by Stone, Jenna
“Close yer eyes,” Rowan whispered.
“Whatever for?” Anna asked skeptically.
“Just do it, lass. I’ll no harm ye, Anna. Please close yer eyes.”
Anna did as Rowan asked. She felt him turn her hand over in his and open her fingers so that her palm was open and facing upwards. Rowan placed something small in her palm and closed her fingers around it.
“Alright, ye may open them,” he whispered, his hand still cradling hers in the moonlight.
Anna opened her eyes. Using her other hand, she lifted a golden necklace out of the palm of her hand. The chain was dainty and fragile and on it hung a large fresh water pearl.
“It was my mother’s,” Rowan said softly, his eyes watching Anna as she admired the necklace.
“I cannot take this,” Anna said, lifting the chain with her fingers and offering it back to Rowan.
“I’ve nae need for it, Anna,” Rowan said. “And it is retribution for the loss of yer bracelet. I feel terrible that ye lost it when I helped ye out of yer gown.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Anna protested, her eyes searching Rowan’s face. “You were only trying to help. I apologize for being so angry,” Anna said remorsefully, knowing that she must have sounded horrific when she berated Rowan for the loss of her jewelry. It was true that the bracelet was her last gift from her parents, but it had been a small price to pay for her life. Rowan had saved her life.
“Apology accepted,” Rowan said as he raked his hand through his hair. “I still want ye tae keep the necklace,” he said, his eyes lingering on Anna’s face. She looked so beautiful in the moonlight. Rowan was suddenly sure that Anna was the sort of woman that had absolutely no inkling of how she affected men.
“But it was your mother’s,” Anna protested. Her eyes fell down to the necklace. She admired it in the moonlight, touched by Rowan’s kind gesture. Her fingers skimmed over the soft white pearl.
“And she would want ye tae have it,” Rowan said. “I’ve no use for such a thing and perhaps it will remind ye of the life that ye left behind. It is one small bauble that traveled here with us from the other side of the world.”
“How did you manage not to lose it in the shipwreck?” Anna asked, her fingers toying with the fragile chain of the necklace.
“I had it sewn intae my sock,” Rowan chuckled. “Here, lass. Let me help ye put it on,” he said, leaning forward and taking the necklace gently out of Anna’s grasp.
Anna lifted her hair off of her shoulders and exposed her neck to Rowan. He undid the tiny clasp of the chain and looped it around Anna’s neck.
Rowan could not help but notice how beautiful Anna’s neck was. The skin of her back and shoulders was like spilt cream in the moonlight. He fumbled with the tiny clasp and secured the chain about her neck.
Anna dropped her hair and reached for the pearl, which hung on its chain in the center of her chest. She brushed the smooth orb with her fingers and smiled slightly.
“Thank you, Rowan,” she whispered as she leaned forward and placed a kiss on Rowan’s cheek. The stubble of his new beard tickled her lips and Anna regretted the action at once, cursing herself for being too familiar.
“Think nothing of it,” Rowan whispered in response, smiling slightly as he noticed how lovely his mother’s necklace looked against Anna’s skin.
“And thank you for saving my life,” Anna said quietly as she reached forward and squeezed Rowan’s hand in the darkness.
..ooOoo..
Anna settled into the sand at the base of a tree, exhaustion taking hold of her body. Using her arm as a pillow, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep. She was comforted by the sound of Quinn’s rhythmic breathing, which seemed to move in time with the waves that crashed against the beach. Rowan had woken Malcolm and taken him walking on the moonlit beach, hoping to find useful bits of wreckage that might have washed ashore from the Mary Catherine.
Anna’s mind spun, promptly refusing to succumb to the sleep that her body so desperately needed. She thought of the terror of the shipwreck and how fortunate she was to be alive. She remembered how Rowan had bravely saved her from that man that had tried to pull her beneath the water.
Anna thought of Jonathan Arbor. She wondered when news of the shipwreck would reach him. She wondered if Arbor was concerned for her well-being.
The reality of her predicament began to take hold, terrifying in its implications. Anna had survived a shipwreck and was now alone in the company of Scottish strangers. The Murrays seemed harmless, but Anna had heard their talk of freedom. She pondered what they might be running from.
