Read Online Viking Heart (The MacLomain Series: Viking Ancestors Book 3) by Sky Purington - Free Book Online Page B

room grew smaller and smaller. Her throat closed. Amber struggled for breath and knew she needed to get away.
    Now.
    In pure panic mode, she drove her elbow back. Kol grunted and released her. Desperate to escape whatever she’d been feeling, she strode toward the door. Close. Closer. Amber shoved past people until she finally broke free. The air had a nice bite to it so she inhaled deep, grateful gulps and kept walking. 
    She barely processed anything until she walked out of the fortress gates. Only then did her sense of anxiety fade and she could truly appreciate how foreign her surroundings were. People sold wares from endless rows of carts and dozens of long docks stemmed into the sea. Her jaw dropped as she soaked up the grandeur of countless boats.
    Viking longships.
    Wide-eyed, she stopped short when a huge black horse came alongside. Kol had followed her. Once more wearing a tunic, he swung down and wrapped a fur cloak over her shoulders. Though he wore a crooked grin, worry flickered in his eyes. “Are you well, Amber?”
    Ugh, she wasn’t sure she was up to handling him right now.
    “I’m fine, thanks.” She gave him a pointed look and hoped he’d take the hint. “I just needed a little breathing room.”
    Evidently he had no interest in her innuendo because he swung back up and held out his hand. “Come. Ride with me, woman. Thorunn can handle us both.”
    “Thorunn?”
    He grinned and patted the horse. “Yes. She’s my girl.”
    Amber couldn’t help but state the obvious. “Seems you already have enough of those.”
    “None like Thorunn the ‘absent-minded.’"
    Riveted by his charming smile, she found herself taking his hand and swinging up. “Absent-minded? That’s a horrible nickname.”
    “My brothers have called her that from the moment she allowed me to ride her.” Kol chuckled and steered the horse along the shore. “They’re just jealous.”
    “Jealous?”
    “Of course.” He tucked her cloak around her. “Horses are spooked by those with dragon blood.”
    “Oh.” That made sense. She was still trying to process the fact that they were dragon-shifters. Dragons. Now that would be something to see. “So why do they call her ‘absent-minded’?”
    “Because she rears up every time I try to mount her,” he explained. “Then all it takes are a few soft words and she lets me on. So they figure she’s absent minded.”
    Unexpected heat warmed her skin. Why did everything that came out of his mouth sound so sexual? All she could envision was a woman rearing up before she relented and let him mount her, not a horse. Because there could be no questioning that with a few soft words he’d get what he wanted from just about any woman. Heck, she didn’t suppose he even needed to offer words.
    “Amber, get a grip,” she preached to herself .
    But it was too late based on his sharp inhalation and the arm he wrapped around her waist. Way too aware of his groin at her back, she was about to tell him this whole horse riding thing was a bad idea but he spoke first.
    “It’s my turn to apologize, Amber. I’m sorry if I frightened you when we were dancing.”
    Touched, she said, “It’s all good.”
    They left the docks and ships behind as Thorunn walked the shore. “It was good…until it was not.” He hesitated a few long moments. “Do you not wish to lie with both me and Kjar at the same time then?”
    Damn, these Viking men didn’t hold back and she appreciated that. Naturally, he would think the whole two guys with one woman thing was her issue. But this was a question that probably needed answering now. “I’ve never slept with two men at once. And I’m not sure I want to.”
    “Not sure?” he murmured, muscles tightening in his forearm.
    Oddly enough, though she sensed he was open to the idea, the tension is his body felt more possessive, maybe even unwilling. Even if it wasn’t anywhere near high on her priority list, she shrugged. “Then again, I guess I’m open to