For this week’s First Meeting snippet I’m revisiting the first time Jill and Aydarr met in the first book of the Badari Warriors series (entitled catchily: AYDARR). These two and this book are the foundation of the entire series and I’m so grateful to my readers for the success the Badari have found in the scifi romance community!
The excerpt – Jill has awakened on a strange planet, in her nightgown, in the rain. Trying to find shelter she’s fallen into a pit, inhabited by a hungry alien monster:
Jill shouted defiance in a combination of rage and fear, and threw the rock hard, striking one glowing eye in the center, shattering the facets. She dodged as the predator made a high pitched sound like an exploding generator and lunged toward where she’d been. As she scrambled in the slick muddy water at the bottom of the trap, she searched for another rock, finding only small ones. She gathered a handful of them as better than nothing and spun around as the half-blind animal tried to locate her.
With a hoarse yell, a man jumped into the pit from above and landed between her and the predator. He didn’t seem to have a weapon but, as the lightning flashed, briefly illuminating the scene in stark white light, Jill gaped. Were those talons? He glanced over his shoulder at her briefly as if to see how she was doing then made a dash at the animal, slashing its neck before dancing away.
Jill moved along the pit wall as the man and the beast fought. Mud dripped from the sloping side of the hole. Resting her palm on the damp dirt, she felt vibrations. There’s another one tunneling towards us. No matter how brave and strong this guy was, he couldn’t defeat two of the animals. Frantically, she searched for more rocks, trying to pry a likely candidate out of the wall with her fingernails. I have to help.
“Incoming! There’s another one about to pop out of the wall,” she yelled. Hefting the rock she’d dug from the muck, she took a few steps forward, waited for the right moment and threw the stone at the first beast’s remaining eye, striking a glancing blow on the brow ridge above the glowing orb. The warrior took advantage of the animal’s distraction to open more gaping wounds along its upper body with the lethal claws he bore.
VS: There’s a bit more of the fight in the pit and then she’s taken to safety. Here’s what happens next:
The one who’d jumped in to help her first came to her side, picking her up without a word and took off to the south at a dead run, the others following them.
“Nice shot with that rock, by the way,” her captor said.
“Who are you? And where are we going?” she yelled into his ear as she was jostled in his arms.
“My name is Aydarr, and we have to get undercover before the full night falls. You won’t be harmed, not by us anyway, I give you my word.” He redoubled his pace, moving impossibly fast over the uneven terrain and through the stands of trees.
Basic? How can these men be speaking Basic? She remembered the second warrior had addressed her in Basic when they were in the pit, but she’d been so scared and full of adrenaline she hadn’t registered the fact. Where in the fuck am I?
The way the men were running, something big and dangerous must be in the vicinity, perhaps even stalking their party, so she clung to her rescuer and resolved to get a few answers at the first opportunity. On her best day she couldn’t sprint as fast as they were going, even if her foot wasn’t cut, so she didn’t make any attempt to get away.
AYDARR (A BADARI WARRIORS SCIFI ROMANCE NOVEL): Sectors New Allies Series Book 1
The blurb:
Jill Garrison, a maintenance tech at the Sectors Amarcae 7 colony, goes to sleep one night as usual only to wake up in her nightgown stranded in the middle of a forest on an unknown world. There’s no time to think as she’s stalked by carnivorous predators and rescued by genetically engineered warriors calling themselves the Badari. Turns out they and she, along with her whole colony, are now prisoners of the Khagrish, a ruthless race of alien scientists. Working for enemies of the Sectors, the Khagrish have created the Badari to be super soldiers.
Aydarr, the Badari alpha, isn’t sure he can trust Jill but his attraction to her is undeniable. He impulsively claims her as his mate to prevent her death at the hands of the Khagrish.
Can he continue to protect her from the experiments already underway? Will his claiming her put his pack in jeopardy from their alien masters?
As Jill searches for a way to rescue her fellow humans and get them all to safety, she finds herself falling for Aydarr, despite the secrets he’s keeping. She has a few of her own.
The situation becomes dire when Aydarr and his pack are sent offplanet on a mission, leaving Jill unprotected, prey for the senior scientist. Can she escape the experiments he has in mind for her? Will she be able to thwart the Khagrish plans and liberate humans and Badari alike? How will she and Aydarr reunite?
Amazon Apple Books B&N Google Kobo
