by Cynthia Sax
“I know that.” She stopped by a tall tree. “Can you give me a moment to myself?”
Dissent’s friend nodded, took five, six strides from her and stopped. His back faced her, but having lived with, having loved, a cyborg, she knew he was tracking her movements.
She had the mere illusion of privacy but that was enough. The tree’s leaves rustled in the breeze. Heat radiated from the ground. Clouds blocked the sun, casting shadows over her.
Khambalia 5 was vastly different from Altair Alpha and standing upon it was another objective achieved. She had experienced the darkness of space, had set foot on a strange planet.
And she was completely free.
All of her dreams, all the goals she’d preserved and coddled and held safe since she was a girl, had come to fruition. She reached out, gazed up at the sky and savored the fulfillment of them for several moments.
Realizing her dreams had brought her satisfaction but it hadn’t delivered the contentment, the happiness she’d imagined. Her fingers closed around the center sunstone in the neck decoration Dissent had given her. There was a factor missing.
Love.
Her cyborg continued to howl, his sorrow echoing over the terrain, spanning the distance between them. She couldn’t be happy while he was in pain, couldn’t be happy without him. He was a part of her. And she was a part of him.
It was more than their genetic bond, more than the nanocybotics he had shared with her. Their souls were linked. Their paths were one.
All of her new dreams included him. He stood by her side when she pictured herself exploring fantastical planets. He helped her translate when she spoke with the local beings. He had his arm around her when she held their first-born baby, an infant with his dark-brown hair, golden skin, energy-infused eyes.
Those dreams belonged to both of them. They would realize them together.
Wanting to work on those dreams immediately, unable to tolerate another moment of her cyborg’s agony, she called out to Truth. “I’m ready.”
His head dipped once more. The normally laughing warrior was endearingly solemn.
“You’re a good friend, Truth.” She told him as she retraced her steps. “I’m glad Dissent has you.”
“Does he have you?” Truth shortened his stride to equal hers. “Or are you lost? We’re moving toward him, not away from him.”
“Dissent said you’d take me wherever I wished to go.” Her heart lightened with each step. “I wish to go in this direction.”
Truth grumbled. She was glad she couldn’t decipher what he was saying. The male was extremely loyal to Dissent and he believed she’d hurt her cyborg.
Which she had. She winced. But that temporary pain had to be inflicted to ensure their long-term happiness. He deserved to know she was certain, warranted knowing she would never question her commitment to him ever again
Her conviction about that wavered when she spotted her cyborg. He kneeled on the ground. His fingers were clenched into huge white-knuckled fists. His cheeks were wet with tears. His eyes were wild.
The agony shining from them took her breath away.
Fuck.
What had she done?
“Dissent.” She ran toward him. “I choose you. I choose you.”
He stopped howling, turned his head, blinked. “I must be malfunctioning.” He rubbed his hands over his handsome face. “You walked away. I gave you your freedom and you left me.”
“You’re not malfunctioning.” She kneeled before him. The ground was hard against her knees. “I walked away as a free female, considered all of my options, and the only one that held any appeal to me was a lifespan spent with you.” She clasped his hands. “I choose you.”
He stared at her. His big body trembled. “You choose me?”
“You are all I need, all I want.” She leaned forward and kissed his chin. “You’re my cyborg, my strength, my finely-honed weapon, my protector.”
“You choose me.” He hooked his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. His grip on her was crushing. Her male was too distraught to be gentle with her. “You left me but now you’re back.”
He burrowed his face into the curve where her neck met her shoulder. His breath was hot against her skin. His emotions were palpable.
“I will never leave you again.” She stroked the back of his head, seeking to calm him. “I had to put some distance between us, had to be certain you knew I took this decision seriously…because it is important to me, to both of us. This is a forever commitment, Dissent. Between you and I.”
“I will never let you go again.” He kissed her neck, his hold on her easing. “When you left me, you took my heart, my soul with you. I was hollow, so very hollow, was an empty frame of a being. To experience that again…” Her cyborg shuddered.
