Shipwrecked

by Jenna Stone

  “Anna!” He gasped as his fingers felt the wetness between her thighs. He was pleased that she was so wet, so ready for him already. His fingers toyed with the nub of her desire, eliciting a low moan from deep in Anna’s throat. Her response caused him to quiver with the need to embed himself deep inside of her tight sheath, and he ended their kiss, heart hammering against the walls of his chest.

  “I want you, Rowan,” Anna whispered, eyes clouded with desire.

  “Ride me,” he demanded voice husky as he looked up into her eyes.

  “Rowan…I…” she stammered, panicking slightly. “I don’t…”

  “Ride me, Anna,” he insisted, gently grabbing her hips and moving her into position to straddle his pulsing erection. Looking up to see his beautiful wife straddling him, hair cascading down her back and breasts bobbing above him almost caused him to spill his seed right then. “Now,” he added for good measure, unsure of how long he could hold out against this sweet torment.

  Emboldened by the need that rang heavy in Rowan’s voice, Anna reached down and grabbed Rowan’s cock in her hand, guiding it inch by inch into her wet sheath. She shuddered with pleasure and bit her lower lip as he filled her, stretched her deliciously.

  Rowan let loose a groan of shear pleasure, and thrust into her, holding her hips for resistance. He looked up at Anna, her head had fallen back in the throws of her passion, and her fingers were splayed on his chest, scoring his skin.

  “Ride me, Anna,” he said again, using his hands to show her the motion with her hips.

  Anna tentatively took over the rhythm of their lovemaking, riding him slowly at first, and then as she became sure of herself, more lost in her passion, she rode him roughly, desperately as she cried out with pleasure.

  Rowan’s hands were everywhere, stoking her breasts and teasing the nub of her desire. Her orgasm came like thunder, shaking her to the core of her being as her body tightened and quivered around Rowan. He grasped her hips and thrust into her fiercely, relishing how good it felt to feel her orgasm around him. He cried out with the force of his release, and with one final thrust, he spilled his seed deep inside of her.

  Anna crumpled on top of his chest, still holding him inside of her, breathing raggedly.

  After enjoying the cool breeze on their hot skin for a few moments, Anna reluctantly sat up and pulled her chemise over her head, just in case Malcolm decided to join them for lunch.

  Rowan kissed her one more time and pulled on his pants, still smiling from the rush of making love to his wife in broad day light. He felt like the luckiest man alive.

  Anna watched as Rowan’s look of bliss fell from his face and was replaced with wild terror. More than twenty English Soldiers crested the hill and rode into the field, dressed in full battle regalia and armed to the teeth.

  Anna’s heart sank. They had come for her.

  ***

  “Ye willna touch her,” Rowan warned, pushing Anna defensively behind his back as Jonathan dismounted his horse and stalked angrily towards them.

  “It looks to me as if you are in no position to tell me what I will or will not do,” Jonathan remarked as he motioned to his soldiers to surround Rowan and Anna.

  “Give her to me,” Jonathan ordered, his teeth clenched so tightly with rage that the muscles of his jaw twitched.

  “No,” Rowan said firmly, standing his ground.

  Anna’s heart sank. She knew that Rowan didn’t have a single weapon to defend himself with. He was outnumbered twenty to one, and her heart beat double time in her chest as she willed him not to try something heroic.

  They would kill him without a second thought.

  “I’ll give you one more chance to act reasonably. I don’t want to cause more trouble than is necessary. Give her to me,” Jonathan ordered his voice authoritative as he glowered at Rowan.

  Rowan took a step towards Jonathan, challenging him with the confident stature of his body language. “Ye’ve caused enough trouble already. I told ye no. Ye willna touch my wife,” Rowan said coolly, with an undertone of suppressed rage.

  Anna reached up and placed her hand on Rowan’s shoulder, her touch calming him slightly. Fearful of the consequences that would befall Rowan if he continued to bravely defend her and challenged Jonathan further, Anna pushed past her husband and ran towards Jonathan.

  “I’ll go with you!” she gasped, looking up and meeting Jonathan’s iron stare.

