A man entered, uncomfortable as his eyes met the King’s. “There seems to be a problem with the prisoner.”
“Of course there is,” Naðr muttered and stood, eyes never leaving Raknar’s though he responded to the other man. “What?”
“She broke free…easily.” He cleared his throat. “And is heading for the shore.”
Naðr’s gaze swept over his brothers before he strode for the door. “Weapons. Now.”
Though they likely wouldn’t do them any good, Raknar and Kol grabbed a variety of weapons off the wall and followed. Yrsa could only be heading in one direction…wherever Veronica and Megan were. Hel. They should have kept the women with them. But they all knew there was little they could do without the power of the dragon.
The hour might be early, but rumor of Yrsa’s arrival had spread quickly and many were already clustered near the docks. As they figured he might, Kjar had brought the women down to the Drekkar ship Raknar tended to sail most. The same one on which the shipwright had carved Veronica’s image. Though impossible to know if it could entirely protect her from Yrsa, the carving made the ship a magical safe haven for his woman.
Yrsa took her time sauntering down the dock, hips swaying. They caught up in no time. When they did, she was nearly to the ship and slowly turned, angling herself so that she could confront not only them but the women. The sun had halfway crested the horizon. The waves flickered with orange and gold.
As he thought when he saw Yrsa months prior, the evil within was starting to adversely affect her appearance. Then again, what was once stunning beauty had turned ugly to his eyes when she’d turned on him and left her son. Yrsa’s thick, honey colored hair blew in the wind as she lowered her white fur hood. Her charcoal lined eyes met his.
“My love,” she breathed, her confidence unwavering as a small smile curled her lips.
Raknar didn’t bother responding but hopped into the ship and took up position next to Kjar in front of Megan and Veronica. Soon enough, Kol joined them.
Naðr stayed on the dock. “State your purpose here, woman.”
“Oh, I think you all know my purpose, Dragon King,” she murmured, eyes narrowing on Veronica though she clearly spoke to Raknar. “As always, your impeccable taste for beauty is unwavering.”
“That’s where you are wrong, Yrsa,” he responded. “My taste has vastly improved.”
“Hmm,” she purred as she cocked her head and redirected her words to Veronica. “So now yours is the face that marks my husband’s back. But I wonder,” she pondered. “Will he share you with his brothers or try to keep you all to himself.”
Veronica started to respond, but Yrsa cut her off as her eyes swung over Megan and Naðr before returning. “You really should try out the king.” Then her eyes cut to Kol, her words trying to inflame whoever fed into her taunting. “But then I never did get the chance to ride you, did I? So perhaps I missed out on something.”
“You’re such a rotten bitch,” Megan bit out.
“You’re everything I heard you were,” Veronica agreed.
Though pleased his woman didn’t seem frightened by Yrsa, Raknar frowned at Veronica and shook his head.
“Ah see, there’s the brooding, controlling Raknar I remember.” Yrsa shrugged and shook her head. “He has a mighty cock to be sure but is it worth all the tediousness?”
Veronica might have remained silent this time, but he didn’t miss the way she fingered the hilt of her dagger.
“You won’t be angering any of us Yrsa so why don’t you get the hel out of here,” Naðr ground out.
“So you’ve all grown tedious then.” A cunning grin blossomed on Yrsa’s face as she seemed to sense something. “And I have grown far stronger as I’m sure you saw when my storm nearly took down your ships.”
Ah, so Yrsa had been behind the storm intensifying and switching directions when Veronica first arrived.
Suddenly, Raknar’s eyes were drawn to the sea. At first it just seemed like a flicker of sunlight across the water, shadows caught in the curl of waves, before she proved her point.
"Loki’s hel,” Naðr muttered when Yrsa flung up her arms and a longship full of warriors appeared out of thin air at the end of the dock. She’d used magic to cloak it from their eyes.
Men roared as they started to leap to the dock. Naðr, his brothers, and Kjar roared as well, alerting men on shore. Kjar, Kol, and Raknar leaped onto the dock and protected the ship from a spot where they could fight more easily.
