Viking For Hire (Vikings Saga Volume 1) by Jo Grafford Read Free Book Online Page B

will never forgive you...or myself.”
    He looked so dismayed that the rest of Branwyn’s reservations vanished concerning his regard for her. Whether he knew it or not, he cared, blast him. ’Twas only a matter of time before he recognized it for himself. Mayhap with a little encouragement... “Walk with me,” she murmured.
    “Do you think ’tis wise for us to be alone?” he asked as she led him from the clearing into the forest.
    “Who cares?” she answered gaily and stepped directly in front of him so that he had to either halt or bump into her.
    “Branwyn,” he groaned and caught her wrists when she stood on tiptoe with the intention of intertwining them about his neck. He lowered her hands to her sides. “You know what you do to me, lass. The curse might be an inconvenience to you, but ’tis sheer torture for me.”
    “Why is that?” she inquired softly, taking another step so that her pinafore brushed against the legs of his trousers.
    “Because...ah...bloody hell, Branwyn. ’Tis not right for us to even be having this conversation in your condition. I’ll not be taking advantage of you. Come. Let us return to the others.” He drew her arm through his.
    “Wait!” Branwyn tugged at him to make him halt. “I have something to show you. Please. Do not move.” While he watched her intently, she slowly withdrew her hand from his arm. Then she replaced it, squeezed his forearm, and removed it a second time.
    “How did you do that?” he asked hoarsely. “The curse—”
    “No longer binds me,” she declared. She stepped behind him and slid her arms around his middle, nuzzling his back. When he started to protest, she again pulled away. “See? I am in complete control of my movements. No attacks. No frenzy. I am free of the curse.”
    “Did you already perform the incantation?” He regarded her with puzzled wonder. “How?”
    “Nay, but it no longer plagues me. I suspect ’twas all the magic flowing through me this morning. It somehow circumvented the effects of the curse on me alone. We still need to remove it from you, though.”
    Eirik snagged her waist and drew her close. “Truly, Branwyn? You are free to think and feel as you please around me?”
    “Truly,” she said with a chuckle and twirled away from him, holding up her hands and laughing with delight.
    He followed after her and pulled her flush against him. “Good, because I’ve been struggling to keep my own hands off you since the moment we met.”
    She gripped his upper arms, her breath growing uneven.
    “What do you feel now, lass?” He tipped her chin up to gaze down into her eyes.
    “My heart might very well beat itself from my chest,” she whispered, “and ’tis difficult to breathe.”
    “How odd.” Passion thickened his voice. “I seem to be suffering the same symptoms. Does anything else plague you?”
    “A terrible weakness,” she whispered shakily. “If you let me go, I am not entirely certain I shall be able to stand.”
    He buried his face in her neck. “Then I shall never let you go. Ah, Branwyn,” he muttered, “’Tis been such misery to want you the way I do, not knowing if one whit of your affection for me was pure and natural.”
    “When the curse left me,” she admitted, “I considered keeping the secret to myself, for the way you stir me is every bit as powerful as before...except now ’tis real.” She turned her head and sought his lips.
    His hand crept up to cup her nape as he slanted his mouth over hers. When she moaned, he thrust his tongue into her mouth and tangled it with hers.
    She plunged both hands into his hair, fisting the silken strands.
    “Jarl Eirik! Branwyn?” The shocked voice jolted her back to the forest. Branwyn reluctantly broke the kiss and glanced over her shoulder.
    “Sven.” She blushed and tried to disengage herself from Eirik’s embrace, but he held her fast. “What is it, my friend?”
    “This is madness. Him. You.” He raised and lowered his arms in