by Lucas, Naomi
She was growing more sensitive with each thrust, yet he gave her what she needed. Euphoria. Alexa managed to open her eyes as the tension inside her built all over again.
He stared at her like she was the sun and he’d just spent an eternity in the darkness.
She came again.
Hysterian didn’t stop. He finished what she started. He moved over her, inside her, pulling her atop him, only to flip her again and take her from behind. Even still, he continued. She didn’t know how many times she’d lost her mind to pleasure when her body finally gave up and she couldn’t lift her head anymore.
They were on the floor and he was kneeling between her legs, dipping his tip in and out of her. She was slick with sweat, swollen, and…happy.
Alexa smiled. She couldn’t remember what it was like being happy.
She watched Hysterian as he stared between her legs. One was hooked over his shoulder. She wanted to sleep, but she didn’t want this time with him to end.
“Hysterian,” she whispered as he pushed inside her again.
His eyes tore from her sex. “Have I hurt you?”
She shook her head.
He slipped out of her, and she moaned. He pressed his thumb into her mouth and rubbed her tongue. “I can’t get enough,” he murmured. “It’s nothing like I imagined. Even with the damned suit.”
She didn’t know what he was talking about. “Imagined?” she mumbled dreamily.
He withdrew his thumb from her mouth, moved out from between her legs, and picked her up. He brought her back to the bed where the bedding was damp but chilled, and it eased her limbs. She curled into it. Hysterian slipped in next to her.
“We both have our secrets,” he said, pulling her against him.
She hummed. The wonderful ache was back between her legs, but she wasn’t going to let anything ruin this for her.
She settled her head on his chest. “Is this safe?” she asked after considering their position for a few moments.
“As long as you don’t touch my eyeballs.”
Ick. “I don’t plan on it.”
“I’m paired with the nanotech in the suit. As long as I don’t get too hot, the pressure can be sustained for a time. And you—”
“Run cold,” she murmured.
“Run cold,” he repeated, petting her back.
She dozed for a while, but couldn’t fall all the way asleep. She didn’t want to miss a single moment. Alexa knew how precious this time was. The night couldn’t be much longer, which meant they were probably in Atrexia’s orbit by now.
He was going to leave and fulfill their final mission during this run. And while he was distracted and off the ship, she was going to get out of this room and leave. She was going to go somewhere he wouldn’t be able to follow, nor would he want to.
Alexa shuddered, rubbing her cheek against Hysterian’s chest. She was doing this for both of them.
Even if he did want her now, it didn’t mean he’d want her a week from now, or a year. What then? She’d be lost, working for a man who didn’t want her, who’d also hurt her worse than anyone. She knew her love for Hysterian was never going to end, but she couldn’t take the chance that he would ever feel the same way about her.
Even if he was telling her the truth, that she could rely on him. Even if he forgave her. Just because she’d forgiven him meant nothing.
Her heart fell. It was safer to leave and finish what she started.
Even if the ending is not what she imagined.
Hysterian brushed his fingers through her hair, soothing her to sleep.
Alexa awoke far too soon, with him shifting out from under her. She fought the sudden need to grab him, pull him back into bed, and keep him with her.
“Sleep, Dear. I’ll be back soon,” he said.
“Atrexia?” she asked, digging her knuckles into her eyes.
“The locusts will be out of our lives today,” he grumbled. She watched him saunter to the bathroom, turning on the shower. A dark fiend, rippling with muscle, dressed in black. He walked into it fully dressed when a cloud of steam poured out from the sides.
Her eyes slanted to the door.
A moment later, the shower turned off and the vents sucked up the steam. A very naked, built Cyborg appeared, hair dripping and plastered to his skin. He caught her eyes and held them as one of the Questor’s bots came into the room and delivered a fresh set of clothes. He dressed into his uniform as the bot left.
He was everything she wanted and more.
Alexa brought the bedding to her chest, almost unable to believe she’d just spent the night in his arms.
When he came back into the room, he wasn’t Hysterian, the Cyborg who ruined her, but her captain, the one she longed to please. Her eyes drank him in, putting every detail to memory. Sorrow threatened to erupt inside, and she clenched the bedding tightly.
He walked toward her, slipping his uniform up his face.
“Please be careful,” she implored.
“I like the way you look in my bed, dear.”
“You do?”
His eyes glinted. “Once I’m cured, I won’t be leaving it. Not while you’re in it.”
“Hysterian…”
He leaned down. “I’ll be safe. I always am, little half-breed.”
She nodded.
He reached out and curled a tendril of her hair around his finger. “When this is over, we’ll figure out what this is between us. If you’re scared because of what I am—”
“I’m not. Not anymore,” she burst out.
He rose up, letting her hair go. “Good.” His eyes lost all their softness, going hard and steely. Numbers flickered across them, and he looked at the door.
She’d seen him this way before right before a mission.
“We just received access to land,” he muttered. “I need to get to the bridge. Need to get the locusts prepped.”
“I can help?” She sat upright. It would get her out of this room. “Let me help.”
He turned his face back to her, and his eyes regained focus. “No. I want you just like this when I return.”
