“Josephine!”
His hand came to her head, trying to gently pull her away, but she was determined to give him this pleasure. To give herself this pleasure, she thought as she felt him shudder when she took more of him in her mouth. Her jaw ached, stretched wide by his size, but it was worth it to feel his body tense, his hips thrusting upward, to hear him call out her name as he came in long, shuddering pulses and she drank him down.
When he finally stilled, she gave him a last slow lick, then smiled up at him, knowing he could see her even in the dim light.
“Perhaps not quite the same,” she said. “But much better.”
Instead of responding verbally, he reversed their positions with shocking speed.
“My turn,” he growled, and she sighed happily, glad that he was no longer trapped in the past with his painful memories.
Chapter Eight
On the fifth day, the quiet once again woke Jo. The winds had dropped, she realized, and although a thick layer of dust covered the observation panels, she could see that the sky had lightened at last.
“I think it’s over,” she murmured.
“Yes,” Clint agreed, and raised up on one elbow to look down at her face. “What happens now?”
“I suspect I have a lot of cleaning to do,” she said lightly, despite the anxiety filling her heart. Would he feel compelled to leave now that the emergency was over? Sometime over the past week she had stopped worrying about being too dependent on him and realized that she wanted nothing more than to have him next to her.
“We have a lot of cleaning to do,” he corrected, and her heart skipped a beat. Did that mean he wasn’t leaving? “But first I need to make a circuit of my territory and ensure that no one is injured or needs assistance.”
“But you’ll be back?”
“Yes, my little love. And then we will talk.”
Before she could respond, he dropped his head and kissed her, and she abandoned her worries to the pleasure of his touch.
When she watched him ride off, her heart ached a little, but not because she feared he would not return. She simply missed him already. Still, there was work to be done and she couldn’t stand there mooning after him all day. Shaking her head, she went to start cleaning dust off the solar panels.
Later that afternoon, she was inside taking a break from the seemingly endless efforts to remove the accumulated dust. She heard the door to the airlock slide open and turned eagerly. But instead of the beloved face of her cyborg, Nicky stood there.
He looked terrible, his lean frame almost emaciated and his face gaunt, but he sauntered in as if he owned the place, removing his nose mask with a satisfied sigh.
“Nicky! What are you doing here?”
“Why did you have to choose a place so far away from town?” he complained, ignoring her question. “It took me forever to get out here.”
“I don’t understand. Why are you here?”
“To be with you, of course.” He tried to flash her his old charming grin, but she felt nothing. The blue eyes that had once seemed so beautiful to her now looked pale and lifeless compared to the memory of Clint’s ever-changing eyes. “Wasn’t that our plan?”
“Until you decided you’d rather work in the power plants.”
He shuddered but quickly tried to hide it, looking around the shelter instead. “I changed my mind. Gotta say you’ve done a great job, Josie Bear. I didn’t expect you to be doing so well already.” A squawk came from the greenhouse and his eyes brightened. “Is that a chicken? Why don’t you make me one of our eggs for breakfast?”
As he spoke, he dropped into Clint’s chair, the one he had made, looking for all the world like he expected her to wait on him.
“No, Nicky. They aren’t laying yet but even if they were, they aren’t your chickens and they wouldn’t be your eggs.”
“Don’t be so selfish, Jo. This was all my idea, remember?”
“Selfish?” She could only stare at him. “Do you have any idea how hard I’ve worked? I’m at this from sunup to sundown and with this dust storm, we—”
She stopped abruptly but it was too late.
“We?” Any pretense of good humor slipped away. “I should have known you would find some other gullible male to take care of you.”
“Some other male to take care of me? You never took care of me, Nicky. And I never expected that from you. All I expected was that you would keep your word and do your share.”
For a moment, an expression of guilt flashed across his face, but then it hardened, and he sneered at her. “No wonder you sent me off to the power plant. You probably already had another sucker lined up.”
“You were the one who chose to leave,” she said quietly.
“Yeah, well, you didn’t try very hard to stop me. Who’s the new guy, Jo? Who’s the fool who fell for those big brown eyes?”
“I am,” a deep voice growled.
She had been too appalled by Nicky’s complete disregard for the truth to notice the airlock door opening. Clint stood there, his eyes blazing red.
“A robot? You traded me in for a fucking robot? You little whore.”
Before the words finished emerging from Nicky’s mouth, Clint had his hand around his neck, lifting him easily off the floor as his fingers dug into the thin flesh. Nicky’s face began to turn blue.
“No, Clint, don’t. Don’t hurt him.” She tugged at his arm until her words finally seemed to penetrate. He dropped Nicky and stepped back, his face expressionless, but she knew him too well not to realize immediately that he had misunderstood the reason why she had stopped him.
Nicky picked himself up off the ground, the remnants of his usual swagger returning.
“See, robot? She chose me. Chose a real man.”
Clint’s fist clenched but he didn’t move.
“No, Nicky,” she said quickly. “I don’t choose you. I choose Clint. I will always choose Clint.”
“What?” He actually looked surprised. “But he’s a goddamn machine.”
“No, he isn’t. He’s a person—the best person I’ve ever met. And I love him.”
Clint’s eyes glowed red and he took a step towards her.
“I love you too, Josephine.”
“Love?” Nicky sneered. “You don’t know what the fuck love means.”
“Yes, I do.” Clint’s eyes never left hers. “She taught me.”
She smiled at him. “Maybe we taught each other.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. You two deserve each other.”
“Yes, we do. Leave, Nicky. And don’t come back. There is nothing for you here.”
For a moment he hesitated, and she thought he would argue with her, but then his shoulders sagged in defeat. “Can you at least give me a ride—”
“No,” Clint said immediately. “Leave.”
