The Viking She Would Have Married by Lucy Morris
A Shieldmaiden Sisters story—with her family fallen on hard times, Valda’s forced to join the crew on Halfdan Ulfsson’s merchant ship as he sets sail on the treacherous silk route. But this handsome jarl’s son is the man she’d planned to wed, until his bitter betrayal. Knowing she can never trust him, she must focus on saving her sisters…and not the intense connection that still burns between them!
Passion erupts when these bold, spirited Vikings are reunited!
A chance meeting between Halfdan Ulfsson and his old flame Valda Porunndottir leads to a voyage that will lead to great rewards for both of them…if they can just keep their hands of each other…
He gestured her towards the only stool in the tent. ‘Please, take a seat. I’m afraid what I lack in furniture and home comforts, I make up for in excitement and pleasure.’
She sat down with a huff which changed to a laugh—he really was a terrible flirt. ‘I do not need or want excitement or pleasure. I only need enough silver for my mother’s farm.’
‘How much?’
She said an amount, one that she and her family had decided on the previous night. Valda hoped to earn enough for the bribe, while her mother and sisters would try to earn enough in her absence for the seeds, tools and animals.
Halfdan barely blinked at the huge sum. ‘You will earn that easily from this voyage. All going well, of course.’
Valda sighed with relief; her plans no longer seemed impossible. She couldn’t wait to reassure her family later. ‘When will we sail?’
With a disapproving click of his tongue, he filled two silver chalices from a cask and passed one to her. ‘Is silver all you care about? You sadden my heart, Valda. We all need some pleasure in our lives. Otherwise, what is the point of living? Here, drink this and have your first taste.’
She took the chalice from his hands, their calloused fingers brushing against each other and igniting the air between them. Her breath caught in her throat and to cover the sudden flush of her cheeks she raised the chalice to her lips and took a long drink. Smooth wine coated and seduced her tongue, delivering a rich and sharp taste, with the added fragrance of oak and blackberries. She sighed with pleasure.
‘Delicious,’ she murmured.
When she raised her eyes Halfdan was looking at her with a knowing smile, as if he remembered her sounds of pleasure from long ago. She remembered, too. Those memories had kept her warm on many a lonely night. Heat pool between her thighs and she tried her best to ignore the intoxication of the wine and the man.
‘Exquisite, isn’t it? The best wine from the south. And if you eat it with fruit and cheese, it brings out the flavour even more.’ He opened a nearby chest and began assembling a plate. His hands were quick and nimble despite their weathered roughness. She stared at them as they worked, remembering how those same hands had touched her so intimately in the past.
In no time, he was presenting her with a large platter of exotic dried fruits, bread and cheeses. His body curved over hers in the small space of his tented chamber. Awkwardly, she put the platter on the table behind her, becoming more suspicious with every passing moment. Things were going too well and she always grew nervous when that happened, as if she were waiting for Thor’s hammer to fall. ‘So, when do we sail?’ she asked again.
Halfdan sat back down on his bed, his knees pressing against her thigh. She shifted slightly so they were no longer touching. A small glimmer of amusement flashed on Halfdan’s face before he spoke. ‘Tomorrow, when the rest of my crew return from the markets.’
She felt the tension in her shoulders slide away. ‘Good.’ She cut some cheese and laid it on a chunk of bread with the blade of her dagger. Then she stifled a groan as she popped the creamy delight in her mouth. She hadn’t eaten so finely in months—and never anything as luxurious or rare as these delights.
Had Halfdan hoarded every delectable food and beverage from across the known world?
And if so, why was he offering them to her now?
Was it to remind her of what she’d missed by rejecting him? But then, his faithlessness had proved that they could never have been happy.
No, it was just posturing and crowing.
Then another thought occurred to her.
Had he noticed how thin her body had become?
He’d never liked to see people go hungry. Ulf sometimes starved people as a form of punishment. She knew that because once, during that summer, they’d crept out in the middle of the night to give grain to a nearby blacksmith’s family that had displeased Ulf in some way. She’d never forgotten the look of gratitude on the children’s faces, or the tears in the burly smith’s eyes as he’d embraced Halfdan before he’d left.
Not that her family were starving. It hadn’t got that bad—not yet at least.
As if to confirm her suspicions, he casually nudged a large, linen-covered basket with his foot. ‘A few samples for your mother and sisters to try.’
‘Thank you,’ she said quietly, hating the mixture of shame and admiration she felt at his generous offer. She focused on the plans ahead and tried to ignore the memories that disturbed her sense of conviction. ‘And which markets are we going to? Hedeby, Birka, Kaupang?’
‘Ahh…not quite,’ he answered, with a slight hesitation that he quickly covered with a smile.
An uneasy feeling washed over Valda. With regret she stopped chewing and swallowed the tasty morsel so that she could speak. ‘What do you mean?’
Halfdan waved his hand as if he were swatting away a fly rather than her obvious concerns. ‘This will be a long voyage—my last adventure before I marry. Full of great riches and reward! Firstly, we will travel to our old trading post in Gotland, then to…’ He paused, catching her eye and holding it, the blue of his eyes like precious sapphires winking at her across the gloom. ‘Miklagard.’
‘Miklagard!’ Valda choked on her wine and sprayed half of it on her tunic. ‘What?’ She gasped. ‘But…that’s…that’s…at the very edge of the world!’
He laughed, a low rumble—it sounded like distant thunder, a promise of wicked pleasures to come. ‘Surprisingly, the world is much larger than you think. When you reach the end…you discover it’s not the end after all. There’s always some other place further still…just beyond the horizon.’
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Lucy lives in Essex, UK, with her husband, two children, and two cats. She has a massively sweet tooth and loves Terry's Chocolate Oranges and Irn-Bru. In her spare time she likes to explore castles with her family, or drink bubbly with her friends.
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