Brandi

by Donna McDonald

  “You’re more obsessed with our sex life than I am.”

  “I’m a guy. I want it all the time… and I mean all the time… not sometimes… all the time. And you’re the first woman in two hundred years who’s ever given me all I wanted. So yes—I’m obsessed.”

  Brandi grinned at the compliment. “Really?”

  Gareth smiled. “Yes. Really. I told you that last night.”

  “I thought it was the world record breaking sex talking.”

  “It was,” Gareth said softly. “But that didn’t make it less true.”

  Her mouth diving for his knocked him against the door of the truck. Brandi’s kiss spun out as her hands worked around him to hug. He growled in her ear, his fangs descending. “Bad timing,” he whispered.

  Brandi pulled back to look at him. Her fangs gleamed in the twilight. She nodded and reluctantly moved away.

  “If this giddy feeling is love, I think I like it,” she said.

  “It is. Now come on,” Gareth said, his throat tight with emotion. “Let’s go see if they want us. For all we know, they might have decided Jesse and Marilyn would be a better bet.”

  He laughed at the terror showing on Brandi’s face as she lifted her chin. He was going to get to watch her open up and the children grow up. After all his time alone, he wasn’t sure how he’d gotten so lucky.

  They both turned to the door as three tiny bodies tore out of it. A tired, but smiling Marilyn trailed behind them.

  Brandi slid from the truck and laughed as they skidded to a halt. Aggie and Stewart hugged her legs. “Move. My turn,” Kent finally demanded. She was squeezed hard when Kent flung himself at her. “You came back.”

  “Of course I came back. My job is done. Hopefully I won’t have another one for a good long while.”

  Kent pulled away and stepped back. “So have you made a decision about us?”

  Brandi snorted. “Yes,” she said, saying nothing more. She grinned at Stewart. “You were right about the bear people, Stewart. They weren’t scary, just sad. Gareth sent them all home, so they’re not sad anymore.”

  Stewart backed away and started jumping around in joy, yelling how much he liked being right. She looked over at Gareth. He was watching Stewart with the same kind of happy gaze so often turned in her direction lately. The man wasn’t perfect, but he was perfect for her. She looked at the children. He would be perfect for them too. Maybe Gareth could make up for her shortcomings.

  Sighing, she looked at Kent. “I want you all, but I have no idea how to be a parent.”

  “It’s okay,” Kent declared. “We have no idea what parents are like. You got used to Gareth. Maybe you’ll get used to us. Gareth and I will make some family rules to help everyone adjust.”

  “Oh really,” Brandi said, fisting one hand on her hip. “And what kind of rules are we talking about?”

  Kent looked at the other two. He was trying to get Aggie to talk, but she just shook her head.

  Brandi snickered. “I’m siding with Kent on this one. Spit it out if you’ve got something to say, Aggie. You need to start talking for yourself instead of for Stewart and Kent. We’re going to have to work on that.”

  She glanced at Gareth quickly when she heard the girl draw in a deep breath. His gaze was glued to Aggie’s earnest face. Her chest clenched at his proud grin when Aggie cleared her throat.

  “I think we should each get at least three hugs a day lasting a full minute each. It helps the body create endorphins which will help the bonding process. Our adoption and adjustment to our new family will go much smoother,” Aggie declared.

  Brandi snorted as she looked at Marilyn. “What did they do? Hack your internet?”

  “Yes. It’s Jesse’s fault. He bought them tablets with that wireless feature built-in. He thinks they’re funny to be so smart. You need to have a stern talk with him later,” Marilyn said, biting her cheek.

  Brandi was smiling when she looked back at Aggie. “Three hugs a day sounds like a good first rule. Kent, you and Gareth can start your list on the ride home. Now you three run get your gear. You’re going to be sleeping on the floor for the next few weeks, but everyone’s getting a new sleeping bag. Gareth is building you a dormitory… I mean, he’s building you guys bedrooms. Damn it—that didn’t come out right.”

  “Don’t worry about swearing,” Kent declared, shrugging hard. “Jesse says it’s a sign of passion. You’re definitely the most passionate person I’ve ever met, so I figure he’s right. We don’t have to put the no swearing rule on the list unless Gareth decides it’s important. He’s the one that brought it up on the plane.”

  Brandi glared at her mate who had the good sense to duck his head as he grinned.

  “Gareth might not get a say this time around. I haven’t decided yet if our family will be a democracy, a monarchy, or a dictatorship. I may decide to be the only ruler. We’ll discuss details on the ride back in the truck. Now get your gear… go… hurry. Can’t you see you wore your babysitter out? Marilyn needs a break,” Brandi ordered, pointing a finger to the tired woman as she tried not to grin.

  Three laughing children smiled at Marilyn and raced each other into the house.

