Redemption (Book Two of the Shipwrecked Series) (14 page)

Quinn knelt before
the fire and pulled his naked wife on top of him.

“I need ye sae
badly, Sarah,” he said, his voice shaking with desire.  He kissed her hard,
knotting his fingers in her wet hair.

Sarah’s desire
matched that of her husband and she kissed him roughly, delighting in the
feeling of his warm, still wet skin beneath her fingertips.  Her body thrummed
with desire and they kissed, tongues dueling with each other as they were
consumed with the ravenous need of their desire for each other.

Quinn’s thumb brushed
over Sarah’s nipple and she cried out against his mouth.  She needed him inside
of her.  Now. 

As if reading her
mind, Quinn gently lifted her hips so that he was straddling him.  His cock
pulsed as he looked up at his breathtaking wife.  Her olive skin glowed in the
fire-light, and she looked at him with such need, such love in her eyes that
his heart threatened to stop beating.

“Are ye sure that
yer ready for me?” he asked tenderly as he held Sarah’s gaze.

Sarah nodded in
answer.  She was so consumed with her desire that she couldn’t find words to
speak.  She moved Quinn’s hand from her hips and placed his fingers on the heat
of her desire.  She closed her eyes when he parted her with his fingers and
discovered the wetness that was there.  She was more than ready for him.

Quinn’s breathing
became ragged when he discovered that Sarah was indeed ready for him.  He was
pleased to find that she wanted him, needed him just as much as he wanted her.

“Ride me, love,”
he whispered huskily as he lifted Sarah’s hips and positioned her above the tip
of his erection.

“Show me how,” she
whispered as she reached down and took Quinn’s cock boldly in her hand, guiding
him into her body.  She moaned as he filled her.  She was still tender from
their lovemaking last night, but feeling Quinn inside of her was exquisite.

Quinn used his
hands on her hips to guide Sarah’s movements, teaching her how to ride him and
allowing her to take control of their lovemaking.  She placed her palms on his
chest as she learned how to move her hips, causing her breasts to spill forward
seductively.  Keeping one hand on Sarah’s hips and leading her, encouraging her
tentative movements, Quinn used his other hand to palm her breast.  He leaned
up and took her nipple into his mouth, driving his cock gently into her as he
did so.

Sarah called out
in pleasure and she increased the rhythm of her hips.  She rode Quinn more
confidently now, raising her body up slightly and then slamming down so as to
bring his cock more deeply inside of her.  She pushed Quinn down against the
rug and flattened her hands against his chest, using his body for leverage as
she rode him.  Returning his hands to her hips, Quinn joined her rhythm,
pumping his hips erotically against hers and thrusting against her.

Watching his wife
ride him was beyond erotic.  Quinn fought the urge to spill his seed, holding
back in an effort to pleasure Sarah before finding his own release.  Her eyes
were closed and she bit her lower lip as she rode him, pressing against his
chest as she reveled in the sensations of pleasure that their joining yielded. 
Watching her breasts bob seductively above him caused Quinn to grit his teeth. 
He needed to bring her to orgasm soon or his sweet wife would unman him.

He kept one hand
on her hips and used the other hand to part her delicate folds.  His thumb
brushed against the bead of Sarah’s desire and she nearly screamed with the
overwhelming pleasure that his touch brought.  Quinn pumped his hips against
her, thrusting more powerfully now as he stroked her clitoris.  Sarah’s head
fell back and her unbound hair tickled his thighs deliciously.  Her release
came thunderously, first eliciting a low moan from her mouth and then she
called Quinn’s name again and again has he brought her to orgasm.

Sarah’s sheath
quivered around his cock and when he knew that she had found orgasm, Quinn
grabbed her hips and thrust powerfully into her.  His body was racked with wave
after wave of wondrous release as he spilled his seed deep within Sarah’s
womb.  The power of his orgasm shook him deeply.  Never had he imagined that a
woman could affect him this way.

Sarah crumpled
against her husband’s chest and they held each other, listening to the erratic
beating of their hearts in the quiet fire-light.

..ooOoo..

“I canna wait tae
get ye home, Mrs. Murray,” Quinn said as he nibbled playfully at Sarah’s neck. 

