To Tempt A Viking

by Willingham Michelle

  The ship anchored further out and soon enough, Ragnar realised it was their ship. The brass weathervane proclaimed it as the one that had brought them from Norway. At long last, he spied the face of his best friend, Styr.

  The sight of the man should have filled him with an immense relief. He should have run to Elena and awakened her, telling her that her husband had come at last.

  But Styr was carrying a woman in his arms. And from the look on his face, he had strong feelings for her. He was not only holding her to keep her from the cold water—it was more than that. Styr was drinking in the sight of the dark-haired beauty as if she were his beloved. And when he lowered her to the sand, his arms lingered around her.

  The bastard.

  Ragnar’s anger blasted through him at the sight of them together. How could his friend do this to Elena? The young woman had fought for her life, time and again. She’d been willing to travel across éire in search of her husband. And in repayment for her loyalty, her husband had found someone else—his captor.

  Ragnar didn’t move from his place, even when his friend and kinsmen made camp and built a fire. He spied the faces of Onund and a few other men who had been taken captive that night. They set up tents and Ragnar waited to see if Styr would take the woman within his shelter.

  He could hardly bring himself to watch them, when he knew Styr was about to break Elena’s heart. He didn’t want to be right. Not in this, not when she was expecting a child. When Styr found out, would he turn away from her? Or would he stay?

  The woman went inside a tent far away from the others and Ragnar breathed a little easier. And yet he couldn’t forget what he’d seen.

  He moved away from his hiding spot and returned to the shelter. This was his last night with Elena and he suspected that the morning would bring nothing but despair. But he was here for her now and he would not leave. Even if her husband abandoned her.

  Inside the space, Ragnar could hear the rhythm of Elena’s breathing. She was curled up on her side and he moved in close. She didn’t awaken, but nestled against him while he drew his arms around her.

  He’d vowed not to touch her, but Styr’s actions had shattered those vows. If his friend had found someone else to love, Elena deserved more.

  The scent of her skin and the warmth of her body allured him and it was a physical pain to be so near. He didn’t care any more. Tonight he would lie with the woman he loved in his arms and damn the consequences.

  * * *

  At dawn, she awakened to feel Ragnar’s body pressed close. Elena blinked, knowing she should get up...and yet wanting to remain where she was. His strong arms were wrapped around her, while her head rested beneath his chin. The heat of his skin permeated her and she felt a peacefulness in his embrace.

  He must have returned late last night, for she’d not heard him. She didn’t know why he’d slept beside her. Perhaps he’d moved during his sleep and hadn’t been aware he was so close.

  ‘Ragnar,’ she whispered.

  ‘Ja?’

  Elena hadn’t known he was awake. She waited for him to pull his arms away, to retreat towards his side of the shelter. Instead, he tightened his grasp around her. ‘There’s something you need to know.’

  Something in the timbre of his voice held foreboding. That, and the way he was holding her now.

  ‘What is it?’ She tried to extricate herself, rolling over to face him, but he kept her imprisoned in his arms. In the dim light of morning, it brought her body flush to his and she sensed that whatever he had to say was not good news.

  ‘Styr’s ship landed here last night.’

  It was the last thing she’d expected him to say. Her husband had returned? A rush of relief filled her and she couldn’t stop her smile. ‘He’s alive. Thank the gods.’

  ‘And he—’ Ragnar’s words broke off, as if he’d suddenly caught himself.

  ‘And he what?’ She sat up and this time, he released her. When she turned to him, there was a fierce cast to his face, the harbinger of bad news. ‘Is he wounded?’

  Ragnar shook his head. He eyed her for a moment and said, ‘I suppose if it’s of any importance, he’ll tell you himself.’ He rose from his place and moved to leave the shelter. ‘I’ll build a fire and we’ll wait for him.’

  ‘Is he down by the shore?’

  ‘He and our kinsmen, yes.’

  ‘Then we should go to them now,’ Elena insisted. ‘You should have woken me last night.’ It made little sense why Ragnar would let Styr and the others make camp along the shore when they could have been together.