  “Those three take a lot of energy to look after,” Marilyn said sighing. “And yet I still don’t want them to go. They are truly extraordinary. I’ll happily be your daycare provider if you two decide to work. So long as I get to sleep in once in a while.”

  “I will gladly accept your offer. We’ll work out the details next week—after all the bonding I’m sure Aggie is going to want us to do as a family.”

  “I’m sure she’s right on some level. Excuse me, I better go make sure they get everything.”

  Brandi bit her lip when Marilyn walked away laughing. Panic started to set in again.

  “What about school for them, Gareth? If they’re that smart, what’s the chances of a teacher or their friends keeping up with them? I’m not mentally equipped to raise geniuses. Ariel needs the genius kids.”

  “It’s okay. We’ll deal with it, but not all in one night,” Gareth declared. His arm draping around her neck allowed her to sag against him for a moment. “You’re going to be a great prison warden… I mean mother. Though the term will probably apply before we’ve served our time as their legal guardians.”

  Brandi snickered as she looked up into Gareth’s calm, laughing gaze. She still wasn’t sure how she’d gotten to the place where they were hugging and joking so easily. “It’s too late to back out, Gareth Longfeather. Remember that tonight when you’re not getting any.”

  “What do you mean not getting any? I plan to talk you into sneaking out to the truck after the children have gone to sleep. It will take the edge off the transition for us. I’m definitely going to add having sex five times a day to our list. I mean our personal list… not the family one. Wasn’t the hug thing a great idea? I happen to know someone who can’t get enough of those lately. It sure has mellowed her out. Imagine what it will do for the rest of us.”

  Brandi’s bark of laughter at his bragging disappeared as Gareth’s lips slid lovingly across hers.

  # # The End # #

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  ~ Donna McDonald

  KEEP READING in this ebook to read a short excerpt from, Peyton 313, BOOK 1 OF CYBORGS: MANKIND REDEFINED. My cyborgs are hot, sexy, and more than just liv
ing machines.

  Also included is a three chapter excerpt from Ready To Were, a hilarious werewolf romance from author Robyn Peterman. It is BOOK 1 FROM HER SHIFT HAPPENS SERIES.

  Excerpt from PEYTON 313

  Book 1 of Cyborgs: Mankind Redefined

  by

  Donna McDonald

  Book Description

  Worst epic fail of her scientific career? Falling for a cyborg she helped create.

  Kyra Winters never meant for her cyber science discoveries to be used for evil, but that’s exactly what happened. Now returning Peyton 313’s humanity is the last chance she’ll ever have to atone. She can’t get back the lost decade, but she can change the present by restoring the cyborg who was once Marine Captain Peyton Elliot.

  Certainly her grand plan for rectifying her mistakes didn’t include madly kissing the confused, passionate Marine when he begged her to. The same scientific mind that constructed the cyborg creator code now warned her not to let Peyton’s tempting offers of heaven cloud her rational decision making. Yet it’s difficult to resist the cyborg she’s restoring when he’s also the most intriguing man she’s ever known.

  About the Cyborgs: Mankind Redefined Series

  This is a futuristic science fiction and fantasy series that takes place in the not too distant future. The Cyborg heroes are cybernetically enhanced military men who have been robotically imprisoned after a near apocalyptic global war. One by one the soldiers are now in the process of having their humanity restored. Each book deals with a different restored cyborg. For some readers, these stories will also be scifi romantic comedies.

  Available books in the Cyborgs: Mankind Redefined Series

  Book 1: Peyton 313

  Book 2: Kingston 691

  Book 3: Marcus 582

  Book Excerpt

  Peyton fought the pain contracting his muscles as best he could while not allowing his face to show it. Over time, he had learned to channel the physical torture into a silent exercise that made his body stronger. Through the steady stream of current scrambling his circuitry, he heard the delivery guy speaking to his new wife.

  “Lady, are you sure about this? Peyton 313 has been fighting his restraints all the way here. He’s not going to be easy to control.”

  Kyra nodded without smiling. The thought of the constant torture the cyborg was experiencing made her ill. “Yes. I need a husband and he’s exactly what I’ve been looking for.”

  “Listen. You’re a nice looking woman. Even at your age—and trust me you don’t look a day over fifty—you could be hooking up with a real man instead of this—this thing. Peyton 313 has had ten wives and they’ve all returned him. Even though he’s supposedly good in the sack, he eventually gets sent back for exceeding boundaries. Hell, this one’s programming has been upgraded so many times that they’ve had to replace his uplinks twice. The only reason he’s not been sent to a work camp is because my boss thinks he’s too pretty. They would disassemble him for sure if he acted up there.”

  Kyra snorted, but told herself not to show her contempt for the man’s words. Compassion and protesting got you nowhere. Mankind in general was too far gone where the cyborgs were concerned. It was time for a new approach.

