Free DESCENDANTS (THE DESCENDANTS SAGA) by R. Lynn Page B

water to all the necessary places. At the end of their hard work, Mari and Sugoi had them all put to death. She shuddered at the thought; she did not miss it there.
    The warm water felt heavenly on her tired skin, and she didn’t want the enjoyment to end. But the notion of the handsome gentleman waiting to have dinner with her pushed her to hurry. She towel dried her hair and twisted it up into a bun, put on a red silk dress and white leather shoes, and headed downstairs.
    When she reached the bottom stair, she noticed the handsome gentleman sitting in the corner playing the piano. And, as soon as he saw Sollara, he rose and started towards her.
    “Your playing was beautiful; you didn’t need to stop,” she said in broken Spanish.
    He blushed and took her hand, spinning her around, while his eyes glanced over her body. “Speaking of beautiful,” he teased.
    It was her turn to blush.
    With a gentle touch on her back he escorted Sollara to a window seat. She took her place and watched the moonlight reflect off the sheep in a field beyond the window. She loved the moon; it felt so maternal, like it was always providing the right amount of comfort when times were the darkest.
    “Your eyes are distant, what are you thinking about?” he asked.
    “Oh, I’m sorry, I was just thinking how beautiful the moon is.” She continued, “I’m fascinated with the sky. In fact I am named after the sun.” She realized they had not formally met so she extended her hand to him. “I am Sollara .”
    A smile spread across his face as he took her hand. “It’ s nice to meet you Sollara, I’m Elian.”
    “It is nice to meet you, too, Elian.” She once again blushed and lowered her face.
    He was the first man she had talked to si nce being in the Deep Kingdom a nd she did not know how to properly act. She felt foolish and diverted her eyes at his every word or touch.
    The waiter came to the table with a bottle of red wine. She hadn’t noticed until he went to put the bottle down that Elian had been holding her hand during their entire conversation. If at all possible, her cheeks turned a darker shade of red as she pulled her hand from his grasp.
    He had already ordered, and shortly after the wine had been poured, their first course arrived. Elian introduced it as esparrago blancos en aceite y vinagre. It was delicious. She tried to eat like a lady but was hungrier than she had thought. He smiled while watching her eat and signaled the server to bring the next course.
    E stofados de res. It looked like a stew. The meat was tender and salty and unfamiliar. They spent the evening talking, drinking, and eating. Elian told her how his father had left half of the inn to him and the other half to his drunken uncle, whom she had met earlier. He said his goal was to buy his uncle’s shares so that he could have control of the business, as they always argued over what to do. Sollara agreed that that would be difficult and wished him the best.
    When she was finished, Elian extended his hand and asked her to dance with him. Gracefully she pushed back her chair and stood, taking his hand. Her cheeks blushed when she realized that there were other people in the room. It excited her to see others, to watch how they interacted with each other. But right now, she was with Elian and had to focus on him. He signaled the piano player to play a soft melody and took her out on the veranda that over-looked the courtyard.
    The cool breeze helped to calm Sollara’s nerves as he spun her around and then pulled her tight against his body. They circled under the moonlight; every spin heightened the sense that their bodies were dangerously close.
    Her instincts were telling her to end the dance, but her emotions were telling her to indulge. She had never kissed a man let alone spent the night with one. And feeling Elian’s warm breaths across the nape of her neck made her very aware of how naive she was to the ways of men on the Surface. His hands were on