Jaed

by T. J. Quinn

  Only then he got up and pulled out his hard cock from his pants, thrusting it deep inside her, taking her back to the path to paradise, making her come again and again with every one of his thrusts, savoring the way her walls clenched as she convulsed around him. Nothing felt like that, and he was sure he would never tire of the pleasure she gave him.

  When the waves finally subsided, he carried her to the bathroom and bathed her, taking all the time in the world to roam across every inch of her skin.

  After that, she disappeared into her working room, and he finally used the electronic reader she had lent him.

  At night, they cooked together, and after dinner, they went to bed together in Hannah’s bigger bed.

  That day set the pace for the following ones. They lived in a bubble of passion, bliss, and pleasure, oblivious to the world outside, while the storm raged and covered their world with thick layers of snow.

  “It stopped snowing,” he announced, looking out the kitchen window.

  A few days had gone by, and that morning, right after breakfast, he had pulled aside the lace curtain to look outside. He was completely recovered and was starting to feel restrained between the walls of the small house.

  She closed the distance between them and looked outside. “Yes, the sun is finally shining. The roads will be open soon.”

  “That means the soldiers will be here soon.” He pointed out, with a slight frown.

  Chapter Seven

  Though he didn’t talk much about his life fighting the Taucets, Hannah had learned he was little less than a slave. He had no freedom at all, not even to decide what he wanted to eat, nor did they get paid for all they did for the army. It was outrageous.

  “Then, it’s time for you to leave,” she said, looking at him exuding determination through each word.

  He turned to look at her. “Yes, I’ll walk to the nearest town and wait for them, there. I’ll do all I can to keep them away from you,” he assured her, trying to ignore the sharp pain in his chest. He hadn't expected for her to ask him to leave.

  “No, you don’t understand. I want you to escape, Jaed. I can’t let you go back to that kind of life,” she stated. “Ancient Chinese said that once you saved a life, that life became your responsibility. I didn’t save you so that you could go back to a life of slavery,” she insisted.

  “I already told you I can’t. It would put you in danger,” he refused, the pain rapidly disappearing, replaced by a warm feeling he wasn’t sure he had ever felt. She cared for him.

  “No, it won’t. I can disappear for a while, go visit some friends on the other side of the country. They won’t have a way to prove I was here with you,” she assured him.

  He shook his head. “And how do you plan to get there? Practically all roads are closed, and you can’t get very far.”

  “Then, I’ll ask a friend to take me in, in the nearest town. I’ll tell them I knew a storm was coming and I decided to stay in town, just in case,” she suggested. “I’m a good actress when I need to be,” she assured him, cupping his face. “You deserve a better life. You deserve to be free. Please, grant me this. I’ll be alright, I promise.”

  “I can’t walk away without knowing if you’re safe,” he insisted.

  “We’ll find a way to solve that. The most important thing now is to get rid of their control over you. How do we do that?” she asked, determined to end his slavery that same moment.

  “I would need to get to my main control system and change the codes,” he explained, still not convinced.

  “Can you do that?”

  “Alone, no, I can’t. We’re programmed to never access that part of our body. Excruciating pain rushes through you if we even try,” he replied, with a slight frown. Like all cyborgs, he had tried, sure he would bear the pain, but it was incapacitating.

  “How can we do it then?”

  “You would have to do it.”

  “Tell me how. What do I have to do?”

  “You need to cut the skin under my right armpit and input the codes I’ll give you,” he explained.

  “Are you serious? Your main control system is under your skin? They have to cut you up each time they need to access it?” she was furious.

  That was terrible. Why wasn’t there anyone fighting for cyborgs’ rights? Being at war, was no excuse to act like a damn barbarian.

  “Yes, they had to put it in a place hard to access,” he said, with scorn.

  “I think I have some local anesthesia in my first aid’s kit. I’ll get it, and we’ll do it,” she said, turning around to leave the kitchen.

  “It’s not necessary. I can handle it,” he assured her.

  “Perhaps you can, but I can’t. I won’t cause you any pain if I can help it.” She went to the bathroom and collected the kit from the cabinet.

  As expected, there was some local anesthesia and even a scalpel she could use to cut open his skin. Her stomach lurched at the idea, but she would do anything to free him. Even if it meant she would lose him.

  She returned to the kitchen and had him take a seat at the table. She laid out everything she would need and started by injecting the anesthesia all around the area.

  “Let me know when you feel it numb,” she asked him.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, in a stern tone.

  He had been thinking about it, and if she really wanted to do it, then she would have to escape with him. He wouldn’t leave her behind exposed to being caught by the government for helping him.

  Besides, he wasn’t ready to leave her. In fact, he was starting to think he would ever be.

  “I told you, I am,” she assured him, looking straight at him, fearless and determined.

  “Very well, I’ll let you do this on one condition,” he said, as determined as she was.

  “Let’s hear it,” she nodded. Nothing would make her change her mind.