Naðr and Kol laughed as a wall of men rushed at them and swords started clashing. Raknar and Kjar tended to be silent killers, more interested in the bloodlust than the pure thrill of fighting.
Raknar spun once and ran his blade across the throats of two men before pulling his axe free and gashing open another man’s stomach. When Kjar rammed his heel into a man’s chest, Raknar took advantage and thrust his blade into his lower back. Blood started to pour as men fell.
The dock rumbled under the weight of warring. Men raced from the shore intercepting several before they could get too far. Even so, Yrsa had fit an alarming number of well-trained warriors on the ship and they were keeping Raknar and his brothers busy.
Too busy.
Raknar got a sour taste in his mouth when he looked around. Something was wrong. Obviously this had been well thought out but there’d been a shift in Yrsa’s plans. Something that had her not trying to get to Veronica but heading down the dock.
Clang. Clang. He blocked two slashes of the enemy’s blade as he tried to remain focused. The tang of blood on the air grew sharp and the dock slick beneath their feet as men plunged into the water.
Then he heard him.
Heidrek.
Though he kept fighting, everything went into slow motion as he tried to keep eyes on both his opponents and his son. Hel. He was standing about three quarters down the dock, a dagger held high and a ferocious look on his face as he eyed Yrsa. While proud of Heidrek for his bravery, he was equally terrified.
Then things got worse.
Megan and Veronica hopped from the boat and pursued Yrsa. When the king’s men instantly surrounded Megan, her sister took advantage and sprinted past the seer before she slid to a stop and stood in front of Heidrek.
Raknar might not be able to see her face, but he knew Yrsa was smiling as her hands rose in the air, likely summoning magic.
She had Veronica right where she wanted her.
Eyes locked on his woman and son, everything but the overwhelming need to protect them faded away. Nothing mattered more on Middle Earth than the two souls who were about to be ravaged by not only powerful but painful magic. To hel with bargains. To hel with vows. He refused to watch them die. So Raknar tossed aside his weapons, started to run and gave in.
To the dragon.
Naðr’s roar of denial dwindled down to a far-off buzz as the red haze of his other half swamped his vision. Sweet. Stinging. Glorious. Incomparable. The world shrunk as his body shifted, changed and grew. All the while he ran, leaped over Yrsa, spread his wings, turned and landed over Veronica and Heidrek.
He could sense Veronica’s awe and sheer terror as she looked up.
But his focus, his very fury, had but one target.
Though he knew full well the dock and ships were protected by Kjar’s magic and that the men would seek cover there, he released a loud roar of warning and lifted his wings higher. Frustrated but seemingly pleased, Yrsa started chanting seconds before he flung his head down and blasted a long stream of fire at her.
Too late. She vanished into thin air.
Raknar leaped and flew down the dock. The enemy was so stunned and petrified that they were soon slaughtered by Naðr and his men. Meanwhile, he clamped onto the edge of the ship and dragged it out. Before the remaining men could jump overboard, he roared a heavy gust of fire down on them.
Screams rent the air as the ship burst into flames.
The crowd roared with approval as the ravaged ship burned against the risi
ng sun.
Raknar figured he had already broken the rules so flapped his wings and made a wide circle over the water. It was unimaginably freeing to once more be in his dragon form. He relished the feel of the cool wind shear on his long powerful body. Yet the need to make sure they were alright soon had him landing in front of Veronica and Heidrek.
There had been no time to worry over how she might perceive him, how frightened she might be. So trepidation stirred as he lowered his wings and head until his face was close to them.
Heidrek stood tall and proud. Veronica, on the other hand, no longer seemed to be holding his son against her for his protection but for her own support. Yet she didn’t run. Instead, her mouth hung open as her wide eyes met his. Even though the roar of the crowd hadn’t abated, everything seemed to go silent as their gazes held.
“Don’t be afraid, Veronica. I would never hurt you,” he whispered into her mind.
Startled, her pupils flared at the feeling of his telepathic words. But now was not the time to continue with assurances. No, his brother was furious and heading their way. So though it was the last thing he wanted to do, Raknar allowed his magic to swirl around him and shifted back into a man.