“I can do the job, my job.” She frowned. “I’m not a spy.”
His eyes searched hers. “I believe you.”
“Then let me help?”
He remained silent, and she tensed, knowing he was reading her. She wasn’t going to lie to him—that was idiotic, he would know immediately—but she could omit the truth.
“No,” he decided. “We need to finish talking first, you and I. Until then, I can’t let you leave. I won’t let you leave,” he said, his voice hardening.
“Tonight,” she forced out, bringing the covers up over her shoulders. “We’ll talk.”
A burst of teal filled the room, but it was gone a moment later. Hysterian growled. “Tonight, Alexa.”
With one last look between them, Hysterian strode to the door. He caught her eyes once more when he reached the threshold. “Tonight,” he warned.
The door closed, and he was gone.
Twenty-Four
Alexa waited, staring at the shut door. Adrenaline coursed through her, erasing her exhaustion and some of her sorrow. Her heart was shattered, but it had been that way for so long. The pain of loss was a long, lost friend having returned once again.
Hysterian’s voice came out of the intercom. “Landing to commence in fifteen minutes.”
That was her cue.
She scurried from the bed and pulled out her duffle from under the bed. She grabbed her dirty clothes off the floor and stuffed them in, checking the room once more for anything else she might need to take with her.
There was nothing. Not even something of Hysterian’s to steal. The room literally had nothing in it—not even something she could use against herself, and she cursed him for it. Her plan would be much easier if there was something in it to use…
She ran to the shower and quickly cleaned up, scrubbing her swollen sex, letting the cold water rinse the smell of sex from her
skin.
Alexa was dressed and sitting on the bed when the ship’s lights flickered and the ship’s gravity changed, indicating descent.
Now to wait.
Once Hysterian was gone, all she had to do was hurt herself enough that she’d need medical attention, and the door to the room would open. The Questor was built with AI technology, and AI technology could be manipulated if it wasn’t specialized. As far as she knew, Hysterian hadn’t done anything with the AI in the last few months. It would respond to her…
If it didn’t, something was bound to open the door and feed her soon.
Alexa pushed her bag back under the bed when the lights stopped flickering and the gravity changes ended.
We’ve landed.
Her fingers went white as she clutched the bedding. She waited a few minutes, but Hysterian didn’t come back. She waited a few minutes more.
When she was certain he had to be off the ship, she snatched her bag and went for the door.
Right as she was about to figure out how to hurt herself, it opened.
Horace stood on the other side.
Alexa recoiled.
He stepped into the room.
“What are you doing?” she gasped. She hadn’t expected to see Horace.
“Getting you out of here,” he said, looking around the room. His eyes landed on the bed. He cursed. “Didn’t believe Pigeon when he said the captain had you locked up in here, keeping you prisoner. Thought you were just recovering.” His eyes went to her. “Sorry, Dear.”
She went to correct him but stopped. “It’s okay…”
He grabbed her bag. “Come. We gotta go.” He turned and made his way down the hallway.
Alexa stood, confused for a moment, before chasing after him. She caught up to him as he was going down the stairs. “What about Pigeon?”
“Bastard won’t leave the brig, says he needs a free trip back to Earth anyway. He can suit himself.”
It was then she noticed Horace had a second duffle.
“You’re leaving too?”
“I ain’t staying here after crossing the captain. I’m not stupid like Pigeon. I know what Cyborgs can do, what they’ve done, the power they wield,” he said, speaking quickly. She’d never seen Horace like this before.
Was he scared?
“I thought Daniels vanishing was odd, but now that Raul’s gone, too, and there’s no trace of them being fired on the servers…” He shook his head. “I’m not willing to stick around and find out what really happened to them.”
She caught her breath when they stopped at the hatch. Wait. Had she heard that correctly? “Raul’s gone?”
“Never saw him again after we landed on Libra. Boss said he quit. I’m not so sure anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
Horace shook his head. “Raul needed this job. Even if he and the captain didn’t get along, Raul was drowning in debt, and loan sharks were after him. He wouldn’t give up the pay, couldn’t from what he told me. Jobs like this don’t come around often. The pay’s enough to look past a lot.” Horace dropped the bags and started typing something in on the panel beside the hatch. He glanced at her. “But not everything.”
Alexa licked her lips. The hatch opened before she could respond. Horace grabbed their bags and they entered the pressurization chamber. The inner hatch shut, the chamber recalibrated, and the outer hatch opened. Horace leaned out, looking right and left.
“Thank hell there’s no cameras out here,” Horace muttered.
Bright desert sunshine blasted Alexa’s eyes. She hadn’t seen anything but stars, metal walls, and outer space for weeks, even before Libra. When her irises adjusted, a golden haziness met her, as well as swirling dust and rows upon rows of ships with cement buildings between them. She curved her hand to shade her eyes, peering out.
In the distance was a single large mountain, and surrounding it was a swirling dark cloud.
Not a cloud.
Millions of locusts.
Alexa dropped her hand as Horace walked down the ramp. She remembered the male locust and how it watched her. How it made her uncomfortable, nervous. She hated it.
