Viking's Love (29 page)

She turned to him in sleep, her body
snuggling closer to his. He decided he wasn’t too tired after all
as he began to seek her under the furs. She moaned in her sleep as
he found her wet and ready for him.

He kissed and caressed her awake and rolled
her onto her back. When he rolled over at last, and thrust inside
of her, she came awake and looked dazed as she met each drive of
his body with such force, he closed his eyes and groaned in
delight, gritting his teeth with the effort to get control of his
passions.

He felt her digging her nails into his back.
She urged him to her with throaty cries, writhing and thrusting
hard to meet the demands of his body. He could stand it no more,
and when he ground her furiously into the furs, her eyes flew wide.
She shattered with such a powerful climax she jerked and shook from
it.

He was sure he had never felt such completion
in a woman’s arms. He let loose a loud shout and was shaking
violently himself as he spilled his seed deep within her at the
last, murmuring her name in anguish as he closed his eyes and
breathed raggedly.

She clung to him, her heels digging hard into
his buttocks, holding him tightly within her. He looked down and
saw she was crying, and kissed her tears from her cheeks. She wept
in his arms. He held her tightly until she quieted, still reeling
with wonder at her uninhibited responses to him.

Allisande laid her head upon his chest as he
now slept, stroking the wiry hairs upon his chest with her hands,
her smile soft and sated, and knowing what she experienced with
this man could not be found so easily with another. Her guilt over
kissing Rowan faded as she lay within her Viking’s arms. Only Joran
could make her feel such heady pleasure.

Allisande awoke later and Joran was gone. She
frowned until she remembered he was going hunting with his father
this day. She rose, and shivered with the chill in the room, and
hurriedly washed herself and dressed.

Allisande went below reluctantly, fearful of
running into Rowan again, unwilling to face his knowing looks. She
knew she was an idiot to feel the guilt she felt the night before
when things got so out of hand in the kitchens.

The Vikings were all gone from the hall, to
her relief. She decided to see how Janna faired, and left the hall
to see to her friend’s welfare. She found the woman much improved,
and delighted in her three children as she spent the afternoon
there visiting with her.

Janna was plying her with questions about the
goings on in the hall the night before. She found she had little to
recount as her time had been spent serving due to Elwynn’s illness.
She refused to speak of what transpired between herself and Rowan,
despite her need to confide in someone. It was something she would
take to her grave, for she doubted Rowan would seek a challenge to
speak of it.

Allisande was returning from Janna and
Grogan’s cottage when her path was cut off by Wulfstan. The Viking
raked her over with his pale, hate-filled gaze. She flinched from
the lust and animosity she saw in his eyes. She made to pass him,
but he stood in front of her and would not let her go on her
way.

A feeling of panic assailed her when she
looked about and realized Joran and his father were hunting. Most
of the Vikings were with them. Wulfstan smiled cruelly as he
reached out and grabbed her wrists.

Allisande opened her mouth to scream. He drew
back his hand and delivered a blow that dazed her. She tasted blood
in her mouth. Before she could release another sound, he hit her
again in the chest, so hard she fell to her knees. She felt ribs
shatter.

She struggled in a futile effort to get away
from him. He grabbed her by her hair and jerked her back to him. He
dragged her behind him to the stables and kicked the door shut. She
staggered to get away from him, but he was on her in an
instant.

He kicked her backward. She flew into the
horse’s stall to land amidst the hay there. He stood over her
cruelly, his eyes narrowed in hatred as he drew back his hand
again. The blows that rained down upon her must have rendered her
unconscious, for when she opened her eyes she was laying flat upon
her back in the stall upon a mound of hay, whimpering in pain from
the beating. Her arm throbbed, and she knew it to be broken.

Her eyes were so swollen shut; she could
hardly make out Wulfstan’s shape as he stood over her. He undid the
fastenings to his clothing. She sobbed in shame as he came down on
top of her. He held a hand over her mouth to keep her from
screaming. She bit it hard.

