by Cynthia Sax
“I question the logic of the Great Battle. I didn’t say I don’t believe in it.”
She didn’t know the difference between the two statements, but she didn’t press him for an explanation. Believing in the Great Battle gave her peace, and she didn’t want that taken away from her.
Not after losing so many other things.
She gazed at the corpses. “We have to rebury them.” If they didn’t, the animals might disturb the bodies. “There’s a digging tool in my domicile.”
“I’ll retrieve it.” His big form blurred, Vengeance moving at cyborg speed.
“I’ll stay here.” She said that to no one, feeling useless.
Her private purpose for being on the planet—to find the bodies of her kinfolk—had been fulfilled. The official reason for remaining—to guard a planet no one truly wanted—didn’t appeal to her. Without her loved ones, Second Buoir wasn’t her home.
Her cyborg returned with the digging tool. “Are we fabricating one hole or multiple?”
“They are my family. They lived together, fought together. They’d want to be buried the same way.”
They had each other. She had one surly cyborg.
She watched him as he worked, the soil flying, the muscles in his partially healed back rippling, his jaw jutting in determination. He was digging so quickly; she’d merely get in his way.
And she was exhausted, physically, emotionally. “I don’t think I can kill you this planet rotation.”
She couldn’t kill him any planet rotation, but she kept that information to herself. He already had too much leverage over her.
“Rest, my female.” The warrior threw dirt over his shoulder. “You can attempt to kill me later.”
“And you will attempt to capture me.” She jutted her jaw.
“I will capture you.” He jumped out of the huge hole he’d created. “But first, we’ll cleanse ourselves.” He swiped at the soil clinging to him. All that action did was grind it into his skin. “And we’ll fuck.”
He was hard. Her gaze lowered. “You find digging holes arousing?”
“I find you arousing.” He set the digging tool aside, reached for Siv’s body.
“Mamma first.” She stepped toward him. “I don’t want Siv to be alone.”
He complied with her instructions, transferring her mother first, then tucking Siv’s body close to her. Astrid fussed over each corpse, arranging them in the most comfortable pose possible. Her family’s souls had departed, but she didn’t want their bodies stressed.
And she wanted them to know, if they were watching her, she cared. “What do cyborgs do to honor their fallen?”
He paused, her father’s corpse in his arms. “We avenge our brethren, if that is possible.” He resumed the transfer.
“That’s it?” She lifted her eyebrows. “You don’t remember them in any way?”
“We’re cyborgs.” His tone held arrogance. “We never forget anyone or anything.”
“Humans don’t forget their loved ones either.” She frowned, adjusting her aunt’s right arm. The older female held her sword with that hand, would want it close to her hip. “But we carve the names of our warriors who have died in battle in stone so every being viewing it, human, humanoid, cyborg, clan or not, will know they are worthy of being remembered.”
He turned his head and looked at her. “I would like to see this stone.”
He would like to read the names of her loved ones. Her heart warmed.
She was no longer his enemy but… “You’re my enemy.” She reminded both of them.
“I’m not your enemy this planet rotation.” His blue eyes blazed with energy. “We have agreed upon a temporary peace, my female.”
Had they agreed upon that? She straightened. He wouldn’t capture her, and she wouldn’t have to guard against his attacks.
Her heart would be fully exposed. She was already susceptible to him. A connection hummed between them. His nanocybotics fizzed inside her. Her body responded to the possessiveness in his voice, craved his touch.
Her gaze traveled down his muscular form. Nothing was hidden from her, her cyborg gloriously nude, a warrior in his prime, a weapon without equal.
Her mouth dried and her toes curled in her boots. For a planet rotation, he could be hers, all hers.
“This armistice is a bad idea.” She felt that in her gut. They were taking a step that couldn’t be reversed, striking a blow that could cause permanent pain.
“It’s in place.” Vengeance laid the last corpse in the ground. “Resign yourself to it.”
Chapter Seven
The sun approached the horizon by the time they arrived at the rock facing. Vengeance clasped his female’s right hand. Their fingers were linked.
That ensured she didn’t run from him as she was apt to do. Or shoot him…with that hand. Her left hand rested on a holstered gun.
She might draw the weapon. His female’s emotional damage had been partially repaired, and for that, he was thankful. The sound of his tough warrior female sobbing had almost pulled his heart out of his chest. In that moment, he would have killed his brethren himself for ending her kinfolk’s lifespans.
That realization had alarmed him. He was a council member. His loyalty had to remain with his brethren. They relied on him to put their best interests first.
“This is it.” His female waved at the view before them.
He gazed at the names engraved in the stone. There were hundreds of them. The text was uneven but it was deep and legible.
“I carved them with a mallet and a chisel.” She beamed, clearly proud of herself.
He touched the rock. It was dense, would be difficult to carve. “You have strength…for a human.”
“You’re observant…for a cyborg.” She bumped against him, that contact exciting him. “I chose this rock because it suffers less from the effects of erosion. Before the attack, there were thousands of these monuments. Names were copied before they eroded. Our clan could visually trace our ancestors back to the first warriors. It was glorious.”
