Rebel Kiss: A Historical Romance Novel (Scottish Rebels Book 1) (6 page)

“Nay.  I certainly
doona.  He may think that what he feels is love, but I’ve seen it in his eyes
and it is simply a boyish infatuation.  If it were love, he could think of
nothing else because it would consume him completely and control his every
action, his every emotion.  He would be powerless to fight it.”

“How do you know
so much about love, Rowan Murray?” Anna asked as she tucked a stray strand of
blonde hair behind her ear.

Rowan chuckled and
shook his head in protest.  “The truth is that I ken nothing about love,” he
lied coolly.  “Take my advice as ye may, but promise that ye’ll be kind tae my
brother,” he said, nodding to bring the topic to a closure before he began
walking off down the beach.

Anna strode after
him, eyebrows knit together in puzzlement.  For a man that knew nothing of
love, Rowan Murray sure seemed to be insightful.  Anna caught up with Rowan and
walked silently beside him in the wet sand.

Rowan gritted his
teeth together in agitation and avoided speaking to Anna.  He had said too
much, revealed too much already.  There was one thing that he knew for certain;
Malcolm was not in love with Anna as he had claimed to be.  A sudden,
frightening possibility took hold in Rowan’s mind.  Malcolm was definitely not
in love with Anna, but Rowan feared that he
himself
might be! 

The feelings that
had overtaken him since he had met Miss Anna Stanton had struck without warning
or invitation and they were powerful and completely all-consuming.  At first he
had taken these feelings as lust or simple bodily attraction to the beautiful
young woman that he had pulled from the waves of the Atlantic.  But somehow the
realization had dawned on Rowan that his feelings were more than lust, much
deeper and much more pure. 

Rowan feared that
love had come to find him at the most inopportune time.  He feared that he was
going to fall in love with Anna Stanton and become a broken shell of a man when
she left him, just as his brother Quinn had done.

Chapter Six

Anna’s stomach
rumbled in a most unladylike fashion.  She wrapped her arms tightly about her
waist and tried to think of anything besides food.  The mid-day sun was warm
and delicious against her skin and Anna turned her face up towards the sun,
closing her eyes and basking in its warmth.

“Hungry are ye,
lass?” Rowan asked with a soft laugh.  He stood from the driftwood log and
began to walk towards the crashing waves.  “The tide has gone out.  Perhaps we
can find something in the tide pools just beyond those rocks,” he said
hopefully as he pointed towards the water.

“Will Malcolm and
Quinn be able to find us?” Anna asked, squinting in the bright sunlight as she
watched Rowan walk towards the ocean.

“We willna go tae
far down shore.  They should be back soon anyhow,” Rowan surmised as he glanced
towards the dense undergrowth of the forest.  Quinn and Malcolm had gone inland
to search for a source of freshwater.

Rowan circled back
and extended his hand to Anna, pulling her to her feet.  His own stomach growled
at the prospect of food, but he was able to quell the dull ache of hunger
easily.  This was not the first time that the Murray brothers had gone
without.  He watched appreciatively as Anna stood and brushed the sand from her
borrowed shirt.  Rowan was certain that hunger was a feeling that was
completely new to Anna and yet she did not complain as many high-born women
would.  Anna was a brave lass.

Rowan followed
Anna towards the tide pools all the while contemplating the rare, strong-willed
woman that led the way.  He watched as she scrunched her nose and shaded her
eyes as she peered into the shallow tide pool.

“Just what do you
think might be edible in there?” Anna asked with a hint of skepticism.

“Wary of the
ocean’s bounty, are ye lass?” Rowan teased as he knelt beside the tide pool and
reached below the surface of the cool water.  He ran his hand slowly along the
underside of a large rock and smiled when his hand brushed against the familiar
plane of a mussel.

“Do ye care for
sea food?” Rowan asked as he broke the cluster of mussels away from the base of
the rock and pulled them from the tide pool.

“Let’s find out,”
Anna said eagerly.  She arched an eyebrow at Rowan, wondering just how edible
the cluster of tiny shells actually was.  “How do we eat those?”

“I’ll show ye. 
Let’s head up tae the dry sand.  It might take a bit of work tae get them out.”

Anna trudged
behind Rowan, her stomach rumbling hopefully at the prospect of food.  Rowan
flopped down in the sand.  He sat cross-legged with a broad smile on his face
and motioned for Anna to join him.  She knelt beside him, tucking the tails of
his linen shirt about her knees.

“Are you sure that
those are safe to eat?” Anna asked warily.

“Aye.  They would
taste better cooked with some butter and onions, but they are edible for sure,”
Rowan promised as he pried open the first shell and deftly removed the slimy
contents with his finger.

Anna gasped and
brought a hand reflexively to her mouth.

“What is
that
?”
she asked with obvious disapproval.

