by Cynthia Sax
“Take care of my sister, Lanko.” Allinen yelled that order over his shoulder. “I will always love her.” Her voice lowered.
“She loves you also.” Doc was 100.0000 percent confident of that. Anyone who truly knew his female would love her. “Grief impairs beings’ logic.”
“It impaired mine.” She nodded. “But you were there for me. You stopped me from doing anything rash.”
“I’ll always be there for you, my female.” He hefted her higher against his chest, moving at cyborg speed past the circle of guards.
His brethren joined them.
Truth kept pace to his right. There was a grin on his face. The D Model was never serious.
Dissent ran to his left. The J Model was even more glum than he usually was.
Gnaw, his miljoonasuut pet, had wanted to accompany its new master. To discourage the creature from following him, Dissent had been forced to leave a trail of lights behind him.
Doc’s light was in front of him, cradled in his arms.
His female’s presence and her caring illuminated both parts of him, his medic and his beast. She cast a happy glow on his entire being.
When he was with his pretty little humanoid, he had no damage.
He was fully functional. He was worthy.
And he was loved.
Chapter Eighteen
Allinen swung her legs as she waited with her cyborg and his brethren for the smaller shuttle ship to arrive. Doc held her close to his big chest.
She was grateful for his tight hold on her. Nerves battled excitement inside her, and at the moment, either of those emotions could win.
Having dreamed about leaving the planet for many solar cycles, she looked forward to their next adventure.
There was a huge universe to explore and she wouldn’t be alone while she traveled through it. Doc, her mate, would be beside her.
There was also no need to scramble to find skills or objects to trade for transport. She would have a highly esteemed role on a large ship, would be trained to be her healer mate’s helper.
But she was keenly aware she knew very little about the universe. She’d spent her entire lifespan on the same small planet, surrounded by the same beings. Everything she experienced, everything she faced would be new.
That was being illustrated to her now.
Truth, her cyborg’s constantly smiling friend, chattered to her in the outsider language.
She didn’t understand what he was saying. “I’m sorry.” Her face heated. “I don’t know any of those words yet.”
“Lucky you.” Dissent, her mate’s sad-looking friend, grumbled that in her language.
“Don’t be sorry, little female.” Truth switched to her language also. “We are all learning new things.”
“That’s a privilege my kind now has.” Doc explained to her. “When we were under the control of the Humanoid Alliance, our cruel manufacturers, we weren’t allowed to learn new things, try new tasks. We could only follow their orders.”
That must have hurt her extremely curious mate. She squeezed his forearms, relaying her sympathy. “I’ll make mistakes.”
“That comes with trying new things.” Doc shrugged, his lack of concern easing some of her trepidation.
“It’s another privilege we now have—we can make mistakes.” Truth threw a dagger into the air and caught it. “The Humanoid Alliance would reprimand us…severely, for any errors.”
The cyborg’s cruel manufacturers would decommission them, kill them. Doc had explained that to her.
“You can be different now also.” She gazed up at her cyborg’s face, savoring the bluntness, the primitiveness of his countenance. “You don’t have to be someone else’s vision of perfection. You can be your own.”
Her mate nodded, his eyes glowing.
They were all different, were all learning and making mistakes. By doing the same things, by being different, she was one of them.
She belonged. A calmness fell over Allinen.
“I might have made an error.” Dissent blurted that confession into the conversational gap. “Gnaw and I formed a bond.” He touched his chest. “Leaving him behind will cause his emotional system to malfunction.”
Allinen suspected the cyborg’s emotional system was the one that was malfunctioning.
“We talked about this, J Model.” Truth jabbed his dagger into the sheath on his body armor. “Captain would never allow Gnaw on the ship.”
“Then I should stay here.” Dissent’s jaw jutted. “I should be with Gnaw.”
She didn’t understand the male’s attachment to the miljoonasuut. They were bad tempered, highly violent creatures. But she did understand loss and she saw the remnants of that in the cyborg’s eyes.
“Miljoonasuut males are devoted fathers.” She relayed information they might not have gathered. “Miljoonasuut females, while producing offspring, will burrow in a hole in the ground for an entire solar cycle. The males will stand guard throughout that duration, regurgitating nourishment for the female.”
All three of the cyborgs gazed at her. They must not have known those facts about the creatures.
She was teaching them something new. Allinen’s chin lifted.
“When the female emerges from the hole with their one offspring, the male will take over the care of the little miljoonasuut.” She had witnessed that special event…multiple times. “He will tend to, teach, protect his offspring for five more solar cycles. Their bond is very special.”
“I would care for my offspring as diligently.” Doc held her tighter.
The other two cyborgs nodded.
Allinen’s heart squeezed. She had never thought she’d have a mate or offspring. Now, there was a possibility she’d have both.
“If you stay on the planet, Gnaw might not find a female.” She forced herself to focus on the situation with Dissent and his miljoonasuut. “Gnaw might not produce offspring.” The miljoonasuut’s natural cycle would be disrupted. “You could deprive him of that bond, of that happiness.”
