He thought of other men he had known. Ulf, with his constant badgering of his mother. Egil, dead with his breeches undone, ready to r**e at a moment’s notice. Even Ultan, who always seemed to be on the edge of every crowd, his cold eyes looking for an opening.
“My mother is unwed,” he said at last. “And I have three younger sisters. I would kill any man that tried to hurt them.”
“I believe you. But so would many a man. It is a long way from wishing to protect your family to being willing to listen to a woman. To hold her needs as equal or greater to yours.”
He shrugged, uncomfortable with this sudden spate of praise, and she reached up, taking his chin in one hand, forcing him to meet her eyes.
“I love you, Harald Beardless.” Then an impish smile crossed her face, and a finger traced t
