Kept by the Viking Read online

  Kept by the Viking

  By Gina Conkle

  Loyalty to the Brotherhood comes before all. Including women.

  Formidable Viking leader Rurik knows the law. His loyalty to the Forgotten Sons is his bond, and no woman will threaten what he’s built from the ground up. But the Sons are a roving band of Vikings, and Rurik is growing restless—so when Normandy’s chieftain offers land, the proposal intrigues him. And the sultry Parisian thrall he finds in his tent intrigues him even more...

  Safira is cunning and clever and full of secrets. Rurik’s men have no interest in securing her safe passage home, but, piqued with lust, Rurik views Safira’s wiles as a captivating challenge—one he’s determined to conquer, even if lying with her is as defiant as it is inevitable.

  Traveling with Safira has been a fantasy come true—what started as lust is quickly turning to the kind of partnership Rurik could never have dreamed. But their arrival in foreign lands marks a new chapter, one that demands a Viking wife. With impossible decisions to be made, Rurik’s alliances are fraying, and past promises may not be enough to save him from having to betray those he’s sworn loyalty to—including Safira.

  This book is approximately 75,000 words

  One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!

  Edited by Stephanie Doig

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to my action-adventure-kick-butt-heroine mom. I love you!

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Epilogue

  Author Note

  Acknowledgments

  Excerpt from Her Viking Warrior by Gina Conkle

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  AD 930

  A Saxon outpost on the northern border of Nor’man land

  Smiling grimly at the darkness, Rurik tucked a bone-handled blade in his boot. Norns had spun his life with stingy threads, but his days of hardship were over. Rouen’s overlord, Will Longsword, promised to make him a landsman, a plum prize for a low-born Viking.

  If he got to Rouen by the midsummer feast.

  Door hinges whined in the quiet, and a shrouded figure crept through the outbuilding. Skin prickling with alertness, Rurik’s hand hovered over the knife. Firelight limned the form slipping past loose-weave curtains into his bed box. A bent knee sank into fur. The bed creaked, and a black cloak parted, revealing enticing curves pressed against a thrall’s grey wool tunic.

  A woman to ease his loins. She should’ve come last night.

  “Didn’t expect a companion this morning.” He caressed her smooth-skinned arm. “I don’t have time—”

  She slapped his hand. “Keep your hands to yourself, Viking. I am not here to be your, your...how do you say, comfort woman?”

  A lilting accent melted over sharp Norse. It teased his ear, intriguing him the same as her knocking away his hand. Slaves, thralls, the lowest of laborers knew better than to strike a warrior.

  He sat back, amused. “Frilla. That is a Viking comfort woman.”

  Her chin tipped proudly. “I am not a frilla. I bring you urgent news.”

  The folds of her cloak rippled. Did she hide a weapon?

  Familiar, battle-ready tension heated his veins. His eyes narrowed on shadows hiding her face. “Who are you?”

  She scooted closer. “That doesn’t matter. I—”

  He yanked the knife from his boot and sprang at her. It was quick work, wrestling the woman into the pelts. Whatever she’d meant to say was lost in shocked yelps. Her hood fell back. The bed box squeaked in the scuffle, and heavy furs jumbled around his morning visitor. Jamming his forearm high on her chest, he squinted at the woman, but he couldn’t make out her features in scant light.

  “I’ll ask again. Who are you?”

  Shorn fingernails scratched his arm brace. “Stop!”

  The thrall scrabbled beneath him like a doused cat. He jerked his hips back, narrowly missing a knee to his ballocks. Blood thrumming, he swung his leg over thrashing limbs and pinned her with his thigh.

  “I am Sothram’s slave. He is your enemy,” she gasped. “Not me.”

  He held the blade high. “Did he send you to attack me?”

  “No! I detest the man. Put the knife away...if you want to know how the Saxon cheats you.”

  “The blade stays,” he said, nose to nose with her. “And you will tell me Sothram’s plans.”

  Eyes glimmered through tangled black hair. Anger stiffened her limbs. He would feed off it and stay vigilant. A man could never be too careful with the gentler sex. In his travels, he’d heard of fair-faced women plying a deathly trade by luring the hapless traveler into a private place. The end of that tale was always cruel. Thieves robbed the man and beat him unconscious or worse—killed him.

  It had happened to Leif, one of the Forgotten Sons. His loss was a wound that wouldn’t heal.

  Glowering up at him, she jammed the heels of her hands against his shoulders. “I know you won’t hurt an unarmed woman, Rurik of Birka. Your reputation says otherwise.”

  A slow smile formed. The she-cat had spirit, he’d give her that. She wriggled hard, the cradle of her body bumping him. The outbuilding was quiet save the squeaking bed and her feet battering the pelts. One glance proved no one lurked beyond the coarse curtains.

  Why not have a little fun before his long day’s ride?

  “Why do you keep fighting? You’re not going to unseat me.”

  “Get off me,” she huffed. “I have no weapons.”

  “How do I know that? I’ll have to search you.”