  ‘We’ll wait for them here,’ Ragnar said. ‘Let them awaken on their own. They must have travelled for hours and likely need the sleep.’

  His answer made no sense at all. She’d been apart from her husband for a week, and Ragnar was concerned about them sleeping enough? It was evident that he wasn’t telling her something. From the shielded expression on his face, it had something to do with Styr. Elena didn’t press him, however. Whatever it was, she’d learn the truth sooner or later.

  She joined him outside by the fire, but when there were no signs of anyone approaching from the shore, she returned inside the shelter to get food. She had a bit of meat left over from last night. It wasn’t enough to feed all of their kinsmen, but it was something.

  Then, when she emerged from the enclosure, she caught her first glimpse of Styr approaching in the distance. Her husband didn’t look at all pleased to see them and his arms were crossed.

  Was he angry with Ragnar? For what reason?

  She studied her husband, so relieved that he was unharmed. His dark gold hair was tied back and he still wore chainmail armour. It didn’t appear that he had any outer wounds and for that she was grateful.

  Elena approached him, wondering if he was going to welcome her into his arms. But instead of embracing her, Styr held back. Upon his face, she saw regret. Why? Wasn’t he glad to see her again?

  The shaky feeling of uneasiness sharpened at his reluctance to greet her.

  She decided if he wasn’t going to speak, then she would. ‘I’m glad you’re all right. When they took you prisoner...I wasn’t certain you would live.’ She offered a tentative smile to him, hoping it would break the invisible distance between them.

  ‘I see that Ragnar protected you,’ Styr answered. His voice remained neutral, offering no words like: Thank the gods you’re alive or I’m so glad to see you again.

  His behaviour was wrong, in so many ways. She forced herself to nod, but when she risked a glance back at Ragnar, she saw fury in his eyes. Whatever was wrong, he knew about it and had since last night.

  Say something, she wanted to beg Styr. Tell me that you still love me. That everything will be all right now.

  Instead, he held his silence, looking for all the world like he didn’t want to be here. She struggled to think of what to say, but there was one piece of news she felt certain would bring him joy. Slowly, she moved her hands down to her womb and said, ‘We’re going to have our first child, Styr. I learned of it only a few days ago.’

  The expression on his face paled, as if she’d taken an axe to his stomach. There was no joy at all. No happiness at her revelation. His lack of response made her feel as if someone had knocked the wind from her.

  ‘Aren’t you—happy?’ she asked at last. ‘It’s what we wanted for so long.’ But he didn’t speak or move. The fear inside her froze up, flooding through her body with a coldness she couldn’t dispel.

  Something was very wrong with her marriage and she couldn’t guess what could possibly have gone so wrong in the past week. Ragnar came up behind her, as if to offer his support.

  ‘That’s good,’ Styr said at last. Only then did he come closer and embrace her. But his arms did not hold her tight, nor did he seem at all pleased by the news. Elena blinked hard to hold back the tears, feeling as if something terrible had happened and she couldn’t name what it was.

  Her husband seemed like a stranger now, a man who
no longer loved her. The foundation of her marriage was shaped around this unborn child. She’d believed that the baby would bring them back together. But he didn’t look pleased. Instead, he looked dismayed by the news.

  She bit her lips so hard she nearly drew blood, but by the gods, she would not cry. Whatever had come between them, they would work through it.

  A noise from behind caught her attention and Styr turned as well. There were two people in the distance watching them, and one of them was a woman with dark hair. The pieces of memory reshaped together, and Elena realised who the woman was. It was the one who’d struck Styr down, taking him as her prisoner.

  She cast a glance at Ragnar, but his face was stony, unmoving.

  ‘I’ll return in a moment,’ Styr said. ‘Wait here.’ He started to hurry towards them, as they returned to the shoreline.

  ‘Don’t,’ Ragnar warned, catching Elena’s wrist when she was about to follow.

  But she had to know. Her heart was freezing over with fear and pain, and she felt as if she’d already lost her husband.

  ‘That’s what you saw last night, wasn’t it?’ Her voice was the barest whisper, the pain breaking down her courage. ‘You saw the woman.’

