by Lexy Timms
Chapter 19
Linzi
The week went by with no word from Erik, no note, no letter. He was only a few hours away and yet the storm had forced them to stay inside, the water coming down in dangerous patterns. She had ridden back to her father early on the day the battle had been planned to start. Rain had deferred them, but still… a week seemed too long. No news of Kenton or the others either.
Sara had remained with them for an extra day, something warm developing between her father and the beautiful baker. Linzi had realized the attraction only because of what life had taught her the past weeks. She stood by the open door, the rain finally slowing to a drizzle.
Her father came in and sighed. “Lass, he will return. He’s not a farm boy or a blacksmith turned solider. He’s a Viking and though I hate the bastards, I’m almost glad Erik is one of them.”
She turned and glanced over her shoulder. “One Viking against a hundred thousand like him? Seems like the odds alone would leave him lifeless on the battlefield.” Hot tears filled her eyes, the ones she had beat back all week long.
The comforting feel of her father’s arms around her should have given her comfort, but nothing would rectify the situation until Erik returned.
The sound of a horse approaching just beyond the door had Linzi pulling from the older man and racing out into the drizzle. Her heart thumped hard in her chest, her body trembling slightly as she ran toward the sound, an Arabian horse riding hard and fast toward her.
Erik straightened his beaten, exhausted body when he saw her. His clothes covered in blood, his shoulders slumped forward subtly as if in defeat.
Linzi cried out and ran harder.
Erik tried to pull his horse to a stop and at the same time slide off the horse. It slowed and he stumbled when he hit the ground, but quickly righted himself to scoop her up in his arms and spin her once.
“I was so scared,” she whispered as they stilled, her eyes casted toward the ground. Emotion beat hard against her ability to keep it together. His fingers brushed along her back, the other hand carefully lifting her face toward him.
Nothing could be more heart-stopping, more breathtaking than the warrior before her. Strong masculine features held as a treasure the most demanding yet loving gaze she had witnessed in her short lifespan.
“Valhalla could not keep me from you, lass. I would march across all the land and fight every battle before me if it meant getting back to you.” He leaned down and kissed her hard, the tight grip of his arms pulling her in and tearing the air from her lungs with their steely hold.
She pressed into the kiss, her tongue sliding past the roughness of his lips, needing to taste him, wanting to show him how badly she wanted him. He picked her up again, growling into the recess of her mouth, his hips pressing forward against hers. The sound of her father’s voice only seemed to dim the passion between them, nothing truly able to break it entirely.
Her father moved to stand between them, his frown an obvious dislike to the scene he had just witnessed. “Kenton. The battle. How did it go?”
Erik’s eyes betrayed pain. “For the greed of a kingdom without a king.”
“Come inside and we’ll talk.” Her father motioned to get out of the rain.
“I cannot.” Erik’s eyes flittered to Linzi. “My,” his voice broke as he said the words, “My brother’s dead, and my mother sits in Denmark heartbroken, thinking the gods have taken the three men in her life. I cannot fathom her pain. I need to go. I have to rectify this situation and step into whatever role she wants me to.”
“You’re going to become the king?” Linzi mumbled, the lump in her throat hot and thick. If he were to become king then a queen would be given to him for political reasons. He would not be allowed to marry a poor man’s daughter from a small farm in Scotland. So this was it?
“I don’t know. I must go home.” He looked toward the ground, a long sigh leaving him.
He wasn’t going to come back. She knew it. The look on his face and the pain in his eyes could only mean one thing. He would not be returning.
She didn’t want to lose him. “What happened?” she whispered, hot tingles of terror rushed down her arms. “What are you not telling us, Erik?”
The pain in his eyes appeared on his face. His shoulders dropped. “I’m so sorry. I lost track of him and when I found him there was nothing I could do to bring him back.”
“Kenton?” She pushed Erik away when he reached for her arms.
He let his hands fall to his sides. “I’m so sorry. I should have been there, but I was…” He stopped as Linzi’s father swore.
“It is not your fault.” His words must have surprised Erik, because they shocked Linzi. “Kenton chose his path and Valhalla is stronger today because he is there. We will see him again and though my heart breaks in my chest, I know that another life for him would never have fit him as this one did.”
Linzi cried for the loss of her brother, for the loss of Erik and the strength of her father. Sadness wrapped its bony fingers around her soul, squeezing painfully tight until she was forced to pull from the hug, soft pants coming from her.
“I’m sorry I cannot stay.” Erik looked like he wanted to run from them. “I need to get home. My brother’s been assassinated. My mother is in danger as well.” He reached for Linzi and when she didn’t come toward him, he let his hand drop idly to his side again. “I’ll come back. I promise.”
She lifted the hem of her skirt and glared at him. “Stop making promises you can’t keep, Saxon.” She spun around and stomped into the house.
Inside she leaned around the frame of the house, the wood biting into the back of her dress. She knew he would come inside and gather her into his arms and make everything right. He would come any minute… any second. She looked around the empty kitchen, horrified that Kenton would never return. He was gone. Forever. Now Erik would soon be too. She banged her head against the house and let the sound and pain fill the space between her ears. She didn’t want to think, didn’t want to suffer. Why hadn’t Erik come to her? She blinked when she realized why.
She rushed out the door, Erik nowhere in sight as her father stood by the stable, his features troubled with worry.
“Where is he?”
“He left.”
