Love Shines A Way

Last time we dipped into our library of branded content romance novels, we shared excerpts from Charged With Love, by Annylynn Spyler. Today, we’re looking at something with a love that shines even even brighter. Please enjoy the following scenes from Lumen Essence by Essence Lumins.

Cassandra tried to creep past her father’s study without being heard. It was no use.

“Cassandra, dear,” her father called. “A word?”

She stepped into the lavish room. “What is it now, papa? I was about to go hang-gliding.”

“Perhaps you should leave the glider in the hangar, today,” her father said, between sips from his snifter of brandy. “And perhaps instead of packing your Life Gear Sport Utility LED flashlight for safety, you could shine it into some of the local social clubs. It’s becoming quite unbearable having to answer the questions from my various friends in high society about why my beautiful daughter of nearly twenty-eight simply refuses to marry.”

“Papa,” Cassandra said, “You know I can’t stand these boys! They care not for adventure, or fun, or industry. I could show them the multi-tool in the handle of my Life Gear Flashlight, and they’d bypass both the Phillips and flathead screw drivers, scoff at the bottle opener, and use the knife to slice brie.”

Cassandra’s father sighed. “Honestly, my dear, I care not whence you find someone. You could drudge one up from a lake for all I care. But listen here: I’m having a luncheon next week, and you better bring a date, or else I’m cancelling your inheritance!”

“But papa–”

“There will be no buts about it, young lady!” Her father’s face had grown bright red from shouting. “I’ve given you warning. You have one week to find a date! Now go from my sight!”

Cassandra stormed out.

The weather was perfect for hang-gliding, but Cassandra couldn’t enjoy it. Nor would she have enjoyed skateboarding or cliff jumping or any of the other various hobbies she had that were entirely unorthodox for someone from a family like hers. She was too angry.

She looked down. She’d flown a long way and below her the wilderness had grown thick. And close. She seemed to be losing altitude. When she looked up, she was heading straight for a tree!

“Oh no!” cried Cassandra.

Out of the periphery, she saw something swing from another tree, and then she felt arms wrap around her, pulling her from the hang-glider just before it crashed.

Cassandra couldn’t believe it. She was in a tree. With a wild mountain man. A very handsome wild mountain man.

“Me Kah,” he said. “Me mountain man. Me see you flying on bird of pipe and cloth towards danger and me save you.”

“I’m Cassandra, and thank you so much for saving me.”

“It no problem,” Kah said. “Unfortunately, me no have tools for repair of bird of pipe and cloth, so me no help you fly away. Me only have rocks and sticks, and sometimes me tie rock to stick. But it only good for hunting of deer.”

“I have all the tools I need right here,” Cassandra said, removing the Life Gear Sport Utility Flashlight and Multitool from her backpack.

“Oh, wow!” Kah said. Just as quickly he grew sullen again. “But down in trees, sun is blocked by much leaves. Me no see where bird of pipe and cloth went.”

“That’s okay,” Cassandra said. “We can use this!”

She pushed the on-button on her Life Gear Sport Utility Flashlight, and immediately its 4 AA batteries brought it to life.

Kah’s eyes went wide with fear. “No, fire!”

Cassandra laughed. “It’s not fire, silly! It’s a 300 lumen cree LED light!”

“Oh, sorry.” Kah blushed. “Me scared because last time me see fire, it burn down tree where family lived.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that, Kah,” Cassandra said. “Were all your family mountain people like you?”

Kah shook his head. “No. Family eagle. They raise me to be like eagle too. Me miss them.”

Cassandra felt bad, but also attracted: she’d never seen such a rugged man cry.

It took longer than Cassandra thought to repair her hang-glider, days in fact. Sometimes it rained, and Cassandra dropped her flashlight into a puddle, but it was okay, because it was rubber coated for impact and water resistance. While she worked, Kah gathered food for their camp. At night, she taught him how to read from a book she’d brought.

When he asked if he could read at night using her Life Gear Sport Utility Flashlight, she told him she had something better: a Dorcy Pro LED Headlight. “So you can hold the book with both hands,” she explained.

“Me no want to break,” Kah said.

“You won’t,” Cassandra explained. “It’s got durable body construction but also offers a compact, portable, and lightweight design.”

“When I look up,” Kah said, “it shine further than book!”

“It has a beam distance of up to 100 meters,” Cassandra explained.

“But why this say ‘Dorcy’ and other say ‘Life Gear’?” Kah asked.

Cassandra blushed with pride. He was learning. “Dorcy International purchased LifeGear Inc. So they’re the same company now.”

“Two things now one,” Kah said. “Just like mother eagle and father eagle make life as one unit of eagle. Maybe one day, Kah will find his own Dorcy International.”

Maybe one day soon, thought Cassandra, but she snuffed out the thought. Love between a high society heiress and a mountain man was impossible.

Cassandra finished her repairs and was about to set off when she realized something: she had spent a whole week in the forest with Kah! The luncheon was today! And she had no date!

“Kah,” she said, “How would you like to fly like your eagle parents?”

Kah’s eyes went wide. “But where we go?”

“Don’t worry,” Cassandra said. “Just trust me, and also the compass built into my Life Gear Sport Utility Flashlight.”

They had just enough time to get home and get Kah a haircut, a shave, and a suit before the luncheon.

“Well, I see you’ve heeded my words,” said Cassandra’s father, looking at the handsome man next to her.

“You were right, papa,” Cassandra said. “I just needed to shine one of my many excellent flashlights in the right place to find the man of my dreams.”

“Wonderful!” said her father. “Now Cassandra, I’d like you both to meet Mr. Elksbury, my oldest and richest friend.”

“Glad to meet you, Mr. Elksbury,” said Cassandra. “This is my boyfriend, Kah.”

“Kah,” said Mr. Elksbury. “That sounds like my son’s name, Kyle. Of course, I haven’t seen him since he was a mere infant.”

“What happened to him?” asked Cassandra’s father.

“He was tragically snatched away from me by a rogue eagle.”

Kah’s eyes filled with tears. “Papa?”

“Kyle! You’ve come back to me!” cried Mr. Elksbury. “Thank you, Cassandra. You’ve a been a huge help to my family.”

“She more than help,” Kah said. “She light up my life.”

And with that, he leaned in for a kiss.