Rapture at Midnight
The Cynn Cruors Bloodline
by Isobelle Cate
a Paranormal Romance
She
is the very essence of his immortal life.
He
is her soul.
Finn
Qualtrough, a Cynn Cruor warrior, is on a mission to find the leader of the
Scatha Cruor, Dac Valerian. When he pursues three Scatha warriors who can lead
him to Dac, he discovers a woman who awakens a desire within Finn to claim her
as his own.
Eirene
Spence is an insomniac and a computer genius. Her penchant for midnight walks
in the park puts her life in danger when the Scatha Cruor find her. She is
saved when a handsome stranger rescues her. His touch ignites a hunger inside
her that only he can satisfy.
By
a twist of fate, Eirene’s client is Dac Valerian. She can lead Finn—and the
rest of the Cynn Cruor—to Dac’s lair. But Dac wants her dead.
Now
Finn must fulfill his mission while trying to keep Eirene alive. With Valerian
after Eirene, nothing is certain, not even her place in Finn’s life.
There
is a growing war between the Cynn Cruor and the Scatha Cruor: two breeds of
immortal warriors who carry human, vampire, and werewolf blood. The Cynn Cruor
want to live in harmony with the human race. The Scatha Cruor want to enslave
them.
Excerpt
The swish of the front glass door
broke their connection. Eirene exhaled slowly. She hadn't realized she’d been
holding her breath the whole time. She turned to see who had arrived, her
stance defensive as she backed away from Devon's office door. Four hunks
appeared and entered the office one at a time. All of them were as tall as
Finn, their jeans riding low on their hips. Their black shirts skimmed and
hugged their muscled chests and washboard abs. They were also wearing leather
jackets in different styles. The third man to come in had a satchel slung over
his shoulder. He strode immediately towards Devon.
“Stop! You're not going anywhere
near him.” Eirene placed herself between Devon, Finn and the man with a
satchel.
“Zac is a doctor,” the man who
appeared to be their leader said. “If you don't allow him near your friend, his
injuries will only get worse.”
Eirene briefly hesitated, looking
at all of them warily. Finally, she conceded moving to one side to allow the
man called Zac to kneel before Devon and start cleaning his wounds.
“We were not properly introduced,”
the man said, his silver blue eyes crinkling into a smile. “Roarke Hamilton.”
“I very much doubt you were really
planning on introducing yourself to me before.” Eirene gave an unladylike
snort.
There was a sudden fit of chuckled
coughing from Roarke's two other companions.
“Graeme Temple.” A man with wavy
dark brown hair and eyes that seemed to swirl with grey, brown, and green
extended his hand. Eirene hesitated before she gave his hand a quick shake.
“And this joker here is Blake
Strachan.” Roarke's mouth lifted to give her a lopsided grin. “Zac McBain is
our resident medic. And the man whose life you saved three nights ago is Finn
Qualtrough.”
At the mention of her saving Finn's
life, dusky rose heat crested her cheeks at the remembrance of what happened
between them. She could feel Finn's eyes on her, but she refused to look at
him. Didn't he know it was rude to give her that sexy look in front of his
friends?
Finn moved closer to her and Eirene
snapped her head around to look at him.
“And she saved me again tonight,
though my ears took a bashing.”
“So you're the female who helped
kill the Scatha,” Blake said, slightly awed.
Eirene's gaze swung to him. “Better
them than me.”
Blake chuckled before looking at
Finn.
Finn’s lopsided grin was the most
devastating smile Eirene had ever seen on a man. His perfectly formed and
sensuous mouth was made for kissing, and her mouth tingled at the memory of his
lips on hers.
“I never got to thank you.”
“No need,” she said, her body
heating under his gaze.
“Finn, we need to know what
happened here,” Roarke spoke, breaking the sexual tension between them. “We
couldn't get up here as fast as we could with that shrill bell.”
Finn appeared to reluctantly shift
his gaze to Roarke.
“Dac was here.”
Eirene was startled by the numerous
swear words that fell like rain over her head.
“Hold it! My ears are ringing with
all of you swearing.” She made the “T” sign with her hands. She still clutched
the baton in her right fist. A trickle of trepidation skittered all over her
body when she saw their eyes turn to red orange, like the dying rays of the
sun. Except for Finn, whose eyes remained a sexy midnight blue.
Roarke looked at her. Soon, the
fury in his eyes began to ebb, returning to its silver blue colour. He raked
his hand through his hair as he gave her a brief smile.
“Sorry,” he said. “We've been
searching for Dac for a very long time and this has been the closest we have
ever gotten to him.”
“And how long is a long time?” she
asked. Her pulse began to race again because she knew she was treading on
deadly ground.
Everyone was quiet. Roarke's face
was devoid of emotion as he continued to stare at her.
“Maybe way before I was born?”
Eirene heard Finn's sharp intake of
breath and she became the cynosure of five pairs of eyes. Her heart seemed to
thunder towards the centre of her chest. She looked at Finn, then Roarke, then
at everyone else. She inhaled deeply before expending her breath.
“I remember everything.”
