Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

I couldn’t bring myself to move away from the rail until Jorvik was nothing more than a tiny dot in the distance. Until I couldn’t see my parents and friends anymore. Until I couldn’t see my home anymore.

Except it wasn’t my home anymore.

Ever since I married Viktor, he became my everything, including my home.

Viktor was my home–well, Viktor and Kis. Wherever he was, I wanted to be there as well, even if that was in the middle of a sea, setting sail on a four-month mission to an island called Greenland.

“It’s not too late to change your mind,” Viktor whispered, his breath fanning over the shell of my ear and his chest warming my back. “We’re still close enough to turn back if you want to. I don’t mind.”

“I don’t want you to lose your Captaincy,” I said, turning around in his arms to gaze up at him. “And I don’t want to go back to Jorvik if you’re not going to be there. I want to be wherever you are, Viktor.”

“We’ll be at sea for four months. Possibly longer if we get lost,” he warned, but with the way his lips were turned up at the corners as he lowered his face, gently brushing them against mine, I knew he was only teasing.

“We’ll just have to make sure we don’t get lost then,” I grinned and rose on my tiptoes to press my lips to his in a real kiss. As we were on the top deck, all the crew was here and had a front-row seat to us making out.

“Come on, my siren,” Viktor grinned and placed one last kiss on my mouth before pulling away, but he kept an arm around my waist as he guided me around the top deck of The Serpent.

We started at the front of the ship where the infamous Serpent was hung, proudly displayed as we cut through the water. It was various shades of dark grey, almost black. The scales looked real and glistened in the sunlight. The serpent twisted and turned in several curves, leading all the way up to the serpent’s scaly face, beady eyes, and slippery, scaly tongue. I had seen the serpent several times before, but this was the first time I was so up close.

“Do you want to sit on it?” Viktor whispered in my ear.

“What?” I asked and turned to glance over my shoulder at him, my tone laced with surprise. He grinned and nodded, looking awfully excited about it. “You cannot be serious!”

“Oh, I am,” he grinned wickedly at me.

“We hear you’re giving a tour of The Serpent, and we’re wondering why we weren’t invited,” Roscoe grinned, joining us at the rail with Manny in tow.

“Maybe because you’re not my wife,” Viktor snorted, but he sported a large grin. “Well, since you’re here, you might as well join us for the rest of it. And don’t worry, you haven’t missed anything important. I was just asking Astrid if she wants to sit on the serpent.”

“Sit on the serpent?” Manny frowned, puzzled. “That’s not a thing, is it?”

“It is,” Viktor grinned and turned to Roscoe. “Care to show these two what I mean?”

“You don’t have to ask me twice,” Roscoe returned the grin.

We all watched as he braced his hands on the rail and used his arm strength to leap onto it. He sat on the edge of the rail before swinging his legs over the serpent’s head. It was just wide enough for him to use as a chair, but I couldn’t help but fear that he would fall into the water with the gentle sway of the ship, and we would never see him again.

“Okay, I think that’s enough now,” I chuckled nervously, resisting the urge to reach out and grab Roscoe’s hand to pull him over the rail. When Viktor and Roscoe merely laughed at my reaction, I huffed. “It’s not funny. I don’t want him to fall into the water.”

“I’m a good swimmer,” Roscoe grinned cockily, but it was quickly replaced by one of fear when he lost his footing, looking as if he was going to fall face-first into the water. I gasped and instinctively reached out to grab him. “Viktor!” I screeched, a cry for help.

Instead of my husband helping me, he threw his head back and laughed. My lips parted in shock, and when I glanced around, spotting three men laughing at me, especially Roscoe, who looked completely at ease sitting on the serpent’s head, I realised that I had been made the butt of the joke.

I groaned and resisted the urge to stomp my feet, but only because I knew that would give them more to laugh about.

“That wasn’t funny,” I groaned, glaring at the three of them. My eyes lingered on my husband, who looked proud for pulling a fast one on me. “I was genuinely afraid that Roscoe would fall into the water.”

“Don’t worry, my siren.” Viktor threw an arm over my shoulders, pulling me into his side. I buried my face in his chest and felt his chest rumble as he laughed. It was hard to be mad at him when he looked so handsome and carefree. “I wouldn’t let anything happen to any of my crew. If Roscoe fell in the water, I would have jumped in after him.” He pressed a kiss to my hair.

“Well, that’s reassuring,” I huffed. “Now, before one of you gives me a heart attack, let’s continue with the rest of this tour.”

Once Roscoe’s feet were safely back on the deck, we moved further down the ship to join Dagfinn at the wheel.

Dagfinn was a large, burly kind of fellow. His hair was dark, thick, and a little matted in places. It was as if he didn’t wash it often, but it didn’t look dirty. He kept it longer than Viktor’s, falling to the middle of his back. I noticed he nearly always freely wore his hair like that, and not for the first time, I was a little envious of the thickness and length. Regardless of the scary, powerful stance, his smile was that of a cuddly teddy bear, and I couldn’t help but return it.

It was nice to feel like I belonged here even though I technically didn’t. I had all but jumped onto the ship at the last minute–just about how long it took for the immediate direction of my life to suddenly change.

“When can we have a go at the wheel?” Roscoe asked excitedly, looking as if his fingers itched to give it a whirl. With his jumpy mood, I couldn’t help but think he’d sail us into a large rock, splitting the ship right through the middle.

“We’ll be on the water for a couple of months. There’ll be plenty of time for all of you to pick up everything. There’s no need to rush,” Dagfinn chuckled, and when he turned to face me, he winked.

I returned the grin, ignoring the playful way Viktor narrowed his eyes at the both of us.

