by Bianca D’Arc
By the time they’d finished their discussion, a timetable had been agreed upon between Roxy and the alien commander. Then the alien turned back to Chiron.
“Chiron. I am Clem Argoth. If our paths ever cross again, I hope it is under peaceful circumstances,” the alien surprised him by saying. “It looks like the human fleet has abandoned you. Find a place for you and your brethren. As long as you steer clear of the jit’suku, we likely will have no argument with you.”
“Thank you, Clem Argoth.” Chiron used the whole name, uncertain if Clem was the alien’s first or last name—or even if it was his title. “We will be gone from this system by the agreed-upon time.”
Chiron only hoped nothing happened in the interim that would prove him a liar.
*
Roxy worked through two shifts on the second drive. Chiron summoned refreshments for her every few hours and even had one of his colleagues bring a cot into engineering. While she fiddled with finicky parts, he took a few moments to set up a little sleeping area for her a short distance from the standard sanitary facility that was in each major ship compartment. Roxy would require rest at some point, and he calculated that she wouldn’t want to go far from her work to grab a little shut-eye.
Of course, if she did prefer a private sleeping chamber in the personnel quarters of the ship, that was also available. In fact, some of the women had organized themselves to make the ship more comfortable for everyone. They’d formed work parties to clean anything the service bots hadn’t already taken care of and had been cataloging the ship’s stores and whatever they’d been able to bring aboard at the last minute. One of the women had taken on the role of supply sergeant, keeping the inventory updated and dolling out supplies as needed.
Chiron hadn’t had a lot of exposure to civilian women since the injury that had turned him into a cyborg. This lot seemed a lot more industrious than he remembered non-military women being in the past. Maybe it was the situation. Or, maybe, he’d never really given civilians enough credit.
He’d come from a military family and had always known he’d go into the military too. It was the way it worked in his family. Young men and women alike became soldiers for at least part of their lives. Many made careers out of it, or died trying. He’d been a rising star in what was sometimes referred to as a fleet family. They’d all been in the space fleet in some capacity or another during their lives. So the women closest to him had always been competent professionals with the same kind of training he had. Purely civilian women were somewhat outside his previous experience.
They’d even liaised with one of the cyborgs tasked with creating charging ports for their cybernetic implants. Their organic bodies needed food, as they always had, but the specialized components that made them cyborgs needed charging, now and again, for optimal performance. When the female passengers realized that quiet Aristaeus had been given the task of building charging stations, one of the women stepped forward to help. She had electrical training and turned out to be a good assistant to the cyborg who had given up fighting when his memories had returned.
Aristaeus was a troubled man who was finding his way in his new reality. He had been a chaplain before his injury. A man of God, voluntarily risking himself on the front lines in order to minister to the fighting men who needed his help so badly. He’d been caught up in the fighting and had been turned into a cyborg, despite the fact that he would not have chosen this path for himself had he been given the option.
Chiron kept an eye on Aristaeus, as he did on all his brethren, monitoring them over the shared network. Many of them were troubled by their new circumstances, but most had chosen the life of the soldier and had accepted the risks. They had skills and knowledge to offer in this situation. Aristaeus was more counselor than warrior, though he’d been modified for warfare like all cyborgs. Still, his personality—now emerging once more—was at odds with his improved body. He was at war with himself, trying to reconcile what he’d been with what he had become.
The others were considerate of his circumstances and they had tried to give him tasks where he wouldn’t have to fight. Hence, his current assignment—an important task that needed to be done but would not result in Aristaeus having to hurt anyone.
“Is this for me?” Roxy’s voice came to him from over his shoulder, interrupting his thoughts about his brother cyborg.
Chiron turned to find her watching him, one hand on the small of her back as if it ached. She was looking around at the small room he’d made by using one of the ancient camping tents kept in emergency stores. He’d tried to dress it up a bit with some colorful bedding one of the men had found in a corner of the hold.
“If you prefer to sleep in the personnel section of the ship, there are quarters reserved for you there, but I thought perhaps you would want to remain near your work, so I set this up, just in case.”
“You’re an angel,” she told him, moving farther into the small space, bringing her delicious scent closer. She paused in front of him and reached up on tip-toe, placing a chaste kiss on his cheek. “Thank you. You guessed right. I can’t think straight anymore without a little sleep. I’ll just grab a quick nap, and then, I’ll be ready to tackle the last segment of the repair.”
She moved away, heading for the cot he’d set up for her with the soft fabrics in bright colors. She sat on the edge and sighed heavily, kicking off her shoes and sending them flying to the other side of the small space.
“Let me get just two or three hours of sleep, and then, I should be good to go.” She was already climbing under the covers as she spoke, her eyes half-closed.
“Is there anything I can do to continue the work while you rest?” Chiron asked, pretty well certain there wasn’t, but he had to offer.
“Monitor the power relay outputs. They should be all right, but if they spike higher than seventy-five percent, shut them down, and I’ll deal with it when I can see clearly again.” She yawned hugely and put her head on the pillow, shutting her eyes.
