Force of Attraction Read online

  The light moved over her body and covered his quickly. It didn’t hurt so much as it felt like someone running a million fingers over his skin. His cock jerked to life and even though it should have been sated, it wanted more. Never one to not listen to his dick, Bradi moved his hips and began to ride Marisa’s tight body once more.

  She grabbed hold of his shoulders and it dawned on him that no pain followed. Glancing downward, he saw that the bite mark he’d given her was completely gone. The cut on her arm was gone as well. The light around them grew so bright that Bradi had to shut his eyes. Marisa screamed out and wrapped her legs around his waist. She bucked beneath him, driving herself up and his cock in deeper.

  “Uh....”

  The soft moan she let out left Bradi thrusting into her more, pummeling her glorious body and paying extra attention to his lower abdomen, making sure it rubbed her clit just right. Marisa cried out as another orgasm hit her. The feel of her pussy milking him was too much and he let his body release again.

  “Mine,” he whispered as he filled her with even more of his seed, his essence.

  The light around them died down slowly. The tiny pinging noise from the system computer sounded, indicating it was at least on, if nothing else. Reluctantly, Bradi withdrew from his mate’s now warm body.

  Marisa’s eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him. A smile appeared slowly on her face. “I love you ... Peter.”

  Peter?

  Bradi froze and waited for her to take it back, to claim that it was a slip of the tongue, but she didn’t. Her eyes closed slowly and he heard her breathing grow shallow. He rolled off her quickly and sat up. Running his hands through his hair, he tried to make sense of it all.

  Marisa hadn’t been awake at all. She’d been dreaming of Pete when it was his body pleasing her. Dreaming of another man when he’d taken her as his wife. Given her his seed. His essence. A kick to the solar plexus would have been less devastating than that.

  Reaching for his pants, Bradi stopped when his gaze flickered over Marisa’s legs. The smell of her blood filled his nostrils and he leaned down to find a faint line of it running down her inner thigh.

  “You were a virgin?” Everything clicked then. Bradi fought to keep from vomiting as the enormity of the situation hit him tenfold. He’d made love to a woman who thought he was her fiancé, who just so happened to be his best friend, and now he’d taken her maidenhood from her on top of everything else.

  Could it get any worse?

  Chapter Four

  Marisa opened her heavy eyelids slowly and looked up to find Bradi staring out the window. “Great, so it wasn’t a dream, was it?” Sitting up, she adjusted herself. Her clothes were wrinkled and she noticed that her boots were off. Glancing up at Bradi to ask him about it, she saw the look of shock on his face. “What’s the matter?”

  “I’m so sorry, Doc. I thought you were awake. I did not know ... I wouldn’t have....”

  Marisa blinked a few times in an attempt to clear her head. “Of course I was awake, you idiot. I don’t run around a ship that’s blowing up with my eyes closed. Geesh!”

  “Right, you were talking about the ship exploding and being a smartass before. I knew that.” The tension in Bradi’s body seemed to leave him. It was a shame. She really enjoyed watching the muscles in his thick neck move. Surprised by her own lustful thoughts, Marisa stood quickly.

  “Shouldn’t we have landed on Margaidia by now? We weren’t that far from it and the PODs were set to make....” She stopped talking when she noticed the forlorn look upon his face. “Lt. Commander?”

  His blue eyes found her and she drew in a breath under the weight of them. “Buckle up, sweetie. We’re about to enter Sargaidia’s atmosphere. And you can call me Bradi, Doc, I think you’ve earned it.”

  Earned it?

  “You mean Margaidia, right?”

  He grabbed hold of her waist and set her down in the POD seat. Ignoring her protests, he buckled her in anyway. “Janelle? What’s going on?”

  He climbed into the control seat and buckled himself in as well. The POD thumped hard against an unseen force and she screamed out. Bradi’s eyebrows went up as if to say, ‘you ain’t seen nothing yet.’

