Shipwrecked (5 page)

His cock pulsed
painfully, testosterone pumping fiercely through his veins as Anna’s sweet
feminine smell aroused him further.  He sent a prayer heavenward that she would
fall asleep quickly.

“Goodnight,
Rowan,” Anna whispered sweetly, and then lifted her head slightly off his chest
to place a soft kiss right at the base of his neck, just below his ear.

Electricity shot
through Rowan’s veins, and he thought that he might spill his seed right there
in his pants.  Just the slightest touch of her lips to his skin had evoked a
response unlike any he had ever experienced.  Rowan felt his breathing speed
up, and he struggled to remain still as Anna pressed herself against him and
settled her head back onto his naked chest.

“Goodnight, lass,”
he forced the words out, teeth gritted together, and settled in for what was
looking to be a very long night.

Chapter Four

Rowan awoke in the
first light of morning, arms still wrapped protectively around Anna, but stiff
as hell from holding her tight against him through the night.  He raised his
head slightly and looked down at her; she was sleeping peacefully nestled
against his chest, dark eyelashes resting on her cheeks and lips slightly
parted in her slumber.  She was beautiful, and he felt his body begin to stir
in response to her.  Impulsively, he leaned down and placed a light kiss atop
her forehead, and when he drew away from her, he was rewarded as her lips turned
up into the slightest of a smile.

Rowan groaned and
pushed himself up onto his elbow so that he could look around, being careful
not to disturb Anna.  The first thing that he saw was Malcolm, eyebrows knit
together in a scowl with daggers in his eyes as he frowned in clear disapproval
at his brother’s sleeping situation.

Rowan smiled
ruefully at Malcolm and whispered, “May the best man win,” taunting his brother
as he glanced back at Anna.

If looks could
kill, Rowan would be dead.

“Ouch! Ye wee buggar!”
Rowan exclaimed, flinching, as a rock bounced off his forehead.  He reflexively
reached up to rub the stinging mark that it left on his skin.

Rowan’s sudden
movement startled Anna into wakefulness, and she sat up quickly, pushing Rowan
away.

“Serves ye right,”
Malcolm said, shaking his head.  He was already on his feet, prepared to flee
the scene if need be.  Rowan was known for his reckless temper when he was
provoked.

“What’s going on?”
she asked, stretching her arms languidly above her head.  Rowan was glad that
at least one of them had gotten a restful night of sleep.

“Nothing,” Rowan
said, eyes darting towards Malcolm to give him a glare.  “Did ye sleep well?”

“Like the dead,”
Anna smiled, suddenly embarrassed by just how much she had enjoyed sleeping
next to Rowan.  She had felt so safe, so protected by the warmth and the
strength of his body.  “Thanks,” she whispered, looking down at the sand as she
tucked a stray length of hair behind her ear.  She scooted a little farther
away from Rowan, heart racing as she felt his gaze settle on her.

Their eyes locked
for a split second, and Anna felt as though she had looked right into Rowan’s
soul.  The yearning that she saw there sped up her heart beat, and she tore her
eyes away from Rowan. Her hand brushed the warm skin of his arm and it was as
if fire had burned her skin, causing her skin to shiver in response to his
slightest touch.             What scared Anna the most was she knew that Rowan
had felt the energy that flowed between them too. 

Quinn ambled up to
the group and sat down in the sand next to Malcolm.  He had tied his hair back,
and Anna noticed that Quinn was also quite handsome, especially when he didn’t
have his usual look of disdain heavy on his rugged face.  She wondered what
tormented Quinn.

“I walked the
beach this morning while yer lazy asses were sleeping, didna find much of use. 
Everything must have gone down with the ship or been swept out tae sea,” Quinn
said, brushing the sand off his pants.

“Did ye see any
other survivors?” Rowan asked, distancing himself from Anna and standing as he
bound his hair at the nape of his neck.

“Not a one. 
Either we are the only ones who made it, or the other survivors washed up
further down the shore.”

“Did ye find
anything that we could eat?” asked Malcolm eagerly, his stomach letting lose a
timely growl.

“Nay,” Quinn
responded.  “That’s my next priority, but I think that we should figure out a
plan of action before we set off in search of food.”

