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

by Stone, Jenna

  “Rowan,” Anna whispered against the stubble of his cheek as she held him close to her. She gasped as Rowan’s fingers brushed lightly over her most intimate flesh. Anna’s fingers ran through his unbound hair, cupping Rowan’s skull as he nuzzled her neck.

  Rowan froze, flattening his palm against Anna’s belly and using all of the restraint that he could muster not to move.

  Please do not ask me to stop.

  “We cannot do this here, right out in the open!” Anna’s voice was insistent, slightly panicked.

  She hadn’t asked him to stop.

  “Aye, lass, we can. Right here,” he murmured, “Right out in the open.” Rowan trailed his tongue up Anna’s neck, blowing his breath out to cool the trail that he had left on Anna’s skin. She moaned, her fingers tugging at his hair.

  “Rowan!” Anna whispered harshly. “We’ll wake up Malcolm!”

  “Ye’ll just have tae be quiet then,” he coaxed, drawing Anna in for a tender kiss. Rowan slid his fingers lower, over Anna’s taut belly, brushing over her sex. He arched above her, watching her hazel eyes as they dilated with pleasure. Anna gasped and her eyes fluttered closed, an enraptured smile coloring her face. Rowan’s fingers worked nimbly, caressing his way through her curls to the heat of her desire. He intended to silence her protests by driving her mad with ecstasy.

  “Rowan,” Anna gasped, never having felt such intense desire. She raked the rippling muscles of back with her fingernails, undone by the feeling of Rowan’s touch against her most intimate skin. Anna’s nerves were on fire and as Rowan’s fingers danced over her womanhood, she arched against him, greedy for more.

  Rowan parted her with his fingers and she let out a moan of pleasure, which he tried to silence with his kiss. His fingers touched the wetness between Anna’s thighs, the wetness that was there just for him and his cock bucked against his pants, aching to be inside of her. He began making slow, rhythmic circles against her silky skin, relishing how soft, how wet she was beneath his fingers.

  Rowan buried his face into Anna’s hair. “Ye feel sae good, lass,” he groaned, reveling in the pleasure of touching Anna so intimately. She was giving herself to him so completely, so trustingly. “Say my name again. Cry out for me, sweetheart.”

  A low cry of need escaped from Anna’s lips and she instinctively spread her knees more widely for Rowan. “Rowan,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and clinging to him, pleasure overwhelming her. “I need you, Rowan.”

  Rowan smiled lustily at her response to his touch and increased the pressure of his fingers, nibbling Anna’s ear and caressing her breasts through her dress. He knew that he was about to drive her over the brink and rose up above her, wanting to see the passion that he had kindled reflect in her eyes.

  “I wish that ye were mine,” he whispered before settling his mouth over hers and claiming them in a hungry kiss. He slid a finger up inside of her, teasing, tormenting, and driving in and out of her slick wet heat.

  Anna moaned against him, no longer able to keep quiet. “Rowan!” she whispered as the unfamiliar tremors of passion took hold of her body for the first time. “Oh!” she gasped as he teased her, making love to her with his hand. Her body was overwhelmed with the new sensations that Rowan was giving her.

  Rowan quickened the pace of his caresses, driving in and out of her tenderly as he increased his tempo. Anna’s hips began to move instinctively against his hand, she was now wild with desire.

  “That’s it, sweetheart. Give in tae it, let go,” he coaxed as his fingers played against her skin.

  “Oh – Rowan!” she pleaded “Rowan!”

  “Shh…” he whispered, chuckling into her hair as he continued to drive her towards madness with his fingers.

  A low steady moan escaped from Anna’s lips and Rowan slowed his caresses as he felt the first tremors of release overtake her body. He kissed her tenderly as her hips bucked wildly under his hand. Anna seemed to come apart in his arms. Rowan held her close and continued to make slow, sweet circles with his fingers as she caught wave after wave of her first orgasm.

  Rowan expertly coaxed Anna’s body through the last spasm of her surrender, kissing her softly and sliding his hand down her thigh, letting it rest there. He lay watching her in the dark, holding her and kissing her gently in the glow of the firelight.

