Author Note: If you have already read my story 'The Northman's Bride', this is the same story with no changes or edits. I have written a full length novel, book 3 in my Sons of the North series and have decided to use the title 'The Northman's Bride' for it. I apologize for any confusion.
What would you do with only a few days left to live?
Would you do throw your pride aside and dare to love?
Aleksi has lived his life by the motto that woman were to be worshiped, not understood, much like religion. Now, one of the last two survivors on a plague ship, he has begun to wonder if he hasn't missed out on enjoying the comfort that a charming young wife might have brought him.
Wounded in a recent battle, Commander Aleksi Ekstrom awakens on the Norrland ship to discover the priest's ward, a young French woman, locked below deck in a cabin of dead nuns, all other passengers and crew lay dead or dying of what looks like plague.
Feeling fevered, yet unwilling to surrender her life just yet, Mimi has the forty-day ship quarantine to live her final days to the full. Her sole wish is to not die a virgin. Promised to the church since birth, she always knew she'd be a terrible nun, and so apparently had the evil priest that was selling her to a warlord in Estonia, where the ship had been heading before contracting the deadly plague.
Anchored off the coast of Sweden, the quarantined plague ship is well supplied by Aleksi's grieving father and Jarl Magnus, who generously provides his loyal commander with anything requested, grateful to Aleksi for years of brave, loyal service to Tronscar. Aleksi and Mimi toss social restraints aside and speak openly and honestly, holding nothing back, both desiring to live out their final days with no regrets.
But, if they survive the quarantine what then, will Aleksi return to his old life and will Mimi be returned to the warlord she was promised?
**Adult content.**
As Claire aims to leave her oppressive stepfamily behind, she befriends Zion. Will he be her ticket to freedom or a distraction in achieving her dreams?
*****
Claire Olsen has had a crush on Zion Petrakis since the first time she laid eyes on him, but he never noticed, instead only having eyes on the school's it girl, Maddie Jennings. Knowing she couldn't compete with Maddie, Claire hid her feelings for Zion, satisfied with admiring him from afar. However, when a series of events led Claire closer to Zion, her feelings for him grew from infatuation to love. And despite fighting hard to keep her feelings contained by distancing herself from Zion, he was determined to show her that he's earned a spot in her life.
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]