“Seems like someone’s jealous,” Dagfinn grinned. “But you don’t have anything to worry about, Captain. I’m completely and utterly in love with my wife. Thankfully, she loves me back just as much, though I’ve always wondered if that has anything to do with the third leg I carry around with me in my trousers.”

My lips parted in a loud gasp before I laughed hard and loudly. Roscoe and Viktor laughed with me, but Manny shifted uncomfortably and looked away.

“That’s Dagfinn for you,” Viktor chuckled as he led us away from the wheel. “He’s got a bit of a loose tongue and tends to overshare. If you offend easily, you probably won’t be very comfortable around Dagfinn, but he means well and has a good heart.”

Next up on the tour were the sails and the mast of the ship, which was Garth’s speciality. I had watched him align them earlier, and I noticed him glancing at them every so often, checking up on them.

“This is Garth’s area of expertise,” Viktor confirmed my thinking. “He’s in charge of the sails.”

“I’m not as young or agile as I used to be, so whenever someone needs to go up the mast, I usually get Caspian or Laurence to go up for me. They’re young and won’t die or break all their bones if they accidentally fall,” Gustav chuckled, mirth swimming in his eyes. “But since we’ve now got you two strapping lads–” He sent a pointed look to Manny and Roscoe. “–next time I need one of them fixing, I’ll call for you.” And as if he suddenly remembered something, Gustav turned to me with a large, friendly grin. “Of course, Astrid, if you fancy climbing the mast, I’ll happily call for you as well.”

Even though we all knew it was a joke, Viktor sent Garth a dark, warning glare.

“I think I’ll pass,” I chuckled. “But thanks for the offer, Gustav.”

Viktor turned to me, his stern expression melting into a soft smile. “Don’t worry, Astrid. We’ll find something for you to do.”

Moving away from Garth and his mast, Viktor pointed out the stairs that led down to the second-level deck, from which you could access the third-level deck.

Behind that little part, Gustav and a few others sat around a small mountain of stones and the tripod bowl where the fire would usually go. The single pan on top of it meant that the cooking process was slow and probably kept Gustav busy most of the day. For at least half of today, he wouldn’t need to cook. Not since we had the bread and cheese I had packed for the crew. I was now grateful that I had packed extra; otherwise, there wouldn’t have been enough for me or Manny.

We skipped the second deck for now and went directly down to the third level. Traditionally, this was where the entire crew would have been, physically rowing the boat to keep it sailing through the water. Chip had put in some fancy mechanism where the only thing the person steering the ship needed to do was keep their foot down on the button to keep the rows automatically moving, which meant that the purpose of this deck had changed. It had now turned into somewhat of a storage area, not just for the dried foods we had taken from Jorvik to keep us going for the estimated length of the mission, but for the weapons and other goods we intended to trade along the way.

“As you can see, there’s nothing much to see down here,” Viktor said. “There are water and apple cider barrels in those two corners over there.” He pointed toward the left, where the entire wall was lined up with large barrels. “That and the barrels of dried food on the other side will keep us alive for the next few months.”

“What about fish?” I asked, curious.

“We’re trying to catch fish every day, but in some parts of the ocean, there’s no guarantee that we’ll be able to catch any. It may be because the fish swim deeper in that part of the sea, or maybe it’s densely populated because sharks are eating them, but those are just some of the reasons,” Viktor explained. “Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s head back to the second level. That’s where we have our bedrooms and the bathrooms.”

I listened carefully as Viktor guided us through the rooms. The Serpent looked large from the outside, but it felt even bigger when in it—especially the second level, which had ten bedrooms and two bathrooms.

“Usually, we get a room each, but there’s more of us this time, which means that three rooms will have to be shared,” Viktor said, bringing us to a stop in front of the first room. “Manny and Roscoe, you can take this one and Astrid,” he grinned as he turned to face me. “You’ll be sharing with me.”

We broke apart to get acquainted with our living quarters for the next few months. Viktor led me to our bedroom at the end of the hallway. It was the furthest away from the stairs leading up to the top deck but closest to the ones leading to the deck below. It was also away from both of the bathrooms.

I guess being married to the Captain came with its perks.

“I’ve been dying to get you alone all morning, my siren,” Viktor groaned in wanton desire, pulling me into his arms as soon as we were alone in our room. “What does a man have to do to get a moment alone with his wife?”

“Maybe he could start by actually telling his wife that,” I grinned and looped my arms around his neck, pulling him in close.

“I’m sorry for not speaking to you about this earlier, my siren,” Viktor whispered against my lips, his eyes fluttered closed. “I know I should have asked if you wanted to join me on this mission, but I promise you that the next few months will pass quickly, and we’ll be back in Jorvik before you know it.”

“You don’t need to apologise.” I was quick to stop him. “I definitely didn’t expect this, but I’m happy to be here. I’m so grateful that we don’t have to spend such a long time away from each other. I’m confident that it’s not just because we’re newly married. I know I would have missed you so much, pirate. I would have struggled to be away from you for so long. It would have killed me.”

Relief washed over his face. “I feel the same way,” he exhaled a shaky breath. “I don’t like to hear about you and death in the same sentence, but I feel the same way, my siren. I wouldn’t have survived without you either. You make me so damn happy.” He pressed his lips against mine in a hard, all-consuming kiss.

His words warmed my heart, and as he kissed me, gently stroking my tongue with slow, sensual strokes, I was tempted by what I had been contemplating for a few days now. I would have spoken my heart this morning, but we were interrupted.

Just like how we were interrupted now…

“Viktor! Astrid!” We heard Gustav suddenly call for us somewhere from the top deck. “Lunch!”