Page 5 of Bradi

Chapter Two

Marisa laughed and put her hand between her soon-to-be husband’s knees. Shifting on his lap, she wasn’t about to let Peter slip through her fingers yet again. They’d been on the ship for close to two months now and in that time, they’d had only a few scattered and all-too-brief moments together. His ever-growing coldness had only served to hamper them as well. That was probably why she’d been thinking of Bradi sexually so much. Though, prior to this flight, and being close to Bradi daily, she’d never thought about sex so much.

“Mmm,” Peter murmured as he snuggled his chin into her neck, covering her with kisses along the way. He pressed his body against hers and she shivered. “I want you so bad.”

She stiffened, already regretting agreeing to spend alone time with him in his quarters. There was a reason she’d avoided being alone with him on the ship. “We’ll be landing in a few days. Once we’re on solid ground, you are mine.”

Her body was starved for sex. But she had to suffer through it because Peter had earned another promotion within the Commission and although it was an opportunity of a lifetime, it meant galaxy relocation. Moving one galaxy over shouldn’t have been that big a deal for Marisa, but she’d only been off Earth a few times in her life and was terrified of what else existed beyond it.

She’d heard horror stories and prayed they weren’t true.

“Are you sorry that you came?” Peter asked, obviously sensing her change in attitude.

“Don’t be silly. I agreed to marry you, didn’t I?” It was the best answer she could come up with and it was the truth. She’d agreed to marry Peter with little to no engagement period. He received notice of his promotion and had asked her to be his wife instantly. It was the only way they could remain together. They didn’t want to break up, but certainly weren’t ready to commit to marriage. At least she wasn’t. They’d not even had sex yet. And only married officers were permitted to bring anyone along. The Commission had allowed her to come not only because she and Peter had set a date to be married before they took off but because of her skills as a doctor.

The Commission had found its medical resources spread thin after a multi-universe epidemic close to fifteen years ago, so healers of any kind were asked to come forth and be trained. She’d done so, against her father’s wishes. It was dangerous for her if who and what she was happened to be discovered. The Commission didn’t take kindly to anything non-human.

She swallowed hard, doing her best to keep away the fear that often tried to creep in. If she was discovered, she’d be locked away or she’d vanish. She’d heard rumors of others like her simply disappearing at the Commission’s hands. That was part of the reason she never turned in any enlisted man or woman who fudged their medical records. On the slim chance they were like her—different—she’d never risk their lives.

She thought about her father and instantly missed him. She knew he was worried about her. Afraid she’d be discovered. Though, she was sure her stepmother was happy she was gone.

Not even Peter knew the truth about her. She’d never known how to tell him what she’d been born being able to do. And she didn’t know how he’d take the news. Often, as of late, he made snide comments about non-humans and how they should all be hunted and exterminated. She wanted to believe he said what he did because of his rank, and because it was expected of him. Not because he truly believed it. After all, it wasn’t her fault that she possessed certain gifts from birth. Gifts that could aid in the healing of many. Gifts that had nothing to do with her being a trained doctor. And gifts that required special attention.

She’d had to wait until her eighteenth birthday before being allowed to join the Commission. Once in, she’d found out quickly that being alone in a predominately male barracks wasn’t the best thing for her “condition”. It tended to become unmanageable when her passions ran deep. Marisa knew that she needed to wait until she and Peter were alone and not in the middle of space before she allowed him to enter her body and make love to her—for the safety of all on board, it had to be that way. There was no way she’d risk their first time together happening on the ship, that was why she’d tried so hard to avoid alone time with him since departure. She could only hope that Peter would understand that she was different, more than human, and that he’d forgive her for keeping it from him.

Peter slid his hand under her gray T-shirt and gave her a sultry smile. “I can’t wait until we can be alone.”

Knowing that Peter’s body was as hot with need as her own, with no end to the torture in sight, Marisa decided to change the subject. “Tell me again of the planet Margaidia.”

Peter’s eyes lit up. “Margaidia is beautiful—depending on what part of it you’re in. It’s as big as Earth. As I told you before, I spent the first three years of my training there. That’s where I met Bradi. He’s originally from there, you know. You’ll love it. I promise. I can’t wait to see you in our new home, with little ones at your feet.

Little ones at my feet?

He took a moment to caress her sides. “Oh, and there are lots of shops filled with dresses and the planet has the most beautiful red flowers that will look stunning tucked into your silky brown hair.” Peter took a piece of her long hair, twirled it around his fingers, and pulled her closer to him. “I love you, Marisa.”

“You know how to woo a girl. That’s for sure.” She didn’t comment on the fact that he’d brought up Bradi again. She’d mentioned her dislike of the man right after meeting him, but Peter swore that Bradi was a friend. She could concede that he could be Peter’s friend, but it didn’t take away from the fact that the man was an arrogant jerk.

An arrogant jerk who made her knees weak and her pulse race.

Without warning, the ship lurched forward and Marisa tumbled off Peter’s lap. His hand was still wrapped around her hair and she screamed out as the ship tipped the other way, making Peter fall in that direction first. Flying toward him, she put her arms out in an attempt to catch herself.

This wasn’t normal. The ship had dampeners that adjusted for problems and the gravity field generator should prevent the ship from listing at all. The fact that it had rocked violently more than once was frightening. They were in place to keep the crew right side up no matter if the ship was in a spin or not. Whatever was happening was big and bad, especially if it could make a ship the size of the one they were on move in such a manner.

The ship leveled and Peter pulled her quickly to him. She tried to free her hair from his grip, but it only wrapped tighter around his hand. He yanked a knife from his belt and cut the long strand of hair free, only a moment before the ship jolted again.

Marisa screamed as the knife Peter held dug into her arm accidentally.

Peter yanked it out quickly. “Marisa!”

Glancing down, she saw the large gash and knew that it would require a good twenty minutes with the lancer to fix. Peter tried to pull her to him again, but she held up her hand. “Go, you’re needed on the bridge. I’m fine.”

“I love you,” he yelled as he ran toward the bridge.

Marisa looked around for anything that could be used to stop the bleeding on her arm. When she found a stray undershirt of Peter’s that had broken free during the violent rocking of the ship, she grabbed it and tied it around her arm. It would slow the bleeding for now.

The radio on her hip vibrated and Marisa knew right away that she was being paged to help the injured. She tapped her ear to activate her built-in chip and closed her eyes.

“Show me the damage.” The chip in her head immediately began to access the ship’s main computers. Her mind was flooded with images of large holes in the sides of the ship. Her gut twisted in a knot as she realized that the ship was beyond repair.

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