To Tempt A Viking Read Online Free PDF

but he didn’t move at all, not wanting to disturb her.
    Her hair was still damp, in a tangled red-and-gold mass around her shoulders. The braids had come undone and the strands held the wildness of bent curls. Her pale gown outlined her slender body with curves and he forced the sinful thoughts away.
    Not yours , he reminded himself.
    Her eyes opened and she yawned, sitting up. ‘Did you sleep?’ Eyeing his wounds, she added, ‘Are you in much pain?’
    He was, but he welcomed the dull ache. To lie beside Elena had been a dream he’d never imagined and his torn flesh had reminded him of the boundaries between them. If he had died last night, he could think of no better place to spend his last hours.
    His leg burned, but he forced himself to answer, ‘I’ll be all right. We need to reach the mainland today.’
    She knelt before him and unwrapped the bandages. At the sight of his wounded flesh, she blanched. ‘It doesn’t look good.’
    He shrugged. ‘I’m alive.’ For now , he thought, but didn’t say so. If he developed a fever, that could slay him quicker than the arrow wound.
    ‘You need a better healer than me,’ she argued. Rising to her feet, she took a deep breath and glanced around her. ‘But it’s too far for both of us to swim to the mainland.’ She stared at the small copse of trees. ‘There may be some fallen wood we could use for a raft.’
    ‘You aren’t strong enough to pull a log into the water,’ he argued. Already Elena appeared exhausted, her green eyes clouded with unspoken fear.
    ‘No, but I can find smaller branches and tie them together. We could hold on and then try to swim.’
    ‘And what are you going to tie the wood with? Grass?’
    In answer, she lifted her skirt, baring her legs to the knees. ‘I’ll cut off more of my dress.’
    The image of her long bared legs was enough to send a sharp flare of heat coursing through him. ‘If you think it will work,’ he said. He’d never seen beyond her ankles, but now she’d revealed shapely calves. He could only imagine the rest of those long legs, for she was a tall woman.
    And another man’s wife.
    His best friend’s wife.
    Ragnar leaned his weight against the stones, pushing his way up to a standing position. The sky was a hazy rose and gold, and mist frosted against the edge of the mainland. His stomach twisted at the thought of food and he hoped they would catch fish or other game.
    But he wasn’t much use to Elena. Not like this. The barest pressure of weight upon his leg was agonising, and he gritted his teeth, forcing himself to limp towards the other side of the island. It was a small outcropping, hardly more than a copse of trees and large boulders. There was no food, no water and their only hope for survival was to make the crossing.
    He glanced at the grey salt water, knowing that it would burn his wounds with unholy fire. Elena’s suggestion, that they bind fallen limbs together, was a sound one. The pain had been bad enough when the arrow was still inside him, but more flesh was exposed now that she’d taken it out.
    * * *
    When Elena emerged from the woods, she dragged four stout branches along the sand, each the thickness of his forearm. She had gathered up her hair, twisting it in a knot and securing it with a small stick while she worked. She used his knife to cut off more material from her skirts. As she bound the limbs together, his traitorous imagination conjured up the vision of her bared legs tangled with his own, his body lying atop hers.
    Ragnar closed his eyes, furious with himself for even thinking such dishonourable thoughts about her.
    ‘Let me help you,’ he said to Elena. He needed the activity to distract him. Anything to keep his gaze away from her bared flesh.
    Limping towards the pile of limbs, he sat down and wove the fabric under and over each branch, securing it tightly. Elena worked opposite him, mirroring his method, until at last it was ready.
    The morning light reflected upon her