by Cynthia Sax
“You don’t know.” He laved one of her wounds with the flat of his tongue and she hissed, a wave of agony sweeping over her. “You’re not weak. You’re strong. But you don’t heal as quickly as I do.”
That’s what he was seeking to do—heal her. His nanocybotics bubbled over her torn flesh.
She should protest. He was more injured than she was, should save his nanocybotics for himself. She didn’t say anything because she was weary, so very weary, and his caring soothed her lonely heart.
If she was going to die, and judging by the puddle of blood forming around her ass, that might happen, she preferred to leave this world with her cyborg’s tongue on her skin, his arms around her.
Silence fell between them as he worked, licking her wounds. She’d never had anyone, other than medics, tend to her. A medic’s touch was clinical, cold. Her cyborg’s handling of her felt intimate, private.
It warmed her already warm heart. She cared for him, more than she’d cared for any being in a long, long time. This hunt had shown her the depth of her feelings for him.
He laved every abrasion with his tongue, stemming the flow of blood. The ground under her stopped tilting. Her energy returned. She remained in pain, but she no longer felt as though her lifespan was slipping away from her.
“I can tend to your wounds also.” Nanocybotics fizzed on her tongue. She could give those back to him.
“There’s no need, my female. I’m healing.” He curled his arms. Light gray skin already covered the metal. “Faster than I usually do.” Wonder filled his voice.
She turned to face him. “Is the planet speeding your healing?”
“It’s you.” His gaze met hers, his brilliant blue eyes glowing. “Other cyborgs claimed sharing their nanocybotics with their females made them stronger. It must be true.”
Cyborgs hated humans. He’d stressed that point. The other cyborgs wouldn’t have claimed human females. They would have claimed cyborg females.
As he soon would.
Having verified that sharing nanocybotics accelerated a cyborg’s healing, her warrior male would rush to replace her. He would find a nice cyborg female to fuck, to talk with, to fight beside.
Astrid’s lips twisted, bitterness swelling within her.
“Good for you.” She pushed herself to her feet. Her legs wobbled but held. She rolled the predator onto its back.
“What are you doing?” Vengeance stood, looming over her, big, strong, sexy, and not hers. He would never be hers.
“Predators are fellow warriors. They participate in the Great Battle also.” She extracted the two daggers from her arm sheaths. “Fight well.”
She dragged the blades across the predator’s chest again and again, cutting layers of fur. The cyborg joined her, carving with more speed, more strength into the creature’s stomach.
Sweat beaded on her skin. Some of her wounds reopened. Her muscles tired. They slowly sliced through the predator’s chest, allowing its soul to escape.
It would rejoin its clan, fight with the other beasts. Satisfied, she sat back on her heels, gazed at Vengeance.
This was his first hunt. If he were a member of her clan, he would take a trophy to wear around his neck, a reminder of the planet rotation he became a warrior to be revered.
He wasn’t her kinsfolk. She shouldn’t award him that honor.
But she would. She opened the predator’s mouth, wedged her blade between one of its tearing teeth and its gums, breaking it off at its root.
“This is yours, but I’m keeping it for now.” She slid the tooth into the leather band tied around her right thigh.
He lifted his eyebrows yet said nothing.
She’d add a leather strip, craft it so he could wear it. He likely wouldn’t don it. She’d never seen a cyborg wear any sort of decoration. But she liked that he would have something fabricated by her.
Maybe he would think of her.
While he was fucking his cyborg female.
“We can leave the carcass.” He gazed down at the body. “We have sufficient nourishment and others do not.” He looked pointedly over the ridge.
The mother and her cubs were gone, scared away by the battle, but it was their terrain, a safe place the mother had chosen. They would return. When they did, they’d have meat…if another predator didn’t find it first.
Other warriors wouldn’t have thought of the family’s plight. Her cyborg had.
“You’re making it very difficult for me to hate you.” Her voice was brusque with emotion.
“We’re not enemies this planet rotation.” He held out his hands. They were bloody and rough yet steady and able, the type of hands a female could depend upon.
She wasn’t, would never be that female. “We’re not enemies this planet rotation.”
He continued to view her as his enemy, might always see her that way. She clasped his fingers, allowed him to pull her to her feet.
Their bodies crashed together, his form solid, warm. She tilted her head back, gazed up at him. He captured her lips, the pressure divine.
She resisted for two heartbeats, her protest half-hearted, and then she opened to him. His tongue slid over hers. His fingers twisted in her hair, the tantalizing tug on her scalp thrilling her.
He held her to him as he ravished her mouth, the metallic taste of him making her senses sing, his nanocybotics fizzing inside her. She had almost lost him this planet rotation, feared she had.
It shouldn’t matter because she would lose him in the future. He’d leave her and find a cyborg female, someone he could truly love.
She’d be alone. Again.
She twisted out of his arms. Without a word, she stalked away from him, trekking through the forest, heading for the river. Both of them needed to cool down.
