by Cynthia Sax
“I wouldn’t ask you to.” He’d realized as soon as he opened the shuttlecraft’s doors that she’d never leave the paradise she’d found.
His Shelby’s forehead wrinkled. Her eyebrows knitted together. His past-loving botanist struggled to understand the changes he’d brought with him.
It was too much, too soon for her. He cupped her cheeks. “Don’t think about it.” He was patient. He’d wait for her to catch up to him emotionally, to trust in a future together. “Feel.”
He slanted his lips across her. She opened to him with a relieved sigh and he pushed into her, tasting the mint leaf she’d been chewing on and the flavor of frustrated female.
With each stroke of his tongue, her shoulders lowered and her eyes darkened, her worries visually dissipating. Her hands slid up his chest, curled around his shoulders, and she shifted, drawing nearer.
She remained too far from him. Green eased her forward until she straddled his waist, her ass filling his lap. Shelby felt right there, made for him. He swirled his fingers in small circles, massaging her ample hips, as they kissed.
Insects buzzed. A branch fell in the fire and sparks shot skyward. Shelby’s breathing in and out added a constant rhythm, an underlying pulse to the sounds around them. Her breasts brushed against his chest, teasing his body. Her ass wiggled. Her mons ground against his hard cock, layers of fabric separating them.
“You’re scrambling my processors.” He dragged his lips down her neck. “I want you so much. I can’t think.”
“Think?” His female’s expression was dazed.
He grinned. She was more lost than he was. He nipped at the collar of her chest covering and she trembled. “We’re wearing too much clothing.”
Speaking was a mistake. Doubts flashed across her face. “I—”
Green formed a protective cage around her body with his arms and legs and rolled onto the soft ground. The scent of crushed grass and aroused female teased his nostrils.
He nuzzled and kissed and caressed until she was delirious once more, panting and writhing underneath him. Her nipples were taut. Would they be pink or a deeper gold than her skin?
He had to find out. Green pulled the garment she called a sundress over her head. She sucked in her breath. He did the same.
“Beautiful,” he murmured. Her breasts were paler than the skin on her neck. Her nipples were a color he’d not yet seen on a human, lighter than red, darker than pink, with a hint of blue. He’d ask her for the word later. He had to touch her now.
Green cupped her curves, savoring their weight. These were breasts manufactured for suckling. He fastened his mouth to one of her nipples and inhaled, drawing her into his mouth. She moaned, arched her back, her response exciting him.
He sucked, released, sucked, released, her right breast, while working her left breast with his fingers, flooding her with sensation, drowning all of her concerns.
She was his focus. Green ignored his hard cock, aching balls, the desire pulsing through his circuits, screaming for satisfaction. He was intent on pleasing his female, binding her tighter to him, ensuring she never wanted another.
“Yes.” She threaded her fingers through his short hair and dug her fingernails into his scalp, the sharp bite of pain snapping more of his control. “Need you.”
He looked upward, meeting her gaze. “Who do you need?”
“You.”
“Who?” He flicked her nipple with his thumb and she quivered. “Say my name.” He wanted to hear it on her lips.
“Green.” A sensual huskiness was wrapped around that one syllable. “I need Green, my cyborg.”
“Your male.” He bent his head and ravished her, mouthing her skin, nibbling on her nipple, giving her curves the devotion they warranted. Never had he seen a female so stunning, so alive, so his.
“My male.” She held him, pushing more of herself into his mouth, embracing him as eagerly as he embraced her. “Cover me with your nanocybotics. Make me tingle all over.”
“I’ll fill you with my nanocybotics.” He slid one hand over her rounded belly, threaded his fingers through her brown private curls. “You’ll feel me for planet rotations.”
He’d never allow them to fade, would breed with her once a planet rotation, more often if that was viable. Green cupped her mons, dipping his fingertips into her wetness, and she jerked.
“Be calm,” he soothed his skittish female. “I have you.” He glided his fingers up and down, drawing more moisture, more musky scent from her core.
