Taking Vengeance (Cyborg Sizzle Book 12)

by Cynthia Sax

The medic would always hold his esteem and warrant his protection. She had located his warrior female for him, giving him happiness, hope, love.

  “Now I see why Astrid didn’t want to break your bond.” Medic Tifara clasped Death’s hand. “Convince Power you don’t need our input on decisions, that you can represent the warriors and their females, leaving my male and me free to further our research, and you’ll become my favorite council member.”

  “Consider that done.” Vengeance nodded. He would strive to fulfill two of those roles—representing the C Models and representing the paired warriors. Astrid could represent the females.

  He wrapped his arm around her waist. She was his kinfolk, part of their clan of two. They would enter every battle together.

  ***

  Word of his impending announcement quickly spread. By the beginning of the second shift, the meeting chamber had filled with beings.

  The council members, as well as Death and Death’s female, sat in the first row. Warriors were positioned behind them. Vengeance’s words would be broadcast to cyborgs everywhere.

  He stood stiffly at the front of the chamber, his hand in Astrid’s. Words were not his preferred weapon. He would wield them this planet rotation to repair some of the damage he’d caused, to ensure all bonded females felt welcome on the Homeland.

  The council members had been given a brief overview of what he would communicate. The males didn’t all agree with his stance, but they wouldn’t be surprised by it. They deserved to be shown that respect.

  Vengeance stepped forward. His warrior female moved with him, standing straight and proud by his side.

  The chamber grew quiet. Gazes fixed on him.

  “I have been vocal about my views regarding the bonding of human and humanoid females with our warriors.” He scanned the faces before him. “I believed a warrior could resist his attraction and refuse to breed with his genetically compatible female. That would prevent the formation of any lasting connection. Once the pair had bred, I believed their connection could be broken. I viewed the female’s lack of a permanent link to us, to one of our brethren, as a risk to all of us. It jeopardized our planet, our freedom, our lifespans. I have campaigned for the expulsion of all human and humanoid females from the Homeland.”

  Some of his supporters nodded. They expected him to maintain that stance.

  He couldn’t do that. His previous beliefs hadn’t reflected reality. Acting upon them would damage his brethren, his female, their future, not better it.

  He met Power’s gaze. “I was wrong. My views were wrong.”

  A buzz flowed through the chamber. Power’s eyes gleamed. The E Model would use this moment against him. Vengeance was certain about that.

  His warrior female bumped against his side. He braced himself for more damage. She valued strength and he had made many mistakes.

  He looked at her and his processors spun.

  Instead of seeing disapproval, rejection, or contempt in her brown eyes, he viewed admiration. She was proud of his admission. Professing to being wrong hadn’t decreased her respect for him, as he’d feared. It had increased it.

  He stood straighter, the weight on his shoulders vanishing. His female supported his decision. He could endure everyone else’s judgment.

  The chamber quieted and he continued. “When I found the human female genetically compatible with me, I was determined to prove my position. I hated all humans. Refusing to breed with one of their kind should have been a simple mission.”

  He paused. Warriors stared at him.

  “I failed in that mission.”

  Eyes widened. The Humanoid Alliance, their cruel manufacturers, had punished failure with decommissioning, the most painful of deaths. Warriors never admitted to making mistakes.

  “I then tried to break the connection.” He put one of his arms around his female, drawing her closer to him, needing her strength, her support. “I failed in that mission also. My nanocybotics didn’t fade. Being apart from my female, unable to touch her, damaged me and it damaged her.”

  He would always regret causing her that pain.

  “The connection between a warrior and the female he’s genetically compatible with is permanent and irresistible. I was a fool to question it.”

  A wave of chatter swept the chamber once more.

  His role on the council could be revoked. He had accepted that possible fate when he’d decided upon this briefing. His warriors might not want a fool to represent them.

  If that happened, he had his female, and he had his integrity. That would be enough for him.

  “You are many things, but you’re no fool, my male.” Astrid surprised him by stating, her voice loud and clear. “You were right to test the connection between us.”

