Shipwrecked

by Jenna Stone

  Anna smiled warmly, and her heart swelled with love as she looked around her kitchen table at her Murray boys, each happily stuffing his face with her cooking.

  “This is why I marrit her,” Rowan said teasingly as he savored another bite of the delicious stew.

  “I guess that this is the upside of my family falling into financial ruin. I had to learn how to cook,” Anna said chuckling, her mood suddenly dampening as she thought of her mother.

  Anna pushed away from the table and began to clear away the dishes, noticing that the Murray brothers had all but licked their bowls clean. The bachelor life had been hard on them, and she was glad that she could show her love for these men by feeding them. It was the least that she could do when they worked so hard from sun up to sun down, struggling to get the farm in order before winter.

  “Can ye help us get the tools intae the shed, Rowan?” Quinn asked standing and pushing away from the table. “Looks like it might start tae rain.”

  “Aye, I’ll be right out,” Rowan said.

  “Thank ye for supper,” Malcolm smiled at Anna, his love for his sister-in-law playing easily across his face.

  “My pleasure,” Anna winked at Malcolm, and handed him a small paper wrapped parcel filled with leftovers. She knew that he was still growing, and now that she was able, she intended to keep his bottomless appetite at bay. Anna knew that Malcolm would not ask for more food, so she made an extra effort to send him back to the cabin that he shared with Quinn with leftovers.

  Quinn and Malcolm headed out into the dark night, leaving Rowan alone with his wife.

  “I’ll be back before ye miss me,” he said, smiling Anna’s favorite lopsided grin and sauntering over to place a slow, tender kiss on his wife’s lips.

  “Not true,” Anna whispered against his cheek, inhaling his masculine scent that was so distinctly Rowan. “I’ll miss you as soon as you step out the door.”

  “I’ll hurry then. Promise,” he said, smiling and kissing his wife’s hair.

  ***

  Rowan returned sometime later, shirt plastered to his chest from the downpour of late summer rain. His chestnut hair hung loose about his shoulders, and curled at the ends.

  Anna smiled as Rowan walked into the small cabin, hands stalling in the dishwater as her eyes roamed desirously over her husband.

  He had pulled off his sodden shirt and laid it carefully over the back of a chair, and was now stooped by the doorway removing his boots and socks. Anna watched as his work hardened muscles rippled as he moved, and she swallowed hard as she took in the beauty that was her husband. Her eyes followed him across the room as he padded barefoot and shirtless towards the fire to warm himself.

  Rowan’s eyes flashed to Anna’s, and he raised his eyebrows mischievously, catching her in the act of coveting him.

  “Ye are a naughty wee thing,” he teased, reading her mind. “I think that I’ve created a monster,” he joked, easily reading the lustful expression on his wife’s lovely face.

  “I’m just doing the dishes,” Anna feigned innocence, remembering the task at hand and pretending that she was actually washing dishes.

  “Are ye now?” Rowan asked, stalking from the fireplace towards his wife. “Then ye won’t mind if I help ye a bit so that ye can finish sooner?”

  “No, I wouldn’t mind at all,” Anna said breathily as her husband fitted his arms around her and trailed his warm hands down her arms and atop hers in the dishwater.

  Anna forgot what she was trying to do as she felt Rowan’s naked chest against her back, and his hands stroking hers beneath the surface of the dishwater. He pressed his ready erection into her back, and she leaned back against him, forgetting all about the dishes.

  Rowan nuzzled her neck and bit her earlobe playfully, loving that he could tease his wife senseless and make her forget what she was trying to accomplish. Rowan chuckled softly and kissed Anna’s hair just above her temple, slowly moving his hands back up her arms and out of the dishwater.

  “Ye seem tae have forgotten about the dishes,” he teased, pressing himself against his wife’s delicious bottom.

  “You have a way of doing that to me husband,” Anna smiled, face flushing.

  “I’ll leave ye be, and wait for ye tae join me when yer done,” Rowan said in invitation, slowly backing away from his wife and smiling to himself as he walked back over to the fire and settled himself in the chair. He loved the way that Anna responded to his touch and took joy in unnerving her, knowing that she could easily do the same to him, and in fact, often did so.

