Page 23 of To Claim His Highland Bride

Rowena’s gaze shifted to the swords on the wall beside her. Two more steps and she could grab one if needed, but then so could Bryce. “I apologise if I offended you with the truth. This voyage will give you a chance to learn something about sailing and perhaps about who you are deep inside, if you open yourself to the possibility.”

His scowl deepened. “Why would I take advice from a MacLeod? It is you who should watch your back. I’d hate for you to take ill, or worse yet, fall overboard.”

At the undisguised intimidation, Rowena met Bryce’s gaze. The two stared at each other in silent battle until she replied, “I am a MacDonald now, or have you forgotten? And if anything happens to me, I doubt you will ever see so much as a gold coin in your future.”

Just then, a tall, wide-chested young sailor appeared with her trunk in his hands, forcing Bryce to step outside the captain’s quarters for him to pass inside. The young man smiled at Rowena as he deposited the trunk near the door. “Milady, is there anythin’ else ye need?”

“Nay,” she replied with a warm smile of appreciation. “Thank you for bringing me my trunk. I wanted to change into something more suitable for open water.”

“Yer fine as ye are. Ye look like a mermaid.” He winked at her before turning to Bryce. His amusement vanished. “The captain asked ye tae come with me. He wants ye tae work with the rest of us.”

“He does, does he?” Bryce growled, as he headed for the door. “We’ll see about that.”

With a roll of his eyes, the sailor closed the door behind himself as he left. Rowena leaned back against the door and let the motion of the wooden ship soothe her rattled nerves. Bryce would not make this trip an easy one, but she was certain Marcus knew how to keep his cousin in check. At least she hoped so for all their sakes.

Finally, she pushed away from the door and went to stand before one of the rectangular windows, gazing out as twilight descended over the water. In the sky above, the moon hung low, and the first glimmer of stars penetrated the greyness that would soon be black.

In the quiet, she could hear her own breathing. Everyone who was familiar to her and everything she loved was far away by now. A droplet of water from the spray of the wake trickled down the windowpane. She reached out and traced its descent with her finger. In that moment she’d never felt so alone, but she’d also never felt so free.

*

Hours later, the ship was well underway to their destination and yet Marcus remained on deck. He drew a deep breath as he took the ship into deeper waters, grimly wondering if he’d made the right decisions to bring not only Rowena but Bryce aboard as well. Bryce, he knew from their past, would never stop until he got what he wanted.

Marcus had never understood that kind of self-destructive drive before, yet in this moment he did. Since he’d seen Rowena in her seafoam-green dress, hugging her every curve and studded with pearls, looking very much like the sea goddess for which his ship was named, he wanted her in a more physical way than he ever had before.

As her husband, she was his for the taking, yet he couldn’t pursue a more intimate relationship with her. His need to appease his cousin, then take care of his men came first. Footsteps on the forecastle brought Marcus back to the moment.

“You married the girl.” There was no accusation in Eck’s voice, only curiosity. “Then on your wedding night, you leave her in your chamber by herself.”

Marcus’s hands tightened on the ship’s tiller. “She is safer there, alone.”

“Safe from you?”

At the query, Marcus’s gut clenched. “Take the till,” he said to the seaman standing behind him. He moved to the rail, gazing blindly out at the windswept sea. “I shouldn’t have brought her, but she goaded me into it.”

“And marrying her?” Eck asked, joining him at the rail.

Marcus frowned. “Was the only way to keep her safe—aboard this vessel.”

“From whom? You? The other men?”

“It’s hard to explain.” Marcus recalled that moment on the shore of Loch Dunvegan when he’d realised how much he’d hurt Rowena by leaving. She’d looked so forlorn, bereft of purpose—broken. He’d done that to her when he’d left her behind to go find his fortune. It wasn’t her fault that along with great gains had come misfortune. He’d thought he could abandon her and do what needed to be done, but one look at her gut-wrenching sadness had changed his mind.

Those same angry and lost feelings echoed inside him. He’d wanted nothing more than to take Rowena in his arms and hold her until the people they used to be returned, but he could not change the events of the last six months. Because of them, he had a moral obligation to his fallen men that must be fulfilled. Only when he’d executed his responsibilities as captain of his vessel would he be free once again to live his own life, albeit changed by the past.

Yet, looking at a heartbroken Rowena, he’d found it impossible to walk away from her again, at least in the short term, until he could determine how to give her the freedom she desired without him at her side. He’d agreed to marry her despite the fact it was a dangerous commitment to make, for he still loved her. The difficult task ahead would be not acting upon those feelings. His commitment to his men outweighed his own desires. At his long silence, Eck shrugged. “You need not explain yourself to me. We’ve been through far too much together.”

Marcus pulled his gaze away from the inky water and turned to his first mate, his friend. “Rowena needs protecting while she is on this ship.”

“I presume you want me to keep an eye on her when you cannot?”

“Aye.” Marcus released his grip on the rail with a sigh. “It’s long past time that I return to the cabin to see Rowena.”

“She’s probably asleep. It is the middle of the night, or have you forgotten?”

“Then I’ll wait until she wakes up.” His hunger to see her overrode the reason he’d been trying to maintain. He had to make certain she no longer looked as broken and forlorn as she had on the shore. They were too far into this journey to turn the ship around, but he didn’t want her to suffer while she was away from her home either.

Marcus strode down the steps of the quarterdeck and approached his quarters. A moment later he stood beside his bed with a single candle in his hand, looking down at a sleeping Rowena’s pale face. She’d changed into her night rail and in the pale gold light, she looked as delicate as the most fragile blossom. What had he been thinking to bring her aboard with him? The men he’d lost had been hale and hearty. What chance did Rowena have of standing up to the challenges of the sea?