  “Overgrown brute.” Teeth clenched, she dug her nails into his leather-covered shoulders.

  Low laughter rocked his chest. “You came to my bed. If you want me to listen, it will be as I say or not at all.”

  She stilled. “You will not...touch me?”

  “I want information. Not sex.”

  A rooster crowed in the distance. Time passed thick and quiet, marked by the tension melting from her slender legs resting between his. He couldn’t fully see the woman’s eyes, but he could feel them, searching him, wondering. Yielding. He savored moments like these: the dip of a woman’s loins beneath him, a naked knee touching his inner thigh, bed furs tussled and warm from her body, hair spread out for his touch... Sensual tenderness was a Freyja-blessed gift in his harsh life. He was quick to steal softness when he could.

  The thrall gave the slightest nod.

 
“That’s better.” He sheathed his knife. “Now that we’re comfortable.”

  “We need to discuss my reward, Viking. For the information.”

  “A kiss and a coin. Worthy payment for a thrall.”

  “I think not.”

  Such haughtiness delivered with an ear-teasing accent. Who is this woman? He pushed back the curtain with his free hand. Fire flickered from a hanging soapstone lamp, slanting light across a cloud of ebon hair and amber eyes. The thrall from last night. She’d stood at the end of Sothram’s feast hall, her furtive stare tracing him from a gloomy corner.

  “This isn’t a negotiation, sweeting.”

  “It is if you want to save your life and the lives of your men.”

  He wasn’t quaking in his boots, but a mere woman could bear helpful tidings.

  “Your courage is noteworthy, but you should know when a man has the upper hand.” He let go of the curtain and began to root through the pelts. He was taking no chances.

  She swatted his shoulders. “We don’t have time for this, Viking.”

  “I have to make sure you’re unarmed.”

  Dainty feminine grunts beguiled him. Her fight waned more from exhaustion than will. Palm flat on her ribs, he grazed his thumb across the side of her breast. The thrall froze. Her heart banged against his forearm bracing her chest. With her cloak open, only a thin layer of wool separated her skin from his hand. Her body heat seeped into him. Women were meant to be savored, their gentleness absorbed.

  He took his time, trailing his fingers over each rib before finding the sweet furrow of her waist. Gold eyes flared wide when his hand slid lower, cupping her hip.

  “What’s your price for this valuable information?”

  Sooty lashes dipped in the manner of a submissive maid, but he wasn’t fooled. Her body was rigid beneath him. She barely tolerated his touch.

  “I want you to take me with you. You are bound south, no?”

  “To Rouen.”

  “Give me safe passage to Paris and your debt to me will be paid.”

  “How good of you,” he mocked. “But Paris is inconveniently out of my way.”

  Her chin tipped high, but she held silent. This close, he scented peppery warmth on her skin, the aroma as inviting as it was foreign. Her manner befitted a spoiled princess of an eastern court, not a slave woman clothed in rags.

  Years of living by the sword warned him—listen.

  “You require steep payment for a thrall, but go on. How does Sothram plan to cheat us?”

  “Your word, Viking.”

  He brushed back her hair, the strands as rich as silk threads. The gods had created this woman for a man’s pleasure. More went on here than met the eye. She was too exquisite for Sothram’s outpost, her skin too smooth and hair too lavish to have borne hardships. Most female thralls wore their hair shorn at the shoulders, a sign of their status. When this woman spoke, he glimpsed even, white teeth. His morning visitor had been coddled from birth, bred on a life of luxury. A woman of high value. That alone could make the troublesome thrall worthwhile.

  Blunt refusal crossed his mind, but his traitorous mouth opened. “I’ll give you safe passage.” He grimaced as soon as the words passed his lips.

  A woman meant delays. He needed to be in Rouen in five days, and there was his oath to his men—no women. They never traveled with a woman in tow. But the ebon-haired maid relaxed beneath him, her regal face softening.

  “My thanks, Viking. Truly, I owe you a debt of gratitude.”

  Her reaction at being in his care reached inside him, a gentle seed seeking fertile soil. Gold-hued eyes, open and beautiful as polished amber, stared back bold and curious. This was a woman to linger over and cosset in a bed of the finest furs, and he wanted to be the one to do it, an urge that did not sit well.

  “Your information,” he said gruffly.

  Lush lips opened inches from his mouth. “Yesterday you traded for two bundles of ermine, but while you slept, Sothram’s men switched the furs.” Her voice rose with triumph. “Your bundles will be a single layer of ermine on top but worthless rags underneath.”

  He rolled off the thrall and helped her upright. Pushing back the curtain, he checked the small outbuilding the Saxon used for storage. His belongings sat on the floor untouched beside broken barrels and buckets in need of repair. Rumors abounded where Sothram was concerned. Sometimes honest, sometimes not. Yet, this was the last southern outpost in the Holy Roman Empire to trade for the highly valued ermine, and it was on the road to Rouen.

  The thrall sat on her heels, rubbing her neck. “He thinks you will not inspect the bundles. Sothram’s men wrapped them in wool cloth. He will say he does that as a gesture of goodwill to protect the ermine.”