  Anna watched her husband as the fire reflected on his handsome face. She knew that he was tired, but he never complained. He worked so hard, side-by-side with his brothers, doing everything in his power to build a life for her. Her beautiful man had seen so much, had lost so much in his short life, but his spirit remained, wild and unbroken. Oh how she loved him.

  Arousal began to build between Anna’s thighs as she watched her husband, in all of his shirtless glory, warm himself before the fire. His skin was golden from working in the sun, and his muscles had developed even more from the fruits of hard manual labor. Rowan’s chest was expansive, and Anna’s eyes lingered over the small muscles of his arms, and the sinew that built his flat abdominals, which tapered deliciously beneath his linen pants. When she thought of just what lie beneath Rowan’s pants, she felt her feminine parts constrict, and she sprung into action.

  The dishes would have to wait.

  Drying her hands on her skirt, she briskly walked behind Rowan and into the small bedroom that they shared. Boldly, she slipped out of her homespun dress and let down her hair, running her fingers through the blonde masses so that they would cascade down her back. She knew that this was how Rowan liked her hair best. Biting her lower lip in anticipation, she lifted her chin and walked completely naked back out into the main room of the cabin. Loving Rowan made her feel bold, reckless and powerful.

  She walked up behind her husband, whose eyes had drifted closed as he savored the warmth of the fire. Anna bent down and kissed Rowan on the cheek, and his lips turned up into a delicious smile.

  Face flushing with color as she made her next move, Anna trailed her fingers lightly over the skin of Rowan’s collarbone and moved to stand in front of him.

  “Rowan,” she whispered huskily, standing completely naked before the fire.

  Rowan’s eyes opened slowly, and then flew open widely.

  “Baby!” he exclaimed with an awed look of astonishment on his face. His mouth hung open in a perfect “o” as he gaped at his beautifully naked wife.

  Anna moved forward boldly and straddled her husband, her breasts bobbing seductively against his bare chest.

  Rowan’s hands her on her at once, and he growled low in his throat, eyes devouring his naked wife as she sat erotically atop his quickly growing erection.

  “Ye’ll be the death of me, Anna,” he whispered appreciatively as he nuzzled her neck, and trailed his fingers down the side of her breast to the subtle curve of her waist.

  “I want you, husband,” Anna confessed, moving against his manhood, causing pleasure to shoot through her veins as the rough linen of his pants brushed intimately against her sex.

  “I can see that,” Rowan chuckled, moving his hands up to support Anna’s back as he took her taught pink nipple into his mouth and suckled.

  Anna arched back in pleasure, and Rowan’s arms were there, waiting and ready to support her as he continued to tease her nipple with his mouth. Anna’s hands were on his chest, sliding up his shoulders and across his strong arms as he supported her. She slid a hand through his wet hair, groaning as Rowan suckled her breast.

  “I want you now, Rowan,” Anna demanded, needing relief from the pressure that was building deep within her.

  “I’m yours, baby. Body and soul…take what ye need,” Rowan coaxed breath whistling through his teeth as he fought to remain in control, fought to let Anna take the lead in their lovemaking.

  Frant
ically, Anna reached down between them and tugged the lacings of Rowan’s pants free, exposing his pulsing erection. She fitted her hand around him, and she smiled devilishly as she began to torment her husband, sliding her hand up and down his length.

  Rowan let his head fall back against the chair, and savored the feeling of his wife’s hand surrounding his cock. He gritted his teeth in response to her touch, working hard to give her total control. He needed to be inside of her now, but forced himself to hold back.

  Rising up on her tippy toes, Anna positioned Rowan’s cock at the entrance to her womanhood. Watching the passion flare in Rowan’s eyes, she lowered herself onto his shaft, inch by delicious inch until she was filled to the hilt by her husband.

  Rowan closed his eyes and groaned deeply, lost in pleasure that he felt at being buried deeply in his wife. Having her straddle him like this allowed him to penetrate her so deeply, to possess her so completely. He placed his hands on her hips and began to move her, teaching her the rhythm of their lovemaking.

  Anna became wild with her need, and used her feet to leverage herself against her husband’s cock, lifting herself up and then sliding deliciously down the length of his manhood. Her husband filled her so completely, and the sweet stretching sensation that she felt was all consuming.

  Rowan moved in time with her, thrusting up to meet her rhythm and growling as Anna became rough, frantic to find her release. His lips captured hers in a ravenous kiss, their tongues dueling with need to be closer to each other. Rowan trailed kisses and nips down Anna’s neck, and then lingered on her breasts. His eyes lingered on her beautiful, full breasts as they bobbed up and down seductively, rising and falling each time she slid down his shaft. His thumbs brushed her sensitive nipples as he palmed her breasts, alternating kisses between them as his wife took control of the rhythm of their lovemaking.

  Rowan trailed his fingers down his wife’s flat belly and found the bead of her desire, stroking her lightly and causing her to call out with pleasure.

  “Look at me, baby,” he coaxed, stroking Anna intimately as he tilted her chin down so that he could see her eyes. Her eyes were misty with passion, and she focused on her husband, slowing her rhythm and savoring the love that she saw in his eyes as he worshiped her with his body. “I want to see you when you come,” he said huskily, increasing the intensity of his fingers against her clitoris and thrusting himself deeper inside his wife.

  Anna matched his rhythm, and closed her eyes as she felt the first tremor of her release take hold.

  Rowan stilled his fingers, and Anna’s eyes flew back open. Her body ached for his touch.

  “Look at me, Anna,” Rowan demanded as he began to stroke his wife again, taking her back to the brink of orgasm. He thrust deeply into her, and her body came undone around him, quivering with an explosive orgasm. Her eyes held his as she moaned loudly, and then called out with the force of her orgasm.

  Rowan growled loudly, and joined his wife in her release, not being able to hold back his own pleasure any longer. He thrust powerfully into his wife, and called out her name, spilling his seed deep within her and surrendering to his own release.

  Breathing heavily from the exertion of the lovemaking, Rowan gathered his wife against his chest, and tucked her head into the space between his neck and shoulder. He languidly stroked her back, delighting in the goose bumps that spread over her skin as a result of his faint touch.

  “Have I told ye today how happy ye make me?” Rowan whispered against her hair, pulling her closer.

  “Hmm?” Anna mumbled, still lost in the aftermath of their lovemaking.

  “It’s no just this, ye ken. I mean, I love doing this with ye…” Rowan chuckled and nipped at Anna’s shoulder. “I just want to make sure that I tell ye, that I never let ye forget how happy ye’ve made me.”

  “You make me so happy too,” Anna said dreamily, still feeling drunk from the aftereffects of loving her husband.

  “I could stay like this with ye forever,” Rowan whispered, relishing the feeling of Anna’s body surrounding him still, savoring her intoxicating scent mingled with the scent of their lovemaking. “I just hope that we get forever,” he added longingly, apprehension about Jonathan Arbor suddenly flooding his thoughts.

  His comment flew past Anna, who was now deeply relaxed and satiated, arms wrapped tightly around Rowan’s waist. Rowan pushed his dark thoughts about Arbor from his mind, gathered his wife protectively in his arms and carried her to their bed.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Dearest Mother,

  I have a wonderful husband and a wonderful life here in the New World. I am truly happy. In fact, the happiness that I have found here knows no bounds.

  Although our life here is comfortable, I will not be able to send you more money as I had promised. I hope that you understand, and I am regretful that I could not keep my promise. I urge you to sell Stanton Place and join us here in America. I know that you would find renewed happiness here with us. As always, I love you Mother.

  Hopefully Yours,

  Mrs. Anna Murray

  North Carolina

  ***

  Anna watched him from the edge of the forest, making a mental note to say an extra prayer for her soul tonight because she was committing the deadly sin of lusting after her husband.

  She watched him while he worked, safely concealed in the dense undergrowth of the trees. He had taken his shirt off, and his tanned skin glistened in the afternoon sunlight. Rowan’s shoulders were broad, and the muscles of his back rippled as he fought to tear the blade of the plow through the moist soil. The hard labor of farming had developed even the tiniest muscles in Rowan’s arms and chest and watching his magnificent physique till the soil made Anna’s knees weak.

  I’m so lucky that he’s mine.

  With one hand resting on the handle of the plow, he straightened his spine and looked up towards the sun. He was probably trying to gauge the time, she thought smiling, knowing that he would be expecting her to arrive soon with his lunch.

  They had been at the farm for almost two weeks now, working their fingers to the bone next to Quinn and Malcolm to get the fields planted so that they might harvest a small crop before winter. The two small cabins had been in a state of disrepair, and Anna had been struggling to bring them back to life, adding a few homey touches where she might. She had loved making a home for Rowan and herself, and delighted in the daily rhythm of taking care of her husband and his brothers on their small farm. These had been the happiest two weeks of Anna’s life.

  Rowan raised his left hand to wipe the sweat from his brow, and she noticed how his perfectly muscled abs tapered into a low V that disappeared beneath the waistline of his low slung pants. She felt the heat spreading between her thighs as she thought of just what was beneath his pants.

  Anna took a deep calming breath and walked into the field, carrying the lunch basket in her hand. Rowan smiled the instant that he saw her break through the trees, and deserted the plow, walking towards her.

  “Hi, love,” he said smiling and captured her into his arms for a lengthy kiss.

  “Mmm…” Anna moaned against his lips, her thoughts meandering back to what she had been thinking about only moments earlier when shy had been watching him from the trees.

  Rowan chuckled and finished kissing his wife thoroughly, then slapped her playfully on the bum. He loved how openly his sweet wife responded to his kisses, how she did not try to hide her body’s response to him. He knew that she was thinking the same exact thing that he was.

  “Can I have that blanket?” he asked mischievously, already moving to take the blanket from under Anna’s arm. He unfolded it and spread it right in the middle of the field, smiling devilishly at Anna, who regarded him with a quizzical look. Usually they found a place over near the trees to have lunch. “I’m not really hungry yet,” he said, raising his eyebrows as he looked at Anna and lowered himself down on the blanket.

  “Alright?” she said, setting down the baske
t containing their lunch. She wondered if Rowan had gotten too much sun today.

  “Take off yer dress, Anna,” he said huskily as he began to unbutton his pants and lie down on his back on the blanket.

  “What? Are you crazy…right here…out in the open?” she gasped incredulously, staring at him wide eyed as he kicked his boots off and shrugged out of his pants.

  “Right here, right now,” he growled with need heavy in his tone. “There’s no one around for miles, Anna! It’s no as if anyone will see us,” he said smiling, now completely naked and lying on his back, supporting his upper body with his elbows. “There’s no shame in makin’ love tae yer husband, in giving him a break from a hard days labor.”

  “Rowan!” she gasped again. “It’s just not proper!” she protested, standing still as a board.

  “And just when have ye cared about what was proper?” he said chuckling softly. “Take off yer dress, Anna,” he said again, smile fading from his face and now replaced with a blatant look of desire.

  “But what if Malcolm…”

  “Doona fash about Malcolm, come here,” he encouraged.

  Anna could feel the desire building within her as well. The thought of making love to her husband out in the open, where anyone could come upon them was slightly intimidating, but also exhilarating. Holding Rowan’s eye contact, she obeyed his request and stripped out of her shoes, her dress and finally her chemise. She stood completely naked in front of her husband, bared for the whole world to see.

  She lowered herself to her knees and settled next to Rowan on the blanket. He rose up and captured her in his arms, drawing her in for a lengthy, passionate kiss. His skin felt warm from the sun beneath her fingertips, and the faint breeze against her naked skin made her blood rush.

  As Rowan kissed her, he slid his expert fingers down between their bodies and parted her delicate folds.