  Another scream caught in her throat as he lifted the protective visor, allowing her a full view of what was before them. Shades of red, green, and blue were everywhere. Although Marisa had only been off Earth a few times in her life, she knew enough about landings to know that something wasn’t right. “Bradi, aren’t we going a bit fast?”

  “You can say that again.”

  “W-What?”

  “Nothing. Umm, the POD’s controls froze for a bit. I barely got them up and running before we got trapped in the planet’s atmosphere.” He pulled hard on the steering shift as the POD began its rapid descent.

  Marisa’s stomach lurched as the bottom seemed to drop out from under them. The speed at which they were traveling would most definitely kill them upon landing. She said a silent prayer under her breath and reached out for comfort. Finding Bradi’s arm, she settled, grabbed hold and held tight. Something about the man made her feel safer.

  * * * *

  Bradi risked a quick glance at Marisa and saw her reaching out for him. He thought it was to punch him, and was surprised when she not only laid her hand on him, but gave him a gentle squeeze, too. His loins burned again to be buried in her and he shifted awkwardly in the seat.

  You’re about to die here, buddy, he thought to himself, stealing a glance down toward his cock. Do you think you could get your head in the game and off her for a moment?

  The red sea came into focus and Bradi cursed himself for not landing the POD sooner. He’d misjudged and thought that if he waited another hour they’d be closer to the inhabited compounds of the planet and closer to help. He’d been wrong.

  “Janelle, tell me it’s going to be okay again,” Marisa said, squeezing his arm more and breaking his heart in the process. “Please tell me that. I need to hear you say it. I trust you and need to....”

  Against his better judgment, Bradi gave into what she needed to hear, all the while wishing she’d call him by his first name. “It’ll be okay, baby. I promise.”

  Marisa’s grip on him tightened and he looked into her green eyes just as the sea greeted them.

  * * * *

  Marisa lifted her head slowly unsure if she was alive or dead. By the nasty crick in her neck, she was guessing alive. A deep cough caught her attention and she looked over to find that she and Bradi were still strapped into the POD. Blood red water surrounded them.

  “Janelle, how bad are you hurt?” He didn’t answer. She unfastened her seatbelt and willed her stiff body to move to him. Placing her hand on her head, she activated her embedded chip. “Diagnostics scan.”

  Closing her eyes she assessed the damage to his body. For a split second she could have sworn that the chip indicated broken legs, but when she checked again there was no sign of injury.

  “Doc?”

  Instantly, Marisa’s chip scan fizzled out and pain shot through her head. Bradi touched her hand and she peeked out at him. “Hey,” she smiled, happy to see him alive and responsive, “are you okay?”

  “What, would you miss me if something happened? Or are you just hoping I stay alive long enough to get you to safety?” The tone in his voice made her lip curl.

  “Asshole.” She pushed up extra hard off him and smiled when she heard him grunt. He unlatched himself and rose to meet her. The POD creaked and the sound of cracking glass made them both turn around.

  Bradi grabbed her and pulled her down to the floor. She began to protest and he kissed her lips, rendering her silent. As his tongue moved into her mouth, hers greeted it, shocking her and apparently him. He moaned and Marisa took the lead, sucking gently on his tongue.

  Bradi pulled away, his blue gaze ran over her. “Take a deep breath now!”

  Without thought, she did. Bradi slammed her down to the floor and his body flat
tened against hers. The window shattered. Blood red water poured into the POD and within seconds they were submerged. Lifting her quickly, Bradi pushed her toward the window and gave a good shove to get her through it. Shards of broken glass ripped at her legs and she had to fight to keep from screaming out in pain.

  Once free of the POD, Marisa turned and waited for Bradi. He didn’t come. It was then that she realized the window wasn’t big enough for his six foot six inch, muscle-bound frame to get through.

  The pressure in her lungs was excruciating as she attempted to climb back through the window. Bradi pushed her hard, shaking his head violently no. She had no intention on leaving him and was prepared to die with him. Something brushed past her back and she froze. Every gut instinct told her not to turn around and look, but she couldn’t help herself. Turning slowly, she found herself face to face with a large yellowish eye. Upon further inspection she found it firmly attached to the largest eel she’d ever seen.

