Viking Heart (The MacLomain Series: Viking Ancestors Book 3) (3 page)

Overwhelmed, Amber put a hand over her mouth and shook her head. Veronica had lost a child years ago so this was such a blessing. So incredibly happy for her, she flung her arm around her sister’s shoulders and rested her head against Veronica’s, all the while keeping her hand on her stomach. “I’m so incredibly happy for you.” Her words were husky with emotion. “Boy or girl?”

“He’s a boy.” Veronica put her hand over Amber’s. “We’re naming him Matthew.”

“For your lost son,” Amber murmured, pleased.

“Something like that,” Veronica said softly.

Her eyes met Veronica’s. “Are you married as well, then?”

She shook her head. “No. We were waiting for you.”

“Me?” she said, surprised. “Then you had that much faith I’d be coming.”

Megan rubbed her shoulder. “We had no doubt.”

Amber took another sip of mead and shook her head. “I’m not sure how I’m supposed to fit into all this.” Her eyes met Megan’s. “You know how much I care about Sean. The idea of hooking up with another guy seems really wrong. On so many levels.”

“I don’t mean to contradict you because I love Sean to death. Hell, he was…
is
, my best friend, but you’ve been seeing other guys besides him the past three years,” Megan reminded. “What happened lately to change that?”

“It’s just how supportive he was after you left," Amber said, troubled. “Maybe not so much lately but that’s only because he’s been off his game.”

“Sure, I get it,” Megan said. “And I’m so damn grateful he’s been there for you.” Her sister grew exceptionally quiet. “But I need you to know something.” She hesitated before continuing. “I’m starting to think there’s a strong connection between Sean and Kol.”

Megan shook her head. “No, I shouldn’t say ‘starting’ because I’ve been feeling this way since I decided to leave the twenty-first century behind and return to Naðr.”

“What do you mean?”

“Kol called me Sea Siren, Sean's nickname for me, within days of meeting him. Then when I returned home, Sean spoke as though he was Kol and told me his brother was in love with me.” She shook her head. “Since then, Kol has time and time again reminded me of Sean. Or at least of how Sean was before he nearly drowned three years ago.”

“
Did
drown,” Amber said. “But they managed to bring him back to life half an hour later.”

She hadn’t met Sean at that point so had no idea what to make of Megan’s comparisons. Apparently, he had been one hell of a flirt with a charming personality. Not the Sean she knew. But she still fell for the somber, more reserved version of him. Regardless, there had always been some small part of her that wondered if she could bring him back to the man he’d been before.

“Right,” Megan agreed. “The doctor brought him back to life…but a different life with almost an entirely different personality.”

“Not a bad one,” Amber defended.

“No, not bad,” Megan agreed. “Just different.”

“There’s another similarity between the men.” Veronica gave Megan a pointed look, one that said she hoped she’d take the ball from there.

And her big sister did because that had always been her role.

Megan nodded. “A pretty big one I’d say.” She met Amber’s eyes. “Though he started to act a little odd beforehand since Veronica and I returned Kol has been about as off as Sean was. He spends too much time staring at the ocean and as far as we know, hasn’t been with any women.”

All right.
That
was strange. But... “Um, did you
not
see the woman in his bed when I arrived?”

“Yeah, I saw her leaving,” Megan said. “Yet I’d bet just about anything he didn’t sleep with her.”

Veronica sighed and shook her head. “The man’s in a perpetual state of torture of his own making because honestly I’ve never met a guy who…”

When Megan frowned heavily and made a disgruntled sound, Veronica snapped her mouth shut.

“What?” Amber looked between them. “Something I should know about Kol ahead of time?”

She blinked away images of his unforgettable face and astounding body.

Megan squeezed her hand. “Nothing you need to worry about right now.”

Amber arched her brows. “Excuse me? If I’m part of some pact with seers and truly here for Kol, I think I deserve to know all about him.”

