by Stone, Jenna
Anna’s chin quivered as Rowan touched her. She leaned ever so slightly into his touch, closing her eyes and savoring the feeling of Rowan’s hand against her skin for the last time. She swallowed hard, fighting to regain her composure. Anna knew that if she hugged Rowan, if she held him in her arms right now, Jonathon would have to pry her away kicking and screaming. She didn’t dare touch Rowan because she knew that she would not have the will power to force herself to let him go.
Standing on her tip toes, Anna slowly reached up until her lips hovered just above the skin of Rowan’ right ear. She shuddered as she breathed in his familiar masculine scent, fighting to retain her fragile control.
“I love you, Rowan Murray,” she whispered, the emotion of her admission causing her voice to shake.
Rowan drew in a shaky breath. His hands were fisted by his sides, a feeble restraint against the desire to hold Anna. He hadn’t known that it was possible until now, but he actually felt his heart break in half as Anna whispered those words.
Chapter Thirteen
“Tonight you’ll wear the blue satin. I had it made to compliment my coat,” Jonathan said matter-of-factly. “And wear your hair up again, I like it better that way,” he added, turning to leave the private drawing room.
“I’m tired, Jonathan,” Anna whispered. “I would like to stay in tonight.” The flurry of social engagements were exhausting. Anna had been paraded about Williamsburg on Jonathan’s arm every night since their betrothal had been announced publically. She was weary from forcing smiles and feigning interested in Jonathan’s social connections.
Jonathan turned towards her. His blonde eyebrows were drawn together in a scowl. “Do not try me tonight, darling. We are expected at General Abbott’s for dinner. Be a good girl and go get changed. Your maid will be waiting.”
“I am not your possession,” Anna snapped. She stood from the high-backed velvet loveseat, her hazel eyes bright with challenge. Her gaze met Jonathan’s. Anna felt a surge of fear flood through her, making the tiny hairs stand up on the back of her neck.
Jonathan’s blue eyes narrowed. His teeth clenched together. He looked as if he might strike Anna, the muscles of his arms and shoulders tense with his anger. “I shall warn you, just this once,” Jonathan said, his voice controlled but barbed with the distinct tenor of his anger. “Do not challenge me, Anna. Remember how it was that you came to be here. You may not be my possession, but I paid for you. It will serve you well to remember that.”
Anna wanted to run but she forced herself to stand tall. Her eyes never wavered from Jonathan’s face.
“I’ll see you in the foyer at seven o’clock,” Jonathan said. He turned on his heel and strode from the solar. “Do not be late,” he called over his shoulder, not looking back.
..ooOoo..
Alone in her dressing room, Anna’s eyes stung from the tears that she refused to let fall. She had dismissed her ladies maid, needing time to think.
What have I done?
Perhaps Jonathan Arbor was her atonement for the sins of her feeble heart. Anna could never love him. Jonathan was cold and possessive, more interested in public appearances than Anna’s thoughts or feelings. Being his wife would be a death sentence. Anna felt the walls of Jonathan’s Williamsburg residence closing in on her, choking the very life from her body.
I am not your possession.
In a silent act of dissent, Anna donned an olive green gown, which she felt complimented her hazel eyes beautifully. She brushed her blonde hair until it crackled and plaited both sides next to her forehead, bringing them together in the back of her head and securing them above the flowing masses of her blonde waves.
I like my hair down.
Being Lieutenant Arbor’s fiancé was not at all what Anna had anticipated. She hated it with every fiber of her being. Jonathan was particular about everything, and he seemed to believe that because he had paid to bail Stanton Place out of financial ruin, that in turn, he also owned Miss Anna Stanton. He told Anna what to wear, whom to speak to and what she could and could not do. Jonathan even tried to tell her what she should think.
Anna had survived the past two weeks at Jonathan’s country estate by keeping her chin up and her head held high. She had hoped that with time, she would come to like Jonathan, maybe even love him. He made this difficult by treating her like a possession and not a person.