  “Shh…” Rowan whispered into Anna’s hair, holding her against his chest as the last tremors overwhelmed her body.

  “Oh my God, Rowan. I had no idea…” she whispered, shaken from the power of her release.

  “Are ye tired now, Anna?” Rowan asked with a slightly naughty smile, chuckling slightly and reaching his hand up to brush her disheveled hair from her face.

  “Exhausted,” she smiled and took his hand, kissing him atop the knuckles. “I had no idea that you could…that I could…”

  Rowan kissed Anna’s hair and pulled her up closer against his chest. She was so innocent and her uninhibited response to his touch had pleased him greatly. Hell, the fact that she had allowed him the pleasure of bringing her to orgasm for the first time pleased him beyond belief.

  “What about you?” she asked, looking up boldly to meet his eyes.

  “I’m exhausted just from watchin’ ye,” he said, smiling down at her, still holding her hand.

  “That’s not what I meant, Rowan,” Anna said, suddenly embarrassed, biting her bottom lip. “What I meant is…is there something that I could do to make you feel like that? Can I do that to you?”

  Rowan swallowed hard, now understanding the implication of her comment. His cock pulsed in response. He wanted nothing more than to bury himself inside of Anna’s slick, wet heat, but there was no way in hell that he would allow that to happen. He could never dishonor her by stealing her virtue, stealing what belonged to another man.

  Rowan had vowed long ago to save the act of love making only for his wife. He had struggled and denied himself on many occasions, always stopping just short of penetrating the willing lasses that had warmed his bed. There was no particular reason that Rowan Murray had remained a virgin except that he had thought it was the right thing to do. He wanted to save himself for his wife, and never before had he felt compelled to take a particular lass to wife. The problem now was that although he felt the desire to claim Anna Stanton as his wife, to beg her to have him, she was already taken.

  Touching Anna so intimately had been one thing, most likely a poor choice in moment of weakness, but making love to her would be another thing entirely. He would never be able to let Anna go if he made love to her.

  “I’ll survive,” Rowan whispered, grinding his teeth together in restraint. Just the thought of Anna’s fingers closing around his shaft was enough to make him need to spill his seed. “Pleasuring ye was all that I needed,” Rowan lied, remembering how good she had felt, how tight and wet around his fingers. “Time tae go tae sleep, Anna,” he whispered, pulling her down next to him, worried that if his thoughts continued down this path, he might ravage the lass while she slept.

  Anna had settled against Rowan’s chest, and suddenly, her eyes flew open with the realization that she was wasting precious time. She turned in Rowan’s arms, and casting caution and propriety to the wind, she kissed him with every fiber of her being.

  Rowan’s arms tensed around Anna, bringing her back to awareness. “Shh,” he whispered, his voice barely audible as he reached for his dagger.

  Anna’s heart hammered in her chest.

  Footsteps crunched through the dry leaves that littered the forest floor, bringing with them an ominous feeling of dread that settled like a knot in the pit of Anna’s stomach.

  Chapter Ten

  “Shhh…” Rowan said sternly as he tucked the blanket securely over Anna’s head and shielded her with his body.

  Adrenaline thrummed in Anna’s veins. She could hear Rowan’s heart pounding wildly beneath her cheek. Something was very wrong. There was a feeling of alarm that Anna couldn’t shake. The small hairs
rose on the back of her neck. Anna knew that the Murrays only had two daggers between them as well as her own.

  The footsteps approached the campsite, stopping at the edge of the fire. Anna felt Rowan’s arms tense around her. He pulled her even closer, molding her body protectively to his beneath the blanket.

  “Is it just the three of you?” A gruff masculine voice asked without wasting time with an introduction.

  “Yes, Sir. Just myself and my brothers,” Quinn said firmly.

  Anna felt her muscles begin to quiver with fear and in response, Rowan’s grip on her shoulder strengthened.

  “Have you by chance seen a young lady traveling north around these parts?” The man asked, now standing only a few feet from where Anna was concealed.

  “No, not that I can remember,” said Quinn, pretending to contemplate the question.

  Are these men looking for me?

  “There was a shipwreck off the coast; the Mary Catherine went down in a storm just south from here.”

