by Eve Vaughn
Descendants of the Light 4: Finding Eden
Eve Vaughn
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2006 Eve Vaughn
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ISBN (10) 1-59596-194-1
ISBN (13) 978-1-59596-194-5
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Prologue
H’trae: Tiearen, 494 H’trae years ago
Dyshira looked over her shoulder, expecting to see one of the hated Shadow People jump out at her any minute. “Hurry! We must get out of here now!”
Pushing one of her people through the portal, she stole another quick peek to make sure no one was behind them. A wave of sadness washed over her as she viewed the devastation. Children cried, houses were destroyed, their crops had been burned, and bodies lay on the ground. Some of the people had been taken as slaves.
She hadn’t arrived fast enough to save everyone. The Shadow People had wreaked total havoc on all she loved and held dear, killing those who dared to stand against their will.
“Hurry!” she screamed.
After she was assured that Garm was no longer breathing, Dyshira had taken off for the Temple of the Light to beg for intervention. Even as she pleaded her case with the Ancient Ones, Tiearen was under attack. She’d been told that, although she wouldn’t be able to save all of her people, she could at least save some of them, but that would mean leading them through a secret portal to another world -- called Earth.
Once she’d learned the whereabouts of this portal, which happened to be just behind the Falls of Tiearen, Dyshira raced to her homeland. She knew this was only the beginning. The Shadow People would attack again and again until nothing was left in their wake.
She breathed easier as the last three The’Rans made it through the portal. It should have given her a sense of relief but something wasn’t right. Someone was missing.
Father!
Bulbo had been at the rear of the line, helping her get everyone safely through the portal. She couldn’t leave him. Turning to her people who now looked back at her with anxious eyes, she gestured them forward. “Keep going and don’t look back. I’ll join you shortly.”
And with that she turned to go in search of her father.
“Father! Where are you?” she cried out, tears streaming down her face because she had a feeling that something terrible had happened to him.
“Run, Dyshira! Run!”
The voice belonged to her father. It sounded weak and defeated. How could he think she’d leave him when he was in trouble? She ran toward his call, growing more frantic with each passing second. The sight she stumbled upon chilled her to the bone.
She shook her head in shock. “Garm… you… you can’t be here. You’re…”
The tall dark-haired Ceyan threw his head back and released a throaty laugh. “Dead? Did you think your poison would kill me, Lady Wife, when I have your very power running through my veins?”
Two Ceyan guards flanking Garm stared at her with menacing silver eyes. What made her heart race with fright, however, was the sight of Garm casually holding her father against him. One large hand spanned Bulbo’s throat. The Ceyan King had a look about him that made Dyshira realize he’d snap her father’s neck at the slightest provocation.
Lifting her head and standing tall, she looked her husband in the eye. “Let him go, Garm.”
Garm lifted one dark sinister brow. “Let him go? Now why would I want to do that? What would you give me in exchange?”
She knew exactly what he wanted, but would he let her father go if she did surrender to him once more? “I will come back to you if you’ll let him go. Please. You have no need of him. It’s me you want.”
“You barter with what is already mine. You will come to me now, and your punishment for your crimes won’t be as harsh.”
She shook her head. “I’ll come to you when you let him go.”
Garm’s eyes narrowed before he barked out a harsh command to his guards. “Seize her!”
The two guards stepped forward, each grabbing an arm before she could turn to flee. “I beg of you, Your Highness. Let Dyshira go!” Bulbo pleaded, struggling against Garm’s grip.
“Hold your tongue, old man.”
“Please, Your Highness,” Bulbo continued on as though uninterrupted.
The quiet menace in Garm’s voice should have warned her something was about to happen, but she wasn’t prepared for what he did next. His hold tightened on Bulbo’s throat. Before a word of protest could escape her lips, Garm gripped the older man’s head with his free hand and yanked it roughly -- breaking Bulbo’s neck.
Dyshira screamed in horror. “Father!”
Garm released the old man, letting the lifeless body hit the ground. “I told him to be silent. I will not have my orders disobeyed. By the time I’m finished with you, you’ll wish you had shared your father’s fate.”
“You killed him,” was all she was able to whisper. Not even she would be able to save her father now. Dyshira thought of all she’d endured these past years at the hands of this beast. He’d blackmailed her into marrying him, humiliated her in front of his people, beat her, raped her. He was the cause of Tiearen’s destruction, and now he’d killed her father. Something within her snapped.
Hot rage tore through her body. “I call upon the Ancient Ones to seek vengeance on those who have harmed their chosen people!”
The ground began to shake.
The two Ceyan guards holding her let go of her arms as though scorched by fire. Garm advanced, his hand raised to strike her. “Stop this at once, you useless female.”
“Strike me, Ceyan, and you’ll only end up hurting yourself.”
