Read Online Anna Markland - Viking Roots Medieval Romance Saga 02 by The Rover Defiant - Free Book Online Page B

are you doing out here?”
    She yanked Sonja inside, eyed Torstein then slammed the door.
    “She was trysting with her future husband,” he said under his breath. He fingered the amulet of hammered copper, then pressed it to his lips. Padraig had secretly taught him to decipher runes. A name stood out on one side as he’d expected. “Sonja,” he whispered, smoothing his thumb over the symbols.
    He turned the amulet over, choking out the words engraved into the green metal. “The brightest star shines in the darkest sky.”

    The twinkle in the Cathryn’s eye as she graciously bade everyone goodbye steadied Sonja’s thudding heart. “There is no need to bring Ida outside,” their guest said to Ingeborg and Olga. “Sonja can accompany us to the gate.”
    Olga hesitated but then waved them away.
    Outside the door, Torstein stood like a ramrod, the brown leather cord of her amulet peeking out from the neck of his linen shirt, his hand over the place where her rune-plate rested against his heart. He relaxed at the sight of Cathryn’s smile and reached for Magnus. Sonja had never understood until this day the true meaning of the runes on her birth amulet. She doubted her parents had foreseen what Odin’s oft-quoted words would come to mean for their daughter.
    As Torstein wrapped the carrying cloth around his body and carefully settled the babe against his chest, it was easy to see the child loved him. A strange thrill spiraled its way into her womb. “You’ll make a good father,” she said in a scratchy voice she barely recognized.
    Cathryn interrupted his reply. “You have a long road ahead, but I will offer prayers to Saint Catherine of Alexandria for you both.”
    Sonja bade them goodbye at the gate and watched them disappear into the gathering twilight. She didn’t know who Saint Catherine of Alexandria was, but sensed they had a powerful ally in Cathryn Kriger and her Christian faith.

HIDDEN DEFIANCE
    “I don’t want Torstein to hear of this, but I’m impressed with his fighting skills,” Bryk confided to his wife as she lay sated in his arms in their chamber.
    Cathryn giggled. “I admit those aren’t the words I expected after our first lovemaking for weeks, but I’m happy to hear it.”
    Bryk struck his palm against his forehead and spooned his body around his wife’s. “I’m a fool,” he whispered into her warm nape. “Forgive me. I should have asked if it was painful for you.”
    She shook her head, to his relief. “No. Was it for you?”
    It took a moment for him to realize she was teasing. She shrieked with laughter when he tickled her in retaliation.
    “Hush,” he admonished. “You’ll wake Magnus.”
    “Stop tickling then,” she hissed between gritted teeth. “Tell me more of your progress with Torstein in the training field. I have watched your respect for him grow these past sennights.”
    He turned onto his back, marveling he was comfortable divulging things to this perceptive woman he’d never shared with anyone. “He is more my father’s son than Gunnar ever was,” he rasped. “My brother was indolent, content to laze around from sunrise to sunset munching apples if we’d let him. Torstein is a warrior. I was aware he had courage, but there’s a defiance in him I never detected when he was a thrall.”
    “He hid it well,” she murmured.
    “ Ja . He did. But it will stand him in good stead. He’s not a big man, and he’ll face stronger warriors. He and Sven Yngre have become friends and are proving to be an effective team. Sven seems to have no problem with Torstein’s past and there’ll be times when something other than strength will win the day.”
    She pressed her fingers into his biceps. “That’s not a concern for you, my brawny Viking.”
    Predictably, his pikk responded. “I was afraid this would happen,” he said.
    She furrowed her brow. “What?”
    He licked her throat then sucked the little hollow at the base of her neck when she moaned and