by Vella, Wendy
“No. They know I need them and will come soon. Tell me about your dog’s name.” She uncovered his wound again and pressed down. He could do nothing to stop the grunt of pain.
“Forgive me, but the bleeding must be staunched.”
“My br-brother named him,” Rory gritted out. The pain was starting to double his vision. “A friend he lost.”
“’Tis a wonderful thing indeed to name a pet after a valued friend, and to have family, for that matter.”
Not my family.
“Just a little longer and we will have you home, warm and dry, where my cousin can help you. She is a healer and teaching me.”
She had thick lashes, and brows that arched over those stunning green eyes and seemed to take up a great deal of her face. Her skin was smooth and pale, color riding her cheekbones from the harsh wind. Her top lip had a lush curve that drew his eyes. He remembered the feel of it pressed to his.
A lady of quality, he thought. Not to be touched by the likes of him.
“Where are w-we?”
“I beg your pardon?” She returned her eyes to his.
“I came in by boat. Where is this place?”
“The village of Crunston Cliff. My family lives here. We have come for my sister’s wedding and the Christmas festivities.”
He’d never celebrated anything in his life before. Not his birth date or any other date.
“D-do you live here?”
“No, but my family d-does.”
Her stutter had him reaching for the scarf. “You are c-cold now. Take the scarf, Kate.”
“No, you have more need of it. Do I detect a French accent?”
“I have j-just arrived from there.”
“Where is your boat?”
“G-gone.” He had no wish to discuss this further. They’d left him for dead and would be made to pay if he lived long enough to see that happen.
“Do you have family here?”
“I do n-not.” What family Rory had, had turned their backs on him long ago.
“I cannot see if the bullet has left your shoulder, but I have no wish to move you again. It will need to be extracted if it is still in there.” She leaned over him to speak, close enough that he caught her scent. Flowers and sunshine, Rory thought. She smelled of dreams he’d long ago given up on. He wanted to hold her closer, let her body warm him.
“Then I-I will find a surgeon to do so.”
“My cousin has a clinic in the town of Crunston Cliff and will be able to do that for you.”
“I c-can look after myself.”
“And yet you will let my cousin look at you, as she is the nearest healer.”
Her eyes were steady and determined. He saw fear too as she looked up at the ridge above them once more.
Kate hadn’t asked who had left him there to die on the beach, but she had to be wondering, had to hope she was safe or if he’d deserved to be left there to die.
“If the bullet is still lodged, you will likely die if it is not removed with some expediency.”
Rory grunted as she pressed harder on his shoulder. He felt her shivers.
“You need warmth.” He reached out with his other hand and pulled her closer until she rested on his chest. He was cold, and yet together they would find warmth.
“Your injury!”
“Is numb from the cold,” he lied. “Be still and let us warm each other.”
“I-I don’t think that’s possible, as we are both chilled through.”
“W-we shall at least try then.”
He felt something like peace slip over him as he lay there on that cold ground. Wind buffeted them, and sea sprayed dabbled his cheeks, but he could stay there holding her forever.
“You should leave here, Kate.”
“I will not leave you.”
The hell of it was, he didn’t want her to, which shocked him. Rory didn’t need people.
“Rory?”
“Yes.”
“We will get you out of here.” She lifted her head off his chest. “You will be all right.”
He didn’t speak, just looked at her. Felt a surge of emotion deep in his chest. Giving in, he cupped her head and kissed her once more. God, she was sweet, her body pressed to his. He was cold, injured, and all he could think about was taking more of this woman.
“They are here.” She whispered the words against his lips and then eased off his body.
“Who?” Rory could feel himself sliding away, feel the numbing cold and blood loss taking him from consciousness now she’d left him.
“My family. You will be all right now; they will care for you.”
Rory had no wish to spend time with either her or her family. He needed to get to the nearest port and find a boat to take him back to France, but to do that he must be strong enough to deal with the men who’d betrayed him. So he would take this woman’s care and then he would leave, and justice would be his.
Chapter Three
“Kate!”
She looked up and saw a line of faces.
“Down here, Wolf!” She waved a hand.
“Thank God!” Her brother’s relief reached her.
Rory lay still beneath her hands, his eyes on hers. She could feel them, just as she could feel the pressure of his lips still. Lord, what a kiss. Even from a man who should not have the strength to do more than lie there. The frigid conditions should have negated what she felt, and yet she’d felt so much.
Her heart pounded, and her body tingled.
“You are safe now.”
“I should not have kissed you. Forgive m-me.”
She looked down at him, pressing a finger to his lips.
“There is nothing to forgive.” As the words left her mouth his eyes closed.
“Rory!” She patted his cheek but they did not open. “Help!”
Wolf came first, running down the treacherous path, taking the lead, then Dev, their eldest cousin. Max and James were next, half brothers, the latter the Duke of Raven. Her cousin Cam was there. Last was Nicholas, cousin to the Ravens and soon to be her brother-in-law.
She saw the dark hair and green eyes of those who carried her blood. The Sinclair genes were strong.