Forever At Midnight
The Cynn Cruor Bloodline Series book 2
When
Roarke catches a glimpse of Deanna in Dac Valerian’s club, he searches for her
in the streets of Manchester just to prove that he hasn’t lost his mind. He is
unable to believe Deanna is alive when he’d buried her himself nearly five
hundred years before. But when Deanna turns up on the street facing the Cynn
Cruor’s headquarters, Roarke needs to know why she’s hid herself from him all
these years.
Knowing
her secret can only destroy whatever feelings Roarke has left for her, Deanna
remains silent until circumstances force her to reveal everything.
Hearts
are broken on both sides, but Roarke and Deanna have to work together if they
are to find a way of ending Dac and the Scatha Cruor’s power once and for all.
Desire
rises and passions are rekindled.
Will
their pursuit of Dac lead to another chance at happiness?
Or
will it forever tear them apart?
*Warning:
Contains explicit content and graphic details. 18+ Audience
EXCERPT
For the next seventy-two hours,
everyone was hard at work. Deanna and Eirene hardly saw their men. Every waking
hour was spent going over strategies and sparring. The Faesten had become a
full-fledged barracks. It fell to Roarke and Finn to make sure everyone was
ready. Colin used part of the Agora to lecture on recon and intel. Graeme had
several men with computer skills back him up in the nerve centre, teaching them
everything he knew about security. Zac had three willing volunteers to help him
with the medical aspect of the mission. In the Faesten's blood bank were
several machines which accurately measured drops of blood and placed them into
vials that a warrior could carry into battle. Zac had his volunteers man the
machines, supervising them until they knew their workings inside and out. With
all of the vials for the warriors matched and accounted for, Zac and his group left
for one of the sparring rooms to practice. Each group was also given an hour
for target practice. Finn taught them how to use the state of the art weapons
housed in the armoury, training them to snipe at five hundred yards.
As long as the warriors stayed out
of the sun, they had enough energy to last them several days, but their human
mates needed sleep. Those who had no partners left the Faesten to savour what
Manchester's night life had to offer, coming back before the crack of dawn to
prepare for more gruelling hours of training. Still, Deanna knew Roarke was
beside her in the middle of the night, spooning or cuddling her to his side. He
didn't make love to her, allowing her to sleep, but as her body clung to him
and her hand involuntarily travelled down his muscled torso to fist his erect
manhood, Roarke obligingly gave in to her unspoken need, sending them both to
the pinnacles of bliss, their bodies fusing in surrender before floating back
to a satisfied slumber.
Toward the end of the second day,
Deanna’s arms were aching with the strain of using them to practice with the
baton. Sweat trickled down her back and down her cleavage. Eirene had not only
taught her how to use the weapons, she had been put through a round of
exercises which stretched her limbs and taught her defensive postures should
she be attacked from all sides. From Budokon to Kendo, Wu Shu to Taekwondo,
Deanna went through all of the basics. Both she and Eirene had changed into
exercise gear earlier, but it felt like she was in her swimsuit soaked after a
dip in the pool. She couldn’t remember when she’d had this much exercise, but
it felt good. She felt invigorated. Fatigue which would have seeped into her
bones immediately after the gruelling training was a thing of the past. Roarke’s
essence inside her made sure of that. Also, a sentiment she thought she’d never
feel again blossomed in her heart.
Hope.
“Time out.” She gasped at Eirene,
making the “T” sign with her hands.
“I couldn’t have said it better
myself.” Eirene laughed through her laboured breathing. “You learn quickly.”
“I had to in order to survive,” she
said with a wry grin. “Besides, it seems to help a lot if you’ve made love to a
Cynn Cruor.”
Eirene giggled. “The easy
absorption mode. I was surprised myself how quickly I learned from Finn, too.”
Deanna gave a wide smile. “Looks
like we've been imbued with part of what makes them unique.”
They walked toward the bench where
their towels, water bottles and mobile phones lay. She couldn’t remember the
last time she was this relaxed among people. It was a welcome feeling. She
flipped the top of her water bottle and took long drags from it. As she and
Eirene sat down her phone rang. She smiled at the name displayed.
“Jenny!” she greeted warmly.
“Deanna! Help!”
“Jen?” Her smile faltering, Deanna
sat up. Dread fell heavy in her gut. Automatically she gripped Eirene’s wrist.
“What the hell’s going on?”
“They're destroying the place.”
Jenny was sobbing.
“Jenny, calm down.” Deanna tried to
remain calm herself, but the look in Eirene's face pumped her heart into
overdrive. “Where's Phil?”
“I don't know.” Jenny continued to
sob even as she whispered fiercely. Deanna could hear the hysterical screams of
the women who were at the centre, which gave her an idea of the pandemonium
happening at the Foundation. Her blood turned to ice when she heard a voice in
the background she would rather forget.
“Jen,” she said and then with a
little more force. “Jenny, listen to me. Where are you?”
“I'm on the floor behind the office
door,” Jenny said. “Please Deanna—”
Then Deanna heard Jenny scream
before a gun shot rang at close range. Deanna heard the phone fall. The call
had not been disconnected.
“Jenny!”