“A mussel,” Rowan
said confidently as he tossed the slimy mass into his mouth and swallowed it
whole.  “Mmmm!  The fruit of the sea,” he growled with a teasing smile.  The
mussel was salty and nearly unpalatable raw, but Rowan wanted Anna to have
something in her belly.  So, for her benefit, he pretended that the morsel was
tasty beyond belief.  “Try one will ye?” he asked as he tore another mussel
from the shell and dangled it mischievously in front of Anna.

She extended a
graceful hand and captured the slimy blob between her thumb and forefinger,
examining the strange creature in the afternoon sunlight.  Closing her eyes,
Anna dropped the mussel into her mouth and swallowed.

Rowan tried to
stifle his laughter, but the expression of horror on Anna’s face was more than
he could bear.  Her eyes were clenched shut and her nose was scrunched beneath
the spray of lovely freckles.  When she swallowed the mussel, her eyes flew
open and she glowered at Rowan, knowing that she had been fooled.

“You told me that
it would taste good!” she said accusingly as she glowered at the laughing
Scotsman sitting next to her.

“Nay, lass.  I
didna
say
that!  Perhaps I misled ye a little bit but…”

Anna slapped Rowan
playfully on the chest and began to laugh.

“I dare you to eat
another one,” she challenged, raising one eyebrow in invitation.  “It seems
fair penance for tricking me into eating one!”

“I didna
make
ye do anything, lass,” Rowan said teasingly as he stifled another belly laugh. 
“I’ll gladly have another if ye will join me,” he said in invitation as he
shucked two more of the ghastly creatures from their iridescent blue shells,
handing one to Anna.

Anna took the
mussel between her fingers and arched an eyebrow in challenge before she popped
it into her mouth and forced herself to swallow. 

Rowan shook his
head and cast his mussel into the waves. 

“Ye win, lass,” he
said, conceding victory to Anna.  “I canna eat another.”

“I thought that
you were familiar with the sea’s bounty,” Anna said teasingly as she took the
clump of unopened mussels and tossed them into the waves.

“Familiar, aye. 
But I canna stomach sea food,” he admitted.

Anna swallowed
hard and wished in vain for something to wash the salty taste from her mouth.  
She began to laugh, which made her forget about the insistent grumbling of her
empty stomach.

The sound of
Anna’s laughter was high and melodic and before he knew it, Rowan found himself
laughing along with her.  He flopped back against the sand and raked his hand
through his unbound chestnut hair. 

How long had it been
since he had laughed like this? 

Anna reclined next
to Rowan on the sand, her chest still shaking with the occasional fit of
laughter.  She looked over at Rowan.  There was a broad smile still coloring
his face.  Rowan was beautiful when he smiled.  His green eyes twinkled from
the thrill of his mischief.  Anna could not help but notice how handsome he
looked sprawled shirtless and smiling upon the sand.  Rowan Murray was a very
attractive man.

Rowan’s eyes
locked with Anna’s and the smile suddenly faded from his face. His smile had
been replaced with a look of raw, intense longing.   He reached over and
brushed some sand off of Anna’s cheek and then retracted his hand when he
realized that his action had perhaps been too familiar.

“I needed that,
Rowan,” Anna said as her eyes searched the planes of his handsome face.  “I
needed to laugh.  Thank you,” she said with a sweet smile.

“I needed that,
too,” Rowan admitted.  He stood abruptly in an effort to stop the undeniable
energy that he suddenly felt flowing between them.  Rowan felt the urgent need
to place distance between himself and the beautiful lass that was sprawled next
to him on the beach.  The fleeting thought of kissing her had just invaded his
mind and he needed to get away from Anna before he acted upon the impulse.

..ooOoo..

“Let’s rest for
awhile,” Rowan called up the beach towards his brothers.  Anna’s paced had
slowed remarkably and Rowan had begun to worry.  She had been without food for
too long, not to mention fresh water.

“I’m quite alright,”
Anna insisted as she trudged past Rowan.  “There is daylight remaining, we
should keep walking.”

“Anna, ye need tae
rest,” Rowan said as he reached out and grabbed her elbow.  “Malcolm needs tae
rest too,” he said with a flick of his head, motioning for Anna to look up the
beach.

Anna’s eyes
glanced towards Quinn and Malcolm.  Both had already sat down in the shade
beneath a small cluster of palm trees.  Anna sighed heavily.  Perhaps she could
use a short respite from the heat.  She walked up to the base of the nearest
palm tree and settled herself into the sand.  Closing her eyes and leaning her
head back against the tree, Anna realized that she had in fact desperately
needed to rest.  She was exhausted.

Rowan sat down in
front of her, his concerned eyes never leaving Anna’s face.

“Why are you
looking at me like that?” Anna asked as she scrunched her eyebrows together and
ripped out the twine that bound her hair back at the nape of her neck.  She
threaded her fingers through her blonde curls and began braiding her hair.

Rowan’s face
flushed with color.  He raked his hand through his hair and looked out towards
the sea.

