Read Online Redemption (Book Two of the Shipwrecked Series) by Jenna Stone - Free Book Online Page B

back the tears that threatened to
fall.
    “I thought it
would have been better tae feel pain, tae feel something, anything rather than
nothing at all,” Quinn said shakily as he brought his hand up and raked it
through his hair.  “I just wanted tae feel something tae ken that I was still
alive,” he whispered as he clenched his teeth from the strain of the flood of
emotions that overtook him.
    Sarah did not
respond immediately, but was deliberate as she chose her words.  Quinn had
claimed that he was “broken,” and now Sarah had begun to understand why.
    “Quinn,” she
whispered as she continued to stroke the skin over his collarbone lightly with
her fingers.  “It wasn’t your fault.  You must forgive yourself.”
    “I’ll always think
that there must have been something that I could have done, something that
might have saved her.”
    Silence fell
between them for a moment.  Sarah wrapped her arms more firmly about Quinn’s
shoulders and held him.
    “I didna think
that I’d ever feel again.  I had expected to live the rest of my days as a
shell of a man…until I met ye, Sarah,” he confessed, stroking her hair softly. 
“When ye came crashing intae my life, I felt happiness for the first time in a
long time.  When I first realized that I had feelings for ye, it was as if my heart
was torn open fresh.  All of my thoughts as fears about what had happened tae
Mairi came crashing back and it was more painful that I could have ever
imagined that it would be.”
    “Is that why you
left?” Sarah asked softly.
    “Aye.  I needed
tae be by myself so that I could grieve for her properly.  Having felt nothing
for so long, it felt as though I was raw inside.  I was happy tae feel
something even though it hurt sae bad.”
    “I’m glad you came
back,” Sarah confessed as she looked up into Quinn’s gray eyes.  The hurt that
she saw there was astonishing.
    “I didna expect
tae have feelings for ye, lass.  But it seems that the more I try tae fight
what it is that I feel for ye, the stronger it becomes.”
    “I’m sorry, Quinn,
but I’m not her,” Sarah said as a pang of jealously overtook her.  She cast her
eyes down towards the floor, feeling the unwelcome sting of tears building
behind her eyes.
    “Och, lass. 
That’s not why I want ye.  I ken that yer not her.  I doona want ye tae think
that I’m settling for you in her stead!” Quinn said adamantly as he pulled away
from Sarah and forced her chin up so that she would look into his eyes.  “What
happened tae Mairi broke something deep inside of me.  I thought that I would
never recover from losing her, in fact, there were many times when I wanted to
die.  Ye changed that, Sarah.  When ye came into my life it was like the
sunlight flooded suddenly into the darkness that had become my life.  I want ye ,”
he said with conviction.  “I think that it was because of ye, because of these
feelings that ye’ve kindled inside of me that I was finally able tae grieve for
Mairi and lay her spirit tae rest.”
    Quinn trailed the
backs of his fingers lightly over Sarah’s jaw line, gently tracing his way down
to her chin.  The pad of his thumb brushed softly over her lower lip and the
desire that he saw building in her eyes told him the answer that he had been
seeking. 
    She wanted him in
return.
    “I’m worrit that
I’ll fail ye.  I’m worrit that when ye need me I will fail ye as I did Mairi,”
Quinn revealed.  He stroked Sarah’s face longingly, trailing his index finger
lightly down her cheek.
    “Fail me?” Sarah
asked haltingly, shaking her head sternly to cast off Quinn’s self-doubt. 
“You’d never fail me!  You saved my life…you saved Mairi’s life,” Sarah
pleaded, willing Quinn to believe in himself as she did.
    “If I lost ye, if
I failed ye or if Mairi was hurt I’d…” Quinn trailed off.  He shook his head
and struggled to find the right words to express himself.  “It would kill me if
anything