“I’ll do that. And I’ll have food waiting when you wake,” he promised her.
“Three hours. No more. Wake me up if my alarm fails to do the job, okay?” She was mumbling, already half-asleep, but he understood her words.
“Will do.” He bent to retrieve her shoes, placing them neatly by the side of her bed. Unable to help himself, he leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Sleep well, my Roxy.”
CHAPTER SIX
When Roxy woke, Chiron was there with food and hot coffee. Thick stew fortified her while the coffee helped clear the cobwebs.
“Thank you,” she told him as she handed the spoon and mug that had held the stew back to him. She was already on her feet, coffee cup in hand, heading back toward the area where she’d been working on the second drive.
Chiron had set up the food while she’d used the small washroom. She had come out, yawning widely and rubbing the residual sleep from her eyes. The food and coffee had done the rest, and although she was still tired, she knew she was thinking more clearly again and able to continue the sensitive repair work.
“Anything happen while I was out?” she asked conversationally as she went back to the engine she had been working on. She tilted the coffee cup up high, draining the last of it before she got to the work area. There were too many sensitive parts to chance having beverages anywhere near her workplace.
“The other women have been organizing things around the ship,” Chiron told her, in a somewhat bemused tone. “They are even helping to build charging stations for the cyborg crew. They’ve got the mess hall running, and one of the women is a chef, apparently. As for the jit’suku, they are keeping us in their sights, but they appear to be holding to their word about letting us go and have not been in contact since we spoke to Clem Argoth before you went to sleep.”
While he spoke, Roxy prepared her tools and started looking through the data from the past three hours. “That’s good,” she said. “And so are the readings from the number one drive. The repair is
holding, and the numbers are all solid.” She turned away from the data station and headed for the second drive unit, which was still in pieces. “Now that I’m thinking clearly again, let’s tackle this tricky section.” She looked up at Chiron, startled to see a look of concern on his ruggedly handsome face. “I could use your help, if you’re willing to hold some things in place while I use the joiner. I don’t have the repair cradle here, so this would be easier with another pair of hands.”
“Just tell me what to do,” Chiron replied, his expression brightening. “I’m glad to help.”
The next hour passed in a flurry of activity as Roxy put the disassembled drive components back together. She had taken everything apart to repair and replace the delicate inner pieces, but now, everything needed to be reassembled. If she’d been on the station, she would have had a cradle with manipulator arms that would hold everything in place for her. Here, she had to improvise.
Which meant she and Chiron were in close proximity while she joined the pieces he held for her. At times, there were only a few inches between them, and their bodies would brush close as they moved from one section to the next. It was almost like slow dancing, being close enough to smell his unique, masculine scent and feel the warmth of his body near hers.
The more they worked together, the harder she found it to ignore her responses to him. Her breathing was shallow and rapid as her senses filled with Chiron. He was just so…male. So big, and so attractive…and so close.
Was he feeling it, too?
She looked up as she passed him in the tight confines of the work area, and time stood still. They were facing each other, chest to chest—so close, she could feel the heat of his body. Her gaze met his, and something electric passed between them. She found herself rising up on her toes, and it felt only natural that his head should descend until…their lips met. His arms came around her waist, dragging her close so that there was no more space between them.
Their bodies pressed together, and their lips joined. Then, he took the kiss deeper. Hot, urgent, scintillating. Excitement filled her at the sheer force of his possession, which indicated to her an attraction as great as her own.
He wasn’t a practiced lover. If anything, he seemed a bit awkward, which was oddly endearing. The thought crossed her mind that he probably hadn’t had sex since before he was turned into a cyborg. If so, it had been a very long dry spell for him.
Of course, it had been a while for her, as well. She hadn’t been in a sexual relationship since the job before last, when she’d formed a casual liaison with the first officer. She’d thought he might be “the one”, but it became apparent after a few months that they didn’t have the same life goals. He’d been a lot of fun, but the relationship had ended with no hard feelings on either side. It just hadn’t been meant to be.
Never promiscuous, Roxy hadn’t found anyone else in the year or more since she’d left that job that she’d wanted to get that close to. Not until now. Until Chiron.
She’d been attracted to him on a physical level since before she’d known he was aware of his former life. They’d had chemistry, she thought, but she had assumed he was incapable of emotion. Now that she knew he was aware of his past and had recovered the emotions and memories of his former life, all bets were off. He might be part machine, but the man was in there…in charge once more.
And oh, how she wanted him to be in charge of her for a little while.
The kiss went on until she moved her arm and bumped into part of the drive assembly. The hard contact roused her to where they were and what they were supposed to be doing. They had to stop, but she couldn’t. She wanted to take this to the next level and see where it led. She wanted that desperately. She wanted him desperately.
They broke apart, both breathing heavily.
“There’s no time for this,” she whispered, holding his gaze and seeing what she believed was desire in the depths of his expression.
