Heart of Honor (33 page)

“Capital!” said the professor. “Only this time my daughter will have a far more suitable groom.”

Leif looked at Krista. Taking her hands, he carried them to his lips. “Today you will wed with a Viking, but on the morrow your husband will become a gentleman once more.”

“However you dress, in your heart you are still a Viking. It is both sides of you that I love, and neither would I change.”

Leif smiled softly and Krista smiled back.

“Get on with it, man,” said the earl to the vicar, tossing Leif a look no man could mistake. “The sooner these two are wed, the sooner my new grandson-in-law will be carting his lady wife off to bed.” He turned to Krista, whose cheeks began to turn red. “I’ll have a chamber prepared in the east wing of the house. On the morrow, I am returning to the country. The two of you are welcome to stay as long as you wish.”

Krista smiled shyly at Leif. “I believe my grandfather intends to hold you to your promise of grandsons.”

Leif’s eyes turned a scorching shade of blue. “I mean to keep my vow. I can think of nothing I would rather do.”

Krista’s blush deepened and her grandfather cackled with glee. In minutes, the ceremony was over and they were pronounced man and wife. Perhaps Leif’s gods had been right. Perhaps from the start, she was destined to be his.

“You may kiss your bride,” the vicar said, and Leif drew her into his arms. Whatever the truth, her heart belonged to him, just as his belonged to her.

And by the time Leif had finished his ravaging kiss, there wasn’t a soul at the wedding who didn’t believe it was true.

Six Months Later

L
eif lay next to Krista in their bedroom in the town house her grandfather had given them as a wedding gift. They had just made love and were resting contentedly in the huge four-poster bed.

The room was warm. Lying next to him, Krista drowsed peacefully in the crook of his arm. It was May. Moonlight brightened the flowers in the garden at the rear of the house. A thin ray glinted between the curtains, lighting the gold of Krista’s hair. His wife was so beautiful. Each day she seemed more so.

Sometimes Leif’s breath caught when he looked at her, just knowing that she was his wife. At other times, he thought how close he had come to losing her. He had his uncle Sigurd to thank for the gift of his freedom and the life that now stretched ahead of him, and he would be forever in his debt.

Absently, he stroked Krista’s silky hair, thinking how much had happened in the months since his return to England. He had never been a man to sit idle, and the first thing he had done was visit the friends he had made, Alexander Cain and Dylan Villard, the owners of Continental Shipping. Leif had a natural gift for sailing, he had discovered, and he enjoyed the sea, a legacy, perhaps, of his Viking heritage.

He had proposed to the men a shipping venture that included his brother, and had offered to put up both his and Thor’s share of the capital. He wanted to start a packet line that carried goods to and from small, out-of-the way North Sea islands. He hoped to include village ports in England and Scotland, and eventually, Ireland and Wales, perhaps even more distant countries.

Cain and Villard had readily agreed, and so they had formed a company called Valhalla Shipping.

The
Sea Dragon
had been their first vessel, but already they had added four more. The money had begun to pour in, and it appeared the venture was going to be successful.

Leif found himself smiling. Thor’s English was improving rapidly, and these days he rarely conversed in Norse, except when he was frustrated or nervous. There was plenty for him to do in their rapidly expanding company, and Thor seemed to thrive on the challenge.

In the big, deep bed, Leif felt Krista stir, then her soft lips pressed against his chest. “You are not sleeping,” she said. “I thought you would be tired after…”

She let the sentence go unfinished, and even in the dark, he knew that she was blushing.

He kissed the top of her head. “I was thinking what a lucky man I am.”

She shifted onto her side and propped herself on her elbow, drawing the sheet up to cover her lovely breasts. “We are both of us lucky.” She leaned over and kissed him, and his body began to stir. “You’ve given me everything I ever wanted. I have my freedom, the independence I always valued so highly. I am married to a man I love more than my own life, and…”

“And…?” he pressed, raising one eyebrow.

“And soon I will have something even more precious.”

His gaze sharpened on her face. “What is this you speak of?”

“I—I was going to wait a little longer to tell you. I wanted the time to be exactly right.”

Leif shifted, came up over her, drew her down beneath him in the bed. He could feel her heart beating against his own. “Say it. Say the words I wish to hear.”

Krista smiled at him, reached up and touched his cheek. “I carry your child, my love. It is the greatest gift you have ever given me.”

Leif’s gaze turned fierce. “It is only the first of many such gifts I mean to give you.”

Then he kissed her and Krista kissed him back, looping her arms around his neck. It was the sweetest kiss she could remember, a gentle, yearning one that turned deep and hot and wild. Leif came into her again, claiming her and yet making her feel cherished.

Once, she had fought for her independence. In marrying Leif, she had given her future, her soul, into the care of a man unlike any she had known.

A unique and special man, Krista now knew.

A man with a heart of honor.

I hope you enjoyed HEART OF HONOR, the first book in the Heart Trilogy that continues with Coralee’s story, HEART OF FIRE. HEART OF COURAGE is the third book in the series set around Krista’s London ladies’ gazette,
Heart to Heart.
Since you’ve met Krista and Leif, I hope you’ll want to visit them and their friends again. Until then, best wishes and happy reading.

Kat

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