Free Brianna by Judy Mays - Celestial Passions 01 Page A

amusement, “I’d thought Char had informed you.”
    “Well, he didn’t.”
    Lorilana chuckled. “Why you silly child, he’s going to marry you himself.”

Chapter Four
    The door opened with a quiet hiss, and a hand gripped Lorilana’s forearm. “What are you and that damn Alalakan plotting?” Bakom snapped.
    Lorilana drew herself to her full height of six feet, six inches and stared down at him.
    Bakom flinched. Lorilana towered over his own six-foot height.
    “Take your hand from my arm. I won’t answer any of your questions if you can’t behave in a civilized manner.”
    Gnashing his teeth, he snatched his hand away.
    Lorilana waited, hoping Bakom would do something stupid.
    Any kind of physical attack on her, and he would lose support in the Academy.
    Muscles tensed, Bakom clenched and unclenched his fists.
    After a deep breath, he said, “Forgive me, but as First President of the Academy, it’s unlawful to deny me access to a new specimen. This is an opportunity to study a new lifeform. Surely you can understand my excitement?”
    Lorilana returned to her instrument panel and sat down, her back to Bakom. “Captain Alalakan is vehement in his belief that she be treated with all the respect due an honored guest for saving members of his crew.”
    “Then she should be housed in guest quarters rather than in the private quarters of the captain,” he answered levelly. “Isn’t that the usual procedure on an interplanetary ship?”
    Swiveling her seat, she faced Bakom. “I’m neither an expert on interplanetary travel nor the customs aboard such ships.
    You’ll have to ask the captain for his reasons.”
    His fists remained clenched. His tail jerked. “But you, my dear Dr. Sendenton, are a close friend of the family. Surely the captain’s confided in you.”
    Lorilana shook her head. “I’m sorry, I can’t help you. I may be an old friend of the family, but Captain Alalakan is a grown man who makes his own decisions and keeps his own council.”
    Bakom stared at her for a moment, face white, lips pinched together. When he finally spoke, his voice shook. “You will rue the day you allied yourself with the Alalakan clan against me , Dr. Sendenton dem al’ Lorilana.” Without another word, he spun about and stomped out of Medical.
    Lorilana watched the door close. Turning her seat back to her panel, she flipped a switch and said, “Did you hear everything, Char?”
    “Everything’s been recorded. Oh, and Cindar’s succeeded in her attempt to break the code to Bakom’s personal computer via his connection to the ship’s mainframe. All his medical records have been downloaded to your private files.”
    “I’ll start checking them immediately. By the way,” she continued, “Brianna’s relaxing in your bathtub as we speak, if you’d like to continue your explanation as to why marrying you would be of great benefit.”
    Only silence answered her chuckling.
    Char sat in his chair, elbows propped on the armrests, his fingers steepled beneath his chin. Set on its predetermined course and with its autopilot activated, the ship could navigate itself with only one man to monitor the computer’s activities, so he’d dismissed the rest of his crew with orders to report back in three hours. Then he’d be free the rest of the night.
    Lorilana’s parting comment teased his senses. Closing his eyes, he drew a picture first of Brianna’s defiant nakedness, then her passionate responses to his lovemaking. He groaned at his body’s instant reaction. Today had been an accident.
    She’d been vulnerable because of the dream. When Lorilana had entered the room, Brianna’s shock at her own actions had been easy to read. Her planet was undoubtedly less sexually permissive. Women there probably didn’t fall right into sexual liaisons with men they just met. She might even be uninitiated.
    Char raked his fingers through his hair. No, she was not uninitiated. Her kisses, her reactions to his caresses were