Lady of Valor

by Lara Adrian

  And in that moment, with the sun peeking in through the shutters and Emmalyn's fingers stroking his hair, Cabal knew the meaning of true bliss. He knew, for the first time and for always, the meaning of home.

  ~*~

  Thank you for reading Lady of Valor. I hope you enjoyed Cabal and Emmalyn’s story! If you liked this book--or any of my other releases--please consider rating the book at the online retailer of your choice. Your ratings and reviews help other readers find new favorites, and of course there is no better or more appreciated support for an author than word of mouth recommendations from happy readers. Thanks again for your interest in my books!

  Lara Adrian

  www.LaraAdrian.com

  About the Author

  LARA ADRIAN is the New York Times and #1 internationally best-selling author of the Midnight Breed vampire romance series, with more than 2 million books in print in the United States and translations licensed to more than 17 countries. Her books regularly appear in the top spots of all the major bestseller lists including the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Indiebound, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, etc. Her debut title, Kiss of Midnight, was named Borders Books bestselling debut romance of 2007. Later that year, her third title, Midnight Awakening, was named one of Amazon.com’s Top Ten Romances of the Year. Reviewers have called Lara’s books “addictively readable” (Chicago Tribune), “extraordinary” (Fresh Fiction), and “one of the best vampire series on the market” (Romantic Times).

  Writing as TINA ST. JOHN, her historical romances have won numerous awards including the National Readers Choice; Romantic Times Magazine Reviewer’s Choice; Booksellers Best; and many others. She was twice named a Finalist in Romance Writers of America’s RITA Awards, for Best Historical Romance (White Lion’s Lady) and Best Paranormal Romance (Heart of the Hunter). More recently, the 2011 German translation of Heart of the Hunter debuted on Der Spiegel bestseller list.

  With an ancestry stretching back to the Mayflower and the court of King Henry VIII, the author lives with her husband in New England, surrounded by centuries-old graveyards, hip urban comforts, and the endless inspiration of the broody Atlantic Ocean.

  Connect online at:

  www.LaraAdrian.com

  www.MidnightBreedSeries.com

  www.facebook.com/LaraAdrianBooks

  www.twitter.com/lara_adrian

  www.goodreads.com/lara_adrian

  www.pinterest.com/LaraAdrian

  A note from the author

  Dear Reader,

  While you may know me best as the author of the Midnight Breed series--dark, sexy contemporary vampire novels with a gritty, urban fantasy edge--I actually got my start as a published author writing medieval romances. Years before Lucan, Dante, Tegan and the rest of the Order’s warriors first stormed into my imagination with fangs bared and guns blazing, there was Gunnar and Cabal, Griffin, Braedon and a few more dark knights in not-so-shiny armor who’d leapt from my keyboard and into my heart.

  As a midlist author in the late 1990s and early 2000s, my print runs were very small, which meant my books were extremely hard to find in stores, even during their first weeks on sale. And when readers can’t find your books to buy them, small print runs eventually dry up and those books disappear forever. At least, that used to be the case. Now, thanks to the Internet and independent publishing, I’m delighted to have the opportunity to resurrect my original releases and offer them to my readers with beautiful new cover treatments and great indie ebook prices, too!

  Starting with HEART OF THE HUNTER, the first in my Dragon Chalice paranormal medieval series, I will soon be reissuing all seven of my historical romances (written under the name Tina St. John). If you like my Midnight Breed series, I think you’ll find much to enjoy about the Dragon Chalice books in particular. Centered on a quest for a mythical cup forged of dark secrets and hidden powers, the Dragon Chalice series allowed me to infuse my dark medieval romances with the mystique of mythical kingdoms, dark magic and dangerous shapeshifters.

  The book you’ve just read, LADY OF VALOR, was my second published novel. It holds a very special place in my heart, not only because of the enigmatic, cynical medieval warrior hero, Cabal, but also due to this book’s heroine, Emmalyn of Fallonmour. While I love writing kickass contemporary heroines in my Midnight Breed novels, there is a quiet strength in Emmalyn that I came to appreciate all over again as I was revisiting this novel to format it for re-release. I hope you enjoy Emmalyn and Cabal’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Watch for two more of my medieval romance reissues coming soon!

  All of my books, no matter their settings or time periods, feature strong alpha heroes who are dark and dangerous on the outside, but loyal and true when it comes to the woman who eventually scales his forbidding emotional walls and conquers his heart. I’m excited to bring you these long out of print titles from my backlist, and I can’t wait to introduce you to all of the other new characters and stories still to come in my future releases.

  To stay informed of upcoming releases, please visit www.LaraAdrian.com and sign up for my private email newsletter. You can also find me on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LaraAdrianBooks), Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/lara_adrian), Goodreads (http://www.goodreads.com/lara_adrian) and Pinterest (http://www.pinterest.com/LaraAdrian).

  Thank you so much for reading my books!

