by Cynthia Sax
She felt his pain as though it were her own, and it destroyed her last feeble grip on reality. All she saw, knew, sensed, was Grudge. Her fear of the battle robots had been fully eclipsed by the very real possibility of losing the male she couldn’t live without, a being she couldn’t, wouldn’t lose.
A universe without him wasn’t one she wanted to live in.
She rushed forward, determined to save the lifespan of the warrior she loved, even if it meant she died. His safety was her sole thought, her only mission.
Grudge roared. The agony in that raw sound twisted her stomach. He landed on one of the battle robots, his bloody stumps of legs planting against their foe’s shoulders, and she winced. That must have been pure torment.
But her cyborg was a beast, was unstoppable. He jabbed his fingers into the battle robot’s nape.
That foe and all the units around it ceased moving, ceased shooting. Their eyes went dark again.
Grudge released a heavy sigh. He shuddered once, twice, and toppled backward.
Taelyn dove, sliding along the floor, seeking to buffer his fall. Her much larger, much heavier male landed on her back and she gasped, the impact pushing the air from her lungs.
Warmth spread over her. Her stomach twisted as she realized what that was.
“Don’t you fraggin’ bleed out on me, cyborg.” She rolled over, nudged him off her.
“Nanocybotics.” His jaw was clenched.
He was a mess. A puddle of blood was forming around him. Her male had no legs from the lower thighs down.
“Can you get to the ship using your arms alone?” She had to ask that harsh question. They remained in danger.
A human couldn’t drag himself that far, not with those injuries, but he was a cyborg. It might be possible for him.
“There’s no time for that.” He bracketed her face with his huge hands, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Another power fluctuation could happen at any time.” He kissed her. Hard. It felt like fraggin’ goodbye. “Leave me here. Take our offspring and fly to safety.”
The damn male would sacrifice his lifespan for theirs. She blinked back tears. And if she was a rational being, if she didn’t care so damn much, she would allow him to do that, would run with the kid, not look back.
But she couldn’t do that, not now, likely not since that first encounter with him.
She cared for the big pain in the ass more than anything.
“We’re a fraggin’ family, cyborg.” She kissed him back equally hard. “And I don’t leave beings I love behind.”
“You love me?” His eyes widened.
Oh shit. He would make a big deal about that.
The male paid attention to every damn thing she said.
“There’s no time for that fraggin’ discussion.” She retrieved his legs, holding one in her hand, the other in the crook of her elbow. “Take these.”
She slapped one and then the other against his chest.
He held them. “My female—”
“Kid.” She hollered at Jasny. “Get your ass over here.”
“Dad’s dying, isn’t he?” The girl emerged from her hiding place. “He’ll die, and then you’ll die, and I’ll be all alone and—”
“Neither of us are dying.” Taelyn stopped the kid’s meltdown. “But we have to get him to the ship.” She draped one of his arms over her shoulders. “Secure yourself to me, cyborg.”
He did as he was told, hooking his arm around her neck, clasping the bloody leg in his hand. “Leave me here, my female.”
“We’re not leaving you here.” She struggled to lift him. He was a heavy fragger. “Stop being a pain in the ass, Grudge, and help us.” They couldn’t do this with him fighting them. “Kid, take his other arm.”
Jasny positioned herself on the other side. “There’s a lot of blood.”
“He’s not dying.” She reassured the girl once again. “You didn’t die when you lost your arm. He’s not going to die because he lost his legs.”
They half carried, half dragged him forward, leaving a trail of red behind them. The agony must have been excruciating, yet her male said nothing, made no hurting sounds. His lips merely flattened.
“You truly are a badass.” Taelyn admitted that with a grunt. Her muscles ached as she bore the brunt of the effort, not wanting to strain the kid too much.
“All.” His tone was flat, almost machinelike.
“Yeah, we’re all badasses.” She guided them around the cursed battle robots. If she had the time, the energy, she’d kick them all in their mechanical heads. “And badass warriors don’t die, right, Jasny?”