  The gaze of every warrior, including himself, shifted to her beautiful face.

  “When I met you, I hated all cyborgs.” She relayed their history. “I had killed your kind, had chosen that as my private mission. Although I felt the connection between us, I tried to kill you too.”

  “That’s true.” He held up his damaged finger.

  Warriors laughed. They loved her take-no-captives attitude. As he did.

  “I foolishly and violently resisted our link.” She placed one of her hands on the handle of her holstered gun, a reminder to everyone in the chamber that she was skilled with weapons. “If you had transported me here, to the Homeland, immediately, I would have tried to blow up structures and end some of our brethren’s lifespans.”

  Our brethren. She had claimed the warriors as hers. He squeezed her hip. “I would have stopped you.”

  “You wouldn’t have brought me to the Homeland.” She returned her gaze to the crowd. “Your females could be just as passionate, just as fierce as I am. They could have reasons to hate cyborgs as you have reasons to hate humans. Don’t underestimate them, or you might find yourself stunned.” She looked at one of the C Models he had assigned to escort her. “Mock dead.” She gazed at a warrior she had defeated during the mock battle. “Or worse.”

  The warriors nudged each other, smiles on their faces. The prospect of being paired with fierce, warrior females didn’t daunt them. They wanted that challenge.

  As Vengeance did. Every planet rotation of his lifespan.

  But the males weren’t reckless. Her warnings would be heeded. The warriors wouldn’t rush their females’ assimilations. They would ensure the danger to others was minimalized.

  Delays in returning to the Homeland would be viewed as testaments to their females’ savagery.

  Vengeance gazed at Astrid with open admiration.

  With a mere speech, she had increased security on the planet and positioned him as being a prudent leader, rather than a foolish male. His female had preserved his role on the council.

  She’d done that because she cared for him.

  “I love you, my warrior female.” The words shot out of his mouth, projectiles of truth he couldn’t suppress. Everyone was listening to them, but that didn’t stop him. He had to tell her how he felt now, not waiting one more moment.

  She blinked those long lashes of hers, her mouth dropping open. “What did you say?”

  “Humans have inferior auditory systems.” He pulled on one of her braids, feeling self-conscious about his declaration.

  She scowled. “Cyborgs will have daggers in their stomachs if they don’t repeat themselves.”

  He grinned. She was so fraggin’ fierce.

  “I love you, my warrior female.” He met her gaze. “I love your strength, your sense of honor, your caring. There’s no one I’d rather have guarding my back during battle, sitting at my right hand during council meetings, lying beside me on our sleeping support. My heart, my soul, my sword is yours.”

  “Stop talking, you brute.” She threw herself at him, her arms flaying. “Damn it.” She punched his body armor-clad stomach with her small fists. “You don’t wait”—she pounded him—“until we’re in public”—she drove her right fist into his
abs—“to tell me you love me.”

  The scent of her blood tickled his nose. “What have you done?” He caught her wrists and examined her fists. Her knuckles were cracked. “You’ve damaged yourself.”

  “I’m going to damage you.” She struggled, fighting, thrashing like a wild creature.

  He licked her knuckles, the metallic taste of her blood coating his tongue. “You’re attempting to damage me because I feel the human love emotion for you?” He struggled to follow her logic.

  “No.” She kicked him in the shins. He felt nothing. That part of him was protected with body armor also. “I’m upset because you told me you loved me when everyone was watching us.” A tear dripped down her scarred cheek.

  Alarm surged through him. “I’ve emotionally damaged you.” He lifted her into his arms and gazed around frantically, not knowing how to stop the dreaded tears.

  “It’s good damage.” She pressed her face against his chest. “I don’t want anyone other than you to see me like this. Get me out of here.”

  Power, Death’s female, others had gathered around them, waiting to speak with them. Ignoring their protests, both spoken and transmitted, Vengeance pushed through the crowd with his female.