“Green,” she cried, moving with him.
He slipped his index finger into her heat and she clenched around him. Frag. She was tight, made for him. He plunged in and out of her, watching her face. She panted, her lips parted, her skin flushed. His female eclipsed the most stunning sunset, taking his breath away.
Green added a second, and then a third finger, preparing her for his girth. Shelby’s tremors increased in intensity, jiggling her breasts, her hips. She called her name, her voice stretching with strain. Her juices dripped down his hand, branding his skin.
“Please, Green.”
He couldn’t deny her anything. “Come for me, Shelby.” He brushed his thumbs over her clit.
Her inner walls squeezed his fingers and she called his name, throwing her lush form upward. His little human didn’t fly very high. Her curves smacked against his fabric-covered muscle and she fell. Green followed her descent, maintaining their connection, his gaze fixed on her glowing countenance.
This was what he had survived for, this moment, this female. All the pain, the torture, the killing had been worth it. He’d do it again to pleasure her one more time.
“You’re wearing too many clothes, cyborg.” She opened her thighs wider, her body languid, an intriguing smile curling her lips. “I need you inside me, and by you, I mean your cock, not your fingers.”
“Frag, yes.” Green gripped his lapels and yanked. Fabric tore.
His Shelby grinned, her eyes sparkling. His female liked his eagerness.
He removed the remnants of the flight suit, leaving on his boots. “Are you ready to be claimed?” His cock was hard, eager for her heat.
His beautiful botanist blinked and he stifled his groan. She was overthinking their relationship again, fretting about the future.
“Focus on now,” he advised. “Not the next planet rotation or the planet rotation after that.” He prodded her pussy with his tip. “What do you want now?”
The shadow falling across her face lifted. “You. I want you now.” She wrapped her legs around his waist. “Take me. I’m yours.”
“And I’m yours.” This would be a mutual claiming.
Green pushed into her entrance, met tightness, withdrew, pushed again. How human males lasted through breeding, he didn’t know, because it took all of his machine’s rigid restraint to keep from coming, from thrusting hard. His female felt too good, too hot, and wet, and snug. She clasped his shoulders, holding onto him, his strain mirrored in her eyes.
Her pussy lips pressed against his base and he paused, relishing her intimate grip on him, allowing her to adjust to his size. “Are you well, my Shelby?” He met her gaze.
“No. Yes. I don’t know.” She was delightfully confused. “You feel…”
“Large?”
She lowered her gaze to his chin. “Right.”
Her voice was faint, would be inaudible to a human, but Green was a cyborg. He heard her and smiled. They stayed locked in place, neither of them moving.
Gradually she loosened around him. She shifted. He sank deeper and they both groaned, the impact felt through his physique.
“Green.”
She didn’t have to ask. He pulled out to his tip and thrust forward, shaking her form. Frag. Her curves undulated under him, testing his resolve. He gritted his teeth, repeated the motion again and again and again.
“More, Green.” She bounced her boot heels against his clenched ass. “Fuck me harder, faster.”
He strove to
obey her commands, to please his little human, conscious of his greater strength, not wishing to hurt her. Sweat trickled down his spine. He’d keep her safe, even from himself, cherish her the way she was meant to be cherished.
And he would come. Soon.
Green pistoned in and out of her, smacking his beleaguered balls against her skin. She lifted her hips, meeting him halfway, the power in her form impressing him. Although she was smaller, more delicate, she wasn’t weak, not in heart, not in spirit.
They rutted wildly on a surface of grass, under a sky sparkling with stars. The fire burning before them was surpassed by the heat between their bodies. Her skin shone, covered by a thin layer of perspiration. Brown curls framed her face. Her cries joined his grunts.
He plunged forward, lost in passion, in his Shelby. Her pussy constricted more and more around his shaft. Her arms and legs shook.
He wanted to feel her release around him. “Come for me.”