Her body shivered from the chill in the night air. Rowan’s damp shirt did little to fend off the cold. Tears welled behind Anna’s eyes but she refused to let them fall. She suddenly felt very alone and quite afraid in the darkness that shrouded the beach. She curled herself into a fetal ball, tucking her knees up inside the tails of Rowan’s shirt to conserve body heat. The crashing of the ocean waves on the beach and the masculine smell wafting from Rowan’s shirt made her feel strangely comforted. The knot that was growing steadily in her stomach seized suddenly.
Anna realized what she had given up by agreeing to come here. In the few hours that she had known Rowan Murray, he had stirred feeling within her that were new and exciting. Rowan had risked his life to pull her from the sea and in doing so, Anna felt a connection with the Scotsman that she could not explain. Her fingers reached up to stroke the thin chain that Rowan had placed around her neck.
Anna realized that she was giving up the prospect of marrying for love.
Chapter Four
“I wish that she would marry me,” Malcolm said with a wistful look on his face as he and Rowan combed the shoreline for anything useful that may have washed on shore from the Mary Catherine. Light from the full moon lit the beach, dancing off the now calm water.
“And what could ye possibly need a wife for?” Rowan exclaimed, exasperated with his love struck younger brother. “Ye wouldna even ken what tae do with one besides,” he said as he bent down in the darkness and picked up a piece of twine, twisting it upon itself and tucking it into his pocket.
“Aye, I would. I could figure it out, I suppose,” Malcolm said, using a long stick to pull a piece of netting from the surf. “It’s just that she’s sae pretty. I canna help but watch her, the way that she moves. She’s so graceful even when she’s not tryin’ tae be…”
“She’s most likely spoken for, Brother…. Sorry tae break it tae ye. Her family will make arrangements for her marriage tae some rich aristocrat and Anna will have little choice in the matter. All of those attributes that ye just listed off, the grace and the beauty, those were born and bred intae her. I doona think that ye could handle her…” Rowan chuckled as he visualized his awkward, clumsy brother matched with the somewhat regal likes of Anna Stanton.
“Aye, I could…” Malcolm said dreamily as he looked over at where Anna was curled up sleeping at the base of a palm tree.
“How about ye focus on something useful, like trying tae hunt us up something tae eat?” Rowan asked, annoyed with his brother’s sudden infatuation with Anna.
“Have ye no noticed her?” Malcolm asked, prodding. “I ken that ye have. In fact, I saw ye lookin’ at her on the beach.”
“Bugger off,” Rowan said, shaking his head and raking his hand through his hair. “I’ve more important things tae do, like keep yer arse alive, than tae be makin’ eyes at a highborn lass!”
“No, I think that I’m on tae something. Ye fancy her! Don’t ye Rowan?” Malcolm chided, watching his brother’s blood begin to boil.
“I most certainly doona,” Rowan said, stopping and squaring his shoulders in challenge to Malcolm’s accusation. His eyebrows knit together and he gave his foolish brother his most intimidating stare.
“I can see now for sure that ye do!” Malcolm teased, “I know ye better than ye know yerself, brother,” he said, balling up the piece of netting and tucking it into his pocket.
Without further comment, Rowan turned around and stomped back up the beach towards their rudimentary camp.
“May the best man win!” Malcolm shouted after his brother as Rowan walked away.
..ooOoo..
“Rowan?” whispered Anna into the pitch blackness of the night. She must have finally fallen asleep for a short while. Quinn’s rhythmic deep breathing and Malcolm’s muffled snoring told her that they were asleep, but she could tell that Rowan was still awake.
“Aye?” Rowan whispered from where he was laying in the sand.
“I’m cold,” Anna responded through chattering teeth as she gathered Rowan’s shirt around her and pulled her shivering knees up to her chest. “My clothes are still damp and my hair is wet. I cannot stop shaking.”
“Cm’ here then,” Rowan whispered, reaching out a hand in the direction of Anna’s voice.