“There’s no way to stop it,” he replied, his tone just as hushed, just as fragile. “I…need…you, Rox. I need to be with you.”
“Oh, Chi…” She moved into his embrace, hugging him close.
The next thing she knew, her feet were off the ground, and her head was spinning. He was carrying her away from the drives and toward the little sleep area he’d set up for her. Thank goodness, the bed was big enough for two.
Chiron kissed her clothes from her body. There wasn’t really any other way to describe it. As he exposed another inch of skin, he placed a kiss there, lingering on the more interesting bits, which made her squirm in anticipation. By the time he had her naked, she was more than ready for anything he had in mind.
“This is going to be fast. I can’t help it. It’s been so long…” His words came to her through a fog of desire.
“Doesn’t matter,” she told him, her breathing ragged. “Take me now, Chiron. I don’t want to wait.”
She stretched out beneath him, spreading her legs in clear invitation. She tried to tell him with motions, because words were pretty well beyond her at the moment. Thankfully, he seemed to get the message. He positioned himself and came into her on a long, slow stroke that made a keening sound come from her chest. Damn, that felt good.
Strange, at first. New. Exciting. Familiar, too, but it had been a long time, and no one had ever filled her the way Chiron did.
“Oh, wow.”
She didn’t even know the words had come from her lips until Chiron chuckled. It was a deep, masculine sound she’d never quite heard from him before. She looked up, meeting his gaze and smiled back at him.
Then, there were no more words, only motion and passion and yearning. Chiron began to move, fast and hard, filling her, then retreating, over and over again. She tried to keep pace with him, but at some point, she could no longer contain the passion. She shot through the stars faster and hotter than the ship they were in.
Climax hit hard, and he rode her through it, only giving in at the very end to join her in ecstasy. He grunted and strained above her, his muscles bulging in a way that made her mouth water, even after the fulfillment she’d just achieved. He was a beautiful man, despite the changes that had been made to his physical body.
They didn’t repulse her. Far from it. Though it had made him into a different person, perhaps, than the man he’d been born, she liked the new man just fine. He’d come through adversity, and it had made him stronger. He wasn’t just a physical specimen, he had a big heart, too. Another man would have left all the women and children behind on Eagle Nest Station.
In fact, many other men had done just that. Not Chiron. Not his fellow cyborgs. No, these were men—Chiron, especially—who knew what it was to be dismissed. To be discounted. They would not do that to others.
Even the fact that they had respected the free will of those who steadfastly refused to take their chances with the cyborgs said something about them. About him. He’d had his free will all but obliterated by the cyborganization process. He had clawed it back, piece by piece. He wouldn’t take it from others, even if they were making the wrong choices.
She had to respect that.
And that’s what it came down to. She respected him. And she got the sense that he respected her right back. He’d given her the run of the engine room when many of the men she’d worked with in the past had kept second-guessing her, even when they didn’t know anything about engineering. Not Chiron. He trusted her to know what she was doing, and she valued that. She valued him.
Stroking his bulging biceps in the aftermath, she smiled at him. He’d rolled off her and positioned himself at her side, ever considerate since he weighed probably three or four times what she did. He’d been careful throughout their encounter not to crush her, she knew.
“That was…” She didn’t really have the right words to describe the incredible orgasm he’d just given her.
“Was it okay?” He turned his head to meet her gaze, worry clear in his eyes.
“Okay?” She chuckled. “Chi, th
at was so freaking, awesomely okay, I thought my eyes would permanently cross.” She reached over and kissed his jaw. “It was amazing.”
She saw the relief in his eyes a moment before she closed her own. Just a moment more, she would bask… Then, she had to get on with her work.
*
Maybe the incredible sex had helped steady her. Whatever the reason, the number two engine repair was sailing along much faster than it had before. Maybe it was the sleep that had helped most, but she preferred to think it was the sex. That Chiron knew how to treat a lady, and all her needy lady parts.
Even with the unscheduled recreation break, she was able to put the finishing touches on the repair just slightly ahead of the schedule they’d worked out with the jits. When they test fired the engine, it held, and they were able to bring it up to half power almost immediately. There was a slight setback when pressure in one of the components began to fall, but thankfully, it was a relatively easy adjustment, and they were able to put the second drive into service and greatly increase their power.
According to Chiron, Clem Argoth had left an escort, but as they sped up, the jits took no action, allowing them to put a lot more distance between the old Toby and the station, as agreed. Roxy kept asking Chiron for updates until he finally tapped into the bridge feed and put it on one of the screens in engineering for her to watch. That wasn’t quite standard procedure, but then again, nothing about this voyage was standard procedure.
As a result of Chiron’s hacking, Roxy was listening in when the woman on the nav board asked where they were heading. She had to plot some kind of course, but first, they had to have a destination in mind. They’d followed the final orders of the human vessels that had left them to die, either by enemy action or in an asteroid field. Thankfully, they were out of comm range, even if the women on board were willing to listen to anything those bastards had to say. Following any order they might give now was in serious doubt.
