by Stone, Jenna
“You’re in the home of the physician. You were moved here after…”
Rowan exhaled slowly, driving the stars that threatened to send him back into unconsciousness out of his line of vision. Collecting himself and being very careful not to move he began shakily, “There’s nothing that I want more than tae hold ye, tae hear how it is that I am still alive right now, but I canna bear for ye tae…” his words trailed off with the effort that it took to fight for consciousness.
“I won’t touch you, Rowan,” Anna whispered, tears beginning to well in her eyes. There was nothing that she wanted to do more than to hold him, to run her fingers over every inch of his body, to make sure that he was really going to be alright. She wanted to kiss him, to assure herself that he was really in front of her, whole and alive. “Don’t talk, love. You need to rest. We’re safe here,” she whispered. Anna’s eyes flitted to the awful “A” that had been branded into the skin of Rowan’s chest.
Rowan watched her line of sight and glanced down at his chest, wincing at the pain of such a movement. The wound had scabbed over and the flesh was reddened around where the brand had seared his flesh. Rowan smiled slightly and brought his eyes up to meet Anna’s.
“How can you be smiling?” Anna asked in blatant shock. She wondered if perhaps Rowan was beginning to suffer from a fever.
“Because every time I look at that,” his eyes glanced down at the “A” seared on his chest, “I’ll think of ye and of how much I love ye,” Rowan whispered.
“Rowan,” Anna whispered, astonished. She reached over and caressed his cheek lovingly. “Thank you,” she said with a half-smile, her heart breaking and bursting with joy at the same time. Anna looked upon her broken husband and though of the visible scars that he would bear for the rest of his life. Rowan had endured so much for her sake.
“For in my mind, this mark does not stand for adulterer,” Rowan said softly. “I see it as an “A” for Anna. This mark claims me as yours forever,” Rowan whispered. “I see it as a mark of love,” he added with a lop-sided smile.
Anna smiled shakily. She took a deep breath, thankful that Rowan was alive. “Then that is how I shall see it too,” Anna said. She reached out and stroked the warm skin of Rowan’s chest, just to the right of the “A.” “Because I do love you, Rowan. More than you can ever imagine.”
“I ken that ye do,” Rowan said with an exhausted smile. The pain that he had endured on Anna’s behalf was worth it. “Murdock plans tae let us go then?” Rowan asked, green eyes searching her face in the darkness.
“Yes, we’re safe,” Anna whispered, her face brightening at the truth that rung in her words. “We can go home,” she added, her voice breaking with the joy of her statement.
“Aye?”
“Yes, we can go home now…as soon as you’re up to it,” Anna said, smiling down at her husband, aching to touch him, to brush the strand of hair that had fallen in his face away, to kiss his lips so that she knew he was really alive.
“Kiss me,” Rowan whispered as if reading Anna’s mind. “Verra softly, so that I…”
Anna knelt beside his bed. Leaning forward ever so cautiously, she traced a single finger across his jaw line, savoring the feeling of his warm flesh against her skin. Rowan’s skin was silvery in the darkness. His eyes were cloudy from the medicine that the physician had administered for pain.
Broken and bleeding, he had never been more beautiful to Anna. She pressed her lips carefully against Rowan’s and felt a glorious light spread within her body. Her pulse hammered in her veins and she fought the nearly irresistible desire to enclose Rowan in her arms. “I love you,” Anna whispered against Rowan’s lips. She gently brushed her lips to his once more, feather light in her touch, being careful not to unsettle his wounds.
“I love ye too, Anna,” Rowan said reverently, his lips hovering just above hers.
His words tore at Anna’s heart and she smiled against his mouth. Oh how she loved him.
The door to the bedroom flew open, startling them both. Rowan let out a muffled cry, pain shooting through his body as he flinched, jostling his wounds.
Quinn and Malcolm burst into the room, breathing heavily from the exertion of bounding up the stairs two at a time.
“Ye could have knocked!” Rowan winced, scolding his brothers.
“Rowan!” Look at ye!” Quinn exclaimed as he closed the distance between them. Quinn had expected Rowan to have healed more during the time that he had spent in Williamsburg. As he looked upon Rowan now, still bloodied and bruised from his interaction with Murdock, Quinn felt a pang of guilt for letting Murdock go free. Perhaps he should have killed the bastard.