“No!” she screamed. She raced with all her strength through the forest toward the long stretch of land that opened up for his journey toward the sea. Her heart stuttered when he came into view.
He didn’t notice her.
“Erik… Erik wait!” she yelled with her hands cupped over her mouth, her long red hair getting in her way as she swatted it back. She ran toward him, no air left in her lungs, but she pushed on.
He paused and glanced up as he turned the horse around. He jumped off the creature when he saw her. His arms gathered her into him as he buried his face into her hair. “I love you. I’m so sorry.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No, you’re not. Kenton died because I took my eyes off of him. I don’t know what is happening at my castle, Linzi, but these bastards don’t fight fair. They are assassins and—”
She put her fingers over his lips, hushing him. “I’m coming with you whether you like it or not. I saved your life. You owe me. I never took your knife. You owe me.”
A smile pressed against her fingers and he kissed the tips of them, shaking his head. “I’m not having this argument with you. I love you too much to let something happen to you.”
“And what if something happens to you? How do I live if you die?”
He pulled her tightly to him, his fingers brushing softly across the top of her rear. “Too much blood sits upon me. I can’t handle the thought of any more being my cause.” His voice cracked. “I can’t have your blood on my hands.”
Linzi spoke fast, her eyes moving toward the ground in front of her as Erik walked with his horse and moved to stand in front of her, his grip tight on her arm, his face a mask of concern. “I saw the witch yesterday
.”
“Who?”
“The witch. She told me you would come and you did. She said, ‘Sometimes the truth of character lies hidden beneath the call of duty.’ You said those words to me that day in the field. Those exact words.”
Erik shook his head, clearly not understanding what she was trying to say.
“She told me yesterday I am with you. I’ve got me a bairn.”
“A what?” His eyebrows pressed together. “What’re you saying, Linzi?”
She pulled from him, her hands pressing on the flat surface of her stomach. “She told me I hold your babe in my womb.”
“That’s impossible to know.” He blinked. “She’s a witch?”
Linzi nodded. She believed the old woman.
Erik moved toward her. Linzi flinched in fear at his reaction.
His face softened, tears filling his eyes again as he leaned down and kissed her along her face and neck, her cheeks and lips. She reached up and kissed him in return, their motions frantic before he cupped her face and laid one last kiss on her mouth.
His blue eyes stared intently at her. “Now that changes everything.”
~ THE END ~
Heart of the Battle Series
Celtic Viking
Book 1
US:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VVK8S5W
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VVK8S5W
Celtic Rune
Book 2
Coming May 2015
US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/
Celtic Mann
Book 3
Coming June 2015
US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/
Note from the Author:
Thank you for reading Celtic Rune!
If you enjoyed the story, please take a moment to leave a review on the site you downloaded the book on so others can find the Heart of the Battle Series.
I love hearing from my readers so feel free to connect with me on facebook or any other social media (you’ll find my links everywhere in the book, lol)
Thanks again,
Lexy Timms
xxx
More by Lexy Timms:
The Saving Forever Series
Part 1 is FREE!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HBX7DD6
SAMPLE CHAPTER EXCERPT INCLUDED!
Charity Thompson wants to the save world, one hospital at a time. Instead of finishing med school to become a doctor, she chooses a different path and raises money for hospitals – new wings, equipment or whatever they need. Except there is one hospital she would be happy to never set foot in again, her fathers. He hires her to create a gala for his sixty-fifth birthday. Charity can’t say no.
Now she is working in the one place she doesn’t want to be, attracted to Dr. Elijah Bennet, the handsome playboy chief, and trying to prove to her doctor father that’s she’s so much more than a med school dropout.
Why would she try to put together so many things that are clearly broken? Or will she realize in time that they just need to be fixed?
The University of Gatica Series
The Recruiting Trip
Book 1 if FREE!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PWL3X92
Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FdSZUaJ2q0
Aspiring college athlete Aileen Nessa is finding the recruiting process beyond daunting. Being ranked #10 in the world for the 100m hurdles at the age of eighteen is not a fluke, even though she believes that one race, where everything clinked magically together, might be. American universities don’t seem to think so. Letters are pouring in from all over the country.
As she faces the challenge of differentiating between a college’s genuine commitment to her or just empty promises from talent-seeking coaches, Aileen heads to Gatica State University, a Division One school, on a recruiting trip.
The university’s athletic program boasts one of the top sprint coaches in the country. The beautiful old buildings on campus and Ivy League smarts seems so above her little Ohio town upbringing. All Aileen needs to convince her to sign her letter of intent is a recruiting trip that takes her breath away.
Tyler Jensen is the school’s NCAA champion in the hurdles and Jim Thorpe recipient for top defensive back in football. His incredible ocean blue eyes and confident smile make Aileen stutter and forget why she is visiting GSU. His offer to take her under his wing, should she choose to come to Gatica, is a temping proposition that has her wondering if she might be making a deal with an angel or the devil himself.
* This is NOT erotica* It is a new adult & college sport romance.
For mature readers only. There are sexual situations, but no graphic sex.
COMING SOON:
Heart of the Battle Series
Celtic Viking
Book 1
US:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VVK8S5W
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VVK8S5W
Celtic Rune
Book 2
Coming May 2015
US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/ B00WXI50TI
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/ B00WXI50TI
Celtic Mann
Book 3
Coming June 2015
US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/