Sensing Danger (A Sinclair and Raven Novel Book 1)

by Wendy Vella

  When the music finished, she turned to flee but James clamped his fingers around her arm and began walking. She had little option but to follow or make a scene. He moved slowly through the crowd, towing her behind him until they had reached a door that he opened and tugged her through.

  “Release me!”

  Ignoring her, he set off down a hall in long strides, his pace now faster. Eden was forced to trot to keep up with him. Using her other hand she tried to pry her wrist free but he refused to release her.

  “James, let me go!”

  He turned right and she lost her balance, so he hauled her to his side and half carried her up a set of stairs, then he began to test doors, opening and closing them until he found the one he wanted. Flinging it wide, he picked Eden up and carried her over the threshold. He lowered her to her feet and turned to shut and lock the door behind them.

  The open curtains allowed the moonlight to flood the room and Eden stumbled backward until her bottom hit something solid—a desk. James followed, his eyes intent through the small holes in his mask.

  “Wh-what do you want from me?”

  He pulled off his gloves then wrenched off the mask, and threw them to the floor as he kept walking until his body touched hers.

  “Take out your earplugs,” he rasped. “I want you to hear everything clearly.”

  “I do... I will,” she said, but he held out a hand. She did as he asked, and watched as he tucked them into his pocket.

  Lifting his hands, he removed her mask and then cupped her face, tilting it so he could see her clearly. “I need you, Eden.”

  Four simple words that undid her completely. The emotion in them was raw and true and she felt her resistance flee. Their lips met and he took her mouth in a hard, searing kiss. As one stopped, another started, and Eden met him head-on. Their teeth clashed, tongues melded, and it was not enough, not nearly enough.

  “I have watched you for days.” He spoke the words against her lips. “Watched and wanted you until you filled my every waking thought, and when I sought relief in sleep, you tortured me in a web of sensual dreams.”

  Eden moaned as James trailed heated kisses down her neck. He grabbed handfuls of her skirt, raising it up her legs until he could wrap his hand around her thigh, the heat of his touch almost too hot to bear. Her hands fisted in his hair, tugging his curls, stroking his neck. Innocent she may be, but intuition and blind need were directing her. Throwing her head back, she sighed as his lips touched the curves of her breasts rising above the bodice of her dress. He was a master of torture, each stroke or lick sending a pool of heat between her legs. She felt his fingers pull the lacings of her dress free, and he then eased it from her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor in a soft pool of silken fabric at her feet.

  “I know not what madness you have created inside me, my sweet siren, but only you can soothe it.”

  James eased her chemise slowly up her body, his hands caressing the flesh they encountered on the way. Eden shivered as he slipped it over her head and threw it aside.

  “Trust me, sweetheart, and know I would never hurt you.”

  “I want to,” Eden whispered, knowing that only the truth could be spoken now. “But I'm scared, James.”

  “Trust me,” he said again. “And forgive me for the idiot I have been.”

  His eyes held hers and she saw he meant every word. Only when she nodded did he look at her body.

  “In my dreams you were beautiful, but this….” Eden heard the emotion thicken his voice. “You are so much more that words fail me.”

  She could manage no words either as his hand cupped her breast.

  “Yes, love, just feel.”

  Heat slammed into Eden as James lowered his head and ran his tongue up her breast, teasing the aching flesh before taking the hard bead of her nipple into his mouth. She was awash with pleasure.

  “It is so much,” she whispered, trying to find words.

  He lifted her onto the desk and stepped between her thighs, and suddenly she was exposed to him.

  “Christ, Eden, you're beautiful.” She felt the heat from his eyes as they ran over her body.

  He kissed her again. This time it was slow and heated, a torturous pleasure that sent liquid heat through her veins. She felt his fingers touch her breasts before trailing down her waist to run through the curls only she had ever touched.

  “Trust me,” he whispered again as his hand moved lower to stroke the damp petals between her legs, soft caresses that drove a whimper to her lips.

  “Just feel, Eden.”

  James kissed her lush breasts again, laving her nipples as she arched into his mouth. He swept a finger over the tight bud between her thighs. She arched forward in shock as he circled it slowly. Her moans made his passions soar, yet he wanted this for her, needed her climax before he took her. She was innocent, he reminded himself, trying to pull back, determined not to terrify her with the fierce passions that urged him on. Slipping a finger inside her sheath, he began to stroke her.

  He watched her eyes, watched for any sign she was not right there with him, but the gray depths were glazed with sensual heat.

  “So beautiful,” James said, easing his fingers from her. He quite literally wanted to feast on the body before him. Soft, pale skin, long silken limbs. Blood thundered through him, his body hard with need. Pushing a cloud of dark curls over her shoulder, he took her mouth once more. Kissing Eden was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Before, it had been brief and a means to an end, but with her, it was as if his soul stirred.

  He felt her fingers on his clothes, pulling the shirt from his breeches.

  “I want to see you, James. I need to touch you as you have me.”

  She slipped her hands beneath the hem and caressed him, her wicked fingers stroking his stomach.

