Page 80 of To Sin with a Viking

“You say that now, but—”

“No. I know you’ve dreamed of going to those lands across the sea. We could go together,” she offered.

“Some of those places aren’t safe for women.”

She moved her hand over his shoulder. “You would protect me, wouldn’t you?”

“I’d take a sword in the heart for you.”

Caragh moved her hand upon his chest. “I want to sit beside you and let the sails take us where they will.” His dreams, of journeying to foreign places, mirrored her own. As long as he was with her.

“What of your family?”

“We will see them every summer,” she said, “and spend our winters in the warmer lands, just as you said.”

He touched her cheek, guiding her into a kiss. “I always thought the gods had cursed me. I made sacrifices and raged against them.”

She saw in his eyes that he believed it. “You were never cursed.”

“No. And neither was my first marriage a mistake. It led me here, to you. The greatest treasure I could ever have.”

They wed upon the sands, speaking their vows before friends and family. Caragh wore the crimson silk he had given her, thesoft material clinging to her body. When they were married, Caragh took his hands in hers. “There is no woman on this earth who loves you as much as I do.”

Styr kissed her hard, and she welcomed the familiar warmth of his body pressed against her. “I am your prisoner, now and always.”

“As I am yours,” she whispered.

With a smile, he took her hand, walking with her toward the feast that awaited them.

As the last of the sun gleamed against the dark waters, she saw the outline of his ship…and knew their journey had only begun.