized on Reinn’s attempt to retrieve it. The move gave him an advantage to push Reinn underwater.

He held him beneath the surface while the sea bubbled and surged with Reinn’s struggle.

Eva grabbed the fur pelt in the bottom of the
faering
and threw it on him, blinding Gunnar momentarily. He must have lost his hold on Reinn for a moment, because he resurfaced, sputtering and coughing.

Her boat bobbed with the wake of their enraged efforts. Gunnar dove on top of Reinn, but Reinn must have found his ax while he was underwater, the weapon appearing now as he held the shaft crosswise to Gunnar’s throat. He shoved the wooden handle hard into Gunnar’s neck, pushing him backward to keep the pressure on his throat.

Their enemy’s face turned red with lack of air and Eva knew Reinn’s honor would demand he show quarter. A relief since she would never want the man she loved—aye, loved—to live with the fact that he had killed his own kin.

Pride in him surged through her hard as Reinn released his brother and Gunnar stumbled backward. He would have slid under the water if Reinn did not hold him up by the soaked wolf pelt.

As Gunnar regained his senses and his breath, Reinn let him go.

“You will leave the Anglesey coast and not come back,” he warned his brother. Then, he turned to Gunnar’s men in the ship above him. “I entrust you all, men whom I hold blameless for his actions, to see that he returns to our homeland. There, he will have to live by the code of our people since we do not sanction cruelty to women.”

Privately, Eva hoped his men would toss him overboard before they returned to their snowy northern home. But even as she thought it, Gunnar lifted a broadsword over his head, aimed at Reinn’s back.

She screamed a warning. Cold terror gripped her heart.

Reinn turned, ready to defend himself.

But oddly, Gunnar had stopped midair. An arrow in his chest.

The huge Norseman fell forward into the shallows, dead by the bow of one of his own men. Eva could see a warrior on the long ship lowering the weapon. None of his crew seemed to look at him accusingly. Then again, maybe they would not mourn a corrupted leader who had fought with dishonor to attack his brother from behind.

They all stood, stunned, for long moments. Gunnar’s men lowered their shields and their heads, perhaps to mourn the man that he’d once been.

Reinn’s head was bowed too. Her heart broke that he had to see his brother’s death even as she was supremely grateful he had not made the final blow. Mostly, she whispered one prayer of thanks after another that her noble warrior had survived the battle.

Now she only hoped he would forgive the hasty words she’d thrown at him when she’d been afraid he had used her for his own gain. She would be a fool to let Reinn Geirsson slip away.