A firm knock at her chamber door rattled Anna. She took a quick glance at her reflection in the mirror, knowing that her outright defiance of Jonathan’s orders would anger him. She opened the door to find Jonathan waiting in the corridor.
His eyes scanned over the olive green gown and a frown settled on his face. Jonathan grabbed Anna’s elbow harshly and shoved her back into the chamber, slamming the door behind them.
“Why do you defy me?” he questioned, still squeezing Anna’s elbow.
Anna clenched her teeth. She glared at Jonathan and jerked her arm out of his grasp.
“People are waiting for us downstairs,” Jonathan hissed. “You will not cause a scene. You will change. Immediately. It is too late to do anything about your hair,” he said, his words angry and clipped as his eyes flashed up to Anna’s unbound hair.
Anna crossed her arms in front of her chest, never taking her eyes away from Jonathan’s intense stare. Tears burned at her eyes as he walked briskly from her chamber and slammed the door. Anna knew that he was waiting just outside the door.
Jonathan would force her to submit.
Anna refused to let her tears fall.
She deftly unlaced the back of the olive green gown and let it fall to the floor. Her eyes stung with her unshed tears as flung open the armoire and ripped the blue silk gown off of the hanger.
You will not break me, Jonathan.
Anna stepped into the blue silk gown. She felt as if a she had lost a little piece of herself by submitting to Jonathan’s orders. Fear had begun to grow within her. What would happen if she did not submit? Would Jonathan punish her? Would he beat her?
Anna laced up the gown, tugging harshly on the laces and tying them in a bow at the base of her spine. She refused to look at herself in the mirror.
She didn’t want to see the hollowness that she knew would be reflected in her eyes. Anna was ashamed of her weakness.
The painful truth resounded within her with every beat of her broken heart.
The invitations to the huge wedding that Jonathan had planned had already been sent out. With less than a week until the ceremony, the feeling of dread that had been growing inside Anna was now impossible for her to ignore.
Anna wanted to get married.
She had to get married.
Marriage was part of the duty that she needed to fulfill in order to restore the Stanton family name and keep her mother out of the poor house.
Yes, Anna wanted to get married.
But not to Jonathan Arbor.
Chapter Fourteen
Anna was startled into wakefulness by a faint clinking against the glass of her bedroom window. Curiosity piqued, she threw back the down comforter and stepped onto the rug, padding barefoot across the wooden floor to the window. She looked out into the night and her heart nearly exploded with joy.
Rowan stood in the darkness, throwing pebbles up at the window. His breath caught in his throat when he saw Anna. He wanted to scale the walls of the house, break through the second story window and steal her away into the night. He’d bribed one of the servants into telling him which room belonged to Anna. Rowan was pleasantly surprised that the servant had told him the truth.
Anna’s long blonde hair was unbound and seemed to glow in the light of the moon. Rowan thought that she had never looked lovelier. She held up one finger, signaling to him that she was coming down. Rowan’s heart hammered in his chest. He had hoped only to see her and had not dared to dream for more. Seeing Anna again flooded him with emotions, both blissful and torturous at the same time.
Anna dressed hurriedly, her heart thundering in
her chest. She tried to shake the smile that had taken up permanent residence on her face. She had never expected to see Rowan Murray again. She crept silently down the stairs, pulse racing wildly at the knowledge that she might be caught by one of the servants.
The back door of the estate creaked open and Anna crept into the dark night. She walked as quietly as possible, fearful that the crunching sound that her feet made on the gravel would wake someone in the house. When she saw Rowan, she broke out into a run, throwing herself into his waiting arms.
“Oh, your ribs! Sorry,” she said, lightening the grip of her embrace.
Rowan’s arms remained steady about her, hugging her to him as he pressed her head down against his chest. “They’re better now,” he whispered, relishing the sweet joy of holding Anna in his arms.
