Viking in Love

His heart seized up. “Breanne! What is amiss? Please do not tell me that you are already regretting our marriage. You told me when we were in the root cellar that you loved me. I thought…”
She shook her head and continued to sob. He held her until the tears stopped, and he wiped her wet face with a cloth.
“Tell me,” he said.
“Oh, Caedman, I feel so bad. I am not regretting the marriage. Of course I am not, but you were forced into this. I could have prevailed with my father, but I did not.”
If you only knew, sweetling. He cocked his head to the side. “I was not forced.”
“Of course you were. You do not love me.”
“I do so.” Heart and soul

Breanne had not spoken to Caedmon alone since yestermorn when they were “rescued.” She did not know what he had said to his children, but she had seen from a distance that he spoke to them seriously and at length. But at the end, they were all laughing, and he placed a fatherly arm over the shoulders of Hugh, who had been the instigator.
She had also seen him talking with her father over cups of ale. It had been a long conversation, but it could not have been too bad since her father had not lopped off his head or done him bodily harm.
Caedmon had not wanted to be married. He probably still did not. But she was going to marry him anyhow. She would teach him to love her over time

At the head was Breanne’s father, King Thorvald.
Holding a hand for silence, Thorvald studied both of them thoroughly. Then he smiled and yelled over his shoulder, “Someone get the

It took five hours of useless searching before someone noticed that Caedmon’s children were acting strange. After another hour of intense questioning, a crowd of about twenty was heading out the back door of the keep. The children, wisely, went into deep hiding.
Thorvald had not had so much fun since Adam had drilled a hole in his head, and he had pretended to be unconscious so he could plot the marriage of one of his daughters. Suffice it to say, he was smarter than his daughters gave him credit for. Never underestimate a Viking, he always said

One thing was certain, he was not going to let her go

love you,” she said. That was all. She had no idea how he would react, but it had to be said.
He just stared at her, his fingers gently pushing wet strands of hair off her face. “I am glad.”
That was all, but it was enough…for now.
He did not know it yet, but she was not leaving on the morrow. He might be a hard nut to crack, but she was going to crack him eventually. After all, she had nine helpers for that endeavor

His heart turned over, he swore it did.
“I cannot bear to think of you doing this with another woman,” she confessed.
“I think I would kill the man who takes you to bed,” he confessed, as well