JADRIAN: A BADARI
WARRIORS SCIFI ROMANCE (SECTORS NEW ALLIES SERIES BOOK 3)
By Veronica Scott
Thanks for having me as your guest today! Always fun to talk
about a new release!
The blurb: Taura Dancer has been pushed to her limits by
alien torturers known as the Khagrish and is ready to die when suddenly the lab
where she’s held as a prisoner is taken down by an armed force of soldiers.
The man who rescues her from a burning cell block is Jadrian
of the Badari, a genetically engineered alien warrior with as many reasons to
hate the Khagrish as Taura has. This set of shared past experiences and the
circumstances of her rescue create an unusual bond between them.
Safe in the hidden base where Jadrian and his pack take her,
Taura struggles to regain her lost memories and overcome constant flashbacks
during which she lashes out at all who come near. Only Jadrian can recall her
from the abyss of her visions and hallucinations.
As the war against the Khagrish continues, it becomes
increasingly critical to find out who she really is and how she can help in the
fight. Until she can control her terrors and trust her own impulses, Taura’s
too afraid to pursue the promise of happiness a life with Jadrian as her mate
might offer.
When he’s captured by the dreaded enemy, will she step
forward to help save him, or will she remain a prisoner of her past?
This is the third book in a new scifi romance series and
each novel has a satisfying Happy for Now ending for the hero and heroine, not
a cliffhanger. Some overarching issues do remain unresolved in each book since
this is an ongoing series but romance always wins the day in my novels!
The excerpt – right
after Taura has been rescued from the burning cell block:
The man who’d rescued her was easily seven feet tall,
amazingly fit and muscular, and almost preternaturally handsome, but definitely
not Terran descent human like her. His amber eyes were kind, even when glowing
golden, and he seemed concerned with her welfare, as evidenced by their current
race to find a medic. A good sign, but she’d learned not to take anything or
anyone at face value on this hellhole planet.
Unable to draw a deep breath despite his encouragement, she
drifted in and out of consciousness until she realized she was lying across a
row of seats on a flyer, while voices talked above her head. She reached out,
wanting to keep her rescuer close. He represented safety, she trusted him as
much as she was able to put her faith in anyone other than herself. He’d saved
her once and she was going to rely on him to continue to intervene on her
behalf.
Her fingers were engulfed in a huge hand, gently squeezed.
Her rescuer leaned close, his voice low pitched. “My friend Timtur’s a medic,
he’s going to take care of you now till we get home and you can see the human
doc.”
A human physician? Were these men connected to the Sectors
after all? She had so many questions but was too debilitated to ask. Time would
tell and she was too weak to take any action until someone tried to place a
medical mask over her face. She struggled to sit up, shoving away the mask even
after catching a whiff of pure, fresh oxygen. “Don’t leave me—how can I be sure
I’m safe if you’re not here to keep watch?”
The soldier rescuer crouched to be at her eye level. Even in
her state of confused panic, she was woman enough to notice yet again how
incredibly attractive he was and how hypnotizing his eyes could be. Taura
wanted to relax into the golden glow and keep him by her side, but it wasn’t to
be.
“Battle’s not over, I
gotta get back.” He smiled. “There might be someone else who needs to be
rescued. You want me to check, right?”
She nodded. “No other humans here, though.” Her voice was a
croak. “I was told I was alone over and over. I never saw anyone else in the
cells.”
“Well, we’ll make sure. Now you let our medic help you.” He
tried to withdraw his hand and she tightened her grip.
“I’ll give her something to relax her,” said the other man,
who she’d barely glanced at, stepping away from the seats. “Hang on for a
minute.”
Although the mention of sedating drugs made her uneasy,
given the Khagrish tendency toward using meds
to attempt to break her inner resolve,
she couldn’t look away from those fascinating eyes long enough to
protest. Maybe all his people had glowing amber eyes but right now he was the
special one to her and the only person she cared about making a connection
with. “What’s your name?” she whispered despite the soreness in her throat.
“Jadrian, of the Badari. And you?”
“I don’t know.” Her name was the one precious thing she did
remember about herself, but she hadn’t given it to the Khagrish, and she wasn’t
ready to give it to anyone, not even her rescuer. She put her free hand to her
forehead and gave him a different truth as a distraction. “They—the
Khagrish—did terrible things to me. Everything’s jumbled in my mind.”
He smoothed her hair away from her face. “They did
reprehensible things to a lot of us. It’s okay. I’m sure you’ll remember
details soon enough.”
Taura fought not to recoil from his gentle, well intentioned
touch, afraid to irritate the person who’d rescued her. “I didn’t let the
scientist in charge win. I couldn’t let him win.” It was suddenly important to
her this warrior know she was a fighter too.
“You survived, that’s proof enough for me how tough you must
be.” His voice was an approving caress.
With great care, he pried her fingers from his as the medic
rejoined them. “Wait a minute,” Jadrian said to his comrade. Opening his shirt
slightly, he took a leather thong from around his neck and showed Taura the
small blue stone pendant, swirls of color suggesting a sleeping cat. “Keep this
safe for me. I’ll come reclaim it when I get back to the valley later, all
right?”
Author Bio and Links:
USA Today Best Selling Author
“SciFi Encounters” columnist for the USA Today Happy Ever
After blog
Veronica Scott grew
up in a house with a library as its heart. Dad loved science fiction, Mom loved
ancient history and Veronica thought there needed to be more romance in
everything. When she ran out of books to read, she started writing her own
stories.
Seven time winner of the SFR Galaxy Award, as well as a
National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, Veronica is also the proud
recipient of a NASA Exceptional Service Medal relating to her former day job,
not her romances!
She read the part of
Star Trek Crew Member in the audiobook production of Harlan Ellison’s “The City
On the Edge of Forever.”
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