Vikings' Brides Box Set

by Jessica Knight

  But if I go back in there, sleep will be the last thing on my mind, and I’ll get distracted by her again. I must take my mind off her. But what in the world can I do?

  Chapter Sixteen

  Sylvie

  I wake up to the sun shining into the cave, right in my eyes. I rub my face with my hand and flinch as the rays slowly burn the sleep away. It’s an awful way to wake up. I don’t like it.

  “Rise and Shine,” a loud, boisterous voice sing-songs out.

  “Go away,” I mumble.

  “Come on, we didn’t eat dinner last night. Hog is done. I’m sure you’re hungry.”

  I peak my eyes open to see Trident hovering over me with dark circles under his eyes. “Can I help you?” I ask, wondering why he is so close.

  “Nope, just making sure you’re awake. Eat. I’m going to go work on the boat. A few pieces of wood washed up onshore, so I’m going to see what I can do with it.”

  “Do you need help?” I sit up, alert and ready to work… to the best of my ability. I can’t do much, but I’m a fast learner.

  “Nay, you just sit here and look pretty. I’ll do the rest.”

  Does that mean he thinks I’m pretty?

  I rip some meat off the hog and stuff it in my mouth to keep me from saying something I’ll regret or asking something stupid. Instead, I chew and swallow. “Did you get any rest?”

  “What? Why? Did you hear anything?” His shoulders tense up. He keeps his back turned to me.

  Interesting. “No, I’m just curious. You look tired, is all.”

  “I couldn’t sleep. I scavenged the woods to look for supplies to build the boat.”

  I nod, not knowing what else to say. I’m drained and exhausted. Fighting with him isn’t on my list of things to do today. I honestly just want to get home. Maybe my parents have had some sense knocked into their heads now that I’m missing. If I ever get back home, maybe they will go easier on me.

  Thunder rolls above us. Trident side steps outside of the cave and tilts his head up. “Damn it. Damn it, no. I need to build this boat.”

  The beautiful morning sun starts to fade, and a shadow falls over the island. The cave becomes darker and colder. Light rain starts to hiss against the trees and Trident curses. “No matter. I’ll still work on the boat.”

  “In the rain? You’ll make yourself sick,” I protest. We have no type of herbs or anything to ease sickness.

  “I swam in the ocean in the middle of a storm, and I’m fine.”

  “Well that doesn’t mean you still can’t get sick. You can, you know.”

  He pinches the bridge of his nose lets out a heavy sigh, “I know. I need to do this. The sooner we get back the better.”

  I try and not let my feelings get hurt, but the underlying statement is there. He can’t wait to get back so he can finally get rid of me. I should be relieved and thankful, but I only find myself wishing he and I could stay here on this island forever and let the damn rivalry disappear and exist outside of this.

  “Right. I understand. Be safe.”

  I tuck my legs to my chest and watch him leave, disappointed that he didn’t even look back at me. I’m living in a fantasy world. Why can’t I seem to stop dreaming about love? I’ve been kidnapped for goddess’s sake, and I’m still trying to make love happen out of this terrible situation.

  “Sylvie!” Trident calls out for me just as lightning cracks, painting the sky white.

  I gasp and run to the opening of the cave, placing my hands on either side of it. “Trident? Where are you?” I shout at him, my voice echoing throughout the island.

  “Follow my voice.”

  It sounds strange, like he is holding his breath. I lift my skirt and run toward where I hear his voice.

  “Trident?” I yell, blocking my face with my arm as I run through the downpour. The rain smacks me in the face, stinging me like rose thorns.

  “Sylvie? Hurry. I can’t hold on much longer!” he calls out.

  My heart fiercely pumps, and my lungs take in the air I need to run as quickly as I can. I jump over a fallen tree and stumble, rolling until I stop at the edge of a cliff and scream. I dig my knees in the mud and my hands in the dirt to slow down. Right as I get to the edge, I stop. Chunks of rocks and soil fall to the bottom of the ravine. That’s when I see Trident hanging on to a tree root as he swings above the rocky terrain.

