Sense of Romance
High-level romance for romance lovers!
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Fierce Cyborg
Bound by Her - Book 4
Copyright © Nellie C. Lind 2019
Cover and layout: Nellie C. Lind
Editing: Chrissy Szarek
Publisher: Sense of Romance
First edition
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This book may not be reproduced or shared in any way without the author’s written permission. The book is a work of fiction. Characters, names, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination.
BOOK DESCRIPTION
ONLY DEATH CAN STOP HIM FROM TRYING
Can’t find Mr. Right? Why not create him? MedAct is the company that can make all your dreams come true! Just give them a call and let them create the perfect man for you. But remember, you can never give him up. It will kill him, literally.
Jade Silva, the CEO of MedAct, the medical and scientific company that creates cyborgs, knows something fishy is going on behind her back. She doesn’t know what, but she suspects one of her own doctors is involved.
Confronting the doctor might not be one of her brightest ideas, but she does it anyway, only to end up in the hands of the Fighters—the dangerous and damaged cyborgs who survived the deaths of their bound ones. Not only that, they want her to save Nightmare’s life, their leader, but also her enemy … and the love of her life.
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PREFACE
Fifty years ago, the scientific and medical company, MedAct created the first male cyborgs. Their creator was the founder of MedAct, Carolyn Williams, and it gave every woman out there the opportunity to create the perfect man.
From the moment the cyborgs opened their eyes and became aware of the world, they were in love with the woman who’d designed them.
Society was told cyborgs couldn’t exist without the bond to a human woman, and the cyborgs who survived the death of their bound one went crazy, or became dangerous. The only way to help them was to find a new bound one.
It was all a lie.
Celise Campbell, a MedAct doctor, learned it the hard way when her cyborg Wind almost died when his bond was being transferred to her from his previous bound one.
The bond was nothing more but poison, programmed to be released into the cyborg’s system the moment their bound one died.
Sometimes, the poison failed to kill the cyborgs, and those survivors knew the truth.
They became the Fighters, led by the first cyborg ever created; Nightmare.
Their goal; destroy the bond and set the cyborgs free.
The answer seems to lie in the secret female cyborg program.
CHAPTER 1
FORTY-TWO YEARS AGO
“You’ve been a bad boy, Zero. Do you really think you can get away with this?”
“Shut up,” Zero hissed and pressed the gun harder against her temple. He squeezed his arm tighter around her chest.
It made her groan, but he tried not to care.
He was so close to freedom.
Several cars blocked both exits from the bridge. Their bright headlights illuminated the dark night, and the heavy rain slapped him in the face.
His long hair was glued to his cheeks and forehead, and every muscle ached from all the running.
Zero’s shirt was drenched, and his bare feet, weren’t used to the concrete. They were filled with blisters and wounds, making it agonizing to stand, but he forced himself to remain on his feet.
Despite him being more tolerant of the cold than humans, his body was shaking. It’d been hours since he’d been inside a warm and dry place.
At least fifteen guns were pointed at him by the men and women in black suits, but they kept their distance. They knew how strong he was. After all, he was created to be stronger than humans.
“Let me go.” She wiggled to get free.
“Don’t even try it, Carolyn. If I’m going to die today, I’m taking you with me.”
“Oh, really?” She laughed, but the laughter was filled with ice. “Do you really believe you can kill me? Me, whom your heart loves so much?”
His grip on the gun tightened. It was true. He loved her, but not by choice. Some time ago, she’d done something to him, installed something within him. She called it “the bond,” and it had made him fall in love with her, to such extent that he would die without her now.
Everything inside him protested against what he was doing.
Everything inside him told him to let go of the gun and give in, but he’d listened to those feelings before, only to end up badly beaten.
Never again.
Never again would he allow feelings to rule him.
No matter how much Zero wanted to cry out his desperation and need for the woman in his arms, he wouldn’t give in.
He was her creation, but that was where it ended.
Carolyn would never have control over him again.
He’d find a way out as soon as his freedom was in his grasp.
Her fingers gently caressed his hands.
Zero cursed. “Stop that.”
“Doesn’t it feel good? Don’t you want my touch?”
Oh, he did, but the humiliation that followed; he could live without. He’d lost count on how many times he’d shared her bed because of the bond. It gave him no other choice but to want her, no matter how everything else inside him screamed. “I won’t let you destroy me the way you destroyed my brothers.”
“They were weak, worthless, but you …” She caressed him again. “You’re my perfect creation.”
He snorted. “You don’t give a shit about me. You only use the bond to control me and to fulfill your sick sexual fantasies.”
Carolyn turned her head toward him and grinned. “And you liked every minute of it.”
Rage filled every part of him. He wanted to fire the gun, blow her brains out, and watch the bitch take her last breath. It would be a satisfying moment, but the bond stopped him.