Wulfstan cursed before he hit her again. He
laughed cruelly as he yanked back her arms over her head, and
stared down at her hatefully. “I will have you now, Allisande of
Lockwraithe, and Joran will not want you anymore once I am finished
with you.” She sobbed in agony and pain as he wrenched her legs
open and positioned himself on top of her. She closed her eyes in
anticipation of the rape when Wulfstan was suddenly wrenched off
her and thrown backward. Allisande scurried away against the wooden
stall and stared in shock at the identity of her rescuer. Ivar the
Boneless took in the condition of her battered face and ripped gown
and eyed Wulfstan with dark displeasure.

“
My son will not be happy with what you
have done to his slave this day, Wulfstan,” Ivar said coldly and
gazed at his former favorite with a look of despair. “There will be
a challenge from this. Is your hatred for the girl worth your life?
Joran will kill you for this insult to him.”

“
She killed my brother! She deserves
far worse than a beating and a roll in the hay!” Wulfstan argued as
he adjusted his clothing. “You should not have interfered. It is my
right to seek vengeance upon her.”

“
My advice would be to leave, Wulfstan.
Leave while you have a head start, for when my son sees what you
have done here, there will be no place for you to hide from his
wrath,” Ivar predicted solemnly and watched as Wulfstan stomped
away, cursing under his breath.

When the door to the stable slammed shut,
Ivar approached the badly beaten woman, and met her violet gaze
with a grim look. He reached out a hand to her. She refused to
acknowledge his assistance as she shrank away from him, and
regarded him warily.

“
You have no reason to fear me, Girl.”
Ivar’s his pale eyes flicked to hers without pity or compassion in
them. The mighty warrior had seen far too much death and violence
to be shaken by her battered appearance. “I have already had my
vengeance against your family. You should be grateful I didn’t walk
away when I saw you dragged in here by Wulfstan, but you are not, I
can see,” he said in dry amusement as he noted her look of
loathing. “Hate me all you want, Girl, but you try me sorely, for I
will lose valuable warriors now because of you. Seasoned warriors
are difficult to replace in times of war.”

“
Go get the rest of your army, Viking,
and I will dispatch the lot of them,” she said bitterly. Suddenly
his massive shoulders shook with laughter.

”
Had your sire had your backbone, I
have no doubt this whole matter would have ended quite differently
for us all. Do yourself a favor and do not wander about alone
again. My men would not hesitate to do what Wulfstan attempted.
There are many who feel as Wulfstan does, that you should have been
made to pay for Danik and Hagar’s deaths. I spared you that to
please my son’s desire for you, Wench,” Ivar said coldly. “See that
you keep him well-pleased, or I will see you suffer the
consequences.” This last was said with such vehemence, Allisande
shrank from the Berserker, sensing his legendary rage was soon to
be directed towards her unless she complied.

“
You do not scare me, Ivar the
Boneless.” Allisande taunted rashly and spat a mouthful of blood
out and rose unsteadily, unable to see out of one eye now. Stars
floated before her gaze. She struggled to remain upright as she
staggered against the stall door, feeling darkness descend, but
unwilling to crumble at the Viking’s feet. She clawed at the stall
door to remain upright. “I have yet to have my vengeance.” She
slipped to the floor, unconscious at last.

Ivar stared down at the girl and cursed her
as he leaned down and picked up her slight form and carried her out
of the stable. He looked down at her horribly beaten form in
admiration.

He entered the hall and encountered Elwynn
first. The old woman stared at him in shock. He hastened to
reassure her he didn’t beat the girl himself, but saved her from
Wulfstan. He delivered her to his son’s room under the care of the
women and was thankful for the ale in front of him as he awaited
his son’s rage.

****

Joran was eager to return to the hall with
the bounty of their hunt. They felled three stags and a wild boar
this day. The men were in high spirits. Grogan eyed the launch as
Wulfstan’s long ship slid away from the dock. He was glad his
Chieftain’s nemesis was taking his leave. The tension was mounting.
Wulfstan witnessed Joran’s pleasure in his newest slave. Wulfstan
glared whenever he saw them together. Grogan knew there would be
trouble.

