Sadie's Mate (6 page)

“I
love the way you smell. I love the way you feel. It’s because of just how much
I care for you.” She shrugged and pressed a kiss to the side of his neck. “We
fit.
Perfectly.
Don’t you feel it?” She was far
shorter than he was but her body fit his perfectly. It was as if she had been
created for him.

“Of
course we fit, Sadie. We were made for one another.” Giving her a squeeze, he
reached down to drag the blankets up higher around her back. “Get some rest,
little one. I don’t think we’ll be able to get more than a couple of hours, and
then it will be all hands on deck to deal with survivors.
If
there are any.”

“Let’s
pray that there are.” The life pods would have ejected. It just would be a
matter of if the men were allowed to live or not, if the ships would have fired
upon the life pods. She could hope not, but one never knew.

Bracken
rolled into her slightly, pulling her body in tighter against his. “I love you,
Sadie Monterey. Sleep for now, little one. We can’t do anything but prepare
ourselves for the worst and hope for the best.”

“I’ll
help in medical while you do what you need to do in order to ensure we’re all
safe and protected as well. I haven’t worked medical in a while but at least
there you wouldn’t be too worried about me.” She would actually be better in
engineering but she knew he would veto that notion quickly.

He
was quiet for long enough she was sure he’d fallen asleep. Then he spoke.
“Where would you rather be?” he asked. His fingers slid up, then down her spine
before coming to rest at the small of her back.

“I
would be the most beneficial to you in engineering. We both know it. I would be
better there, especially if we came under fire.” She shook her head and patted
his chest.
“Sleep.
Okay? Tomorrow brings a whole new
nightmare.
For now, rest.”

Catching
her hand, he held it still. “Then you should be in engineering, Sadie. You’re
highly skilled, and I trust you implicitly. I wish you had a safer job than you
do, but I would never ask you to not provide your knowledge or expertise in a
situation that could benefit from it. I’m sure there will be times where I will
likely not want you there, but I would always discuss them with you.”

“That’s
all that I can ask of you,” she said with a grin. “Now, rest. And when you
don’t want me there I will be on the command deck with you.” She had a feeling
he would want her close.

“Agreed,”
he said. After pressing a kiss to her cheek and squeezing her close, Bracken
finally seemed to relax. A few slow breaths later his breathing changed and she
knew he was asleep.

It
didn’t take Sadie long before she too was sound asleep against him.

Chapter Five

There
were a lot of survivors, thank the stars. Sadie was doing what she did best
after the crew had done a few double takes her direction, and Bracken had given
out orders to everyone. He’d left her, reluctantly, in engineering to go do
what he needed to do.

She’d
heard rumor that General Daykin’s destroyer had also arrived to assist in the
rescue. The plan, according to one of the engineers, was to collect all the
survivors and ferry them to one of the larger moon bases. There was one only
two days away so it was the most convenient and logical of choices. From there
the crew would get a lift back to
Craegin
on one of
the destroyers that
was
coming back in from patrol.

Tensions
were high around the ship. While Bracken had plainly told everyone that it
hadn’t actually been an
Imarian
attack, but a
subterfuge, the crew was nervous. And things only got worse once the crew
started to carry rumors from the survivors.

A
hand touched her arm lightly. “Hey, it’s only me,” Bracken said when she nearly
came out of her skin. “I thought you heard me say your name. I’m sorry, little
one.” He passed her a bottle of water and ran his hand over her hair. Every
couple of hours he’d made the rounds to check on all departments. In
engineering he ensured that everyone was drinking plenty of water and eating
the snacks the dining hall had sent down for them. “How are you doing?”

“I
can’t believe they did this,” she admitted and took a deep breath. “Our people
are trying to incite a war against our own people. I’m just beside myself. We
have to somehow stop this.” She moved so that she could wrap her arms around
him and hugged him tightly. “I’m making a couple of upgrades to the range scanners
and then we will be able to differentiate between our ships and the
Imarians
’.
The true ones.”