Maybe it was the booming sound of her voice that stopped him, or the determination he must have read in her face, but Garm backed up, slightly. “Cease this now, woman, or you’ll only make your punishment worse.”
“No punishment you can give me is greater than what I’ve already suffered. I lay a curse on your head and on those who have harmed the chosen people. Your people will know physical pain and suffering until our land is restored, and you will die.” Dyshira threw her arms to the sky, bolts of lightning appearing as if from nowhere, striking one Ceyan guard and then the other.
Fear entered Garm’s eyes. His wings spread as he prepared to take flight, but huge lightning bolts, larger than the first two, struck him down. This didn’t kill him, but the next series of flashes did.
Only when she was positive Garm lay dead did Dyshira drop her arms, feeling more exhausted than she ever had before. Walking over to where Bulbo’s body lay, she knelt down and gathered his now cold frame in her arms.
“I promise you, Father, Tiearen will be restored.”
Chapter One
Rohman strode purposely to the bedroom, his woman squirming over his shoulder. He smacked her smartly on the
rear. “Cease your wiggling now, woman,” he muttered.
Eden yelped. “Ouch. That hurt, you big bully.”
“Then stop moving so much.” He couldn’t get to his room fast enough. He had the need to be inside of this exquisite woman right now. His cock was painfully hard and nothing would ease his discomfort except burying himself between Eden’s silky thighs. No woman had driven him to experience such primal lust.
When it was decreed by the Ancient Ones that he and his brothers would have to take The’Ran brides in order to save his people from a mysterious ailment that had befallen them, he’d balked at the idea. The last thing he wanted was to have some woman foisted on him, one who probably didn’t know her place.
Of course he knew he’d have eventually taken a mate in order to sire an heir, but it would have been on his own terms -- with a woman who wouldn’t make demands on him. By having to join with a woman who could possibly be the savior of his people, he’d feel beholden to her. That would probably give her ideas above herself.
There was nothing worse than a woman who didn’t know her place. Hadn’t his father once taught him that women were nothing but treacherous whores, none of them having a loyal bone in their bodies? At first, Rohman had railed against his father’s teachings. However, his world came crashing down around his head when he learned his father had only spoken the truth.
The very person who’d taught him that hard lesson was his mother. Rohman had no use for women beyond that. For some reason though, Eden made him mad with desire. What made her so different from other women? Not even his mistress, Ani, who he favored above the other wenches he’d lain with, made his body react this way.
Practically kicking the door open when he reached his sleeping chambers, Rohman hurriedly dumped Eden onto the bed, only sparing her well formed body a moment’s glance before covering it with his own. She was so tiny -- so beautiful and she was his.
Rohman captured her lush lips in a hungry, fervent kiss. By the stars she was sweet, unlike anything he’d ever tasted before, feminine and hot. It pleased him to hear her moans of acceptance. The last thing he wanted was a reluctant mate, but his cock was so demmed hard that any protest would barely register anyway.
The soft lips beneath his felt like flower petals. Her warm body, squirming beneath him, only fanned the flames of his desire, sending a jolt of pleasure through him unlike anything he’d ever experienced.
Eden twisted her head away, breaking the contact of their mouths. “Wait!” she groaned breathlessly.
His first instinct was to grab a fistful of her hair and hold her head still while he continued the kiss, but her sudden movement revealed the dark expanse of her neck. It was too tempting to bypass. He buried his face against her throat, planting kisses against Eden’s heated flesh. Rohman couldn’t get enough of her. The feel of her silky skin wreaked havoc on his senses.
He rubbed his cock against her thigh, wanting to bury himself deep inside her channel. Cupping her breasts and squeezing the succulent globes in his hand, Rohman reveled in the silky texture of her skin. He wanted to touch her all over -- and he did.
Eden wiggled and writhed beneath him, her tiny hands planted against his shoulders almost as if she were trying to push him away. Even if she was, there was no way he could stop now. His cock ached too much.
“Stop,” she panted, still squirming furiously beneath him.
Was she serious? There was no way he could stop, not now, not ever.
Teeth sunk into his shoulder -- hard. “Dem!” he yelled, pulling back to look into her face. “Don’t you ever do that to me again, woman!”
She wiggled from beneath him and got to her knees, hands planted on curvaceous hips. Her proud breasts jutted forward, dark nipples tempting him beyond all reason.
When he reached out to pull her back to him, Eden flinched away. “And don’t you dare treat me as if I’m some whore.”
Rohman’s jaw dropped, eyes narrowing. She spoke the words quietly enough, but who was she to dictate the terms of how things would be between the two of them? He was in control and it would behoove her to learn that quickly lest she suffer the punishment meted out to females who did not obey their men.
Gritting his teeth, he steeled himself to remain still and enunciated every word out of fear of strangling her. “Who… do… you… think… you… are?”
