by Clay, Verna
"Throughout your missions as a protector of humans, you have excelled. However, your resentment remained. Your mission to protect Rainey was given in the hope that you would come to love her as your own heart. For that purpose, we enlisted the help of others. Fawn, you may come forward."
Roth watched Fawn step from the shadows and place three fingers over her heart. He reciprocated.
"Hello, Roth. I must confess my part in this. I didn't know about the prophesy until the co-Princes summoned me several risings of the sun after you'd arrived. The detectives sent to follow Rainey, both in the U.S. and in Egypt, were contacted by me. The tail in the U.S. was aimed at forcing you and Rainey into hiding so you could spend time alone. In Egypt, we knew you would figure a way to track the investigators, so we used them to set up your encounter with Stella.
Prince Six spoke, "Stella, please share your involvement in this mission."
Stella stepped from the shadows and placed her fingers over her heart. Roth did the same. "Roth, you are correct in observing my consuming love for my daughter, although she does not believe it. When I was on assignment in Las Vegas, I met Rainey's father. I loved him immediately, and after a time, he fell in love with me. I have never had the courage to do what Endesha did, but neither could I live my life without Harold Childress. When he asked me to marry him, I told him it could only be on one condition: that I am allowed freedom to come and go as I please. I told him I would always be faithful, but I would not become imprisoned by his life. He agreed. He does not know that I am a shapeling. I have continued my missions as a Protector since our marriage. When Rainey was born, the co-Princes made me aware of my connection to the Prophesy of the Great Prince. They warned me that my daughter must not know of her shapeling heritage. Early on, I realized that my presence awakened those senses, and that is the reason for my absence in her life. As it is, she has excelled as a human. I am extremely proud of her.
"Years ago, in a moment of weakness, Beth McGovern found me crying and I confided in her, showing her my ability to shift and begging her to care for my precious daughter. She became my trusted friend and I have vicariously shared my daughter's life through her. She is the one who lured Rainey away while I spoke with you in the field, and Endesha hid her until you left for the Cave of Thirteen.
"Working with Fawn, my ruse in Egypt was an attempt to bring the two of you together—to draw out your protective instincts."
The room fell silent.
"Finally, the Prominent Prince spoke. There is one last revelation, and it is mine."
Roth waited.
"I am Rainey's grandfather. Stella is my daughter."
Chapter 22: Seeing is Believing
One rising of the sun after the night of revelations, Roth and Fawn flew side-by-side back to the Childress Estate. Stella remained with her father for a while longer. Before Roth had departed the Cave of Thirteen, Endesha had spoken privately with him.
"My son, the time for our final parting has come. Unknown cycles of the sun hence, we will once again soar together in the land of the Source. Before you leave, I want you to know that at first I was proud to call you my adopted son. Soon, however, you became as my own son. You have honored me, Roth."
Roth swallowed the lump in his throat. "No, Endesha, it is you who have honored me. Thank you for being my father and teaching me the path of honor."
Endesha hugged Roth for the last time in this life. "I will remain with the co-Princes long enough to memorialize my human experiences for future shapelings; after which I will return to my beloved country and die as a human. Live well with the woman you love, my son."
After bidding farewell to Endesha, Roth had prayed and shifted into an eagle—Rainey's eagle—and departed the Cave of Thirteen with Fawn.
Two sun risings later, they approached the Childress estate just before dawn. Soaring downward over the tops of pines, Roth noticed movement in the field below. He flew toward it and Fawn followed.
* * *
Rainey ran through the field toward the forest. Flowers no longer bloomed, and neither did her heart. She felt dead inside. After the incident in the cellar, she'd awakened back in her room with Beth at her side. In tears, the old cook had apologized for her part in the deception. However, she'd stoically refused to divulge the reason for her uncharacteristic behavior or name her accomplice.