Both Myrtle and Bran started barking as the men reached them.
Kate nearly wept at the relief. This was her family, and they would see Rory safe. Essie would help heal him, and he would survive. Must survive.
“What the hell are you doing out here at such an hour?” Wolf reached her first, cursing fluently. “God’s blood, I thought you were the sister that showed a modicum of sense!” He dropped down beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, crushing her to him in a punishing hug that told of his fears.
He was big and dark, with the vivid green eyes that were a family trait, but on him and the man behind him, Devonshire, Lord Sinclair, even more so. Those eyes saw what many could not.
“Who is that?” Dev dropped down beside her. Both wore thick coats, gloves, and scarves to ward off the frigid winter sea air. They could be brothers with their physical traits and personalities.
“I was walking and found him behind some rocks. He has been shot in the shoulder and was bound hand and foot and gagged. He is so cold, we must save him.”
“Why must trouble follow this family?” Dev said, touching her cheek. “You’re cold.”
“Christ, Kate, he could have hurt you.” She was grabbed by Wolf again and held close. Kate took a moment to enjoy the warmth of him and allow her fears to ease. “I woke so quickly I fell out of bed. I knew it was you, just as Alice did when she burst into my room.”
“Now is not the time for that discussion, cousin.” Cambridge Sinclair arrived next. “Hello, Katie.” He laid a hand on her head briefly. “Are you well, darling?”
“I-I am, just cold. But he is shot and now unconscious.”
Wolf took his scarf off and wound it round her neck several times until it reached her ears.
“Sinclairs courting trouble once more,” Jame
s said, reaching them with his brother Max Huntington at his side.
“Indeed, there is never a dull moment with this family,” Nicholas added.
“No!”
The word was torn from Max as he dropped to his haunches on the other side of Rory. “Rory!” The hand he reached out was shaking as he touched the man’s cheek. “Is he…?”
“No, he has just fainted,” Kate said quickly, hearing the desperation in his voice. “Who is he, Max?”
“My brother.”
“Good lord, and Kate found him on our beach,” Cam said. “Interesting though this development is, we need to get him warm and tended to by Essie with some expediency.”
“How bad is he hurt?” Max had eyes just like Rory’s, Kate realized.
“I think it’s a bullet wound to his shoulder,” Kate said. “But I could not see if it passed through.”
“Lord, let’s hope so. I helped fish one out of you, Max, and have no wish to do so again,” Cam added. “Of course, he’s a big brute like you also, so it will take all of us to get him up the cliff and back to Oak’s Knoll.”
With a loud woof, Rory’s dog ran to Max.
“Bran?”
Clearly they knew each other, as the shaggy beast pressed his face into Max’s.
“He was a pup when I left.”
“He remembers you.” Kate swallowed the lump in her throat as Max closed his eyes briefly. She knew nothing about his family, only that he’d been searching for them.
“So this is my other brother,” James said, now crouched behind Rory’s head.
“The reunion can wait. We must get him back quickly. He’s chilled and in grave danger,” Kate said.
They worked together to carry him up, Dev, James, Max, and Wolf doing most of the work, with Cam issuing orders and Nicholas there should he be required.
“Your family has lead in their blood,” Cam said as finally they reached the top. “He’s as heavy as you, Max.”
“And you’d know this how?” Dev grunted.
“I can see how hard you’re breathing.”
Kate kept her eyes on Rory; he had yet to open his.
“I-I don’t know how long he was there, but he’s cold, and there is a lot of blood on his shirt.”
“It’s all right, we’re here now.” Cam wrapped an arm around her. “Still your fears and let us help him.”
“But why was he there, Cam? And bound hand and foot, left to die.”
Tall like all the men in her family, Cam carried no spare weight and had boundless energy and a constant need to eat. He was also kind, although he hid that behind words and teasing.
“I don’t know yet, Kate, but we will. For now we care for him and for Max.”
Her gaze found Max, the man who had just found his brother, and she saw the fear etched deep in his handsome face.
“They are the same to look at. I didn’t see it at first.”
“Lions with their tawny manes and huge bodies. I wonder if he shares Max’s quiet charm?”
“His eyes are the same, although perhaps more golden.”
“Come, sister.” Wolf now sat on his horse and held his hand out to her. Cam lifted her up before him. “Let me warm you.” He opened his coat. She huddled back into his solid body and for now let him hold her. Max carried his brother, while James and Dev rode at each side of his horse to assist should they be needed. Nicholas had galloped on ahead to make sure things were ready for their arrival. Cam trailed behind.
The journey was a cold one, and now she was safe, Kate’s shivers turned to shudders.
“’Tis the cold and the shock.” Wolf tightened his arms around her.
“I-I thought to walk, that’s all. I woke restless, with a need to stretch my legs. S-something told me I must come to the cliffs, must go down the beach. It is not London, so I chose to do so.”
“It is the middle of winter, Kate; there is danger everywhere.”
“But had I not done so, he would be dead—Max’s brother drowned even as we speak.”
“I know it, but as yet do not understand the ramifications.”