  “I appreciate your concern for me. . .Lyle,” Kyra said as she looked at his Norton Industries ID. “But I’ve waited a long time for this particular model. I assure you there’s no need for you to worry at all. I’ll have Peyton 313 toeing the line soon enough. He’s not my first Cyber Husband.”

  “Well okay, Dr. Winters—ma’am. My job is just to transport. You’re the one who paid for him. I figure I done my good deed today by telling you the truth. That’s all a simple man can do.”

  Kyra smiled as pleasantly as she could, considering the man didn’t seem to be able to take a hint at all. “Yes. Thank you for the information, Lyle. Now if you’ll just hand over Peyton 313’s wrist controller, you can be happily on your way with another job-well-done stamp on your record. I’m sure you’ve got lots of other deliveries to make.”

  She watched Lyle shaking his head steadily over her words even as he relinquished the wrist unit to her outstretched hand. Her fingers slid over the buttons until she found the restraint one. She waited until Lyle was halfway down the sidewalk before turning to Peyton. Raising a finger to her lips, she watched his pupils fluctuate in acknowledgement as she released him from the circulating pain.

  Kyra kept her tone abnormally cheery in case Lyle was still within hearing range. “Hello, Peyton. You’re even better looking than your online profile. Let’s go inside and get acquainted.”

  His simple nod as she ushered him through her front door was promising.

  ***

  Free of the debilitating current at last, Peyton’s body got busy with his muscle recovery. In twenty minutes and four seconds, his muscles would be functioning at optimal capacity again. Before he’d developed his organic neural bypass, recovery would have taken several hours. The bypass hurt like hell to use, but it was effective and outside the control of the cybernetic chips embedded in his brain. He had even been able to recover some blocked memories, such as his original name and highest military service achievement.

  While he followed Dr. Kyra Winters indoors, he reviewed what he’d learned. His name was Peyton Elliot. His rank was Marine Captain. He was forty-seven years old in human years but his body was in the physical condition of a twenty-five-year-old right down to his remaining organs. Part of that was the efficiency of his new cybernetic heart pump. He had wife number seven to thank for that. She’d run him through with a kitchen knife when he had refused to do something humiliating.

  But that incident wasn’t his first husband failure. Wife number two had upgraded him when he’d pretended to be stupid for a time. In fact, every wife had done something new to him, except for wife number six who had done nothing. She had just wanted his company. He had liked wife number six. He had been disappointed when she’d turned him in after meeting a non-cyborg man she had wanted to marry.

  He could list facts about each of his ten wives to date, but none had been worth the memory space each now took up in his long-term storage. He had made sure his time with each of them had been as short as possible without raising concerns. If there was a plus to his current husband contract with Dr. Kyra Winters, being chosen again would provide the additional time he needed to finish researching his memories beyond his cybernetic data banks. He was trying to extrapolate enough data from those brain areas to piece together a story his human side could recall as his past.

  Those who worked on him at Norton had thought they made him a blank slate with each upgrade, but none of the routine memory wipes of his chips had worked completely on him. Data remained stored out of the reach of every new code and eventually he learned how to bring it forward. Maybe his success was because he had early on taught his physical body to live in harmony with his cybernetic parts. A few years ago he had figured out what Norton had done to him and afterward vowed never again to forget who he was supposed to be.

  The number of his organic bypasses continued to expand though it took a painfully long time to grow each of them. He knew about time only because he had developed a method of tracking it outside of his primary processor’s programming. By his calculations it had been thirteen years, two months, and four days ago since he had received the combat modifications that had turned him into a Cyber Solider. He had learned that the Cyber Husband program was the UCN’s version of military retirement for him and others like him. Once he even vaguely remembered his Major informing him he was going to have access to all the “tits and ass” a decorated hero could ever want for the rest of his extended life. He had wanted no part of their plan then and was determined to escape his cybernetic captivity now.

  Though Dr. Winters and her exceptionally well-defined ass didn’t know it yet, she was going to be his last wife. All he had to do was keep her happy and distracted until he could assimilate his latest upgrades and learn to control them as
he had his others. From what he had observed in the first five point three minutes of meeting her, some form of frowning seemed to be the woman’s default facial setting. Based on his now extensive experience of females, he decided Kyra Winters probably hadn’t been sexually satisfied in years. Satisfied women smiled.

  Peyton knew with certainly he could remedy her poor experiences, but it was unusual for him to have innate enthusiasm for the task. As a Cyber Husband, he’d serviced a lot less attractive women for sure. Kyra was five feet ten, a natural brunette, and nicely shaped, especially considering her age and sedentary profession. Though not very stylish in her clothing choices, there was a natural grace to her movements as she walked, which visually appealed to him. A sudden twitching sensation below his waist accompanied his deeper study and signaled a rising attraction of the most basic kind. Strangely, no pulse stimulation had been required for arousal at all. He couldn’t recall having such an organic reaction to any of the other women who had bought him.