Force of Attraction Read online

  “No! I will come back for it.”

  They couldn’t wait and she knew it. “Get Peter to the POD. I’ll be right behind you. Give me just two seconds, Janelle. That’s all I need. Go!”

  * * * *

  “You are the hardest headed woman I’ve ever met!” Bradi let out an angry growl and ran toward the emergency exits with Peter in tow. He couldn’t believe the woman would have the nerve to risk her life for a bag of goodies. He damned near died retrieving it and Pete was out cold from taking a beam to the back of the head. Had it not been for Pete, Bradi knew that the beam would have crushed him.

  If he’d have thought he could have managed to carry a kicking and screaming Marisa over his other shoulder, he’d have grabbed her, too.

  Bradi glanced back over his shoulder before entering the first emergency POD he found. A young man, shaking slightly, sat in the corner of it. Shockingly red hair hung in an otherwise too pale face, and the boy looked like he was about to pass out. His wide eyes stared up at Bradi. Silently, Bradi cursed the Commission’s decision to allow men as young as seventeen to join and laid Pete down.

  “If I am not back in five minutes,” he said to the boy, “push this green button here. It’ll get you and the Commander to safety. Understand?”

  The boy nodded.

  Bradi glanced at the POD number and made a mental note that it was POD 281 before rushing back to get Dr. Marisa Langston--who had not held true to her promise to follow right behind him. She was quite possibly the most annoying woman he’d ever met and he’d met a lot of women.

  A whole lot of women, he thought to himself as he ran down the corridor.

  If she wasn’t so damn sexy and his best friend’s fiancée, he’d take her over his knee and teach her how to behave. She’d probably sear my sac off with a half-charged laser before she’d let me near her, but hey, a guy can dream.

  The sound of a hatch locking shut caught his attention and he turned to see POD 281 disengaging from the ship. Bradi ran toward it and slammed the palms of his hands against the porthole as he watched the POD float off into space.

  The little redheaded bastard panicked. I’ll kill him when I get my hands on him.

  The ship shook again, slamming him into the nearest wall. Something popped in his shoulder and he tried to ignore the pain as he ran for the med unit. The feeling in his arm went and he was sure it was for the best, considering.

  Terror gripped his chest as he saw that flames had engulfed the doorway. “Doc!” She didn’t answer. The sane part of his brain told him to turn around and evacuate the ship while he still had a chance. Unfortunately, the sane part had little control over his everyday actions or his heart. Leaving Marisa wasn’t an option. The woman owned a piece of him that even he couldn’t explain how she’d come to possess. But the fact was, she did and he’d be damned if he went anywhere without assuring her safety.

  Jumping through the flames, Bradi rolled on the ground as he landed. Pain shot through his shoulder with each turn, but he knew it was necessary to douse any fire on him. He came to his feet quickly and drew in a sharp breath when he saw Marisa’s petite frame sprawled out on the floor before him. He tried to lift her, but his arm wouldn’t cooperate.

  “Marisa! Get up!” He shook her but she didn’t budge.

  “Doc? Baby?”

  Still nothing.

  “Damn it, Doc, I told Pete not to bring you on this trip. I told him that no high class lady could survive the journey. I told him that you were only cut out for dinner parties and ballrooms, not life in the Commission.” The need to provoke her, to rile her to the point she got up to argue with him was a necessary evil. If it worked, she’d hate him but be alive. If it didn’t, Bradi was more than prepared to die with her.

  She coughed and looked up at him. Every bit of Bradi wanted to shout with joy. He held back. Marisa’s green eyes lit with a fury he hoped would fuel her enough to get off the ship before it exploded. She tried to stand, but was too shaky to get to her feet without his help. The minute he slid his good arm around her slender waist, she snarled at him. Wagging his eyebrow, impressed with her tenacity, he ignored her dislike of him and yanked her up anyway.

  The door, now completely engulfed by flames, was out of the question. Turning them around, Bradi moved quickly toward the back exit. Marisa looked up at him, her eyes wide. She pulled free from his hold and shook her head. “We’ll never make it back to Peter in time.”