Both Stella and Roth were gone. Stella had left a letter for Hank, begging him to wait one week before pursuing any course of action against Beth. She'd promised to return within that week and explain everything. Although confused, Hank remained faithful to his wife's integrity.
Roth's disappearance had everyone confused.
Suddenly, Rainey felt electrified. She glanced upward into a cloudless night lit by a brilliant moon. Two dark shapes passed in front of the moon and swooped toward her. She gasped and covered her mouth with the back of her hand. Her eagle, followed by another, smaller one, circled in front of her. A strangled cry from deep in her heart escaped. Eagles mated for life. Her eagle had a mate. Even as she ran toward the looming trees with the intent of running until she collapsed, she was helpless to understand her emotions.
The demarcation between the woods and the field became more visible and she'd almost reached the first tree when her eagle landed directly in front of her. She stopped suddenly and dropped to her knees, bowing her head to the ground and sobbing.
"I love you. I love you. I'm so happy you found your mate. Now you don't have to be alone—like me."
"Rainey, look at me."
Shocked to hear Roth's voice, she jerked her head up. Long strands of hair lay plastered to her cheeks from her tears.
"Where did you come from?" she gasped.
"From the sky," he replied.
"I don't understand."
"I am your eagle, Rainey."
Rainey swiped a hand across her tear-stained cheek.
Roth said, "I am another species of creation, not human. I am going to change my form for you. I don't want you to be afraid."
Although she didn't understand, she trusted him, and nodded. She watched him bow his head and fade from man to eagle almost instantaneously. She gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. The eagle hopped until he stood directly in front of her kneeling form. Instantly, the bird faded and Roth materialized, rising above her. She lifted her head to look into his eyes. He reached to gently grasp her shoulders and pull her to her feet.
Dropping his hands to his sides, he said, "I don't want any secrets between us. I am a shapeling and I want you to see me in my true form.
Rainey nodded again.
He bowed his head. At the same moment the sun crested, he looked up.
Her breath caught. Eyes bluer than a summer sky gazed into her soul. Hair, blacker than midnight moved in the gentle breeze. He stepped back, allowing her to see all of him. Naked to the waist, taunt golden skin molded lean muscles and glowed iridescent in the morning light. Intricately woven white breeches covered his loins and legs to bare feet. He was the same, yet more.
Rainey felt fresh tears. Never had she seen such ethereal beauty. His perfection made her feel insignificant and unworthy.
"Why are you crying, Rainey?"
"Because your magnificence astounds me, and I feel awed in your presence."
"No, it is I who am awed by you. I love you. I am the eagle seeking his mate. Will you receive me as yours?" He lifted a hand to touch a tear on her cheek.
Rainey's barren heart opened at his touch and blossomed. "Yes!" she breathed, and threw her arms around her mate for eternity.
Roth laughed and lifted her into his arms. "I have much to teach you about yourself and our families. But that is for another time. I have other plans for now, Soiuer.
Author's Note
Thank you for reading Book One in the Shapeling Trilogy. To discover more about the hieroglyphs from the Sacred Cave and the Chladni Plate incident, please continue reading the second book in the trilogy, Fawn: Book Two: Master. An excerpt fol
lows.
Fawn: Master (excerpt)
Shapeling Trilogy
Chapter One: Rocky Beginning
Through the porthole of the jumper plane she'd boarded at Denver International, Fawn Woods had watched her flight over the Rocky Mountains and now her descent toward the small airport in Cortez, Colorado.
The Thirteen co-Princes had summoned her a few risings of the sun previous to reveal her first mission as a Shapeling Master. She grinned at her new rank. It had been unexpected. When the co-Princes had summoned her for Roth's ceremony, they had asked her to step forward and then bestowed the same rank upon her.
