reached the level of her hips, he suddenly backed away. Terror made her gut clench, as she knew without a doubt what he felt. The shame overwhelmed her. He lowered his head.
She glanced down, dreading what she would see and knowing that he would tell her to leave. If she saw pity in his strong face, she thought she might die.
With his head tilted down, she couldn"t see his expression, only the top of his dark head. His fingers caressed the edges of the burns that marked her from one hip to the other below her navel.
“Who in the fuck burned you with runic warnings?” He looked up, his face carved with fury.
She sagged with relief and almost fell, but he managed to catch her and ease her to the ground.
“Dagny, answer me, who did that to you?” Rage shook his voice.
If he didn"t want her anymore, that was all right, but she couldn"t take the pity, not from him. Her hands trembled as she tried to close the robe again. “It"s not important. It was a long 56
time ago.”
He gripped her chin hard, forcing her to look at him.
His blue eyes bored into hers. “Unless the pig is already dead, I want to know who did that to you.”
“I really don"t want to talk about that right now.” She tried to look away, but he held her face toward him.
He pushed forward. The anger radiating from him was so intense she couldn"t breathe. “Let me make this absolutely clear. I"m going to kill whoever did that to you.” His voice took on a dangerous purr. The lines of his face were stark, taut with barely controlled wrath.
She swallowed twice before she could speak. “Why would you do that?”
An expression of shock crossed his face, followed soon after by the small curve of a smile touching his lips. “Anyone who hurts you has me to contend with.” His hand slid down, pulling her robe open when he reached the marks across her lower belly. She didn"t try to stop him, but her stomach muscles clenched.
Repressed memories came back in a rush. The terror and pain flooded her. She felt the ropes that tied her down, heard the screams torn from her throat as the heated iron seared her skin over and over again. Blinking several times, she swallowed past the rising fear.
Brand backed away, eyes closing slightly. “So much agony.” She should have been insulted that he read her without permission, but the roughness of his voice spoke of outrage as much as compassion. The light touch of his hand on her skin soothed her.
He brushed his fingers across her belly until he reached the left-most mark, and then traced the raised scar from bottom to top with one slow stroke. He proceeded to the next rune and gave it the same treatment.
The sensation was strangely erotic. She found herself struggling not to squirm to meet his touch. The marks were 57
shameful, yet he treated them with a bizarre reverence. The fourth rune was directly under her navel. After he traced that one, he kept moving up until his finger circled her belly button.
He reached the end of the row in the same manner.
He lifted his gaze to meet her eyes, a serious expression on his face. His fingers moved over the skin of her belly with a light, idle touch. “Dagny,” he spoke slowly, each syllable flowing to the next. “May I bite you?” Lines crinkled at the corners of his eyes as a slow smile spread over his face.
A tremor coursed through her and, before she could consider the wisdom of the action, she nodded.
* * *
Brand couldn"t believe the beast wasn"t struggling for control. A nearly naked female rested in his arms, and what he wanted most was to protect her. The desperate need to taste her was almost as powerful and had his mouth watering. He had no idea why he"d asked, aside from that it felt like the right thing to do, and she"d shocked him by agreeing.
His throat tightened as her head fell back to bare her throat. Such an effortless movement, and yet the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He watched her for several seconds, enjoying the soft expression on her face.
He pressed his lips where her pulse beat strongest, feeling the blood flow under her skin. She shivered. He whispered against her throat, “I appreciate the offer, but not here.” To gain her trust, he needed to prove to her