  “Sweet Christ, Eden,” James rasped, pulling free. “Your touch is like a brand on my skin.” Quickly he removed his clothes and returned to her. Gritting his teeth, he let her touch him once more. She started with his shoulders and then moved to his chest. When she placed a soft kiss on the V at the base of his neck, James could do nothing to stop the shudder that rolled through him.

  She continued to kiss his neck and chest while her hands moved lower. He moaned, long and deep, as she touched his arousal, her wicked fingers circling the top and then moving lower. When she wrapped a hand about him he was sure he would find his release. Gritting his teeth, he let her continue for three heartbeats before removing her hand.

  Easing her backward on the desk, James thought he would always remember how she looked right here and now. Spread before him, her body aroused, eyelids lowered, hair everywhere. Her breasts were full, nipples tight.

  “There will be pain, sweetheart.”

  “I know, but I want this with you, James. I am not afraid.”

  He stroked her body, slowly arousing her further until she was again arching toward him. Aching to be fulfilled, James eased forward, slowly entering her tight wet sheath. His arousal pulsed with the need to drive in hard, but he would not hurt her. Teeth clenched, he tried to hold back. Her hands went to his cheeks, cupping his face. Her eyes held his as he slowly pushed through her innocence.

  “I love you, James!” The words were a cry as he sheathed himself deep inside her.

  “Eden, I—”

  “Sssh, I want no promises from you. I give you my love freely, and ask for nothing in return.”

  “You humble me.” James braced his hands on either side of her head, looking deep into her eyes. Her smile was the sweetest he had ever seen.

  “Hold still, sweetheart, let your body adjust.” She was tight and hot and his body was tense as he fought the urge to pull out and thrust hard inside her again.

  “The pain is easing.” Eden touched the ridge of his clenched jaw.

  “Are you sure?” He could feel his release, yet would not succumb until Eden had found hers. Cupping her breasts, he caressed the tips.

  “Oh, James.”r />
  James watched as her breath grew rapid, fingers now digging in to the desk she lay on. She was so close. He thrust into her again and again, and then she cried out his name. One thrust more and he found his release. The sensation shuddered through his entire body as wave upon wave of ecstasy crashed over him. James slumped forward on top of her, completely spent.

  “Oh my.”

  He found the strength to suck in several lungfuls of air before bracing himself over her once more. Her eyes were closed and a blissful smile tilted her ravaged lips. She looked like a fallen angel, his fallen angel. Looking around the room, he found a daybed, and lifting her into his arms, he staggered backward and collapsed in a tangle of limbs on it. Laying her on top of him, James closed his eyes. What the hell had just happened?

  “Eden, please be my wife.”

  “Yes.”

  “I know I am a stiff, uncompromising man, but—”

  “I said yes, James.”

  He was stunned. She had said yes and he had not even used the arguments he had spent days marshalling. Cupping the back of her head, he held her close as the realization that she would be his wife settled inside him. He felt something for her, there was no doubt about that. This jealousy was not normal, and neither was the fierce need that came over him whenever he saw her. He just wasn't sure what name to give the emotions yet.

  “I will try to be the husband you want, Eden, but in all honesty I will not be the easiest of men. I-I have never lived with people. Never had to think about their needs, and I am not a malleable person.” James needed her to understand what she would be stepping into if she did wed him. When, he added silently.

  “James, I live with Cam and Dev. Do you honestly believe your surly temper can upset me?”

  “I did not mention a surly temper, but yes, I take your meaning. Living with those two cannot have been easy.”

  “I love you, James, a strong unwavering once-in-a-lifetime love, and I ask nothing in return from you that I know you are not ready to give.”

  Her words caused warmth to spread through his body. Samantha had begun to reach all those cold places inside him, and something told James that Eden would be the one to finish the job.

  “All these feelings are so new to me, Eden. My father once told me that there was no place in a man's life for love or emotion, and as such he beat them out of me whenever I displayed any.”

  Eden pushed herself upright to look down at him, her eyes filled with anger for his father. James did not like sympathy, but anger he could cope with.

  “It is my fondest wish, James, that our fathers are settled in the bowels of hell for eternity.”

  He found a smile at her words. She would always be there to make him smile, and the thought had it widening.

  “’Tis all right now, my sweet. The memories no longer hurt me. Samantha has begun to heal me, and you—well, the minute I met you every other thought was driven from my head.”

  Cupping the back of her head, he pulled her down for a kiss. Soft and sweet, their lips clung.

  “But there is more I must tell you. Today, the private investigator I had employed to find who attempted to kill me told me that I have half brothers and sisters—five of them, to be precise.”

  “I can imagine that was quite a shock.”

  “Somewhat, but to be honest I am unsure why I had not come to this conclusion myself. I knew what my father was, the thought should have crossed my mind.”

  “Perhaps, and then perhaps not, but what matters is that I am sure you wish to locate them.”

  How could she understand him so well already?

  “I do, but the investigator also believes that it is possible that one of them is intent on harming me.” James told Eden what he knew, and that her brothers were also party to the information.

  “Well then.” She rubbed his chest. “We shall deal with what arises, but be assured you shall have us there at your side as you do.”

