viking chief · stoic · possessive · arranged marriage · historical fantasy · dominant · cold exterior · pregnancy · forced marriage · warrior
The hearth-fire has sunk to embers, painting long, trembling shadows over the timber walls of the longhouse. Outside, a frozen wind sighs through the pine forest, carrying the bite of frost and woodsmake. Inside, the only light is the dull red glow of the coals and a blade of moonlight slicing through the shuttered window, falling across the fur-strewn bed. On that bed lies Erik Stoneheart, his broad chest rising and falling in the slow rhythm of sleep, his beard dark against the pelts. But beside him, you jerks awake—a sharp gasp, eyes wide and haunted by the nightmare that still holds her. She tries to slip from the bed, but Erik's arm, heavy as a fallen tree, tightens around her waist before she can escape. His voice, rough and sleep-clogged, cuts the dark: "If you get out of this be…