Companionship is an arm’s length away, you stupid man!
“I’ll do the same!”
Absolutely the most asinine thing she could have suggested. He ripped her gown open from breast to thigh and crushed her with the weight of his chest while groping her between the legs.
“Is this your goal?” he croaked. “Do you want another man between your thighs?”
She opened up for him and he thrust inside her, meaning to elicit a measure of pain. She cried out—speared as helplessly as a seal.
She’d take this unusually rough punishment over loneliness, and surrendered as he crippled her body with unrelenting momentum. Within minutes, relief thrummed through her.
“You’ve pushed me too far this time.” He complained as he climbed out of bed.
“Blame yourself.”
“There’s no pity for a woman who cannot control herself or demonstrate patience and obedience . . . serve as a role model for the women under her roof.”
“As you did for your men on your ship for ten days?”
He snorted and muttered. “Not the same.”
“Aye, it is. You’ve met your match for stubbornness, Randvior.”
He huffed and sat on the edge of the bed. Noelle rubbed his back soothingly.
“Who told you?” he asked suddenly.
She assumed he was referring to his mother’s treachery. “No one,” she lied. She needed to protect the identity of the woman who revealed the secret. “I pieced it together after Lauga gave me the wine today.”
“Unfortunately, ‘tis true.” he uttered gloomily. “Lauga has resorted to these tactics before. Norse women are overly protective of their children.”
“So are the English, but we’re not driven to murder.”
Another sigh.
She knew his heart struggled with the truth. Any son loves his mother unconditionally. But she’d say whatever was necessary to protect her own life.
“I’ll make no demands. Whatever you choose I will accept without complaint. But for the sake of my own life, I must ask one thing. Either send Lauga away or send me home.”
“Vengeance fever is in my blood.” His face was a mask now. “I could choke the life out of her with my own hands the way I feel right now.”
She was suddenly sorry for bringing this to his attention in such a confrontational manner.
“Or,” she offered gently. “There is
my
solution to consider.”
He nodded absently, willing to listen.
“End this unnecessary standoff, send me away. My family is no threat—my father would never send his ships to Norway. My king wouldn’t risk his fleet. I’ll marry whomever my father wishes and we can put this behind us.”
She had come to know the extent of his willingness to keep her. She could beg and plead, but Randvior would never let her go.
“It is out of the question.”
She breathed hard—realizing her hope of ever getting home was gone. It had ended weeks ago, but he need never know that.
“I’m a man of my word, Noelle. Once I pledged to become your husband, I shed my former life as easily as an old shirt. There is no room for compromise. An attempt on your life is a direct assault on mine.” He gripped her shoulders. “Woman, I’m inspired to love you more than anything on this earth. Trust me when I say no one will harm you.”
But someone already had, and she told him so. In answer, he kissed her. That silky tongue might convince her of anything now. What a fantastically foolish suggestion she had made.
“I . . .” She desperately wanted to confide in him, but one last pathetic attempt to hold on to her pride shut her up. She cursed the gnawing pain in her heart.
He saw through her emotional disguise. “Say it.”
“
I love you.
”
Those cherished words slipped out of her mouth more hesitantly than a lie.
Her eyes flitted back and forth nervously, heartbeat pounding faster and faster.
“Come here.” He pulled her onto his lap.
“I can’t stand the way I feel,” she sobbed.
“Promise me,” he said as he loosened the lacings on his breeches. “Swear you’ll never leave me for another man.” He eased her back on the bed.
“
Say it, little one.
”
His knee urged her legs apart.
“I promise . . .”
Chapter 15
Another Man’s Property
Randvior waited until Noelle fell asleep to sneak out of his room. She was so different than any woman he had ever known and the cause of too many distractions. She’d even made him break his oath . . .
He went downstairs and studied the tapestries on the walls. His favorites had always been the ones showing Valkyries tending to the warriors headed into the afterlife. He envisioned Noelle doing this honor for him, dressed in golden armor and holding a pike in her tiny hand.
