by Stone, Jenna
“I didna ken that ye are left-handed,” Rowan said, surprised as he watched which hand she held the dagger with.
“There are many things that you do not know about me,” Anna said, her tone harsh.
Rowan felt the sting of her words but did not allow himself to falter.
“Do you have a knife?” Anna asked with an air of challenge in her voice.
“Aye,” Rowan said, noticing how small, how beautiful and fragile Anna looked as she was bathed in the light of the full moon.
“Well, get it out,” she prodded impatiently.
“Why?” Rowan asked, not following Anna’s train of thought.
“Because I’m going to show you that I can protect myself,” Anna said, looking at him angrily as she held the dagger firmly in her hand.
Rowan chuckled. “Ye want me tae fight ye? With a dagger?” he continued to laugh, not able to believe that Anna actually wanted him to spar with her. She was most certainly a head-strong lass, he thought, shaking his head and pulling his dagger out of his belt.
Anna bent her knees and settled into an active stance, gripping the dagger firmly in her fist. Wasting no time, she took a stab at Rowan’s chest. Always light on his feet despite his tall stature, he easily moved out of the way of her blow.
“Hey! Watch it, Anna,” Rowan cautioned, now knowing that Anna was serious. He didn’t want to hurt her on accident.
Anna sliced at him again and Rowan easily spun out of the way. He grabbed Anna’s left arm at the wrist and backed her up against the trunk of the tree. Rowan held his own knife up to the skin of Anna’s throat in warning, showing her his superior skill at knife-wielding. He moved in close to Anna, using his body to restrain her against the tree. He stopped when his lips hovered just above from hers.
“As I said before, a lass with a dagger is often more harm tae herself than good,” he spoke sternly, challenging Anna and asserting his dominance. Rowan held his knife against her throat, being ever so careful not to actually cut her delicate skin.
Anna’s soft feminine smell overwhelmed his senses and for a split second Rowan felt dizzy from being so close to her. He was so close that he could just reach down and kiss her lips. Rowan felt Anna relax against the tree and began to slowly release his grip on her, still holding eye contact with her, waiting for her submission.
“I admit that you are stronger than me…” Anna trailed off, breathing raggedly and looking into Rowan’s green eyes.
Rowan’s lips curled up into the beginning of a smile.
Using the element of surprise, Anna brought her knee up hard, striking Rowan with a direct hit to his groin. He roared in pain, dropped his knife to the ground and doubled over, holding his most sensitive area with both of his hands as he groaned in pain.
Anna was behind him in a flash and held the blade of her dagger to the skin of his neck. “I told you that I can protect myself,” she whispered against his ear as he continued to hold himself and grumble. “Never underestimate the power of a woman,” Anna said defiantly as she removed the blade of her dagger from his neck and stomped back towards the tavern.
“I suppose ye can keep the dagger,” Rowan yelled after her, accepting his defeat as he dropped to his knees in the grass. He laughed softly to himself, admiring Anna’s fire as he continued to nurse his wounds in the moonlight.
Rowan Murray had met his match.
..ooOoo..
Pride having been taken down a notch, Rowan walked back into the tavern. He slumped into a seat next to Quinn and took a deep dreg out of his ale mug, which was now unappetizingly warm.
“I decided that she can keep the dagger,” Rowan said, looking over at Anna, who sat smiling sweetly drinking her ale.
Quinn and Malcolm stoically fought the urge to break out into laughter, having watched the entire encounter through the window of the tavern. They would wait until later to give Rowan hell about being bested by a woman.
He would never live this one down.
The innkeeper took a seat in the corner of the tavern and lifted a fiddle up to his neck. He struck up the beginning of a lively tune which was met with shouts of approval from his patrons.
“Do ye dance, Anna?” Rowan asked, surprising her. His green eyes sparkled in invitation. The lass was a contradiction if he’d ever seen one. She was so sweet and innocent and yet fiery when provoked. He wanted an excuse to touch her again. He wanted to make things right between them again. Rowan’s heart hammered in his chest as he anticipated Anna’s answer.
What if she says no?
