The Viking's Captive Bride

The jarl bound the woman to himself to hold the settlement together, and he never once explained the terms. Her quiet yielding stirred the wound his father's betrayal had left in him.

The cord and the stone wall became a standing matter between them. Every deliberate pull tightened a hold that duty and raw hunger both demanded, and neither of them named it aloud.

She met his eyes with a watchful need that matched the fear guarding his heart, and the settlement's fate waited to tear it all apart. The hall stood open behind her. She never turned for it.