“I won’t put you through that pain again.” She regretted having done that the first time. But she wanted him to know, to not have any doubts. “I’m bound to you now. Our connection is stronger than any chains, any restraints. And I should know about that.” She attempted a joke. “I’ve experienced all of those.”
“You’re free.” He nuzzled against her.
“No, I’m not. I’m choosing to be bound to you.” She petted his hair, the strands short and streaked with black, a color combination that was distinctively his. “No one fortunate to love another being is completely free. I make that sacrifice gladly to be with you, to touch you, to hold you, to share your lifespan.”
“You…love me?” He lifted his head and met her gaze.
She quashed the impulse to say something flippant, something sarcastic, something that protected her if her message was rejected. Her cyborg was emotionally battered. She wanted there to be no misunderstandings about her feelings.
“I love you desperately.” She didn’t hide her adoration, allowing it to shine from her eyes, to radiate from her very being. “I love how you turned my anger into self-confidence, how you gave up your control so I could feel free, how you’ve put my happiness before yours time and time again.” She bracketed his face with her palms. “You’re the only being I truly trust in this harsh, unforgiving universe, the only male who can give me pleasure, the only warrior I want protecting me.”
She then remembered his friend was likely listening to them.
“Sorry, Truth.” She called out to him, not breaking Dissent’s gaze.
“I understand.” Her cyborg’s friend didn’t sound upset. “I like your female, J Model. You’re a lucky bag of bolts.”
Dissent’s eyes glowed. “She loves me.”
“Yes, yes, I heard her.” Truth laughed. “Have mercy on a female-less warrior, my friend.”
Her cyborg turned his head, kissed one of her palms and then the other. “You love me.”
“I love you.” She leaned her forehead against his. “I didn’t believe love was possible for me but you gave me that gift.” Greer smiled. “As well as so many others.” She touched one of the sunstones in the neck decoration he’d given her. “I meant what I said before I left you. You’re a good male and I’m thrilled you’re mine.”
Her cyborg captured her lips, claiming her as she had claimed him, his kiss hard and fierce and possessive. She submitted to him, giving him access to all of her, wanting and willing to be owned by him and only him. He would never abuse her faith in him, in them, would never hurt her.
His tongue coiled around hers. She moaned her approval, gripped his body armor-clad shoulders, pressed her heavily padded breasts against his chest. The layers between them frustrated her. She wanted to feel his skin against hers.
And she wanted to hear his declarations of love. She knew he loved her. Only that level of caring would have prompted him to let her go, to give her freedom and choice. But he hadn’t said the words and she yearned for that auditory reassurance.
Her cyborg had taught her to take control, to issue orders, to demand what she wanted, what she needed. She was strong. She was powerful. She could do this.
Gre
er drew back and looked Dissent straight in the eyes. “You love me.”
“I love you more than anything in this universe.” He confirmed that truth without hesitation. “I would kill for you, die for you, was willing to wait for you on this planet for a thousand human lifespans if that was necessary. Everything that is mine, my strength, my heart, my soul, is yours, has been yours since the first moment we met.”
Fuck. She swallowed. Hard. Her cyborg could talk.
“I stayed alive on that battle station solar cycles ago for you.” His voice grew gruff. “The Humanoid Alliance was torturing me and I wanted to give up. But Captain’s female told me I had to stay strong for my female. I had to find her, safeguard her, love her. That was you.” His fingers curved over her nape. “You were the reason I survived. And when I met you, I was glad I had. The joy you’ve given me was worth all that pain. I would experience it a million times to have a single, solitary moment with you.”
“We will have an endless expanse of moments.” She brushed her lips over his. “And there will be only bliss. We—”
“We have some unexpected guests.” Truth interrupted her. “There are two creatures traveling at impressive speeds toward us. We should prepare for their arrival.”
“They might be hostile.” Dissent jumped to his booted feet and positioned his large body in front of Greer.