“Again?” Her eyes widened.
“Yes.”
She huffed her distress.
But she would do it. He’d give her no choice. Green drove into her and swiveled his hips, grinding against her clit. She shrieked and her pussy walls closed upon him.
“Frag,” he roared, pushing forward even more. Hot cum spurted from his cock, the spine-jarring hard pulses of release bringing an ecstasy he’d never known existed. His worlds spun. His ears buzzed. He poured everything he had into his female.
Shelby screamed louder, twisting under him, slapping his chest, fighting to be freed. Green pinned her hips to the ground, both his man and his machine demanding that he subdue her, make her his, never let her go.
“Mine.” He covered her lips with his, swallowing her cries, tasting her bliss.
Her shudders lessened, stopped, her body turning limp, lifeless. He nuzzled her neck, feeling her pulse slow.
“What was that?” Wonder lilted her words. “It wasn’t sex.”
“It was breeding.” He rolled onto his back, taking her with him, maintaining their connection. “A cyborg claiming his female.”
“For now.” She rested her cheek on his chest.
“Forever.” Eventually she’d accept that, accept their bond and a future with him. Green stroked her hair, reveling in her softness. He’d waited his lifespan to meet her. He could wait a few more planet rotations for her to express her love.
Chapter Four
Shelby watched Green. Her huge cyborg walked the unseeded field to the right, tapping boulders with the toe of his boots, his eyes blazing bright blue with thought.
It had been thirty planet rotations since he first landed on Earth Minor. The ship now hovering above them had left, returned, left, returned again, and he remained.
He talked of offspring, of the future, of forever, and she was beginning to believe those words. She no longer dwelled solely on the past, on this planet rotation. She found herself sometimes envisioning the next planet rotation and the next after that.
That should have scared her. Usually, when she made plans, something horrible happened, hurting the beings around her.
But that was before she met Green. Now, everything was different. She had hope.
“If you wish, I could ask Zip and Barrel’s assistance to remove the boulders.” He lumbered to her side. “We could expand the garden, grow more of those tubers we baked last sunset.”
“Potatoes.” She smiled. He enjoyed ancient Earth food, devouring it with enthusiasm.
“Potatoes.” Green wrapped one of his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. Heat radiated from his big body. He wore his flight suit. She’d donned one of her ancient Earth dresses, the skirt fluttering against his legs.
A butterfly floated by. They turned their heads in unison, tracking its flight. Shelby’s form folded into Green’s.
“Expanding the garden is a good idea,” she conceded, taking a chance on the future. She’d only planted enough crops for one being. Shelby placed her hand on her cyborg’s chest. And there were two of them now.
Perhaps they would have more beings to feed in the future. Green wanted offspring. She did also.
She envisioned little cyborgs with his black hair, gray skin, brilliant blue eyes. They’d follow their daddy around the fields, imitating his warrior swagger, his proud stance, his serious expression.
Her lips curled upward
The cyborg ship whizzed over their heads, heading for the Earth Minor landing site, and a sense of foreboding swept over Shelby.
Don’t overreact, she told herself. This could be a planned visit.
“Were you expecting Zip and Barrel this planet rotation?” She gazed up at Green, willing him to say yes, to tell her that his friends wanted to share the mid-planet-rotation meal or they had new insights on Windy’s origins.
This could be good news. Perhaps the males had found another one of Windy’s species. The plant would then be able to reproduce. They could fill a field with poppies.
“No, I wasn’t expecting our friends.” Green squashed her hopes.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Her trepidation increased. She dared to talk about the future and now those dreams would fall apart.
“We’ll see what they desire,” her cyborg grasped her hand and walked toward the site, shortening his stride to match hers.
Bees buzzed. Leaves rustled. Shelby couldn’t relax, fretting about the confrontation. This was the something bad she’d been waiting for. She squeezed Green’s fingers. She was certain about it.