“She’s right,” Veronica agreed and squeezed Amber’s other hand. “It’s nothing bad. Kol is an amazing guy who would die to protect his own. That aside, some women, certainly none from this era but likely ours, might think he’s a bit of a womanizer.”

Womanizer? “Could you be more specific?”

“Well, as a general rule of thumb he tends to like sex.” Megan cleared her throat. “A lot of it. With various partners.”

“Oh,” Amber mouthed then took another swig from her mug. No blushing flower when it came to that department, she shrugged. “Can’t blame a man for that I suppose.”

Veronica pinched back a small grin. “No, we didn’t think you’d judge him for it.”

Amber pursed her lips and shrugged. Her sisters knew her well. “It’d definitely be hypocritical of me.” Still, she couldn’t help but frown. “So how is this supposed to work between us when we’re obviously not good at committing to just one person?”

“Hard to say.” Megan shook her head. “But when I first arrived here I can promise you that I couldn’t envision making any sort of commitment to Naðr.”

“Yeah but at least you’re the committing type.” Amber glanced at Veronica. “And I assume
you
finally fell in love for the first time. Pretty intense stuff, right?"

“You say that as though you know what it feels like,” Veronica said softly.

“No,” Amber defended, unwilling to share what she’d contemplated telling Sean about her feelings for him. “There’s definitely been no falling in love for me. Nor will there ever be.”

Megan squeezed her hand again. “And that’s okay. There’s plenty else to do here besides be around men and risking your heart.”

“I never said anything about not being around men.” Amber pursed her lips. “Based on what I’ve already seen, they’re bound to be entertaining enough in this era.”

Veronica chuckled. “You have
no
idea, little sis.”

Amber took another sip and tried to mentally prepare herself. “So what else should I know about your time here?”

Megan sighed. “Well, as always we’re on the brink of war. This time with King Alrek, who supposedly inherited Yrsa’s dark magic when she died.”

Loosened up considerably by the mead, Amber eyed Veronica. “That had to be something going up against Raknar’s ex, huh?”

Veronica twisted her lips and shook her head. “She was a piece of work.”

“A lot’s happened, Amber,” Megan continued. “But better that you hear about it as you go. Like I said, one step at a time.”

“Okay.” Amber couldn’t help but eye Megan’s stomach before meeting her eyes. “So will you be getting pregnant too?” She grinned. “Because that’d be awesome.”

“We’ve talked about it.” Color stained her sister’s cheeks. “Naðr would love to, but we both feel it’s best to wait until after this pact is fulfilled and the war is won.”

Amber smiled and nudged her, words encouraging. “So you’d like to as well?”

“God, yeah,” Megan murmured.

“So…” Amber cocked her head. “Whatcha doing about birth control in the meantime?”

Veronica’s brows shot up. “Right. Now that’s something you’ll want to wrap your mind around as soon as possible.”

Amber looked at her in question.

“Well, you know how Raknar embraced his inner dragon and got us into all sorts of trouble.” Veronica slanted a look at her. “I noticed you didn’t comment much on that.”

“Ah, the dragon part.” Amber took another sip before continuing. “Definitely hard to imagine but I figure if I truly traveled back in time then the concept of dragons existing isn’t such a far-fetched idea.”

“That’s our girl.” Megan grinned at Veronica. “I knew she’d believe it a lot more readily than we did.”

“Should I assume that the whole inner dragon has some power over getting pregnant then?” Amber’s eyes went to Veronica. “Because last I knew you were on birth control.”

“I was,” Veronica agreed. “And you’re right. The guys' dragon magic can do quite a bit including impregnation.”

Amber widened her eyes. “Jeesh, you make it sound so clinical.”

Megan snorted. “Trust me, there’s nothing clinical about what these men can do in the sack.”

Amber glanced from sister to sister, amazed to see both equally flushed. “Damn ladies, what have these men done to you two?”

“Better yet, what
haven’t
they done,” Veronica murmured with a little smirk on her face.

