THE RELUCTANT VIKING By Sandra Hill

“Do you want to hear the rest?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“No, but I wish you’d keep an open mind.”

“Oh, I am more than open,” Thork countered, moving his thighs apart slightly and spreading her straddled legs in the process, making her sensitized cleft more exposed to his hardness.

She groaned and closed her eyes a moment. When she opened them, she went on doggedly, “I think… I think you could solve all your problems by marrying me and then taking me and Eirik and Tykir to some other country where we would all be safe and not have to worry about any danger.” She exhaled after her long-winded plea and looked at him hopefully.

“Like where?” Thork asked distractedly as her navel caught the attention of his exploring fingertips.

“Well, how about Iceland?”

“Are you daft?” he asked, then burst out laughing, hugging her warmly as he rolled her over onto her back. “Oh, Ruby, I love the way you make me laugh,” he said with a delighted chuckle as he playfully bit her neck. When his laughter finally stopped, Thork leaned over her, tracing the line of her jaw lazily with his thumb, then the outlines of her lips. A pulse beat wildly at the base of his throat.

” ‘Tis time for honesty betwixt us, sweetling. Are you ready to be my bedmate or not?”

Bedmate? Ruby hesitated, hampered by the lump in her throat. “I hoped for more.”

“I cannot give more,” he said, looking her directly in the eye. “I want you, more than I can ever remember wanting a woman.” He, too, seemed to have trouble swallowing.

Ruby closed her eyes for a second to savor his softly spoken words. Lord, she was falling in love with this man—all over again. This heady, overwhelming, dizzy euphoria could only be likened to the way she had felt in the beginning with Jack, when everything was new, and hope made anything possible.

But Thork was not Jack, Ruby had to forcefully remind herself, as he continued, “I can only pledge my protection until the Althing, Ruby. You need to know that. But know this as well—I do not take this powerful attraction we share lightly. In different times, mayhap there could have been more betwixt us, but leastways I can promise you the best loving you have had in your life—for as long as we can be together.” He kissed her lips lightly to seal his words.

“For how long?” Ruby asked weakly.

“Until I leave.”

Ruby winced. She didn’t like Thork’s offer, enticing as the prospect of sleeping with him would be, but she knew she had no other choice. And, besides, once she’d slept with him, she might be able to convince him otherwise. “All right. I agree,” she finally said and put her hands on both sides of his face, intending to pull him down for her kiss.

But Thork sensed Ruby’s hesitancy. “Nay, we must first be clear on this arrangement. You will be satisfied being my bedmate? You will not be hoping for more, trying to change my mind? ‘Tis no dishonor in being mistress, but ’tis dishonorable of me to bed you if you are hoping for more.”

“Thork, I couldn’t stop hoping, but that doesn’t mean you would have to change your mind. If I’m willing to take the risk, why can’t you?”

Ruby watched various emotions flicker across Thork’s face as he fought to make a rational decision. Then he asked thoughtfully, “You would ask much of me, Ruby, to give up my oath of Jomsviking, to stay in the Saxon lands, to enter an institution whose bindings I abhor, but what about you? Would you promise to never leave me? To never return to your own country?”

Oh, my God! How could she have failed to consider that question? What if she returned to the future? There was no way she could ever make such a binding promise to Thork, not knowing when or if the time-travel might be reversed.

Thork scrutinized her face and read her answer. Before she could say anything, he pulled away and moved off the bed, breathing heavily.

“Thork, please let me explain. It’s not what you think. It might not be my decision to make.”