When Brodi saw Liv descending the stairs, his mouth went dry and he had to lock his knees to keep from falling to the floor. Always beautiful to him even in her favored cargo pants and t-shirts, now she was a vision. Ursula had tamed her flaming red hair with intricate braids studded with gold bands and crystal beads the color of rainbows. They had dressed her in a flowing, green gown with traditional Nordic embroidery on the chest and hem. If she had been transported back to his ancient Northman village, she wouldn't have been out of place. Though she would be the most striking woman there. Liv felt a little like she was playing dress up for Halloween, but the dress and the way Ursula had done her hair were really works of art. "Do you like it?" Liv looked down at herself and back up to Brodi as she came to the bottom of the stairs. For a moment, Brodi's mouth simply opened and closed like a fish. Finally, he gathered his wits to speak. "Fantastisk. You take my breath away, my lov
Over the next week, Asta turned Liv into a personal project. She drew Liv into their daily lives and soon she felt like she had known them all her life. She especially enjoyed being drawn into the circle of women that made up the pack. Liv was impressed with all of them. They all had strong opinions and all seemed to have some sort of battle experience – shield maidens, Asta had called them. They continued the practice with their weapons even though it had been hundreds of years since they'd had to participate in a real battle. They dissolved in peals of laughter watching Liv try to master the ax and bow, but Liv didn't mind. "Why do you continue to do all this anyway?" Liv asked, after yet another failed attempt to hit the target with her throwing ax."Who knows what may happen?" a tall, black-haired beauty named Brigit told her. "We must be able to help protect our pack and our Alpha. Strength in body and mind is necessary. Many packs do not work like this, of course, but we are no
Liv walked toward the pool and Brodi's outstretched hand as if in a trance. She sucked in a breath when her foot dipped into the water onto the first step carved into the rock. It was hotter than she expected, but not uncomfortably so. Holding tightly to the hand she was given, she descended into the water up to her chest. Brodi wrapped an arm around her and towed her off the steps. She could still stand, but she let him hold her with her feet off the ground. Brodi leaned down to her and brushed his mouth against hers so softly, she thought she might have imagined the caress. Her hands wrapped around his nape and pulled herself toward him, burying her nose in his neck. She loved the way he smelled – all pine and sky mixed with something dark and musky that her body craved. His hands traveled up and down her back, along her sides, and down to cup her ass in his hands. Every cell in her body tingled and she forgot all about being embarrassed to be naked in front of him. "Lean back, E
Gunnar slouched comfortably in an Adirondack chair on his porch mapping out the constellations in the sparkling stars above his head. This was one of his favorite times of day. He enjoyed his solitude, unlike most of his pack who preferred to be in the company of others. He knew most of his family didn't really understand him, but that was okay. He was content with himself and his role in the pack. As he sipped his beer, a sound caught his ear - a barely perceptible crunch of the leaves in the woods to the right of his cabin. His eyes moved to study the dark woods when he heard the sound again. He fought the urge to turn his head toward the noise. He didn't want to give away the fact that he had heard whoever or whatever was creeping around his cabin, but he rested his right hand on the shotgun next to him. He kept it close when he was outside near the cabin to dissuade stubborn bears against roaming in his territory. He caught the movement again in his peripheral vision. There it wa
Returning to the house after their visit to the hot springs, Liv found herself ensconced in Brodi's giant bed. She woke slowly when the pale, watery light of morning peeked through the corner of the heavy draperies. Her mouth drew into a lazy smile as she felt Brodi's giant body surrounding her. He'd wrapped himself around her like an octopus and she loved it. She closed her eyes again and let the one hand that was not trapped under her Viking's heavily muscled extremities roam. Her fingers traced the mysterious patterns of the tattoos that were etched onto the arm that snaked around her waist. Her light touch roused him and Brodi's arm tightened around her while his large palm moved to caress her breast.A satisfied rumbling vibrated in his chest before he spoke, his voice huskier than normal with sleep. "Good morning, Elskling. Did you sleep well?"Liv turned in his arms and placed a kiss on the exposed stretch of warm skin under his beard. "Mmmmm, better than I have in a very long
As Liv returned to consciousness, she tried to take in her surroundings. Cold, hard stone beneath her cheek. A faint smell of woodsmoke. When she cracked her eyes open, all she could see were wavering, indistinct lights against a black backdrop. She blinked and tried again. The lights turned into torches hung on a stone wall like some kind of medieval castle. Where was she? She tried to push up on her hands but dropped down again with a groan of pain. Her head was throbbing, and stars burst in front of her eyes."Well, sleeping beauty has finally awakened." The sneering voice was familiar. Liv lay still and tried to think. Who would do this? The only people she knew were her boss and Brodi's family. No one would…her eyes flew open as the answer came to her. Brand, Brodi's brother. That was the voice. Nausea roiled in her gut as the truth hit her. Brand had hurt her; taken her somewhere. But why would he want to hurt her?A boot toed her side. "Get up! I know you're awake."Liv tried
Brodi wiped a tired arm across his soot-stained face. The fire had taken the entire morning to put out, but it hadn't reached any of the cabins and they had stopped it spreading any farther into the woods. His brow furrowed as he saw Gunnar running toward him with something in his hand."Brother! We found this in the woods about half a mile from the beginning fire line." He held up a red, plastic gas can. "I knew this was no freak accident," Brodi growled. He tried to think of who might want them out of the forest. They'd been here for years. Old logging companies did things like this back in the day, trying to scare settlers off the land, but that was centuries ago. The forest was protected land now. There would be no reason to try to burn them out. He wracked his brain trying to come up with a solution but continued to come up blank.He clapped his brother on the shoulder. "Have everyone clean up and grab something to eat. Gather the security team and Finn and meet me in the den in
Though it didn't seem to slow him down a bit, Liv continued to kick and fight as she was dragged through a rabbit warren of roughly hewn tunnels by Sean, the giant redheaded shifter. "Oww! Stop that! One of your damn beads hit me in the eye!" Sean complained as she whipped her head back and forth."You're lucky that's all that's happened to you! Just wait until Brodi finds me. You'll be begging to die before he's done with you!" Liv kicked the giant in the shins, but she'd lost her shoes at some point and she doubted she was even bruising him with her bare feet. She couldn't give up, though. She had to keep fighting until Brodi showed up. No part of her doubted he would come to her rescue at any moment.Finally, Sean stopped in front of a small opening in the side of the rock wall that looked just big enough for an adult to crawl into. Liv's heartrate spiked and she fought to find the air to fill her lungs. Her eyes rolled in her head like a panicked horse, and she broke out in a col