The only hope for saving their race is to surrender their hearts.
The only hope for saving their race is to surrender their hearts.
With a long foretold and annoyingly vague prophecy warning of immense change for Eden, Ramsay Shantos is forced to hunt words and legends instead of rebels. For a man of action, it’s the worst kind of agony. Until he encounters a sexy librarian who bears the fated prophecy’s mark. A mark no human should possess.
Tortured by her mixed heritage, Trinity Blair has enjoyed little human touch in her life, let alone intimacy. Even the most innocent contact fills her mind with a person’s deepest, darkest secrets—except for Ramsay. Her immunity to his thoughts sparks a fragile hope that she might finally experience the passion of her Dark Spiritu brethren…unless he’s the dangerous crossroads her father predicted.
When knowledge of Eden goes viral in the human realm, Trinity is Ramsay’s only hope for quelling mass panic. Can he risk revealing the secrets of his race to the guileless ray of sunshine? Or is she the unknown source of Eden’s destruction?
Warning: Contains one playboy warrior well-equipped with wicked words, a panty-melting grin, and well-honed moves in and out of the bedroom.
Praise for WAKING EDEN:
“With Waking Eden, Rhenna Morgan has outdone herself with a riveting tale I will not soon forget.” ~ Audrey Carlan, #1 New York Times Best Selling Author
“You MAY buy this book because you have been following the series; you SHOULD read this book because you want to know where this is all going; but you MUST get this book for a formidable plot with multi-dimensional characters!” ~More Books Than Livros
“Waking Eden was the best book so far in this series. It was very fast pace just like the others in the series. And just like the others, it captures you and just won’t let you go until you turned that last page.” ~Yearwood La Novela
“The battle between good and evil is heating up, and the intrigue will keep you flipping pages long after you’ve promised the hubby ‘just one more chapter’.” ~D.E. Haggerty
EXCERPT:
In this scene, Trinity’s allowed Ramsay to finagle an invite to her home on the pretense of helping her settle in from her recent move. Who knew setting up wi-fi could be so intense?
Trinity trailed behind him. His loose, long hair was the sexiest snub to conformity she’d ever seen, and his overall size was, well, big. Especially compared to her. Tight, defined muscles, wide shoulders, narrow waist, and a backside that made his easy swagger downright lethal.
He turned. His white T-shirt was tucked neatly into his low-slung jeans. Yep. The total hot guy package. Hard not to imagine the impressive parcel underneath.
“Trinity?”
She blinked and tried to force her mind back online. Oh, God. Totally busted staring at his crotch.
He grinned. Not just any grin, but a genuine shit-eating, caught-you-with-your-hand-in-the-cookie-jar grin. “Your router and cables?”
She staggered to the opened packing box on her desk and rummaged inside. At least she could hide her embarrassment behind the box flap at this angle. “I’m pretty sure they’re in here, but can you check the one by the bookcase?”
Deep breaths. She couldn’t be the first woman to ogle the guy. Not that his ego needed any extra boosts.
“Got ’em.”
She peeked over the flap and found him untangling two gray cords.
“I’ll put the router on top of the bookshelf so you don’t clutter up your desk. That work for you?” Every move was smooth and efficient. Confident, like he did this every day.
She nodded and situated her computer, snapping to hand him whatever he asked for and otherwise aiming to stay out of the way.
He glanced up from behind her computer and lifted his chin toward the picture frame on her desk. “Those your parents?”
A pang knifed her heart. “Yeah. That was taken about a year before David died.” Carol looked so much different then. Happy and hopeful, even if she was still a little high-strung.
Trinity had come along and ruined life for both of them.
The clunk and rattle of hardware and cables stilled. Ramsay rested one arm on the top of her monitor. “If it makes you sad, why put it there?”
“They don’t make me sad. I just wonder if they would’ve ended up happier without me.”
Whoa. Where the heck had that come from? She never talked about her family with anyone but Kazan.
Ramsay twirled a cord between his thumb and fingers. “How could anyone be happier without you in their life?”
Trinity laughed, the sound bubbling up with a hint of resentment. “Well, you’ve only known me a total of twenty-four hours, so I’m not sure you’re a suitable judge.”
“Then educate me.” His intensity crept across the room and held her by the back of the neck, his silver eyes glinting.
No. Going there would only drudge up the sludge she’d fought to escape. Mental health meant accepting all your old junk, letting it go, and moving on. “It’s a long story best left behind.” She motioned at the cord in his hand. “Where’s that one go?”
He studied her for a few seconds and moved to the bookcase. “All right, if you’re not willing to talk, then you have to learn.” He held out the cord. “Get over here, and I’ll teach you how to do it for next time.”
The way he was situated against the wall with the bookcase in front of him, she’d be sandwiched mighty close to his big body. Too close.
Her abdominals fluttered and the muscles between her legs tightened. That’s why she’d agreed to bring him here. To see if anything else would happen. Maybe find out what real touch felt like.
She inched forward.
Ramsay straightened, the predator she’d glimpsed in him the night before rushing to the surface.
Her pulse pounded in her head, drowning all ambient sound, and her deepening breaths echoed in her ears.
With a hand at her shoulder, he guided her into the space between him and the bookshelf. “Take this.” His voice was deeper. Distracted. “Plug it into the one that says WAN.”
Trinity slid the blue box closer, fingers locked on the cable with a death pinch. It was either that or drop the damned thing and lose the incredible heat radiating off his body.
The connector snapped into place.
“Now this end.” He handed her the other end of the cord, simultaneously closing what remained of the distance between their bodies so every amazing inch of his front pressed against her back. His other hand curled around her hip and his lips hovered beside her ear. “Plug it into the cable modem.”
The what?
She dropped her hand. The cord dangled between her fingers, her muscles unresponsive to anything but the man behind her. “I…”
His hand at her hip slid in and splayed low across her belly, nearly hip to hip. Powerful and confident.
He pressed his hips into her back, the package she’d ogled needing absolutely no imagination now.
A low, frustrated growl rumbled from his chest. “Turn around.”
She turned on autopilot.
He braced one hand on the bookshelf and cupped her face with the other. His fingertips pressed against her scalp, the urgency of his touch prickling all the way down her spine. His breath fanned warm against her face. “Have you ever kissed a man, Trinity?”
The proximity of his lips brought a tingle to her own. Her voice sounded different. A little broken and a lot breathless. “A small one. Quick.”
He leaned closer. The side of his nose grazed hers as he splayed the hand he’d braced against the bookcase to the small of her back. “Tell me you want more.”
Huh? Why was he talking? Her entire world centered on his mouth, the plush, wet contact she’d always fantasized about the only thing worth entertaining.
“I won’t take what you don’t offer.” The arm around her back tightened. “Tell me.”
“Yes.” A million times yes, if he’d shut up and get with the program.
His mouth tilted in a wicked grin and he cupped the back of her head, hair tangled in his fingers. “I promise.” His lips skated over hers in a teasing whisper and his husky voice rattled her senses. “This won’t be small. Or quick.”