  ‘Yes. I saw her,’ Ragnar admitted.

  ‘What were they doing together?’ The idea of her husband being with someone else, even as a captive, filled her with a sudden resentment.

  ‘Talking.’ But there was more hidden within the words he hadn’t said.

  ‘I don’t believe you.’ Styr had lived with the woman over the past week. And if he’d brought her all this way, there had to be something between them. Elena had no doubt of it, especially after her husband had pursued the woman just now.

  A hot rage filled up within her, seething. ‘He doesn’t want the baby,’ she said to Ragnar, feeling the edges of her courage crack apart. Or me.

  He came up behind her, wrapping her in his arms. ‘There’s more to this than we know. Give him a chance to tell you what happened.’

  Though his words were reasonable, the edge in his voice held an anger that matched her own. Elena stepped out of his arms. ‘I have to know the truth about them. Let me go, Ragnar.’

  He did, raising his hands as he stepped back. ‘I’ll be here, if you’ve need of me.’

  She nodded, steeling herself as she strode towards the shore. In the distance, she saw a fishing boat approaching, with a few men rowing closer. Elena raised a hand to block the sunlight as she stared down at her husband and the woman.

  It should have made her uncomfortable to spy on them, but anger made it impossible to turn away. He’d betrayed her and she needed to know the truth of his feelings for this woman.

  Styr had come up behind the Irishwoman, resting his hands on her shoulders. The gentleness of the gesture and his caring posture were a dull blade twisted into her heart. Elena could see their profiles and while the woman’s face held misery, her husband’s held longing.

  He was in love with this woman. She could see it in his bearing, in the way he turned her to face him and embraced her hard. They were holding one another as if no one else existed.

  She sagged to her knees, feeling like she was intruding upon a private moment. But Styr was her husband, not this woman’s. They had given promises to one another and had been together for years.

  Years should have mattered more than days.

  Yet she’d never seen her husband look at her in this way. He was tormented inside and bitterness took root in Elena’s stomach.

  Why couldn’t he love her like that? Was she not woman enough for him? Had her past failings as a wife made him so eager to turn to another?

  The woman was crying and Elena watched while her husband wiped away her tears and embraced her hard again.

  And when she walked to the water’s edge, waiting for the fishing boat to approach, Elena realised that the woman wasn’t going to stay. She was sailing away, while Styr had chosen to remain with her.

  But never before had she seen such desolation on her husband’s face.

  * * *

  Ragnar hadn’t wanted to see them together. Not after all this. He’d walked a long distance, needing the space away from everyone. He walked nearly a mile away from the shelter before he realised that Styr had followed him. They stood near a small copse of trees, beside a large clearing.

  ‘Abandoning her again, are you?’ Ragnar stopped walking and turned to face the man who had once been his friend.

  ‘I was a captive,’ Styr countered. ‘I was only freed a few days ago.’

  ‘By her,’ Ragnar said. ‘The woman you brought with you.’

  Styr gave no answer, but his expression tensed. ‘I wanted to thank you for looking after Elena.’

  ‘While you were betraying her with that Irish whore?’

  The words provoked the response he’d wanted. Styr’s temper erupted and his tone was rigid. ‘Don’t call her that.’

  ‘You’re a bastard who doesn’t deserve Elena.’ Ragnar gripped Styr’s tunic with both hands, slamming the man up against a tree. After seeing her weep over him, after the way she’d fought for their lives, she deserved far more than Styr.

  ‘She’s my wife. I know my obligations.’ Styr wrenched himself free, sending Ragnar off balance. They circled one another, each looking for an opening to throw a punch.

  ‘She deserves better than you,’ Ragnar countered. ‘You took a mistress and only stayed because of the baby. If Elena weren’t pregnant, you wouldn’t be here now.’

  When he didn’t deny it, fury boiled within him. Ragnar threw himself at Styr, knocking the man to the ground. ‘Did you think of her even once while she was fighting to live? When she threw herself off a ship to escape slavery and nearly drowned? Or when she was nearly killed yesterday by Norsemen?’