  “And down the road, I discover his treachery, return for revenge, and take what is mine.” He sheathed Fenrir, his sword named for the monstrous wolf of lore. “Now tell me something useful.”

  “Listen to me. Four archers left before sunrise. Sothram knows you travel the southern road. His men will ambush you from the trees.” She sighed. “He has done this before, Viking.”

  Sothram marked him a witless warrior. He smiled coldly; he’d let that work in his favor. The prized ermine was to be sold at Rouen’s Midsumarblot Fair, the coin split evenly with his men. His portion would pay the first tribute to Will Longsword. But this woman nettled him.

  “Why are you telling me this? Who are you to Sothram?”

  She sat tall. “I am his seeress. Your taking me will be a great slight to him.”

  “I prefer the ermine. Travels easy. Doesn’t talk.”

  Plush lips flattened. The maid was used to men choosing her. Aside from her daring, something else bothered him. A thrall might beg, coax, or negotiate, but never demand. Not with him.

  “You are no seeress.”

  “Just look at the bundles,” she hissed. “What I say is true. Then I will tell you where he hides your furs and you will take me with you.”

  She reached for the curtains to leave, and he grabbed her wrist.

  “Not so fast. Tell me the truth. Who are you?”

  Her hand fisted in his grip. “You already gave your word, Viking.”

  “And I’ll break it if it suits me.”

  He kept her in place, a reminder the balance of power was his. Her body quaked with a mix of desperation and rage, tremors of a caged termagant ready to spring. She protected something.

  Or was it his touch she reviled?

  Black lashes fanned smooth cheeks, shielding her eyes. “It is as you say. I am no seeress. I was wrongly sold to Sothram at the last full moon. I don’t belong here.”

  “Why the deception? You must have known he would find out.” He let go and the maid rubbed her arm.

  “It’s not important.”

  Her fine accent was feather-soft and intriguing. Light filtered through rips in the bed curtain, and truth dawned with a story as old as time. Men had their wants and women their weapons. He’d traveled the hot sands of the Abbasid Caliphate, a witness to the treacherous ploys of certain women. Lies were a favorite of the fair sex.

  Wasn’t he lying for his own end?

  This woman had admitted she was no seeress, while he withheld the truth from men he’d known since childhood in Birka. Such trust she placed in him. Life had not been kind to her of late. Fresh bruises dotted her neck, the marks of a cruel master. Men could be brutal. He’d seen it often enough.

  “You fed Sothram a tale about your abilities disappearing if a man sates his baser needs on you. A convenient falsehood. You’re not the first to use it.” He picked up his sheathed sword from the furs and slipped it over his back. “What else should I know?”

  “You waste time, Viking.”

  “And you have the manner of a highborn woman. Who are you? A runaway wife?”

  “I can
not explain now.” She pushed aside the curtains to check the door. “Sothram rouses as we speak. He will know something’s afoot if his men see me here.” Her fingertips skimmed his knee. “Please. You must trust me.”

  The simple touch kindled a spark he ought to ignore. The burden one woman made, especially a pretty deceiver, would slow him down. Yet, a wealth of decisions flashed in the split second her hand was on his knee.

  To be in possession of a prized woman could prove...useful.

  “Stay out of sight,” he said, buckling his sword. “When my men assemble, go quietly to the oak trees lining Sothram’s yard.”

  “I will.” Cloak and skirts clutched to her knees, she climbed out of the bed.

  He stuck a finger through a tear in the curtains and watched her go. The thrall padded across the earthen floor, her shredded hems skimming slender calves. She cracked open the weathered door. Peering outside, his mystery woman raised her hood and vanished as quickly as she came.

  She believed he’d take care of her.

  He grabbed his boot and jammed it on. Tugging sharply on leather ties, he gartered the straps. Nothing was getting in his way. Not a cheating merchant or a wily woman.

  He strolled out of his lodgings, morning fog dampening his skin. A lone guard slouched against the root cellar. The man marked him with a nod before slipping from sight.

  Off to warn the rest of Sothram’s men?

  Rurik kept his easy amble to the barn where his second-in-command slept. A glance at two weathered outbuildings told him no one was around. Sothram was careless with the hamlet. Thatched roofs grey with mold. A leaning palisade fence. No warrior standing at the gate. The thieving Saxon didn’t spend his coin here.

  Inside the barn, the son of Vellefold reclined on a mountain of hay, a Norse hammer as long as his thigh tethered to his wrist.

  Rurik toed the sole of Bjorn’s boot. “Bjorn. Trouble.”

  One eye opened. “There’d better be, to wake me this early.” The giant sat up and scrubbed both hands over his face. “What is it?”

  Rurik repeated the thrall’s story while Bjorn rose on nimble feet. Beyond the barn door, chattering boys led the Son’s saddled warhorses from another barn, taking them to a sprawling oak tree. A smaller boy followed, bringing two packhorses burdened with mounds—the wool-wrapped furs.