Joran walked his horse into the stable yard
and wondered where everyone was as he tied his horse and returned
to the hall. The other men began gutting the wild game they caught.
He entered the hall and saw his father seated at the high table. He
approached warily as he noted the look on his face. Ivar rose and
confronted him with a pained expression.

“
Wulfstan attacked Allisande when she
returned from tending to Grogan’s wife,” Ivar said quietly and saw
the rage that filled his son’s eyes. “She was beaten, nothing more.
I stopped him from what else he planned.”

“
I will kill him for this!” Joran
shouted and slammed his hand upon the table. “How could you let him
leave? I will hunt him down for this!”

“
I will lose no more men over the
girl!” Ivar gazed at his son dispassionately. “You forget she
killed two of my men already! Be lucky I didn’t allow Wulfstan his
vengeance this day, for I was tempted, when I saw him drag her
away. You have allowed your cock to rule your head, my son, where
she is concerned. Wulfstan deserves more of your loyalty than
Osgood’s daughter!”

“
You saw him drag her away and allowed
it? You did nothing?” Joran asked incredulously and could only gape
as his father raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

“
Wulfstan is one of my best warriors.
His head is clouded with this need to seek vengeance upon the girl.
I had thought to overlook it, and let him have it, but I know you
would not appreciate the insult. You are sensitive, much like Ingar
was.”

“
Do not ever speak my mother’s name
again if you wish to remain my father,” Joran said coldly and his
eyes were frigid as they met Ivar’s. “We both know she did not want
your attentions or appreciate the result of them later. You are
lucky to have stopped him, because there would be nowhere for him
to hide had he done more this day.” He turned on his heel and left
Ivar to reflect upon his words. Ivar watched his son run to the
woman’s side and spat at his feet.

Joran was growing soft on the girl. He
refused to allow it to hinder the scheme he had in mind. Allisande
of Lockwraithe must be sent home and soon, or he feared he would
lose another warrior to her.

Joran entered his room with a heavy feeling
in his chest when Elwynn and Janna stood aside so he could survey
the damage done by Wulfstan. Her face was so swollen, he hardly
recognized her. The bruises forming upon her were horrendous. He
cursed viciously as he saw the deep bite mark upon her
shoulder.

He felt the red mist coming before his eyes,
felt the vortex of rage sweep over him in a powerful wave. Had
Wulfstan remained, he would have torn him limb from limb. Elwynn
had tears in her eyes when she informed him Allisande’s left arm
was broken in two places, her nose broken, as well as a few
ribs.

He was stone-faced when they said she took
the brunt of the beating to her face. She hadn’t awoken since Ivar
brought her from the stable. They feared internal injuries. He
excused them both and said he would sit with her.

His rage hardly subsided as he watched her
chest rise and fall. He waited for hours. When he heard her moan
softly and rouse, he went to her, his blue eyes bleak as they saw
she did not awaken.

He stayed at her side that night. His gaze
was grim as he feared she would die in those moments. The pain
became too much for him to bear. He rose to seek out his men.

“
We sail after him tomorrow. He will
have to reach Oslo first. We will catch him there,” he said to
Grogan as the men prepared to leave. He heard his father cackle at
his words and frowned at him. Ivar grinned as Mira plopped onto his
lap. He met his son’s fierce look with a lopsided smile.

“
You play into the wench’s hands. She
would allow half the men here to attack her if she knew Viking
blood would be spilled.” Joran’s face grew mottled with rage at his
words. “You would kill a brother for his actions concerning a lowly
slave? I will not allow it. You will not challenge Wulfstan over
the girl. It is over! If the wench lives, so be it. Wulfstan had
his vengeance and that is enough.”

“
I am owed tribute because of the
damage to my property. I choose a challenge and you cannot gainsay
me when the tribunal arrives,” Joran said in a growl and his blue
eyes flared into his father’s as they met across the table. Ivar
patted Mira’s bottom and she got off his lap as he rose unsteadily.
He looked at his son with disappointment etched in his features.
Clearly he felt the matter of a slave being nearly beaten to death
did not warrant a challenge, and said so.