  “I want you to escape with me. I can’t leave you behind, not knowing if you’ll be safe or not,” he blurted out. “I’ll keep you safe for as long as needed.”

  Hannah’s heart missed a beat. There seemed to be more than a normal concern over another person’s wellbeing in his tone. Could it be possible he cared about her?

  After all these days living with him, she had no doubt about her feelings for him. She loved him. She knew it was an impossible love, but hearts didn’t listen to logic, and she loved him more than she had ever thought possible to love someone else. Jaed had proven to be the man she had always dreamed of: passionate, kind, fearless, strong, with the highest principles she had ever seen in a man.

  Their long chats in each other’s arms had allowed her to really get to know him and the kind of man he was, despite the harsh way he has brought up by the military, with all his emotional needs ignored and sometimes even mocked.

  But he cared enough to make sure she was safe, and that was better than what she had expected.

  “Where would we go?” she asked, trying to stay as serene as possible.

  “There are underground organizations helping cyborgs to escape. I was told of one, right here in the Rocky Mountains.”

  “Very well, I’ll go with you. Nothing is holding me back,” Hannah accepted.

  “I know I’m asking too much of you, after all, you’ve done for me, but I swear I’ll make it up to you,” he said, with fervor.

  “You don’t have to do anything. I want to help you, and I’ll do all in my power to see you free,” she assured him.

  He looked at her with a strange expression on his face. “Why do you care so much?”

  She chuckled and tried to disguise the truth as much as possible. “I guess your life is my responsibility now and I take these things very seriously.”

  He let out a small laugh. “Alright, I can accept that, for now,” he said, with a tender look in his eyes. “I’m ready, whenever you are,” he told her, raising his arm.

  She took a deep breath and picking up the scalp, she started cutting the skin, follow
ing his instructions. Soon, she had the keyboard in sight. Fortunately, the blood loss was minimal, and she guessed it was due to his nanocybots.

  He told her which codes to introduce and one by one, they started changing them all. But whenever they added one, the system alerted to a malfunction.

  “What’s going on?” she asked, worried.

  “I have no idea. I’ve never heard of this before.”

  She tried a new one, and the message was the same. “Is there a way to run a full scan to your electronic parts?” she asked, with a frown. She wasn’t ready to give up. “Perhaps the shot to your head affected the connection to your main system.”

  “Yes, there is. I might go unconscious while the scan is running,” he warned her.

  “Let’s get you to the couch then. I don’t want you falling on the floor.”

  He agreed, and when they were ready, he gave her the instructions. “Punch the following sequence.” He dictated the series of numbers and soon, his eyes shut down, and he didn’t say another word.

  Hannah stayed there, next to him, worried sick, hating not being able to do anything. After what felt like centuries, he finally opened his eyes.

  “You were right. Apparently, the shot destroyed the connections with the tracking systems and even some of the main control system,” he explained, sitting up.

  “What does that mean?” she asked, not understanding the implications of his words.

  “That it’s possible they haven’t been able to track me down from the moment I was shot,” he explained, with a faint smile.

  “You told me the Taucet shot you before he threw you out of the vessel. They were traveling faster than sound speed, so that must have happened several miles away from here,” she said, thoughtful. “I wasn’t even able to see the ship, just hear it.”

  “So, the last coordinates the army has on my position mustn’t be close to where we are,” he concluded.

  “That’s my guess,” she agreed. “How can we be sure? I don’t like the idea of sitting here waiting to see if they will come knocking on my door,” she asked.

  “Do you have a vehicle of any sort?” he asked, putting his skin back in place and holding it there for a few minutes, allowing the nanocybots to do their job.

  “Yes, I have a Motorstorm.”

  “Good, I can work on that to make it faster and silent so that we can escape in case anyone comes near the cabin. I can sense their presence up to a few miles away,” he explained. “Or we could go and look for the people in the underground groups. They have people inside so they could give us more information on my current status.”

  Hannah opened her mouth to answer, but she rapidly changed her mind. Did she want to go with him to these caves? According to what he had told her about them, these people helped cyborgs leave the planet and go to Arcadia, a planet inhabited by those that had escaped.

  That would be the faster way to lose him. If things were as they seemed, they would be safe up here in the mountains, at least, for a while.

  She knew he would soon grow tired of living up there, all alone with her, but she would have a few more months to enjoy his company. Going to the caves would be the end of it all.

  She let out a deep sigh. “I think we can stay here for now. They won’t be able to find you, so there’s no rush to leave,” she suggested, with a weak smile.

  He looked relieved. “Yes, I agree with you.” he leaned over and cradled her face. “I hope you’re willing to put up with me for a while longer,” he mumbled, against her mouth, before he claimed a passionate kiss from her full lips.

  “All the time you want,” she assured him, breathless as her whole body responded to his touch.

  “Good.” With a broad smile, he picked her in his arms and carried her to bed, determined to worship her body for the following hours.

  Chapter Eight

  When they emerged from the bedroom, the sun was up in the sky, and they decided to go for a walk in the snow. After so many days locked up in the house, they could use the fresh air.