  “We’ll get to a POD, baby. Don’t you worry. We’ll meet up with him as soon as we are clear of the ship.”

  He punched the emergency release button and pulled Marisa back just to be sure it was safe. Seeing that the coast was clear, he stepped out into the hallway. Marisa didn’t follow.

  “Doc?”

  “Peter, I have to get to Peter.”

  Bradi rolled his eyes and grabbed hold of her hand. “I promise not to touch you beyond this, once we are on the damn POD. You’ll see Pete soon enough. The guy’s probably just waking up now.”

  Shaking her head, Marisa stared back at him with wide, haunted, eyes. “His lung’s punctured, Bradi. Without my help he will die.”

  Bradi? She never called him by his name. This was bad.

  He yanked her down the corridor, seeking the nearest escape POD. He couldn’t comment on what she’d told him. The thought of Pete dying was too much for him. The man had been closer to him than his own brothers had and he would not think of losing him now.

  “I’m going to kill the little redheaded bastard that took off with him,” he mumbled, under his breath.

  “Stop, please. We have to get to Peter!”

  Bradi came to a grinding halt outside of escape POD 303. Glancing at their joined hands, he regretted what he had to do but did it all the same. Quickly, he thrust the uncooperative doctor in before him. She fell to the floor with a thud leaving his heart heavy knowing that he caused her pain.

  “Why, you...” Marisa charged at him, slamming into his bad arm. He grabbed her around the waist, lifted her into the air, and pushed the green POD release button with the toe of his boot.

  “Woman, do not make me knock you out, because I will!” The thought of hitting Marisa made him sick, but he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing that. She stilled in his arms allowing him to take a deep breath, knowing she was safe and with him. Had she gone with Pete he’d have worried to the point of death that something might have happened to her. Why this tiny spitfire of a woman seemed to rule his every emotion was beyond him, but she did.

  Marisa grew quiet and that worried Bradi. She glanced up at him, her green eyes glistening with unshed tears. “Do you think Peter’s dead?”

  Spitting, throwing a fit, hell, even biting were all things he could deal with, but crying wasn’t something he was prepared for. The fact that he was as concerned about Pete as she was didn’t help matters any. Carefully, Bradi placed his arm around her as he sank down to the floor, holding her close to him. “I don’t know, baby. I honestly don’t know.”

  Chapter Three

  Marisa woke with a start and barely held back a scream. The nightmare she’d had was too vivid for her to maintain her composure. She looked around the small pod, remembering what had happened and wondered if real life wasn’t actually worse than her dream. Lieutenant Commander Janelle snored softly in his sleep, and his long body looked slightly cramped in the confined quarters.

  The PODs were designed to maintain minimal life support requirements to allow for maximum amount of travel time. Marisa exhaled and swore that she could see her breath before her face. Freezing, she moved closer to Bradi for warmth.

  “At least the brute’s good for something,” she said as she snuggled in close to him. Still cold, she butted her body to his and almost jerked back when she felt a rush of heat go through her. Thinking that Bradi might be ill, she leaned up and touched his cheeks gently. As hard and as aloof as she wanted to appear when it came to Bradi, the idea of losing him terrified her.

&nbs
p; Closing her eyes, Marisa activated her chip and requested a check of Bradi’s vitals. His core temperature was a good ten degrees hotter than a normal person’s and when she went to access his medical records, pain ripped through her head. The chip fizzled and left her with a migraine.

  “Bradi?” She touched his face again, needing to know that he was okay.

  He shifted slightly and mumbled something in his sleep. Leaning down, she listened closer as he repeated it. “I am horny and tired. Fix the first or let me sleep.”

  “Oh, you ... you ... animal!”

  The smirk that had spread over his features died quickly. He put his back to her and winced. She knew that his shoulder still hurt him, but until he let her examine it, she’d take what little satisfaction she could get from the fact that he was uncomfortable.

  “How the hell did I get stuck with you?” She attempted to get comfortable again by putting her back to him as well and failed. “Brr ... it’s freezing in here.”

