He nodded easily. “I possess no refinement. But that also means I’ve no guile—you will always know what I’m thinking.”

“And you believe you are entitled to a Valkyrie for your bride?”

“I am the most powerful berserker ever to live,” he said, not with conceit but as if he merely stated an indisputable fact. “So if not me, then who?”

She shrugged. “I remain unconvinced of your charms, Aidan.” Also an indisputable fact.

“There is another reason. …”

“Tell me.”

His voice gone gruff, he added, “You should choose me because … I will love you, Reginleit.”

Her heart seemed to skip a beat. “How can you say that? You cannot know the future!”

“I know because, at twelve years of age, you’ve won me with your wit and bravery. Your staunch loyalty, too.” He leaned back once more, grinning up at the roof of the longhouse. “When you have your wiles about you, I’ll be no match. I concede defeat well in advance.”

“When I’m grown, others will vie for my hand.”

“Undoubtedly. But you belong only to me.”

Lightning struck again from her frustration. He truly believed he had the right to take away her freedom, to keep her as his untouched prize while he continued his debauched lifestyle. Perhaps that was the way of things with mortals. But such is not good enough for the likes of me.

“Berserker, hear my words,” she said. “I vow to you that I will stay as true to you as you do to me.” That would shut his mouth. He couldn’t go a week without a Birgit. “Every wench upon your lap means I sit upon a warrior’s. Every woman’s mouth you kiss is a man’s lips upon my own.”

His fierce gaze met hers, his eyes ablaze once more—as if the mere thought of her with another sent his ire spiraling. Seeming to struggle for control, he grated, “Then I give you my oath that I’ll not touch another. Now are you satisfied, little wife? Any more demands?”