A split second before the king’s fist made contact.
Chapter Fifteen
Veronica couldn’t move, never mind breathe.
Megan pried her from Heidrek and wrapped a supportive arm around her lower back as Naðr and Raknar went at it. She’d never seen the king so furious but then his ferociousness paled in comparison to what she had seen moments before.
Raknar.
A dragon.
It was one thing to hear about what he was and tell him she believed him. Another thing entirely to actually see the beast. Yet she cringed at the word beast because he’d been anything but. No, he had been the most jaw-dropping, impressively gorgeous creature she’d ever laid eyes on. And massive. Like the depiction on his back, pale golden scales had covered his long, serpentine body.
Then there were his eyes.
Riveting.
Intense.
Glowing.
The palest of blues.
“Holy hell,” she finally whispered, still picturing his greatness, recalling the dusting of his words against her mind, the erotic intimacy of them.
“I couldn’t agree more,” Megan murmured. The men might be giving one another a hell of a fight, but it seemed her sister was still stuck on the dragon as well. “I’ve never seen anything so amazing in my life. Naðr showed me what they looked like with magic, but it can’t touch the real thing.”
Veronica shook her head, still completely stunned. It took Kjar holding back one brother and Kol the other to finally break up the fight. The surrounding warriors and people alike seemed to sense it was time to leave the family be because they drifted off.
Naðr and Raknar breathed heavily as they glared at one another.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done,” Naðr spat.
“I told you I would do anything to protect Veronica. And my son,” Raknar replied.
“I thought you far stronger than this, brother,” Naðr growled.
“Strength is found in protecting those you love above all else,” Raknar ground out.
“By honoring our promise to the seers we were protecting our loved ones.”
“Yrsa was about to take the stones and kill my woman and son. Was I to idly stand by while she did that? And had I, how could we have ever fulfilled our promise of having three women from the future join us in Valhalla?” Raknar fumed. “I had no choice.”
“He makes a good point,” Kol remarked and released Naðr when the king seemed calm enough.
Thankfully, Naðr didn’t continue to attack but nodded to Kjar that he was to release Raknar.
Nobody said a word as the king went to Megan and cupped her cheeks, tender words only for her. “Are you well?”
“I am,” she whispered. “Are you?”
“Don't worry about me.” He brushed his lips over hers. “Take care of your sister. Help calm her.”
His heavy scowl returned as he headed for the end of the dock, tossing over his shoulder, “Kjar, with me. Kol, go have a drink. Raknar, stay out of my sight.”
“Gladly,” Kol and Raknar said at the same time.
Kol eyed Raknar for a long moment, expression unreadable, before he headed toward shore.
Raknar wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his lip and embraced Heidrek. “I’m proud of you, son. You were very brave.” He crouched and met his eyes. “How are you?”
Heidrek puffed up some and nodded. “I am well, father.” Then his eyes grew worried as they flickered from the king’s retreating form to Raknar. “Is Uncle Naðr going to kill you?”
“No.” Raknar cupped the side of Heidrek’s neck, firm but affectionate as he met his eyes. “Sometimes brothers fight. That's all this is. Naðr and I love each other.”
“I wish I h-had a brother,” Heidrek whispered.
It was the first time she heard him stutter since this whole ordeal started and was so proud of him.
Raknar didn’t respond to that but instead said, “I'm concerned about how you felt when you saw your mother, Heidrek.”
Fearless, the child’s eyes narrowed. “Yrsa is no mother of mine.”
“No,” Raknar agreed softly, seeing what he needed to in his son’s eyes. “She is not.”
He stood, tucked a coin in his hand and ruffled Heidrek’s hair. “I love you, son. Go buy yourself a sweet.”
“I love you too, father,” he said before he flung his arms around Veronica one more time then raced down the dock.
Veronica swallowed hard when Raknar came over to her. She almost stepped away but didn’t. He wasn’t a monster but extraordinary and different. Even when in dragon form, he only meant to protect her. Regardless, it was an intense experience seeing such an incredible creature never mind watching it breathe fire. Now she had a much better idea of how lethal he truly was.
