Viking Warrior Rebel

by Asa Maria Bradley

  She returned her thoughts to current times and wondered how Holden had discovered where the wolverines were hiding out. When she’d asked him about it, he’d just shrugged and said he had reliable sources. She hadn’t pushed for more information, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t do so later. There was a lot more to him than he let on. The average nightclub owner did not have medical training or know interrogation techniques. “What’s the plan once we get there?”

  He glanced her way. “I figured we’d do some recon and then lie low until dark. Maybe find a bed and get some rest, unless you have other ideas.” He shot her one of those cocky grins he doled out so frequently. It infuriated her and turned her on at the same time. She was in so much trouble with this guy.

  Astrid pretended to ignore the cocky smile and the innuendo. “Any ideas about how many wolverines we may encounter, or where they’re holding Scott?” Crap. She hadn’t meant to use his name.

  Holden concentrated on the road and didn’t look her way, but from the stillness seeping into his body, she could tell he’d noticed her slip. “My intel couldn’t give me that detailed information. I’m hoping we’ll figure that out once we do some surveillance.”

  She nodded and then realized he couldn’t see her answer. “Okay,” she added.

  They drove through town, passed Colorado School of Mines, and turned left onto a smaller highway that took them into the mountains west of town. The road turned narrower and more twisty. Not that different from the road to the medical clinic where Scott had been treated. She didn’t want to think about that trip and how discouraged she’d been when she returned to Denver. She also didn’t want to reflect on how much better it felt to have Holden by her side. At least during the reconnaissance. When it came to taking down the wolverines, she would have to somehow ditch Holden and go up against the nasty creatures on her own. She couldn’t afford to have a regular mortal killed during her mission. Although Holden might not be as regular as he wanted her to think.

  A few miles later, Holden turned off the highway and followed a dirt road through a narrow gap between the mountains. He squinted up at the walls of granite surrounding them. “There,” he said, pointing toward a smaller ridge and slowing the car. “If we hike up to the top, we’ll have a great viewpoint of the freaky creature place. According to the intel I got, they should be in the valley next to us.” He turned toward her. “Will your leg be up for this? You can stay in the car if you don’t think it can take the excursion.”

  “Not on your life,” Astrid answered. “I’m coming with.” She never stayed behind. Not during recon and not during battle.

  They got out and closed the doors with only soft clicks to prevent the sound from carrying. It might not reach as far as the next valley over, but there was no reason to alert anyone to their location. Holden opened the trunk and took out binoculars, water bottles, and a small day pack. Had he been a Boy Scout when younger? He seemed awfully well prepared and used military words like recon and surveillance. He also seemed way more comfortable in the outdoors than you’d expect your average city nightclub owner to be.

  He handed Astrid one set of binoculars and started off up the ridge. She looped the strap around her neck and followed closely behind him. Increasing her stride, she enjoyed the loosening of her tendons and muscles, the flow of strength back into her body. Birds chirped in the trees around them, and the sun shone from a clear blue sky as they ascended the ridge. Astrid enjoyed the view around her, as well as the one right in front of her. Back in Pine Rapids, Holden always wore impeccably tailored suits. This was the first time she’d seen him in casual wear. The soft denim of his well-worn jeans cupped and outlined his trim ass. There was nothing sexier than a great butt in a pair of jeans. And Holden’s was a fine specimen.

  As if he could hear her thoughts, he turned around. “Are you okay?” He grinned as he caught her ogling his behind.

  She looked away, cheeks heating. “Yep, no problems here.”

  They crested the ridge and looked down into a wide, green valley. A creek glittered in the sunshine as it snaked through the length of the valley. A dirt road, not unlike the one they’d left their car on, followed the water until it forked and one path went across a bridge and up to a group of buildings nestled against the ridge.

  Holden pointed at the cluster of houses. “That’s where they should be holed up.”

  Astrid lifted the binoculars to her eyes. “There is no movement outside or inside any of the buildings.”

  “Someone’s there though.” Holden peered through his own lenses. “There’s smoke coming from one of the chimneys.”

  Astrid turned slightly to the left and focused on the white tendril floating toward the sky. “But how many of them are there?” This far away, her berserker couldn’t pick out individual creatures.

  “How many attacked you in the parking garage?”

  “Two.” An image of sinking her knife into the jugular of the wolverine rose in her mind. “But I probably killed one.”

  His eyebrows rose. “Probably?”

  She tried to remember details, but her memory after being cut in the thigh was hazy. “I remember sinking my knife into his neck and later hearing the other creature drag the body away, but I can’t be sure.”

  Holden studied her for a moment. Some emotion flickered through his gray eyes, but it was gone before she could identify it. “Better to plan for many than be surprised by extra enemies.” He looked back at the house. “Let’s say there are at least two of these creatures, and if they’re in any kind of battle unit, we should plan for maybe a team of four.”

  His analysis was along the same tracks she’d follow, but how did a nightclub owner know so much about battle preparation? “They may have another team for backup.”

  He nodded, still studying the buildings below. “You’re right. They may even have enough soldiers down there for a full squad.”