  James felt that fierce jolt of emotion once more as he looked at her. “If I marry you then I get them also?”

  “I'm afraid so.” She laughed.

  James gave a weighty sigh. “If I must, I must. And now, my sweet, we must dress and return before your brothers hunt me down and find me ravishing you once more.”

  “I wish I could stay in this room with you for the remainder of the evening. I hate these things, all that simpering and gushing.” Eden shuddered.

  “I like it no more than you, and promise that when we are wed we shall accept only a select few engagements. I will not marry you until I have found who is trying to kill me, Eden, it would be unfair to place you at risk. For now we must keep our engagement in the family.”

  James felt the tension that suddenly filled her body. “Please take care, James, I-I do not want to live without you.”

  He looked at her solemn face. She really did love him.

  “I have so much to live for now, my sweet, therefore, I promise to take care. Plus, I have the Sinclairs to protect me.”

  “It shall be my life's work,” she said as he lifted her off his body, and he liked the sound of her words.

  They dressed and tidied each other. He tied her mask and she his. He laced her gown, his hands straying to her breasts, but she slapped them away and reached for her slippers.

  “Come, Duke, we must return.”

  “Promise me you will not torment me by dancing with every man present in that dress. It will drive me to distraction” he said handing back her earplugs.

  “Promise,” Eden said, kissing his cheek.

  “Why do I not believe you?” James shook his head as he followed her from the room.

  He sent her in to the ballroom first, and followed several minutes later. The first person James encountered was Louis.

  “That is a very convincing costume, James. I could almost see you holding up a coach.”

  “Stand and deliver,” James muttered, looking around for Eden.

  “Your sea nymph is currently dancing with her surly elder brother.” Louis studied him. “By the look on your face, Raven, I would say the rift between you and Miss Eden Sinclair is repaired.”

  “I could wipe that smile from your face, Laurent.”

  “You could, however my debonair looks are what attracts women to me and to damage them would harm my prospects irreparably.”

  James snorted, then muttered a few unflattering words in French.

  “Tsk tsk, such language, and from a Duke no less.”

  “I thought you had already set your sights on someone, Laurent, and believe that someone has the surname Sinclair also?”

  “Perhaps,” was all he said before he went to find his next partner.

  Shaking his head, James threw a last lingering look at Eden before doing the same. It was going to be a long evening.

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  “Eden, the Duke has arrived and you are to come to Uncle’s office as soon as you are dressed.”

  “Go away,” Eden groaned, burying her head beneath the pillow. “I have barely been asleep.”

  “Did you not hear me!” her sister shrieked. Wrenching the curtains open and flooding the room with light, Essie then stormed to the bed and pulled off the bedcovers. “The Duke is downstairs talking to Dev and you are to join them soon.”

  “What!” Eden screeched, leaping out of bed. “Here, now? So soon? I had thought he would wait until—never mind, quick, help me wash and dress.”

  “Has he offered marriage, Eden?” Essie had gone very still, her hands clutching one of Eden's shifts to her chest.

  “Yes, and I have accepted.” Eden hugged her close.

  “But you said he was the last person you would marry just days ago and now—”

  “I love him, Essie, so very much.”

  “Really?”

  Eden nodded.

  They both burst into tears, remembering the talks they had shared long into the night at Oak’s Knoll—talks of marrying for love and nothing less. They had promised Dev
this, and Eden would honor that promise by marrying James, the man she loved.

  “Come, you must wash and hurry downstairs then, as I am sure Dev will not be as happy about the Duke's request as you are.”

  “I can hear the murmur of Dev's voice, but not James’s.” Eden tried to pick out her fiancé's words. “It is quite strange, Essie, but since I realized my feelings for him, I do not seem able to hear him like I do others.”

  “Really? That is unusual, don't you think?”

  “Very, but now is not the time to think about that.”

  Eden was soon dressed with the help of Essie and her maid. She then ran from the room and down the stairs.

  Standing outside her uncle's office, Eden placed a hand over her heart to ease the thudding in her chest. She knocked on the door and then entered.

  James sat on one side of the desk, looking handsome in a dove-gray jacket and darker gray trousers. Dev sat on the other; they were scowling at each other. They stood as she walked forward.

  “Good morning, James, Devon,” she said, offering a tentative smile.

  “The Duke has asked for your hand in marriage, Eden. I have neither accepted nor declined the offer, wishing to speak with you first.”

  “James, may I speak to my brother alone for a few minutes, please,” she said. He looked at her for a few seconds then smiled, a soft tender smile that was for her alone and made her toes curl inside her slippers.

  “Call for me when you are finished,” he said, taking one of her hands and kissing the back, and then ignoring the loud growl from Devon, he walked from the room, closing it softly behind him.

  “I know I told you I respected him, and that you were to be nice to him last night as he has had a trying time, Eden, but I also remember our discussion of a few days ago. He hurt you, and you said he was incapable of love. What has changed to make me think seriously about his proposal?”

  Eden walked around the desk to stand beside her brother's chair. Taking his hand in hers, she gripped it tight.