Megan backed off when he cupped Veronica’s shoulders and held her gaze. Those beautiful blue eyes…the same shade whether he was in the form of a man or a dragon. He studied her for a long moment before he murmured, “I’m sorry you had to see all that. More so, I’m sorry that Yrsa came so close to harming you.”
Veronica shook her head, still speechless, as he pulled her into his arms and rested his chin on her head. He ran his hand up and down her spine and released a heavy sigh. Her overwhelming emotions slowly dissipated beneath his soothing touch as she melted against him. Despite the fear she’d felt, anxiety was quickly transforming to arousal as she became more and more aware of the hard contours of his strong body. It was as if one intense emotion was replacing another.
Raknar inhaled deeply and she knew the low growl he released was involuntary.
“Christ, you two.” Megan looked skyward. “God knows I get it but right here, right now, is not the time.”
He reluctantly pulled away; the sharp desire in his eyes obvious when they met Veronica’s and held. Heat unfurled in her belly and she released a whispery breath of air.
“All right then, dragon man and the sister who made him break all the rules.” Megan stepped between them, wrapped an elbow with each, and urged them to walk with her toward shore. “I think I better order a celebration tonight so that my husband is forced to be on his best behavior.”
Veronica flinched. “I’ve never seen him so mad.”
“He would have done the same in my position,” Raknar huffed. “Don't think for a moment half his anger does not come from jealousy that he has yet to embrace the dragon.”
“You know I love you, Raknar, but don’t you dare blame Naðr's anger on jealousy.” Megan's eyes shot to him. "That said, thank you for protecting my sister and it goes without saying, Heidrek too.” She sighed. “No doubt about it, you were stuck between a rock and a hard place with this one. Damned if you do. Damned if you don’t.”
“There was no rock or a hard p
lace.” Raknar frowned. “Just evil and my family.”
“Just a saying, sweetie,” Megan said.
Veronica chuckled. Then, though mortified for doing such a thing during a difficult time, a little burst of laughter escaped and she covered her mouth. Eyes wide, she looked at them and shook her head. “Sorry, that one got away from me.”
For the first time today, a small smirk graced Raknar’s handsome face. Megan, on the other hand, released a hearty chuckle and winked at her. “Totally okay, Sis. Any way you can release stress is good.” Then her lips twisted and her eyes flickered between them. “Outside of the obvious that is.”
By the time they reached the end of the dock, the community seemed back to normal. If one thing could be said for Vikings, it was that they didn’t go into a state of panic when strife arose. But then just look who they had defending them when push came to shove. She imagined Kol and Naðr were as impressive as Raknar in dragon form and that said a lot. Then again, they were a warring culture, raised to wield weapons and fight well, so she supposed they’d show no fear either way.
Still, Raknar received quite the welcome. Men clapped him on the back in passing and women kissed him on the cheek, an eye always turned Veronica’s way. They seemed a whole lot less amorous than the night before and she couldn’t help but wonder if that had to do with him ‘claiming’ her.
No matter, she wasn’t complaining.
“I know you two belong to each other now but Veronica’s coming with me until we all meet in the great hall later,” Megan announced to Raknar. “She and I need some girl time.”
A heavy frown settled on his face.
“Who are you to…” Veronica started then stopped, frowning as well. “Right. Not just my big sis but queen now, eh?”
Megan offered a crooked grin. “Gotta love the power.”
Even so, that didn’t stop Raknar from pulling Veronica into his arms outside of Naðr and Megan’s lodge. His lips came down so hard and thorough, she had no choice but to wrap her arms around his waist and hold on tight.
He dug his hands into her hair and wrapped his tongue around hers. They moaned into one another’s mouths as he tilted his head more and worked pure magic. The ground softened then fell away and she swore she floated. The chilled air turned fiery hot. Or maybe that was just her skin.
Viking Claim (The MacLomain Series: Viking Ancestors Book 2) Page 19