Page 19 of Double Take (Cosmic Mates #5)

John’s commanding officer was a cold, abrupt, emotionless asshole. She easily pictured him working for Dark Ops; he’d been cut from the same cloth as Rogers and Glenn. However, Marshall had gone back for Amity and Rusty—reluctantly, but he’d done it. She supposed she ought to be grateful—he’d risked his life and freedom to get them—but she couldn’t forget how he’d brought them aboard, her friend slung over his shoulder like a sack of grain, her cat shoved into a duffel bag like dirty laundry.

She stroked poor Rusty. He was still unconscious.

Seated next to her in a ready room, John squeezed her shoulder in sympathy, and she smiled at him. He made everything all right. He’s the man I’ve been waiting for all my life. Their future remained uncertain, undefined, but they would face it together. Along with Amity and Rusty. She fretted about Amity’s reaction when she awakened. Her best friend had elected to come to Terra Nova, but that didn’t mean she’d be happy about moving to another planet. Not when she hadn’t had a choice. Faith hadn’t anticipated Amity wouldn’t be conscious. Marshall had basically kidnapped her.

He had a lot to answer for—as soon as he got here.

“I need to check on some stuff. I’ll meet you in the ready room,” he’d told them.

“Do you have any idea where we’re going?” she asked in a low voice.

“No, he didn’t tell me.”

“We can’t go back to Earth,” she said.

“No.” He leaned his forehead against hers in a brief caress. “I’m sorry I got you into this mess. I turned your life topsy-turvy.”

“I’d rather be with you in a topsy-turvy mess than not with you.” She cupped his cheek. He’d only recently come into her life, but she couldn’t imagine living without him.

He smiled then, love shining from his eyes.

The door slid open to admit Marshall. He took a seat across from them at the table. Closedmouthed throughout the whole ordeal, he wasted no time on preamble. “We’re headed to Planet Refuge.”

“I’ve never heard of it.” She glanced at John.

He shook his head. “Me neither.”

“Not surprising. The powers that be don’t want you to know about it. Refuge grants asylum to persecuted and endangered peoples. A wealthy philanthropist who ran afoul of his government set it up. He had the means to flee, but he recognized that those of modest means did not.”

“Refuge will take all of us?” John asked.

“You and I have already been accepted,” Marshall said. “Faith, your and Amity’s requests are pending—I just submitted them. That’s what I was doing.”

“How were our requests accepted so fast?” John said.

“My exit plan has been in the works for a while. I was going to leave when Dark Ops learned you’d gone AWOL—”

“Not AWOL. On vacation. Approved leave,” John cut in.

Marshall arched an eyebrow. “Were you coming back?”

A moment of silence followed his question. “No, but Dark Ops didn’t know that. I had every intention of returning when I submitted my leave request. Then I met Faith, and I changed my mind.”

“Getting back to what I was saying—my asylum application had been approved, and I was ready to jump ship, when I learned agents were headed here. Against my better judgment, I came to save your sorry ass. I submitted an emergency application to Refuge on your behalf before I left Earth. Dark Ops has no authority on Refuge. It’s the only place where we’ll be completely safe.”

How altruistic of him. She didn’t buy it. “Why risk your exit plan by helping John?”

“I empathize with his situation. I’m a clone, too,” he said.

She widened her eyes. In the space of a week, she’d met two clones tied to Dark Ops. How many did the agency employ? Don’t get distracted. She glanced at John and then turned her attention to Marshall. “The Refuge application you submitted for me and Amity—is there a chance it won’t be approved? What if it’s not?” She envisioned a worst-case scenario.

“There’s a chance,” he admitted. “Your situations aren’t as dire as ours. If you’re not approved, you won’t be permitted to disembark the ship. They’ll return you to your planet of embarkation—Terra Nova.”

She and John would be parted.

“Then, I won’t go either.” John covered her hand, which rested on the still-unconscious Rusty.

“One way you can be assured of getting in is to go as his fiancée. He’s allowed to bring along a spouse or his betrothed. Cosmic Mates can perform the ceremony as soon as we land.”

“I—uh—” She’d concluded she loved him, and she felt like she’d known him all her life—but in reality, it had been a little more than a week. So, marry ? They hadn’t discussed anything beyond a three-week fling.

“I would marry you in an instant,” John said. “For any reason.”

“Cosmic Mates marriages are provisional for the first year,” Marshall continued as if sensing her ambivalence. “It’s a trial marriage that becomes binding if you stay together for a year. But if you should separate before the end of the trial, you’ll lose your sanctuary.”

Common sense and emotion synchronized. Trial marriage. That she could do. “That sounds like a good solution.” She linked her fingers with John’s and smiled. He smiled back. Her heart liked the idea very much. Then another problem intruded.

“Where does that leave Amity?”

Marshall pressed his lips together. “Her best bet, if asylum is rejected, is to find a match through Cosmic Mates. She’ll then move to her husband’s planet.”

“Won’t Dark Ops get to her there?” she asked.

“It’s possible, but I doubt they’ll try. She was never the target—unlike you two.”

She would have to cross her fingers and wait it out.

“I’m sorry I got you both involved,” John said to her. “I dragged you into this. I disrupted your life. You came to Terra Nova for a fresh start, and now I’ve uprooted you again.”

She shook her head. “Meeting you was the best thing to happen to me.” She squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back. “You are my fresh start.” A fresh start with a new man. A man who loved her, whom she’d fallen for in a big way. They could be together. No deadline drove their actions now; they could get to know each other like a normal couple.

If normal meant you met and wed a man you’d known for a week. The doppelg?nger of your departed husband. There was nothing normal about this situation. Normal is overrated. Who cared if they were normal if they were happy?

They would be married.

Provisionally.

Forever, whispered inner wisdom. He’s the one.

“A dream come true,” he said.

Dreams could ferry you places you didn’t know you wanted to go until you got there. This wasn’t how she envisioned her life, but she looked forward to the year ahead. Life should be adventurous, not settled.

“Meow?” A groggy Rusty lifted his head.

“It’s okay, Rusty.” She stroked him.

“Good kitty.” John petted him.

“If the cat is rousing, Amity must be, too,” Marshall said.

“I should be there when she wakes up,” she said. “She won’t have any idea where she is, what’s going on.”

“Give me a minute. Let me talk to her first,” Marshall said.

She shook her head and handed Rusty to John. “Amity should see a familiar face.” She stood up, but before she could move, Marshall slipped out the door.

“Does that seem odd to you?” She looked at John.

“Odder than anything else that’s happened?” His mouth quirked.

“You have a point.”

“I don’t know what’s going on, but giving them a minute will give us one, too.” He settled the cat on the chair and turned toward her.

She went into his arms, sighing with contentment. “We were meant for each other.”

“Let’s do this right,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

He dropped down onto one knee. “Faith Hammond, will you do me the honor of becoming my provisional wife?” His eyes, those sexy eyes, twinkled.

“I love you.” It was important to say it. “Yes, I will marry you.”

He let out a joyful, surprised whoop, like there could have been any doubt. “I love you so much. I always have.” He kissed her then, his hungry mouth stirring satisfaction, resolution, and desire.

Marshall ended up with quite a few minutes to talk to Amity.