Shipwrecked (7 page)

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, 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, 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.

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, and gently ended the kiss, slowly drawing away from
her so that he was again hovering just centimeters from her lips.  His breath
was ragged, and it was obvious that the kiss had shaken him as much as it had
affected Anna.  He was ashamed of himself for taking advantage of Anna in her
moment of weakness, ashamed that he had given in albeit momentarily to the
lustful desires of his body.  He should have never allowed himself to touch
her, he should have been stronger.