His to Take Read Free

carabagas, dicing onions, crumbling in a handful of dried herbs. Appreciating the textures, the bursts of color, the aromas. She’d learned that eating food cooked from its natural state was much more satisfying than tearing open a sealed packet containing a tasteless brownish lump.
    “That was delicious. You’ve become quite a cook.” Haldor set his plate aside and patted his knee. “Come here.”
    When she hesitated, he gave her that sexy smile she couldn’t resist.
    “I only want you to sit on my lap. I promise there’ll be no spanking involved—unless you beg me to do it.”
    “Beg you to spank me? That’s never going to happen!”
    His eyes narrowed. “Is that a challenge?”
    “Not a challenge. Simply a fact.”
    “You think you’ve experienced all the kinds of spankings I can deliver? There’s none that you’d beg for?”
    She began ticking them off on her fingers. “Well, let’s see. You’ve spanked me with my clothes on, with my clothes off, over a wooden chair, over your knee, over the side of the bed. Oops, I ran out of fingers.” She raised her other hand. “With your open palm, with that dreaded hairbrush—and once, with a wooden spoon, the first time I refused to cook venison. I know some men spank with a leather belt, but so far you’ve never done that.”
    He grinned. “You’ve never been that naughty—yet. So you’re convinced you know every kind of spanking there is?”
    She shrugged. “If there’s another, I’d rather not know about it.”
    “Then you won’t.” He paused and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “Unless you beg me. So come here.”
    She went over and snuggled into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her, drawing her close. Though average in height for an Earth woman, six foot one, being in Haldor’s arms made her feel like a little girl. He towered over her and his body was all muscle, from the broad shoulders and powerful chest to thighs as big around and hard as the tree trunks he’d been chopping.
    She smiled up at him. Smoothing back his shoulder-length dark hair, she planted a kiss on his forehead. “Haldor. I asked Astrid about it. She said your name means ‘rock of Thor.’ That’s what you remind me of. A huge boulder. Strong enough to withstand the storms life brings without crumbling. But stubborn and hard-headed, too. Unyielding.”
    His smile dimmed. “Is that what you think? That I have no soft side?”
    “Well, if you ever did have, you rolled over on it and crushed it, rock of Thor.”
    She regretted the words as soon as she saw the flash of pain in his eyes. This man hid his feelings so deeply, she sometimes forgot he had any. She gave a little laugh. “It was only a joke, my love.”
    He stared into the fire for a long time without speaking.
    “You may be right,” he sighed. “All my life I’ve put on a brave face for the world. Ever since I was a lad, when the Tabun invaded Gadolinium and slaughtered my parents. King Sigrun and Queen Astra took me in. Sigrun was my hero. He tracked the Tabun down, drove them from Gadolinium with such fury they stayed away for over thirty years. I vowed to make him proud. To be just like him. He never showed fear, never the slightest weakness. Even when he was about to die at Balam’s hand.”
    He shook his head. “ There is a man. You know what Sigrun said, when he thought it was the end? ‘Better to die with honor than to live with shame.’”
    She drew back and gave him a searching look. “And that’s why you threw yourself in front of the spear meant for him.”

Chapter Two
     
     
    He nodded. “I had to do it. To show him he’d raised a man with drengr, a true Viking warrior. To make him proud of me.”
    “I know he’s proud of you. I’ve seen it in his eyes, when you walk into a room or speak out at the council. You mean as much to him as Kylar. He loves you like a son.” She kissed him. “And I love you too.”
    He returned the kiss. Soft. Gentle. His lips barely touching