“We
will stop this, Sadie. I have no clue how at this point, but thank you for
doing what you can.” He wrapped his arms around her and just held her for a
long time. “I’m sorry, little one, but I need to get moving. I’ll
come
check on you again soon. Drink the water. It’s getting
bloody hot down here and you don’t need to get dehydrated.”

“Okay.”
She pulled back and touched her fingers to his cheek. “You’re taking care of
yourself and drinking enough, aren’t you? And the general and his wife, they’re
okay?”

“I’m
drinking plenty of fluids, as are the rest of the crew.
Fintan
is doing his part on his ship, and I have no idea what
Adira
is up to. Knowing her she’s in the thick of things and driving her husband to
distraction.” Tipping her chin up with a finger, Bracken leaned in to kiss her.
“Be good, and if you need me, call the command deck. Draven knows where I am at
all times.” Another kiss to her lips and he released her. “Drink your water,
woman,” he ordered as he headed to the other side of engineering.

Sadie
shook her head and grinned. When he walked out one of the lab techs come up and
reminded her once again to drink her water. She had to laugh at that. She
couldn’t believe he even had the techs telling her to drink her water.

****

Hours
later, the recovery done and the destroyers on the way to the moon base,
Bracken came to find her one last time. He looked as tired as she felt, and as
tired as everyone else around her looked. The entire crew had been going
non-stop for hours. While the engineering crew was down to the bare minimum,
she knew those there would have a bit of a wait before they too could go and
find their bunks.

Sadie
didn’t hesitate. She wrapped her arm around his middle and led him out of
engineering. “Tomorrow I need to get aboard the general’s ship so I can install
the new software for them as well. Do you think he will let me?”

“He’ll
let you.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they walked along slowly. “
Fintan
wants to meet you, and so does the woman in his
life. They’ve invited us over for a meal. I hope you don’t mind but I
accepted.”

“I
don’t mind at all.” She looked up at him and nodded. “I look forward to meeting
her as well. For now, why don’t the two of us go and grab a bite to eat and
then go to our quarters?”

“Sounds
like a good plan.” Squeezing her closer to him, he led her into a lift.
“Something quick, though. I don’t think either of us will manage to stay awake
for more than that. Even the thought of chewing sounds exhausting.”

“Agreed.”
She was beyond
exhausted. “The sooner we can get home the better.”
Home.
Their quarters were already what she thought of as home. “Maybe we can just
pick something up and take it back to our rooms? That way we can eat naked and
don’t have to worry about much else?”

“You
had me at naked,” he told her. When the lift stopped they headed toward the
dining hall. Bracken opened the doors and let her go through first. The lights
were dimmed, and there were only a few people in the room.
Most
seemed to be sleeping with their heads on the tables.

“This
has been exhausting for everyone involved, hasn’t it?” she asked as she moved
to the line to grab a tray. “Now then, what all do you want?” She pulled a few
items from the line, sandwiches and pie.
“Bracken?”

“Sorry,
I think I may have dozed off for a moment. Uh, the same as what you have there,
love.
And maybe one of the juices too.
If I drink any
more water or coffee I may need to throw a fit.”

“Sounds good.”
She doubled the food
that they had on the tray already and once it was full she turned to him.
“Ready?”

Nodding,
he took the tray from her and gave her the bottles of juice he’d collected. He
let out a big yawn and slipped his arm back around her shoulders while they
walked. “If I could get away with it, I’d sleep for a week after today.
Unfortunately, I think the crew might grow suspicious if I don’t at least put
in an appearance at some point.”

“True.
They might think I’m keeping you away from everyone.” She had seen more than
one of the people looking at her as if she were a mutant or something.

Giving
her a squeeze, he tipped her chin up with his free hand. “What’s going on,
Sadie? And don’t tell me
nothing
. I know you.
Plus being able to see your true face helps with figuring out what’s going
through that head of yours. Tell me what made you look like you just bit into
something sour.”

“Just
getting used to the looks is all. It’s been years since I’ve had anyone
look
at the true me so to see the looks, it’s just taking a
little to keep from turning away from them,” she admitted.