  Astrid waited to see if he would catch himself using precise military vocabulary, but Holden just kept watching the buildings. She followed his gaze. Other than smoke still streaming up from the chimney, nothing was going on below them.

  Holden suddenly turned toward her. “I brought some food. Let’s eat while we wait.” He grabbed the small backpack, walked toward a small grove of aspens, and sat down on a rock. Astrid followed and sank down on a rock next to his. Holden handed her a sandwich and a bottle of water.

  His leg brushed against hers, triggering an immediate response from her overactive hormones. Just being near him turned her on. She busied herself with unwrapping the food but kept an eye on him. He held himself differently now than at the club. Although he sat in a casual pose with one leg slightly bent and an elbow resting on his knee, there was tension coiled in his muscles. A warrior watching over enemy territory and prepared for an imminent attack. “You seem very familiar with military terminology,” Astrid said, keeping her tone casual.

  He shrugged and finished chewing his sandwich before answering. “I served for a while.”

  She’d bet it was for more than “a while,” judging by how quickly his mind had snapped into strategic planning. It would have been a career. “What unit?”

  “The Marines, of course. There is no other branch worth joining.” Holden fired one of his grins at her. She wasn’t overly familiar with the different branches of the U.S. military, but she did know that the Marines were elite soldiers. She and her battle brothers and sisters were einherjar, Odin’s and Freya’s elite soldiers. She wondered if Holden’s training had been similar to theirs but doubted his had included how to kill supernatural creatures like Loki’s wolverines. Although he had neutralized one of them when he saved her, so he had obviously been trained well. “What about you?” Holden asked.

  Startled from her thoughts, she didn’t know what he meant. “What about me?”

  “You obviously know something about the military if you figured ou
t that’s my background.” He took a sip of water. “Did you serve?”

  Talk about a loaded question. She’d been born a thrall but earned her freedom as a shield maiden. “I did.” Her skills on the battlefield had earned her respect, and she’d participated in many raids. In a way she’d “served,” even if it hadn’t been in an organized army of modern times. She still served as a soldier. She served her gods and her fellow warriors.

  “And in what branch?”

  She didn’t even have to think about it. “Navy,” she said with a small smile on her lips. The Viking ships she’d sailed on were a far cry from the modern ships he’d associate with that term, but it was close enough.

  “So we’re both sailors,” Holden said. “I never asked where you’re from, but did you serve here in the States?”

  Astrid shook her head. “I was born in Sweden.” Almost a thousand years ago, but a woman didn’t discuss her age.

  Luke opened his mouth as if to ask something else, but then quickly picked up his binoculars and aimed them down the hill. “Something’s happening.” He stood.

  She joined him and peered down at the buildings through her own eyepieces. A wolverine walked across the courtyard to one of the buildings that looked more like a barn. He carried a tray in his hands, and she could see steam rising from one of the plates. “I don’t think that’s one of the ones who attacked me.” It was hard to tell because the creatures looked so much alike, but she was pretty sure she hadn’t seen this one before.

  “What do you want to bet that’s food for their prisoner?”

  Astrid fought the worry rising in her chest. “That’s a fair assumption.” Some of her distress must have come through in her tone of voice, because Holden lowered his lenses and shot her a look.

  He reached for her hand and squeezed it. “You okay?”

  She had to look away to not reveal how much that small gesture comforted her. “I’m good.” Why was she so emotional around him? She needed to get a grip and warrior up.

  He gave her hand another squeeze and turned back to the buildings. She did the same. After about twenty minutes, the door on the barn opened and the wolverine came out again. The tray was empty.

  “At least we know they’re feeding him,” Holden said.

  The thought of the wolverines mistreating Naya’s brother overwhelmed her. She shouldn’t have been so cocky. Despair welled up so fast in her throat that she choked. She knew she should have asked for backup, but the only way she could trust herself to be a worthy warrior to the others again was if she brought Scott back on her own.

  Dropping his binoculars back around his neck, Holden turned and reached for her. He enveloped her in his arms. “Hey, this is going to be okay. We’ll get him out.”

  “This is all my fault,” Astrid forced out through her constricted throat. His body heat was both comforting and disturbing.

  He rubbed his hand up and down her back. “You didn’t know they planned on taking him.”

  She rested her head against his broad chest, reveling in the strength she found there. She’d fucked up so badly on this mission. If she didn’t get this right, she’d never be able to look her queen—her friend—in the eye again. She’d never be able to fight among her Norse brothers and sisters again. They would not trust her to have their back, and she’d be a liability in battle. And fighting was the only thing Astrid had ever been good at. It was what had changed her from a slave to a person of worth.

  Holden’s nearness inundated her senses. She needed some distance so she could think clearly again. She flattened her palm against his chest to push him away, but paused when he hissed in a breath at the contact. She could feel his muscles contract underneath her hand. Slowly she raised her head to look up at him.

  His gaze smoldered and zoomed in her lips. They parted of their own accord, and her breath hitched. His hand on her back pulled her closer, while the other cupped the back of her neck. “Fuck it,” he whispered and descended on her lips.