The kid looked like she was going to puke. “Right. We’re badasses.” She breathed heavily. “Mom—”
“Name the parts of a gun.” She had to distract the girl, or she’d soon be carrying two beings, not one.
“But—”
“Name them.” Taelyn barked at her as they hefted Grudge toward safety. “Now.”
Jasny jutted her jaw. Some of the pigment returned to her face. “There’s the handle.” She finally complied, doing a shit job of reciting the parts.
The kid remained upright. Taelyn noted with satisfaction. That was the true purpose of the training.
She glanced at her cyborg.
His eyes were alarmingly dim, but he summoned up the strength to give her a weak grin.
Frag. She loved the damn male.
Taelyn hauled him through the docking bay.
She was beginning to fear the trek would never end when they finally arrived at the ship. The ramp was a challenge, but they managed it. They lugged Grudge through the freighter to the bridge.
Taelyn left him on the floor, rushed to the controls.
“Get the ship’s medic pack.” She told the kid as she started the engines.
“Cyborg.” Grudge’s voice was terrifyingly faint.
“That’s right.” Her hand trembled as she flew the freighter through the docking bay. “You’re a cyborg, and cyborgs don’t die from a mere flesh wound.”
“A flesh wound.” His laughter was a bit off-kilter.
He must be in severe pain, but he remained alive. She had to focus on that.
The freighter left the space station. There were no enemy ships waiting for them, no missiles tracking them.
She released a sigh of relief.
“What do I do?” Jasny had returned with the medic pack.
“Inject him with the pain inhibitors like I showed you how to do.” Taelyn would prefer to tend to her cyborg herself but the explosives on the space station would soon detonate. She couldn’t leave the captain’s chair until the ship was out of blast range. “Remember that training? You had accidentally stabbed me in the leg with the dagger I’d given you.”
The girl was a menace.
And she loved her.
“Don’t need pain inhibitors.” Grudge must have received them because his voice was slightly slurred.
Taelyn glanced over her shoulder. His eyes were partially closed. His severed legs were aligned with the rest of his form. The pool of blood around him had stopped expanding.
Some of her worry dissipated. Her male should survive this.
She would feel more confident about that if she knew more about cyborg healing.
“I’m contacting your friend.” She tapped the image on the control panel, not giving Grudge the opportunity to reply. He would likely fight that decision too.
“You’re missing some fun, C Model.” Rancor’s voice filled the bridge.
Grudge grunted.
“My C Model had too much fraggin’ fun this planet rotation.” Taelyn’s dry tone covered up her more fragile emotions. “Both his legs have been severed. We’re returning to Antares II to try to reattach them.”
“Fraggin’ hole. He did have some fun.” Grudge’s friend didn’t sound concerned. “We’ll meet you there. I’ll tell Patch to bring extra limbs.” There was a pause. “He’ll repair, Grudge’s female.” Rancor’s voice was soft. “Utiliz
e a suture gun on his fully functional leg if you can. That will assist his nanocybotics and speed up the process.”
“I’ll do that.” She nodded. “Thank you.”
The communications ended.
Her cyborg would repair. Her shoulders lowered. She had to trust him, trust his friend about that.
“I’ll get the suture gun.” The kid told her.
“It should be in the medic pack.” Taelyn looked behind her. There was no need to retrieve it.
The girl was already gone, disappearing into the back.
Her gaze shifted to her cyborg. Judging by his goofy grin, he was feeling no pain.
“You love me.” He tilted his head back to meet her gaze. “I’m your freak and your pain in your ass and I have no legs and you love me.”
“Yeah, I love you.” She doubted he’d remember this conversation in a planet rotation.
And if he did recall it, it changed nothing. As it was the truth.
She loved the big fool.
“I found it.” The kid returned. She held the suture gun in her hands.
