Vengeance Hammer (Viking Vengeance) Read Online Free PDF

the shoulders exposed by her gown. She shivered, but nodded.
    Earl Tighe rose to his feet, goblet in hand, and bellowed, “To the Earl of Caithness and his wife, Lady Xára!”
    Olaf Longface along with the warrior, Egron, and the captain, Ghazi, lurched from their seats, and echoed the earl’s salute not a moment later.
    A few men in the bailey shouted out lewd suggestions and attempted to stand. Only the village whores still roamed the grounds and their suggestions brought a scalding heat to Xára’s cheeks.
    She gasped when the Viking summarily hauled her into his arms.
    “Put your arms around my neck.” She barely heard his whispered words, but obeyed his command.
    He marched across the bailey, his pace so rapid she tightened her hold on him. Mother Mary have mercy, he smelled the way she imagined paradise would, hot and spicy and delicious. The muscles of his neck rippled beneath her palms. Unable to resist she touched a fingertip to the bulging line of a blue vein buried under a thick layer of sinew and smiled when he pressed her closer to his massive chest.
    He bounded the stairs taking them two and three at a time. When they reached the wide landing at the top, he said, in a velvet and steel voice that caused her belly to flutter like the wings of a swallow soaring across the sky, “Can you hear me?”
    The query gave her an excuse to cup his jaw. He glanced at her and her chest ached when his brows pulled together. “They will follow us soon. I cannot prevent any who make it up the stairs from entering the master’s chamber.”
    And witnessing their joining.
    She took a deep breath and pressed her trembling lips together. All at once, understanding dawned with the brilliance of a glorious sunrise. ’Twas the reason for the prolonged feasting and the copious amounts of ale, wine, and mead served to all but his men. How shrewd his plan.
    She grinned.
    He frowned and broke into a furious march. “We must make haste.”
    The doors to the Earl’s sleeping quarters stood open and when he strode into the room, Xára gasped. She had helped to supervise the cleaning of Arnfinn’s chamber and expected to see the few pieces of furniture salvaged from about the castle: a narrow straw pallet, a table, two stools, and a rusted metal trunk. She scarce believed her eyes at the transformed room.
    A canopy bed of enormous proportions stood in the middle of the far wall. The rich burgundy curtains hanging from the posts were pulled to the sides. A sudden nervousness stormed from her prickling scalp to the tips of the toes curled under in her satin slippers.
    He set her down gently, fingers spanning her waist. “I will play maid for you. Before they come we will be beneath the sheets well hidden from view. Do you—”
    She set her hand to his mouth, comprehending the need to rush, nodded, and pushed him aside.
    “Can you manage alone?” He spoke the way parents did to a child.
    Yes, she nodded.
    “Thank Freya,” he muttered in a low voice and turned around. “Loki, work your mischief on those who follow.”
    Why did he think she could not hear him unless they faced each other?
    The gown laced in the front. She tore at the leather ties while footing off first one slipper, then the other. Mother Mary, her heart would surely explode, its beat so thunderous she felt it in her throat. She edged to the side of the bed, slipped the cyrtel off her shoulders, and let the fabric puddle around her stockinged toes.
    Risking a quick peek over her shoulder, she caught a glimpse of him seated in a magnificent chair that did not belong to the castle. He had tugged off one boot and was working on the other.
    She clambered onto the high mattress and fumbled with her garters and stockings. Cursing a sudden clumsiness besetting her movements, Xára fought and won the battle of the legs, and tossed the ribboned garments to one side.
    Another swift peek found the Viking setting his weapons one by one on a low chest she didn’t recognize.