  “Aye?” Quinn asked, seemingly indifferent. “I’d not heard.”

  “There’s a young woman who has been seen around these parts, she survived the shipwreck. She’s betrothed to Jonathan Arbor, a Lieutenant in the King’s Army.”

  “Hmm, I’ve heard the name before,” Quinn said, pretending to ponder the information. His right eyebrow arched slightly, the only indication of his surprise. For some uncanny reason, Quinn knew that the young lady in question was certainly Miss Anna Stanton.

  The second man chimed in, eager to have his part in telling the story, “Arbor’s offering a reward to whoever brings her into his care safely. He’s offering a pretty penny to get her back.”

  “I’m sure that she’ll contact the magistrate as soon as she arrives in a village, that is if she actually survived the shipwreck,” Rowan said speculatively.

  “Oh, she survived all right. She wrote a letter to Colonel Murdock back in Manteo, some of Arbor’s men were given the letter to carry to Murdock, and suspecting that it might be from her, Arbor got a hold of it an opened it.”

  Adrenaline rushed through Anna’s blood. Jonathan had read her letter and he knew that she was close by. She fought the primal instinct to run.

  The first man continued, enjoying the adventurous thread that he was spinning. “The reason that Arbor has put out the reward is that no one has seen her since the inn at Manteo. She mentioned in her letter to Murdock that she was traveling with some companions. Half of the passengers on the Mary Catherine were prisoners being transported to the New World as indentured laborers.”

  The second man chimed in again, not wanting to be left out. “Arbor’s worried that mayhap she’s been kidnapped by some of the prisoners and that she may be in danger and not even realize it!” he said fantastically, voice rising with enthusiasm.

  “That is most worrisome,” Rowan said softly, still clutching Anna firmly against his chest. “Seems tae me that Arbor should have taken more care in selecting an able guard tae mind the lass.”

  The men grunted in response, seeming to agree with Rowan.

  “I’m sorry that we canna help ye,” Quinn said calmly, “but we havena seen such a lass that matches yer description.”

  “Well, if ye do, alert the magistrate at once. The people that she’s with may be dangerous, especially if they’ve gotten wind of how valuable she is to Arbor.”

  Anna felt Rowan’s breath hitch slightly. His thumb rubbed reassuringly across the skin of her back as he crushed her against his chest.

  “Well, should you see her, we’ve been told that she’s fair-haired and slight of stature, pretty, and has a pronounced English manner of speech. I’d be most obliged if you seek us out. The name’s Percy Ellis. We’ll share a portion of the reward with you if you heed viable information about where she is.”

  “We’ll do that, Sir,” Quinn said. “Have a good night.”

  “Same to you, fellows,” the man said as he and his companion continued down the road.

  “Shhh….doona move yet,” Rowan whispered, almost inaudibly. “They might be checking out our story and waitin’ in the bush.”

  Dread settled in Anna’s mind as she contemplated her current predicament, cuddled against Rowan’s chest and bathed in silence. Jonathan was looking for her and he believed that she had been kidnapped by prisoners that had escaped the sinking of the Mary Catherine. Jonathan was spot on in his estimation of what had transpired, except for the kidnapping part. When you were kidnapped you were not supposed to want to stay with your captor.

  “Ye’ve some explaining tae do, Anna,” Quinn whispered into the darkness.

  ..ooOoo..

  Anna awoke the next morning to the sound of Malcolm and Quinn cleaning up camp and readying the horses. She was still wrapped up tightly in Rowan’s arms underneath the safety of the blanket. Her face flushed with color as she thought about what had transpired under the cover of said blanket last night. Nervously, Anna glanced over at Malcolm and Quinn, trying to gauge if they had heard anything last night.

  “Time tae get up, lazy bones!” Malcolm called in Anna’s direction when he saw that her eyes were open.

  Anna hoped that her face wasn’t really as red as it felt.

  “And why don’t ye jab my brother in the ribs while yer at it,” he prodded, swinging the saddle up onto the sorrel mare’s back. “We could use his help getting the horses ready,” Malcolm said, voice heavy with disdain.

