Free Oath Breaker (Sons of Odin Book 3) by Erin S. Riley Page A

wanted.”
    “But—”
    Ulfrik cut her off. “I can get what you’re offering at any brothel in Dubhlinn.”
    Selia gaped as if he had slapped her. “Why would you say such a thing to me?” she faltered.
    “Because it’s true. I love you Selia, I think I loved you from the moment I met you. I’ve never been able to love another woman but you, no matter how I wished to be through with you. I damned the gods for cursing me to love a woman who didn’t return my feelings.
    “And now you throw scraps at my feet. As though use of your body would be enough. You think I don’t want to touch you? To hold you, to be inside you? It’s all I think about, Selia. It’s all I dream about. But never in my dreams did you come to me offering a bargain for your bed.”
    She opened her mouth to speak, but he held his hand up to stop her.
    “I want all of you, Selia. All of you . And until I can have that, I want nothing.”

Chapter 9
    Selia pushed her way through the forest, not caring that the branches slapped at her skin and snagged her gown as she ran. How dare Ulfrik speak to her so? How dare he make her feel as though she’d sullied him with her offer? A man who had shared a thrall’s bed with his brother didn’t deserve to react with such self-righteousness. She wanted to hit him; hurt him for how he had humiliated her.
    She made her way up the hill and across the bluff to the fort. The smell of freshly baked bread wafted to her from the tower dwelling. They’d brought plenty of grain to the island. Catrin loved it so, Bahati had made bread for her every day since.
    But instead of veering toward the heady aroma of warm bread, Selia instead turned toward the other tower, the makeshift barn. She had no wish to engage in a conversation with Father Oengul after her shameless proposal to Ulfrik had been so blatantly rejected. The priest could probably smell the rot of sin on her soul. She would need more than a blessing this time.
    Selia heard the faint sound of milking as she entered the structure. Bahati’s head came around the side of the sheep as she worked the teats of the animal.
    “I wondered if you were coming at all,” she scolded.
    Selia gave her friend a faint smile. The woman’s hands, slender and dexterous, milked the last drops.
    “Are you finished?” Selia couldn’t hide the disappointment in her voice.
    “Yes,” Bahati replied. “But if you are needing me, I can be not finished.”
    Selia sat across from her, silent for a moment. “I had a fight with Ulfrik.”
    Bahati, pouring half the milk into a second pail for Selia, raised her eyebrows. “A fight?”
    “An argument.”
    “Ahh.” Bahati nodded in solidarity. “Norse dog.”
    Selia pressed her lips together as she poked at a stone with her shoe. It wasn’t fair of Ulfrik to be so demanding. To require all of her or nothing at all. The ultimatum made her feel sick. Or was it the babe making her so queasy?
    “He loves me,” she blurted.
    The woman nodded again. “I know this. You care for him as well, I think?”
    Selia kicked the stone so hard it hit the side of the structure. “I’m married to his brother,” she muttered.
    Bahati shot her an impatient look. “I know who you are married to—the man who made you run away. The man who hurt your boy. I ask if you care for this man. Ulfrik.”
    Selia chewed at her lip. No matter how justified she’d been in leaving Alrik, she was still married to him. Wasn’t she? It didn’t matter what Ainnileas thought about it. They’d wed in the presence of a Christian priest, albeit as he lay dying by Alrik’s hand.
    The concept of divorce was still so foreign. Was simply declaring herself divorced enough for it to be true, as the Finngalls insisted?
    Regardless, the thought of actually developing feelings for another man had never crossed Selia’s mind. Her willingness to find a suitable proxy father for her children hadn’t included the idea of caring for him.
    After Selia’s silence,