  The kiss seared her senses, firing through every nerve of her body. Heat pooled at the junction of her thighs. She moaned and he slanted his head, deepening the kiss. His tongue explored her mouth, sending darts of pleasure zinging through her body.

  She laced her hands behind his neck and pressed into his warm, solid body. His hard shaft rubbed against her stomach, and he growled into her mouth. Holden backed her up against one of the aspens. He grabbed the back of her knee and hooked her leg over his hip, angling down so all that male hardness pressed in just the right spot. Liquid heat shot from her core through her limbs. She groaned her approval and buried her hands in his hair. A powerful need built inside her, and she wanted to get closer to his solid body.

  More. Mine, whispered the berserker, feeding on the sexual energy radiating off Holden. Horrified, Astrid froze in place, panting heavily. What the fuck. Her berserker could not be claiming Holden.

  He immediately stopped, leaning back to gaze into her eyes. “You okay?” he asked, a frown marring his face.

  She looked away and slid her leg out of his grip until she stood on solid ground with two feet again. “This is not right,” she managed to whisper.

  He leaned his forehead against hers, and she closed her eyes to savor the sensation, while desperately forcing the berserker back into slumber. “This is the most right I’ve felt in a long time,” Holden countered. “We need to stop kidding ourselves about how badly we both want this.”

  She did want him, but she wanted to complete this mission more and to break this weird connection her berserker seemed to think it had with him. “I can’t risk losing focus. I have to get Scott back to his sister.”

  He pushed her hair behind her ear and turned the motion into a caress of her jaw. “We’re going to make that happen.”

  He stood too close, the heat from his body distracting her. She stepped out of his embrace. The temptation to become lovers was too strong. She needed to think this through. “Then let’s concentrate on coming up with a plan.” She took another step back.

  Holden reached for her but then dropped his arms. “Alright.” His jaw clenched. “My suggestion is that we rest until darkness falls. Then we return here and hit them hard.”

  “Okay.” Astrid watched him warily, but he didn’t look at her. Instead, he picked up the backpack and headed down the ridge the way they’d come up. She paused for a moment and then followed, catching up with him halfway down. He shot her a quick sideways look and then grabbed her hand in his. Her first instinct was to pull it back, but then she relented. Maybe getting this sexual sizzle out of their system would make it easier to concentrate on the mission. Freya’s wagon, it’s not like it could get any harder. Her mind scrambled whenever she was near Holden.

  She lengthened her stride to match his. They walked hand in hand the rest of the way to the car and got in without any further talk. Holden drove them back out to the main highway and headed for Golden. Halfway there, a sign advertised a motel, and Holden steered the car into the parking lot. He turned sideways and looked at her. “This okay?”

  Astrid peered through the windshield at the building in front of them. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to make wood carvings look like gingerbread. The facade of the building seemed to be straight out of Hansel and Gretel, complete with colored lights standing in for candy decorations. “It definitely looks festive,” she said.

  Holden opened the door and got out. “Let’s see what crazy stuff they did to the interior.” He grabbed her hand again when she got out of the car, and they walked up to a set of double doors with an entrance sign above. Holden held the door open and motioned for her to precede him. A gentleman-like gesture, but it also meant she’d encounter any potential danger first. She clutched her hand around the knife in her pocket but needn’t have bothered.

  The woman on the other side of the reception desk greeted her with a cheerful smile. Her tight
gray curls and big, red plastic glasses made her look like Red Riding Hood’s grandmother. Hopefully, the wolf was not around today. “Hello,” she called. “What can I do for you?”

  Holden stepped up from behind Astrid. “Do you have rooms available?” He smiled, oozing charm and goodwill.

  The woman immediately responded to his flirty ways. “Why, yes, you are in luck. I just had a cancellation.” She consulted a ledger on the desk. “A king.”

  Astrid cleared her throat. “Is that your only room?” Sharing a room would be temptation enough. Sharing a bed would mean the inevitable, and she wasn’t sure she’d yet made up her mind about taking Holden as a lover—again.

  The grandmother frowned. “We have only the one. And it may be your only chance of a room tonight. We’re hosting a big family reunion, so I am all full up.”

  Luke threw a credit card on the counter. “We’ll take it.” He turned to Astrid. “I don’t want to drive all the way back to Denver. The added distance will put us more than an hour out from where we need to go tonight.”

  Astrid decided to interpret the only one room available situation as a sign from the gods. Now she just had to make up her mind about whether the gods had made a good or bad choice for her.

  Chapter 8

  Luke looked around the gingerbread hotel room and shuddered. The wood carvings and lights on the outside of the hotel had been cute, but the room decoration was taking the theme too far. Painted gingerbread men and women danced from floor to ceiling on off-white walls. The bedspread was made to look like a huge birthday cake. Basically, the decor looked like a five-year-old had been the interior designer. Astrid seemed unaffected. She sat down in one of the armchairs by the window and removed her boots. Stretching her long legs out before her, she wiggled her toes and sighed contentedly.