The love for her sang inside his chest and almost made him embrace her instead. Having her body pressed against his was pure bliss, a sweet candy Zero never wanted to stop tasting, but he resisted the impulse. “Do you really want to find out how deep my hate for you goes?”
She tensed and her lips flattened to a thin line.
Good.
That meant she wasn’t completely sure about the bond being the stronger emotion.
He could control her with that fear.
“Do it. Kill me”, she hissed. “You’ll be dead within seconds.”
“I’m not afraid of death. I welcome it. Anything to get away from you.”
The humans in black suits started to advance. Their guns still pointed straight at him.
Not good.
They wouldn’t hurt Carolyn, but he was done for, no matter what he did. Giving in now was not the answer though.
He couldn’t allow his brothers’ sacrifices to be in vain.
He had to escape, because the world needed to know what was going on, but this might be the end of his road after all.
Zero frantically scanned the large bridge.
Surrounded.
He’d be dead soon, only a number in Carolyn’s statistics, and she’d just start over, create others like him, and they’d be oblivious to what’d happened before them.
That filled him with sadness.
“There’s no way to run, Zero. Give up.”
Zero glared at the humans and slowly backed against the railing. He didn’t want to die. There had to be a solution.
The waves splashing against the foundation of the bridge caug
ht his attention.
“Let me go, and I’ll let you live,” Carolyn said.
He snorted. “Do you take me for a fool? You’ll only put me back in my chains and continue your painful experiments, and once you’re done with that, you’ll visit me at night to fuck me. All I am to you is a toy.”
“Yes, my dear Zero,” she chuckled, her voice filled with disgusting sweetness. “You are nothing more but a toy.”
His anger rose to new levels. It exploded in his chest like a mad fire, and somehow, overpowered the bond, giving him that slim window where he could do whatever he wanted to her.
Zero squeezed Carolyn’s arm hard, making her squeal and fight him, but she was weak compared to him, and right now, he didn’t give a shit if he broke a bone or two.
He leaned closer to her ear. “My name’s not Zero. It’s Nightmare.” He pushed her, and she hit the pavement with a groan.
Without giving Carolyn a second look, he jumped over the railing as bullets swished by him.
The dark and deep water hit his body hard, numbing him for a split second, but freedom was within his grasp, and Nightmare was going to take it.
CHAPTER 2
TODAY
Jade Silva, the CEO of MedAct, sat at her desk, staring at the computer screen, where the image of a rotating cyborg showed.
He was attractive with big green eyes, a gentle smile, and a fit body. He was another woman’s dream, everything she’d ever longed for, but Jade’s mind was too split to focus on that dream.
She pushed a hand through her thick hair, as frustration grabbed her. Focusing on filling in the cyborg’s details was almost impossible. Her fingers lingered over the keyboard, but no words came.
Jade sighed and stood. She needed a break. She approached the huge window. It was a beautiful and clear morning outside.
People hurried in different directions among the tall buildings and skyscrapers, but they all looked like dots from where she stood on the eighteenth floor.
Jade loved her job, but for a split second, she wished she could switch places with one of them.
Just for one second.
There was a knock on the door.
“Enter,” Jade said without moving away from the window.
“You wanted to see me?” a woman asked as she entered.
She didn’t need to turn around to know the voice belonged to Janice Walker, a MedAct doctor, and Soul’s bound one. “Has Soul returned from the infirmary yet?”
“Yes, a few hours ago.”
Jade finally whirled and glared at Janice. Her frustration spiked.
The blonde woman didn’t flinch. Instead, her brown gaze was strong, almost challenging, but she didn’t move.
Janice was anything but sweet and cute. She towered over Jade with her six feet, fit frame, and slightly masculine features. Her strong jawline was tense, and her thick eyebrows were furrowed.
“Then why don’t I see him in here?” Jade asked. “It’s been days since he and the others returned from the warehouse, and I need to know what happened.”
“Soul got wounded during the fight.”
“He should be fine by now.”
Janice opened her mouth to answer, but closed it again, maybe changing her mind about what she was going to say. After all, the doctor knew there was no point in arguing. “I’ll tell him to come here.”
“Good.”
Jade faced the window again and watched the flying cars swish by as her colleague left the room.
She’d barely gotten any sleep these last few nights, but she was used to being tired. It came with the job.
This time, four cyborg soldiers had occupied her thoughts and kept her awake.
Soul and three other cyborg soldiers had been sent to the warehouse where MedAct stored medical and technical equipment to stop Nightmare and his gang from stealing things.
She’d expected Soul to finish the mission the usual way, by informing her how it’d gone, but instead, she’d been greeted with silence despite their return.
Learning later he’d been wounded had filled her with worry, but cyborg soldiers were strong. A lot stronger than regular cyborgs. They’d been created for combat.