Anna sat up in the dark, feeling her stiff, frozen muscles rebel. She brushed the sand from her face and crawled towards Rowan’s voice. Reaching out her hand so as not to bump into anything in the dark, Anna jumped when she unexpectedly touched Rowan’s hand. She grabbed onto him in the dark, surprised by the warmth that was radiating from the rough skin of his hand. He pulled her towards him until they were only inches apart.
“Lay down next tae me. I’m right here,” Rowan invited, still holding Anna’s hand, guiding her down into the sand next to him. Anna’s hand was ice cold in his. She didn’t protest as he fitted her body against his, gathering her up so that her back was to his front. Her body was racked with the tremors of her shivering and her teeth chattered noisily as she lay her head down on Rowan’s arm. Rowan brought his right arm around Anna’s body and grasped her shivering fingers, pulling her closer against his chest.
“How are you this warm?” Anna questioned through chattering teeth, relishing the heat radiating from Rowan’s body. “You’re not even wearing a shirt.”
“Aye, that’s because someone stole the shirt off my back,” Rowan teased.
Anna elbowed Rowan lightly in the ribs, eliciting a soft, rumbling laugh.
“I’ve always been this way. My mam said that I was always too warm, even as a bairn. I used tae kick off the quilts, always complainin’ of being tae hot,” Rowan chuckled quietly, thinking about how his mother used to fuss over him.
“You feel heavenly. Thank you,” Anna whispered as she cuddled up against Rowan’s muscular chest. Anna had never been in such intimate contact with a man, but she cast her thoughts of propriety aside and melted into Rowan’s warmth, enjoying the feeling of heat returning to her frozen body. The muscled plane of Rowan’s chest was solid and comforting; the skin of his bare chest was smooth against her back.
Rowan continued to hold Anna’s hand in his. He brushed the back of her hand with his thumb, seeking to reassure her that she would be alright.
“You’re welcome,” he whispered against her ear, inhaling Anna’s sweet scent as his lips nearly brushed against the skin of her cheek. Anna’s skin smelled salty like the ocean, but there was a tinge of something else that Rowan noticed. Perhaps it was the scent of lavender lingering in her blonde curls? Rowan inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. He didn’t dare tell Anna how lovely she felt against his bare skin.
“Why do you and your brothers speak about freedom?” Anna boldly asked the question that had been plaguing her thoughts. Her eyes were wide open as she looked into the night sky. Thousands of stars illuminated the sky over the ocean, twinkling in the darkness. Anna’s imaginative mind had dreamed up all sorts of crimes that the brothers might have committed, and she had to know if her life was in danger as one of these very criminals held her in his arms.
Honestly, she felt too safe in Rowan’s arms to believe that she was in any danger.
Just what have you done, Rowan?
“We were forced tae flee Scotland during the rising,” Rowan said with a hint of despair in his voice. He vowed to keep the details of their voyage vague, not knowing if Anna could be trusted with their secret.
“Were you prisoners?” Anna asked, having noticed the tell-tale marks around all three of the brothers’ wrists that could only have been from iron shackles.
Rowan inhaled deeply, not wanting to give away too much information, refusing to endanger his brothers and their newfound freedom.
“We felt like prisoners in our own country during the rising. Life as we knew it ceased tae exist. I lost sae many that I loved, and tae what gain?” Rowan asked into the night sky with resentment heavy in his voice. “In a way ye could say that we were prisoners. Arriving in America is a new chance at freedom,” he said in half-truth.
“I’m sorry that you lost people you loved,” Anna said as she nestled against Rowan’s expansive chest, feeling the warmth radiate from his body and into her own. “I know what it’s like to lose people that you love,” she whispered, thinking of her father, and all of the strife his death had brought upon her family.
“Perhaps the New World is a fresh start for both of us then,” Rowan said solemnly against Anna’s ear.
“Perhaps it is,” Anna conceded as she bit her lower lip. Tears stung at Anna’s eyes and she clenched them closed tightly. Willing herself to be brave, Anna refused to cry.
“When ye say that ye’ve lost someone that ye loved, who was it that ye lost?” Rowan asked, his thumb still absentmindedly brushing back and forth over Anna’s hand.
“My father,” Anna revealed. “And I fear that I shall never see my mother again.”