Why it wasn’t in the medic pack, Taelyn didn’t want to know. “I didn’t realize it was lost.”
“Oh, it wasn’t…much.” Jasny pressed the trigger a couple times.
Sutures pinged against the floor, landing dangerously close to the kid’s booted feet.
“That’s not a plaything.” Taelyn stopped the ship. They had placed enough distance between them and the impending explosion. She enlarged the image of the space station on the main viewscreen and hastily left her seat. “Give it to me.” She snatched the suture gun from the kid’s hands. “We’ll need gauze and cleaning cloths. Those should be in the medic pack.”
“Those were in the medic pack.” The kid mumbled that enigmatic reply before vanishing once more.
Taelyn sighed. “She’s a menace.” She lowered to the floor beside her cyborg and set down the suture gun, needing a moment to firm her nerves before using it on him.
“You love her.” He grasped her hand and placed it on his cheek. His expression softened.
“I love her.” It seemed to be the planet rotation for big confessions. She splayed her fingers over her male’s skin. “When the battle robots targeted you, I thought…I thought…” She couldn’t complete that statement, couldn’t relay that she thought she’d lost him. Forever.
Her body shook. The intensity of those quakes rattled her teeth.
“I had that same processing.” Even half-baked on pain inhibitors, her cyborg understood her. “But my projections were wrong. Your projections were wrong.” He drew her onto what was left of his lap, wrapped his arms around her. “I’m alive.”
“I’m glad you’re alive.” She gave him a watery smile, unable to stop the tears from coursing down her cheeks. “I’m so very glad, Grudge.” Her voice grew husky.
“I’m glad I’m alive also.” He captured her lips with his, granting her the warmth, the sanctuary of his mouth.
She reveled in that contact, in the knowledge he was there, was with her. They had both survived the mission, would share more kisses like this one, would add more breeding variations to the database, enjoy more planet rotations together.
The tremors rolling over her eased. The passion inside her increased. Her pussy grew wet.
Her cyborg was as affected. The bulge in his body armor became more defined.
She wiggled against him. That part of him hadn’t been injured. They—
“Ugh. They’re kissing again.” The kid’s voice permeated their passion fog.
Grudge chuckled.
Taelyn shook her head. “You’ll have to get accustomed to the kissing, kid.” She turned until she faced her cyborg’s ravaged legs. “You’ll see a lot of that in the future.”
“She loves me.” Her male shared that information.
It was unnecessary and it was also incomplete.
She loved both of them.
The kid’s hands were empty. She’d returned without the gauze.
Taelyn suspected Jasny had used all of it on whatever project she had been working on. She blew out her breath. Rules would have to be set around medic pack use.
But first, she had to tend to Grudge’s injuries.
“Your leg has partially reattached.” She peered closer at his limb. The wound had already sealed. That skin was three shades paler than the rest of him. “It should only need a few sutures.” She grasped the suture gun. “But brace yourself. This will hurt.”
“Cyborg.” He smiled at her.
The male was hopped-up on pain inhibitors. He shouldn’t feel anything.
She pressed the muzzle of the suture gun against his leg, tapped the trigger. His muscles spasmed. She looked up at him. His foolish grin hadn’t altered.
That pushed her to continue. She carefully applied the bonding around his limb. “You should heal…repair faster.” She set the suture gun on the floor, inspected her work. “And—”
A bright light flashed. It originated from the main viewscreen, illuminated the entire bridge.
“It’s happening.” The kid plopped her scrawny ass on the floor beside them. She crossed her legs in front of her. “That’s the first bomb.”
Grudge pulled Taelyn back onto his lap. She leaned against him, holding on to the arm he’d strapped over her chest. He hooked his other arm around Jasny, expanding their little circle to include the kid.
They watched as bursts of orange and red and yellow flames spread over the space station. The plumes meshed and merged, becoming larger, more vivid.
There was a huge flare, and Taelyn’s breath hitched.
