by Cynthia Sax
Vapor’s nostrils flared. “You are merciless.”
She flinched.
With those three words, all of the joy dissipated from their challenge.
“Mira—”
“No.” She pushed at his chest, hurt that he continued to see her as the others did, as a female without honor, without kindness. “I allowed you to have me once because I felt sorry for you. You’re a cyborg, about to be deployed. You won’t get another opportunity to breed.” Those were lies, all lies. She wanted him to touch her, wanted him to care. “That once was enough.”
“Once isn’t enough, not for us.” Vapor lowered his lips to hers and kissed her hard, the intensity of his embrace driving her head against the sleeping support, waging war on her emotions. He ravished her mouth with his tongue, pulled on her bottom lip with his teeth, made the room spin and her resolve weaken.
“You want me because I’m the only female available.” She wished to be more, to be special to him.
“I want you because you’re mine.” He pulled back, thrust forward, pulled back, thrust forward, fucking her with a heart-pounding vigor, slamming the sleeping support against the wall.
Mira wrapped her legs around his hips and humped him as ferociously, pouring all of her frustration, all of her anger into their encounter. “I’m nothing to you. Only a hole to stick your cock into.”
Vapor growled, his face twisting with anger. “In this moment, you’re my entire universe, my beginning and my end.”
Those words promised much and said nothing. They were as meaningless as their fucking. “You hate me.” Their bodies smacked together, their rutting brutal and harsh.
“I hate wanting you.” He was unrelenting power, human muscle over indestructible machine, built for battle and lethal as a lover, demolishing her flimsy defenses.
Mira countered each thrust, squeezing his shaft with her inner walls, raking her fingernails over his shoulders. He fucked her harder, having a cyborg’s stamina. She wouldn’t win this contest of wills. Sweat trickled between her breasts. Her nipples hummed, abused by his chest. Desire spiraled skyward.
She nipped at his skin, savoring the taste of metal and male, and Vapor shuddered, a surge of energy coloring his irises with splashes of gold and green. He might not like her or trust her but he responded to her touch. He wanted her.
That was undeniable and it should have been enough for her. He would be deployed. A lasting relationship between them was impossible.
But it wasn’t enough, not nearly enough. Mira slapped his pecs, punishing him for the feelings he’d invoked in her. His love was as unattainable as her father’s. She’d never earn it and he’d eventually betray her.
Vapor grunted and drove forward, slamming her back into the sleeping support. She threw her body against his, challenging him, seeking to invoke his fury. Maybe then he’d purge the unreasonable expectations from her heart.
“Female.” His warning rolled down her spine, along her legs.
She wasn’t a replaceable female. She had a name. “Fuck you, cyborg.” She bit him.
Vapor howled and then there was no more thinking, no more wishing. He pounded into her, pushing the air from her lungs and the rebellion from her soul. His eyes were wild, his rhythm fast and furious and uneven.
All she could do was hold on. Her arms and legs shook. Her pussy closed around his shaft. She panted, fighting for each breath.
“You will come for me,” he issued another order.
“Never.”
“More lies.” Vapor bared his teeth. “Come.”
She quivered, his threat unspoken, thrilling her. “No.”
“Yes.” He surged into her, bent his head and bit her right breast, reasserting his claim on her.
Mira called his name, her spine bowing, the sharp pain shattering her. Pleasure radiated from her core, pieces of her flying outward. She squeezed him with everything she had, holding onto him, her one constant in a distrustful world.
Vapor roared and drove deeper, touching virgin flesh. Liquid heat bathed her pussy. His essence tingled inside her, setting off another wave of mind-numbing bliss.
She screamed and screamed until her voice grew hoarse, her throat aching. He pushed forward, filling as much of her with as much of him as possible. His cock pulsed, setting a tempo her entire body followed.
Then he collapsed, his form heavy, warm, comforting. She held him. His heart pounded against her breast. His breath caressed her skin.
Silence stretched. His nanocybotics spread to her fingers and toes, changing her, she suspected, forever. She’d never be the same.