Barrel and Zip waited by their ship. In the past, Green’s friends greeted them with smiles. Laughter glinted constantly in the good-natured males’ artificial eyes. This planet rotation, their lips were flat and their faces reflected that careful blankness cyborgs had perfected.
Shelby’s stomach twisted.
“Green, Green’s Shelby,” Barrel, the leader of the group, spoke first. “Vector contacted us.”
“He’s the captain of the Freedom,” Zip explained.
“Green has told me about him.” She nodded.
Vector, concerned about contagion, wouldn’t allow Windy on the Freedom or on the cyborg’s home planet. Green and his beloved plant had been forced to live on their small ship, orbiting in space. His friends had supported him, staying on the ship also.
“He requires our help.” Barrel met Green’s gaze. “The K models, the cyborgs manufactured to replace us, have escaped the Humanoid Alliance.”
“They’re young cyborgs.” Zip crossed his arms over his chest. “They confirmed that they removed their tracking devices but Vector worries that they might not have covered their trail. We’re closest to their current location. He wants us to meet with them, to ensure they’re not leading the humans straight to the Homeland.”
His friends needed him. Shelby nibbled on her bottom lip. He’d leave Earth Minor, leave her, realize he had missed the companionship of other cyborgs and never return. She’d be alone. Again. But this time, she’d be heartbroken.
“What are the odds that they’ll do that?” Green tilted his head to the side.
“I calculated that risk as being low.” Zip eased one of her fears. Green wouldn’t be in danger. “They might be young, but even young cyborgs know when they’re being followed. The guidance system on the ship they’ve commandeered would have informed them of any nearby ships.”
“Vector is being cautious.” Barrel’s lips twisted.
“As he is with Windy.” Green dipped his head. “Which sector are they in?”
They talked. Shelby pressed her lips together, swallowing the wild urge to ask Green to stay with her. He had to accompany his friends, help his kind. That was the type of honorable male he was. She understood that.
But she didn’t want to spend a planet rotation without him. His nanocybotics bubbled within her. He was a part of her now.
He was more important than her planet, than her mission, than maintaining the botanic history of ancient Earth.
He was even more important than
the safety of the past.
She had to leave with him. She straightened. She’d rejoin the hectic, noisy modern world, risking the unknown future, sacrificing everything she’d built to be with the male she loved.
“I’ll go prepare,” she broke into their conversation about energy sources.
“My Shelby.” Green reached out to grab her.
She twisted out of his grip, hiked up her skirt and ran to their domicile, passing her mother’s rosebushes. She’d take clippings with her, keep that legacy alive.
Green would want Windy to join them on the mission also. He never went anywhere without his much loved plant.
The poppy had been planted in one of the gardens, had spread her roots. She’d require a larger container.
And ash. That addition to the soil had caused Windy to flourish. Shelby would fill another container with the remnants of last sunset’s fire.
She rummaged through her newly organized storage chamber. Green had placed all of the open plant containers together. The containers that could be sealed were stored in another location. That made locating her hoarded objects easy.
She’d be leaving them behind when they left the planet. Would some other being find them, care for her domicile, her gardens? She grasped the needed containers and trudged outside. Would this being realize the significance of the plants, cater to their specific requirements, feel the emotional bond she did to them, to Earth Minor?
Her predecessor had recorded the plants’ needs. She’d tweaked his findings. Would the newcomer take the time to peruse their data?
If there was a newcomer. Green had been the first being she’d seen in eight solar cycles. By then, her plants would have either flourished or died.
She might be sacrificing their life spans for this one chance at happiness.
Shelby scooped the ashes into the container, ignoring the guilt gnawing at her insides. She loved her plants, her planet, but she loved Green more.
She chose him. She—
Her thoughts stuttered to a stop as the cyborg ship lifted off. Green was on that ship. She stared, stunned, as the vessel zoomed into the sky above her. He hadn’t asked her to join him, hadn’t said good-bye, hadn’t kissed her one last time.