  He knocked Styr’s head against the ground, driven by the need to avenge Elena. She’d wept over this man, trying to find out what she’d done wrong in their marriage.

  Styr’s fist caught him across the jaw and Ragnar rolled away before the man could strike again.

  ‘I’m staying with her, damn you.’ Styr’s breathing was heavy, and he got to his feet, wiping at a bloody lip. ‘I never lay with Caragh.’

  ‘But you’re in love with her.’ It was obvious, from the way Ragnar had seen them together last night. Styr had carried her across the water, holding her as if he’d never wanted to let go.

  Styr’s silence was the answer he’d dreaded. ‘I won’t divorce Elena. Not now, not when she’s wanted this baby so much.’

  Ragnar let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. ‘Don’t hurt her, Styr. You don’t know what she’s been through these past few days. If you turn from her now—’

  ‘I won’t.’ Styr crossed his arms and levelled a glare at him. ‘Whatever was between Caragh and me is over. I’m taking Elena back to Dubh Linn, and we’ll settle there, among our people.’ A heaviness crossed over his expression and he added, ‘We’ll be all right.’

  Ragnar eyed the man, seeing a reflection of himself in the man’s restless demeanour. ‘Don’t make her unhappy,’ he warned.

  Or I’ll steal her away from you.

  * * *

  At nightfall, Elena walked alongside the shoreline with Styr’s hand in hers. When he’d returned from talking with Ragnar, both men had bruises and cuts from fighting. She didn’t know what they’d said to one another, but neither did she ask. Her suspicions centred on the young woman who had left.

  Although Styr had let her go, Elena wanted to know how strong his feelings were. She wanted so much to believe that they were acquaintances and that her suspicions were unfounded. But she feared what she’d observed between them.

  ‘I’ve seen the woman before,’ she began, trying to keep her voice calm as if his answer didn’t matter.

  ‘Caragh Ó Brannon,’ he admitted. ‘Brendan was her younger brother.’

  Elena remembered the adolescent who had led the raid, taking her and the others captive.
His move had been foolhardy and dangerous, but she guessed why he’d done it. Whether or not it was his intention, by seizing her he’d effectively drawn the Norsemen away from the settlement and protected his sister.

  But what Elena didn’t understand was what had happened to her husband after the ship had sailed. ‘She took you as her captive, didn’t she?’

  Styr nodded. To her surprise, he showed no anger at being the prisoner of a woman. A thousand questions surged within her, to know what had happened. Whether he’d been hurt...or why he had been taken.

  Instead, she caught a flash of guilt upon his face.

  No. She didn’t want to think that he’d found someone else to love. Not in this short of a time. But her mind couldn’t conjure up a good reason why he would embrace the woman.

  He stayed for you, her brain reminded her. He let her go.

  Was it enough? She didn’t doubt that he’d stayed because of the baby. But if there hadn’t been a child, would he have divorced her? The icy hollowness spread within her, the fear growing.

  She’d left her home in Norway, travelling where Styr had wanted to go. He’d always dreamed of roaming the world, while she’d wanted to remain home and start a family. Their differences had strained the marriage, but surely he wouldn’t abandon her now. Not in this unfamiliar land.

  ‘Do you...have feelings for her?’ She was trying not to sound accusatory, but Styr wouldn’t look at her. That, in itself, told her a great deal.

  ‘Why would you ask me something like that? I only knew her for a few days.’

  Again, he was behaving as if it meant nothing. ‘I have eyes, Styr. I saw you with her.’

  I saw you holding her as if you didn’t want to let go, her heart raged.

  ‘She left with her brothers. I told her farewell.’ He shrugged it off as if it didn’t matter.

  Her anger began to take hold, for she knew he wasn’t telling her the whole truth. How could he act as if nothing had happened? ‘You were embracing her.’

  He spun and for the first time, his dark eyes met hers. ‘Nothing happened between us.’

  The flash of his temper only ignited her frustration. ‘Then why are you so angry?’ she shot back. She wasn’t a blind fool who couldn’t see what was before her. ‘If she were nothing to you, you wouldn’t be acting this way.’