The Viking's Defiant Bride (29 page)
Read The Viking's Defiant Bride Online
Authors: Joanna Fulford
Springâ868
A.D.
W
ulfrum stood by the casement, watching the first grey light of dawn stealing over the quiet earth. He let his gaze travel over the roofs of the outbuildings to the fields beyond, surveying it all with a sense of pride. The first time he had set eyes on Ravenswood he little thought it would be his or that it would become the place he called home. Yet in the last year he had come to know it intimately, every field and farm, every hedge and ditch. It was good land, rich and fertile, his land. And yet it was more than thatâthe land had a power of its own that spoke to the heart of a man. Sometimes he thought it had claimed him rather than the other way round. And always there was the great forest, at this season decked again in the fresh green of new growth, new life. He felt its peace steal into his soul as he breathed its scent on the cool air. With a faint smile he glanced at the sword lying on the chest nearby. Let others follow the winds of war or launch the sea dragons to go a-viking. They would do it without him.
A faint sound from the bed drew his attention from the view outside and he smiled to see Elgiva stir. Beside her, in the crib,
their son lay sleeping: Wulfgar. Born in the teeth of a March gale, he was a fine lusty babe with a thatch of dark hair and eyes as blue as harebells. Watching them both, Wulfrum felt his heart swell with love and pride, touched alike by their vulnerability and the beauty of the simple scene. Once fate had snatched away everything he held dear, but it had been restored in full measure.
Elgiva stirred and, feeling the empty space beside her, opened her eyes. âWulfrum?' Seeing him across the room, she smiled and reached out a hand.
âCome back to bed. It's early yet.'
Nothing loath, he left his station by the window and returned to her, sliding beneath the pelts and drawing her close, sharing her warmth. Feeling his arms about her, Elgiva smiled and closed her eyes and slept again. For a while he lay there, listening to her soft breathing, and then he too began to drowse and sank at last into peaceful slumber. Outside, the first rays of sunlight touched the canopy of the sheltering forest.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-2790-7
THE VIKING'S DEFIANT BRIDE
Copyright © 2009 by Joanna Fulford
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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