  “There’s a small river nearby. It’s probably frozen, but it’s a lovely place,” she suggested.

  “Lead the way.”

  Unlike her, he was only wearing the jeans she had modified for him, along with a sweater that had belonged to her father. Apparently, the temperature didn’t affect him the way it affected her.

  “I’m starting to wish I had some of your little nanocybots inside me,” she said, wrapping the scarf around her neck and putting on a hat.

  He chuckled. “Yes, I guess they have their good side,” he said, with a scowl.

  “Is there a bad side?” she asked, as they walked out of the house.

  “Yes, there is. They have a mind of their own, and there’s no way of changing it or even influencing it. That’s why the government hasn’t used them on humans. They have no way to predict what things they will change to keep the body functioning and fit,” he explained.

  “I guess that could be a problem, but I still feel the advantages are too great,” she insisted.

  “The world’s population would disappear in a few years,” he added. “Nanocybots consider a fertilized egg to be an alien and they destroy it. No cyborgs have been able to breed naturally. They haven’t even been able to use women as surrogate mothers. The fetus drains all the nutrients from the host, and they can even die.”

  “Oh, I see, that’s sad, I guess,” she said, not sure how she felt about that.

  She had never thought about becoming a mother. Her former lovers hadn't been the kind of men to inspire that sort of feelings on a woman. But things were different now that she had found Jaed. Unfortunately, things had been decided for her.

  It saddened her, but that didn’t make her love him less.

  “The government has used the nanocybots on a human soldier, and the results weren’t the ones expected. He wasn’t as keen to follow orders as the rest of the cyborgs,” he explained, as they walked towards the river. The air was cold but quite refreshing. “In fact, he was the first cyborg to escape, and he was also the one who found the way to help others escape.”

  “How many of you have escaped?” she asked, curious.

  “Hundreds of thousands. And many more will escape.”

  “With luck, they will all escape,” she said, with a smile.

  “That would leave the planet at the mercy of the Taucets.”

  “Perhaps the government considered that when they decided to enslave the cyborgs and treat them as if they were just machines,” she stated, in a cold tone.

  He chuckled. “You have a point there.”

  They reached the river, but despite the freezing temperatures they had had during the past days, the water was still flowing normally. “I used to fish here with my father. We used to get some really nice trout here. It was delicious,” she told him with a smile.

  “You miss him a lot, don’t you?” he asked in a gentle tone.

  She gave him a sad smile. “Yes, I do. He was the only family I had and losing him was very hard. I know he was tired of fighting the cancer that invaded his body, but I still needed him with me,”

  “I can’t possibly know how you feel, but I’m sure it must be heartbreaking.”

  “It’s the law of life, we all die someday,”

  “I would love to fish here with you. I’m sure we could get some nice trout, too,” he said, with a smile, trying to cheer her up.

  “Yes, that would be great,” she assured him.

  They walked along the river banks for a while, appreciating the way the wood creatures seemed to come back to life, after the storm.

  “We could also hunt some deer,” he suggested, watching the imposing animal strolling through the woods.

  “If we were starving and there was no more food around, yes, I guess we could,” she replied, with a scowl. “I’m not very fond of venison,” she explained.

  “We’ll let them live then,” he said, laughing.

  A few minutes later, they
decided to head back to the house. The sun was disappearing behind some dark clouds, and the breeze was getting too cold.

  “We need to discuss a few practical things if I’m staying with you,” he said when they entered the house.

  Intrigued, she turned to look at him. “Like what?”

  “As cyborgs, we don’t get paid for what we do, so I’m afraid I have no money to share expenses with you,” he explained. “So, perhaps, you could find something for me to do to pay for the food and shelter you’re providing for me.”

  “I have more than enough money for the both of us, you don’t have to worry about that,” she assured him, hating the government for mistreating these men this way. It was unfair.

  “Perhaps, but even so, I would feel better contributing somehow. You have a nice property here, I’m sure you could raise some cattle or even chickens,” he suggested.

  “My father used to have some sheep, chickens and even a cow up here. I sold them all when he died. I didn’t have a clue on how to take care of them or the time to learn how to do it properly,” she explained. “I’ll show you the barn where he kept them, and if it’s still fit, we could have that. It would be nice to have fresh milk and eggs, instead of the processed ones,” she said, smiling.

  It would require some investment, but she didn’t mind. She had more than enough money, and she would do anything to keep him happy.

  “That sounds great. Do you think you could get the animals?”

  “Yes, my father used to buy them from a rancher in the nearest town. I’m sure he’s still working with cattle,” she replied. “I’ll go talk to him next time I go to town.”

  “How will you explain your sudden interest in cattle?”

  “I’ll tell them I have way too much spare time, they won’t ask many questions.”

  “Good, I wouldn’t like to cause you problems.”

  “You won’t, don’t worry. It will still take us a few days for me to be able to go to town.”

  “There’s no hurry. I just want to find a way to repay you for all you’ve done for me.”