They had lingered
at the inn for most of the morning, enjoying their newfound happiness and
relishing in the joy that they had found together.  Mairi had joined them that
morning and Sarah knew for a fact that she had never in her life been more
happy.    Her family was whole now.

“I’ve never been
more ready in my life,” Sarah said smiling softly as she kissed her husband
tenderly.  She clutched Mairi against her chest as she followed Anna into the
bright November morning, relishing the warmth of the unexpected sunlight
against her skin.

Anna gasped and
froze just outside the door of the inn.

“Anna!” Sarah
called as she rushed outside to join her friend.  “Are you alright?  Is it the
baby?” Sarah asked frantically.

“Get away from me
ye son of a bitch!” Rowan yelled, rage seething in his voice.

Sarah’s eyes
jumped over to where Rowan stood in front of the inn.  He was in the midst of a
heated confrontation with a man in a soldier’s uniform.  Sarah’s eyes jumped
back to Anna, who stood frozen in place with a look of absolute horror clouding
her beautiful features.  Her hands had gone reflexively to her belly.

Sarah struggled to
figure out what was happening.

“Anna.  Are you alright?”
Sarah asked worriedly. 

Anna shook her
head.  She couldn’t tear her eyes from her husband.

“Murdock,” she
whispered, fear evident in her voice.

“Who’s Murdock,”
Sarah asked frantically, desperately trying to sort out what was happening.

Quinn burst from
inside the inn, running past the woman like the devil was at his heels.

Sarah’s heart
thundered in her ears.  Something was very wrong here!  She gathered Mairi more
closely against her breast.

“What are
ye
doing here?” Quinn roared at the man, pushing his brother back roughly behind
him.  “Calm down, Rowan,” he ordered, glowering at his younger brother over his
shoulder.

“I’m passing
though on assignment.  We’ve gotten word that there is rebellion afoot with the
savages and I’ve been sent…”

“There’s nae
rebellion here.  Keep moving and ye’ll get out of here alive.  I let ye go last
time, but since then I’ve regretted that decision,” Quinn thundered.  He
reached forward and grabbed Murdock’s coat, pulling the older man forward so
that he could make his intentions clear.

“I thought that
we’d settled our differences,” Murdock stammered as he felt the controlled
power in Quinn’s grip.  The wild look in the Scotsman’s eyes shook him to the
core.

“I warned ye that
if I
ever
were tae lay eyes on ye, I might no be able tae control
myself,” Quinn raged.  “I’d suggest that ye get on yer way and leave my family
alone,” he said angrily as he pushed Murdock away roughly, causing him to
stumble as he regained his balance.

Rowan launched
himself at Murdock, punching him squarely in the jaw as he let loose a sound
that was more animal than human.

“Ye son of a
bitch!” he growled as he went after Murdock.

Quinn pulled his
brother back roughly, his chest heaving with the effort that it took to
restrain Rowan.  Rowan was wild with rage.

“I made nae such
promise tae leave ye be!” Rowan yelled at Murdock.  The older man struggled to
right his soldier’s coat and glanced hopefully over his shoulder.  Had he known
that he would encounter the Murray brothers, he would have never left the
tavern unescorted.

“Rowan!  Get a
hold of yerself,” Quinn spoke tersely, his muscles straining with the effort
that it took to hold Rowan back. 

“I thought that
we’d made our peace, Murray?” Murdock said more confidently now.  He could tell
that the oldest brother did not want further trouble today.  “I’ve made amends
for my trespasses against your family and I thought that you had accepted my
humble apology.”

“Apology?” Rowan
asked in disbelief.  “Ye think that an apology is sufficient for what ye’ve
done tae us?”

“Enough, Rowan,”
Quinn seethed.  “Look at Anna,” he whispered into his brother’s ear.  “She
needs ye.  Look at her.”

Rowan’s eyes
darted to where Anna stood in front of the inn.  Her hands were on her belly,
protecting their unborn child.  Tears streamed down her face as she stood
watching the scene play out before her.  The fight went out of Rowan when he
saw his wife.  Quinn’s strategy had worked. 

Rowan’s breathing
slowed as his eyes locked with Anna’s.  Exhaling slowly, he calmed himself,
forcing the adrenaline in his veins to cool.  He wanted to kill Murdock.  Rowan
knew that killing him would result in punishment from the English. 

