by Jenna Stone
Does he feel this too?
“Aye, now I feel a bit more civilized,” he smiled, settling back into his shirt and reaching for the pitcher of ale. “Care for some more ale?”
“Sure,” she said, resuming her seat at the table and extending her mug so that Rowan could refill it.
“Here, Anna,” Quinn said, sliding a dagger across the wooden table in her direction.
“Thanks,” Anna smiled, modestly lifting them hem of her gown and tucking the dagger safely into her garter. “Where did you get it?” Anna asked skeptically, wondering if she was now the owner of stolen property.
“I bought it off the innkeeper when I got yer dress. I got weapons for Rowan and myself too” Quinn said, maintaining his innocence. “Ye can ask him if ye don’t believe me,” Quinn invited, eyes flashing defensively to the innkeeper who stood behind the bar, seeing that Anna wasn’t completely buying his story.
“What in the hell does she need that for?” Rowan asked angrily, feeling left out of the apparent understanding between Quinn and Anna.
“I don’t ken…she asked me tae get it for her, sae I did,” Quinn said shrugging nonchalantly and taking another long dreg off his ale mug.
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here!” Anna cautioned, suddenly angry that Rowan was questioning her need for a weapon. “Have you looked around, lately Rowan? This New World is not exactly a safe place for a woman. I need it to protect myself with,” she said, placing extra emphasis on the word myself.
Rowan openly laughed at her, sputtering some of his ale onto the table. “So ye think that yer going tae protect yerself with that?” he asked incredulously, shaking his head in disbelief.
Anna nodded harshly, eyebrows knit together with determination. She was angry that Rowan had laughed at her intentions, intentions which sounded pretty logical in her mind.
“Why don’t ye leave the protectin’ part up tae us?” Rowan asked, working to compose himself and flashing his eyes over at his brothers. “We’ll keep ye safe,” he added for good measure, insulted that Anna didn’t think that the Murray brothers were capable of seeing to her welfare.
“I can protect myself,” Anna said firmly, hazel eyes challenging Rowan from across the table.
The smile slipped from Rowan’s face. “We’ll see about that, Anna. In my experience, a lass with a dagger is often more harm tae herself than good. I’ve a feelin’ that if ye tried tae protect yerself with that, any man could swiftly remove it from yer possession and use it against ye,” he said, steely gaze glaring at her across the table.
Anna was fuming mad. She took a big swallow of ale and pushed back from the table, standing up abruptly and almost knocking over her chair. “Outside, Rowan Murray,” she said, already heading for the door.
“I think yer in trouble, brother,” Quinn laughed with amusement, watching Anna stomp out the door of the tavern.
“Holler real loud if ye need our help,” smiled Malcolm, chuckling softly under his breath.
Rowan pushed away from the table, eyes sparkling mischievously, and followed Anna outside.
She had walked over to the courtyard in front of the chapel, and was leaning up against the trunk of a large tree, arms crossed and an angry expression shrouding her face. As Rowan approached, she lifted the hem of her skirt and drew out the dagger, holding it firmly in her left hand.
“I didn’t ken that ye are left handed,” Rowan said, surprised as he watched which hand she held the dagger with.
Anna ignored his comment and got down to business. “Do you have a knife?” she 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. “You 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,” he cautioned, now knowing that she meant business. Rowan didn’t want to hurt her on accident.
She sliced at him again, and he easily spun out of the way, grabbed her arm that held the dagger and backed her up against the trunk of the tree. He held his own knife up to the skin of her 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, stopping when his lips were just inches 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. He held his knife against her throat, being ever so careful not to actually cut her delicate skin.
Her soft feminine smell overwhelmed his senses, and for a split second he felt dizzy from being so close to her, so close that he could just reach down and kiss her lips. He felt her 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 his 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 guess ye can keep the dagger,” Rowan yelled after her, accepting his defeat as he dropped to his knees in the grass. He chuckled to himself, admiring Anna’s fire, and continued to nurse his wounds in the moonlight.
Rowan Murray had met his match.
***
Moments later, pride having been taken down a notch, Rowan walked back into the tavern and pulled up a seat next to Quinn.
“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, striking up the beginning of a lively tune.
“Do ye dance, Anna?” Rowan asked, surprising her, green eyes sparkling 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. Suddenly, his heart hammered in his chest as he anticipated her 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, tha
nk 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, and her heart fluttered in response.
“I’m goin’ tae bed,” Quinn said tiredly, pushing away from the table and draining the last of the ale from his mug. “You 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, and Malcolm felt defeated, wishing that he had thought to ask Anna to dance first.
Rowan led Anna towards the corner of the tavern that had been cleared of tables to create a makeshift dance floor, wondering 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. His pulse thrummed with anticipation of holding her in his arms, and 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.
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, he knew that he wanted Anna Stanton more than he had ever wanted anything in his life.
She’s already taken. Ye canna have her.
Rowan spun her in time to the fiddle music, reveling in the joy that played across her face as she danced. She was beautiful, and he couldn’t take his eyes, or his hands off of her. Her cheeks warmed with an attractive flush as she danced, and her breasts rose and fell seductively above the neckline of her dress. 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.
Her hand slowly slid up his chest and settled behind his neck, fingers casually toying with the small hairs at the base of his hairline. She was breathing heavily, and a 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 she withdrew her hands from his body as if his skin had burnt her fingertips. She reached up on her tippy toes and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek.
“Goodnight, Rowan,” she whispered before slipping out of his arms and heading up the stairs.
Rowan stood, watching her as she walked away. He had seen it in her eyes just before she kissed him, sadness, a forlorn look that he could not explain. He knew that she 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.
He also knew that as soon as she felt her body respond to him, she 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.
Ye canna 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.
***
Rowan trudged up the stairs, vowing to push Anna out of his mind. This became problematic because she was still standing in the hallway, leaning against the door of her room, eyes puffy from crying. When she heard his boots on the stairs, she opened her eyes and looked towards him, sniffled audibly and fought to regain her composure.
“I’m so scared, Rowan,” she said, rubbing her eyes, trying to hold back more tears.
Rowan responded against his better judgment and closed the distance between them. He pulled her into his arms, cradling her cheek gently with his palm, and 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.
“What are ye scairt of Anna,” he whispered into her hair, suddenly realizing that he was also scared. Scared of the response that his body had each time he touched her, 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,” she said against his shirt. “I wasn’t raised to be like this, weak and crying, and…”
“Yer no weak for crying,”
“It’s just that I thought I was prepared for this, prepared to come here and get married, and now that I’m here, it’s all so new…” she trailed off, wiping her tears on his shirt.
“Ye’d be crazy no tae be a little scared,” he smiled into her hair. Personally, he thought Anna was the bravest lass that he had ever met, feisty and strong, and beautiful. The soft feminine smell wafting from her hair aroused his senses, and he felt himself growing hard as he held her in his arms.
“I’m afraid that it won’t be everything that I was expecting when we get to Williamsburg. What if we get there, and I…I don’t like him. What if he’s mean to me?” Anna said, suddenly terrified about her impending marriage.
“Then I’ll kill him,” Rowan said matter-of-factly.
“No you wouldn’t,” Anna said smiling, enjoying Rowan’s quick offer to come to her rescue. Rowan had taken on the roll of her protector, having already rescued her once from the man who almost drowned her in the ocean.
“How do ye ken that I wouldna? If he hurt ye, I most certainly would!” Rowan said, grabbing Anna by the shoulders moving her away from him slightly so that he could look at her face. “Anna, I won’t let anyone hurt ye,” he said, eyes intense as he scanned her face for understanding.
“I know you won’t, Rowan,” she whispered looking up into his mesmerizing green eyes.
His eyebrows were knit together with sincerity, and she knew that he had meant what he had said. 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.
“I’m scared because I know what I have to do, I know what I came to this New World to do, and yet…I feel this connection to you, this feeling that I’ve never felt before,” she said honestly, looking up at him with questioning hazel eyes. “I never had a second thought about getting married until I met you,” she confessed, laying her true feelings out in the open.
“I feel it too, Anna, and I’ve tried, but I don’t know just how tae stop it,” he admitted, feeling defeated by the power that she held over him. He knew that it was not right to be holding her, to be entertaining the idea of how good it would feel to kiss her. She was betrothed to be married to another man, and Rowan knew that he himself, an escaped prisoner, had absolutely nothing to offer her.
Feeling as though he was outside of his body, Rowan slowly slid his hand up Anna’s neck, and 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. He wanted to know what it would feel like to touch her 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.
Anna opened her eyes, and slid her hands slowly up Rowan’s chest, causing him to swiftly intake a breath as he fought his response to her touch. She 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 his 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 it 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 hammered in his ears, knowing that his last shred of restraint was evaporating. Ever so slowly, he lowered his lips to hers, 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 ever so slightly, and Rowan heeded her invitation, deepening their kiss. He kissed her long and hard and thoroughly, having never before experienced such a raw reaction to a woman. His mouth slanted greedily over hers, and she returned his passion, opening to receive his kisses. He moved his hands up to cup her face, still kissing her fiercely, staking claim upon her lips. He 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 her in words.
Anna raked her fingernails up his chest and feared that she might pass out 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. Pressing her body against his, he 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.