Captain Lewis' Broken Dreams (The Brajj #.5) by Jacqueline Patricks

Author:Jacqueline Patricks
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction, romance, adult, military, broken heart, short story, sexy, contemporary, sarcasm, mature, angst, green beret, broken dreams, prequel, army officer, cynical hero, jacqueline patricks, captain lewis, dreams of the queen, the brajj series
Publisher: Crazy Bird Publishing

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Chapter 2

Cass stared into lab’s bathroom mirror; tiny crimson capillaries traced the whites of her hazel eyes like a crazed Egyptian treasure map to nowhere. Her eyes were like the Sahara, too—scorched and gritty. How long had she worked without sleep since the Chamber’s failed power-up test? So disoriented and miserable, she couldn’t remember how much time had passed—hours, days, weeks? Likely not more than hours, Julian wouldn’t allow that. For all his annoying pushiness, he did try to take care of her when her genius traipsed the line of madness, pushing her to extremes, and this certainly qualified.

Running her fingers through her shoulder length hair, she mussed it, attempting to hide the black roots. So much for her auburn highlights. With her project now behind schedule, a beauty day at the salon seemed ridiculous and utterly irrelevant. If she lost the grant, there’d be no more hair treatments.

She released a short, harsh laugh as her hands fell to the porcelain sink to support her weight. Years of work, wasted! The memory of the energy lines sputtering halfheartedly from the generator clenched at her stomach and radiated a stabbing pain behind her eyes.

Fuck! Don’t cry…not now!

Once the power generator had reached maximum, the energy network should’ve been strong and stable, filling the entire Chamber with fluxing, crisscrossing blue lines. The vacuum’s negative resistance should’ve sparked the world’s first source of zero point energy—the first step of the Casimir Effect and the foundation of her wormhole. It should’ve begun as the lines of energy merged, pulling the invisible gravitational planes together like magnets and ripping a hole in the universe. So what had gone wrong? Could her calculations be off?

“Dammit!” Her palms smacked the sink, stinging her skin. She wanted to hit something crushable, or someone. A bitter smile twisted her lips as she imagined Julian’s reaction if he ever witnessed her striking a person out of frustration or anger. He thought he knew her so well, and though he did know her better than most, he’d never really gotten past her full defenses.

“Cass?” A knock on the bathroom door...and he shall appear. “Cass, are you alright?”

“Yes, I’ll be right out.” She kept her voice upbeat, knowing he expected her to be upset. Biggest. Understatement. Ever.

She schooled her expression in the mirror to something closer to professionally disappointed, yet dealing rationally. So much for her big day; time to get back to work on her project turned nightmare. She washed her hands, then splashed cold water on her face. Most of her make-up had worn off hours ago anyhow.

No sense delaying further. So with straightened shoulders, she unlocked the door and faced her exhausted team with a confident mask. Numerous anxious faces snapped up from their work stations as she exited, then swiftly looked away. Typical, no one wanted to tangle with the beast, except for her steady fiancé waiting by the door. More like hovering.

Julian smiled. “You okay?” It struck her as patronizing—smug satisfaction rejoicing in her failure hidden behind reassurance.

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