Chapter Nine
Moments later, Vengeance watched his female as they stood thigh-deep in the river, washing the blood and dirt from their skin. Her movements were sharp and jerky.
“You’re angry with me.” He couldn’t process why. She’d been damaged during the hunt, but that was because she had jumped on the predator like a wild thing. He had shielded her from the initial attack, rolling the creature far away from her.
“Why would I be angry with you?” She slapped the water. “And if I was angry with you, why would you care? I’m your enemy.”
“Then you’re not angry with me?” He frowned. Human females were confusing.
“I didn’t say that.” She glared at him.
His female was angry with him. He was certain of that now.
“Don’t concern yourself about my feelings.” She stomped closer to him, each step punctuated with a loud splash. “When you leave here, you’ll find a female of your own kind to fuck, and I’ll wait for the next cyborg to arrive. That one I will kill after fucking.”
“You are not fucking another male.” He yelled, losing his temper. “And I’m not fucking another female. We’re leaving the planet together. I’m capturing you.”
“You plan to torture me.” She crossed her arms under her heaving breasts.
“I wouldn’t ever damage you in any way.” He would die before he harmed her. “I’ll protect you.” No one else would touch her…even when they were parted.
A brief separation was necessary. After he had proven his point to the council, they had to temporarily go their individual ways. He couldn’t expel the other human females from the Homeland and exclude her. His brethren wouldn’t tolerate that.
But he would process a way to return his strong warrior female to his side. His moments with Astrid had been the most enjoyable of his lifespan. He wouldn’t give up that joy, that companionship, that caring, not even for the beings he represented.
She was his.
“You and I aren’t enemies.” It was important to him that she realize that truth.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you starting to care for me, Vengeance?”
“Yes.” He allowed his admiration, lust, adoration to show.
The hard set of her jaw softened. “I don’t hate you.”
“I know.” He lifted his chin, finally understanding the situation. She cared for him as he cared for her. That was the cause of her emotional damage.
Being an extremely intelligent being, she must have realized their relationship had high barriers to overcome. She worried, as he did, that other factors, other beings would tear them apart.
The future was filled with challenges. This planet rotation, they were together.
“We’ll concentrate on this moment, on this battle, my female.” That was the warrior way.
Her shoulders slumped. “I’m tired of living like that, of being alone, always fighting, never knowing if I’ll have another planet rotation.”
His little human was exhausted. She’d suffered great damage, had exerted herself beyond her capabilities. “Come here.” He opened his arms.
She hesitated for a heartbeat and then rushed forward, pressing her curves against his muscles, resting her cheek against his chest. Conscious of the wounds on her back, he carefully held her to him, propping his chin on the top of her head.
Tenderness surged over Vengeance, an emotion a C Model such as himself rarely experienced. She, a fiercely independent, strong warrior female, trusted him to tend to her emotional damage. He was honored by that gift.
She leaned against him, the stiffness in her form easing. He stroked her wet hair, separating the tendrils with his fingers. Her wounds had pulled closed, but remained vividly pink against her light-brown skin.
“You shouldn’t have attacked the predator.” He had that situation handled and she had put herself at great risk.
When she had been wounded, had screamed with pain, it felt as though a hand had burst through his chest and yanked at his heart. He’d howled with fury, unable to shield her from the beast’s barbed tail.
“I had to save you.” She mumbled against his chest. “The predator could have ripped your skull off.”
She had put her lifespan in jeopardy to protect him, a cyborg, a being manufactured to fight, to die on the battlefield. Warmth spread over him. “My skull is reinforced with metal, my foolish female.” His voice was husky. “The predator was starving, didn’t have the strength to remove it.”
“It was hurting you.”
That bothered her—him being in pain. His world spun merrily around him. “Put your arms around my neck.”
She complied, not fighting his command. Her docility communicated to him how very weary she was.
He hooked his right arm under her legs, scooped her out of the river. Water dripped from her form, streaming along her body to his.
“Put me down.” She offered a weak protest. “I’m too heavy and you’re injured.”
“I’ve carried missile launchers heavier than you.” He walked with her, exiting the river, moving toward the domicile.
“My clothes.” She looked over his shoulder.
“I’ll retrieve them later.” He suspected his warrior female was more concerned about her weapons. “Sleep.”
“I can walk.” Her bottom lip curled. “You don’t have to carry me.”
“I like carrying you.” He lifted her higher against his body. She filled his arms perfectly, all lean muscle and soft skin.
“Then I’ll allow it…for now.” She slumped against him. “But you haven’t captured me.”
“Not yet,” he agreed, spotting the domicile. Their home.
He entered the structure with her, walked to their private chamber. The air still smelled of fucking, of them. He set her facedown on the sleeping support.
“It’s too early in the planet rotation for resting.” She yawned. “The sun is shining.”
The sun’s rays shone through the portal, lighting the chamber.
“It isn’t too early in the planet rotation for repairing.” The sleeping support dipped under his weight as he sat beside her. He brushed her hair to the side, exposing all of her wounds.