  Not thinking, she punched out and caught it in the eye. It slammed against her, squishing her between the POD and its body. It pushed her hard and seemed to be trying to lift her to the surface. She fought against it, not wanting to leave Bradi behind.

  Water rushed into her lungs and she felt as if someone had lit a fire in her chest. Being a doctor, she knew the process involved in drowning and she knew that it was one of the worst ways to go.

  Better to be unconscious before the eel eats me, she thought to herself as the blackness swallowed her.

  Bradi’s senses picked up a predator near them and he could only guess what stalked them. The seas of Sargaidia were littered with creatures that even he feared. When he saw Marisa turning back for him, his heart melted. She cared whether he lived or died and that meant something to him.

  Marisa’s body slammed into the POD and Bradi let the beast within surface. Slamming into the side of the POD with his clawed hands, he tore his way through the metal as if it were nothing more than paper. Swimming out of the POD, he found Marisa descending slowly in the water. There was no sign of the predator he’d sensed and he wondered if his natural warning system was getting faulty. Something had hit Marisa. But what?

  He snatched hold of her arm and headed for the surface. The minute their faces broke the surface, he drew in a deep breath of air and pulled Marisa to him. She gasped, coughing out water and he exhaled.

  She would live. That was all that mattered.

  Looking around, he found the shoreline and headed for it--cursing the fates for putting him with a hotheaded woman, who seemed determined to kill herself before the day was up.

  * * * *

  Marisa hissed as Bradi pulled the soaked material off her legs. The scraps that had once been called her pants seemed to go out of their way to cling to the large gashes in her legs. “Ouch!”

  “Hold still and it won’t hurt so much,“ Bradi said, scolding her like she was a child.

  “Easy for you to say.”

  “Baby.”

  She growled at him. “I wouldn’t have these if you hadn’t shoved me through that broken window!”

  “You’d be laying at the bottom the sea dead. Would you prefer that? I could throw you back in.”

  Marisa reached into his utility belt and grabbed his knife. His eyes narrowed as if daring her to stick him with it. As much as she wanted to jab him in the gut, she wanted to check her wounds first. Grabbing hold of the material, she sliced it off just below her crotch line. Following suit on the other side, she smiled as she handed his knife back to him. “There, I’m now stuck in the universe’s shortest shorts, but at least they aren’t flapping pieces of nothing.”

  “Doc.” Bradi exhaled deeply. He touched her inner thigh lightly and heat pooled between her legs. He didn’t seem to notice that she damned near creamed herself with just the touch of his fingers and she wasn’t about to point it out to him. “This one is bad. Can you heal it?”

  “Heal it? What, I don’t know. Maybe. I’ll need to find something to act as a needle and....”

  Bradi put his hand up, motioning for her to stop. “No, I mean heal it. Not mend it.”

  Marisa’s heart beat furiously and she fought to maintain her composure. “Umm ... I don’t know ... umm ... stop looking at me like that.”

  Bradi leaned down and put his face directly in hers. “Listen, lady. I don’t give a shit about whatever it is you don’t want people to know about you, but you see these cuts?” He ran his hands lightly over her thighs, sending shockwaves of excitement through her body. “These will not only get infected, they will draw predators to us. Is that what you want? Do you want a pard of panthers or a pack of wolves to happen upon you overnight because they followed the scent of blood?”

  Marisa looked around at the edge of the forest and swallowed back the lump in her throat. “How do you know that there are panthers and wolves here? A month ago you couldn’t even remember your name to board the ship after you spent the night living it up at the bars and now you’re suddenly a survival expert!” She eyed Bradi for a response, but he gave none. Instead, he turned to head into the woods, leaving her to sit on the edge of the shoreline--alone.

  “Janelle?” He didn’t stop or answer her. “Janelle, please.” Marisa gulped as he stalked off into the forest. She’d only seen pictures of vegetation as strange as this and could only imagine how many plants and animals in there were deadly. The tall, black barked tree had yellow leaves that seem to sweep to the forest floors. They were massive and distinctively different from the trees in the Earth museums.

