The Bond That Consumes Us Read Online Free PDF Page A

his gaze not leaving hers.
    They stayed that way for several more seconds until she heard Lance clear his throat. She looked to see him examining something in the far corner of the room. But the other man, Donaldson, was openly staring at them, his eyes flicked from her to Taber. For a moment she could have sworn he’d muttered, great .
    “What’s the next step in your investigation?” She turned away from Taber, suddenly needing the air, and carefully walked around the holo toward Donaldson.
    “To ask you a few more questions, see the body and talk to the suspect in custody,”
    Taber said from behind her.
    “I still can’t believe you think Commander Bruce did this, Tony,” Lance said.
    “Bruce is too much of a cowardly ass to actually commit a murder.”
    Tony simply shrugged. “We have to follow every lead. You know that.”
    “I think this will go faster if we split up,” Donaldson said. He looked at Fallon for only a moment before turning to Tony. “Would you be able to take me to your med bay? I’d like to talk to the doctor before it gets too late. Taber, I’ll leave the questioning of the people here to you.”
    “Hey do you think I could come too?” Lance piped up. “I’ve been fighting a killer headache for the past hour and could use some meds from Doc.”
    “I don’t think self-inflicted pain counts as an emergency, Lance,” Fallon said, shaking her head.
    Not that anyone else seemed to mind. Donaldson shrugged. “I’ll question you in med bay then.”
    And before she had a chance to think about what was happening, Donaldson followed Tony and Lance out the door leaving her alone with Taber.
    Just great. Could this night get any worse?
    Not wanting to look at him, Fallon found her gaze flick down to the holo of Nate.
    The laser blast had cauterized the wound, so the blood was mostly beneath his body. A 19
     
     
    small pool of it was still on the floor, the crimson shimmering because the light of the holo. Nate had been friendly to her. If it weren’t for the ship’s strict policy against dating co-workers, there may have been a chance something would have developed between them when she’d first come on board, but not in recent months.
    “Were you close?”
    Taber’s voice had changed. It was softer than when he was questioning her earlier, as if he recognized her discomfort. She shrugged before nodding.
    “He was very kind to me. Showed me the ropes when I first came on board ship.”
    “I’m very sorry for your loss.”
    Looking up, Fallon wrapped her arms around her upper body. “Thanks. Could we do this somewhere else? This thing creeps me out.”
    “Of course. One of the tables?”
    “Okay.”
    Leading the way, she skirted the tables that held the regulars, ignoring their questioning looks, and stopped at the far booth. Sliding along the cool seat cover, she waited for Taber to join her. When he stood at the side of the table rather than sit, she frowned.
    “Aren’t you going to sit with me?”
    “It’s not the custom of my people to do so.”
    His hands were clasped behind his back and his legs were spread slightly as he stood. The posture seemed so natural she doubted he even thought about it, his body falling into the stance like a habit.
    “I’m sorry, you’re probably going to think I’m stupid or living under a rock or something, but who are your people? You’re certainly not human.”
    “My people are known as the Briel. There is a large group of us who have built the Eurus colony with the humans in this sector.”
    Briel. Nate and Captain Zane had told her about the Briel one night when they were off duty and they’d asked her to mix drinks at an officer’s party. They were an odd race, fewer women than men if she remembered right, and only got turned on by their one and only mate. She’d always thought there was something sweet about that even when the men had laughed at the idea. A whole race who searched for their soul mates.
    Unfortunately for her,