“I don’t even know
where you were headed,” said Anna, looking between the faces of the brothers,
slightly embarrassed that she had not thought to ask them earlier.

Rowan looked at
Quinn, eyebrows raised, asking the silent question of just how much they should
divulge to Anna.  They had only just met her, and it might be unwise to divulge
too much about their situation.  Quinn shook his head slightly, reading his
brother’s signal.  Better not to tell her that their voyage to the New World
had not been a matter of choice.

“Coincidentally
enough, we’re headed to Williamsburg too!” Malcolm jumped in, eyes darting at
Quinn who was already shaking his head in disapproval.  “It would be our
pleasure tae make sure that ye get tae yer Uncle safely,” Malcolm smiled at
Anna, eyes reminiscent of a lovesick puppy.

“I couldn’t ask
that of you, you’ve been kind enough already,” said Anna in mock protest as a
wave of relief swept over her.  The Murray brothers were all that she had at
present, and she could not fathom the idea of making her way to Williamsburg
alone.

“No, Anna, we
want
tae help ye get there, tae make sure that yer safe.  Don’t we Rowan,” Malcolm
said persuasively, raising his eyebrow suggestively at his brother.

“Aye, we can
hardly just leave ye here, and bein’ that we’re going tae the same place, ye
might as well tag along,” Rowan said, knowing that they should be heading in
the opposite direction of Williamsburg if they wanted to capitalize on the
stroke of luck provided by the shipwreck.  “We Murray’s are not in the habit of
neglecting womenfolk in need, ye may find this quite contrary tae yer beloved
Uncle,” Rowan chided sarcastically, drawing a swift glare from Anna.

“Well, now that
that’s settled, let’s go find some breakfast,” Malcolm chirped
enthusiastically, and stood up, starting down the beach.

Quinn rolled his
eyes and trudged after Malcolm.  Quinn was eager to take advantage of the
unlikely chance at freedom that the shipwreck had provided, and he was wary of
losing this freedom by escorting Anna to the very place that said ship should
have arrived.  Malcolm’s puppy love for the lass showed explicitly across his
face, and was evident in every action that the boy made in Anna’s presence. 

Quinn stopped
abruptly, abandoning his pursuit of Malcolm, and spun about face.  It was Rowan
that Quinn was worried about.  He watched as his brother worked with every
shred of his composure to fight his attraction to the lass.  This needed to
stop before it got out of hand, hell, Quinn knew that it had already gotten out
of hand as he watched Rowan’s eyes follow Anna as she walked down the beach.

“I need tae talk
tae ye, brother.  Now,” he growled at Rowan, who sat still as a statue, eyes
trained on Anna as she walked down the beach after Malcolm.

“It was Malcolm’s
idea tae take her tae Williamsburg, not mine,” Rowan said defensively.

“Williamsburg isna
the issue,” Quinn said sternly as he towered above his brother who was still
seated in the sand.  Quinn dropped down into a squat and looked straight into
Rowan’s eyes.  “Ye canna have her,” he said with a tone of warning in his voice,
knowing that he was taking a great risk in telling Rowan what he could not
have.  Rowan Murray was nothing if not determined.

“And what makes ye
think that I want her?” Rowan asked, now avoiding eye contact and shifting his
gaze away from Quinn’s glare out to the crashing waves of the Atlantic.

“Yer desire for
the lass plays so openly across yer face that I’m surprised she hasna slapped
ye for it!”

Rowan chuckled,
accepting defeat as he raked his hand through his chestnut hair as he often did
when uncomfortable.  “I ken that I canna have her brother,” Rowan said coolly
as he drew his gaze back to his older brother.  “I’ve not a pot tae piss in,
nor a shirt tae cover my back.  I ken that I canna have her well enough,
brother.”

“I hope that
knowledge stops ye from tryin’ tae woo her.  Nae good will come of it Rowan. 
Mark my word, nae good will come of it,” Quinn’s voice shook with warning as he
stood and stalked off down the beach.

                                                            ***

As dusk fell, they
came upon a sleepy fishing village set up on a crest that overlooked the
ocean. 

“Let’s hope that
it’s big enough so as tae have an inn,” Quinn said hopefully as they walked
into the village, which was really just a cluster of small wood cottages,
centered around a courtyard.

