Page 88 of The Iron Earl

“You think I’m weak?” The deadly growl in his voice resurfaced, his hands itching at his sides, his fingers curling into fists.

He was so close. So close to exploding.

She just had to push him past the edge.

A deep breath and then the lie tore up her throat. “I think you cannot protect me, Lachlan. I am sure of it. My stepfather and Mr. Molson are too much for you.”

The air between them stilled, died.

One heartbeat. Two. Three.

Lachlan spun from her, his foot and his fist connecting with a thick wooden post that separated stalls. Horses around them whinnied, startled, and the force of it shook the walls, dirt and dust floating down from the open rafters above.

He hit the post again, an agonized growl filling the cavernous space.

The third time he rammed into the post with his shoulder, threatening to take the whole structure down.

Just as brutally as his fury exploded, his body stilled, his hands wrapping around the rough-hewn wood. Gripping it, blood ran down his knuckles.

He leaned forward, clunking his head onto the wood, his eyes closed.

Her heart shattered, scattering into a thousand fragments that cut through her body. Pain in every nerve. That she could do this to him. Make him react so violently with just her words.

His forehead tilted to the side against the wood, his hazel eyes opening to her.

For a torturously long moment, he stared at her, his chest heaving.

Her breath nothing but a heavy stone lodged in her chest, she couldn’t move, couldn’t flex a muscle.

Lachlan shoved himself from the wood, stalking over to her.

He didn’t slow when he reached her and she stumbled a step backward. Another. Another.

Her back hit wood and she was trapped in a corner, Lachlan hovering over her, every seethed breath of his a spike to her chest.

“Tell me you don’t believe that, Eva.” The growl gone, his voice had dipped raw, ragged.

“I—”

“Are you trying to leave me? You want to go back to your stepfather?”

Her eyes flew wide. “No—I—”

“Or the dower house—you want to hide away from life and all that it can offer you—all I can offer you.” His hand lifted and went along her neck, cupping the base of her head as he leaned in, his breath hot on her skin, his mouth almost touching hers. “My hand running up your thigh, dipping inward to make you gasp. My lips caressing your neck, hungry. My cock sliding into you, thick and pulsating. Do you want to hide from that?”

“No—I—”

He jerked away from her, his hand ripping from her neck, a sneer twisting his lips “For if you believe your own words, Evalyn, then there is no room for you in my bed and you should go. Go to your stepfather. Go to the dower house. Get on that damn horse and ride off to wherever you thought you could escape to.”

He spun from her and stormed toward the front entrance of the stables.

He was halfway to the barn door before Evalyn found her breath, found her courage. She shoved herself from the corner. “Lachlan—wait.”

His stride didn’t slow. If anything it sped.

Sped away from her.

Sped away from her hateful words.

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