Thinking about her friends, Roth and Rainey Beowolf, Fawn's grin widened. Roth's decisive mission before advancement to the rank of Shapeling Master had been to protect Rainey Childress, heiress and scientist. Needless to say, sparks had flown from their first encounter. After some manipulation by Fawn and Stella, Rainey's mother, along with Endesha, Roth's childhood guide, and upon the command of the Thirteen co-Princes, Roth and Rainey had been thrust together with the hope that they would fall in love, and they had. They were now awaiting the birth of their first child. The fact that prophecy proclaimed this child to be the coming Great Prince had been revealed to Fawn by the Thirteen co-Princes.
Fawn remembered the apprehension she'd always felt around Rainey after Roth and Rainey had fallen in love. The reason stemmed from the fact that Fawn and Roth, as wolves, had been intimate, although a lasting attraction had never developed. It was with great relief when Rainey had come to Fawn shortly before her marriage and revealed her awareness of Fawn's previous relationship with Roth. Rainey had said she was secure in Roth's love and held no ill feelings toward her; she loved her like a sister. Her words had released Fawn from anxiety and they had become soul sisters.
The airplane banked and the runway loomed through the porthole. Fawn pushed remembrances aside and concentrated on her current assignment. As a Master, the focus of her missions would involve not only protecting objects or persons, but also resolving complex issues. Zoe Spencer and her father, Wade, were the focus of this assignment. Unknown to her father, Zoe was an Indigo child. The birth of Indigo children had been sporadic until the 1970s and onward, when their entrance into earth's dimension had increased dramatically because of that pivotal time in history. Indigo children had special abilities and deep understandings of human frailties. More often than not, they were misunderstood and misdiagnosed by the medical and educational systems.
The co-Princes believed that Zoe, under the right influence, could become instrumental in bringing creation one step closer to enlightenment, a state also sought by shapelings. They had warned Fawn, however, that her task would not be an easy one. The child had lost her mother, the only person who'd understood her, in a car accident two years earlier. Her father's grief and inability to relate to his sad child had driven them apart. Now seven years old, Zoe seemed unreachable, which was the reason for Fawn's mission. Going undercover as the child's caretaker and housekeeper for Dream Catcher Ranch, she would attempt to reach the child and bring an understanding to Wade Spencer of his daughter's special abilities.
Compared to previous missions, this one seemed rather tame. While the plane taxied to the tiny terminal, she reminisced—Bengal tiger protecting a tribe from extinction in the Amazon; lion protecting a Mayan Princess; stray dog keeping a sniper from shooting the president of the United States; consort to a Pharaoh to protect him from holy men seeking his life—Fawn sighed. Of course, the co-Princes never revealed the entirety of a mission, so perhaps this one would not be as mundane as it appeared. The plane made a rough landing.
* * *
"Howdy, Wade," said Charlie Hodges, the security guard at Cortez-Montezuma County Airport in Colorado.
"Hey, Charlie; good to see you," Wade replied, as he strode purposefully through the automatic doors into the small terminal. While parking, he'd watched the commuter plane from Denver descend and touch down.
Sure hope this nanny lasts longer than the last one, he thought. His irritation at having to retrieve yet another caretaker had him tapping his boot rapidly while waiting for passengers to debark. The last woman had lasted three whole days. After that, he had switched to another placement agency based in Dallas that he'd received impeccable references on. They swore they were experts at matching employees with employers. Ha—they'd never met Zoe.
Passengers began entering the terminal. Wade looked for a woman wearing a green scarf and carrying a green backpack. He spotted a grandmotherly type, but she wasn't wearing green. Another passenger, a middle-aged spinsterish-looking woman was wearing a green blouse, and he approached her. Maybe he'd misunderstood and Ms. Woods had said she'd be wearing a green blouse. The spinster wasn't carrying a backpack, but he asked anyway. "Are you Fawn Woods?" The woman gave him an apprehensive look and said, "I am not!" before hurrying away.
Several male passengers entered the terminal and Wade went from tapping his boot toe to tapping the side of his Levis with his index finger. Damn it, where is the woman, I've got a ranch to run. Just as the thought exited his mind, a woman wearing a multicolored green scarf tied across her shoulders and carrying a lime-green backpack, stepped from behind a fat man.
