by Stone, Jenna
Rowan circled back and extended his hand to Anna, pulling her to her feet. His own stomach growled at the prospect of food, but he was able to quell the dull ache of hunger easily. This was not the first time that the Murray brothers had gone without. He watched appreciatively as Anna stood and brushed the sand from her borrowed shirt. Rowan was certain that hunger was a feeling that was completely new to Anna and yet she did not complain as many high-born women would. Anna was a brave lass.
Rowan followed Anna towards the tide pools all the while contemplating the rare, strong-willed woman that led the way. He watched as she scrunched her nose and shaded her eyes as she peered into the shallow tide pool.
“Just what do you think might be edible in there?” Anna asked with a hint of skepticism.
“Wary of the ocean’s bounty, are ye lass?” Rowan teased as he knelt beside the tide pool and reached below the surface of the cool water. He ran his hand slowly along the underside of a large rock and smiled when his hand brushed against the familiar plane of a mussel.
“Do ye care for sea food?” Rowan asked as he broke the cluster of mussels away from the base of the rock and pulled them from the tide pool.
“Let’s find out,” Anna said eagerly. She arched an eyebrow at Rowan, wondering just how edible the cluster of tiny shells actually was. “How do we eat those?”
“I’ll show ye. Let’s head up tae the dry sand. It might take a bit of work tae get them out.”
Anna trudged behind Rowan, her stomach rumbling hopefully at the prospect of food. Rowan flopped down in the sand. He sat cross-legged with a broad smile on his face and motioned for Anna to join him. She knelt beside him, tucking the tails of his linen shirt about her knees.
“Are you sure that those are safe to eat?” Anna asked warily.
“Aye. They would taste better cooked with some butter and onions, but they are edible for sure,” Rowan promised as he pried open the first shell and deftly removed the slimy contents with his finger.
Anna gasped and brought a hand reflexively to her mouth.
“What is that?” she asked with obvious disapproval.
“A mussel,” Rowan said confidently as he tossed the slimy mass into his mouth and swallowed it whole. “Mmmm! The fruit of the sea,” he growled with a teasing smile. The mussel was salty and nearly unpalatable raw, but Rowan wanted Anna to have something in her belly. So, for her benefit, he pretended that the morsel was tasty beyond belief. “Try one will ye?” he asked as he tore another mussel from the shell and dangled it mischievously in front of Anna.
She extended a graceful hand and captured the slimy blob between her thumb and forefinger, examining the strange creature in the afternoon sunlight. Closing her eyes, Anna dropped the mussel into her mouth and swallowed.
Rowan tried to stifle his laughter, but the expression of horror on Anna’s face was more than he could bear. Her eyes were clenched shut and her nose was scrunched beneath the spray of lovely freckles. When she swallowed the mussel, her eyes flew open and she glowered at Rowan, knowing that she had been fooled.
“You told me that it would taste good!” she said accusingly as she glowered at the laughing Scotsman sitting next to her.
“Nay, lass. I didna say that! Perhaps I misled ye a little bit but…”
Anna slapped Rowan playfully on the chest and began to laugh.
“I dare you to eat another one,” she challenged, raising one eyebrow in invitation. “It seems fair penance for tricking me into eating one!”
“I didna make ye do anything, lass,” Rowan said teasingly as he stifled another belly laugh. “I’ll gladly have another if ye will join me,” he said in invitation as he shucked two more of the ghastly creatures from their iridescent blue shells, handing one to Anna.
Anna took the mussel between her fingers and arched an eyebrow in challenge before she popped it into her mouth and forced herself to swallow.
Rowan shook his head and cast his mussel into the waves.
“Ye win, lass,” he said, conceding victory to Anna. “I canna eat another.”
“I thought that you were familiar with the sea’s bounty,” Anna said teasingly as she took the clump of unopened mussels and tossed them into the waves.
“Familiar, aye. But I canna stomach sea food,” he admitted.
Anna swallowed hard and wished in vain for something to wash the salty taste from her mouth. She began to laugh, which made her forget about the insistent grumbling of her empty stomach.
