Shipwrecked (13 page)

His face was a
myriad of cuts, scrapes and bruises, and his right eye was beginning to swell
closed.

“Believe me, they
got the worst end of the deal,” Quinn smirked, recounting the blows that he had
served up to the English soldiers.  “They got me a few times, but Rowan and I
fight dirty,” he said, glancing in Rowan’s direction.  He was still seated on
the log outside of the circle of light provided by the small fire.  “Plus, we
did get away with this!” Quinn exclaimed, placing a large purse heavy with
coins into Anna’s hand.

“Quinn!  This is a
fortune!” she exclaimed, knowing that this purse held more than enough money to
finance their entire trip to Williamsburg.  “At least you won’t have to gamble
anymore,” she said, tossing the purse back to Quinn.

“Aye, and it’ll be
safer for us not tae stop in the villages along the way tae Williamsburg.  We
can send Malcolm in for supplies; it’ll be much less conspicuous that way.”

“Good idea,” Anna
said softly.  She felt guilty that the Murray’s were going to such lengths to
get her safely to Williamsburg, but on the other hand, she did not want them to
hand her over to Arbor’s men.  She knew that she was safe with the Murray’s,
and honestly, she was growing to care for all three of them.

“Can you check on
him?” Quinn whispered very quietly into her ear so that Rowan wouldn’t hear. 
“I’m afraid that he’s hurt worse than he’s lettin’ on.  He’s got tae much pride
tae let me take a look at it.”

Anna’s heart sank
as she walked silently over to where Rowan was sitting on the log.  “How badly
are you hurt, Rowan?” she whispered, sitting down next to him on the log.

“It’s nothing that
won’t heal, but my ribs hurt something fierce,” he confessed, still doubled
over with pain, cradling his right side.

“How did they get
broken?” Anna asked quietly, needing to know so that she could fully sympathize
with what Rowan had endured on her behalf.

“With a chair. 
One of them broke a chair against my side.”

“Oh Rowan, this is
all my fault…I’m so sorry!” she stammered as she saw how badly Rowan was
hurting.

“Yer fault? It’s
not yer fault.  It was
his
fault for touchin’ ye!  I wanted tae kill
that bastard!” Rowan said eyes lit with rage.

Anna swallowed
hard, not sure of what to say.  Despite Rowan’s denial of this being her fault,
she knew deep down that it would not have happened had she not been traveling
with the Murray brothers.  They would be far better off without her.

“Can I take a
look?” Anna asked cautiously, afraid that Rowan would rather nurse his wounds
in private.  “You’ll need to come closer to the fire so that I can see,” she
coaxed, reaching down to take Rowan’s hand.

“If it makes ye
feel better.  There’s no much that ye can do tae help broken ribs,” Rowan said,
knowing that he would get little relief from his pain.

Anna led him over
to the fire, and helped him sit down again.  Quinn and Malcolm were already
snoring peacefully beneath their blankets, being completely exhausted from the
day’s events.  Anna was thankful that she could now be alone to tend Rowan,
knowing that he wouldn’t want to reveal any sign of weakness in front of his
brothers.

Anna settled
herself down next to Rowan and gasped when she saw his face in the firelight. 
“Rowan,” she whispered, reaching up a trembling hand towards his face. 

Rowan looked away,
focusing his eyes down at his hands.  Anna traced her fingers carefully along
the line of his jaw, gently taking his chin between her finger and thumb,
tilting his face from side to side so that she could look at his injuries.

His upper lip was
split open badly on the right side of his face, and there was dried blood from
a bloody nose crusted to his top lip.  His nose looked like it had been broken;
it was swollen badly, but still straight.  There was a nasty gash on his left
eyebrow that had left a trail of blood down the side of his face. 

Anna reached up a
finger and traced it ever so lightly down the bridge of his nose, causing his
eyes to flicker up at her, and then dart away.

“Don’t fash…it
was
broken, but I fixed it already.  It’ll heal straight, and I’ll be handsome as
ever,” he chuckled, and then stopped abruptly.  Laughing hurt his broken ribs.