She was glorious, a female without equal. He wrapped one of his arms around her waist, drawing her closer to him.
His female, lost in her thoughts, didn’t protest. “The Humanoid Alliance destroyed all of the rock facings.” Her eyes shone with sadness. “They sought to erase my clan’s presence completely, ensuring no one ever remembered them.”
Cyborgs shared information. All of the memories, the experiences of his brethren, alive and dead, resided in his databases. To lose that legacy would be traumatic.
He squeezed his female’s hip. “You remember them.” And he would remember them also. He never forgot any information.
“Yes.” She lifted her chin. “And the next inhabitants of the planet will see my clan’s names on this rock facing, realize they were fierce warriors, loved and respected.”
“They will know your clan existed.” He said softly. The name carving was not merely a symbol of remembrance. It was an act of defiance, showing the Humanoid Alliance they couldn’t erase her loved ones.
“My clan existed.” She nodded.
He looked up at the stone. The Humanoid Alliance hadn’t merely tried to erase the cyborgs’ existence. They had denied their existences entirely, giving them numbers, not names, treating them like weapons, disposing of them when they malfunctioned.
He pressed his lips together. The Homeland didn’t have walls of rock. It was fully inhabited. But it had multilevel structures reaching high into the sky. Those walls could be carved with names.
Millions of them, representing the cyborg dead, never to be forgotten.
Visitors to the Homeland would look at the names and realize the sacrifices his brethren had made to become free. Warriors and their offspring would honor the fallen on the battlefield and the decommissioned.
Everyone would know they existed.
His head dipped.
He would propose the name carving at a future council meeting.
> “We should clean ourselves.” He drew his female away from the rock facing.
“Is my stench offending your enhanced senses, cyborg?” She threw back her head and laughed.
He liked her sense of humor and he liked the way she smelled. “You wear too many garments.”
Her mirth dissipated. “You want me naked.” Her cheeks flushed with pigment.
He didn’t reply because he did want her naked, her bare skin pressed against his, her legs wrapped around his waist. It had been too long since they fucked.
He guided his female toward the river, the sound of flowing water growing louder with each step. She walked quietly…for a human, scanning their surroundings as he did, offsetting her inferior senses with awareness.
A creature snarled.
She stopped abruptly. “Do you hear that?” She tilted her head.
Another creature growled.
“Those are predators. They’re large.” She indicated his chest level. “With sharp teeth, claws on all four legs and barbs on their tails.”
They sounded like formidable opponents, a challenge to defeat.
“They’re normally scared of humans.” His female’s lips twisted. “My clan were the only beings on the planet who could kill them. With my kinfolks’ deaths, there has been nothing to curtail the predators’ population. They’ve depleted all of the prey, are starving and venturing closer.”
“I’ve sensed their presence.” He admitted. “But I haven’t located any of them with my visual system.”
“They’re fierce.” Admiration warmed his female’s voice, her response increasing his curiosity. “And they’ll attack when cornered. Only the most skilled warriors hunted them. That was the meat you ate this planet rotation.”
He wrinkled his nose. “That meat tasted awful.” They’d eaten more of it after they’d buried his female’s kinfolk.
“You’ll become accustomed to it.” She grinned.
Would he become accustomed to it? They continued walking. He should return soon to the Homeland with his female. The council would be making decisions without his input. Power could be giving away their planet to the enemy, expanding the humans’ rights.
His female might be worthy of trust. He gazed at her scarred face with admiration. She wasn’t acting with the Humanoid Alliance, plotting to take over the Homeland.
But she was the exception, and rules had to be made and enforced for the norm, not the outliers.
One more planet rotation shouldn’t make a difference, however.
“I would like to hunt these predators.” He decided on that action.
“We can do that.” Her eyes sparkled with interest. “You’ll have to follow my lead though, cyborg. It’s dangerous.”
They reached the river. He scowled at the slowly flowing water. Did she think he was an incompetent warrior, requiring her guidance? “Your predators can’t be more dangerous than the Mantidae.”
“You fought them?” Envy wrapped around her words. “They don’t use Second Buoir as part of their migration route. I hear they’re savage.”
She stripped off her garments, his female as comfortable with nudity as any cyborg was. That was yet more proof she was different from the average human.
“One of them almost severed my right arm.” He swung that limb, recalling the pain.
“I almost lost my eye.” She pointed to the scar trailing down her face. “Shrapnel from an explosion caused this.”
He traced the raised skin with his fingertips. If the debris had lodged deeper, she would have died. His heart squeezed. He would have never met her.
“Pretty, isn’t it?” She grinned at him, a true warrior, proud of her brushes with death, her body delightfully bare. Scars crisscrossed her beautiful breasts. Muscles decorated her stomach. Her feet were planted slightly apart, braced for an attack.
“I don’t find your face offensive.” His lips curled upward.
“Fuck you.” She slapped his chest, the contact exciting him.
Before he could draw her to him, she turned and ran into the water, splashing for several strides, then diving under the surface, her muscles rippling.