The sound of Anna’s laughter was high and melodic and before he knew it, Rowan found himself laughing along with her. He flopped back against the sand and raked his hand through his unbound chestnut hair.
How long had it been since he had laughed like this?
Anna reclined next to Rowan on the sand, her chest still shaking with the occasional fit of laughter. She looked over at Rowan. There was a broad smile still coloring his face. Rowan was beautiful when he smiled. His green eyes twinkled from the thrill of his mischief. Anna could not help but notice how handsome he looked sprawled shirtless and smiling upon the sand. Rowan Murray was a very attractive man.
Rowan’s eyes locked with Anna’s and the smile suddenly faded from his face. His smile had been replaced with a look of raw, intense longing. He reached over and brushed some sand off of Anna’s cheek and then retracted his hand when he realized that his action had perhaps been too familiar.
“I needed that, Rowan,” Anna said as her eyes searched the planes of his handsome face. “I needed to laugh. Thank you,” she said with a sweet smile.
“I needed that, too,” Rowan admitted. He stood abruptly in an effort to stop the undeniable energy that he suddenly felt flowing between them. Rowan felt the urgent need to place distance between himself and the beautiful lass that was sprawled next to him on the beach. The fleeting thought of kissing her had just invaded his mind and he needed to get away from Anna before he acted upon the impulse.
..ooOoo..
“Let’s rest for awhile,” Rowan called up the beach towards his brothers. Anna’s paced had slowed remarkably and Rowan had begun to worry. She had been without food for too long, not to mention fresh water.
“I’m quite alright,” Anna insisted as she trudged past Rowan. “There is daylight remaining, we should keep walking.”
“Anna, ye need tae rest,” Rowan said as he reached out and grabbed her elbow. “Malcolm needs tae rest too,” he said with a flick of his head, motioning for Anna to look up the beach.
Anna’s eyes glanced towards Quinn and Malcolm. Both had already sat down in the shade beneath a small cluster of palm trees. Anna sighed heavily. Perhaps she could use a short respite from the heat. She walked up to the base of the nearest palm tree and settled herself into the sand. Closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the tree, Anna realized that she had in fact desperately needed to rest. She was exhausted.
Rowan sat down in front of her, his concerned eyes never leaving Anna’s face.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Anna asked as she scrunched her eyebrows together and ripped out the twine that bound her hair back at the nape of her neck. She threaded her fingers through her blonde curls and began braiding her hair.
Rowan’s face flushed with color. He raked his hand through his hair and looked out towards the sea.
“I canna help it,” he said quietly. “I’m looking at ye because ye are beautiful,” Rowan said, returning his eyes to Anna. His lips curled into a half-smile as he watched Anna’s reaction to his admission.
Anna felt her heart go wild inside of her chest. She was unaccustomed to receiving attentions from a man, especially a man as handsome as Rowan Murray. With the financial ruin of her family occurring slightly before her eighteenth birthday, Anna had never debuted in London society. Therefore, she had never experienced the thrill of a man’s attentions.
“I’m hardly beautiful,” Anna retorted, her eyes drifting down to Rowan’s tattered shirt which draped her body. Her fingers
had abandoned the pursuit of braiding her hair, so taken aback that she had been by Rowan’s unexpected words. Anna wondered if perhaps the sun was getting to Rowan. She knew that she must look affright.
“Ye are beautiful, Anna,” Rowan whispered. He reached towards Anna and trailed his finger lightly down the line of her jaw, feeling his pulse race at the boldness of his gesture. Rowan regretted the act immediately, having seen the spark that it ignited in Anna’s bright hazel eyes.
You cannot have her.
“Rowan!” Malcolm called from further up the beach. “D’ye hear that, Rowan?” Malcolm yelled excitedly.
Rowan stood up reluctantly at Malcolm’s untimely intrusion.
“What do ye hear?” Rowan called up the beach as Malcolm trotted them.
“Water! There’s a stream just up ahead. Fresh water!” Malcolm cried out joyously. “C’mon!”
Rowan extended his hand down to Anna and helped her to her feet. “Thirsty?” he asked in jest as Anna stood and brushed off her skirts.