  She wanted to leave. He would do anything to stem her emotional damage, the sound of her sniffles, the sight of wetness on her cheeks ripping his heart out of his chest.

  Once freed of the crowd, he ran at cyborg speed, carrying his female to their chambers. He blasted through the doors with her and skidded to a halt, leaving black boot marks on the floor tiles.

  “We’re no longer in public,” he assured her, having satisfied that requirement. “There’s no need for emotional damage.” The tears could stop now.

  She burrowed deeper into him. “I like this type of emotional damage.”

  He didn’t like it. At all.

  “I love you so much, Vengeance.” Her voice was muffled. “So very, very much.”

  That was the source of her emotional damage. He nodded, now understanding her response. “The human love emotion is powerful.”

  His warrior female was more passionate than other beings. She would feel the love more.

  For him.

  Overcome with wonder, he sat on the end of the sleeping support, Astrid cradled in his arms. She felt it for him.

  He stroked her braids, her hair delectably soft. Her shoulders trembled.

  He was the only being she allowed to see her like this, emotionally open to attack, vulnerable. She trusted him to defend her, to keep her exposed heart safe.

  His love for her swelled in his chest, fed by her faith in him. Before traveling to Second Buoir, he had hated all humans. Now, the human in his arms was the most precious being in the universe to him.

  He kissed the top of her head. “I love you, my warrior female.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Her cyborg loved her.

  When Vengeance finally said those long-awaited words to her, his eyes blazing with caring, passion, wonder, her own strong emotions had defeated her. He had declared his love for her in public, their vast audience be damned, not caring who heard him, if his brethren judged him.

  Because that was who her warrior male was. He came out shooting, running at cyborg speed into battle.

  She gazed up at him, her cheeks wet. “I’m not weak.” She stuck out her chin, wanting to reaffirm that fact.

  His lips twitched. “You told my brethren I wasn’t a fool.” He twined one of her braids around his finger and pulled, the prick of pain over her scalp turning her on. “Only a fool would perceive you as being weak.”

  “I cried.” She pointed that out. Some beings would view that as weakness.

  “You cried because your love for me is so fierce; you couldn’t contain it.” An adorable smugness softened her warrior’s voice. “Your tremendous caring for me escaped through your human tear ducts.”

  “You are a brute.” She smacked his body armor-clad chest, her body shaking with laughter. “Why I haven’t killed you yet, I don’t know.”

  “You love me too much to kill me.” He rubbed his thumbs over her cheeks, loosening that salt-stained skin. “You’re also too slow.”

  “Moving slow can be advantageous on some battlefields.” She shifted in his lap until she straddled his hips, the ridge in his body armor pressing against her leather-covered pussy. “I’m challenging you to combat, cyborg.”

  She tore the body armor from his body, revealing gray skin and endless muscles. This warrior was hers and, by the end of this breeding session, he’d know it.

  “What are our weapons for this battle?” He stripped her of her garments, rendering her as naked as he was. The cool chamber air rushed over her heated form.

  “Lips.” She dragged hers up his chest and he shuddered. “Fingers.” She splayed them over his shoulders. “Teeth.” She bit his chin and his eyes burned bright blue with energy. “Tongues.” She soothed the rapidly vanishing mark. “The rest of our bodies.”

  She grazed her taut nipples over his pecs, teasing both of them with that wisp of pleasure. A rumble rolled up his big form, that savage sound thrilling her.

  “First being to come loses.” She caught his bottom lip between her teeth and pulled. “Or wins.” She smiled at him. “Depending on how you look at it.”

  “I can outlast you.” He wrapped his arms around her and propelled himself backward. For one awe-inspiring moment, they were airborne. Then they landed in the middle of the sleeping support. Astrid bounced on top of her male.

  Fuck. She gaped at him. He was powerful.

  “You’re going to lose, human.” His tone held no doubt.

  “Am I?” She slid lower on his reclining form, brushing her feminine folds over his hard shaft, and the confidence in his eyes faded. “I doubt that.”