  “Anna!” Rowan yelled as he reached for her. Jonathan’s soldiers rained down on him, and he fought mightily against their restraint, bravely willing to fight of twenty men to get to Anna’s side.

  Jonathan grabbed Anna’s arm harshly and jerked her towards his waiting horse.

  “You’ll pay for what you’ve done to me,” he seethed as he hefted her roughly up onto the stallion.

  “It was me, Jonathan, not him. Let him go,” Anna pleaded, tears welling in her eyes as she watched Rowan fight a futile battle against the soldiers who restrained him.

  The soldiers wrestled Rowan to the ground, and one man restrained him with a knee in his back while the others bound his wrists and ankles. His eyes settled on Anna, wild with rage, and she glanced away.

  I had to do it Rowan, or you would have gotten yourself killed!

  “I know it was you, Anna, and I fully intend for you to pay for what you have done. I just don’t trust him not to try something heroic to save you, so he’s coming along to watch you pay for your sins,” Jonathan warned as he mounted the horse behind Anna and kicked him into motion.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “She’s a witch!” Jonathan Arbor yelled, hatred seething from his mouth as he kicked dirt into Anna’s face. “She tried to bewitch me with her evil powers, and when I was too Godly for her, she went back to the damned Scots that brought her here!”

  “I did nothing to you, Jonathan, and you know it! Let me explain!” she begged the villagers to believe her. “I’m not a witch!” Anna screamed in vain tears of frustration staining her face as she implored Jonathan and the small crowd in the town square to listen.

  I did nothing to you but embarrass you when I ran out and didn’t marry you. That’s why I’m in here…because you couldn’t stand the humiliation of being denied by a woman that you thought you had paid for.

  Anna fumed silently, the rage and hatred for Jonathan now boiling in her blood. She knew that her words were futile against his vengeful attack.

  “Don’t listen to her lies,” Jonathan warned the crowd of onlookers that had gathered, being drawn to the excitement of a witch trial. “She bewitched him too,” Jonathan said, pointing at Rowan where he was shackled at the edge of the square. “She pulled him from certain death at sea after she caused the Mary Catherine to sink with a spell. She pulled him out of the ocean because she needed his help in a plot to bewitch all of Williamsburg!”

  The crowd gasped collectively, and in response, a smattering of mud and garbage rained down on Anna. There was no escape from the furor of the crowd, and all that she could do was bow her head in defense as the putrid offerings pummeled her face and body.

  She had been tied to a large oak tree in the center of the town square to stand trial for being a witch. Her trial consisted of Jonathan Arbor spewing his lies in front of the magistrate, with no opportunity for her to tell her side of the story.

  Anna was certain that she was going to die; her only hope was that it would be a quick death, and nothing long, drawn out or overly painful

  Anna’s eyes flashed over at Rowan, whose wrists and ankles were shackled with heavy irons. He was restrained on either side by the hands of one of Jonathan’s soldiers, and exuded an air of controlled rage that caused Anna’s heart to beat faintly with hope. Rowan’s green eyes flashed cautiously towards her, locking with her own for a split second. Anna’s heart skipped a beat. The courtyard fell silent to her ears, Jonathan’s lies were quieted, and Anna was comforted as she looked briefly into the eyes of her lover. She smiled, ever so slightly at him.

>   I love you. She chanted the words over and over in her mind.

  “Even now she bewitches him still!” Jonathan’s voice boomed, condemning the energy that thrummed between Anna and Rowan across the courtyard. “The only way to free this poor man’s soul from her evil is for him to watch her burn!”

  The crowd roared in approval, and Anna’s heart sank. Not for fear of her own death, but for how Rowan’s heart would be ripped out if he was subjected to watching her burn at the stake.

  Anna noticed Colonel Murdock approaching the crowd, and she glared at him, causing him to look away with what she thought was a hint of shame. This was the first time that she had seen him since she left Jonathan’s home and escaped with Rowan. He knew that she was no witch, and yet he stood silently at the edge of the crowd, allowing Jonathan’s madness to carry forth.

  An inhuman sound startled Anna, and she watched breathlessly as Rowan harbored the strength of ten men, pulling free from the soldiers who restrained him, and ran purposefully through the crowd, shackles clinking wildly, face contorted with rage.