“No. You?” Anna asked with a teasing smile. She was still shaken by Rowan’s words as she began to walk beside him up the beach. How could a man that she had only just met affect her so greatly?
Malcolm led them up the beach to where a small stream fanned out before pouring into the salty ocean.
“We’ll have tae walk up a bit so that the water will be fresh,” Malcolm said eagerly as he skipped ahead of the group and bounded up the stream.
“We’ll be right behind ye,” Quinn said as he joined Rowan and Anna.
The three of them traveled up the stream silently, with Rowan stopping frequently to help Anna over rocks and bracken that littered the sides of the creek bed.
Quinn bent amongst the mossy rocks that littered the edge of the creek. He scooped up some water in his palm, bringing it to his mouth so that he could taste it. “Aye,” he nodded approvingly. “Tis fresh, and sweet,” he said with an appreciative smile as he scooped more water hungrily into his parched mouth.
Anna dropped to her knees and dipped her hand beneath the cool surface of the water, bringing her hand to her mouth. She closed her eyes at the delicious taste of the water, feeling more life return to her dehydrated body with each sip.
“Tis lovely,” she said between gulps as she held her hair back and drank greedily.
“I’ll run after Malcolm,” Quinn said as he hopped over the babbling stream. “Who kens how far he’s gone upstream,” Quinn chuckled as he ambled upstream after his brother.
Anna sighed heavily and sat down on a rock beside the stream. She leaned over and dipped her hands in the cold water, using them to wash her face. “This is heavenly,” she whispered as she looked at Rowan, who was still quenching his thirst from the stream.
“Aye, the simple pleasures,” he said, smiling up at her before rocking back onto his heels. Rowan took another sip of water and then bent forward to splash some on his face.
“I’d not realized how many simple things that I have lived my entire life taking for granted,” Anna said quietly as she removed her shoes and stockings and dipped her bare feet into the chilly water. Having spent the last few years scraping to make ends meet at Stanton Place, Anna had come to consider herself as poor. She had the sudden realization that in fact, she had never experienced poverty. She had grown up in a lovely home, with plenty of food to eat and a warm bed to sleep in each night. Anna realized that her life in England had actually been quite blessed.
“What do ye long for the most from home?” Rowan asked, suddenly feeling nostalgic. He had tried to put his memories of Scotland behind him, but Anna’s comment made him yearn for the comforts of home.
“Really?” Anna asked, a smile turning up the corner of her broad mouth as she considered Rowan’s question. “Tea,” she whispered, feeling devilish for wanting for anything after the recent blessing of fresh cool water to drink. “Hot tea,” she added.
“Aye,” Rowan smiled. “What I wouldna do for a pot of hot tea.”
“What do you long for?” Anna asked as she ran her toes over the slippery rocks beneath the surface of the stream.
Rowan smiled as he thought. “A hot bath, or at least some warm water to get this bloody salt off my skin,” he said wistfully. Rowan unlaced his boots and moved to sit next to Anna. He dipped his feet into the water, shuddering as his toes entered the chilly water.
“Ye didna say that it was this cold,” Rowan chuckled as he extended his legs so that the water came half way up his calves.
“This freshwater is such a blessing that I’ve resigned not to complain about it,” Anna laughed, noting that her body was now covered with gooseflesh from the chill of the water. “Tis a bit brisk,” she giggled.
“Ye are a remarkable woman,” Rowan whispered as he looked upon Anna. Despite the hardship of being stranded on the vacant beach, Anna had not complained. She blushed in response to Rowan’s words, then closed her eyes and turned her face up towards the sun.
Anna moved her foot beneath the surface of the water. It brushed against Rowan’s foot. She knew that she should move away from him, for it certainly was not proper to be touching him so freely. Anna’s heart beat sped up when Rowan did not move away from her. She decided to leave her foot against his, delighting in the feel of his skin against her own.
Rowan leaned closer to Anna, a sudden wave of madness overtaking his judgment. He was now so close to Anna that he could feel her breath against his heated skin. Rowan studied the spray of freckles covering Anna’s nose and the gentle upward curve of her mouth.
“May I kiss ye, Anna?” he asked, his voice low and sultry.