  A soft splashing noise in the red sea behind her caught her attention and she turned around quickly. The head of the mammoth eel appeared a few feet off shore and Marisa found herself crab walking backwards to get away from it. The sand was softer than she was used to and she sank down into it slightly. The eel lunged forward and narrowly missed striking her as she rolled to her side.

  Pushing upwards in the pinkish sand, she somehow managed to get to her feet. She ran forward, stumbling again and again because of the pain in her legs. The long jagged cuts opened more, leaving her bleeding at an alarming rate. Risking a glance over her shoulder, she hoped that she was far enough away from the water to prevent another attack. Much to her surprise the eel began to slither from the sea. It moved toward her with a speed and efficiency that terrified her.

  “Janelle,” she whispered, as the need to panic beat at her.

  Something growled in the bushes behind her and she didn’t dare turn to see what it was. From the events that had happened since crashing, she could only assume that it was bad. When she heard matching growls coming from there, too, she knew that her suspicions were correct. She was screwed.

  * * * *

  “That no good, insolent, ungrateful, bi....” Bradi stopped his verbal attack on Marisa as he looked for a safe place for them to camp. The suns were beginning to set and nightfall only meant that the evil things would come out and play. Depending on where they were, they might be able to make it to an inhabited village or compound within a few days walk.

  He shuddered to think of what kind of reception he’d get. He hadn’t spoken to his family in nearly twelve years. The terms he’d left on had been anything but pleasant. The death of his mother had left him with a sharp tongue and a fogged sense of right and wrong. He didn’t think that his father would welcome him with open arms now, that much was for sure. Hopefully, he could get Marisa some medical attention and get them a ride off this gods forsaken planet.

  There was no doubt in his mind that she was dying to get away from him. She seemed to hate the fact that she had to share air with him, let alone be stranded with him. It still blew Bradi’s mind that she’d refused to leave him after the POD had crashed. He’d have thought that she’d have relished the opportunity to rid herself of him. Of course, she’d be left all alone on an unfamiliar planet, but still.

  He heard her call his name once more, this time in a whisper and he smiled. “Let her sweat. It’ll teach her not t
o speak to me like a dog. Now, if she wanted to bend over and let me fuck her like a....” Something wasn’t right. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he tipped his head to the side, smelling the air.

  Panther.

  Shedding his clothes quickly, he shifted into his panther form. It had been years since he was able to shift without worry and his inner beast was happy to be free. Bending down, he sniffed the ground and followed the scent of the pard. His heart hammered in his chest when he realized that the others had made a beeline straight for Marisa. No doubt, the smell of fresh blood and human was too much for them.

  Bounding through the brush at the edge of the beach, he stopped when he saw Marisa stroking the top of one of the panther’s heads. Stunned, he could do nothing other than watch the spectacle before him unfolding.

  How had she calmed the animal?

  His senses told him that this was a group of werepanthers, not normal animals. They only respected humans if they were marked and even then that didn’t save them. They were also known to not attack if the victim carried the scent of a powerful warrior panther. Instantly he thought back to the pod and making love to Marisa.

  Shit, I need to stop referring to it as love. Next thing I know I’ll be standing on a hilltop confessing my undying devotion and.... He bit the words back in his mind before they came to be.

  Focusing his mind and still in awe of the scene before him, Bradi tried to think of what would make the others yield to Marisa. Had she tapped into the power he’d seen her use? Had she managed to kill one with her bare hands, proving that she was a skilled warrior? He highly doubted it.

  Coming to his senses, he walked toward Marisa slowly, in anticipation of a fight. When the other panthers only turned and snarled lightly he understood that they would not harm her. A large male panther moved in from behind Marisa and from the way it dropped its shoulders, Bradi could tell that it was thinking of exuding its power and attempting to claim her. There was no way in hell that he’d give Marisa up.