  She rode him, slicking his cock with her wetness, stamping her ownership over him. His nostrils flared. Her cyborg must smell her need, a match for his.

  “You’re a force, my warrior female.” He covered her breasts with his rough palms and she sucked in her breath, that contact exquisite. “But I will defeat you.”

  “You’ll never defeat me.” She gave that reply because it was expected, not because she truly believed it. The passion inside her already spiraled upward.

  He grunted, squeezing and releasing to the tempo of her hips, supporting her curves with his big hands. She swiveled, grinding into him. He retaliated by capturing her nipples between his fingers, closing around those sensitive peaks.

  That felt so good. She stifled a whimper, arching her back, moving faster over him.

  He played with her breasts, gazing up at her. Her dominant male allowed her to advance first, to set the pace and limit his movements. She savored the experience, realizing it wouldn’t last. He was bigger, stronger, would soon wrest control from her, taking charge.

  She wanted that, craved his pushback. He motivated her to be the best at breeding, at fighting, at being herself, and she loved that.

  She loved him.

  His rim brushed over her clit and she trembled. She lowered over him, pressing her lips against his. Their tongues battled, jabbing, swirling, struggling for a grip on the other’s flesh.

  He growled and rolled, covering her with his body, taking command of their breeding. She capitulated, opening both her mouth and her thighs wider to him.

  Being the warrior he was, her cyborg immediately claimed the space she’d surrendered and conquered additional ground, thrusting deep inside her. She cried out, that sound muffled by his lips, and she tilted her hips, taking more of him.

  He filled her with his tongue and with his cock. She gripped his shoulders, holding onto him, savoring the ripple of muscle under his gray skin, the intensity in his eyes, the determination in the set of his chin.

  He was the epitome of strength, a warrior at the height of his skills, and he belonged to her. She was the female he loved, the female he wanted.

  He pulled back to his tip and then drove
into her, pulled back and drove into her. She lifted her hips, meeting him halfway. Skin smacked against skin. Her body heated, sweat beading, dripping between her breasts, down her spine.

  “Is that”—she panted—“all you have?”

  His eyes glowed with humor. “That’s all you can take, human.”

  “Fuck you, cyborg.” She laughed, propelling herself upward. Her fingernails pierced his skin. His cock twitched inside her.

  Her warrior liked a bit of pain with his pleasure. She raked her fingernails down his chest.

  He hissed, caught her wrists with one hand, moved them above her head, pulling her arms tight. Her pussy dripped. She struggled, slapping her breasts against his pecs, that sweet agony energizing him and titillating her.

  He fucked her harder. The sleeping support slammed against the wall, that noise added to the barrage of rutting sounds echoing in the chamber.

  “More. More.” She urged him on, kicking her boot heels against his clenched ass. Her focus had shifted from winning their erotic battle to sating the need inside her.

  Judging by the wildness in his eyes, he was as far gone as she was. He drove into her with total abandonment, his biceps bulging, his countenance primal.

  She ravished him right back, pumping her hips, taking him as deeply as she could. His balls smacked against her skin. His base flattened her feminine folds. An intriguing hum spread through her core, tiny vibrations of delight.

  The connection between them, always present, grew more powerful, invisible strands pleated into its framework with each passing encounter, with each additional moment spent together, reinforcing their link, ensuring it would never be severed.

  The attachment was more than physical, more than mere nanocybotics and compatible genes. It was a binding of hearts, of souls.

  Her arms and legs quivered. Her pussy constricted around him. “Vengeance.” She lifted her body, pressing her curves against him.

  “Astrid.” He bent his head, mouthed over the swell of her breasts. His nanocybotics bubbled on her skin, a thousand lips nipping and sucking on her, pushing her closer and closer to the edge of fulfillment.

  She writhed under him, fighting to free her hands, yearning to touch him, to thread her fingers through his short hair, hold his face to her curves. He plunged into her, his cock head grazing along her inner walls, his thrusts swift, intense.