  All best,

  Lara Adrian

  Tina St. John

  Complete list of titles by

  New York Times & #1 internationally

  best-selling author

  LARA ADRIAN

  Midnight Breed Series

  Kiss of Midnight

  Kiss of Crimson

  Midnight Awakening

  Midnight Rising

  Veil of Midnight

  Ashes of Midnight

  Shades of Midnight

  Taken by Midnight

  Deeper Than Midnight

  A Taste of Midnight (ebook novella)

  Darker After Midnight

  Edge of Dawn (hardcover release 2013)

  NightDrake (ebook novella, reissuing 2012)

  A Glimpse of Darkness (ebook collaborative novella)

  LARA ADRIAN

  writing as TINA ST. JOHN

  Dragon Chalice Series

  Heart of the Hunter

  Heart of the Flame

  Heart of the Dove

  Warrior Trilogy

  White Lion’s Lady

  Black Lion’s Bride

  Lady of Valor

  Lord of Vengeance

  ~*~

  Read on for a sampler of

  LARA ADRIAN’s

  best-selling contemporary vampire series

  and award-winning historical romances

  ~*~

  THE MIDNIGHT BREED SERIES

  (Edgy, dark contemporary vampire romance)

  KISS OF MIDNIGHT (Book 1)

  New York Times & USA Today bestseller

  "KISS OF MIDNIGHT is dark, edgy and passionate, an irresistible vampire romance."

  --Chicago Tribune

  Insatiable desire. Endless seduction.

  One touch is just the beginning.

  He watches her from across the crowded dance club, a sensual black-haired stranger who stirs Gabrielle's deepest fantasies. But nothing about this night--or this man--is what it seems. For when Gabrielle witnesses a murder outside the club, reality shifts into something dark and deadly. In that shattering instant she is thrust into a realm she never knew existed--a realm where vampires stalk the shadows and a blood war is set to ignite.

  Lucan Thorne despises the violence carried out by his lawless brethren. A vampire himself, Lucan is a Breed warrior, sworn to protect his kind--and the unwitting humans existing alongside them--from the mounting threat of the Rogues. Lucan cannot risk binding himself to a mortal woman, but when Gabrielle is targeted by his enemies, he has no choice but to bring her into the dark underworld he commands.

  Here, in the arms of the Breed's
formidable leader, Gabrielle will confront an extraordinary destiny of danger, seduction, and the darkest pleasures of all . . . .

  ~*~

  EXCERPT

  It was wrong to pursue the woman.

  Lucan knew this, even as he had waited on Gabrielle Maxwell's apartment steps that evening, showing her a detective's badge and photo ID card. It wasn't his. It wasn't real, in fact, only a hypnotic manipulation that made her human mind believe he was who he had presented himself to be.

  A simple trick for elders of his kind, like himself, but one he seldom stooped to use.

  Yet now, here he was again, some time past midnight, stretching his slim personal code of honor even thinner as he tried the latch on her front door and found it unlocked. He knew it would be; he'd given her the suggestion while he had talked with her that evening, when he had shown her what he wanted to do with her and read the surprised, but receptive, response in her soft brown eyes.

  He could have taken her then. She would have Hosted him willingly, he was certain, and knowing the intense pleasure they would have shared in the process had nearly been his undoing. But Lucan's first duty was to his Breed and the warriors who had banded together with him to combat the growing problem of the Rogues.

  Bad enough that Gabrielle had witnessed the nightclub slaying and reported it to the police and her friends before her memory of the event could be erased, but she had also managed to take pictures. They were grainy, almost unreadable, but damning just the same. He needed to secure the images, before she had a chance to show them to anyone else. He'd made good on that, at least. By rights, he should be back at the tech lab with Gideon, IDing the Rogue who had escaped outside La Notte, or riding shotgun around the city with Dante, Rio, Conlan, and the others as they hunted down more of their diseased brethren. And so he would be, once he finished this last bit of business with lovely Gabrielle Maxwell.

  Lucan slipped inside the old brick building on Willow Street and closed the door behind him. Gabrielle's tantalizing scent filled his nostrils, leading him to her now as it had the night outside the club and at the police station downtown. He silently navigated her apartment, through the main level and up the stairs to her bedroom loft. Skylights in the vaulted ceiling summoned the moon's pale glow, which played softly over Gabrielle's graceful curves. She slept nude, as though awaiting his arrival, her long legs wrapped in twisted sheets, her hair spread out around her head on the pillow in luxurious waves of burnt gold.

  Her scent enveloped him, sweet and sultry, making his teeth ache.

  Jasmine, he thought, curling back his lips in a smile of wry appreciation. An exotic flower that opens its fragrant petals only under the coaxing of night.

  Open for me now, Gabrielle.

  But he wouldn't seduce her, he decided, not like this. He wanted only a taste tonight, just enough to satisfy his curiosity. That was all he'd permit himself. When he was through here, Gabrielle would have no memory of meeting him, nor of the horror she had witnessed in the alley a few nights ago.

  His own need would have to wait.

  Lucan went to her and eased his hip onto the mattress beside her. He stroked the burnished softness of her hair, brushed his fingers along the slender line of her arm.

