Kayla stared up at him, unable to look away. “Nick.”
“Do you really like them?”
She nodded.
“You aren’t freaked out?”
She squinted her eyes at him and pretended to contemplate it. “That depends. What’s in the studio across the hall?” Paintings of whoever had lived next door before her?
He laughed. “Landscapes. Depictions of my home with the Iroquois. More artwork like that in my living room. I do draw and paint other things. You’re just my favorite subject.”
She grinned. “Then I’m not freaked out.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “I love you, Kayla.”
“I love you, too.” Rising onto her toes, she brushed her lips against his. “I can’t believe we’re going to have forever together.”
“Me either. I don’t think forever will be long enough.” He lowered his mouth to hers, his kiss soft and slow and full of love.
She smiled when he drew back. “So.”
He arched a brow. “So?”
She caressed the strong line of his jaw, then drew a finger down his neck to his chest. “Now that you’ve shown me your paintings… is there anything else you’d care to show me?”
He grinned. “Hell yes.”
She laughed when he lifted her into his arms and headed for the bedroom.
Thank you for reading Broken Dawn.
I hope you enjoyed Nick and Kayla’s story.
If you liked Eliana’s character and are interested in seeing more of her, keep reading for a sneak peek into The Segonian, the second book in my new Aldebarian Alliance sci-fi romance series. Eliana will have quite an adventure in it.
If this was your first time reading an Immortal Guardians book, I hope you enjoyed meeting some of the crew. Though their personalities and backgrounds vary, my Immortal Guardians are deeply loyal to each other (even the antisocial one *cough* Roland *cough*) and—despite the sometimes dark and violent lives they lead—love to laugh and tease each other like family. The men also all adore strong women. So if you appreciate heroines who kick ass, you’ll find a lot of them in my series.
If you’re already a fan of the Immortal Guardians series and are worried you’ve seen the last of the North Carolina crew, don’t be. There will definitely be more Immortal Guardians books peopled with the characters you’ve come to know and love… including Cliff. If you’re a member of my Dianne Duvall Books Group on Facebook, then you already know that often when I’m writing one story, it sparks one or two others that tease my imagination. Well, when I wrote Death of Darkness, I became intensely curious about the Immortal Guardians in Texas who provided much-needed backup for the North Carolinian crew. And Nick and Kayla’s adventure quickly took off. So did Taelon and Lisa’s (The Lasaran). And Eliana’s (The Segonian). So I hope you’ll check out my Aldebarian series if you haven’t already. ;-)
Thank you again for delving into Nick and Kayla’s story. If you enjoyed Broken Dawn, please consider rating or reviewing it at an online retailer of your choice. I appreciate your support so much and am always thrilled when I see that one of my books made a reader happy. Ratings and reviews are also an excellent way to recommend an author’s books, create word of mouth, and help other readers find new favorites.
THE SEGONIAN
Aldebarian Alliance: Book 2
—PREVIEW—
Somewhere in the distance a voice spoke, dragging Eliana toward consciousness. She moaned as pain inundated her. The left side of her face and body burned as though flames seared it. Every time she drew in a breath, sharp spikes seemed to drive themselves into her rib cage.
Clenching her teeth, she kept her eyelids squeezed shut and hoped the agony would pass.
The voice spoke again. Male. His words incomprehensible.
“What?” she whispered, trying to make sense of his speech.
He addressed her once more, but she had no more luck deciphering his words.
“What?” she muttered again. “I don’t…” Her thoughts remained muddled. “I don’t understand. Do you speak English? I can’t understand you.”
A pause ensued. Then another male spoke, his voice deep and resonant. “This is Commander Dagon of the Ranasura. Our allies the Lasarans lost contact with the Kandovar and have enlisted our aid in searching for it. Are you from Earth?”
“From Earth?” she repeated. “Earth as opposed to where?” Her mind and body finally adjusted to the pain enough for her to open her eyes. When she did, her heart slammed against her broken ribs and sheer terror swept through her. “Oh shit.”
Endless dark space stretched before her, stars twinkling in the distance. She glanced down.
“Oh shit!” And she was free floating through it in nothing but a baggy spacesuit and helmet. No ship. No escape pod. Just a freaking suit!
Her breath quickened. “Where…?” She frantically looked around as much as she could and saw only a few jagged pieces of metal. “What the hell? What happened?”
“You are one of the Earthlings who was on board the Kandovar? You are from Earth?”
“Yes. I’m from Earth. What happened? Where the hell is the ship?”
Memory slowly returned. She remembered being on the Lasaran ship. She had been serving as one of the guards for the gifted ones who were traveling to Lasara. The journey was supposed to take thirteen months or thereabouts. She’d spent the first four immersing herself in Lasaran culture. It had been amazing. Then alarms had suddenly blared and the ship had begun to shake.
“Can you tell me where you are?” the man asked.
“No. Where’s the ship? What happened? Are you Lasaran or Yona?”
“I am Segonian. We are allies of the Lasarans and received a distress call indicating one of their ships was attacked while passing through a qhov’rum.”
A qhov’rum. Right. That was the wormhole-like tunnel that had been propelling them toward Lasara. “Where are they? Are they okay?” And how the hell had she gotten separated from everyone else?
“The Lasaran sovereign fears the ship was destroyed. The last data it transmitted indicated that escape pods were being deployed. But none have yet been recovered because they were flung out of the qhov’rum at different increments, scattering them across vast sectors of space. All allies of the Lasarans are currently searching for survivors.”
Eliana stared through her clear visor. No escape pods surrounded her. “I don’t see anything.”
“We can lock onto your location if you activate the beacon in your escape pod.”
“What escape pod?” she cried. “There is no escape pod. It’s just me, floating here in a suit!” She didn’t care for the strident note that entered her voice but couldn’t help it. Panic was riding her hard.
A heavy pause ensued.
“You aren’t in an escape pod?” he asked, his voice grim.
“No.”
Rapid speech erupted, multiple males, conversing in another language.
The Lasarans had given each of the gifted ones and Immortal Guardians from Earth a universal translator implant that would enable them to decipher most alien languages. But Eliana’s body had rejected it, so she’d had to wear one in her ear like an earbud.