“I will fuck you.” He chased her, moving at human speeds. The water was cool against his skin, energizing. He plunged into the river, spotted the soles of her feet, reached for them.
She kicked his hands, changed direction, broke the surface and then dove once more. He pursued her, enjoying himself.
They weren’t fighting. There was no intent to harm, to kill. They were, what the humans would call, playing.
He couldn’t remember ever engaging in an activity purely for fun.
Propelling himself faster, he encircled her waist with his arms. She spun, graceful and light, a perfectly formed dagger slicing through the water. Conscious of her smaller lung capacity, he drew her upward.
She laughed as she burst out of the river, her brown hair plastered around her face, her eyes gleaming. “Cyborgs can swim.”
“Cyborgs will do anything to catch their targets.” He pulled her to him. She bobbed against his form and he splayed his fingers over her back. “I caught you.”
“Did you catch me?” She leaned forward and brushed her lips over his. “I think not.” His female pushed off his body, shooting backward, toward land.
“You can’t escape me, female.” He swam leisurely after her, allowing her to lead the way, interested in where she was taking them.
“I believe I just did, male.” She crawled onto the riverbank, her lush ass waving in the air.
It was a hail he had to answer. He lunged forward, grabbing her by her hips. “I believe you’re wrong.” He wedged himself between her closing legs and bumped her knees outward, opening her fully to him.
“What are you doing?” She fought him, twisting, trying to break his grip.
He wouldn’t want her to react any other way, the challenge of her thrilling him. “What does it look like I’m doing?” He breathed deeply, seeking reassurance.
She smelled of freshness and of aroused female, her pink pussy lips glistening with her juices. “You’re being a brute.” Her half-hearted wiggles stimulated him. “Let me go.”
“Do you want me to let you go?” He raised one of his eyebrows. Her body sent a different communication.
“No, I don’t want you to let me go.” She glared over her shoulder, her skin slick and wet. “I want to be fucked hard. That’s why I allowed you to catch me.”
He chuckled. “You didn’t allow me to do anything.” He drew her backward, forcing her to ride his cock, and her breath hitched. “I’m the superior warrior. Having apprehended my target, she is now mine to do with as I wish.”
He fucked her without entry, branding his shaft with her heat. His female was clearly dissatisfied with that plan and wanted more. She lifted herself upward, attempting to align her tight little hole with his cock head.
He placed one of his palms on the hollow of her back and pushed her downward. She growled, resisting, the muscles in her long legs flexing.
Frag. She was magnificent, all strength and passion, undeniably female.
“Is the superior warrior going to fuck me any time this solar cycle?” She propelled herself back against him, smacking her ass against his abs. “I have other things to do.”
“The only thing you have to do is service me.” He bent his head and bit one of her ass cheeks, leaving his mark there. She jerked, her wetness dripping over his shaft. His human liked the feel of his teeth.
“I’m servicing myself.” She ground against him.
The blasted female would make herself come, finding fulfillment without him.
He pulled his hips back, aligned himself properly and thrust. Hard. She shrieked, squeezing her inner walls around him, making his entry more intense, her grip on his cock exquisitely snug.
He clenched his teeth, clinging to his control, and surged forward, not stopping until his base met her pussy lips. Fully enveloped by her softness, he released his breat
h, a sense of rightness falling upon him.
This was where he was meant to be—inside this warrior female.
Logic said otherwise. She was human, his enemy. He couldn’t kill her. That option was lost to him as soon as he touched her. But they were destined to part.
He retreated and advanced, retreated and advanced, his pace slow, steady. His female moaned, that sound coiling around his balls.
Although he was tempted to keep her, he couldn’t, not without placing his brethren in danger. All humans had to be expelled from the Homeland. That was the only way to keep his fellow cyborgs safe. He had to lead by example.
He had to.
“You’re my captive.” He ran his hands up her back, buried his fingers into her hair, balling the strands around his fist.
“Never.” She continued to fight him with her words while her body surrendered.
“Always.” As he fucked her harder, deeper, he increased the tension, tugging on her hair, forcing her to lift her head, to submit to him. “You’re mine.”
He owned her with long, savage strokes, slapping his hips against her ass, his balls against her skin. Heat spread over him, mixed with the pinch of pain.
His female panted, arching her back, riding him as he rode her. Her ass jiggled with his every thrust, her curves turning pink with the passionate abuse. Her fingers curled, digging into the yielding ground.
She was under his command, at his mercy. He showed her none, ravishing her, plunging into her pussy with the wildness of a primitive C Model. She could take his advances, welcomed that savagery.
She was a warrior as he was, reveling in the physical, more comfortable with action than words. He understood her, and she must understand him. Their connection couldn’t be one-sided. She must feel it also. He was certain of that.
Decadent pressure formed, low on his frame. She shook, her arms and legs trembling. They were both close to fulfilment, their passion burning out of control, razing everything in its path, the most effective of weapons.
“Cyborg.” Her voice stretched.
“Vengeance.” He wanted her to know who had claimed her, who filled her pussy with his cock, who held her in his hands.