“Anna!” Malcolm beamed as he rushed into the room and pulled his sister-in-law into an enormous bear hug. “Oh my God! I’ve been sae worrit. When I couldna find ye and…”
“We’re fine now, it’s alright, Malcolm,” Anna said, giggling as she wriggled out of Malcolm’s crushing embrace. She held him at arm’s length and reached up to brush his disheveled hair out of his face.
“I was just sae worrit and when Quinn told me that they brought ye back here, I-” he broke off, unable to voice his fears out loud.
Anna reached up and kissed Malcolm on the cheek. She squeezed his arms in reassurance. His genuine concern for her warmed her heart.
“We’re fine now, really,” Anna went on, stressing her words as her heart swelled with love for her new family. Her heart sank when she saw the hatred burning like fire in Quinn’s eyes.
The darkness was back. And it threatened to consume Quinn. His gray eyes were menacing, his expression eluding to the fact that his thoughts were elsewhere.
“Murdock let us go,” Anna whispered. She reached out and touched Quinn’s arm. She knew that Quinn was thinking of Mairi.
“And ye think that redeems his soul?” Quinn asked, his controlled rage hardening his voice. “That bastard Murdock has taken sae much from me. First Mairi,” Quinn said, his chest heaving with emotion, “And now this,” he seethed, gray eyes darting toward Rowan. “This canna be forgotten.”
“Let the past lie, Quinn,” Rowan said sternly. “I ken that ye want tae find him. I ken that ye wish tae kill him and make him pay for all that he has done, but now is no the time for that,” Rowan warned, gritting his teeth as a fresh wave of pain flooded his senses.
“I did find him,” Quinn revealed, his dark eyebrows furrowed together as he contemplated how much of his story to tell. “I found the bastard right after he did this tae ye, Rowan,” he said coolly, raking his hand through his unbound hair.
“Quinn, please,” Anna begged. “What did you do?” she whispered, terror swelling within her. She rose up and stood in front of Quinn, her eyes searching his face.
Quinn’s eyes darted to where his brother lay in the bed. Rowan looked like hell warmed over. He exhaled slowly and tried to regain control of his emotions. Rowan needed him. “I’ll have my vengeance soon,” Quinn vowed, his adrenaline soaked heart still hammering in his chest. It had taken every ounce of Quinn’s willpower and all of the love that he harbored for his brothers to keep him from killing Murdock with his bare hands. “Murdock will pay for what he did tae Mairi. He’ll pay with the price of his life,” Quinn said sternly, his voice shaking with emotion.
Anna sighed with relief. Quinn had not killed Murdock after all. She knew that Quinn would hang for such a grievous offense.
Quinn carefully withdrew a folded piece of paper from the pocket of his trousers. “I didna kill the bastard, but I did get him tae write this,” Quinn said as he held up the folded letter. “It guarantees our freedom,” he said happily. “We’ll never have tae worry that the magistrate will be after us, trying tae put us back intae indenture as Murdock had planned. I’ll turn it over tae the magistrate before we go home.”
“How wonderful!” Anna exclaimed. She threw her arms around Quinn’s neck and hugged him, thankful for what he had accomplished and relieved that he had not killed Murdock. She was tired of
running, tired of hiding from the past.
Rowan pushed himself up painfully from the bed. “Well done, brother,” he complimented Quinn, wincing with the pain of his movement.
“Rowan!” You shouldn’t move. Don’t you dare get up!” Anna scolded, brushing past Malcolm and rushing to her husband’s side.
Rowan put out a hand in an effort to stop her. Anna heeded his warning and stopped in her tracks, just short of touching him. His eyes were closed in concentration as he fought to remain standing and not black out. “I canna stay here another minute,” Rowan gritted through clenched teeth, steadying himself by holding onto the post of the bed. “Let’s go home, Anna,” he whispered, opening his eyes and holding her concerned gaze.
Understanding the look of torment in Rowan’s eyes, the utter need to be away from here and leave this chapter of their lives behind, Anna nodded in agreement and carefully took Rowan’s hand.
“Let’s go home,” she whispered approvingly, smiling up at her brave husband.
Home.
Oh how sweet it sounded. Home with Rowan, home with the Murray brothers.
They were together now, together forever. And together, they would make their way in this brave New World.
..oO THE END Oo..
If you enjoyed Rebel Kiss, I invite you to continue following the Murray brothers as they fight to build a life in America. Quinn’s love story is told in Rebel Soul (pre-order now for the March 15, 2015 release) and Malcolm meets his match in Rebel Heart (To be released October 2015).
Thank you so much for choosing to read my novel!
J.S.