Читать книгу To Tempt a Viking - Michelle Willingham - Страница 2

His eyelids were heavy and he closed them, surrendering to the temptation of unconsciousness. Sleep was what he needed now.

But a moment later Elena’s arms were around him and she was supporting his shoulders.

‘Ragnar!’ She shook him lightly, demanding that he open his eyes.

His vision flickered, but he managed to look at her.

‘Don’t leave me,’ she demanded. Her eyes welled up with tears and she commanded again, ‘You can’t leave me here alone.’

‘Just … resting,’ he told her. Sleep would make it easier to bear the pain. The darkness was tempting him to let go, to fall into nothingness.

‘Your lips are blue,’ she told him. ‘If you go to sleep now you might never awaken.’

He didn’t answer her, for his body had been transformed into lead and the last bits of consciousness were sliding away. Though a part of him understood what she meant, he lacked the strength to fight it.

‘Don’t you dare die on me!’ She wept, shaking him again. ‘I can’t survive out here alone. Do you hear me?’ she demanded. ‘If you die, I’ll die as well.’

He tried to form the word no, to tell her he wasn’t going to die at all. But before his lips could move her mouth came down on his in a searing kiss.