Page 74 of The Iron Earl
“Look at me, Eva.”
He could force her face up, but he couldn’t force her to look at him.
The hand under her jaw tightened. “Evalyn, look at me.”
She closed her eyes.
“Fine.” The word hissed out. “Don’t look at me. But you bloody well will hear what I’m to tell you.”
Double the cad. She couldn’t free her arms. Couldn’t cover her ears.
“Your stepfather—yes, it was the reason. The reason for everything. The reason I allowed you to come north with us. The revenge of it was all I considered—we would take you from him—ruin you—all in the name of retribution. He’s done so much harm to so many innocent people here—Jacob’s death was a result of what he ordered—but just the last in the long line of devastation he’s unfurled across the land. So taking you…”
He paused, a long exhale breaching his lips. “It was perfect and brilliant—the vengeance upon him. It wouldn’t bring Jacob back—but it was something. Something to twist a knife into your stepfather’s gut.”
His hand dropped from her face, his voice sinking into a low rumble. “But all that was before.”
Silence.
His arm around her waist fell away, releasing her, and he stepped backward, cool air rushing between them.
She cracked her eyes open.
He stood three steps away, his shoulders lifting and descending in heavy heaves. The blue streaks in his hazel eyes burned hot—seared—almost as though he couldn’t stand the thought of touching her for another moment.
Her lips parted, breathless words escaping. “Before what?”
“Before you ran from the camp when Colin hit you—and a strike of fear cut into me so harshly all I could think of was dragging you back to it. Before you saved Rupe with that stupid dead rabbit in your hand. Before you fell in the river and my heart stopped. I was always meant to protect you, Eva, even though I fought it every step of the way.”
“You fought it?”
“Until you let me strip you. You were freezing. But you let me. You let me touch you when you could have resisted. But you didn’t. And my need for revenge vanished in that instant my fingers touched your skin.” His words stopped and he swallowed hard as his hazel eyes lifted to the sky for a long moment. His gaze dropped to her. “In that moment, revenge was replaced with nothing but a visceral need to keep you safe. Even then, I didn’t know what I was going to do with you. But I admitted to myself that I wanted you. Wanted you like no other.”
For all the fervor behind his words, for all she wanted to believe it was more, Evalyn couldn’t ignore the fact that she was still an object. For revenge or for lust, she was still nothing but a pawn. “And lust is better than revenge?”
His eyebrow cocked at her. “You need to understand, Eva, it became much more than lust without me even realizing it.” His gravelly voice dipped even lower. “You were mine from that moment my fingertips slid down your spine. Domnall knew it. Rupe knew it. Hell, the whole camp knew it. I was just late to the realization.”
He took two long strides to her, closing the distance between them. His hands lifted, settling onto her shoulders as his hazel eyes pierced her. “The revenge was everything, until it was nothing. You ask me why I married you? Here is my answer—I didn’t marry you because of who your stepfather is. I married you in spite of who your stepfather is. I married you for you.”
She exhaled breath she didn’t know she held and her gaze dropped to his chest. For as much as she could reconcile it, he was telling her the truth.
Telling her she needed to start trusting him.
She nodded, unable to move sound past the lump wedged in her throat.
“So you need to stop running, Eva. Stop running from me. You’re making my life increasingly more complicated every time you do.”
Her gaze lifted. The edges of his eyes crinkled, shifting the serious countenance of his face into a wry tease. She had no defense against it—the irresistible magic when humor lifted his eyes like that.
A small smile curved onto her lips. “The last thing I want to do is complicate your life, Lachlan.”
His lips descended onto hers, soft with resolute undercurrents of bridled promise. He pulled slightly away, his lips brushing against hers with his murmured words. “Then no more running. If you’re mad at me. Scared of me. Want to throttle me. You stay. You plant your feet and fight, come what may.”
“Is that permission to throttle you for using me as a vessel for your revenge?”
He chuckled, his head diving down, his lips trailing down her neck. “I’ll take it, as it’s what I deserve. Call it a temporary stretch of madness on my part.”
Her head fell back, his tongue on her skin sending delicious fire sparking through her veins. “Then the throttling will commence once we get back to your chambers.”