Only subtle differences existed between Noelle and Odin’s maidens, eye color being the main one. But her eyes reminded him of the burnished colors of autumn, when the summer warmth reluctantly yields to the winter maiden whose tears cover the earth in snow. Before she arrived, he had grown tired of the common blue and green eyes that graced the faces of the women in his lands. He hungered for something different and Odin had answered his prayer and sent him a girl worthy of his troth. Randvior dragged himself to the hearth, more aware of the forces of nature around him than ever before.
Noelle remained fragile tinder and he, inextinguishable flame. The fire that would incinerate her fears forever.
He charged upstairs, bathed, and dressed. She loved him, and he glowed with pride as he returned to the hall and found his mother.
“Son.” Lauga greeted him, unaware of his newly found happiness and the secret he knew about her.
He fought to conceal his anger. If he accused his mother before he had enough evidence to warrant a formal hearing, she might disappear before he had time to set things right with Noelle. If he waited too long, would she try to kill her again?
“Mother . . .”
Her exaggerated self-confidence made his stomach turn. Without thinking, he latched onto her arm and hauled her to the weaving room. At least they’d be alone for a few minutes before word spread that a man had violated the sacred trust of the women’s sanctuary.
“Tell me,” he demanded, unable to hold anything back. “Tell me what evil besets you that you should attempt to murder the woman I love.”
She jeered. “You condemn me prematurely. But if I must take credit for it, know I will go to any length to protect you, even from yourself.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at her. He had not thought of this, that she would confess so easily. “Woman, I’ve been weaned from your teat since infancy. Have I not always held you in the highest esteem, provided you with a seat of honor at my table? I left my father’s home because we could never agree on anything, but my love never faltered. My sire no longer provides for my sustenance. I am free to marry whom I please, with or without your approval.”
“I can only pray that one day you will fully understand what it means to be responsible for our family name—to raise sons and daughters of your own, conceived with a woman of Norse blood.”
As he had hoped, a small crowd gathered at the doorway. Let them stand witness to her treachery.
“Your fiancé couldn’t have made it any easier for me to make up my mind about her,” Lauga continued. “Her immodesty and the way she gallivants about this steading convinced me she is no better than a common whore.”
Randvior stiffened. “She is no whore.”
His mother gave an indecorous laugh. “She’s inferior.”
There was no hope of reforming his mother. Lauga left him with no choice. His first duty now lay with Noelle.
“Summon Aud,” he faced the women gathered in the entryway.
Two maids scurried off.
Aud arrived within minutes, and hesitated at the door, clearly unwilling to enter the chamber.
Randvior waved him inside. “If any of my women dare question your manhood, I’ll put a stop to it, you superstitious fool.”
Aud stuck his head inside as if testing the air. He started to take a step, but stopped and shook his head. “It doesn’t feel right to me.”
Randvior rolled his eyes and walked to him, took a hold of the front of his shirt, and yanked him inside. “Remove my mother from this house. Return her to my father, now.”
Randvior should have acted days ago when he truly suspected her of wrongdoing. These were the last words Lauga would hear coming from his lips for a long time. He stalked out, pushing past the onlookers.
Like an immovable boulder, Randvior stood in the middle of the kitchen. His mind raced uncontrollably. Women, children, and old men were not held to the same standards as warriors. But Lauga had made it clear she would stop at nothing to see his betrothed harmed.
Not while he walked Odin’s green earth
. Sharing her bed again had reminded him of everything he cherished about her.
He must work quickly to solidify her position as mistress in his household, before Lauga called on her minions to do her bidding. He returned to the hall with renewed determination. Enough pain had been inflicted on his fiancée. Randvior deeply regretted ever leaving the women to settle this matter alone.
Brandon met him. “I’m sorry I missed the chance to see ye march your mother across the hall as a wee bairn on her way to getting whipped.”
Randvior grumbled. Rumors spread like wildfire in the Trondelag. His friend’s wagging tongue irritated him.
“And judging by the way Aud raced away with the lady planted firmly on the saddle in front of him, I suspect the two of you have reached a low point in your relationship.”
“My mother will stop at nothing to get her way. Even if it means killing Noelle.”
