Dream of Me/Believe in Me

intend for your brother.”
    Cymbra paled. “What do you mean?”
    Wolf raised an arm, long of bone, weighted withmuscle, perfectly crafted to wield a sword or lance as it did so very often. He pointed down to the beach. “Your brother will die there.”
    The rays of the setting sun spilled like blood across the water. Cymbra gasped and put her hand to her throat. “
Why?
You have no reason to kill him.”
    “He who is not my friend is my enemy. I gave your brother the chance for peace. I offered him an alliance against the Dane who plagues us both. His answer was a mortal insult.”
    “He didn't …”
    “Enough! He will come for you, and when he does, he will die. I will have one less enemy in the world and the insult done me will be avenged.”
    He grasped her shoulders, deliberately allowing her to feel something of his strength, and forced her to look down at the crimson-lit beach. “Right there, Cymbra, that is where your brother will breathe his last. His life's blood will soak that sand. His last sight will be of these walls.”
    “No!” A sob broke from her as she tried to wrench free of him.
    Wolf tightened his hold implacably. He pulled her hard against him, his hand clasping the back of her head to press her face to his chest. Softly, almost caressingly, he said, “Unless you prefer a different fate for him.”
    She looked up, her tear-filled eyes meeting his. Her voice shook. “What do you mean?”
    “Right now your brother has no idea who took you. We were careful to leave no trace. Odds are he thinks the Danes responsible. But soon I will send word to him of where you are and he will come. If he thinks you a captive, abused, perhaps dead, honor will demand that he give battle, and he will perish. But if he finds you safe, honored, content, then he will accept the alliance he should have accepted months ago. All will be as it should be.”
    “You mean he will agree to give me to you in marriage?”
    “No, I mean he will accept our marriage. If you truly want to save his life, you will let him find you my wife, not my slave.”
    She paled. “I cannot marry without my brother's approval.”
    He had expected this and was prepared for it. “If you wait for that, he will die before he can give it. We will burn his body, as is our way. He will not even reach your Christian heaven. But who knows, perhaps Odin will welcome him into Valhalla for by all repute he is a mighty warrior. Just not mighty enough to survive the trap I have set for him.”
    He held her then as the storm swept through her and knew that she was truly seeing what he had conjured not merely with words but with the steel-stark truth of his intent. For if she refused, what he had promised would come to pass as surely as they stood there above the empty beach with the stars winking on overhead.
    “Oh, God,” she whispered, and with no warning at all pulled back her fist and slammed it straight into his jaw.
    T HE NIGHT THROBBED TO THE RHYTHM OF GOATSKIN drums and bone clappers. Birch flutes joined in, adding a lighter, teasing play, all combining in a robust, joyful tune that reverberated to the star-draped sky and the swollen moon hanging low to the earth.
    Men, women, and children milled about, their faces aglow with excitement. Cooks swirled around the fires, working frantically. Servants scrambled to finish setting up all the extra tables, enough for a crowd far too large to be accommodated even in the great hall.
    Wolf looked around slowly. What he saw pleased himwell. For a wedding feast prepared in a matter of hours, instead of the weeks that were normally required, he could find no fault.
    Absently, he rubbed his jaw, caught himself doing it, and grimaced. She hadn't actually bruised him; he'd checked in a silvered reflecting glass Dragon had brought from the East. But there was no denying that his gentle bride had a surprisingly solid punch when she was riled.
    With hindsight, he supposed that as marriage offers went, his had left something to be desired. Promising to kill her brother if she didn't become his wife probably wasn't the surest way to win a woman's heart. But damn it, it wasn't her heart he wanted. It was her obedience. And her body. Oh, yes, definitely her body.
    Tonight she would be his. The formidable self-control he had exercised on the voyage would no longer be needed. He would sate himself fully in the beautiful witch. By morning, she would be simply a woman.
    That didn't mean he wouldn't value her