Anna’s eyes fluttered open, locking with Rowan’s. She smiled slightly, taken aback by Rowan’s bold question. “Yes,” she whispered, her heart thudding wildly in her chest. “I’ve never been…I’ve never…” Anna stammered as she looked into Rowan’s green eyes.
“Then I shall endeavor tae make yer first kiss a good one,” Rowan whispered as he brought his hand up to Anna’s neck. He slid his palm up to cup her cheek and guided her face gently towards his, all the while, his pulse hammering with anticipation.
Anna closed her eyes, savoring the feeling of Rowan’s gentle touch against her flushed skin. She could feel the warmth of Rowan’s breath just beyond her lips. She could smell Rowan’s masculine scent mingled with the salt from the ocean.
Rowan pressed his lips to hers and Anna felt a wave of pleasure zip down her spine. His mouth was soft and warm against hers. Rowan kissed her sweetly, brushing his velvety lips over hers with the lightest touch. His whiskers tickled her mouth in a most delicious manner.
Anna felt as though her entire body thrummed with energy. Her hand moved to Rowan’s bare chest and she delighted in the feeling of his warm skin beneath her fingertips.
Rowan deepened the kiss, sweeping his tongue gently into Anna’s mouth so that he could taste her. She was so sweet and innocent, just as he had anticipated that she would be.
Anna moaned softly as Rowan’s tongue brushed against hers. Never had she dreamed that kissing a man would be so wonderful. Her heart thundered madly in her chest and Anna wondered if it might explode.
Rowan regained his control and ended the kiss, hovering now so that his lips were just beyond Anna’s. He opened his eyes and looked at her, noting that his hand had somehow delved into her disheveled blonde curls. Anna’s lips were ruddy from his kiss and her eyes were still closed. The corner of her mouth turned up into a slight smile.
Rowan felt happiness swell within his chest as he looked upon Anna.
Anna opened her eyes and looked at Rowan. He smiled deliciously at her and her heart fluttered in response.
“That was wonderful, Rowan,” she sighed, awestruck from the affect of Rowan’s kiss.
“Aye,” Rowan smiled lopsidedly and trailed the backs of his fingers lightly down Anna’s cheek. “And now ye canna say that ye’ve never been kissed,” he whispered as he leaned forward and placed another soft kiss on Anna’s lip
s.
A dry stick snapped behind them, causing Rowan and Anna to jump away from each other. Anna looked over her shoulder to see Quinn and Malcolm cut through the brush on the edge of the stream.
“Tastes delicious does it no?” Malcolm called towards them.
“Aye,” Rowan responded with a guilt ridden smile as he winked playfully at Anna. “Ye taste delicious, Anna,” he whispered so that only Anna could hear.
Anna willed her heart beat to slow down. Rowan’s knowing green eyes were upon her, still clouded with the lingering passion from their kiss. Rowan reached out and squeezed her thigh just above the knee in a silent acknowledgement of their secret. He stood up and walked upstream towards his brothers, leaving Anna alone momentarily with her racing thoughts.
Anna realized that for a brief moment, she had forgotten all about Jonathan Arbor.
Chapter Seven
“Lord be willing, they’ll have an inn,” Quinn said hopefully as he walked towards the tiny village. The sleepy village contained a cluster of small wood cottages, centered around a courtyard. A few businesses dotted the main street, but most were dark as the sun had set for the evening.
“But we’ve no money. How will we pay for a room?” Anna asked.
“Nay, we doona have any money, at least not yet,” Rowan said, smiling devilishly at Quinn, reading his brother’s intentions. “Anna, may I borrow your necklace? I ken that I just gave it tae ye, but I’ve an idea that just may purchase our supper,” Rowan said apologetically. “I promise that I’ll bring it back tae ye,” he added for good measure.
Anna turned her back to Rowan and lifted her hair so that he could remove the necklace. She felt Rowan’s fingers brush against the skin of her neck as he fumbled with the clasp on the necklace, causing her pulse to race.
Quinn arched his eyebrows and Rowan and shook his head slightly. He recognized the necklace immediately when he watched Rowan remove the bauble from around Anna’s neck. It had been his mother’s.