“I love to dance,” Anna grinned radiantly as she reached out to take Rowan’s extended hand. “Is this an offering of peace?” she asked, smiling slyly as she stood and followed Rowan towards the music.
“Aye,” he said, leading Anna away from his brothers. “I’ve no ill feelings towards ye, even after…” Rowan trailed off, color flushing his face as he recounted Anna besting him with her dagger in the courtyard. “I’m a bit stubborn mind ye. Thank ye for reminding me that brute strength canna always best cunning.”
“Compliment accepted,” Anna smiled radiantly up at him, hazel eyes sparkling with the thrill of her victory. The surroundings seemed to melt away as she followed Rowan to the dance floor. She was intimately aware of the feelings that the touch of his hand evoked on her skin. Her heart fluttered in response as his warm hand closed around her own.
“I’m goin’ tae bed,” Quinn said tiredly, pushing away from the table and draining the last of the ale from his mug. “Ye coming?” he asked, looking at Malcolm.
Malcolm stood, reluctantly following his brother’s cue and leaving Rowan and Anna alone. Even a fool could see the energy flowing between them. Malcolm felt defeated, wishing that he had thought to ask Anna to dance first.
“Rowan!” Quinn called out across the tavern.
Rowan glanced over his shoulder at his older brother.
Quinn said nothing but shook his head in warning.
Rowan dismissed Quinn’s warning and led Anna towards the corner of the tavern that had been cleared of tables to create a makeshift dance floor. He wondered if his heart was going to explode in his chest as it seemed to be beating in double time just from touching the soft skin of her hand. Rowan’s pulse thrummed with anticipation of holding Anna in his arms. He stopped in the corner of the floor, pausing to look down at Anna. He felt like a besotted school boy when he was in her presence. Her smile was breathtaking, and the ale had cast a warm glow about her face.
“Och! I almost forgot,” Rowan exclaimed. He dropped Anna’s hand and dug in the pocket of his trousers, producing the gold necklace.
Anna smiled. She turned and lifted her unbound hair so that Rowan could hook the necklace around her neck. Rowan deftly clasped the necklace about her neck, allowing his fingers to glide over her soft skin. He bent down and kissed her nape right above the delicate chain.
“I worried that you might lose it,” Anna said softly as she spun around to look up at Rowan.
“Nay. I gave it tae ye. I would have never asked ye tae borrow it if I wasna sure that I could get it back tae ye safely,” Rowan said as he reached down and reclaimed Anna’s hand. He brought her knuckles up to his lips and placed a soft kiss upon them.
Anna felt her pulse race at Rowan’s gentle touch.
Hesitating for a split second, Rowan reached down and placed his right hand on Anna’s waist, while still holding her other hand in his left. Touching her, pulling her close felt so right. She smiled up at him as they began to dance to the music, and right then, Rowan knew that he wanted Anna Stanton more than he had ever wanted anything in his life.
You cannot have her. You have nothing to offer her.
Rowan spun Anna in time to the fiddle music, reveling in the unabashed happiness that played across her face as she danced. She was beautiful and he couldn’t take his eyes or his hands off of her. Anna’s cheeks warmed with an attractive flush as she danced. Her breasts rose and fell seductively above the neckline of her
dress, accentuated by the freshwater pearl that hung on the chain around her graceful neck. Anna’s face was alight with joy and the sound of her soft laugh was high and melodic. A siren’s call to Rowan’s ears.
Never before had Rowan experienced such a raw attraction to a woman.
As the song came to a close, Rowan spun Anna into his arms, settling his hands on her hips. She stopped, mere centimeters from his face. She looked up at him with those big hazel eyes, hovering so close to him that he could almost feel the warmth of her lips against his own.
You have nothing to offer her.
Rowan’s mind told him to tread cautiously yet his heart told him otherwise. Rowan knew that he was playing with fire when he looked into the hazel depths of Anna’s eyes and yet he could not reconcile letting her go.
And then she touched him.
Her touch was as light as air as her hands slowly slid up his chest and settled behind his neck. Anna closed her eyes and Rowan felt her fingers casually toying with the small hairs at the base of his hairline.