Now she was truly amazed. Her sisters had never been all that sexual. That was Amber’s thing. So her curiosity was peaked. How the hell had these two traveled back to such a primitive time with a bunch of bearded barbarians and ended up this lustful?

Then she thought of Kol and released a gusty breath.

If his brothers were anything like him, she was getting an inkling of their situation.

"Their dragon blood also keeps them disease free." Veronica tapped her front tooth. "And the reason they have such beautiful teeth."

Amber arched her brows, not concerned in the least about diseases or dental hygiene at the moment but trying to go with the flow. "Gotta love a healthy guy with a great smile."

"
Right
," Veronica said. “Definite bonuses.”

Megan brushed Amber’s hair back from her face. “So I guess the next question would be, do you want to get some rest or do you want to meet the Sigdir brothers?”

“Isn’t it the middle of the night?” Amber frowned. “I don’t want to wake everyone up.”

“Actually, it’s morning and I know they’re all eager to meet you.” Megan wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “Everyone’s been looking forward to your arrival.”

“I know how you both arrived in Scandinavia to begin with.” She narrowed her eyes at Megan. “Any thoughts on why I was the lucky one plunked down in a guy's bed when I got here?”

"No clue." Megan chuckled. “Gotta say though, that method of time travel
so
suits you and Kol.”

Veronica chuckled as well. “And he is Kol ‘the lucky’ after all.”

“Not
that
lucky,” Amber assured.

But she got the impression based on their expressions that Kol was consistently very lucky, especially when it came to the opposite sex.

Sex.

A word she needed to get out of her mind when it came to him. As it was, they had already come damn close. And she had a feeling the experience would have been one for the books. When her cheeks heated, she stood and started to take another sip. “Heck, I probably shouldn’t be drinking this. It’s morning after all.”

“Late morning.” Veronica waved away her concern. “Besides, you’re with Vikings now. The majority of what they seem to drink is mead or ale and it doesn’t matter where the sun is in the sky. I’ll have Kjar get you some mountain water.” She stood and removed her cloak, fanning herself. “It’s so friggin’ hot in here.”

“Wow, you’re really popping.” Amber smiled and again put her hand on Veronica’s belly, incredulous. “How long have you
been
here? Looks like just about nine months.”

“Just shy of six, actually. The baby grew three months’ worth when I was back home. Apparently, he was growing according to time as it passed here. Something to do with time going by faster here than there.” Veronica put a hand to the small of her back and arched slightly. “So yeah, it’s almost time, thank God.” She rubbed her belly. “I love having him close to Mama, but he’s a fireball.”

“Dragon blood,” Megan said. “What do you expect?”

Amber’s mouth dropped. “No?”

“Yeah, he’s a little shifter,” Veronica said proudly, eyeing her stomach.

What an odd reality she’d been dropped into. But between the alcohol and seeing her sisters so happy, she was accepting it all better than she might have imagined. “So who’s this Kjar who’ll be getting me water?”

“He’s our master shipwright,” Megan said, pride and respect in her eyes. “And grandson to Heimdall.”

“Heimdall?...as in the god that oversees Bifröst, the Rainbow Bridge from Norse Mythology?”

“The one and only.” Megan nodded. “So, yes, Kjar is a demi-god but trust me, he won’t strike you as one.”

“Not at all,” Veronica agreed.

Amber couldn’t help but grow more and more curious about the men who had obviously come to mean so much to her sisters. “Gotta say, I’m not tired in the least so how about you introduce me to the brothers…and Kjar.”

“You sure?” Megan eyed her. “You’ve already been through a lot and meeting them isn’t going to be…how should I say this…”

“Calming,” Veronica filled in. “No, there’s nothing relaxing about meeting these Vikings for the first time.”

Yet she could tell her sisters were eager to introduce her as they ushered her toward the door. Megan threw the cloak over Veronica’s shoulders. “Keep this on. I’m tired of hearing Raknar complain about you not wearing it out in the cold.”