“I would never damage Gnaw in that way.” Dissent’s lips flattened. “It wasn’t a mistake to leave him on this planet”—he touched his chest again—“though it feels like one.”
“I’m leaving the sister I love on this planet also.” She met the male’s gaze, allowing her sorrow to show. “Although it damages us”—she touched her own chest—“we made the right decisions for them, for us.”
She was certain about that.
Dissent’s head dipped. His shoulders lowered. The lines around his mouth eased.
His worry had dissipated. Hers increased.
Because the ship was descending. It was big and noisy and very, very shiny. An unnatural wind blew back locks of her hair. She gripped her cyborg’s arms.
A door opened. A rope was dropped from it.
“First!” Truth jumped toward the rope, clasping it. “See you on board the ship.” He scurried upward.
Dissent glanced at them, nodded, and climbed after him.
Doc tied both her pack and his to the end of the rope. “I’ll carry you.”
She couldn’t be carried throughout their entire adventure.
“There’s no need to do that.” She leaped forward and grabbed the rope.
It was surprisingly soft against her skin and scarily thin compared to the tree trunks she was accustomed to gripping.
Yet it supported her weight easily. She didn’t fall.
“This is similar to climbing a tree.” She said that for her benefit and his.
The rope swayed as branches sometimes did during violent storms. She had navigated those bending limbs. She would manage the rope as well.
Her progress was slower than the other cyborgs’ but she reached the top without any issues. Doc followed her closely. Truth and Dissent helped her into the ship. The three cyborgs pulled the packs upward and the doors closed.
“You’re brave, my female.” Doc drew her to him. His lips smacked against hers. His eyes shone with pr
ide.
She smiled and snuggled against him. Bravery wasn’t the emotion she was feeling at the moment. She was more nervous in the ship than she had been climbing the rope. That had been familiar. Everything around her was new.
The chamber they occupied was small and brightly lit with tiny artificial suns. Her kind brought their own illumination with them. There was no need to manufacture it.
The floor below her was eerily smooth and uncomfortably cold against her bare feet. Equally chilly wind blew into the space, the simulated breeze fluttering her garment.
The air around them became scarily thin. The scent of it grew fainter and fainter until there was no aroma.
Paha teeth. They were going to die.
She clung to her cyborg. He was the expert on ships and flying. She looked to him to relay to her how to survive this disaster
His gaze met hers. His eyes were a soothing gray. There was no hint of the beast in his countenance, no tinge of concern.
She glanced around her.
None of the males had reacted to the difference in the air. Truth teased Dissent, telling the serious cyborg he was too slow. Dissent stood rigidly straight and said nothing in response.
The thinning of the air must be normal, like their tasteless beverage.
The floor tilted slightly under her feet and she curled her toes, attempting to hold onto it. When the ground did that on her planet, Khambalians ran.
The males around her didn’t move, remaining where they were.
“Tell me if I should run.” She whispered that request against Doc’s chest. The lack of information was making a scary situation even more terrifying. “This is all very different to me.”
She couldn’t separate a normal occurrence from a threat.
“There’s no need for you to run, my little female.” Doc patted her ass. “You’re not in any danger and, if a threat was ever detected, I’d protect you from it.”
“This must be a normal part of flying.” She lifted one of her feet, balancing on the other. The floor was freezing.
Doc frowned down at her feet. “I will source boots for you.” He swung her into his arms. Holding her to him with one hand, he rubbed her cold toes with the other.
“I thought ships would be warm.” She savored his tantalizing heat. “They’re closer to the sun.”
His lips twitched. “The opposite is true.”
“I noticed that.” She had much to learn.
“You’ve never flown in a ship, Doc’s female?” Trust looked at her with interest.
There was no disrespect in the male’s tone or expression. Her mate’s kind asked questions. That was their way.
“I’ve never flown in a ship.” She admitted to her lack of experience. “Before I met Doc, I thought ships were flying domiciles.”
“Flying domiciles isn’t an inaccurate description for ships.” Her mate’s forehead furrowed with thought lines. “They do fly and they do sport all of the same features domiciles have.”
The interior doors opened, revealing a long, narrow space. Doc released her feet, bent with her and picked up the medic pack and her pack. He slung both of those packs over one of his huge shoulders.
“I’ll show you a chamber.” He stalked forward, carrying her and all of their gear. It must have been a heavy load, yet his gait remained smooth, his tread light.
“Then we’ll part ways for a few moments.” Truth laughed. “As I’m projecting the chamber your warrior plans to show you isn’t the bridge.”
Allinen’s face heated. “I don’t know what a bridge is.”
“I’ll show it to you later.” Her mate conveyed her through the narrow space.
Midway through it, he touched a wall. Another set of doors opened, revealing a wider chamber dominated by a large sleeping support.
Her cyborg set her on that sleeping support, gathered a covering cloth around her, tucking the fabric under her feet.
She shivered, huddling under the extra layers. “This chamber is cold also.” She’d never be warm again.
“It won’t be cold for a long duration.” He tapped on one of the walls. The wind blowing into the space turned hot, very hot.