“You came,” he mumbled. “And you responded to me.”
“So did you,” Mira countered. “You came and you responded to me.”
“My reaction to your touch was never disputed.” Vapor rolled onto his back, taking her with him. “Doubt everything else, my wary female.” He settled her on top of him. “But never question my desire for you.”
“Desire doesn’t last.” Neither did love.
“A cyborg’s desire does.”
* * *
They lay on the sleeping support, Vapor’s body folded around hers, and they talked. Mira shared some truths and some lies, the obvious untruths drawing a rumble of disapproval from her cyborg.
This magical moment of togetherness stretched. She didn’t know if the sun had risen or if it had set once more. She’d lost all sense of time.
She did know that she was in trouble. Her need for her cyborg hadn’t lessened and her fascination with him had increased. The more they spoke, the more she wanted to know about him.
“You scanned the entire Humanoid Alliance database?”
Vapor nodded, the wounds on his face fully healed.
She nibbled on her bottom lip. “Should I be worried?”
He met her gaze. “Why would the Designer’s daughter be worried?”
Because she was helping cyborgs escape, was sending Tau Cetians off planet, was guilty of countless other small rebellions. “There’s no reason. I was merely curious.”
His lips twisted. He realized she lied but he had no inkling of the truth. “You’ve been proposed as a mate for several high-ranking males but deemed unsuitable.”
That hurt. “Because of my looks?” She ran her hands over her excessive curves.
Vapor’s eyes glowed with admiration. “Because of your personality. The weak humanoids don’t know how to deal with a strong female.”
“You don’t either.”
“That’s another lie from your lips.” He turned his palms upward, reminding her of his previous threat—to redden her ass, and Mira’s pussy moistened. “Tell me more lies and I’ll show you how I’d handle you.”
He looked serious. She decided not to push him. “What do you know about Lydna Listmann?” She changed the subject.
Vapor paused. Was he debating what to tell her, censoring his response? Was no being completely honest?
“Your friend is much older than you,” he finally shared.
“She’s not my friend.” Mira hated her. “My mom thought she was hers.”
“Thought?”
He knew the rest of the story. It wouldn’t put him in any additional danger to say more. “She relayed information about my mom’s activities to the Humanoid Alliance.”
Vapor stared at her. “And she continues to live?”
Mira’s face heated. “It’s not that simple.”
“It is.” He curled his top lip. “She betrays you. She dies. Instead you kiss her cheek and smile and act as though she’s your friend.”
“Killing her would do nothing.” Except get herself killed. Then she couldn’t help others. Her life and her mom’s death would have served no purpose.
“Killing her would be more honorable than your lies.”
They had returned to this subject again—her lack of honor. “Not every being perceives honor as you do.”
“Humans have no honor. They—”
He stopped, tilted his head, his g
aze unfocused. There was a pause and then Vapor sprang into action, jumping off the sleeping support, pushing the machinery away from the door.
Thrasher stepped into the chamber.
Mira squeaked and grabbed the remnants of her fabric wrap. “I’m naked.”
Vapor glanced at her, his forehead furrowing. “He won’t touch you.” He didn’t appear at all concerned about his own nudity but he was a male and a cyborg. Cyborgs spent much of their lifespans naked.
“You smell like him.” Thrasher wrinkled his nose. “I don’t want to touch you.” He shook his head, dismissing that notion. “You’ll need these.” He tossed a black flight suit to Mira and another one to Vapor. “And these are for you.” He lobbed boots in her direction.
She caught them also. They were massive, double the size she normally wore.
And they were black. Mira hadn’t donned any color other than white since her mom died. Looking like the other Humanoid Alliance females had decreased the questions she had to answer, the lies she had to tell.
Her fabric wrap was bloodstained and torn. She had to wear the outfit. “Turn around.”
Thrasher exchanged a puzzled glance with Vapor. Her cyborg shrugged.
