Page 124 of The Viking’s Captive

He held her face in his hands as if she were a delicate object to be cherished. He laid his lips carefully over hers so they fit perfectly; then he breathed in and out, putting his breath into her mouth, taking her breath into his.

It was a brief kiss, but more than that. It was a kiss that promised so much. Forever. It was a forever kiss.

“I have missed you so much,” he said. “There was a time, not so long ago, when I cherished my aloneness. I thought that I wanted nothing more than peace and quiet. But now”—he shrugged—“now I cannot imagine living in this cold, dark keep without you and all the turmoil that surrounds you. In truth, I cannot imagine living anywhere and being happy unless you are there. Eirik and Tykir and Rurik have all warned me that when a man meets the right woman, it will feel as if they are soulmates. I never believed them … till now.”

Tyra felt as if her heart were swelling and swelling. The man aroused so many emotions she could scarce breathe. He knew just the right things to say while she stared at him in dumb wonder that he could care for a woman like her.

He began to undress her then, article by article. Despite her protests and struggles, he persisted, the whole time speaking softly to her. “Tyra, I do not want to hear any more about those thoughtless words I spoke regarding you and motherhood. I do not want to hear how you must be a soldier. I do not want to hear how the only way your sisters can marry is if you are disinherited. I do not want to hear how unattractive you think you are. I do not want to hear about any of the problems that you and I have.” He had her totally naked now, and he was gazing at her … all over.

She closed her eyes in shame.

“Open your eyes, Tyra.” When she did, he told her, “There is only one thing I want to hear from you.”

She knew exactly what that was. “I love you, Adam.”

He smiled then … a glorious Adam smile … the kind only he could give … the kind that made a woman think she was the most important thing in the world to him.

“You are the most important thing in the world to me, Tyra. And I love you more than I can say. I do not know why or how it happened, but I suspect you had me from the first moment you stepped into my hall, wearing armor and scratching your groin.”

His words were so precious to her, she could not speak for several moments … even the part about scratching her groin. Little did he know that she sometimes felt itchy there now as her hair began to regrow, and might truly have a need for scratching.

“There is one thing you must know, heartling. I come with baggage, just as you do with your bothersome family.”

“Baggage?”

“Yea. Baggage by the names of Alrek, Tunni, Kristin, and Besji. I need to adopt them, Tyra. For some reason, I believe that God, and mayhap Adela up in heaven, sent them to me. Just as Selik and Rain adopted me and Adela, I cannot do any less for them. Do you understand? Are you willing to take me and my baggage?”

“You will never have another moment’s peace, I suspect.”

“Undoubtedly.”

“Then of course I will marry you, and I love you all the more for your charges.” A sudden thought came to her, and she chuckled to herself. “In return, you will have to adopt one of mine.”

He raised his eyebrows in question. “One of your sisters? Why would you want to do that?”

“Nay, not one of my sisters. My cat.”

“Warrior? Oh, good Lord! My life will really be raucous then, won’t it? That cat loathes me.” He was smiling as he spoke, which Tyra took for a good sign.

Adam made slow, slow love to her then … the kind where a man professes his love with his body instead of words. He made her whimper and beg. He even kissed her there, though she suspected his lips were twitching with suppressed humor as he did so. When he entered her and began the long, slow strokes that would bring them both to ecstasy, he pleaded, “Never leave me again. Promise, Tyra. Tell me, no matter what, you will not leave me again.”

How could she promise that?

How could she not?

“I promise,” she said, though how she would fulfill such a promise, she had no idea. She had to trust Adam that they would work things out.

And then she could not think for they were riding the crest of a huge wave of pleasure. When they exploded, together, she spasmed around him with after-ripples of sweet agony.

She knew he was well pleased, too, because he moaned.

Adam had the nicest moan in the world.

When they lay sated in each other’s arms for a while, with Tyra lying on her side, her face on his chest and one leg tossed over his thigh, Adam inserted a hand between them and placed it on her stomach. “I want to have children with you, Tyra. Will you stay with me and bear my child?”

Tyra’s heart stopped at his question. She suspected there was more to the question than what was immediately apparent. “Do you think I could be a good mother?”

“Yea, I do,” he said, kissing her lips lightly.