  Bradi shifted again behind her and let out a groan before wrapping his large body around hers. Everything in her mind told her to shove the big jerk off her, but her body sizzled under the weight of his touch.

  * * * *

  Marisa’s body was tense and Bradi knew that she was thinking of tossing him off her. In truth, Bradi kind of hoped she would. He wasn’t sure what made him turn to comfort her. His bad arm was vulnerable to her if she decided to inflict pain and he didn’t think he could handle her calling him an animal again. If she only knew how close to the truth she was.

  The feel of her curvy backside snuggled close to his body made his cock jerk. Even after narrowly escaping with their lives, Marisa still managed to smell wonderful to him and make his body hungry for hers. She always had. The first day he’d met her, he’d been drawn to her like no other female before. Something about her called to him on a primitive level and he didn’t want to think too hard about it.

  To his kind that type of attraction could only mean one thing. And that wasn’t something Marisa would ever want to believe to be true. Bradi was having a hard enough time juggling the idea around in his head. Asking Marisa to believe she might very well be his mate, born to be his lover, his wife, the mother of his children, was insane.

  * * * *

  Bradi woke slowly, his joints aching and his body on fire. It was normal with his condition for his body to react to changes in the temperature automatically. It was also common for him to run several degrees hotter than a human. That was just one of the reasons why he refused to allow Dr. Marisa Langston to evaluate him. Hell, he hadn’t ever allowed any Commission doctor to examine him. It’d cost him a pretty penny to pay others to forge his documents, but it was necessary all the same. Besides, he had no family so money wasn’t really a concern for him.

  Marisa was still sleeping and he didn’t want to wake her. She looked like an angel lying there with her arms pulled up close to her chest and it took everything in him not to reach out and touch her. The cut on her arm had finally stopped bleeding but the slightest bump could easily break it open. Rolling on his side, Bradi winced when pain radiated through his shoulder.

  Peeking out the POD window, his stomach dropped. There, in the distance, he saw the tell-tale aquamarine color of Margaidia, their original destination and the destination that had been programmed into all the escape PODs should there be trouble. The POD had overshot the planet and was headed on a direct path for Sargaidia, the uncharted sister planet to Margaidia, and the last place in the universe he wanted to go back to.

  Bradi checked the computer and found it frozen over. Looking around the POD, he realized that the entire thing was covered with a thin frost.

  Marisa.

  Dropping down next to her, he touched her lightly. Her body was rigid and extremely cool to the touch.

  “Doc?” he asked, shaking her gently. She didn’t respond and his gut twisted. The thought of her freezing to death before he was able to get the POD operational again was a very real possibility.

  “Come on, babe,” he said, hoping to goad her into responding. The faint blue line around her lips told him that no amount of prodding would help. Acting quickly, Bradi pulled his shirt off and reached for her. Groaning softly from the pain shooting through him, he covered Marisa’s body with his own. “This isn’t enough.”

  Bradi worked his boots and pants off before reaching for Marisa’s uniform. He’d been dying to get her out of her clothes from day one, but this wasn’t exactly what he had in mind. He worked her shirt over her head and did his best not to stare at the luscious pale globes before him. Her pink nipples looked good enough to eat and everything in him wanted to sample them. The faint light from the navigational controls reflected off her pale skin and he had to be closer to her.

  The nasty cut on her upper arm seemed to be holding, but the fear of breaking it open left him moving slower than he should to warm her body. Working her boots and pants off, Bradi lingered a little too long near the top of her panty line. Thoughts of Pete kept him from peeking further.

  Placing his body over hers, Bradi willed himself to be hotter. His body reacted to his command and he felt his core temperature rise even more. If he had to, he’d shift forms, but the last thing he wanted was for Marisa to wake and find herself under a partially changed man. Somehow, he didn’t think that would go over so well. Fully shifting wasn’t an option either. It wouldn’t make it any easier on her to find herself pinned beneath a black panther.

  Marisa moaned and he looked down to see if she was awake yet. Her eyes remained closed, but she moved her hands slightly. Bradi tensed when he felt her fingers running over his back.

