To Eternity by Daisy Banks Page A

warm.”
    Right this second, though she ached for him, she couldn’t make this easy or offer what he wanted—forgiveness.
    â€œSian, let me help you.” He urged her toward the bathroom.
    He’d said those words once before, the first day they made love in the flesh. She’d wilted with the power of his command that day. He’d robbed her of all the will she possessed. Today proved no different. He guided her with his hand on her shoulder. She moved as he wished until they both stood in the steamy warmth of the bathroom. Magnus flipped off the taps before he tested the temperature with his hand. He yanked off his shirt. The rest of his clothes followed, dumped on top of the chair in the corner.
    Dazed, she stood—present, yet not. Awake, but unmoving. The mesmeric command he used was a deliberate control. She had neither the strength or the wish to fight it. The physical lure of him proved as powerful as ever. She feasted her gaze on his body. The need to touch him grew stronger, and she took a step forward.
    He lifted her chin so she met his eyes. So much sorrow and concern filled his gaze. The combination brought a lump to her throat. She raised her arms so he could tug off the camisole top. He took the chain with the key to his wolf bonds from her neck and bent to ease her panties down her legs.
    â€œNow, get into the water,” he said.
    She stepped into the bath. “Oh,” she exclaimed when the heat contacted her chilled flesh.
    He joined her, easing himself down at the taps end. A gentleman even though they’d quarreled. She lay back in the water until it warmed the base of her ears. It wasn’t the kind of row many couples might have. Not a yell and shout fight. No.
    This was worse. He’d hurt her and not understood how.
    â€œI do understand. I can only plead for you to forgive me. I didn’t think it through before I told you. I never meant to cause you pain. Believe me, all I want is to protect you from the horrors that can be caused by what I am.”
    The day dissolved with the touch of his palm on her leg, the way he smoothed her skin. He leaned forward. A tingle of sensation snapped her back to full consciousness as he placed his other hand on her thigh, rubbed with his fingertips until she breathed out on a long sigh.
    â€œWe need to talk.”
    His low voice soothed her more than the warmth of the water. A tremble shook her lip. They’d talked already, and she’d lost it in a way she’d never experienced before. She hooked her forefinger around his. “What do you want to say?”
    â€œWill you listen to all of it?”
    â€œYes, Magnus.”
    â€œI want to tell you how much I need you and make you believe it. If you understood how important you are to me, then today you’d not have been so hurt.”
    She sat up. Her hair dripped over her shoulders. “You think I’d have been okay with you having a child with a woman you hardly knew, whereas, with me, you’ve said it can’t happen. I don’t understand the difference.”
    Magnus closed his eyes for a long moment. “The two things are not one and the same, not at all. One is an accidental event from long before you were born and many years before I met you. The other is your wish for something very different.”
    â€œSo, if this girl is your granddaughter, she’ll be like any other girl?”
    â€œI didn’t say that.”
    â€œThen I don’t see the difference at all, at least not about the idea of a child. You say you didn’t have a permanent relationship with her mother.”
    He leaned forward to cup her chin in his palm. “I know. But, please, believe me, there is a difference. For us to share our lives, for you to have the child you want, within a lasting relationship, we’d not merely make love. There is much more to consider.”
    â€œI see. So, in fact, we’re back to our last conversation about