Anna needed him. 
He glared at Murdock and relented to Quinn’s good sense.  Shooting Murdock a
steely glare, he turned and walked over to Anna.   He enveloped her in his arms
and held her against his chest as she cried.

“It’s alright,
love,” he whispered as he worked to calm his nerves.

“I thought you
were going to kill him,” Anna confessed, holding her husband tightly against
her.

“I was,” Rowan
confessed.  “Thank God that Quinn was here or I would have.”

“I know that you
want him dead, but I need you, Rowan. 
We
need you,” Anna whispered
softly as tears ran freely down her cheeks.  She took Rowan’s hand and held it
to her belly.  “They’d hang you if you killed him,” she whispered.

“Aye.  I ken
that.  I’m sorry, Anna,” he said softly as he gathered his wife against his
chest.  “I need ye too.”

Murdock took a
step away from the oldest Murray brother.  The man towered over him, glowering
down at him as they stood tow to toe in the street.  The restrained fury that
Murdock saw in Quinn Murray’s gray eyes sent chills to the depths of his soul.

Murdock met his
gaze in challenge and turned on his heel, walking back towards the tavern and
the safety of his soldiers.  He knew that Quinn wanted to kill him, but he also
knew that the eldest Murray would bide his time.  His eyes had held the promise
of Murdock’s death.  Murdock walked away, heart beating furiously as he
wondered when Quinn would strike.  Swallowing hard, Murdock realized that his
days on Earth were now numbered. 

Quinn Murray would
have his vengeance.

Quinn walked
briskly back towards his family.  He put his arm firmly around Sarah and worked
hard to calm himself before speaking to her.  How could he begin to explain the
history, the hatred that the Murrays had for Colonel Meriwether Murdock?  It
took every ounce of Quinn’s strength to get himself under control.  His blood
boiled with hatred for Murdock and he had reconciled that he could not leave
things unfinished between them.

The time had come
for Murdock to pay for his sins.

Quinn kissed Sarah
passionately and settled her astride his horse.  The controlled rage that Sarah
felt in Quinn’s touch scared her.  He leaned up and placed a soft kiss on
Mairi’s head.  Sarah’s heart sank when she looked at her husband.  She could
tell that he was leaving them, saying goodbye. 

Seeing this man,
this Murdock had caused something to change in Quinn.  Sarah had watched helplessly
as her loving husband was overtaken by the troubles of his past.  Her heart
ached for Quinn.  She wanted to beg him not to do this, but she knew that her
pleas would fall on deaf ears.

Although he was
still here physically, Quinn had already left her.

Rowan had mounted
his own horse and held Anna in his arms.  Quinn shot Rowan a knowing look and
nodded.  Words were not needed to communicate what he was about to do.

Slapping the rump
of the horse that carried Sarah and Mairi, Quinn turned away from his beloved
family.  The feelings of anger and resentment that had ruled him for so long
bloomed up fresh within his being.  He would end this once and for all.  He
would protect his family from the evil that Murdock continued to bring into
their lives.

 Enough was
enough.

Chapter Ten

Quinn had morphed into
the warrior that he was born to be.  He thought of his father as he made his
final preparations.  Fergus Murray had trained his sons well in the art of
war.  Quinn employed these skills now, checking his weapons one final time and
hiding himself in the dense brush beside the narrow road.  He took mud from the
forest floor and painted his face, camouflaging himself with the trees and
bracken as he prepared for his ambush.

His hatred for the
English coursed fiercely through his blood.  They had taken so much from him. 
The very father who had taught him to shoot straight and true with his bow was
killed at the hands of the English during the rising.  The English had wrenched
the Murray brothers from their home in Scotland, burning down the farm that had
been home to their kin for centuries. 

These losses had
been great, but even the sum of these great losses had not been what had broken
Quinn.  It was what one man had done, what one man had taken from him that had
broken Quinn to a point that was almost beyond repair.  The deepest wound that
had been inflicted on Quinn was the loss of his first love, Mairi.  One man had
taken her from him and try as he might, Quinn had not been able to forget this
trespass.         Colonel Meriwether Murdock was about to pay the ultimate
price for his sins.