  “Trident!” I scream, slightly hysterical. Seeing him hanging there, his feet dangling, the rain splattering against his face as he struggles to hold on, makes me lose my mind. I have no idea what to do. “How did this happen?”

  “There’s no time to talk about that right now. I need you to concentrate. A piece of rope washed up onshore. It’s next to the wood that I gathered for the boat. I need you to run to the shoreline and get it.”

  “Can you hang on that long?” my voice quivers. I’ve never been in a situation like this before. What if he can’t hold on? All I think about is him splattering against the rocks below. It makes me want to hurl.

  “Don’t you dare throw up on me,” he warns, bringing his other arm up on the root to try and pull himself up.

  “Don’t tell me what to do!”

  “Really? You think this is the best time to start an argument?”

  I hold back my tongue, really wanting to take advantage of his vulnerable situation. This could be my chance. My kidnapper is hanging on for dear life. I can try and make my escape, but I’d never forgive myself if I let it happen. Because as much as I hate it, I have feelings for this maddening man.

  “Just hold on. Please. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” I push my anger aside and run back the way I came. I jump over the fallen tree again and wince when my foot scrapes against something sharp. I don’t stop, I keep going. The cave comes up on the right, so I take a hard left and make my way down the path toward the beach.

  I break through the treeline, and my feet hit the soft sand. I slide as I stop and wave my arms to get balance. The sky is threatening. Gray clouds tumble, and thunder pulses constantly, vibrating the ground beneath me.

  Looking left, I see the pile of wood and rope Trident told me about and sprint over to it. The rope is wet and thick, and when I pick it up it is much heavier than I thought it was. I wrap it around my shoulder, grunting and huffing from the weight of it. The rain comes down harder and the wind picks up speed, bending the trees back. Trident won’t be able to hold on much longer if the storm gets worse. And by the looks of it, the rain has just started.

  I run back to the cliff where Trident is, but my feet are dragging from how much my body is being weighed down right now. I’m sweating, my entire body is hot, and I feel as though I’m about to pass out, but he needs me. I collapse when I get a few feet away and drag myself to the edge. The dirt grinds under my fingernails with how much soil I claw under my hands.

  “Trident? Are you still alive?”

  “I’m here. Don’t be too disappointed.”

  “Oh, shut up already.” I wrap the rope around my waist and toss the other end down to him. “You’re so annoying,” I mutter under my breath.

  “I’m going to spank your arse when I get up there.”

  “Ha! Like I’d ever let you get close enough to my arse. No thanks,” I fire back.

  He grabs onto the rope. I didn’t take into account his weight. I fly forward and yelp, barely grasping hold to a tree next to me. The rope burns against my sides, and it crushes my ribs the more he pulls himself up. It’s harder to breathe.

  “You’re heavy!” I shout, digging my feet into the ground. If I let go of this tree, both of us shall fly off this cliff.

  “I thought you said I wasn’t fat. My feelings are hurt.”

  “You have to have a heart for feelings to get hurt.”

  His fingers latch around the edge, and the weight of his body finally lifts off the rope once he pulls himself to solid ground again. I inhale a deep breath and collapse on my butt, flopping onto my back.

  “I guess that c
omment would hurt if I had a heart, right?” he pants, trying to regulate his breathing.

  His chest is shining with rain and sweat. The muscles are twitching, and I want to get on my knees in front of him and lick the droplets off his abdomen. It should be a crime for a man to be as good looking as him.

  I touch my side and wince from the pain. My dress is torn from the rope, and my skin is red and broken.

  “Are you hurt?” He bends down and softly touches my ribs. I flinch away, but at the same time, I just want to melt into his touch.

  “I’m fine. You’re heavy is all.”

  “You keep talking like that and you’re going to give a man a complex.” He lifts me into his arms and starts walking to the cave.