Wade's mouth dropped and he muttered, "Shit!"
Dream Kisses
Romance on the Ranch Series
By
Verna Clay
This book is dedicated to everyone who loves…kissing!
Dream Kisses
Romance on the Ranch Series
Copyright © 2012 by Verna Clay
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
For information contact:
[email protected]
Website: www.VernaClay.com
Published by:
M.O.I. Publishing
"Mirrors of Imagination"
Cover Designer: Elaina Lee (For the Muse)
Boots Picture: Ccaetano (Dreamstime)
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Preface
I'm always amazed at how one or two words can spark an entire world of characters. It was while writing the first book in the Shapeling Trilogy that the words "Dream Kisses" popped into my mind, and I actually used the phrase once in that book. I liked the feelings evoked by the words and decided to expand on them in another project. After I started writing Dream Kisses, I had an overwhelming desire to give some of the secondary characters their own happily-ever-after, and thus, the Romance on the Ranch Series was born, with Honey Kisses, Baby Kisses, Candy Kisses, and Christmas Kisses, being released thus far.
In Dream Kisses, Sarah Carter a.k.a. Mims Murphy, meets Sage Tanner at Imaginings Publishing while he's posing for the cover of her soon-to-be-released western romance novel. After being bulldozed into a coffee break with him by her publisher, an embarrassing incident occurs and Sarah walks out. Of course, fate has a wonderful way of intervening in matters of the heart when Sarah decides her book needs realism, and signs up for "dude" lessons at Lazy M Dude Ranch. Imagine her chagrin when she discovers the owner of the ranch is none other than Mr. Tanner himself! Yep.
Enjoy the Fun,
Verna Clay
Order of books in the Romance on the Ranch Series:
Dream Kisses
Honey Kisses
Baby Kisses
Candy Kisses
Christmas Kisses
Chapter 1: Male Model
Mims Murphy followed Sissy Johansen, chief editor and co-owner of Imaginings Publishing, through an ornate door and into a large photo studio on the fiftieth floor of a high-rise in New York. Sissy had insisted that Mims meet the cover models for her upcoming book, Dream Kisses. After writing five novels with Imaginings with moderate returns, she
had finally scored big on her sixth, a chick-lit romance. Because of that success, Sissy had contracted with her for three books in a "Kisses Series": Dream Kisses, Honey Kisses, and Baby Kisses. Based on readers' exuberance, the books were expected to be hits.
The shoot had already begun when they slipped into the studio. Sissy motioned her to a spot near a side wall. Mims leaned against the wall, her eyes riveted on the models. Lights flashed and the photographer, a short skinny man with a balding pate, called instructions. "Move in, Sage. Yeah, give her that sexy, hot hot HOT look. Make her sizzle. Chastity, let him know who's in charge."
Sissy smothered a giggle and whispered, "Can you believe her name is Chastity?"
Mims bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing out loud.
The photographer called another instruction. "Okay, models, let's try a kiss. The title of the book is Dream Kisses, so how about some dream kisses. Make my toes curl."
With a rather bored expression, the male model glanced in Mims direction. Her heart tripped when their eyes met, something that only happened to characters in her books.
Sissy whispered, "He's absolutely the most gorgeous man I've ever seen, and I've seen my share. If I were twenty years younger, I'd throw myself at him unabashedly." She sighed.
"Sissy, you're kidding, right? You're married," Mims shot back.
"I think I'm kidding; not really sure."
Mims shook her head and looked back at the models now sharing a passionate embrace and kiss. The female had hit the genetics jackpot: curvaceous body, flowing blonde hair, sexy sky blue eyes, and full pouty mouth. Of course, maybe it wasn't genetics; maybe it was implants, hair salon, contacts, and Botox. Whatever, she's still gorgeous.