  “Doc?”

  “Mmm,” she whispered, grinding her hips upwards.

  The sweet scent of her cream filled his head. The erection, which he seemed to permanently sport while around Marisa, ached to dive into her, sample her flesh and claim her for his own. The tiny silken barrier of her panties served as a reminder that he couldn’t, or rather shouldn’t, take her.

  She shifted a bit. “Mmm, I want you in me.”

  Bradi froze as she grabbed his ass. “Doc, wake up.”

  Cool lips met his and he fought to keep his body from responding. The minute her tongue pushed through and found his, he lost all control.

  If I’m going to die out here anyway, I might as well die making love to her. Marisa is the closest to heaven I’m ever going to be.

  Marisa’s hands pushed between their bodies. She wrapped her fingers around his cock and he nearly came on her bare stomach. Never before had a woman’s touch brought him so much pleasure, so quickly. Reason fought its way through to him. “Doc, baby, wake up, now! You don’t want to do this. It’s not right.”

  Her lips fastened onto his as she pushed her panties to the side and rubbed the head of his cock in her wet juices. “It’s more than right. I want you. I’ve dreamed of touching you from the moment I boarded the ship.”

  Bradi wanted to take the time to love her as she should be loved before entering her, but he was no longer in control. The beast within could smell her cream, her sex, and the desire to mate with her was overpowering. Easing his cock head into her opening, he gritted his teeth at how tight she was. Inching in a bit more, she cried out and grabbed hold of his arms. The pleasure of her tight channel wrapped around the tip of his dick overshadowed the pain in his shoulder as he worked himself into her more.

  “Oh ... yes,” she whispered, kissing his face feverishly.

  He savored the feel of her. “You’re so fucking tight, Doc.” He briefly wondered how she could be this difficult to enter when she and Pete had been together for so long, but he pushed it to the back of his mind, not wanting to think about his betrayal. This was his moment to be in the woman who’d called to him on levels he couldn’t explain since the moment he’d laid eyes on her.

  Marisa’s erect nipples rubbed against his chest as he pushed a bit further into her. Meeting with slight resistance, Bradi hesitated. Could i
t be? He stopped. She’d been with Pete for close to two years, they had to have had sex--right? There was no way she was a virgin. Not the sexually charged doctor who made him weak in the knees. No.

  Marisa dug her nails into his arms and thrust her head back. “More!”

  Any concerns he had flew away at the sound of her command. Thrusting into her, she cried out as he brought himself to the hilt. Somehow, she’d managed to accept all of him, her channel fisting his dick to the point he wanted to come and he’d only just started.

  “Gods, baby. You’re perfect.”

  Her body eased slightly as he worked his cock almost out of her. Her pussy clenched around him like a vice as he dove back in. Each swipe, each thrust, left him growling and fighting the beast within. It wanted him to shift. It wanted to mark her. Claim her. Keep her forever.

  Bradi had never had the urge to claim anyone as his mate before and he wasn’t sure how to handle it. He fought to stay in control as he continued to slide in and out of her body. The beast within him pushed back with a vengeance and surfaced quickly. His incisors lengthened and his fingertips sprouted claws. Bradi was able to fight a full change, but unable to resist the lure of Marisa’s milky white skin, the pumping of her blood as it sped through her veins.

  “Mine,” he growled out.

  Bradi tried to fight it, but as he felt his teeth sinking into her shoulder and his cock begin to release his seed, he knew it was too late--he’d lost himself in the paradise of her body and the beast within him had assured that they would never be apart again. She was his.

  Marisa’s body jerked beneath him and at first, he assumed her cries were from his teeth but when she fisted her hand his hair, holding him to her, he knew it was something else. Coppery, sweet liquid filled his mouth as he continued to deposit his come within her womb, filling her to brim and twitching with each new spurt. Bradi forced his mouth from her body when he felt the tremors pouring through her. Her already pale skin seemed to glow with an unnatural shimmer. Bradi stayed above her, still nestled deep in her body, watching in awe as the light seemed to encompass her.