  Rowan chuckled softly under the blanket and squeezed Anna to his chest once more. When he was absolutely sure that his brothers weren’t watching, he lifted up his head and placed a soft kiss right at the base of Anna’s ear, in the hollow of her neck.

  Fire shot across Anna’s skin as Rowan’s lips touched her, reminding her of how it had felt to kiss him last night. She wanted to stay in the cocoon of Rowan’s arms, safe beneath the warm blanket. Her lips tingled as she thought of kissing him again.

  “I doona want tae let ye go,” Rowan whispered huskily against her ear, his breath warm against her skin.

  “Then perhaps you shouldn’t,” Anna said wistfully as she snuggled against him one last time.

  Rowan slapped her playfully on the bum and then threw back the blanket, stretching languidly before shuffling over to help his brothers ready the horses.

  “What if we happen across those men on the road and they see me?” Anna asked to no particular Murray.

  “We’ll be more careful,” Quinn responded. “We’ve come this far towards Williamsburg that I’d rather not take the chance of handin’ ye over in the middle of the night to strangers.”

  “We wouldna want tae split the reward with them anyway,” Rowan chided, teasing Anna.

  She laughed, her eyes dancing over to meet Rowan’s. He stared back at her, pausing as he tightened the cinch strap on the mare’s saddle. The smile fell from his face.

  Even Rowan’s playful banter couldn’t hide the fear that was looming in his green eyes.

  ..ooOoo..

  Rowan’s back ached from too many nights sleeping on the hard ground. He stretched his shoulders as best he could while riding in the saddle. His left arm was asleep from holding Anna. She slept like the dead. Had Rowan eased his grip about her middle, she would have slid right off the horse. Keeping Anna safe in his embrace was worth whatever pain that it caused him.

  Rowan smiled and kissed her hair, assured that the secret affection would be shrouded by the darkness of the night, safe from his brothers’ watchful eyes. Anna smelled like heaven. Sweet and feminine, like fresh rain on a summer day.

  She was curled up against Rowan’s chest, sleeping soundly from the rhythmic gait of the mare as they arrived at the inn. It was well after dark and the tavern windows were bustling with life and merriment. The sounds of fiddlers and singing poured out into the street of the small town. Rowan smiled, looking forward to the possibility of dancing with Anna again tonight.

  He watched her as she slept, cursing his reckless heart for choosing such an
inopportune time to fall in love. As Rowan looked upon Anna’s lovely face, he was suddenly certain about the feelings that he had tried to repress. It was love. Love truer and sweeter than any that he had ever experienced.

  Anna was everything that he had ever wanted. She was smart and feisty, playful and kind. And when she smiled at him, Rowan wanted to be a better man. Because that was what Anna deserved. She deserved the best of him.

  Looking at Anna asleep in his arms, Rowan realized that his dreams hadn’t died in Scotland.

  He was tormented. Should he fight to keep Anna or should he distance himself from her so that she might have a life more deserving of her position? He had nothing to offer to the lass, nothing save the love that he felt for her in his heart. Rowan wondered if love was enough. Anna deserved so much more.

  Because he loved her, Rowan knew that he should encourage Anna to carry through with her betrothal to Arbor. He would force himself, however difficult it would be to stay away from her, not allowing himself to succumb to further weakness.

  It would be for the best.

  Anna was promised to another. She was used to a life of riches that he would never be able to provide. She deserved better than the penniless, gambling son of a farmer.

  He would force himself to let her go.

  Because he loved her.

  “Wake up, sleepy head,” Rowan whispered into Anna’s hair as he pushed his conflicting thoughts aside. He would wait for Anna to make her choice, however painful said choice might be. Rowan brushed the blonde mass of curls back from Anna’s face. She was so beautiful and so trusting of him that it was painful.

  Anna’s eyes fluttered open and she sat up in Rowan’s lap, looking around to see where they were. “Are we going to stay here tonight?” she asked anxiously, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She was nervous about spending another night on the road, given last night’s unexpected visitors. The stable beside the small inn was a welcome sight.

  “Aye, but first we need tae see if we can win some money,” Rowan said, raising his eyebrows as he looked over at Quinn.