Her touch was exquisite.
Rowan’s heart beat sped up dramatically. He knew that he should reach up and take her hands away from his neck. He knew that he should rebuke her, but her fingers felt like heaven against his skin.
Anna was breathing heavily. There was a soft smile gracing her lips and a warm flush upon her face from the dancing and the ale. A sudden flicker of panic clouded her eyes when she realized what her fingers were doing. They stilled immediately, and Rowan watched as the smile slowly slipped from her face and her eyes flew open.
Anna did not know what had come over her. Perhaps it had been the ale, but deep down she knew that it was something more. Her eyes flitted up to Rowan’s. His green eyes were heated with a desire that he made no effort to hide. His gaze danced across Anna’s skin, hungry and unabated.
Realizing what she had done, Anna withdrew her hands from Rowan’s body abruptly as if his skin had burnt her fingertips. She reached up on her tippy toes and placed a chaste kiss on Rowan’s cheek.
“Goodnight, Rowan,” she whispered before slipping out of his arms and heading up the stairs.
Rowan stood numbly, watching her as she walked away. He had seen her emotions play across her face just before she had kissed him on the cheek. There was a sadness in her eyes, a forlorn look that he could not explain.
He knew that Anna had felt the spark between them just as he had. She had felt the same fire that he felt, the energy that coursed through his body each time they touched. He knew that it had been the same for her; he sensed that she had responded to his touch in the same way.
Rowan also knew that as soon as Anna had felt her body respond to him, she had regained control and backed away from him. She was so much stronger than he had been. His fingers ached to touch her; his lips tingled with the thought of kissing her. He raked his hand through his hair and headed for the stairs.
You cannot have her. Stop this madness.
“I’d bet my life that she’s not your sister,” came the voice of the innkeeper from the corner, startling Rowan back to reality.
Rowan turned and smiled at the old man, embarrassed that he had been caught.
“Don’t let her get away,” the old man smiled, remembering what it felt like to pursue a beautiful young woman.
“That’s exactly what I have tae do,” Rowan whispered so quietly that only he himself could hear his vow.
..ooOoo..
Rowan trudged up the stairs, vowing to push Anna out of his mind. His boots felt as though they were made of lead. He cursed himself for not having more restraint. Anna was a highborn lady and as such, she deserved more than a simple farmer’s son with nary a shilling to his name.
Pushing Anna from his thoughts became problematic because she was still standing in the hallway, leaning against the door of her room, eyes puffy from crying. The key to her room was clasped in her hand.
When Anna heard Rowan’s boots on the stairs, she opened her eyes and looked towards him, sniffling audibly and wiping away her tears as she fought to regain her composure.
“I’m so scared, Rowan,” Anna said, rubbing her eyes, trying to hold back more tears.
Rowan responded against his better judgment and closed the distance between them. He pulled Anna into his arms, cradling her cheek gently with his palm as he pressed her head to his chest. He held her against himself, stroking her hair, all the while cursing himself for not having the will-power to walk right past Anna and lock himself in his room.
Anna threaded her arms around Rowan’s waist, relishing the muscular feeling of his body beneath her fingertips. She inhaled his scent, sweet and masculine as she buried her face in his linen shirt.
“What are ye scared of Anna?” Rowan whispered into her hair, suddenly realizing that he was also scared. Scared of the response that his body had each time he touched Anna, scared of how a single glance from her could cause his heart to race. Scared because he was a man who was used to being in control and with Anna, he felt anything but in control.
“Everything,” Anna said against his shirt. “I was not raised to be like this, weak and crying, and…”
“Yer no weak for crying.”
Anna fisted her hands in Rowan’s shirt. His presence overwhelmed her senses, from the masculine scent of sea and sunshine that wafted off his skin to the new sensation that his hands evoked as they set fire to her skin when he touched her. She drew her face away from his chest and looked up into his eyes.
Rowan smiled lopsidedly. Cradling her face between his hands, he used his thumbs to brush away Anna’s tears.