She raised one perfectly arched brow, lifting her small, determined chin in defiance. “I think I’m someone who’s been insulted. Maybe you’re used to treating other women like this, but you won’t do it to me.”
Eden, no matter how exquisite, had to be absolutely mad if she thought he’d allow her outspokenness.
This time, she was unable to elude his grasp when he reached out and grabbed a fistful of braided hair, winding it around his hand to pull her closer. He leaned forward until their faces nearly touched. “I have claimed you, which means you are mine to do with what I want, how I want, and when I want. You will obey me in all things!”
A sad look entered her big brown eyes and, though it shouldn’t have, it bothered him. She lifted her small hand and cupped the side of his face, her touch producing feelings unknown to him. “Is that how you want it to be between us? Do you want to use me like a piece of property instead of your mate?”
He flinched away and she pulled her hand back as if she’d been stung.
How could he answer that question? She was just his property, and it would be to her benefit if she learned her place sooner rather than later, but the words wouldn’t come. The look in her beautiful eyes held him back from saying what was on his lips.
Silence filled the room as their eyes locked. Rohman took in the lovely contours of her delicate features, the large eyes, tilt-tipped nose, full luscious lips, and dark skin so smooth and rich. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from her.
Eden was small but exquisitely formed. Everything about her screamed perfection from the tip of her head, to the generous swell of her breasts, down to the delicate curve of her tiny feet. No woman had ever made him feel so unsure before, and Rohman didn’t think he liked it one bit.
It was Eden who finally broke the silence. “You didn’t answer my question. Is that how you want things to be between us? I would rather we at least be friends if we’re to be bound together for the rest of our lives.”
“I have no use for friends and I have no use for you, beyond what you can do for my people and perhaps to get an heir from you.”
The pensive look that crossed her face made him wonder what was going on inside her head. He delved into the recesses of her mind, reading her thoughts. Rohman’s grip tightened in her hair as he saw that she was thinking about a man -- who wasn’t him.
Pressing his forehead against hers, he glared at her. “We have not even joined yet, and already you are unfaithful to me in your thoughts? Is there no woman who can be trusted?”
A brief look of guilt crossed her face. “What… what are you talking a-about?”
“You’re thinking about my brother,” he accused through clenched teeth. Jealousy ripped through his body, threatening to choke him. He’d vowed to himself that he wouldn’t let this woman get under his skin, but already that vow was broken.
“So what if I was? You’re not exactly what I expected.”
“You don’t deny it?”
Eden shrugged. “Why should I? It’s the truth.”
“Either you’re very honest or very stupid. I think it’s the latter.”
“You’re not exactly a prize yourself. You may be a dream to look at, but you’re a nightmare in reality. I don’t know who hurt you or what happened to make you treat people like this, but you really need to get over yourself.”
“You’ll soon learn that my word is law around here. It’ll go much easier for you if you do.”
Eden shut her eyes as though blocking out his words. “Who hurt you, Rohman?” she asked softly.
Her question caught him off guard. How was he supposed to answer that, and why did it
affect him this way? He owed her no explanation, but something within made him want to confess all.
No. She was a woman. Someone not to be trusted, dem her. “What are you talking about, woman?”
“Why do you hurt? There’s no reason to lie to me. I felt it.”
“I don’t want to discuss this. You talk too much. The only thing I need from you is to lie back on the bed and be silent while I plant my seed within you.”
“Is that what you really want, for me to lie down and let you have your way with me?”
“Isn’t that what I said? I’m not in the habit of repeating myself.”
Her dark eyes narrowed slightly, her chin coming up with a defiant tilt before her eyelids drooped. He noticed the way her small fists clenched and unclenched as if she wanted to hit him. Not that she could do much damage to him anyway, but he had to admire her spirit.
“Fine. Please let go of my hair and I’ll do as you ask.”
He didn’t know what, but Rohman felt that something was lost in that moment. There was no point in dwelling on futile emotions however. “I’m glad you finally see things my way.” She moved to break his grip, but he wouldn’t let her go. “No, wait. I want to taste you again. Open your mouth to me.”
Eden stilled, compliant under his kiss but not an active participant. He found that he didn’t want her passiveness. He wanted her response. Thrusting his tongue between juicy lips, he sampled the warm recesses of her mouth. Rohman’s cock throbbed with need for her. By the stars she was sweet. She excited him more than he thought anyone possibly could, and he didn’t want the kiss to end.
He could tell she didn’t want to respond to him, but the stiffening of her nipples against his chest gave her body’s betrayal away. The heat emanating from her nearly scorched him.
Rohman tilted her head back to deepen the kiss, his hands starting to shake with desire for her. His entire body tightened in anticipation of joining with this gorgeous creature. There was something about Eden that produced tender feelings he quickly pushed to the back of his mind. He only wanted to concentrate on how she made him feel physically.