Beyond the Rain by Jess Granger

Cyani is a despised outcast on her homeworld of Azra, all because her mother fell in love, left the elite sisterhood that was headquartered high in the clouds, and lived among the dirt, mud and other filth of the underworld.

Eventually, Cyani found liberty and freedom with the forces of the Union, fighting the Garulen. She made friends and close comrades, including her wolf partner, Vicca. But before she could leave the service and return to Azra, there was one last mission: to free prisoners taken by the Garulen and return them to the union.

But instead of finding the soldiers she expected, she finds a naked man, chained to the wall, badly beaten, but not yet broken. Soren is a Bryalen, whose bodily secretions are sold on the black market for enormous sums of money, being the most powerful aphrodesiacs in the known universe.

He's been drugged since he was captured, and he's been beaten to make him more pliable. But he hasn't broken in will, even if his body is dangerously close to doing so. Because with the way his system has been abused, the only way for him to live is to take a mate- and the only woman around is Cyani, who is still a virgin, and expected to remain one.

But Soren's secretions are aphrodesiac on their own, and Cyani isn't sure she wants to resist. As they spend their days trapped on the planet, left behind so her comrades could make their escape, and then on a tiny fighter that repair to escape. But as they grow close and become lovers, can their relationship last? Or does it owe more to Soren's aphrodesiacal body secretions than any real feeling on both their parts? And when Cyani is recalled to Azra, will she leave Soren behind to head the sisterhood, leaving him to die? Or is Soren someone she is unwilling to live without?

This was kind of unusual for a romance, being set in the future rather than the past. It was almost like Paranormal lite, what with the hero having these unusual pheromonal powers and all., but the question is: is it a good romance? It is. Readers get to experience Cyani's backstory in a way that makes you really sympathize with her. Because her mother fell in love, Cyani is looked down upon her as something tainted and less.

Soren has less of a tragic backstory, unless you count his capture, torture and use as basically a cow for milking his various secretions for sale on the black market. He had a friend who was killed, and he must find a mate or die because of the damage to his bodily systems. But at times this desperation makes his character seem weaker and somewhat repellent. Not generally for long, but it was there for me at some points.

Generally, this is a a very good, hot and sexy book. It has moments where it lost that thread, but it soon picked up again. I felt sympathy for the heroine, and enjoyed the way she and Soren slowly got close to him, and chose to be with him over her own people, who had only ever treated her like crap. Despite it's flaws, I'd still recommend it to someone.