“Please,” Mira added. Thrasher sighed and did as she asked. She dressed quickly. The flight suit was as large as the boots, the fabric hanging from her shoulders. She rolled up the sleeves and pant legs. “Is the fighting over?”
“Yes.” Vapor’s friend faced her. “I increased my kill rate by thirty-two—twenty-one insurgents and eleven Humanoid Alliance would-be warriors.”
“You shot Humanoid Alliance warriors?” She gawked at him.
“They wouldn’t listen to reason and wanted to enter the tunnels.” His shoulders lifted and fell. “That would have put you in danger.”
Instead, he put himself in danger. “You won’t share that information with any other being.” She looked at both of them. “The battle’s over. I’m assuming the Humanoid Alliance was victorious?”
Thrasher nodded.
“Then my life is no longer at risk.” She stuffed her feet into the huge boots and fastened them. “I’ll do the talking. You’ll follow my orders.”
“You won’t put yourself in danger.” Vapor’s flight suit barely contained his fit form, the fabric stretching tight over his shoulders.
“I won’t put myself in unnecessary danger.” Some danger was necessary.
He grunted and filled his pockets with weapons. “In the future, I’ll be by your side whenever you leave the compound. You’ll go nowhere without me.”
“That’s not possible.” She rolled her eyes. Vapor couldn’t be her permanent guard. He was the Humanoid Alliance’s top warrior.
“You’re the Designer’s daughter. You’ll make it possible.” Her cyborg wasn’t backing down. He opened the door, gestured for Thrasher to lead the way.
He was an obstinate ass and would escape his keepers, risking reprimands or worse to protect her. She had to find a way to appoint him as her escort.
Mira followed Thrasher. Walking in the large, heavy boots was like striding in knee-deep water.
The tunnel was pitch black. Unable to see a thing, she slowed her pace, reached out her arms and grasped air. Oh fuck. She was lost.
“You’re a stubborn female.” Vapor swung her into his arms. She gasped and clasped his neck, holding onto him. “Your vision system is inadequate.” He rushed forward, moving at cyborg speed. “It requires an upgrade.”
“I’m human.” Had he forgotten that fact? “I can’t be upgraded.”
“It also isn’t possible for you to tell the truth.”
Mira lifted her chin. “You know why I lie.” He was the only being who did, the only being she’d told about her mom. “Would you rather I be honest with every being and face the consequences?”
“Not with every being. With me.”
She touched his face, his skin warm under her fingertips. “Why would I do that?”
“Because you want me to trust you and there’s no trust without honesty.”
She did want his trust. She was tired of being alone, misunderstood and hated. “I’ll try. It’ll be difficult for me. I’ve spent my entire lifespan hiding the truth.” Openness with another being was a scary prospect. “I might fail you too.”
As she’d failed her mom and others.
“When you fail, I’ll reprimand you.” Vapor squeezed her ass.
She might enjoy those reprimands. Mira gazed up at him, relieved that he didn’t expect instant total honesty. “I won’t relay any information that will put you in peril.”
“Talking to us now puts us in peril.” Thrasher’s voice originated somewhere in front of them. “Beings are above us.”
She listened, heard nothing. “Can they hear us?”
“A wise warrior doesn’t take unnecessary risks,” Vapor answered.
They traveled through the tunnels in silence. When they reached the opening to the building, Thrasher hauled himself up the rope some being had dropped downward, a dagger clenched between his teeth.
She looked upward into the light. “I can’t climb the rope.” It shamed her to admit that. Her arms didn’t have the strength to support her curves.
“I’ll carry you.” Vapor’s head bent toward hers. “But first, you should know,” he lowered his voice, murmuring the words into her right ear. “She’s waiting for us on ground level.”
She didn’t have to ask whom he was referring to. Lydna, her mom’s former friend, was alive. Mira’s brief respite from the deadly game she was playing was over.
“I understand.” She fixed a cold expression on her face.
Vapor gazed down at her and nodded. “I see that you do.” He straightened. “Move to my back.”
