My Lord Viking Read Online Free Page A

her mouth.   “You are mistaken.   There is no danger here, except that you will injure yourself worse.”
          “I saw him!” the man exclaimed, his eyes narrow with fury.   “I thought I had slain him, but he is here.”
          “Who?” asked Linnea and Jack at the same time.
          “Wyborn Kortsson.”
          Nils saw the woman named Linnea and the lad exchange another glance.   Even though he spoke their language with difficulty, he could easily understand what went unspoken between them.   They thought he was seeing things that did not exist.
          That was confirmed when Linnea said, “You have been struck hard in the head.   You must let us tend your injuries.”
          “I know what I saw.   He is here.   You are in great danger!”
          “If he was, he is no longer,” she replied quietly.   “The sand is empty save for us.”
          Looking past her, he saw she was being honest.   Kortsson was not in sight.   Had her arrival with the lad sent Kortsson into hiding?   That made no sense.   Kortsson always fought to be the first ashore so he might have his choice of the maidens.
          “Please release me,” Linnea continued.
          He fought to focus his eyes on her face.   No, Kortsson would not have left if he had chanced to see this pretty woman.   He gritted his teeth.   Was he mad with pain?   They should have seen his blood-enemy as soon as they reached the rocks at the edge of the beach.   He must get all of them away from here.   He could not confront Kortsson while in this condition.   Kortsson would give him and the lad death with quick slashes, then make Linnea rue that she had ever been born.  
          “Go,” he ordered.
          “The knife—”
          He looked down at the small blade he had hidden in his gartered stockings.   “You will not have this one!   While Kortsson lives, I will not be left unarmed.”   He did not add that he feared that, if he moved his arm any farther, he would topple on his face in the sand.  
          When she slid from beneath his arm, he had to clench his teeth harder.   Her slow sinuous motions while she eased away contrasted with her expression that revealed she did not trust him not to slice into her with the sax .   How could he think of anything but her touch, which sent a sensation through him that was as powerful as the blow of a broadsword? Her soft curves made him rue his injuries that kept him from pulling her back into his arms and persuading her to caress him even more intimately.
          He cursed under his breath, and she froze.   He was tempted to tell her that she need not worry.   His obligations to his chieftain must come first, so, even if he was hale, he would have had to ignore her obvious charms.  
          The lad edged away from the wall and took her arm, pulling her away from Nils.   Linnea had called him “Jack.”   The lad was frightened.   Good!   Jack was wise to be fearful when Kortsson was nearby.  
          Trying to push away from the cliff, Nils collapsed to the sand.   By Odin’s beard!   He was too weak.   He tried to stand, but pain riveted him.   Something struck the sand.   The hat Linnea had given him to protect the wounds on his face.   He heard a snicker.  
          “Hush, Jack,” Linnea said, bending to pick up the bonnet.   She shuddered when she saw the blood on its rim.   Jack would learn soon enough that, even though the bearded man wore her bonnet like some weird badge of honor, only a fool would fail to look past it to discover the inherent power in the blond man’s gaze.
          “You came back.”   The man’s deep voice crashed on her ears like waves in the midst of a tempest, sweeping through her.  
          “I told you I would,” she said as she knelt beside him again.   His face was a paler gray than it had been before.  
          His gaze swept past