Rebel Kiss: A Historical Romance Novel (Scottish Rebels Book 1) (24 page)

Chapter Twenty-One

 “I thought I’d
lost ye,” Rowan’s voice croaked into the pitch blackness of the bedroom,
startling Anna awake from the chair in which she slept next to his bed.

She nearly pounced
on him, being so happy to hear his voice.  “You’re awake!” Anna exclaimed, joy
evident in her voice.  “I thought I’d lost you!”

“It would take a
lot more than that,” Rowan chuckled and then groaned in the same breath.  Even
Anna’s slight weight on the bed had jostled his back, shooting fire through his
nerves.  He took in a swift breath, clenching his teeth to hold onto
consciousness, fighting the pain with every thread in his being.  “Where am I?”
he asked as the wave of pain receded.

“Oh, love, I’m
sorry,” Anna said, realizing that her hasty action had caused her husband’s
pain.  She jumped up from the bed in an effort to make things better, but her
quick movement elicited another groan of pain from Rowan.  Anna watched Rowan
struggle in the darkness, fighting the unbearable pain of his injuries.  He had
endured this for her sake.  Anna’s heart swelled with love, but also with
regret.

“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.