  I hate how good it feels to be in his arms, to have my head on his chest. His heart is strong, and his skin is feverish, but I know he isn’t sick. He is hot from having to hold on to the tree root. He smells good too. Like sweat and wood and fire smoke. It’s intoxicating. I love it. I hate that I love it. I want to hate it, but I want to smell it every day. He is all man.

  We are silent the rest of the way. The rain beats down on the trees above us. I no longer feel fearful, but comfortable. Safe. I close my eyes, trusting him to take us back to the cave and try not to fall in love with how good he feels.

  Once we are in the cave, I finally look around. Both of us are soaked to the bone. The fire is out and the damp air in the cave is cold. I start to shiver.

  “Goddess, you’re freezing,” he says. “I’ll make another fire. And then I want to take a look at your sides to make sure they are okay.”

  “I’m fine,” I try and turn over, but my ribs scream at me to stop moving, and I double over in pain.

  “Do you ever just stop fighting? Must everything be hard with you? Why can’t you ever just accept things?”

  “Coming from the man who kidnapped me? Why do you care how I am and how I’m not? We aren’t friends.”

  He tilts his head to the side and rubs his thick fingers over his beard. Dirt falls from it, which reminds me how long it has been since either of us has bathed. He doesn’t say another word, just turns on his boot and disappears into the night.

  Odd, he never leaves without saying the last word.

  I’m alone for far too long and start getting in my head about never going back home. Whenever I get to where Trident is taking me, I can make a run for it and make my way to Norway.

  But then what does that mean? Going back to my parents? More of those miserable parties? More of their lecturing and judging?

  The more I think about it, maybe Trident isn’t my kidnapper, but my savior. He took me from a bad situation, a situation that could have made my life miserable, and gave me adventure. Sure, he is scary, but he hasn’t done a thing to hurt me. If anything, he has been kind and I’ve regretted how I’ve treated him.

  In the scheme of things, it’s silly. He did, in fact, kidnap me, but I don’t think it has gone how he planned either.

  Heavy footsteps outside snap me out of my ridiculous thought process. Trident comes in, dropping a pile of wood next to me, and I watch eagerly as he makes a fire.

  Trident knows how to survive. It’s a quality I find myself tripping over and falling in… in like with him? Because love cannot happen here.

  “You know, I’d like for us to be friends. We have been through more than what two people usually go through. Listen, I’m sorry I took you hostage. I was angry at what your father did. He threatened war to get something that was never his. And I thought—”

  “—I know what you thought,” I cut him off short. The conversation I overheard with my father tickles my tongue. I reach for his hand, but pause, knowing he and I should keep the touching at a minimum. “The night you broke into my room—”

  “—I didn’t break into it. The window was open.”

  “A window you know you shouldn’t have gone through. It was, after all, a few stories up.”

  “You always have to be right,” he sighs.

  “Because I am right,” I point out, wishing I had something to throw at him.

  “Anyway, your father?” Trident tries to get us back on track, but when I’m about to speak again, he takes off his shirt and sets it next to the fire. “Oh, let me check your sides. I completely forgot. And you must be freezing. Get closer to the fire.”

  I swallow and scoot a hair over, never taking my eyes off Trident’s chest. It is a nice chest. The kind that robs the breath out of your lungs and stops your heart. I want to stroke it and let my fingers play over his dark nipples.

  “You aren’t close enough. You’ll freeze. Here.” He grabs my hips and hauls me closer to his side until his warmth spreads across my skin. I relax. It’s instantaneous. “See? Told you.”

  “Shut up,” I roll my eyes with a crooked grin.

  His hands slowly slide up my body until they get to the ripped sides of my dress. He is so careful and soft. I had no idea a man like him could be so gentle. It’s like he is treating me like a flower, afraid to break and ruin me. I hiss when his fingers brush against the wound.

  “Sorry, sorry. Goddess, I hate that you hurt yourself helping me.”

  “Really? You aren’t even a little smug about it?”

  He keeps his eyes down, but his grin makes his cheeks plump, reminding me of apples. “Maybe I wish for you to trip or something, but I wouldn’t have wished this on you. This looks painful. The rope burned you.”