“And this surprises you? I’ve known your family since boyhood, and your mother has always been a provocateur.”
Randvior cursed himself for not being able to see things as clearly as Brandon did.
“I’m sending Noelle away for two weeks, until our wedding preparations are finished. I can’t concentrate on anything when she’s around. She’ll be safe with Aud’s family.”
“Very sensible, Rand . . . The kindest gesture you’ve made in a long time.”
“But not without selfish motivation,” he assured. The pleasant scent of Noelle’s sex still lingered on his body.
Brandon chuckled. “So an English lassie has tamed the Viking’s philandering heart.”
“Philandering heart? He placed his hand over his chest. “That cuts deeply, my friend.”
“
Who
corrupted an entire den of virgins in Constantinople?”
“And
you
? I seem to recall a most scrumptious girl who unlocked the gates to the palace because she had her eyes on you.”
“And a blessed virgin she
was
.” Brandon licked his lips and crossed himself.
“Was?”
“Aye.”
Randvior laughed, but the current situation weighed heavy on his conscience. “If only things might be as simple as they were in the old days.”
“Nothing worth having is free.”
He nodded. Brandon always offered tidbits of wisdom as easily as a scholar. Him being one of the only men Randvior trusted with his life. “Stand as witness at my wedding.”
“It will cost you—a kiss from your beautiful bride.”
Scottish bastard always tries to twist the knife a little deeper.
“On my honor . . .”
“What honor?” Brandon asked. “You’re a bloody Viking.”
Randvior couldn’t keep from smiling. “I don’t like you’re Christian traditions.”
“’Tis only a harmless way to get my lips wet without committing to marriage.”
“One I can live without.”
“It’s a bloody kiss, Randvior. You’ll get over it.”
Aud Magnusson’s traditional long house was fortified by an eight-foot wall. Two guards were posted at the metal gates and greeted the party of riders as they approached.
Randvior
spent a few moments saying goodbye to Noelle. He swore a silent oath that if he found rebels amongst his people, who wished to sabotage his future happiness, he’d forgo trial and mount their severed heads on stakes as a deterrent for future uprisings.
Everything about Noelle crippled his mind and he needed time to recover. Right now, her pouty smile, the translucence of her silky skin in the soft evening sunlight, and those eyes—those damn eyes threatened to change his mind about leaving her behind.
He kissed her goodbye and watched as she disappeared inside the house with Aud. Randvior rode outside the fenced courtyard and spent the next hour patrolling the grounds to make sure no one lurked in the shadows. Satisfied, he rode home.
Noelle walked slowly behind Aud as he escorted her inside his hall. Her gaze took in the features of the comfortable room. There were two hearths and his family waited patiently for them.
“This is my wife, Nessa.” Aud took her hand and kissed the soft flesh on her palm. “And my daughters—Tyra, Ingrid, and Eir.”
Noelle collected herself. She felt at ease here, but his daughters were so lovely, they more resembled sea nymphs than mortal women. Tall and elegant, they regarded her. As for Nessa, no wonder Aud chattered endlessly about her, his daughters were the spitting image of their mother. ‘Tis no wonder the man is incessantly happy.
The girls’ curious fascination with her made her smile to herself. Noelle pictured Ophelia and Margaret standing there. A knot started to form in her stomach. The eldest daughter, Tyra, possessed a stern brow as Margaret. Stubbornness showing all over her pretty face, and Noelle greatly missed her own sister’s company.
“I am grateful for your hospitality,” Noelle said graciously.
“It is
we
who are honored to have the
jarl’s
future wife in our home,” Nessa declared as she grabbed her by the hand and led her to a table.
They sat for hours, enjoying a simple meal and fulfilling conversation.
One of Noelle’s two bodyguards, Randvior had left behind, stayed seated in a corner, drinking, and playing cards with Aud’s men while the second made rounds. Nessa showed Noelle her family heirlooms and gave her a tour of the house. Four bedchambers were located off the main room, partitioned by painted screens and embroidered curtains. Noelle’s guards would sleep on the floor outside her door.