“I canna help it,”
he said quietly.  “I’m looking at ye because ye are beautiful,” Rowan said,
returning his eyes to Anna.  His lips curled into a half-smile as he watched
Anna’s reaction to his admission.

Anna felt her
heart go wild inside of her chest.  She was unaccustomed to receiving
attentions from a man, especially a man as handsome as Rowan Murray.  With the
financial ruin of her family occurring slightly before her eighteenth birthday,
Anna had never debuted in London society.  Therefore, she had never experienced
the thrill of a man’s attentions.

“I’m hardly
beautiful,” Anna retorted, her eyes drifting down to Rowan’s tattered shirt
which draped her body.  Her fingers had abandoned the pursuit of braiding her
hair, so taken aback that she had been by Rowan’s unexpected words.  Anna
wondered if perhaps the sun was getting to Rowan.  She knew that she must look
affright.

“Ye are beautiful,
Anna,” Rowan whispered.  He reached towards Anna and trailed his finger lightly
down the line of her jaw, feeling his pulse race at the boldness of his
gesture.  Rowan regretted the act immediately, having seen the spark that it
ignited in Anna’s bright hazel eyes.

You cannot have
her.

“Rowan!” Malcolm
called from further up the beach.  “D’ye hear that, Rowan?” Malcolm yelled
excitedly.

Rowan stood up
reluctantly at Malcolm’s untimely intrusion.

“What do ye hear?”
Rowan called up the beach as Malcolm trotted them.

“Water!  There’s a
stream just up ahead.  Fresh water!” Malcolm cried out joyously.  “C’mon!”

Rowan extended his
hand down to Anna and helped her to her feet.  “Thirsty?” he asked in jest as
Anna stood and brushed off her skirts.

“No.  You?” Anna
asked with a teasing smile.  She was still shaken by Rowan’s words as she began
to walk beside him up the beach.  How could a man that she had only just met
affect her so greatly?

Malcolm
led them up the beach to where a small stream fanned out before pouring into
the salty ocean.

“We’ll
have tae walk up a bit so that the water will be fresh,” Malcolm said eagerly
as he skipped ahead of the group and bounded up the stream.

“We’ll
be right behind ye,” Quinn said as he joined Rowan and Anna.

The
three of them traveled up the stream silently, with Rowan stopping frequently
to help Anna over rocks and bracken that littered the sides of the creek bed.

Quinn
bent amongst the mossy rocks that littered the edge of the creek.  He scooped
up some water in his palm, bringing it to his mouth so that he could taste it. 
“Aye,” he nodded approvingly.  “Tis fresh, and sweet,” he said with an
appreciative smile as he scooped more water hungrily into his parched mouth.

Anna
dropped to her knees and dipped her hand beneath the cool surface of the water,
bringing her hand to her mouth.  She closed her eyes at the delicious taste of
the water, feeling more life return to her dehydrated body with each sip.

“Tis
lovely,” she said between gulps as she held her hair back and drank greedily.

“I’ll
run after Malcolm,” Quinn said as he hopped over the babbling stream.  “Who
kens how far he’s gone upstream,” Quinn chuckled as he ambled upstream after
his brother.

Anna
sighed heavily and sat down on a rock beside the stream.  She leaned over and
dipped her hands in the cold water, using them to wash her face.  “This is
heavenly,” she whispered as she looked at Rowan, who was still quenching his
thirst from the stream.

“Aye,
the simple pleasures,” he said, smiling up at her before rocking back onto his
heels.  Rowan took another sip of water and then bent forward to splash some on
his face.

“I’d
not realized how many simple things that I have lived my entire life taking for
granted,” Anna said quietly as she removed her shoes and stockings and dipped
her bare feet into the chilly water.  Having spent the last few years scraping
to make ends meet at Stanton Place, Anna had come to consider herself as poor. 
She had the sudden realization that in fact, she had never experienced poverty. 
She had grown up in a lovely home, with plenty of food to eat and a warm bed to
sleep in each night.  Anna realized that her life in England had actually been
quite blessed.

“What
do ye long for the most from home?” Rowan asked, suddenly feeling nostalgic. 
He had tried to put his memories of Scotland behind him, but Anna’s comment
made him yearn for the comforts of home.

“Really?”
Anna asked, a smile turning up the corner of her broad mouth as she considered
Rowan’s question.  “Tea,” she whispered, feeling devilish for wanting for
anything after the recent blessing of fresh cool water to drink.  “Hot tea,”
she added.

“Aye,”
Rowan smiled.  “What I wouldna do for a pot of hot tea.”

“What
do you long for?” Anna asked as she ran her toes over the slippery rocks
beneath the surface of the stream.

Rowan
smiled as he thought.  “A hot bath, or at least some warm water to get this
bloody salt off my skin,” he said wistfully.  Rowan unlaced his boots and moved
to sit next to Anna.  He dipped his feet into the water, shuddering as his toes
entered the chilly water.