9781618852014TheSpaceCougarsCadetPierce Read Online Free PDF Page A

have loved him in another life. Maybe a life where
the two of them were wandering space brigands or just regular colonists on some
distant world. Or maybe she loved him already.
    Before she had a
chance to analyze that startling thought, orgasm gripped her with a powerful,
flooding warmth. Instead of the quick, hot bursts she usually enjoyed, this one
spread slowly through her, wrapping around her bones, attacking each sensitive
nerve ending with a pure and intense pleasure she hoped would never end. Jaret joined her in her moment of bliss, burying himself
inside her warmth and crying out with the force of his release. All too soon it
did, though it left a peaceful feeling in its wake. Once again they lay side by
side on the blanket. Layla rested her hand against
his.
    “Have
you ever been in love?” she asked him suddenly. “On your home world, maybe, or
at the Institute?”
    Jaret’s face tightened in confusion. “No. At least, I don’t
believe I have.”
    “I
think you’d know if you had,” she told him, amused. “It’s not hard to figure
out. First, you would think about the person all the time. You wouldn’t be able
to eat or sleep.” Or study , she
suddenly realized.
    “It
sounds uncomfortable,” he said, “and possibly harmful to one’s health.”
    “Oh,
it isn’t. It’s wonderful…even if the other person doesn’t return it, or even
know. If the feeling is returned…well, Jaret , it’s
the most addicting emotion Earth people can experience.”
    He
fell silent for a while, considering her words. “Most of the marriages on my
world are arranged,” he said at last. “Genetic engineering often plays a role.
Emotional excesses would impede the work of our scientists. No wonder it is not
encouraged.”
    “Will
you have that sort of marriage?”
    He
shrugged. “Not necessarily. My oldest brother, yes, for the good of the Thek dynasty. Since I am a younger son, I have more
freedom.”
    “That’s
good.”
    “Yes.
I think so.”
    His
mouth hardened. Perhaps some family drama lay behind his reaction. She didn’t
pry. Presently, they dressed and returned to the Institute. They spoke little
on the way back. Something had changed, but Layla suspected it wasn’t because they had begun to lose interest and drift apart.
Quite the reverse.
    If
only things were different, she mused, hating herself for her weakness. If only
he had been older, or she younger. If she were free to leave the Institute and
run off with him. But such things could never be. Each of them had different
destinies to fulfill.
    “Thank
you for inviting me,” Jaret said as they stepped out
of the craft in the Institute’s docking bay. “I shall return to my work now. I
have indeed conquered my fear of the exams.”
    “I
know you’ll do wonderfully.” Discreetly, she reached out and squeezed his hand.
    “As
to what happens after graduation. I shall remind myself not to worry about
unknown quantities.”
    “Good.
Things have a way of working out. You’ll have to trust me on that.”
    “I
do.” He gave a brief, formal half-bow that charmed her and broke her heart all
at once. “I have enjoyed our time together. You are a wonderful teacher.”
    He
walked away. Layla headed back for her office to pick
up some work. She didn’t think she could face her empty quarters just yet.
    She
had barely entered the administrative building when she saw Xath walking toward her. He looked stressed.
    “What’s
wrong?” she asked, hoping she wouldn’t hear that rumors had begun circulating
about a professor and student running off together for the day.
    “A
conflict has broken out,” he said. “Another brigand attack, this one much worse
than the others. We will be mobilizing for war games soon.”

 

     

     
    Chapter Four

     

     
    Layla spent the next several hours in emergency faculty
meetings. While she and Jaret had been enjoying one
another in their private paradise, a fresh wave of brigands had breached an
important security