Page 39 of Bradi

Chapter Seventeen

Marisa stared at him, her mind working overtime. “Wait, are you telling me that all those drunken trips to whorehouses that Pete would tell me about were—”

“Uneventful, considering that I couldn’t get my damn dick to respond to another woman once I laid eyes on you, Doc,” he said, huffing slightly, sounding embarrassed and agitated.

She giggled.

“Yeah, it’s real funny that you broke me.”

Arching a brow, Marisa wiggled beneath him. “Mmm, no part of you seems broken to me, Janelle.”

“Then you’ve not looked closely at my heart.”

Bradi rolled off her and she looked into his eyes, waiting for him to explain himself. This was all so overwhelming. Marisa wasn’t sure what else he could say that would shock her. Touching his arm lightly, she waited. “Bradi, talk to me, honey. Tell me what’s bothering you.”

He refused to meet her gaze. Instead, he took her hand in his and led it slowly down her stomach. He stopped on her abdomen. “Scan your body.”

“What?”

“Use your chip and scan your body.”

Marisa shifted and tried to take her hand from his. He didn’t let go. “I can’t, you guys make it go all screwy on me. It leaves my brain feeling like putty.”

Bradi averted his eyes. “Scan, I won’t interfere this time. You have my word.”

Shrugging, she closed her eyes and prepared for pain. “Diagnostic scan.”

To her surprise, an image came up. She watched it flash before her. Not sure what she was supposed to be looking for, Marisa checked everything. The minute she found what Bradi had obviously known was there, she froze. “Oh my gods.”

Bradi’s hand tightened on hers. “What do you see?”

It couldn’t be right. Something on the planet had to be interfering. She checked again.

“I’m… Oh gods. I’m pregnant.” Marisa triple-checked the information for errors. “This can’t be right, Bradi. It’s telling me that I’m in my second trimester already. And before you, before today, I was a virgin.”

Bradi sighed. “We made love on the POD. I thought you were awake.” He rolled away from her. “You weren’t. You thought I was Pete.”

Marisa lay perfectly still as she soaked in what he was telling her. She scanned the baby more closely and exhaled slowly when the chip confirmed that the child was indeed carrying the DNA of a shifter—like his daddy. She watched as the baby began to suck his thumb. Emotions of pride, joy and love swelled through her.

“Don’t cry, Marisa.”

Opening her eyes, she found Bradi above her, wiping the tears from her face. “I’ll go, Doc. Christian will arrange for you to be taken to the nearest Commission base and you’ll be free to do as you wish with our child.”

Marisa felt as though she’d been smacked. “You don’t want me to keep him?”

Bradi looked away and for a moment she thought she saw tears in his eyes. “Of course I want you to keep him. I love you. Wait—him? I have a son?”

Marisa let out a shaky laugh. “Yes.” She ran her fingers up his neck and pulled his face down to hers. “Why did you call yourself my husband? We’re not married.”

“Not according to Earth ways, but the minute I claimed you on the POD and gave you my seed, you became my wife. At least in the eyes of my people.” He tried to look away, but she held him tight. “Do you hate me?”

“Why would I hate you?”

“For forcing myself on you.”

Marisa couldn’t help herself, she burst out into laughter. He looked hurt, but she couldn’t stop. “Sweetie, I vaguely remember our first night on the POD. I thought that I dreamt it all, and assumed that it was Peter, but I wanted it to be you. I’ve always wanted it to be you. Granted, I thought I was dreaming and would have liked to remember our first time together better.” A sickening thought occurred to her. “How long have you known that I’m pregnant?”

“Since the night that you were almost attacked by the werepanthers.”

She smacked him hard upside the back of his head again. “Damn you! You let me think I had the stomach flu all that time and you jammed my med chip, didn’t you?”

Bradi grinned at her sheepishly. “I was afraid to let you find out.”

“Why?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t want you to reject me. I loved you too much to watch you walk away.”

She hit him again. “You idiot! I’ve already told you that I love you. What more do you want?”

He pushed her legs apart and settled his hips between them. Pressing the head of his cock into her wet core, he stilled and stared down at her. “Hmm, let me think.”

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