Page 18 of Bradi

“It nudged me a few times before it stuck its nose right into my crotch.” She flushed as she spoke.

This piqued Bradi’s curiosity, as he wondered what had driven them to accept her. The mark had something to do with it. She was his female, his woman, but that wasn’t always a guarantee. He stroked the back of her long, layered hair and nodded to her, encouraging her to go on.

Something flickered across her eyes and she narrowed her gaze on him. “I called for you, you stubborn bastard, and you never came.” Her hand came up fast and struck him square across the face.

Knowing that he deserved it for leaving her alone, he said nothing, but when she attempted to strike him again, he grabbed her wrists.

“Let go of me!” she cried out and then snapped her teeth at him.

He snapped back and gave her a wicked grin.

“Ooo, forget it! If your teeth broke my skin I’d probably end up with some sort of disease, considering the way you run around with the ladies.”

He resisted the urge to inform her that she was now considered one of his ladies, the only lady in fact, and that his teeth had indeed broken her skin. “I’ll have you know, Doc, that I’m up to date on all my shots, or are you forgetting how you drooled over the sight of my ass as you injected me with them?”

The Commission had instituted mandatory shots for diseases and STDs to all of their enlisted, and Marisa seemed to take great joy in throwing what she thought was his sex life into his face every chance she got. It was pointless to give him the shots. His genetic makeup didn’t allow for him to catch any sort of human disease. The worst he had to fear when bedding a woman was getting her pregnant. The shots, while they contained population control additives, did nothing to lower his sperm count.

It didn’t matter, really. The only way he could get a female pregnant was if she was his true life mate. He highly doubted Marisa was that. His mate, sure. His true life mate, he wasn’t so sure. Besides, she was on Commission shots too, so even if she was his true mate, not just his chosen, she’d be protected from pregnancy.

“How could I forget?” She glared at him. “And, for the record, should I cut myself on a rusty eel, I’m as good as dead. I’m allergic to the binding agents they use in the shots so I have none.”

“A rusty eel, huh?” Laughing, he pulled her close to him, not caring if she protested. “I’ll do my best to keep you away from any more sharp objects or rusty eels.”

She looked down at herself and he did as well, noting the dried blood and sand in her cut up legs. Bradi sighed. “I shouldn’t have left you alone. You’re hurt.”

“I’ll live.”

“Doc?”

“Yes?”

Bradi couldn’t seem to find the right words, so he did what felt right. He drew her against his chest and held her to him. She didn’t fight him, but rather, slid her arms around his waist and returned his embrace.

“We should clean out those cuts,” he said softly, still holding her close.

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