“Yer no weak for crying,” he said more firmly.
Anna’s eyes darted away.
“What are ye afraid of, Anna?”
“I’m scared of you, Rowan,” Anna said, the words flowing from her lips as if a flood-gate had been opened. Denying her attraction to the man that held her in his arms was completely futile. “I’m scared of the feelings that you rouse within me,” she admitted, speaking against the solid plane of Rowan’s chest. “When you touch me, I have feelings that I’ve never felt before,” she said honestly, looking up at Rowan with questioning hazel eyes.
“I feel it too, Anna. And I’ve tried tae deny it, just as I’ve watched ye try tae push yer feelings aside, but I doona ken just how tae stop it,” Rowan admitted, feeling defeated by the power that Anna held over him. Rowan knew that it was not right to be holding her, to be entertaining the idea of how good it would feel to kiss her again.
Feeling as though he was outside of his body, Rowan slowly slid his hand up Anna’s neck. She leaned into his touch, closing her eyes as he caressed her cheek with the backs of his fingers, tracing the graceful line of her jaw. Rowan wanted to know what it would feel like to touch Anna just this once and then he would force himself away from her. He gently captured her chin between his thumb and index finger and tilted it up so that she would look at him.
“Ye should go tae sleep, lass,” he said in a half-hearted effort to stop himself from going further.
Neither of them moved.
Anna opened her eyes. She slid her hands slowly up Rowan’s chest, delighting in the feel of his expansive muscles beneath his linen shirt.
Rowan took in a breath swiftly as he fought his response to her touch. Anna’s touch would be his undoing.
Anna brought her hands to rest behind his neck and continued to keep her eyes locked with his. She wondered how something that felt so right could be so wrong. When she saw the bold desire in Rowan’s green eyes, her heart skipped two beats and then raced wildly.
His eyes silently told her how badly he wanted her, yet there was sadness in their green depths.
Unable to fight his feelings any longer, Rowan leaned forward so that his lips hovered just above Anna’s, so close that he could feel the shakiness of her breath. He brought his hand behind her neck and caressed the skin at the base of her skull with his thumb. His body thrummed with energy and his heart ham
mered in his ears, knowing that his last shred of restraint was evaporating.
Ever so slowly, Rowan lowered his lips to Anna’s, kissing her gently, sweetly. He felt as though his body might explode from the sheer joy of touching her so intimately, of allowing himself the forbidden pleasure of kissing her.
Anna leaned into Rowan’s chest, pulling him closer towards her. She parted her lips slightly and Rowan heeded her invitation, deepening their kiss. She kissed him thoroughly, maddened as she was by the taste of his lips upon hers.
Rowan’s mouth slanted greedily over Anna’s. She returned his passion, opening her mouth to receive his kisses. He moved his hands up to cup her face, still kissing her fiercely, staking claim upon her lips. Rowan was deliberate in his seduction of her, using his kisses, his tongue and his lips to explain the feelings that he could not express to Anna in words.
Anna raked her fingernails up Rowan’s chest and feared that she might faint from the sheer pleasure she felt as she kissed Rowan. Her toes curled in ecstasy and she let loose a small moan of pleasure, eliciting a hungry growl deep in Rowan’s throat. Anna knew that she should move away from Rowan but she could not force herself to let him go.
Using his body to press Anna against the wall, Rowan tore his lips away from hers and placed soft kisses on the sensitive skin of her neck, running his fingers ever to lightly over the skin just above the low neckline of her dress. Anna sighed with pleasure and melted against Rowan.
He trapped her next moan with his lips, moving his tongue into her mouth, demanding complete possession. She opened widely in response to him, and he deepened the kiss, slanting his lips over hers again and again. Anna felt her knees going weak and she trusted Rowan’s strong arms to support her as she succumbed to the assault of his kisses. He was hard and hot against her, his tongue hungry to give her the taste of his desire.
Rowan was the first to regain control. He gently ended the kiss, slowly drawing away from Anna so that his mouth was hovering just above her lips. His breath was ragged and it was obvious that the kiss had shaken him as much as it had affected Anna.