She obeyed him, straddling his waist, clinging to his shoulders.
“Don’t let go.” He curled his fingers around the rope and pulled them upward.
She didn’t plan to.
Chapter Nine
His female’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. Vapor watched Mira as she greeted her enemy. She kissed the air by Lydna’s cheeks, embracing without touching.
“You look ghastly.” There was a gleam of satisfaction in the older female’s eyes.
She was alive. Vapor pressed his lips together. Many beings weren’t. The chamber’s ceiling, floor, walls were coated with blood.
“No offense, Lydna, but this wasn’t one of your better parties.” To the outside observer, Mira appeared bored. Vapor, however, knew she wasn’t. He saw the faint signs of worry, the twitch of her fingers, the stiffness of her spine. “My garment, an original design, was destroyed. If the machine hadn’t brought me this.” She plucked at her flight suit. “I’d be naked.”
The machine, Thrasher grumbled.
That’s how many humans see us. How much of Mira’s act was the role others expected of her and how much was her true self? Vapor didn’t know.
“The machines were helpful during the incident.” Lydna’s gaze slid to Vapor and to Thrasher. “I was told that one of them threw its body on top of yours, protecting you.”
“It crushed me.” Mira’s bottom lip curled. “I was most displeased and will reprimand it later.”
Vapor looked at his female. She’d be the being reprimanded. He’d redden her ass until she couldn’t sit. She avoided his gaze, pointing her nose in the air, looking like the Humanoid Alliance elite she was.
“I’ll have to reprimand many of my human guards.” Lydna glanced at the males around her. “They were a disaster during the incident, leaving me exposed, not following my instructions. One of them had the gall to tell me to shut up.”
“No.” Mira touched her chest. “I hope you had him executed.”
Was this the same female who had cried because she thought she’d caused the bombing, who asked him to spare criminals sentenced to die?
“If he hadn’t been killed in the fighting, I would have.” A male died, likely protecting her, and the older fema
le showed no remorse.
“Cyborgs never talk back.” Mira patted Vapor’s stomach. Her mere touch shouldn’t arouse him. They’d had multiple breeding sessions. Yet it did. He struggled to control his inappropriate reaction. “They’re programmed to obey our orders.”
Lydna studied them. “You mentioned they were available for private purchase?”
“There’s a limited supply. The Humanoid Alliance wants most of them sent to the front lines or to a planet or wherever. I don’t pay attention to all of that boring stuff.” Mira waved her hands. “Now, with your eventful party, I suspect every female will want her own cyborg.”
Red crept up the other female’s neck. “It wasn’t only my party. The entire city was attacked.”
“Oh, how tedious.” Vapor’s human examined her fingernails. “Then my father will be overrun with requests.”
“But you’ll save two cyborgs for me, won’t you?” Lydna stepped closer to her. “Because we’re dear friends?”
“Hmmm…” Mira glanced at Vapor and Thrasher and then back at her enemy. “We would look stunning, the two of us, surrounded by four big males.”
“The other females would be envious.”
She nodded. “I’ll handpick two for you.”
She’s selling cyborgs, Thrasher’s words were weighted with disappointment. His friend was losing faith in Mira.
It appears that way. But appearances with Vapor’s female were almost always deceiving.
“I require cleaning.” Mira sniffed. “And this horrific garment has to be discarded before some being sees me in it. Black. Who wears that ghastly color?”
Warriors wore black. It allowed them to fade into the shadows.
“Your ship is waiting outside.” Lydna led the way, stepping daintily over debris.
Vapor scanned the surroundings. Armed males were positioned outside the structure. They were humanoid, appeared non-threatening. Thrasher, position yourself in front of my female.
Your female? His friend did as he requested, sliding between the two humans. She’s selling our brethren.
If she’s telling the truth, she’ll be the human chosen. And she will die. By my hand. No other.
There was a long pause.
Do you think she’s lying? Thrasher slowed, creating more of a gap between them and Lydna, protecting Mira from her enemy.