Anna’s finger
slowly traced the lines of his lips, watching the firelight dance off his skin,
illuminating his purple bruises.  She ran her fingers carefully down his jaw
line, feather light touches exploring his skin.  Again, she grasped his chin
between her thumb and forefinger, forcing it up so that he would look at her.

Rowan’s eyes met
hers to see tears streaming down her cheeks as she examined his face.

“Doona cry,
sweetheart,” he whispered, reaching up his uninjured left arm to wipe away her
tears.

“Thank you,
Rowan,” she said softly, leaning forward just barely touching her lips to his
so as not to hurt him further.  She caught his hand and held it up between
them, examining it in the firelight.  He had beautiful, graceful, masculine
hands.  Anna extended each of his fingers carefully as he watched her intently,
checking to see if he had any broken bones.  His knuckles were swollen and
bloodied, being that he was left- handed; this was the hand that had taken the
brunt of his punches.

Anna raised his
hand to her lips, and gently kissed each of his knuckles, looking up into his
eyes as she did so.

There was a storm
brewing in Rowan’s eyes, and the intensity that Anna saw in their green depths
terrified her.  Rowan had fought for her honor, and in doing so, he had exerted
a silent decree of possession.

As if reading her
mind, Rowan broke the silence, “I wanted to kill that bastard when I saw him
touching you.  He’s lucky that I didn’t.”

Anna knew that
Rowan was dead serious.  “I’m glad you didn’t…you can’t risk losing your chance
at freedom over me,” she said, still holding Rowan’s bruised hand in her own.

Her words hung
silently between them for a moment.  They both knew that Rowan had already
risked his opportunity to begin a new life, his chance at freedom and with
every step closer to Williamsburg, his chances of capture increased.  By now
the ship’s register would have been read, and the Murray brothers had not been
judicious about concealing their identities.  If they were found out, they
would surely be indentured immediately, and the precious hope of freedom and a
new life would slip through their grasps.

“We could leave
now, Anna.  They’d never find us,” Rowan whispered, heart thudding anxiously in
his chest, surprised that he had even uttered the words that he had worked so
hard to repress.

Anna’s breath
caught in her throat.  She had denied her feelings for Rowan, pushed them away
and fought them despite knowing he was what her heart wanted.

“You know that I
can’t,” she said, stone faced. 

“Then why the hell
is it that when you kiss me…I know that yer fighting it, fighting this
attraction or whatever it is between us just as hard as I am?” Rowan said
between his clenched teeth, anger heavy on his bruised face.  “Ye can’t or ye
won’t, Anna?  Which is it?”

Anna felt fresh
tears welling up in her eyes, and she bit her lip in an effort to hold them
back.  She looked at his face knowing that Rowan was everything that she wanted
and yet everything that she could not have.

Rowan reached out
and grabbed bother of her hands in his, and leaned forward, locking her eyes
with his own.  “Come away with me, Anna.  We can get away now; I promise that
he’ll never find ye.  Quinn and Malcolm and us, we can build a life, a good
life for ourselves…we’ve got some money tae get us started,” his green eyes
were intense as he searched her face.  “I’ll make ye happy, Anna,” he
whispered.

Tears rolled down
Anna’s cheeks.  “I know you would, Rowan.  I can’t even dare to dream of how
happy I would be to run away right now, to be with you, to let myself…”

“Then do it! 
Choose me, Anna,” he whispered as he raised her hands to his bloody lips and
kissed them softly.

“You know that I
can’t, Jonathan knows that I survived the ship wreck, there are men out looking
for me, and my family…”

“Damn them all! 
Ye canna go through yer life always puttin’ others before yer own happiness. 
This is your life, Anna, choose it as ye will!”

“I have a duty to
my family, and you if anyone should understand what that is like,” Anna said,
voice heated now as she glanced over at Malcolm and Quinn.

“And above all, ye
have a duty tae yerself that ye’re refusing tae acknowledge,” Rowan said, voice
escalating.  “And for that matter, ye have a duty tae
me
!  God doesna
put two people on this Earth, and have this…this feeling between them if they
are not meant tae be together.  Can ye no se it?  Christ, can ye no feel it,
Anna?”

“You know that I
do,” she whispered, leaning forward and kissing him ever so lightly on his
bruised lips.  The taste of his blood was coppery in her mouth.  “And I will
think of you for the rest of my life, Rowan Murray…but I know that I can’t have
you.”

“Then I’ll wait
for you,” he vowed.  “I’ll wait until I
can
have ye because now I doona
think that there can be another, not after I’ve felt what it is between us.”

Malcolm’s boots
crunched across the ground, announcing his most inopportune presence.  “Ye really
should bind those ribs, brother,” he said, crouching down next to Rowan.

“Buggar off,”
Rowan said angrily, not in the mood to deal with the nagging of his brother,
and wanting to finish his conversation with Anna.  He glanced up at her as she
wiped away the last of her tears; she looked relieved that Malcolm had woken
and joined them.

“What did ye do
tae her?” Malcolm asked accusingly as he saw the tears streaming down Anna’s
face.

“I’m fine,
Malcolm,” Anna lied coolly as she wiped away her tears.

“Ye better not
have made her cry,” Malcolm threatened protectively, glowering down at his
brother.

“Stop it,
Malcolm.  I said I’m fine,” Anna said dismissively.  “We were just talking
about what happened and I got emotional.  I’m fine.”

Rowan exhaled
slowly, shakily from the pain of his broken ribs.  “I’m going tae be fine,
Anna,” he whispered, seeking to give her an excuse that would explain her tears
to Malcolm.  “Can ye bind up my chest as ye were talking about earlier?  It
might help.”

“Sure,” Anna said,
glad to have something purposeful to do with her now shaking hands. She reached
up and unbuttoned the first three buttons on his shirt, then slid it up
carefully over his head, causing him to wince in pain in reaction to lifting
his right arm.

She tore a strip
of material from the lining of her dress, causing Malcolm’s face to turn
crimson as she exposed her legs.

 He stood abruptly
and walked back over to where Quinn was sleeping.

“Holler if ye need
me, Anna,” he called over his shoulder, apparently still not trusting Rowan to
be alone with her.

  Anna wound the
fabric from her dress tightly around Rowan’s ribcage, securing it with a knot.

“Aye, it feels
better already,” Rowan lied through his teeth, seeking to lift Anna’s spirits.

“Liar,” she said,
not buying his rouse.  “Let me help you lower down to the ground so that you
can sleep,” she said, standing and extending her hand to Rowan, taking his left
hand in both of hers and helping him slowly lower himself down to the ground.

“Bloody hell!” he
exclaimed under his breath, groaning as he tried to find a comfortable
position.

Anna grabbed a
blanket and lowered herself down to lie next to Rowan, fitting her body up
against his and trying to be careful not to bump into his ribs.  Unspoken words
hung heavily between them, and Anna began to speak but the words choked in her
throat.

“Now I feel
better,” Rowan whispered, and saving his unfinished battle for her heart for
tomorrow, he kissed Anna’s hair then drifted off to sleep. 

Men. 
Anna
huffed in her mind.  One minute he was pouring out his heart, begging her to
choose him, and the next his breath was hot on her neck as he slept, holding
her tight against him.

Anna swallowed
hard and felt the burning in her throat that happened only when she tried to
choke back tears.  She held her emotions inside until she felt Rowan’s rhythmic
breathing take on the characteristics of deep slumber, and then she let the
first warm tear trickle down her cheek.

This is my
fault, its gone too far.  I’m going to end this tonight,
she vowed silently
as she wriggled out from under Rowan’s arm and looked at him one more time in
the darkness. 

He was perfect,
despite the bloody cut running across his angular jaw and the bruises that
covered his face.  His battle wounds make him even more beautiful to her, more
beautiful because he had acquired those wounds defending her. He was everything
that she had ever wanted.  And to make things worse, he had just told her so
openly, so honestly that he wanted her too.

Anna realized
right then that she was falling in love with Rowan Murray.    Every so quietly,
she stood up, brushed off her skirts and walked into the darkness, knowing full
well that she was about to break Rowan’s heart as well as her own. 

Chapter Eight

Rowan awoke just
before dawn; his rough transition into wakefulness gave him a painful reminder
of the injuries that he had sustained last night.  His broken ribs throbbed
terribly, and a relentless headache pounded in his skull. 

Something wasn’t right. 
His eyes flew open.  Anna.