“Your mother still lives?” Rowan asked.
“Yes, but she stayed behind in England.”
“The ocean is not such a vast place that ye canna travel tae see her again. Ye’ve made the journey once already.”
“I’m afraid that she will not care to see me after what I have done,” Anna said softly, her voice coming as a mere whisper. A knot was building in her throat as she spoke of her mother.
“Whatever ye have done, it canna be sae bad that yer own mother wouldna wish tae see ye,” Rowan recanted. “I did some reckless things in my youth and however much my mother disapproved of my actions, she always welcomed me back intae the Murray fold,” Rowan said wistfully, suddenly longing for his own mother.
Anna was quiet for a moment as she contemplated Rowan’s words. He had meant to reassure her, but Anna was certain that his words rang empty in their promises. Her mother would never forgive her for leaving. And Anna had left without saying so much as goodbye.
“Who did you lose, Rowan?” Anna asked, sniffling slightly in an effort to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill forth down her cheeks.
“Quinn and Malcolm are all that I have left. Everyone else is gone,” he whispered, his voice harsh with emotion.
“In the rising?”
“Aye.”
“I’m sorry, Rowan,” Anna whispered into the night. It eased her pain to know that she was not alone in her grief. Others had lost far more than she. “Perhaps this will be a new beginning for both of us,” she said hopefully as she squeezed Rowan’s hand.
Silence fell between them and Anna noticed that Rowan was brushing his thumb against the back of her hand as he held her close. His touch set her nerve endings alive causing tingles to reverberate through her body. Anna threaded her fingers through Rowan’s, intertwining their hands in the darkness.
“So, you’re not going to murder me tonight while I sleep?” Anna asked, now feeling foolish about her previous fears surrounding the brothers. A murderer surely would not have born his wounds to her as Rowan had just done.
Rowan’s body was racked with a sudden wave of laughter. “What?” he managed to get out between giggles. “Ye thought that we might murder ye? Truthfully?”
“When you spoke about gaining your freedom, I began to wonder what sort of horrific crime that you might have committed. I thought perhaps you were being transported here to serve penance,” Anna explained, now feeling imprudent in her assumption.
“Nay, I
willna murder ye,” Rowan managed between muffled laughter. “And neither will my brothers. Ye can rest well,” Rowan responded, repressing further laughter. Good night, Anna,” he whispered, ending the conversation before she asked for further details from his past.
“Good night,” Anna said softly. She relaxed into Rowan’s warmth and settled herself against him.
Anna fitted her legs against Rowan’s muscular thighs and nestled her bottom against him, causing Rowan’s eyes to fly open in the darkness. She clearly had no idea of what she was doing, moaning softly as she snuggled against him.
Rowan’s body most certainly did know what it was doing and within seconds his groin was throbbing painfully with an erection in response to Anna’s lovely bum rubbing up against him so intimately. Feeling Anna’s body against his was sweet torture. His body was now hypersensitive to Anna’s every movement. She felt so damn good with her body pressed up against the length of his.
Rowan made out the delicate curve of Anna’s hips in the darkness and realized that his hand was still holding hers, resting precariously right between her perfect breasts. Rowan exhaled slowly, fighting to retain his composure. He resigned himself to a very long sleepless night and tried to ignore the throbbing in his pants, which was nearly impossible because Anna kept moving ever so slightly against him.
Rowan gritted his teeth and grumbled under his breath.
“Are you quite alright?” Anna whispered, her hand tensing beneath Rowan’s.
“I’m fine. Go tae sleep,” Rowan whispered through his clenched teeth, hoping that some form of salvation would come if Anna fell asleep and stopped rubbing up against him. “Shh…” he coaxed, absentmindedly caressing the back of her hand.
Anna let go of Rowan’s hand and rolled towards him, nestling her face into the crook of his neck. Her cheek now rested against his shoulder and upper chest. She slid her arm under his and hugged him close. Rowan settled his arms firmly around her and pulled Anna closer, enjoying the fact that he now had a few precious inches of space between his manhood and Anna. It was only then that he realized that her breasts, nipples piqued from the cold were pressed most intimately against his bare chest.