His ability to switch tasks and shift moods that quickly was uniquely cyborg. He’d taken action while her thoughts continued to spin.
“Fraggin’ hole. I hope they’re hostile.” Truth’s brilliant blue eyes glittered. “I haven’t had a good fight since—”
“Since we pummeled you during the last mock battle.” Greer stood also. She extracted one of her guns from a pocket of her survival suit.
“The chamber constricted my movements.” The D model shrugged. “Nothing limits my abilities here.” His head tilted. “Do you hear that?”
She heard nothing.
“It’s Gnaw and Nibbler.” Dissent didn’t move from his protective position, didn’t relax his stance.
“Nibbler won’t hurt us.” She touched her cyborg’s back.
“Gnaw doesn’t know you.” He widened his stance, bracing as though for an attack. “He’s a fully mature miljoonasuut, is faster, stronger, more deadly than Nibbler. There’s an 84.5698 percent probability he might attempt to damage you.” He flexed his fingers. “And there’s a 45.9871 percent probability he has forgotten me.”
That caused her cyborg pain. She heard that in his voice.
“Nibbler hasn’t forgotten us.” She was certain about that. “He’ll communicate with Gnaw, stop any attack.”
“They are chattering.” Truth supported her.
“They’re chattering about nourishment.” Dissent’s tone was dry. “Nibbler is hungry.”
She smiled. “He’s always hungry.”
Something crashed through the treed terrain. Her humor evaporated. It sounded very big and extremely powerful. The rattling was almost deafening.
A huge miljoonasuut appeared. It raced toward Dissent.
She tensed, aimed for the creature.
Her cyborg, in contrast, laughed. “Gnaw.” He crouched, extended his arms.
The creature zoomed up to his form and snuggled against his chest. There was a fast and fervent exchange of clicks and rattles. She saw no signs of trauma. There was no blood or gore.
Nibbler finally became visible. He was smaller. His many legs were shorter. Her big baby nudged against her booted feet. She plopped her ass on the ground and gave him the cuddles he sought.
Laughter bubbled from her lips, her joy spilling over. Dissent grinned, looked happier than she’d ever seen him.
Truth rolled his eyes. “Your projections were incorrect, J Model.” He kicked a fallen tree branch. “They aren’t hostile and they aren’t seeking to damage anyone.”
“All they want are hugs.” Greer gave Nibbler one of those. The little creature rattled with delight.
Then he scurried to Gnaw. The two of them bumped their exoskeletons.
That seemed to be affectionate contact but she wasn’t certain. “Are they friends?” Or would she have to smack a certain fully grown and scarily deadly miljoonasuut?
“They are more than friends.” Dissent moved to her side. “Gnaw has claimed Nibbler as his own son.”
“Awww…” Her heart melted. Nibbler would have a daddy. “He won’t be alone anymore. He’ll have a family.”
“He always had a family.” Her cyborg wrapped his arms around her, holding her to his much-larger form. “Now, he’ll have someone to protect him and to train him.”
They watched the two creatures. Nibbler excitedly dashed around Gnaw while the older miljoonasuut devoured vegetation, tossing some choice roughage to his new son.
The baby creature didn’t need the two of them anymore. That made her sad. She’d miss him. As Dissent had mentioned, Nibbler was part of their family.
She was also happy for her little miljoonasuut. He had a new father. Gnaw wouldn’t replace the one he’d lost. But he would give Nibbler the caring and the guidance he wanted and needed.
“It is hard to say goodbye.” She sighed.
“It is very hard.” Pain edged her cyborg’s voice. She suspected he was thinking of their brief yet agonizing good-bye. “It won’t be a permanent goodbye. We’ll return to Khambalia 5 once a solar cycle. That’s 100.0000 percent certain.” He paused. “There is a 58.6234 percent probability we’ll return more often than that. We’ll receive updates on their progress.”
