Jumping Barrel (Cyborg Sizzle Book 7)
Page 5
“And you didn’t know I was destined to love you.”
Her cyborg continued to love her, despite her actions. She rested her cheek against his body armor, trying to wrap her brain around that wondrous revelation.
“I couldn’t fabricate a better female for me.” His voice rang with sincerity. “You’re perfect.” He paused. “Some of the offspring are…not.”
What? She glanced up at him. “You never mentioned that.”
“Defective cyborgs are decommissioned.” Barrel’s lips flattened. “Mentioning a malfunction would result in a warrior’s death.”
That warrior could have been him. He would have been killed if he hadn’t been perfect. She touched his chin. “Once, when I didn’t complete my assigned task, an Expert told me that I should be striving for perfection. If I had been a better child, my parents might have returned for me.”
She had worked hard after that, striving well into her rest cycles, not wasting a moment, accepting extra tasks.
But her parents never contacted her.
Barrel nuzzled into her palm. “I will never leave you.”
“And you’re now free of the Humanoid Alliance. No one will die if they’re not perfect.”
He looked doubtful. “If we acknowledge their defects--”
“If we acknowledge the children’s unique challenges.” She wouldn’t call them defects. “We can devise plans to compensate for them. We’ll protect them.” She’d learn how to fight. “No one will hurt them.”
Barrel straightened, his muscles flexing against her curves. “I’d kill to safeguard them.”
“I would also.”
His lips twitched. “You need more battle training, my warrior female.”
She needed more battle training because she would spend her lifespan loving a cyborg, one of the best warriors in the universe. “I do.” She smiled at him. “We’ll add that to our plan.”
That plan would be revised for the children’s challenges also.
“We’ll add that after I introduce you to the others.” Barrel skimmed his lips over hers, the kiss light and playful. “They’re waiting.”
Nola quivered, nervous, excited. “It takes many planet rotations for children to embrace a new Expert.”
“They’ll love you, my female.” He linked her fingers with his.
She hoped they liked her because her warrior loved them. Nola heard that in his voice. She walked with him through the ship, down the ramp.
A blast of warm humid air hit her face. The sun heated her shoulders.
Fierce cyborgs clad in black body armor stood at attention, their hands on their weapons.
A gray-skinned warrior hovered by a smiling brunette human female. The female wore an ancient Earth garment and had dirt smeared across her forehead.
An almost human-looking cyborg guarded a jaw-droppingly beautiful blonde human female. She had a baby in her arms.
They’d soon have a new attendee for their Academy.
Nola glanced at Barrel. He grinned back at her.
The kids were lined up, appearing tiny beside their cyborg caregivers. She counted fifteen Tau Cetian children, thirteen of other origins.
“Bare. Bare.” One little Tau Cetian girl broke formation and pelted full tilt toward them. Her feet were bare. Her flight suit was unfastened.
“What are you doing, warrior?” Barrel shook his head. “Your orders were to stand in line.”
“Bare.” She reached out with her chubby arms.
Barrel picked her up. “You require more training.”
The girl giggled.
He turned to Nola, the child in his arms, and she sucked back her surprise.
The girl’s eyes were the palest pink, almost white. Her forehead had a deep seam in the center.
He could train the child for her entire lifespan. She’d never have the ability to stand in line.
“Ka-Na, this is my female, Nola.” He patted the girl’s little belly. “Nola, this is Ka-Na.”
“Ka-Na.” Nola tickled the sole of the child’s right foot, causing her to kick and laugh. “That’s short for Makana, isn’t it?”
“Ka-Na. Ka-Na.” The girl chattered excitedly, waving her hands.
The girl recognized her name or, more precisely, her placement in Tau Cetian society. Nola felt pleased with herself. She must have pronounced that word correctly.
“Makana means gift.” Barrel looked at her and then back to the girl. “How did you know that was her full name?”
“Tau Cetians consider children like her to be a blessing from their deities.” Nola smiled at the girl. “She is a pure being who will never be tainted by the evils of this world, a reminder of what we should all strive to be—good and kind and giving.”
“Ka-Na.” The girl gripped a fistful of Nola’s hair.
Barrel gently extracted the tendrils from her grasp. “There was nothing in the Humanoid Alliance databases about that.”
“There wouldn’t be, would there?” Nola had uncovered that part of Tau Cetian culture while researching original documents. “The Humanoid Alliance doesn’t appreciate gifts like her.”
If they had found Ka-Na, they would have ended her life and considered it a kindness. In all of her solar cycles at the Academies, Nola had never seen a child with severe learning challenges.
“You appreciate her.” Barrel’s voice was soft.
“I do.” She relished the challenge of teaching the girl. And she found her open, innocent smile adorable.
“I love you.” His eyes glowed.
“I love you too.” There was no hiding her feelings.
He leaned toward her. She leaned toward him.
Ka-Na stuck her face between them. “Ka-Na.”
She gazed at Barrel and then Nola, her eyes wide with expectation.
They laughed. “We love you too, Ka-Na.”
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Other Books by Cynthia Sax
Cyborg Sizzle Series
Releasing Rage
Breathing Vapor
Being Green
Crash And Burn
Defying Death
Chasing Mayhem
About Cynthia Sax
USA Today bestselling author Cynthia Sax writes contemporary, SciFi and paranormal erotic romances. Her stories have been featured in Star Magazine, Real Time With Bill Maher, and numerous best of erotic romance top ten lists.
She lives in a world filled with magic and romance. Although her heroes may not always say, “I love you,” they will do anything for the women they adore. They live passionately. They play hard. They love the same women forever.
Cynthia has loved the same wonderful man forever. Her supportive hubby offers himself up to the joys and pains of research, while they travel the world together, meeting fascinating people and finding inspiration in exotic places such as Istanbul, Bali, and Chicago.
Sign up for her dirty-joke-filled release day newsletter and visit her on the web at www.CynthiaSax.com
Website: CynthiaSax.com
Newsletter: Taste of Cyn newsletter
Facebook: facebook.com/cynthia.sax
Twitter: @CynthiaSax
Blog: TasteOfCyn.com
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