Changing Tides Read Online Free PDF

parents hadn’t told him. He’d be allowed to live alone or with someone. Promotions would be easier to obtain and there were additional options open to him if he didn’t choose a mate. He would never be allowed children, even adopted, but there would be an increase in his paycheck for remaining single.
    “May I help you?” the general’s secretary asked. She was a blonde-haired, middle-aged woman dressed in the same dark green jacket and light green shirt as he wore. The rank on her sleeves told him she was a tech sergeant.
    “Yes, Sergeant, I have an appointment with Brigadier General Reynolds at seventeen-thirty,” Brett replied. He was early, but he couldn’t have waited any longer if he’d wanted to. He was too anxious about what the general would say about his relationship with Orion.
    “Ah, yes, here it is, Lieutenant DeMarco. You’re early. I’ll let the general know you’re here, but his current meeting is running late. If you’ll have a seat right over there…”
    Brett thanked the woman and sat down where she’d indicated. As he tried not to think about Orion, the note Brett had received earlier in the week weighed heavily on his mind. He still had no idea who’d sent it. While no more messages had been left, items in his quarters and in his workspace had been shifted. It would have been too small to notice if he hadn’t been on the lookout for anything unusual.
    The door across from him opened. Brett jumped to his feet.
    “Lieutenant DeMarco, come in. Please.”
    “Good evening, Sir,” Brett said, following Brigadier General Reynolds into the office.
    “Please have a seat,” the man said, settling in a chair behind the large desk.
    Brett sat in one of the chairs across from the base commander and glanced about him. A second door was along one wall, windows decorated another, still a third had a large painting of General Landry after she’d become President. Around the room, mementos from the general’s career were intermingled with governmental proclamations and military history.
    There was a soft knock, and the door opened.
    Brett’s heart stuttered; his stomach clenched. Orion brought in a tray of food. He nodded toward general before turning around. Brett jumped to his feet. Anger surged through him. Bruises littered the younger man’s face, neck and arms.
    “Who did this to you?” Brett demanded.
    Orion looked at his feet, refusing to meet Brett’s gaze even when Brett grabbed his chin and forced his head up.
    “Are you all right?” He pulled Orion into a hug then swore when the younger man winced. “All over?”
    Orion inclined his head.
    “Did they…did they rape you?” Brett forced the words out through the lump in his throat.
    Orion shook his head.
    “Did you call security?”
    “Yes, Lieutenant, security was called,” the general interrupted. “Unfortunately, he can’t tell us what happen, give a description or point out who did it. It occurred in an area where there are no cameras.”
    Brett looked up, blinking rapidly. He’d forgotten the general was there. “Yes, Sir.”
    “Leave us alone for a bit, boy.”
    Orion nodded and pulled out of Brett’s arms. Brett relented only after seeing Orion’s pleading look. Cold rage drove through him. His man hadn’t been raped. It was small comfort against the knowledge he’d been beaten sometime after Brett had left him at the door to his dormitory last night.
    “Here is the report you asked for,” Brett said, turning back toward Brigadier General Reynolds after the door had closed behind Orion and handing him the partially bent folder.
    “Thank you. I’ll send this to the capitol, and we can go back to dealing with local threats.”
    “Yes, Sir.”
    “Now, you wished to speak to me about my special staff member, Orion Hellman?”
    Brett swallowed the lump in his throat. “Yes, Sir. I would like to see him, to claim him for a spouse in a couple of months, if he’ll agree.”
    “Do you love him?”
    “I care