  She stirred, moaning sweetly, rousing at his light touch. "Lucan," she murmured sleepily, not quite awake, yet subconsciously aware that he had joined her in the room.

  "Just a dream," he whispered, astonished to hear his name on her lips when he had used no vampire guile to place it there.

  She sighed deeply, settling against him. "I knew you would come back."

  "Did you?"

  "Mm-hmm." It was a purr of sound in her throat, raspy and erotic. Her eyes remained closed, her mind still caught in the web of her dreams. "I wanted you to come back."

  Lucan smiled at that, tracing his fingers over her placid brow. "You do not fear me, beauty?"

  She gave a small shake of her head, nuzzling his palm against her cheek. Her lips were slightly parted, small white teeth gleaming in the scant light overhead. Her neck was graceful, proud, a regal column of alabaster above the fragile bones of her shoulders. How sweet she would taste, how soft against his tongue.

  And her breasts . . . Lucan could not resist the peachy dark nipple that peeked out from under the sheet draped haphazardly across her torso. He teased the little bud between his fingers, tugging it gently and nearly growling with need as it puckered into a tight bead, hardening at his touch.

  He was hardening as well. He licked his lips, growing hungry, eager to have her.

  Gabrielle squirmed languidly beneath the tangled sheet. Lucan slowly drew the cotton coverlet away, baring her to him completely. She was exquisite, as he knew she would be. Petite, yet strong, her body was lithe with youth, supple and fair. Firm muscle shaped her elegant limbs; her artist's hands were slender and expressive, flexing mindlessly as Lucan trailed his fingers along her sternum and down to the concave dip of her belly. Her skin here was velvet and warm, too tempting to resist.

  Lucan moved over her on the bed, and slid his palms beneath her. He lifted her to him, gently arching her up off the mattress. He kissed the sweet curve of her hip, then let his tongue play across the small valley of her navel. She gasped as he plumbed the shallow indentation, and the fragrance of her need wreathed his senses.

  "Jasmine," he rasped against her heated skin, his teeth dragging lightly as his kiss ventured lower.

  Her moan of pleasure as his mouth invaded her sex sent a violent jolt of lust through his veins. He was already stiff and erect; now his cock throbbed beneath the constricting barrier of his clothes. She was wet and slick against his lips, her cleft a heated sheath against his questing tongue. Lucan suckled her as he would sweet nectar, until her body convulsed with the coming of her release. And still he lapped at her, bringing her to the crest of another climax, and then another.

  She'd gone slack in his arms, boneless and trembling. Lucan trembled as well, his hands shaking as he carefully eased her back down onto the bed. He'd never wanted a woman so badly. He wanted something more, he realized, bemused by the impulse that he had to protect her. Gabrielle panted softly as her last climax subsided, and she curled onto her side, as innocent as a kitten.

  Lucan stared down at her in silent fury, heaving with the force of his need. Dull pain tightened his mouth as his fangs stretched out from his gums. His tongue was dry. Hunger knotted in his gut. His vision sharpened as lust for blood and release slung its seductive coils around him, and his pupils elongated to catlike slivers in his pale eyes.

  Take her, urged that part of him that was inhuman, unearthly.

  She is yours. Take her.

  Just a taste--that was what he had vowed. He would not harm her, only heighten her pleasure as he took a bit of his own. She wouldn't even remember this moment, come the dawn. As his blood Host, she would give him a sustaining sip of life, then awake later, drowsy and sated, but blissfully unaware of its cause.

  It was a small mercy, he told himself, even as his body quickened with the urge to feed.

  Lucan bent over Gabrielle's languid form, and tenderly swept aside the riot of ginger waves concealing her neck. His heart was hammering in his chest, urging him to slake his burning thirst. Just a taste, no more. Only pleasure. He came forward, his mouth open, his senses swamped with her intoxicating female scent. His lips pressed down against her warmth, settling over the delicate pulse that beat against his tongue. His fangs grazed the velvet softness of her throat, throbbing now, like another demanding part of his anatomy.

  And in the instant before his sharp teeth penetrated her fragile skin, his keen vision lit on a tiny birthmark just behind Gabrielle's ear.

  Nearly undetectable, the diminutive mark of a teardrop falling into the cradle of a crescent moon made Lucan rear back in shock. The symbol, so rare among human females, meant only one thing . . .

  Breedmate.

  He withdrew from the bed as though touched by fire, hissing a furious cu
rse into the dark. Hunger for Gabrielle still pounded through him, even as he grappled with the ramifications of what he might have done to them both.

  Gabrielle Maxwell was a Breedmate, a human gifted with unique blood and DNA properties that complemented those of his kind. She and the few numbers like her were queens among other human females. To Lucan's kind, a race comprised solely of males, this woman was a cherished goddess, giver of life, destined to bond in blood and bear the seed of a new vampire generation.

  And in his reckless lust to taste her, Lucan had nearly claimed her for his own.

  ~*~

  KISS OF MIDNIGHT is available now, wherever books and ebooks are sold.

  Please visit

  www.LaraAdrian.com

  to read excerpts, info and reviews

  for the rest of the Midnight Breed series titles: