Redemption (Book Two of the Shipwrecked Series) (4 page)

..ooOoo..

“Quinn?” Sarah
said hesitantly, sensing that although he was quiet he was not asleep.

“Aye?”

“I wanted to talk
to you about the baby.  Could you come over here?” she invited, feeling nervous
in Quinn’s presence for the first time. 

She heard his bare
feet pad across the wooden floor boards of the small cabin.  He had been laying
on his brother Malcolm’s small cot on the far side of the room, opting to give
Sarah and the baby his own, larger bed.  Malcolm was in town purchasing
supplies for winter and was expected back at the farm any day.

Quinn’s eyes
widened with surprise when he saw that Sarah was feeding the baby. Her swollen
breast was exposed and Quinn was immediately infuriated with himself for looking
at her.  Just the sight of her beautiful breast, even serving the purpose of
feeding her baby had aroused him.  Sarah was a beautiful woman and it had been
a long time since Quinn had been with a woman.  To see such a beautiful woman,
engorged breast bared, lying in his bed was too much.

“Does this bother
you?” Sarah asked innocently, glancing down at her suckling daughter.

“No,” Quinn lied,
and did his best to lean casually against the wall of the cabin.

“I think she’s
done anyway,” Sarah smiled down at the baby, who had fallen into a milk induced
slumber.  She released the baby from her breast and tugged the fabric of her
nightshirt to cover her exposed nipple.

For a fleeting
instant, Quinn had seen the entirety of Sarah’s beautiful full breast, complete
with a rosy upturned nipple.  His manhood pulsed in his pants and he gritted
his teeth.  Sarah’s breasts were swollen with milk, their skin taught, her
nipples up thrust.  The firelight danced over her olive skin, making her glow
radiantly in the darkness of the small cabin.

Christ, Quinn. 
She’s just had a baby! 
 He scolded himself for coveting Sarah’s body and
thanked the Lord that she had covered herself.

“I want you to
name her,” Sarah burst out, suddenly shy about her request.  “You’re the reason
that she survived and I want you to name her.”

Quinn’s gray eyes
were wide with disbelief.

“Sarah…I canna do
that!  She’s yer daughter.  Ye should be the one tae name her.”

“Really.  I want
you to name her.  Neither one of us would be here if you hadn’t found us.  You
saved out lives,” Sarah whispered, tears welling in her eyes as she thought of
how close she had been, how close her precious daughter had been to death.

“I canna do that,”
Quinn said softly, eyes searching Sarah’s.  She was a beautiful woman, with her
black hair falling loosely about her, standing out in sharp contrast to the
linen of her shirt as it fell in masses down to her waist.

 Her eyebrows knit
together in a scowl as she regarded Quinn.

“I
want
you
to name her,” Sarah insisted, her tone challenging Quinn.  Her eyes scanned
over his massive frame as he leaned casually against the log wall of the
cabin.  Clad only in linen pants, his physique was something to behold.  The
muscles of his chest were well defined from hard work and Sarah had to make a
conscious effort to tear her eyes away from Quinn Murray.

“Won’t her father
want a say in what her name is?” Quinn challenged back.

“No.”

“Do ye ken who her
father is?” Quinn asked boldly, unable to imagine a man who would not be
interested in the welfare of this beautiful child or her beautiful mother.

“Of course I know
who her father is!” Sarah snapped, insulted.  “I’m not a whore if that’s what
you are implying.”

“That’s not what I
meant!  I just thought that if ye were all alone…”

“It’s just that I
don’t plan to see her father again.  I was running from him when you found me
in the forest.”

“Was he cruel to
ye?” Quinn asked anger evident in his tone.

“He’d take her
away from me,” Sarah whispered, looking protectively down at her sweet daughter
who was sleeping contently at her breast.

“No if I have
anything tae do with it,” Quinn warned protectively, shaking his head at the
prospect of any man, the baby’s father or not, trying to take away Sarah’s
baby.

“I can’t go back,”
Sarah whispered, eyes flashing to Quinn’s.  “Will you help us?” she asked
desperately.

Quinn nodded in
response, apprehension settling deep in the pit of his stomach.  If there was
anything that he hated, it was a woman being mistreated.  No one would dare to
touch Sarah or her child as long as they were under his protection.  He only
hoped that keeping her here would be safe.  The savages were known to attack
when provoked and he hoped that they wouldn’t be able to track Sarah to the Murray farm.

Rowan will kill
me.

“Her name should
be Mairi.  Ye should name her Mairi,” Quinn whispered.  It felt as though a
knife twisted in his heart when he said her name aloud.

“I like that,”
Sarah smiled, cuddling her daughter closer.  “Mairi,” she said softly.

Quinn turned
abruptly and walked away, leaving Sarah alone in the firelight.

..ooOoo..

“She canna stay
here!” Rowan thundered, pacing back and forth as he fumed at his brother.

“Sae ye expect me
tae cast her out?  Shall I go tell her now?  Tell her tae take the babe and get
on her way?” Quinn asked sarcastically as he brought the axe down swiftly and
split the log before him into two.  He bent and placed another piece of wood on
the stump before him, gritted his teeth in annoyance with his brother and swung
the axe handily.  He had always found chopping wood a good way to relieve
frustration.

“I doona ken what
tae do with her, but she
canna
stay here.  If they come looking for her,
I’ll no have Anna put in danger,” Rowan glowered, stopping his pacing and
crossing his arms as he regarded Quinn.

“We’ll give her a
couple of days tae get on her feet again and then I’ll figure out what tae do
with her,” Quinn said, lowering the axe and wiping the sweat from his brow with
the back of his forearm.  “Malcolm should be home in the next few days.  Maybe
ye can take Anna intae town for awhile until we ken that it’s safe here.”

“We doona have
time for that!  Winter is all but upon us and there’s sae much that still needs
done.  We canna afford tae be wastin’ what precious time we have left ferrying
back and forth tae town.  Anna shouldna be traveling besides.”

“I’m no casting
her out, Rowan,” Quinn said firmly.  “She can stay as long as she needs.”

“Christ, Quinn,”
Rowan said, shaking his head in disbelief.  “Do ye no see how dangerous having
her here is tae us?  We’ve avoided the savages until now and tae harbor one of
their women here could bring them right tae our front door!”

Quinn did not
respond.  The crack of the axe striking through the splitting wood resounded
through the valley.  He leaned the axe against the large tree stump used for
splitting wood and bent to gather the wood that he had split.  He tossed the
smaller pieces into the wood pile next to the house and placed another large
round of wood onto the stump for cutting.

“Quinn!  Will ye
no stop and listen to me?” Rowan said, now angry.  He reached out and grabbed
Quinn harshly by his shoulder.

Quinn shrugged out
of his reach and glared at his younger brother.

“She can stay as
long as she needs,” he thundered, tossing down the axe and walking briskly back
towards his cabin.

Rowan stood alone
by the woodpile, dumbfounded by his brother’s recklessness.  As infuriated as
he was at Quinn, he couldn’t help but notice that this was the first time that
Quinn had cared deeply about something in a long time.  It was good to see some
fight put back into his brother.  Maybe the old Quinn was coming back.

Chapter Three

“Quinn!” Sarah
called out into the darkness of the cabin.  Her chest shook from the frantic
rhythm of her breathing and her heart thundered erratically in her chest.

“Aye?  What’s
amiss, lass?” Quinn asked worriedly, bridging the distance between them in mere
seconds.  “Ouch!” he yelped, having stubbed his big toe against the wooden
crate that Mairi slept in next to his bed.  “Christ, that hurt!” he exclaimed
and his hand settled on Mairi, who had been jostled into wakefulness when he
had accidentally kicked her impromptu crib.

Mairi began to
whimper and Quinn’s large hand rested steady on her chest in response,
enveloping her with his touch.  He rocked her softly from side-to-side until
she quieted and drifted back to sleep.  Quinn had taken to the baby immediately
and Sarah was surprised by how at ease he was around Mairi.

“Shh…it’s alright
princess,” he cooed, causing Sarah’s heart to melt.

Sarah couldn’t
help the smile that spread over her face.  “Princess?” she asked, heart
bursting with emotion as she watched this giant man, her savior, speak so
sweetly to her daughter.

“Aye.  She’s a
princess tae me,” Quinn said shyly, his face turning crimson in the dim light. 
Ever so carefully, he removed his hand from Mairi, who had fallen back into her
peaceful slumber. Assured that she was asleep, he lowered himself to sit on the
bed next to Sarah.

“What’s wrong,
lass?” he asked, eyes searching her face in the dimly-lit room.  The fire had
nearly burned out and it was the middle of the night.

He was surprised
to see that Sarah had been crying.

“I’m better now,”
she whispered, reaching up to wipe the tears from her face with the back of her
hand.  Involuntarily, she began to chuckle as Quinn rubbed his stubbed toe.  He
was doing his best to remain stoic, but winced, giving Sarah the indicator that
he really had hurt himself.  “Are you alright?”

“Fine.  Grace
wasna a virtue that I was blessed with,” he said, smiling as he reached down
and looked at his smarting big toe.

“Would you mind
lying down next to me?” Sarah asked, eyes flitting up to meet Quinn’s.  She
knew that what she was asking was improper, but she didn’t care.  Quinn would
bring her comfort.  He had been like a talisman in this ordeal, calm and
steady, grounding her and protecting her.

In answer, Quinn
crawled across her and settled himself beside her on the bed.  Sarah turned
towards him and rested her cheek against his bare chest.  Quinn fitted his arms
around her and they held each other for a moment in silence.  Holding Sarah
felt so right even though he had only met the lass days before.  Having bonded
over Mairi’s birth, it felt like he had known Sarah for much longer.  Quinn knew
that he should not indulge his desire to touch her, to hold her, but he was not
strong enough to push her away.

“Are ye scared of
Mairi’s father?” Quinn asked, absentmindedly brushing Sarah’s silky black hair.

“Yes,” she
whispered, as the tears began to flow once again.  She was embarrassed as her
tears ran onto Quinn’s chest, betraying her effort to remain strong.  “I’m  so sorry
that I brought you and your family into this,” Sarah confessed earnestly.  “I
know that I should go back, that I should not stay here, but Quinn, I feel so
safe when I’m here with you that I haven’t been able to force myself to leave.”

“Ye doona need tae
leave, Sarah,” he whispered, consoling her.  “I’ll not have ye takin’ Mairi
intae danger.  We’ll figure something out.”

“Thank you.”

“Will he come
looking for you?” Quinn asked, concern evident in his voice.

“I think so,”
Sarah said, lifting her face from Quinn’s chest and wiping away her tears.  “He
won’t care that I’ve left, but I’m afraid that he wants Mairi.”

“When he comes after
her, will he try tae hurt my family?” Quinn asked the question that had been
weighing heavily on his mind.  He could not allow Anna and his brothers to be
put in jeopardy.

“Not if he can
avoid it.  The Cherokee are generally peaceful unless provoked,” she said as
she snuggled closer and inhaled Quinn’s masculine scent.  Touching him calmed
her.

“Harboring his
errant wife and newborn daughter is not provocation?”

“I’m not his
wife,” Sarah said, knitting her eyebrows into a scowl as she thought of Mairi’s
father.

“What is his
name?” Quinn asked, needing to know.

“Adahy,” Sarah
responded, hatred evident in her voice.  “He wants to take Mairi and give her
to his wife.  She hasn’t been able to have children.  Adahy forced me…he took
me so that he could give his wife a baby,” Sarah revealed.  Fresh tears welled
in her eyes as she thought about Adahy.

Rage boiled within
Quinn.  His heart ached when he thought of what Sarah had endured at the hands
of this bastard.  What it must have been like for her to feel the child growing
within her belly, knowing that it would be taken from her upon its birth and
given to another woman.  Quinn now understood why Sarah had fled from the man
who had fathered Mairi.  He wanted to kill this man.  He wanted to choke the
very life from his body as penance for what he had done to sweet Sarah.

Quinn pulled Sarah
against his chest and stroked her back in reassurance.

“It’ll be
alright.  I’ve got ye now.  I’ve got the both of ye.  I’ll not let him take
Mairi.  Sleep now,” he whispered as he tenderly stroked Sarah’s hair.

“He torments me
when I sleep,” Sarah revealed.  “That’s why I called out for you in the first
place.  I dreamed that he came in the night and stole Mairi.”

..ooOoo..

Quinn held Sarah
against his chest and watched her sleep.  The peaceful rise and fall of her
breathing was mesmerizing.  Her dark lashes rested on her cheeks and she looked
so innocent, so beautiful as she slept.  He wanted nothing more than to hold
her like this, to enjoy her slight weight against his side.  Her skin was so
soft against his and her soft, feminine smell aroused him despite his best
intentions.