To Tempt A Viking Read Online Free Page A

body freezing from the icy water. But with Ragnar at her side, she took courage. He was speaking words of encouragement, though his pace had slowed.
    When at last her feet touched the bottom, Elena breathed a sigh of relief. Her body was exhausted and trembling, but they were both on land.
    Ragnar’s steps were heavy, his body leaning upon hers as she strode through the water. She couldn’t understand why he was struggling to walk, until the moonlight gleamed upon him, revealing the arrow protruding from his upper thigh.
    ‘You’re hurt,’ she breathed, offering him her support as they stumbled to the sand.
    Ragnar didn’t answer and she felt the urge to panic. How badly was he wounded? A dark fear rose up that she couldn’t survive on her own.
    A moment later, she pushed aside the errant thoughts. He wasn’t dead yet, and if she tended his wound, he might live.
    Her mind sealed off all thoughts except those that would aid her. She needed to take out the arrow, bind his wound and get them a fire and shelter. There was enough wool in her gown to tear off for a bandage.
    ‘Ragnar,’ she said. ‘Look at me.’
    He did, but there was so much pain in his gaze, she feared the worst. His hose and tunic were soaked with seawater, the chainmail armour gleaming against the moonlight. She needed to take off his armour to examine his wound.
    ‘I’m going to help you over to those rocks,’ she said. ‘Can you manage to walk that far?’
    He gave a nod, as if it took too much energy to speak. Blood streamed down his leg from the arrow in his thigh, but at least it wasn’t pumping out. She eased him to sit down and helped him remove his armour and the padded tunic beneath. Then she used the knife at his waist to cut long strips from her skirts. The thought of pressing more salt water against his wounds was excruciating, so she looked around for an alternative. There were patches of moss and she dug at the stones, trying to find something to make a barrier against the wet wool.
    ‘We need a fire,’ Ragnar reminded her, reaching inside his tunic. ‘You might...build one.’
    ‘Soon,’ she promised. ‘I’m going to take out the arrow.’
    ‘I might bleed out if you do,’ he said quietly.
    ‘I can’t leave it, can I?’ She placed her hands on his shoulders, kneeling down before him. ‘You kept me protected. I’ll do everything I can to help you.’
    For a single moment, she caught a glimpse of a fierce longing in his eyes, before he shielded it and looked away. She didn’t know how to respond, for fear that she’d misread him.
    Elena took a deep breath and reached for the arrow. It would pain him more if she told him when she was planning to take it out. Though she’d never before removed an arrow from a man’s skin, it didn’t look too deep. She questioned whether to force it all the way through the skin or whether to jerk it out. Both would cause pain, but pushing it through would likely be easier.
    ‘I don’t want to cause you pain,’ she said steadily. ‘But this must be—’ with one huge push, she forced the arrow through the opposite side ‘—done,’ she finished, snapping off the tip and sliding the shaft free. He let out a gasp of pain, but she packed the wound with moss and bound it tight with the first strip of wool.
    ‘I thought you would give me more warning than that,’ he breathed, fighting against the pain.
    ‘Anticipated pain is worse than reality,’ she responded.
    ‘And you’ve had an arrow tear through your flesh before?’ His voice was harsh, but it was done now.
    ‘It wasn’t that deep,’ she offered. ‘The bleeding isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.’ Thank the gods for that. If it had gone any deeper, she doubted if she’d have had the strength to force the arrow through the other side. His rigid muscles would have made it impossible.
    * * *
    Once Ragnar was bandaged, she left him sitting against the rocks. There was a tremor in his body, as if he were unable