She knew what he meant. Sinclairs married Ravens.
“Must there be ramifications? Surely the legend is not always true?”
“Perhaps. I suppose we shall wait and see. For one, I have no idea the kind of man Max’s brother is. As you have stated, why was he there, bound and left to die?”
They rode as fast as they were able, but the journey still seemed to take too long even though the distance was not great. When Oak’s Knoll, the Sinclair cousins’ family home, came into sight, Kate exhaled, relieved. Large, old but solid, this was a home that had memories, and she’d loved it from the first day she’d entered.
Above, the castle rose out of the mists, flags flying on the turrets. But she knew the rest of her family would be inside the house or would arrive shortly. It was their way. If one of them was in danger, they gathered.
“Hello, I hear you have a patient for me?” Essie ran out the front door as they arrived.
Wolf helped Kate down, and she hurried to where Rory was being lowered into James’s and Dev’s arms. Those golden eyes were open now, filled with pain, but alert for all the shudders wracking his body.
“I-I can stand.” He tried to push away from the support. “The w-woman, K-Kate. Where is she?”
“I am here, Rory. You are in good hands now; my family will help you.” Max, she noted, was staying out of his line of vision. “Come, we must get you warm and see to your injury.”
He grabbed her wrist.
“Bran?”
“He is here and will be cared for also.”
He looked around him at the faces.
“Where am I?”
“Oak’s Knoll, with my family. You are safe.”
“I’m never safe… no one is.” He then turned and came face-to-face with his brother.
Chapter Four
“Christ!”
“Hello, Rory.” Max came closer.
“I have to go.” He pulled away from her and turned, stumbling, then fell, hard, hitting the ground with a thud on his injured shoulder. His cry was anguished.
“Rory!” Kate dropped down beside him. He looked at her and then his eyes rolled back in his head and he was once again unconscious.
“I should have stayed out of sight.” Max joined her.
“Who is this, Max?” Essie was soon beside them, lifting Rory’s eyelids.
“My brother.”
“At last,” Essie sighed. “He is not in a good state, however.”
“He took a bullet to his shoulder, Essie. I found him bound and gagged on the beach.”
“Dear Lord, thank God you were there, Kate. Josiah, Bertie!”
Two brothers looked after the Sinclair family when they were in residence—Josiah and Bertie Temple. The both appeared.
“Go and ready the bed in the surgery and stoke the fires,” Essie directed. “Then make up Dev’s old bed. He’ll need to be transferred there after I’ve looked him over.”
The brothers rushed away to do her bidding.
“Pick him up,” she directed the men, who until that moment had stood silently observing. “Hurry now, we must get him inside and out of the cold.”
“I can’t believe he’s here. My brother,” Max rasped.
She’d only ever known this man as the strong silent one who made up part of the backbone that was the Sinclair and Raven families. A man who loved his own with every corner of his heart. A man who could be relied on for his strength and honor. She’d never seen him unsettled, but he was now, and justifiably so.
They walked slowly forward careful not to jostle Rory. Passing gardens and a herb patch. Some were flowering, but most were dormant awaiting spring and summer.
“Easy up the steps,” Essie cautioned.
Inside the house, there were walls still showing scuff marks and worn floor coverings from the seven children who had been raised here. This was a home with a heart, and Kate loved
it.
A huge bough of greenery hung from a hook on the wall, a large red bow securing it. Christmas was in the air. The scents of cinnamon and spices followed them through the house.
“Kate?” Alice, her sister, appeared in a doorway looking worried.
“I am well, Alice, and will explain everything soon.”
Nicholas stood with Alice as the others entered the surgery.
“On the table, please,” Essie said.
The men lowered a still unconscious Rory to the table. A scurry of claws had them looking to the door, and in bounded Bran.
“I can’t have him in here, Max,” Essie said.
The dog was soon dispatched—after it had put both paws on the table and looked at Rory.
“At least someone is pleased to see me,” Max muttered, returning to the table where his brother lay unmoving.
“Nicholas, James, and anyone else without a heightened sense may leave,” Essie said. “Max, help me get him out of his clothes. Bertie, get them food and make tea. Perhaps prepare some broth for the patient. Josiah, I need you to heat bricks; we must get him warm.”
“And leave some food for us,” Cam demanded as the Raven men left.
Kate had noticed that about Essex Huntington. She was considered the gentle Sinclair sibling until she was healing, and then she was like an officer issuing orders in the military.
“Cam, I need boiled water and the cloths readied for surgery should they be needed.”
Kate put on an apron and did as she was directed, collecting the herbs for the tea Essie would force down Rory’s throat and setting about making it.
“So you saved my brother, Kate?” Max said.
Wolf made a noise that sounded like he was in pain.
“There is no need to make more of it than need be,” she added quickly.
Sinclairs married Ravens, or those of their blood, and usually after saving them. She’d been told that when she’d arrived in London for her first foray into society and met her cousins. Rory was Max’s brother; Max was the Duke of Raven’s bother.
“But he would have died had you not come to his aid,” Wolf said, looking grim.