Two deep teeth-sized holes pierced the fragile skin over her right shoulder blade. Two more marks decorated the small of her back. Strips of bright pink trailed down her legs.
She’d endured that damage to save him. He bent over her, laved the raised flesh with his tongue, tasting salt and a distinctive flavor that was his female.
“Hmmm…” she murmured, shifting on the sleeping support. Her eyelids were partially closed, her gaze on him.
“Sleep, my female.” He licked her wounds. “I’ll watch over you.”
“You care for me.” Her eyes closed completely.
“I care too much for you.” He covered her with his nanocybotics again and again. Her breathing deepened, her lips parting.
His warrior female slept.
He stayed with her, tending to her back. Strands of hair interfered with his ministering. He braided the wild tendrils to keep them in place, having observed her in the past as she completed that task.
The softness of her hair enthralled him. The repetitive motion of braiding soothed his battle-torn soul. The sight of her gave him pleasure, reassurance.
His female was safe, by his side. He would craft a plan to ensure they’d spend their long lifespans together.
They would hunt, fuck, train. She would push him, challenge him, care for him. When she deemed him worthy, she would say the human love words to him.
His lips curled upward. She’d make him work for that honor.
He liked that, adored her.
The sun sank below the horizon, casting the chamber into shadow. His vision system adjusted to the reduced illumination.
He lay next to her. She shifted closer to him, his female seeking his body even in slumber. When she woke, they would fuck and then—
Vengeance. Death transmitted on their private connection. What is your location?
Vengeance bit back a curse. I remain on Second Buoir. He didn’t want to be disturbed.
Power has been making inquiries about where you are. The other cyborg relayed that news. He’s asking some of the C Models.
Some of those C Models had human females. Vengeance’s gaze settled on Astrid’s beautiful face. They might take advantage of his absence to further the case for equal rights for the humans…or worse. They might seek to replace him on the council.
He had hoped to spend several more planet rotations with his female, tightening their bond, storing memories in their databases for the lonely planet rotations ahead of them, planning, plotting their future.
That wasn’t possible. They had to return to the Homeland immediately.
I require a ship. He sent Death his coordinates.
You require…a ship. Disbelief coiled around the cyborg’s transmission. Our intel wasn’t correct? There were more beings on the planet?
Your intel was correct. Vengeance gritted his teeth as he communicated that information, bracing himself for judgment. The human female is a skilled warrior.
The human female downed your ship? Without assistance?
She blew the ship up. He, a C Model cyborg, the best of the best, had been outmaneuvered by a human. Not by any human, by his human. Pride offset his irritation. She was a force, a female any warrior would be proud to claim, and she was his. Her vessel was also destroyed in the explosion.
There was a stretch of silence. Even the static on the line had disappeared.
The warrior must have muted himself.
There was only one reason for that—Death was laughing at him.
He was a member of the council, a figure worthy of respect. Vengeance curled his fingers into fists. No cyborg should laugh at him.
The female was prepared for an attack. It was an unusual situation, his female an unusual opponent. She is extremely skilled.
Yes, you mentioned that. Death’s transmission vibrated with mirth. How many warriors do you require to apprehend the human female? Should I send a warship or a battle station to your location?
The warrior was mocking him. Vengeance jutted his jaw. I have
apprehended the human female. All I require is a small transport ship.
Understood. The warrior’s tone implied otherwise. A small transport ship will be sent to your location immediately.
Vengeance ended the transmission. It would take almost a planet rotation for a ship to travel from the Homeland to Second Buoir. He could fuck his female, several times, explain the situation, prepare her for the ship’s arrival.
But not now.
Now, she required rest to repair herself. His female slept heavily, her body still, so very still. He perused her naked form, savoring her curves, her compact muscle.
She was exposed, vulnerable. No body armor covered her. Her alarm systems hadn’t been set. She was expecting him to protect her.
He wouldn’t fail in that task.
While he monitored their surroundings, using all of his senses, he tended to her back once more. He wanted her to be fully repaired when she arrived on the Homeland.
Death, when he saw Astrid, would recognize her as being formidable, a female capable of besting even a top warrior like himself.
And she would be emotionally strong, capable of handling the scrutiny of the cyborg council. She would conquer them as she conquered him. They would realize she was the exception, an honorable human, and admire her as he did.
There wouldn’t be any touching. He scowled. No warrior other than himself would have that privilege.
She was his. Only his.
The sun lit the sky once more. His female continued to sleep.
He had promised to retrieve her garments. She might want those when she woke. He set her alarms, inadequate though they were.
During his previous patrols of the area, he’d noted the predators didn’t venture close to the domicile. There were no other beings on the planet, and he’d hear a ship if it arrived.
She’d be safe. He slipped out the doors.
The air smelled fresh. Moisture glistened on the vegetation. Insects hummed. Second Buoir was very different from the crowded, fully developed Homeland.
Its wildness, its purity, appealed to him, and it was close to cyborg-controlled space. They could expand their territory, include Second Buoir in their monitoring, claim it as theirs, as they had done with Earth Minor, another inhabitable planet.
