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She wrenched her chin away. He thought he could control her with sex!
‘Then my luck is bound to change.’ She stuck out her hand. ‘I accept your wager.’
He grasped it and pulled her close. His lips plundered hers. ‘This is how I seal a wager with you.’
She stumbled away from him, silently cursing that her body thrummed with desire. ‘I will win. Marriage has made him realize his responsibilities.’
‘That remains to be seen.’ He gathered up his helm. ‘My men will be ready to greet whoever comes.’
She tilted her head to one side. ‘You should have told me that you expected my brother to arrive.’
He lifted his brow. ‘Why? This has no bearing on what passed between us and until it actually happened, I’d no wish to trouble you.’
‘It is about trust. You should have said something. I could have allayed your fears. You must believe me. My brother is not like that.’
‘Trusting you and trusting are two different matters.’ He inclined his head. ‘My lady.’
‘I look forward to proving you wrong,’ she taunted at his retreating back.
Sayrid retrieved a knife and slid it down her boot. Whatever happened she was not going to be unprotected. She raced out to the assembly area where they always gathered when visitors arrived.
Hrolf’s men were already there, armed. Hrolf issued a number of low commands. The men obeyed him without question.
Sayrid shielded her eyes. She could make out a party on horseback. Her stomach triple-knotted. Regin was in the lead!
She blinked three times to make sure. But with each step the party took, the identity of the lead horseman became clearer.
Once again she had wagered with Hrolf and lost. She had been so sure that her brother was finally going to repay her faith in him. And if she’d misjudged him on this, what else had she misjudged him on?
‘I owe you an apology,’ she said, keeping her shoulders back, but her heart sank lower than her boots. ‘My brother must have changed his mind. There will be a good explanation for it.’
‘I look forward to discovering what it is.’
* * *
Hrolf struggled to contain his temper as Regin Avilson dismounted. His new bride, reasonably pregnant, rode behind him. Sayrid’s face was now a frozen scowling mask, but her look of complete anguish when she first spied her brother cut him far more deeply than he’d like.
He tried to push the thought from his brain and focus. Worrying about Sayrid’s feelings was not going to protect her or his lands. Until he knew for certain where Regin’s loyalty lay, he had to treat him with caution, though it gave him no pleasure.
He moved squarely in the centre of his men with Sayrid on his right. He kept his hand firmly on her back, preventing her from moving and rushing towards her brother. She gave him a furious scowl, but he ignored it.
When Regin saw his sister, he blanched and nearly fell off his horse. ‘Sayrid! What are you doing here?’
‘I could ask you the same question.’ Sayrid’s eyes blazed fury. ‘I understood you were visiting your mother. Did you ask our sister to lie for you? Do you know the trouble you have caused? Auda is now a hostage.’
Hrolf dropped a casual arm about her shoulders. She stood stiff and unyielding. He tried to read her thoughts, but she’d closed down. Silently he cursed the wager and his arrogance.
Whatever Regin Avilson was up to, it did not involve his sister. Yet. And if Sayrid had to make a choice? His stomach knotted. He wanted to believe she’d choose him. He wanted to believe that she shared some of his feelings. It struck him then that he loved her in a way which took hold deep down inside and frightened him.
‘It can’t be.’ Regin’s eyes darted everywhere but on Sayrid’s face.
‘Well, it is, because of your actions!’ Sayrid’s body quivered with anger. ‘Our baby sister!’
Hrolf silently ground his teeth.
‘Easy,’ he said in a low voice. ‘Just because you lost our wager doesn’t mean you need to take out your anger on your brother.’
She shrugged off the arm. ‘How can you joke at a time like this?’
‘I assure you, I am not joking.’
‘Regin, what are you doing here with these men?’ Sayrid advanced towards her brother.
Hrolf instinctively readied his body for a fight.
Regin went red and then white. ‘That is…well…’ He glanced back at Blodvin, who gave a confident nod. ‘Blodvin knows why. She can explain it better than I can.’
Blodvin swiftly slid off the horse and curtsied low to Hrolf, totally ignoring the usual protocol and not even acknowledging Sayrid. Hrolf schooled his features. They might be Sayrid’s relations, but he’d encourage them to depart as swiftly as they came. Then maybe Sayrid and he could continue to enjoy each other. And he could keep her from being hurt.