The structure exploded. Pieces of the space station flew outward from its center. The radius of debris expanded, expanded, expanded.
The ship rocked. Grudge’s grip on them tightened.
The possibility of damage was low, but it wasn’t zero. Taelyn waited.
No alarms sounded. Nothing had hit them.
She exhaled deeply.
“Take that, Humanoid Alliance.” The kid wasn’t aware of the danger. She whooped with the pure joy of victory, jumping to her booted feet.
The girl danced around the bridge, pumping the air with her fists, hooting and hollering.
Taelyn and Grudge joined her celebration, cheering from their place on the floor. They were alive and they had defeated their enemy.
The battle robots that had been on board that space station would never hurt another little girl.
Their joy bubbled out of them, filling the ship with happiness and jubilation and love.
“This is our first explosion as a family.” Taelyn beamed. It would be a date to be noted, to be commemorated in the future.
“It won’t be our last explosion.” Grudge cupped her jaw with his big palm and slowly, gently glided his cheek over hers. That leisurely slide of skin against skin sent shivers of delight down her spine and curled her boot-covered toes. “I love you, my female.”
He claimed her lips, bolstering their spiritual bond with physical connection. She parted to him, losing herself in her cyborg, in his caring, their passion.
“More kissing.” Jasny made a gagging noise.
Taelyn laughed.
The kid would have to become accustomed to more kissing.
Her lifespan would be filled with affection.
Chapter Seventeen
Ten planet rotations later, Grudge lay on the sleeping support in their private chambers on board the freighter. His nanocybotics had fully repaired his partially organic leg. His purely mechanical leg remained in two pieces. He could move around the ship, using a long gun as support.
But his mobility was severely restricted. Again.
That should have emotionally damaged him. He was once more at the mercy of others.
Except the others controlling his movements were his female and their offspring, two beings who loved him. They listened to his preferences, assisted him, didn’t try to restrict his activities in any way.
&nb
sp; Jasny was now sleeping in her own private chambers. The kid had flown their freighter…extremely slowly and extremely carefully…for a shift, and being an enhanced humanoid, that had exhausted her. She required rest, a replenishment of her energy supplies.
Taelyn had transferred control of the vessel to the guidance system, which Grudge could monitor from any location, and they had moved their antics behind closed doors.
Their plans didn’t require garments.
He was already completely naked and extremely aroused. One whiff of his female’s intoxicating scent had hardened his cock. He curled his fingers around his base.
His female was teasing him by shedding her garments leisurely. Her hand coverings and boots had been removed. She took her time peeling the leather of her chest covering away from her dark skin, revealing her glorious breasts, taut nipples, toned shoulders and arms.
His delicate little enhanced human was wearing her black-and-gold mechanical arm this planet rotation. Her shiny silver arm, the one matching his, had been damaged by the battle robots.
He had almost lost her. A shudder shook his shoulders as the footage from that mission replayed. If the enemy’s guns had aimed half an arm’s width to the side, she would have been sliced into two.
His nanocybotics couldn’t have repaired that wound. She would have died.
Needing to touch her, to ensure she was truly in front of him, alive and undamaged, he reached for the long gun beside the sleeping support.
“Touch that weapon, cyborg, and I’ll break it over your reinforced skull.” His female glowered at him. “I’m fraggin’ seducing you, and you will lie back and like it, damn it.”
Her feistiness turned him on. Tremendously.
“I love you.” He grinned at her.
“Of course you love me.” She rolled her big brown eyes. “I’m a badass.” She unfastened her leg coverings and wiggled. The leather slipped off her hips, dropped to the floor.
His respiratory system malfunctioned, his breath hitching. “You’re beautiful, my fragile little enhanced human.” He was awed she was his, that he had earned her caring.
“I plan to ride you until we’re both raw.” She placed one of her feet on the sleeping support. Her pretty pussy glistened with wetness, and the scent of her was so good she strained his processors. “You won’t be calling me fragile then.”