Anna lifted her head from his chest and looked up at Rowan in the moonlight. She felt tears gathering in her eyes and buried her face in Rowan’s shirt so that he would not see her weakness. His familiar masculine scent was comforting, pine needles and leather, mingling with something that distinctly Rowan. Rowan smelled like home.
“Shh…” Rowan said, feeling the wetness of Anna’s tears stain his shirt. “I’m here now, sweetheart,” he said softly, stroking her back, breathing in her scent and savoring the feel of her in his arms. “C’mon!” he said, “We canna stay here out in the open.” He released Anna from his arms and grabbed her hand, pulling her into the cover of the forest.
Safely shrouded in the dense growth of the trees, Rowan stopped abruptly and turned to Anna, bringing his hand up to caress the curve of her jaw. He looked down at her as if he didn’t believe that she was real, as if he couldn’t believe that he was touching her soft skin again. His eyes were full of questions and as he slowly captured Anna’s chin between his fingers, forcing her to look up at him, she answered his first question with a subtle nod.
Yes, I still want you to kiss me.
Rowan’s lips were on Anna’s in an instant, hungry and demanding. He kissed her with passion that he was unable to restrain, slanting his mouth over hers, claiming her again and again.
Anna melted into his chest, kissing him back with equal fervor. Her mouth opened for Rowan and she slid her tongue hungrily into his mouth, wanting to taste him. Her nails scored Rowan’s chest, his back and his neck, scraping her imprint onto his body, claiming him beneath her fingers.
Rowan let loose a low growl in his throat, succumbing to the intense pleasure of tasting Anna’s sweet mouth.
“I never thought I’d see you again,” Anna’s voice trembled with the weight of her emotions.
Rowan drew away slightly and released a choppy breath, feeling Anna’s body quake beneath his touch. Regaining some of his composure, he kissed her now softly, tenderly, yet no less passionately. Anna moaned sweetly against his lips and he just about came undone. He kissed her neck, the tops of her breasts, the fine line of her exposed collarbones. Anna arched back in pleasure. Rowan supported her in his arms, continuing his love play, deepening his torment. It felt so good, so right to have Anna in his arms again, to be able to do all of the things to her that he had been dreaming of since she had been taken from him.
Well, maybe not all of the things that he had been dreaming about.
Rowan placed a light kiss in the hollow right beneath Anna’s ear, delighting in her sweet feminine scent. The corner of his mouth pulled up into a smile at how quickly Anna’s pulse hammered beneath the touch of his lips. It aroused him further to know that her heart had gone wild just from his kisses, his touches.
“Anna,” Rowan whispered, drawing slightly away from her, but still holding her firmly in his arms. He never wanted to let her go. “I came here tonight because there’s something that I need tae tell ye. I had tae see ye one more time…” he stammered, looking into her eyes and working hard to get the words out just right. “I had tae see ye one more time before yer marrit…” he swallowed hard, hating the feel of the words on his tongue, “so that I could tell ye what I should have told ye on that day when he came tae take ye away from me.”
‘What do you need to tell me, Rowan?” Anna asked softly, fitting her arms tightly around his neck and stroking the small hairs as the base of his queue.
Rowan took a deep breath and looked into Anna’s eyes, reaching up to touch her cheek ever so lightly. “I need tae tell ye that I love you too,” he whispered, voice tender as he caressed her face. “I tried tae forget ye, tae leave ye be, but I couldna. I just needed tae tell ye.”
A broad smile overtook Anna’s face. Her heart threatened to burst with joy after hearing Rowan’s words.
He loves me.
She reached up on her tippy toes and gently, tenderly kissed Rowan on the lips. “I love you, Rowan,” she whispered against his lips, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. “I tried to move on, tried to push you out of my thoughts, but…”
“Doona cry, love,” Rowan said, using his thumbs to brush away her tears.
“But…when he touches me, it doesn’t feel like that…” Anna stammered, shaken by the feelings that Rowan had so easily aroused within her.
