Seeing Danger (Sinclair and Raven #2)(60)

He eased her back onto the bed.

“Open for me, Lilly, let me make you mine.”

Lilly had never wanted anything more than to be possessed by Devonshire Sinclair. She let her legs fall open and felt him slowly enter her.

“Wrap your legs around my waist.”

His jaw was clenched and sweat glistened on his body. He looked like a fierce warrior. Her warrior, Lilly thought, and then she could think no more.

“Kiss me, Dev,” she whispered at the bite of pain as he sank deep inside her.

“You are mine now,” he breathed against her lips.

“Yes, and you are mine.”

Slowly withdrawing, he re-entered, and while there was pain, there was also pleasure, and then she felt it building again. That wave of pleasure she’d ridden just moments before. He was gentle, easing in and out of her slowly, the effort to hold back showing in his body.

“Let go, Dev,” Lilly whispered, and he thrust into her until they both found their release.

He lay beside her, breathless.

“T-Toby?” she whispered.

“Is healed,” he said, yawning as he moved them to lie on the pillows. Lilly kissed his chest and closed her eyes as he pulled up the blankets and in seconds she was slumbering, as was Devon.



Lilly woke to darkness. The fire was out, yet she felt no fear because beneath her cheek beat the heart of the man she now understood she loved. She felt no need to hurry as she usually did upon waking—in fact, her body felt the stirrings of need as he stretched beneath her. Last night had been a revelation to Lilly. Previously she had believed men used women to meet their own needs, and that the women gained nothing from the union, but now she knew better. His fingers skimmed her shoulder, and she felt like purring. To wake every day like this would be heaven.

“Do you want me to light a candle, Lilly?”

“No, I'm not afraid when I'm with you.”

His hands lifted her high for a slow lingering kiss, and then lowered her down beside him. He turned on his side to look at her.

“If you stay on top of me like that I will want you again and it will be too soon, love,” he said, answering her unspoken question. “We also need to talk, Lilly, and I need you to hear me out before you ask questions.”

“All right.”

Needing to touch him, Lilly placed her palm on his chest. He covered it with his own, twining their fingers and then lifting hers to his lips.

“Do you feel well this morning; any niggles of pain from your adventures yesterday?”

“I am well, Devon. Should we check on Toby?”

“He has someone sitting with him until we rise.”

They lay in silence for a while, and then he began to speak.

“My family is different.” He laughed as she snorted. “In more ways than one,” he added. “They have special senses like you.”

“I don't understand?”

“I need to tell you the entire story, Lilly, so bear with me.”

“All right.”

“Supposedly, hundreds of years ago one of our ancestors saved the Duke of Raven from certain death. It is believed by the Sinclairs that our gift was the result of this event.”

“By gift, you mean the special senses?” Lilly grappled to understand.

“Yes. The Sinclairs were given the job of protecting the Ravens for future generations, and it is also said that we were given our title as a gift by King Edward III in 1335 for our protection of the Ravens. Our land sits beneath Raven castle.”

“And have they... Sinclairs, I mean. Have they saved Ravens?”

“Yes, many of them. Both Eden and I saved James, and then I you.”

“Tell me of these senses you speak of?”

“I have the gift of sight, Cam has the heightened sense of smell, Essie taste, and Eden hearing. My younger siblings also have them.”

“It is almost beyond belief and yet I have to believe it, don't I, because I saved Toby. How is that possible, as I am not a Sinclair?”

Lilly closed her eyes as Devon traced the line of her brow.

“You are, actually. Someone from your family line, hundreds of years ago, was saved by a Sinclair. They had a liaison, and the child was raised a Raven.”

“If I read this tale I would not believe it,” Lilly whispered. “The fact that it is true is hard to grasp.”

“I know, but you will in time.”

“But I am not a true Raven either.”

“You carry their blood, Lilly. You are a Raven.”

“When did you find out I was James's cousin?” Lilly whispered.

“The day I saved you outside the Watch House.”

“And you were unhappy about what you learned, weren't you, Dev?”

“I was not unhappy about saving you, my love.”

Lilly accepted the kiss he brushed over her lips.

“You have to understand that my family has lived with a secret for many years, and supposedly we are what we are because of the Ravens, and yes, it came as a shock to know that the woman who unsettled me was one of them, but only because I did not see it coming.”

“I can see that would be unsettling,” Lilly conceded. It was certainly a great deal to take in, and had she learned of it even yesterday, she would have doubted his words, but after healing Toby, she did not.