SEXCERPT
As the elevator opened to the
ground floor, he pressed the hold button before striding the few steps to the
door and opened it, taking care that the sun didn't touch him. As the weak rays
of the sun streamed through, he felt the gradual simmer in his blood.
Uncomfortable, but bearable.
The scent of ylang-ylang reached
his senses before Deanna appeared. Roarke closed the door and backed her
against the wall. He claimed her lips in a searing kiss which burned a trail
down to his sex. Deanna opened up to him, her tongue twirling against his. He
groaned as their tongues duelled, each wanting dominion over the other. His
hand curled around her neck while his thumb rubbed against the sensitive spot
behind her ear.
Deanna's moan sent his lust
rampaging through his loins. His cock was harder than it had ever been. He
rubbed it against her hip, wanting to bury himself inside her sweet warmth.
“Roarke.” Deanna gasped against his
mouth. “Please….”
In a flash, Roarke pulled her
inside the elevator. As the doors closed he punched in several numbers.
“That's a longer code.” Deanna
observed.
He turned to her. “It’s the code to
switch off the camera feed.”
Deanna walked toward him. She
opened her coat. His breath hissed through his teeth. She wore a simple
wraparound dress of dark blue which cinched her waist and pushed her luscious
breasts up. He pulled her against his body and devoured her lips before
trailing open mouth kisses down the elegant length of her throat. When he
reached the base, where her pulse beat erratically, he licked it, eliciting a
sigh from her before he sucked on the tender flesh.
Hard.
Deanna held on to him, her head
angled so he could suck more. She whimpered and begged him to continue. Through
her skin, Roarke drew a little of her blood. His body rejoiced. His cock
strained against his jeans.
Deanna was still his mate. The
sweet drop invigorated his senses. He felt more strength literally flowing
through his sinews. But there it was. He also tasted something metallic and
bitter. No one had to tell him it was the Scatha's taint. Inside his body,
Deanna's essence mixed with his own. The combination of their blood was
stronger than Dac's contamination. He clenched his jaw at the stab of pain in
his system, and then it was gone. His body had battled the taint.
He licked at the spot and felt
Deanna shudder against him. She faced him, her eyes aglow with desire. She
shrugged out of her coat and parted the bodice of her dress, taking her breast
out of her lace bra. Without preamble, Roarke latched on to her tit, kneading
the breast as he sucked and nipped at the aroused bud. When he lifted his mouth,
she moaned, until she realized he was moving to give the jealous twin equal
attention. In appreciation, Deanna cupped his erection before quickly
unbuttoning his waistband and unzipping him. Roarke backed her to the corner of
the elevator and lifted her. Deanna's dress parted to show her black lace-edged
stockings held by a lace garter belt over a lace thong.
“My lady,” he rasped. “This will
have to be quick.”
“Yes, Roarke,” she said huskily,
nipping at his neck. “Quick, hard, and rough.”
Deanna pulled her thong aside for
him. Her sex was glistening and wet. The scent of her arousal enticed him even
as it mixed with his own. In one thrust he was inside her. They both groaned in
ecstasy.
He was mindless with lust as
Deanna's sheath clung to his cock. He rode her as she bade him. Quick, hard,
and fast. The sound of his cock pistoning in and out of her and the sweet
slickness of her fluids coating him drove him wild. His cock thickened with
each thrust. By the gods, he loved how his shaft felt as it deliciously scraped
against the muscles of her sex. Deanna's pants and moans became the fuel which
propelled him on—harder and harder—until her cries became louder and she fell
apart in his arms. With every twitch of her sex against him, he followed her, the
guttural cry of his orgasm lost against the softness of her neck.
Their laboured breathing and the
hum of their afterglow filled the elevator. Reluctantly, Roarke removed his
cock from her wet heat. Kneeling down, he kissed her, pleasuring her until she came
again.
Half an hour later, they walked
into the foyer, meticulously dressed.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Isobelle Cate is a woman who
wears different masks. Mother-writer, wife-professional, scholar-novelist.
Currently living in Manchester, she has been drawn to the little known, the
secret stories, about the people and the nations: the English, the Irish, the
Scots, the Welsh, and those who are now part of these nations whatever their
origins. Her vision and passion are fuelled by her interest and background in
history and paradoxically, shaped by growing up in a clan steeped in lore,
loyalty, and legend.
Isobelle
is intrigued by forces that simmer beneath the surface of these cultures, the
hidden passions, unsaid desires, and yearnings unfulfilled.
Visit me on:
Amazon
Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/isobellecate
Beau
Coup Publishing
The Cynn Cruor Bloodline
Series:
Rapture
at Midnight
The
Cynn Cruor Bloodline Series:
Book
1
Forever
at Midnight
The Cynn Cruor Bloodline
Series:
Book 2
Midnight’s Atonement
The Cynn Cruor Bloodline
Series
Book 3
Midnight’ Fate
The Cynn Cruor Bloodline
Series
Book 4
My Haven, My Midnight
The Cynn Cruor Bloodline
Series
Book 5
More books by Isobelle from
Beau Coup Publishing
Lakam (The Mana Series)
Dying
To Live
YOU
and I
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