  The crowd parted sporadically, and people shrieked as they jumped to get out of Rowan’s path. He knocked Murdock to the ground and reined punches down on his face, shackles clanking loudly as Murdock’s blood covered his fists.

  The middle aged Colonel was no match for Rowan and he curled up defensively beneath the warrior, hands trying in vain to block his face from Rowan’s blows. Rowan pressed the chain of his shackles tight against Murdock’s neck, choking him as he sputtered and squirmed.

  “This is for Mairi!” Rowan screamed, possessed by his rage as he tried to choke the very life out of Murdock.

  Jonathan’s men were upon him now, pulling him off the Colonel, dragging him away as he fought with every ounce of his being to get at Murdock again.

  Anna stood in shock, not understanding what had just happened.

  Murdock stood, purple color draining from his face as oxygen rushed back into his body. He straightened his uniform and brushed the dirt from his pants, scowling at Rowan from under his bushy eyebrows.

  “I thought you went down with the ship. Did your brothers survive as well?” Murdock asked vindictively, eyes locked with Rowan’s.

  Rowan did not respond, his chest rose and fell raggedly with the effort of his breathing. He stared at Murdock, intent on finding a way to free himself again so that he could finish the old man off.

  “I guess I’m to blame for booking your passage on the same ship. You wouldn’t have met otherwise,” Murdock sputtered as he rubbed his neck which was bright red from Rowan’s assault.

  Rowan’s eyes grew wide as he put the pieces together quickly. His eyes flashed at Anna in understanding. Her eyes were wide with horror as she too solved the puzzle.

  Murdock had booked both of their passages to the New World. The same man who had raped and killed Mairi had brokered Anna’s betrothal to Jonathan Arbor.

  “Jonathan informed me that Miss Stanton didn’t hold up her end of the bargain, choosing to bewitch a man with her evil powers. It never occurred to me that you might be that man,” Murdock said as he studied Rowan, still trying to collect himself after falling victim to Rowan’s explosive rage.

  “It’s Mrs. Murray,” Rowan corrected Murdock through gritted teeth. “And ye ken damn good and well that the she is no witch. Ye were the one that bought her for him, and accusing her of being a witch will tidy up this mess!”

  Murdock’s eyes skittered nervously from side to side, scanning the crowd to see if there was any hint that they might believe Rowan’s accusations.

  “No rational man under his own control would attack his superior in such a manner, especially when he is shackled and outnumbered twenty to one!” Murdock seethed, embarrassed that Rowan had nearly choked the life out of him in front of a crowd of onlookers. “It is clear that she has possessed you, she forced you to do her bidding right before our eyes!” he shouted, seeking to rile the crowd again.

  The crowd took Murdock’s bait and shouts of “Witch!” and “Repent!” rung out heavy in the air as their fervor intensified.

  “I am a forgiving man,” Murdock said loudly to the crowd as he approached Rowan. The soldiers tightened their grips on Rowan’s upper arms, seeing that his muscles were tense and ready for another attack as Murdock ambled towards them. “I spared your life once, and I’m willing to do so again because I believe that you were powerless to resist Miss Stanton’s evil magic. I’ll allow you to live out the remainder of your life and indentured slave, as was my original offer, but only after I do you the service of beating her spell straight out of you,” Murdock said, voice now escalated with viciousness.

  “Ye make a play at givin’ me mercy when it is ye that shall need tae beg for mercy come judgment day,” Rowan seethed. “Now it’s not only Mairi’s blood, her life on your soul, but ye stand by in silence as they convict Anna of a crime that ye ken damn well she didna commit. It is you that shall rot in hell, Murdock,” Rowan proclaimed as he spat on the ground, challenging Murdock to carry forth with his punishment.

  “Remove his shirt and tie him to the post!” Murdock barked at the men restraining Rowan.

  Rowan did not fight them as they removed his shirt, and he walked bravely to the whipping post with his chestnut head held high, holding Anna’s terror ridden gaze for a split second before allowing the soldiers to bind his shackled wrists to the post.

  “No!” Anna screamed as she fought her restraints. “Leave him alone, Murdock!”

  Murdock ignored her pleas. He would not be bested in front of his men, and he intended to teach this reckless Scotsman a lesson. He could not risk having the true nature of his dealings back in England and Scotland being exposed.

  Murdock clenched his jaw with the exertion of snapping the whip and splaying open the skin of Rowan’s back. The force of the blow pushed Rowan’s body forward against the post, but he withstood Murdock’s lashing in silence, teeth gritted together as the whip slashed open his skin, trails of blood raining down his back to stain his pants.

  The pain of the whip was so intense that Rowan’s knees felt weak, for an instant he thought that he might fall from the blinding pain. He focused his mind on Anna and shut out everything else, using her as a talisman against crying out. He would not shame her by crying out.

  Rowan’s silence enraged Murdock further, and he brought the whip against Rowan’s bloody back with increased fervor. “Cry out, Murray! Break the spell that the witch has cast upon you!” he screamed, face reddened from exertion as he continued to crack the whip against Rowan’s back.

  Rowan remained silent, muscles now trembling in response to the intense nature of his pain. Sweat poured down his brow as he fought to remain silent, and it mingled with the smell of copper that now hung heavily in the air; the smell of his own blood.

  Fearing that he would kill Rowan, Murdock stopped abruptly and dropped the whip to the ground. He was enraged that the Scotsman had not cried out, yet he did not wish to have the burden of taking another life resting on his soul.

  He had not meant to kill Mairi, and her memory tormented him still. He remembered her eyes, desperate, fearful and full of hate as he took her, and in a moment of madness with his fingers tight around her neck, he had squeezed the life from her body.

  It was her death that had caused Murdock to spare the lives of the Murray brothers. The look in Mairi’s vacant eyes peered directly into his soul, condemning him to an eternity in Hell. Why had he killed her? It had been an accident, it had happened before he even realized what he was doing; a moment in which he seemed to be functioning outside of his own body.

  Grasping feebly at redemption for his sin, Murdock had granted mercy to the Murray brothers; opting to transport them to the Colonies rather than kill them on the spot.

  Murdock’s shoulders heaved with the effort that it had taken to whip the Scotsman, his breathing was ragged and sweat poured down his brow. The weight of his sins bore down on him fully now; his lust had
taken the life of Mairi, the maid betrothed to the eldest Murray brother, and he was about to take part in the murder of another innocent woman: Anna Stanton.

  Murdock’s eyes shamefully found Anna’s hollow gaze across the small courtyard. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she stood stone faced, helpless against the restraints that bound her to the tree.

  Murdock knew that he had taken advantage of the penniless, yet proud Miss Stanton at her moment of greatest weakness. Greed had motivated him to coerce Anna into marrying Jonathan Arbor, knowing that Arbor would pay handsomely for a wife of such high breeding; even if her family was now out of good fortune.

  His eyes traveled back to Rowan Murray, back flayed open and struggling to remain standing by leaning against the post to which he was tethered.

  Shame boiled up inside of Murdock when he took in fully what he had done. This poor man had suffered enough already, likely having lost most of his clan in the uprising, losing his home at Murdock’s expense, and being transported to the Colonies. Murdock was ashamed at what he had done to the young man, and realized that his soul needed redemption more now than ever.

  “Take him to my quarters and tend his wounds,” Murdock barked, eliciting a look of bewilderment from both guards standing next to Rowan. He rose to his full authoritative height and bellowed, “That’s an order…snap to!”

  Knowing that it was unacceptable to question their superior, the guards made haste to untie Rowan from the post. His knees gave way, and one of the large men caught him, wrapped Rowan’s arm over his shoulders and helped him to walk. The effort of this exertion proved too much for Rowan, and he blacked out, his head lolling forward on his chest. The second soldier hoisted Rowan’s other arm over his shoulder, and together, they half drug him away.

  “You’ll not understand this now, Arbor, but release her too,” Murdock asserted, nodding his head in Anna’s direction.

  “See! She has bewitched the Colonel too…right before your eyes!” Jonathan marveled for the excitement of the crowd, whose fury began to intensify in response.