“But we don’t have
any money, how are we going to pay for a room?” Anna asked.

“Nay, we don’t
have any money, at least not yet,” Rowan said, smiling devilishly at Quinn,
reading his brother’s intentions.  “Malcolm, why don’t ye take Anna tae see if
the Kirk is unlocked?” he said, motioning to the small stone chapel situated in
the center of the courtyard.  “Mayhap she can pray for our souls?”

Malcolm gladly
took Anna’s elbow and steered her towards the stone chapel, grateful to finally
have some time alone with her.  He threaded her hand into the crook of his arm
and walked slowly, savoring the feel of her hand against his skin.

“What are they
going to do, Malcolm?”

“Their going tae
get us a place to stay, and hopefully some supper,” Malcolm chuckled, reaching
for the handle on the simple wooden door of the chapel.  Finding it unlocked,
he opened the door and let Anna go through first, then followed her into the
small room.  The last visitor to the chapel had left the stubs of a few candles
burning on the alter, and Malcolm led Anna up to the first pew. 

“I’m not as naive
as you think, Malcolm.  What are they up to?” Anna prodded, reclaiming her hand
from Malcolm and sitting on the wooden pew.

“Ye look real
pretty in the candle light,” Malcolm said, awestruck as he watched the candlelight
flicker across Anna’s skin.

“What are they
doing?”  Anna insisted, annoyance heavy in her voice.

“Generally, if
there’s an inn in a village, it will have a tavern, and if there’s a tavern,
there are most likely cards or …” Malcolm trailed off.

“So their
gambling!” Anna exclaimed, rolling her eyes.  “I knew that they were up to no
good!” she said, shaking her head and crossing her arms.

“How else do ye
expect tae get supper?” Malcolm said, finding gambling a perfectly logical way
to earn a meal.

“Well, I hadn’t
thought about it, I guess.  Shouldn’t you and your brothers be able to hunt?”

“We can hunt,
we’re great at it, especially Quinn, mind ye.  But what do ye expect us tae
hunt with, our bare hands?”  Malcolm laughed at the ridiculousness of her suggestion.

“I guess not,”
Anna said, realizing that they had few options given that everything that they
owned had gone down with the ship. 

She walked quietly
up to the front of the small church, drawn like a moth to the candlelight. 
Anna had never been overly religious, despite years of religious training at
the insistence of her mother.  She sighed deeply and sank to her knees in front
of the flickering candles.  If there was ever a time when she needed a miracle,
that time was now.  She felt so alone, adrift in this uncertain New World. 
Anna wasn’t used to being at the mercy of others, and at this point, she would
take whatever help she could get; divine or not.

An hour passed
quietly as Anna knelt in front of the flickering candles, lost in her thoughts,
questioning the righteousness of her decision to come to the New World.  The
flame of the last candle sputtered and then failed, cloaking the small chapel
in darkness.  Anna’s faith had been bolstered, and she rose slowly to a
standing position, again certain that she had made the right choice in
sacrificing her own future to save her Mother and revive Stanton Place to its
former glory.

“Sorry, Malcolm,”
Anna said softly as she turned around.  “I got lost in my thoughts, how long
has it been?”

“Not too long,”
Malcolm lied coolly.  The truth was that he had been lost in his own thoughts,
watching Anna contently.  The flickering candlelight accentuated her honey
blonde hair, and he savored the alluring curve of her spine and the distinctly
feminine way that she rested the curves of her bum on the arches of her feet as
she knelt at the alter.  The truth was he could watch Anna contently for the
rest of his life.

“Should we worry
about your brothers?  Do you think that they’re alright?” Anna asked, suddenly concerned
that Rowan and Quinn had not returned.

“Doona fash yerself
about them, they’ll be fine.  Mayhap this is a good chance for us tae get to
know one another better,” Malcolm said, smiling softly as he invited Anna to
sit down next to him on the pew by patting the place next to him on the bench.

Anna couldn’t help
noticing how young he looked in the candlelight.  His rounded face still had
the glow of childhood, yet the first traces facial hair were beginning to show
as fuzz along the lines of his jaw.  He couldn’t be more than fifteen years
old, and what an adventurous life he had led so far!  Surviving a ship wreck,
and coming to the New World with his older brothers.