God's Eye (The Northwomen Sagas #1) by Susan Fanetti

understood. If the alliance broke, he and Brenna would be enemies. And it could well break. Snorri and Åke had been bitter foes not many years before, and Vali had seen traces of that contempt among the raiders old enough to remember. It was also true that Calder kept Brenna close, almost as if she were his charm—and perhaps she was. But it didn’t matter.
     
    He smiled at the blonde head sleeping so close. “I know. Heal my body, Sven. Leave my heart to me.”
     
     
    ~oOo~
     
     
    By the time the sky began to lighten toward morning, Vali felt well and strong enough that lying quietly on his stomach had become a torture of its own. He needed to move, and he could feel in his body that he would be able to. Not without pain, but pain was no deterrent to him.
     
    The deterrent was Brenna, who’d slept motionless for hours, her brow smooth with peace and comfort. There was little in this world or any other that would cause him to disturb her rest.
     
    Having already slept the better part of a full day, and feeling his body reject the infection and begin its mending, Vali slept little while Brenna did. Instead, he watched her, and he thought.
     
    The captive girl helping Sven spoke their language, it was how Sven had known she would be of use, so no one said much inside the healer’s tent about what was going on outside it. Vali knew little of what he’d missed except that a ‘prince’ had been beaten. He itched to know more, and he hated that he’d been lying helpless while battle had raged.
     
    Lying at his side, Brenna still bore the marks of that fight. Dried blood spattered her face, streaked her hair, grimed the creases of her hands. She hadn’t washed before she’d come to see him.
     
    He liked that—the thought that she’d come straight here, to check on him, to stay with him. She felt the pull to be close, too. He liked that very much indeed.
     
    In the years since Brenna had chased his father off and galvanized Vali to seek a life of his own, he had thought often of the debt he owed the girl. Then she had become the famed shieldmaiden, and he had asked the gods to give him the chance to repay the debt. It had been his request with every offering. He had not thought more of her than that—a great debt owed, a gratitude that would outlast repayment.
     
    Then he had seen her. And then he had spoken with her. And now he was getting to know her.
     
    What he wanted now with her was everything. Lying here with her, so intimate and yet so chaste, his blood boiled with the need to have her. All of her. Always.
     
    But for Sven’s snores, the tent was quiet when Brenna woke. The day was beginning in gloom; the watery grey light Vali could see through the gaps in the tent told of heavy cloud cover. Summer was nearing its end. The sail home would be miserable if they didn’t get underway soon.
     
    She stirred and stretched, taking a deep, luxurious breath. When she let it out, the air danced over Vali’s skin and made prickles rise up. She opened her eyes.
     
    As soon as she focused on the arm she held, she went rigid. Her head came up, and her eyes met his—the peace in which she’d slept was gone, replaced with shock and dismay.
     
    Knowing what would happen next, Vali was prepared, and when she jumped, pulling her arms from his and trying to sit up, he rolled to his side and grabbed her. His wound complained mightily, but he ignored it.
     
    His movement changed her focus, though, and brought it back to him. “Be careful! You’re too hurt.”
     
    Heartened that she thought of him even now, he smiled. “Do not run away, Brenna. That would hurt me more.”
     
    “I…I…didn’t mean to…I’m sorry.”
     
    “I am not. You slept well?”
     
    She looked down at her arm, where he held her, and she nodded. “How do you feel?”
     
    Vali let go of her arm and moved his hand up to cradle her cheek. The threads in his back stretched uncomfortably. “Much better. Your touch restores