She held her fingers against the manufactured breeze. “That’s good.”
He tapped on the wall again. The tiny artificial suns on the ceiling dimmed.
“That’s good also.” She approved of that change.
The chamber now resembled the ones she was accustomed to. She gazed around her. There was a chair, some horizontal supports, containers, an entrance to a smaller space. Everything was shiny but wasn’t that different from the objects in her domicile on Khambalia 5.
And the space was warm. She shed the covering cloth, stretched out her legs. “I could get used to this.”
“I’ll modify the settings in our chamber on the Reckless also.” Her cyborg set the packs on the floor. “And I’ll source boots for you.”
“I don’t need boots now.” She wiggled her toes.
Her mate brought her to this chamber to join with her. She saw that in his eyes. Her trepidation about the unknown was replaced by anticipation, her nipples tightening and her pussy growing wet.
He tapped the wall a third time. Identical images were displayed all around her, on every vertical surface.
The scenes were fantastical. Allinen stared at them. “That looks like the tops of the trees.” There were pathways between them. “That’s the settlement.” She jumped off the sleeping support and moved closer to the wall in front of her. “Those are…I don’t know what those are.”
His cyborg skimmed his fingers over that part of the image. It expanded.
“Those are beings.” They had gold hair, pointed ears. “They’re my kind.” Having spent much of her time in the trees, looking down, she could recognize many of them simply by the way they walked, the shapes of their heads.
She backed up, not wanting to shift her gaze from the images, and she sat on the end of the sleeping support. The scenes moved slowly, more slowly than the ship had flown when it had arrived on the planet.
“You’re doing this for me.” She smiled at him, delighted by his thoughtful gift. He was giving her one last view of her planet, of her kind.
“Everything I do is for you.” The sleeping support dipped as her cyborg lowered beside her.
He put his arm around her and they watched the images together. They ventured past the settlement, beyond the forest. Lava pockets exploded. Packs of pahas ran away from them. The land sloped downward until the ship reached the great waters. Steam rose along the shore.
The expanse seemed endless. “This must be what the early Khambalians saw when they first arrived.” She was seeing those same scenes, was an explorer like they had been.
“There would have been more water then.” Doc stroked her side, his caresses making her tremble. “The lava flows are creating new land.”
Allinen turned toward him. “I will never forget this.” She framed his beloved countenance with her hands. “Thank you.”
“I’m recording the images.” He pressed his face into her palms. “You can look at them whenever you want.”
She could carry this view of her birth planet as they traveled across the universe, could revisit it when she missed the lava pockets, the trees, the beings she loved.
“I love you, mate.” She leaned forward and covered his lips with hers, wanting to show her appreciation…physically.
A stimulating growl traveled up his chest. That was how close to the surface his beast was. He opened to her, welcoming her sensuous assault. His tongue twined around hers as he drew her into his mouth, her savage male dominant even while she was the aggressor.
She pushed him backward. He obligingly reclined. She attempted to straddle him. Her garment twisted around her legs. With a frustrated oomph, she rid herself of it, sat upon him naked.
His rumbling grew louder. His kisses hardened. He palmed her slender curves, molding and releasing them. All of her pulsed to that
tempo.
She rocked against the hard ridge in his body armor. That motion teased both of her clits, spiraling her need for him upward.
“This is very good.” She expressed her approval of their positions. Outside the chamber, everything had been new and strange and she’d been uncertain what to do.
She knew how to join with him, how to tease them both until they were wild with desire. This was familiar. This was right.
Her cyborg knew how to tease her also. He pinched and pulled on her nipples and she moaned, the pain mixed with pleasure exquisite. His eyes darkened as his beast grew stronger. His touch roughened.
She rode his garment-covered form harder, faster. Her command of their encounter, of him, wouldn’t last much longer. Her cyborg’s muscles coiled under her. His fingers twitched against her breasts. His top lip lifted, baring his teeth.
Clouds above. He was a force and she wanted to feel the full brunt of it, of him.
“Release your beast.” She smacked her pussy against his constrained cock, splattering her juices over his body armor, branding that garment with her scent. “Set him free, Doc.”
“No.” Her cyborg was gloriously stubborn, fighting that part of himself for her, believing she preferred him civilized. “I can control—”
“I need you, mate.” She ground against him, the pressure against her clits divine. “Smell how aroused I am.”
He breathed deeply. His nostrils flared. “Too much.”
Her back hit the surface of the sleeping support. The air whooshed from her lungs. She gasped.
Her cyborg tore off his body armor, rendering himself naked quicker than she could recover, and he layered his fit physique over her obliging form, pressing his shaft against her pussy folds, his rim against her upper clit.
“Mine.” He rubbed against her, wetting his cock. His eyes gleamed with possession. “Mate. Mine.”
“I’m yours, have always been yours.” She undulated, touching him with her entire body. All of him was hard. He was firm muscle over unrelenting frame. And that excited her.
“Love.” He positioned himself at her entrance and met her gaze. “Love.”