Rowan took a deep breath and looked up into the night sky, saying a silent prayer for strength and guidance before he spoke again. His voice came forth stronger now, firm and assured. “I canna let ye go through with this,” he said, heart torn apart at the idea of losing Anna again, of letting another man marry her. Of letting another man kiss her, touch her, make love to her. He hated knowing that Jonathan had touched her, had kissed her.
Rowan knew in his soul and he was the right man for Anna, that he was the only one that should be doing all of those wonderful things to her. No matter that he hadn’t a penny to his name or a means to provide for her. He’d figure that part out later.
“I have to do it, Rowan. You know that I have to,” Anna said, voice ringing with hurt as she looked up at him. “I signed that contract and if I refuse to marry Jonathan, my family will be ruined.”
“To hell with that contract!” Rowan raged, body now tense with emotion. “Ye ken as well as I do that he’s not the man that ye should be marrying!”
Fresh tears welled in Anna’s eyes because she knew that Rowan was right. She did not want to marry Jonathan Arbor. She watched in disbelief as Rowan took her hand into both of his and slowly knelt down onto the forest floor in front of her.
“Choose me, Anna,” he spoke softly, “Marry me.”
..ooOoo..
Rowan pounded on the door of the small chapel, his fist sounding like thunder as it struck the heavy wooden door. After a few minutes a relentless, incessant pounding, the bolt was released on the other side of the door.
A small gray-haired man peeked through the crack in the door, trying to use it as a shield to protect himself from the massive intruder that stood glaring down at him.
Rowan used his arm to push open the door and the small man cowered, still dressed in his sleeping gown and cap. Rowan stepped into the dark chapel, pulling Anna behind him.
“I’m no going tae hurt ye,” he said, seeking to quell the man’s obvious fear. “Are ye a priest?”
“Yes, sir,” the man said most respectfully. “I am a priest.”
“Would ye mind goin’ tae change out of yer night clothes? I want tae make sure that this is most official,” Rowan nodded confidently, looking over at Anna. “We have a present need tae be marrit. Right now.”
“Why right now?” The priest ventured cautiously.
“We doona have time for questions. Right now,” Rowan demanded, gritting his teeth together in annoyance, challenging the priest to argue with him further.
The small man’s eyes darted over at Anna. “Is this situation agreeable to you, Miss? I won’t do it if he’s forcing you,” the priest said nervously, having been quite brave to challenge Rowan’s aggressive demands.
“It’s quite agreeable to me,” Anna smiled and looked up at Rowan, patting his arm in an effort to calm him down.
“Wel
l then, let me go change into my robe,” the priest said, eyes darting from Anna and back to Rowan. “It appears as though I’ll be conducting an impromptu midnight marriage ceremony.”
..ooOoo..
Rowan stood, clasping Anna’s hands in his own, looking at his bride to be. He brushed his thumbs reassuringly over the backs of her small hands and she smiled up at him in response. Her hazel eyes locked with his. Rowan felt his heart swell with pride and love as he admired the woman that was to be his wife. Her honey blonde hair fell loosely around her shoulders and although she was dressed in a simple grey cotton dress, he had never seen a more beautiful woman in all his life.
Damn, she’s so beautiful. I do not deserve her.
Anna looked nervous. Hell, he was nervous too.
Rowan leaned down and kissed his bride on the cheek, nuzzled her hair and whispered, “I love ye, Anna. I ken that this is right. We are right.”
“I know. I love you too,” she blushed and squeezed his hands reassuringly.
Rowan nodded to the priest, who cleared his throat and began to read the rights of the marriage ceremony from a small leather bound bible.
Anna’s knees felt weak as she contemplated the journey that she and Rowan were about to embark on. Never had she felt so sure of anything in her life; Rowan was the man that she wanted to marry, consequences be damned. She loved this beautiful, stubborn man more than her life. Tuning out the words of the priest, Anna had eyes only for her soon-to-be husband. She smiled up at him and Rowan rewarded her with her favorite lopsided grin.