Feeling exposed, she ran after Horace. He went right, carrying their bags with him. Ahead were a bunch of ships and people and androids loading and unloading them.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
He faced her, and she stopped before she ran into him. “We’re not going anywhere. You and I split here.” He dropped her bag.
She reached down and picked it up, throwing it over her shoulder. Horace walked away several steps, stopped, and came back to her. He fished something out of his pocket.
“Here, I almost forgot. I snagged it off of Hysterian’s console this morning after he left.” He handed it to her.
My wristcon.
Alexa put the band on her wrist, clutching it gratefully. “Thank you.”
“No need. It’s the least I can do after letting him lock you up,” he said, his chest rising and falling. “Good luck, Alexa. I never thought I’d have to question a Cyborg’s honor. I’m sorry it came to this.”
“He’s not…” She swallowed, deciding what he believed about Hysterian was for the best. “Bye, Horace.”
He grumbled and turned. She watched him walk away.
When he was gone, Alexa scanned the ships around her. She needed one that was leaving today, right now preferably. She hoped Hysterian wouldn’t come after her—that he’d be happy to be rid of the burden—but dread wormed its way into her soul and she wasn’t sure anymore.
If he caught her before she could escape, he would lock her back up. And knowing him… If he wasn’t going to forgive her now, he wasn’t going to forgive her later.
She may not be a spy, but she had come to kill him.
Someday, he was going to figure that out.
Alexa spun full-circle, twirling her wristcon over her wrist. There were so many ships on the tarmac that she didn’t know where to begin. She caught sight of a small passenger ship with a group of people hanging outside it.
She straightened her shoulders and made her way toward them.
Twenty-Five
Hysterian followed the security officials working for the research group taking in the locusts. Tranqs had put the females asleep, but the male fought inside his crate, unaffected. The crates were loaded on the back of a truck and strapped down in place so they couldn’t fall off.
The male still tried.
The locusts had been dosed and locked up for months, being manipulated and stimulated by machines since they didn’t have the freedom to move. Hysterian felt for the creatures but was ready to be rid of them. Atrexia was far from the main spaceway channels, and days of light-speed away from the nearest port or colony. It was a perfect place to hide if he were a criminal, but it was also a crapshoot for the same reason.
Everywhere he looked, detritus filled his vision. The buildings were made of worn stone, their metal infrastructure rusted out. There were as many dead, broken ships lingering on the tarmac as there were working vessels. Scrapper and scavengers removed pieces from them to reuse or sell.
In the distance, he could see the locusts swarm Mount Etta. The mountain was the one other thing Atrexia was known for besides its unusual inhabitants.
A vehicle awaited them at the edge of the tarmac where the ships came to an end. A man walked over to greet him.
Hysterian barely heard what the man said as he unstrapped the crates. His mind was on Alexa.
His mind was always on her these days. It should’ve bothered him, but it didn’t, at least not anymore. He’d decided.
She was his woman. There was no one else for him. He didn’t want anyone else. He hadn’t, not since she’d walked into his life and onto his ship. He thought he’d wanted a woman made up of all the attributes a red-blooded male could ever want, but that was until Alexa tore his fantasies to shreds and replaced them with something else: her.
She wasn’t afraid of him or his sk
in. She touched him wanting him, not wanting what he could give her. He could see it in her eyes, in the way she reacted.
Her actions were sincere.
She may be lying about her reasons, her past, omitting information he wanted desperately to have, but when it came to their interactions… He knew she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
Hysterian was ready to peel back her layers and discover all the little secrets she kept buried inside. He wanted to sink inside her soul and curl up. He kept replaying the way she’d screamed his name when he’d brought her to climax.
He wasn’t a red-blooded male. He was a stone-cold Cyborg who had the power to change the color of his blood to suit his needs. He had control. He had Alexa in his bed.
Whatever she wasn’t telling him, he was going to find out eventually.
Hysterian could wait. He was fucking good at waiting. He’d waited his entire life for her; he could wait a little longer.
He had to wait anyway so he could finally touch her, feel her like he needed to feel her. The first thing he planned to do once he was cured was kiss her. His nostrils flared. He’d always fantasized taking a woman to bed, but kissing them? Never. Now it was all he wanted when it came to Alexa. He was going to kiss every inch of her body, coat her body in his saliva. There weren’t going to be any barriers between them ever again.
The man talking to Hysterian stopped and moved away. The security guards circled the first crate containing the female locusts and lifted it slowly. Too slowly.
Hysterian stepped between two of the men and picked up the crate in its entirety, deciding to speed things along. The guards backed off when they realized he didn’t need any help.
“Payment’s been sent,” the first man said. “Sad to find their DNA can’t be spliced in animals on Earth.” He shrugged. “Maybe Earth isn’t equipped for animals again after all.”
Hysterian loaded the last of the three female locusts on the man’s truck. All that was left was the male. The crate was still as he approached it.
“Glad we’re changing shifts soon,” the man continued. “You got here just in time.”
“In time?” Hysterian feigned interest as he circled the male’s crate.
