Viking Warrior Rebel by Asa Maria Bradley

open and glanced up to watch Astrid through the sliding glass doors.
    She glided into the room swathed in one of the hotel bathrobes. The white, fluffy terry-cloth should make her shapeless, but instead she looked like a sexy Amazon queen draped in royal cloth. Her hair flowed down past her shoulders in wet waves.
    She turned her head and locked gazes with him out on the balcony. That finally broke the trance he’d apparently succumbed to. He cleared his throat and put down the Tabasco bottle he was still holding midair. Gesturing toward her plate inside the room, he motioned that she should grab it and join him outside.
    Astrid cocked her head and gave him an odd look, but then headed toward her food. The robe flowed around her, and he wondered if she was naked underneath or had put underwear back on after the shower. The idea of the robe sliding unhindered against her smooth skin made his cock throb, and he had to adjust himself before sitting back down. Since the table was made of wrought iron, he positioned his napkin so it hid the evidence of his attraction. This mission was going to give him a bad case of blue balls.
    Astrid joined him at the table and dug into her burger. She looked up and caught him staring. “What?” she asked. Wearing no makeup and with a glob of ketchup smeared in the corner of her mouth, she was still the sexiest thing he’d seen. He was in big trouble.
    Luke adjusted the napkin on his lap and then forced out a slow grin to hide his reaction. “Looks like you were hungry. You’ve got ketchup on your face.”
    â€œThanks.” She wiped her mouth with the napkin and kept eating.
    He reclined in his chair. “Let’s continue our earlier conversation.”
    Astrid took a big bite out of the burger and chewed demonstratively, pointing at her cheek to show her mouth was full.
    â€œIt’s okay,” Luke said. “You eat and I’ll talk. Just nod or shake your head if I ask you a question.” She frowned at him, but he pretended not to see her irritation. “These creatures obviously want very badly to capture you. They’re not going to give up.” He paused.
    Astrid nodded.
    â€œLet’s talk strategy then. You basically have two options.” There were probably more, but not if she wanted to resolve this quickly. He’d thought it through. His Marine instincts would be right in this situation.
    She paused mid-chew and raised her eyebrows.
    Luke leaned forward and snagged a fry from her plate. He chewed slowly, dragging it out to see how long she would hold out before speaking. He didn’t have to wait long.
    Astrid finished chewing her bite too quickly and started coughing. “What two options?” she choked out. He pushed his glass of water toward her. She took a deep swallow. “What options?” she insisted.
    Luke reached for another fry, but she slapped his hand away. “It’s basic battle strategy,” he said as he pretended to nurse the hand she’d hit. “Either you wait for them to come to you, in which case you set an ambush. Or, you go on the offensive and attack them at their home base.”
    A fleeting shadow passed across her face. “I don’t know where they hang out.”
    He’d love to know what she was thinking right now. “Find out.”
    She cocked her head, studying him like he was a new species she’d never seen before. “How?” Her voice trembled a little.
    He waited a breath longer than necessary. “Let me help you.”
    Astrid just kept looking at him. “How will you find out where their home base is?” Skepticism practically dripped from her words. Did she really have that little faith in him? He would enjoy proving her wrong. If he could get her to partner up with him, that was. And that was a big “if.” But he could tell she wanted this badly. She was holding herself too still and trying hard to keep her voice