She’d like that. “Nibbler will be so big then.” She smiled at the little creature. He was chewing through what appeared to be a bone. “And he’ll have eaten half the planet.”
“Most of the creatures on the planet will be scared of them.” Truth spun daggers so quickly the weapons and his hands blurred. “That’s why we haven’t been attacked by pahas.”
“I’d like to see a paha.” She’d seen them on footage taken of Khambalia 5.
“You’re not seeing a paha.” Dissent, her overprotective cyborg, frowned. “They’re dangerous creatures.”
“They also lack processing power.” Truth winked at her. “They’re fun to fight.”
“We will not be fighting pahas.” Dissent’s tone told her he wouldn’t move on that decision.
Truth opened his mouth as though to argue with him.
“You have to save your energy for the next mock battle.” Greer diverted her cyborg’s friend. “If you ever plan to defeat us.”
“Oh, I’ll defeat you.” Truth made that vow. “There’s a 100.0000 certainty of that.”
“Now whose projections are incorrect?” Dissent teased his friend.
“Frag you, J Model.” Truth’s grin belied his words.
The three of them laughed.
Chapter Seventeen
His female had said the human love words to him.
And she had chosen him.
Dissent continued to marvel over that wondrous occurrence many moments later, when he carried Greer into their private chambers on board the ship.
He could protect her, care for her, love her for the rest of their almost endless lifespans. There would be no more goodbyes between them. They would never be apart.
She had given herself to him permanently, willingly, freely, and he would cherish that gift, would ensure she never regretted her decision.
“Nibbler seemed happy when we left him.” His female murmured that comment against his body armor-clad chest.
“He was very happy.” The little miljoonasuut adored his adoptive father. And Gnaw doted on Nibbler, considered the offspring to be a gift, was embarrassingly grateful to Dissent and to the universe for conveying his new son to him.
Dissent would miss both of them. They would always be part of his family and he would hold them in his heart forever. But he was 99.5421 percent certain they would thrive on Khambalia 5.
“I guess we’ll have to eat his fruit now.” Gree
r gestured at the pack as he set her on the sleeping support. The chamber smelled of its contents…and of her.
“We’ll eat the fruit later.” Dissent wanted to touch her, breed with his female.
His cock was as hard as a dagger. His soul sought the reassurance of her form.
He had projected he’d lost her this planet rotation. The remnants of that damage remained with him. “How are we breeding?”
Seeking to bare her skin, yearning for that connection, he pulled off her boots. Her toes wiggled. He caressed her soles, tracing her arches, tapping the balls of her feet with his fingertips.
“You can choose how we breed this time.” She gazed up at him, her brilliant green eyes shining with trust. “I’m yours to command.”
“You’re mine to pleasure.” He unfastened her survival suit, tugged that thick, padded material over her shoulders. Pale skin and endless curves were slowly revealed and he delighted in the unveiling.
He would never become accustomed to his female’s beauty. She caused his breathing system to malfunction every time he gazed at her.
Eager to see all of her, he pulled the survival suit over her generous hips. The garment fell to the floor. He stepped back and looked at his female.
She was stunning.
Her face was tilted toward him. Her lips were parted in a silent request for a kiss.
He would taste that part of her later. His gaze drifted downward.
Taut pink nipples tipped her full breasts. Her stomach was rounded and soft, was the ideal place for a battle-worn warrior to lay his head. Her mons was smooth, was crafted for his hands.
His female spread her legs. Her pussy lips glistened with wetness.
He licked his lips. That was where he’d start.
Grasping her ankles, he slipped them over his shoulders. She gasped yet didn’t fight him, didn’t protest his bold treatment of her. Her words hadn’t been exaggerated. She truly was his to pleasure.
And he planned to do exactly that. Dissent met her gaze and slowly lowered his head, signaling his intent. She trembled in anticipation. His female processed what he would do to her.
Not looking away from her gorgeous face, he extended his tongue. She gripped the edge of the sleeping support. He licked her from taint to clit.