“You
are beautiful, Sadie. I know you don’t feel like you are, but believe me when I
say you are beautiful.” He pressed a kiss to her temple, near the scar. “This
doesn’t take away from it, little one. I would protect you from all this if I
could, you know that right?”

“I’m
glad you think so.” She brushed her cheek to his. “I’m glad it doesn’t take
away from what we have. It’s part of me.” She took a deep breath. “It’s life,
right?”

“We
all have scars, Sadie. Some of us have them on our
flesh,
others have them deep inside where no one knows they exist. They all mark us,
change us, and make us stronger.”

On
their floor they made their way quickly to their quarters. She didn’t say
anything else until she was finally once more alone with him in their quarters.
Setting their food on the table, she turned to face him. “Now then, food is
here and so are we.
Naked, right?”

“Yes,
you need to get naked,” he said with a grin. “I’m planning on putting on a pair
of pants so I remember to behave myself around you.
Though it
will be a test, especially after yesterday with all your lovely, soft, warm
curves pressed up against me.”
He let out a groan and shifted on his
feet. “I now need a very cold shower.”

“So
do
I
,” she grumbled. “Maybe we should take one
together?” She liked the way that sounded.
A lot.

Bracken
let out a low whimper. Scraping his fingers through his short dark red hair, he
eyed her up and down. “It really isn’t conducive to the purpose of the cold
shower to have you in there wet and naked with me.”

“I
know it’s not but I can’t seem to help myself. I want to be around you. I want
to feel your hands on my body and I want to know how perfectly we will fit
together because I know that we will. Fit, that is. I already fit you so well.
When we’re sleeping together don’t you feel just how well we fit?”

“Of
course I do, Sadie. I’m also trying to behave myself until we have our contract
settled and we’re married. After that all bets are off, though, and I will
remember all of this teasing you’re doing. There will be payback.” Reaching
out, he pulled her into his arms, his hands landing on her ass to haul her up
against him. “I’m only a man, Sadie. You can only push me so far before I snap.
Not something I want happening for our first time together.”

“And
when will we work on our contract and be married?” She was anxious to have
everything with him, needed it. “I trust you, Bracken, completely. I know you
would never do anything that would cause me permanent harm or cause me pain
just for the sake of causing me pain.”

He
looked a bit taken aback by her words but nodded as he said, “Of course I
wouldn’t. You are
my everything
, Sadie. We will work
on the contract as soon as we wake up tomorrow. We’ll have our ceremony as soon
as we drop off our guests at the moon base. I trust many of them but not all as
I don’t know them all. And your safety is always my first priority.”

“I
trust you,” she told him with a nod and stepped back. “Okay, then. You go and
shower and then I will. And tomorrow, we’ll start our lives together.”

“Absolutely correct.”
After giving her ass
a squeeze and pressing a kiss to her lips he drew back. “Why don’t you eat
while I’m cleaning up? I won’t be very long but you should get going on that
since I doubt we’ll both be awake for very long.”

“You
have that right.” She put her hand over his heart and nodded. “Go before I ask
again to shower with you.”

He
brushed his fingers over the back of her hand. Then he stepped away from her
touch and headed into their sleeping rooms. She could hear him moving around
for a time before the water started.

Once
she knew he was in the shower, she began to eat. She listened to the noise in
the bathroom and when it sounded like he was almost done she put her dishes
back onto the tray and moved toward the bathroom to wait for him to exit so she
could enter.

When
he stepped out he was only wearing a pair of loose pants low on his hips. He
didn’t even see her right away as he was using a towel to dry his hair and it
partially obscured his face. Tugging it away, he blinked at her,
then
smiled slightly. “Impatient, are you?”

“Yes,
because I want to get into bed with you.” She wanted to curl against him and
get warm once more. “Eat. I’ll be out in ten minutes, at most.” She touched her
fingers to his lips and pulled away so that she could get cleaned up for sleep
as well.

“Hurry,”
he called after her. He said something else but it was too low for her to hear,
and maybe he didn’t want her to hear whatever he’d said.