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Chapter 29
“What did you say?” Magnus asked, his dark eyes narrowed, his nostrils flared. His deep voice was much too calm and in control.
Reena held her breath for a moment, her mistake all too obvious:he had not known. “I am sorry,” was all she could think to say, feeling the pain that twisted at his heart.
He grabbed her arm and shoved her toward the wall. “Read me the passage.”
“Magnus—”
“Read it to me now,” he demanded through gritted teeth.
“I must kneel to read it,” she said, attempting to free herself.
He would not let her go: he kept a firm grip on her and lowered her to the floor so that she may read it to him, and Reena for a moment felt the fear of being shackled and imprisoned. She shook the disturbing thought off, reminding herself it was Magnus, the man who loved her, who had hold of her. He would never hurt her.
“Read it,” he demanded once more.
She knew that what she read would only bring him more pain, but she had no choice. “Your mother writes sparsely, since it was extremely difficult to etch in stone.”
He nodded. “Read it as she wrote it.”
She read with a tremble on her lips. “My heart hurts. Discovered Robert killed my beloved Brian. Land. Wants land.”
Dead silence followed, Magnus’s breathing grew heavy. He bared his teeth, and then he released a cry of torment that tore at the soul. When he finished, he reached down to yank Reena up against him.
His emotions warred like a raging storm in his dark eyes and across his handsome face. He looked torn as to what to do, for his emotions were at the extreme. He either loved or hated, and right now Reena was in his arms.
He captured her mouth with a kiss that left no room for her to respond, and his hands held her firm.
She understood his pain and his need, but he left no room for her to comfort him; he took and took like a man who ached to lose himself in someone he trusted and knew loved him and could take him to a place where pain and hurt did not exist.
He rushed her up against the stone wall, her feet unable to touch the floor, and he kissed her with a frightening need. His kiss turned more demanding than she thought possible, and after a few moments she found herself unable to breathe.
She tried to tell him, but he would not free her lips. It was as if he needed her breath to survive, the very essence of her soul to help ease his anguish.
She grasped his arm and dug her fingers into his flesh as hard as she could, his taut muscles making it difficult to penetrate the skin, and she wrenched and pulled her mouth from his until finally she was free.
“I can . . . not . . . breathe,” she said, pushing at his chest.
He tore away from her and she fell to the ground, her breath labored and her heart beating madly. She placed a hand to her chest, feeling as though her heart was ready to burst.
He reached down in haste, and she instinctively drew back away from him, needing a chance to breathe.
He bent down beside her, his clenched hands remaining at his sides. “I will not hurt you.”
Tears pooled in her eyes. She hesitated, and then she reached out to him.
He scooped her up into his arms and held her tight as he walked with strong strides out of the confining room.
She was relieved and grateful that they left the tower room, and she was not surprised or upset when he took her to his bedchamber. He shut the door behind them with a shove of his boot and sat on the end of the bed with her in his lap, cradling her in his strong arms.
He touched her face so gently that it almost seemed he thought she would break. “You are pale; are you all right?” Before she could answer, he rested his forehead to hers. “Good God, Ree, I am so sorry; can you ever forgive me?”
Her heart continued to pound madly in her chest, but she looked into his dark eyes. His anger was gone, replaced by despair, and she suddenly realized he needed her concern, her gentleness and, most of all, her love.
She placed a tender hand to his face. “There is nothing to forgive. You suffered a hurt so shocking—”
He placed a finger to her lips. “I had no right, no matter what I suffered I had no right to abuse you.”
