Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 17251 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 86(@200wpm)___ 69(@250wpm)___ 58(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17251 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 86(@200wpm)___ 69(@250wpm)___ 58(@300wpm)
My father and mother were a few feet from me, my sister and brother beside them. I stood off to the side, social gatherings not something I particularly enjoyed, even if it was in the great hall with the king and queen.
To be honest, I felt suffocated by the crush of bodies, the loud noise from the Vikings, the chants and cheers. It was all so overwhelming. I felt as though the world was pressing in on me.
I found myself looking in Calder’s direction. He sat at the table in the corner, villagers keeping their distance, as if he frightened them.
No, he did frighten them.
He watched me, the shadows partially concealing him, flickers of light and darkness from the fire in the center of the room washing over him. I felt his gaze on me, as if he were right before me, touching me, his fingers skating along my arms, flames of desire licking across every inch of me.
My arousal rose, awareness creeping up to claim me. My heart beat fast behind my ribs, beads of perspiration covering me. I excused myself, although nobody was close enough to hear, close enough to even care.
I pushed my way past the large men, their prowess and masculinity claiming the entire room. I found myself outside, taking a deep breath, letting the chilled air wash through me. I stared at the night sky, the moon full above me.
I closed my eyes, prayed to the gods for control and understanding of how I felt toward a man who could never be mine. When I opened my eyes, I felt someone standing behind me, their presence strong, the hairs on my arms standing on end. I turned around, expecting the person to be right behind me, but instead I saw it was Calder, leaning against the side of the great hall’s door, his arms crossed, his focus on me. He was a little way away, but his presence was so powerful I felt as if he were right next to me.
For prolonged moments we didn’t say anything, but I didn’t know what to say anyway. He pushed away from the door and walked over to me, never taking his focus from my face. Gods, he was so much bigger than me. I had to tilt my head back in order to look into his face.
Could he see—feel—the effect he had on me?
He stared straight ahead at the fjord and village, the main hall sitting atop a large hill that overlooked everything. The view was beautiful, but from where I stood, and who was next to me, my view was far better.
Calder turned and faced me, my breath catching. It was hard to swallow the lump in my throat, but I felt frozen. I couldn’t move, couldn’t even think. I wanted to say so much, tell him all the things I felt, that for years I’d wanted him, seen him come to the village and wished I could be his.
But nothing came from me, and he stayed silent, watching me as if he already knew. Maybe he did. He was a berserker, able to hunt, track, and search. It was his life, and I had no doubts that maybe he was far more adept at reading people than I was.
“Calder.” I said his name softly, that one word falling from my lips after so many moments of silence had passed between us.
I could see his body physically tense, his gaze dipping to my mouth.
On instinct I licked my lips, running my tongue first along the bottom and then the top. This low sound left him, one that I knew very well because I felt it deep in the pit of my stomach.
Desire.
Need.
And then I saw him lift his hand. He moved his fingers close to my face, and every part of me tightened. He picked up a lock of my hair, one of the braids now between his fingers. He stared at it, rubbing the strands between the digits, almost mesmerized by it.
I could have stayed like that all night, having him so close to me, feeling him touching me, yet not.
But he let it go, the connection I felt slowly diminishing. That moment gone.
I wanted to rise up on my toes and kiss him, tell him not to leave, to take me with him, to make me his.
But whatever was between us was gone as fast as it had started.
“You’ll be leaving?” I didn’t know why I asked him that, why I even wanted to know. I knew he would be going. He was a wanderer, never staying in one place too long.
He closed his eyes for a moment, not speaking. I thought I had said something wrong. “I’m sorry. Did I cross a line by asking?” I didn’t know how to interact with berserkers, with someone like Calder. I was even surprised we were this close right now, this moment moving between us.