  His fingers stroke my exposed skin. I can feel from his touch that he means his words. “Thank you, for risking yourself like that. I didn’t deserve it after what I did to you. I took you from your home. If I were you, I would have let me die on that cliff.”

  “That’s not the right thing to do.” My voice catches in my throat. He continues to stroke my side. My nipples tighten, and goosebumps tremor along my body.

  His brows pull together, and he snatches his hand back as if he has been burned. “Maybe you should have let me. I’m not a good man.”

  “You can’t really mean that?” I gasp and sit up, holding my sides. Trident—”

  “I’m a man that took you from your home and is going to use you for my own gain. You’re a foolish woman if you think I’m anything more than that.”

  I slap him in the arm and grunt in pain when my hand tingles and aches. Goddess, his arm is much harder than I expected.

  “You don’t get to call me a fool,” I say through tight teeth. “If you want to feel bad about what you did, then that is on you. I’ve seen how you are, how you act. You aren’t a bad man. Just because you did a bad thing, it doesn’t make you a bad person. I’m grateful for what you did, actually,” I whisper. My hand won’t stop throbbing. He must be made of iron.

  “What? Why?”

  “That’s a long story,” I admit with a hint of sadness.

  “We have all the time in the world. It’s just you and me here.”

  How do I tell him that my father is planning on taking everything from Trident and his kingdom?

  Chapter Seventeen

  Trident

  I’m not sure how much longer I can wait.

  I need to kiss her.

  Every movement of her lips makes the outside world disappear. I can’t focus on anything else. The curve of her upper lip, the full pout of the bottom, I want to ravish them. I want to claim them and make them mine and finally put out this fire that has been burning insides since the moment I saw her.

  “The night you came into the tower—are you listening? Trident.” She snaps her fingers in front of my face.

  My eyes are stuck to her lips. Damn it, I want this insane, frustrating woman. I love how she makes me feel. No other woman has ever made me feel like this.

  The snaps of her fingers finally reach my ears, and I shake my head, blinking. “What? Sorry, I was lost.” I rub my eyes to try and bring myself back to reality and repeat over in my head that she and I can’t happen. We can’t. History cannot repeat itself.

  �
�I’m listening. Sorry, I was distracted.”

  “By what?”

  I wave my hand to dismiss her questions. I want to stay as far away from the truth as possible when it comes to that answer. “That’s not important. What you were saying?”

  “The night you came to the tower, I was having a party. My parents invited all the single noblemen looking for a wife. Wealthy men, future Lords and all that,” she says, with deep disgust.

  My fists clench at my sides at the thought of her with another man. Another man dancing with her, touching her, kissing her, having sex with her, it makes me want to kill them.

  “Anyway, I wasn’t interested in any of them. They were all soft. Their hands, their face, they weren’t—”

  “Men,” I finish for her.

  She blushes. “Yes.”

  “You want a real man?” I ask, my voice a bit gruff.

  She clears her throat and tucks a piece of that luscious red hair behind her ear. “Anyway…”

  That’s a yes. I suffocate a low growl in my throat and wait for her to continue.

  “I left the party in tears. I was unhappy. I didn’t like any man there, but I started to wonder if I should just settle. My mother and father have been pushing this on me for so long, I was ready to just give up. But then I stopped in the hallway and overheard my father saying they are losing it all. They need money. They invested in the Jackals apparently, and now that they are all dead, they have no way of getting it back. They are using me to marry into wealth. And then they said they plan to overtake your kingdom and take all the riches you have.”

  “So they are going to come at us whether you are delivered back to them or not. It isn’t about the rivalry; they are just using that as an excuse. A front to attack us.”

  “I think so,” she says in a small voice. “I’m sorry.”

  “Hey,” I place my fingers under her chin and tilt her head up so I can get a good look at her face. Her lashes are wet from the threat of tears, but she doesn’t let them fall. “You have nothing to apologize for. Thank you for telling me. It just means that we must work hard to get back so I can warn Lord Grimkael.”