They were the perfect warriors.
MedAct had been Jade’s life for many years. Cyborgs had fascinated her even longer. As a child, she used to watch them on the streets, amazed by how humanlike they were.
Even then she’d wanted to dedicate her life to them. Now, as MedAct’s CEO, she was responsible for everything that could go wrong, and lately, things were moving in that direction.
The Fighters were up to something new.
It wasn’t a coincidence that her laptop had malfunctioned in the presence of two previous Fighters when she’d visited Faye and Silver to sign the contract between them. Someone had, without a doubt, hacked it and gotten their hands on the codes to the warehouse, despite her strong defense programs.
Hunter had been there, but he’d erased all information about the Fighters some time ago. Therefore, it couldn’t have been him.
Silver was the most likely source. It was difficult to be one hundred percent sure, but if he was the culprit, it was a mystery how he’d done it. Her defense systems against hacking and viruses should be bulletproof.
The door opened again.
“You called,” a deep male voice said.
Jade looked straight into the eyes of an exhausted Soul. She studied him in silence. There was something new in his shining eyes, something she’d never seen before.
Anger.
She flinched. This usually calm giant actually radiated a pinch of anger. That was surprising, but it didn’t matter. She approached him. “Report.”
The cyborg soldier pressed his lips together and remained silent for too long. “As we suspected, they got their hands on the codes and broke into the warehouse. They got away with one tank and other smaller things. We caught some Fighters but …” His clenched fists turned white. “Nightmare got shot.”
Jade gasped and her breath got stuck in her throat. Her heart almost stopped from hearing those three words. “What?”
“The cyborg soldier who did it has been removed from duty and punished according to the law.”
“Who did it?” Her voice was cold, but chaos ruled within her.
“Cloud.”
Every cell in her body wanted to explode in pure rage. How many times had she told the cyborg soldiers that Nightmare was not to be harmed?
She’d lost count by now, and yet, Cloud had shot him, but yelling at Soul wouldn’t change a thing.
Punishing Cloud according to the law meant he wasn’t allowed to carry a gun and participate in confrontations with the Fighters for one year.
That didn’t sound painful, but to a cyborg soldier, it was painful. They’d been created to keep the cyborgs and the Fighters in check, and not being allowed to do what they were designed for was difficult for them to handle.
Either way, she’d have a long talk with Cloud, as soon as possible, to try to understand what’d gone through his mind. Worst-case-scenario, he’d never work for MedAct again, and would be sent to XenthAid, the place where all cyborgs who were unable to function in society went.
Nightmare.
He was hurt somewhere out there, and that didn’t ease the ache. “Where was he shot?”
“The head.”
Pain shot through her chest and all professionalism went out through the window. “The head? What the heck was Cloud thinking? Were you able to see what condition he was in?”
“No, but Cloud said it looked bad. Nightmare was unconscious when they carried him to the van.”
A long chant of curses fell from Jade’s mouth. “Unbelievable.” She pulled a hand through her hair, pacing the room.
Soul’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you care so much about him?”
She shot him a glare. “I care about all cyborgs. I want all of you to be well, even the Fighters. Besides, he’s the first cyborg ever created.”
/> Even if she was trying to help, she and Nightmare had been at each other’s throats ever since she’d become MedAct’s CEO, about fifteen years ago, and after Alexander Fleming’s—the previous CEO—disappearance.
Despite Jade’s efforts, Nightmare still wanted her dead, but she wanted him to live and be happy.
He’d find that happiness if he decided to bind himself to a woman again.
She’d told him so many times, but he didn’t see it like that. Binding himself again was a death sentence to him.
Jade couldn’t for the world understand why.
She, and everyone working at MedAct, knew so little about the Fighters. Trying to understand how they thought and functioned had been a long and difficult road, because the Fighters refused to co-operate. In their eyes, MedAct was the enemy.
All she and the other doctors knew was that there was something wrong with their bonds. The theory was that the Fighters survived their bound one’s death because a small part of the bond remained intact. That small part kept them alive, but also made them unpredictable and dangerous, because the bond kept screaming for a new bound one—a new woman to belong to.
There was so much unknown, but at least one thing had been confirmed, thanks to the former Fighters, Silver and Hunter.
A simple kiss could initiate the bonding process.
No wonder the Fighters stayed away from women.
Soul watched her with worried eyes. The massive blond cyborg soldier didn’t seem to know what to think about her outburst.
She rarely exploded, but this time, it’d been impossible to hold the anger in. She’d been on edge ever since she’d discovered her laptop had been hacked. Jade cleared her throat. “Was Celise there?”
He didn’t answer at first, but his eyes twitched.
Jade frowned. Why was he hesitating?
“No,” he answered after a while.
“Faye and Silver?”
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