Nicky’s mouth opened, but then he looked at Clint and seemed to shrivel. Muttering curses under his breath, he shoved his mask back in place and disappeared through the airlock.
“Did you mean it?” Clint asked as soon as the doors closed.
“Of course, I did.” Her hand reached up to cup his cheek gently. “Did you?”
“From the moment I saw you. Although it took me some time to realize what I was feeling.”
He tugged her closer and she went gladly, but just as his mouth was about to descend over hers, there was a loud squeal from outside.
“What was that?”
He turned towards the door, his eyes changing color as he stared through the walls, then a broad grin spread across his face. “The worthless human just discovered that Big Red doesn’t appreciate having a strange rider.”
“Is Red okay?”
“He’s fine.” He shrugged. “The human not so much, but he’s walking away.”
“Good. Then we can concentrate on more important things. You really love me?”
“With everything I am.”
He removed his glasses and her heart soared with happiness at the love glowi
ng in his eyes. She nestled against him.
“I love you, too, Clint.” She grinned up at him. “Does that mean you’re going to stay with me from now on?”
His face sobered. “I don’t want to leave you, Josephine, but this is still my territory and I will still need to patrol as well as helping out here.”
“I understand.” She knew how deep that vein of loyalty and concern ran. “But you’ll come home to me?”
“Every night,” he promised.
And looking up into those beautiful crimson eyes, she knew that he would. He would never let her down. A deep sigh escaped as she buried her head against his chest. It had taken twenty-two years and two planets, but she had finally found a home.
Epilogue
Five years later
“Here it is! It’s official—this is our land.”
Josephine glowed as she waved the papers at him. They were purely symbolic, of course. What really mattered were the records in the Claims Office computers and he had hacked into those long ago to make sure that the claim was registered to her permanently. He had also purchased all of the surrounding claims in her name to make sure that they would be available when she was ready to expand, but he wasn’t about to ruin her excitement by telling her.
“I knew you could do it,” he said.
“That we could do it.” For a moment her smile dimmed. “Your name should be on here too.”
Amongst many other restrictions, Earth Government did not allow cyborgs to own property. Perhaps that would change in the future. Perhaps it wouldn’t. What mattered right now was returning the smile to his woman’s face.
“I suppose I’ll just have to make sure you never want to get rid of me,” he said, leaning down to nibble on the precise spot on her neck that always made her melt.
“Mmm, never.” She shivered, and her small nipples peaked, but her face was still serious when she turned to face him. “You know that, right? That it’s the two of us. That it will always be the two of us.”
“It doesn’t have to be just the two of us.” He put a hand on her stomach, watching her face carefully. They had discussed this several times over the years but even though he had seen the longing in her eyes, she had refused to consider a child until they had permanent ownership of the land, until she knew for sure that their child would always have a home.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Yes, my little love. Are you? You know our child will never be able to return to Earth.” The lower gravity of Mars meant that their child would never develop the physical strength to survive on their home planet.
“I don’t consider that a loss. Earth holds no special memories for me.”
“Or for me.” His sister would live on in his heart, not as a part of the dirty overcrowded planet that had stolen her life.
“Then yes, please. Yes, I want to have a child with you.”
With a triumphant roar, he carried her off to bed and proceeded to do his best to grant her request.
Later that morning, Jo slipped out of their bed—a bed in an actual bedroom rather than a sleeping alcove in the wall of a shelter—leaving Clint sleeping. Although he went to bed with her each evening and seemed quite content to spend the entire night holding her in his arms, she knew he rarely actually slept. Allowing his seed to become fertile must have exhausted him, she thought with a quiet giggle. She was surprised she wasn’t equally tired given his enthusiasm and his dedication to making sure she climaxed until she was limp with satisfaction. Instead, she felt surprisingly energetic.
She gave the big main room a satisfied glance as she passed through. Still sparse by Earth standards, every item in it was the result of their hard work and she loved the quiet, cozy space with the big window that looked out over their homestead and beyond. The valley was no longer completely free of habitation—more plots had been claimed on the far end and she found she didn’t mind the fact that they had company. She paused a moment to admire the landscape, now softened by multiple colors of lichen and even a few specially bred alpine plants, but she had another goal in mind. She walked down the long corridor past the greenhouse that provided their food, past the long shelter that housed their growing flock of chickens, until she ended up at the small stable that separated the main buildings from the goat habitat.
Red stood at the far end, also looking out over the valley. Clint would have told her that he was only using the sunlight to recharge his batteries, but she thought there was much more to the horse than he was willing to admit. She went and stood next to the big animal, running her fingers through his mane and telling him about her plans for the future.
“What are you doing, Josephine?”
Not five minutes had passed before she heard the deep voice behind her. She laughed as she looked over her shoulder. “I thought you were sleeping.”
“How can I sleep when my beautiful wife is not beside me?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you. I just came to tell Red.”
“Tell him what?”
“That this is our home now. Our permanent home.” She gave Red one last pat on his metal neck and walked over to her husband. Their marriage was not official, of course—another benefit denied to cyborgs—but the ties between them were every bit as binding as those approved by the government.
“Our home,” he echoed as he watched her walk towards him.
His eyes swirled and she knew he was running through his various types of vision. He had confessed to her that he found it comforting to be able to see her no matter what. His expression suddenly changed, and he dropped to his knees in front of her.
“Clint! What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” A broad smile split his face as he looked up at her. “You’re pregnant.”
“What? How can you possibly tell already? It’s been less than an hour.”
“I can see my nanites.” He placed a big hand across her womb. “They’re glowing.”
“Really?” Tears started streaming down her cheeks and she knelt in front of him. “We’re going to have a baby?”
“Yes.” His crimson eyes glowed with happiness. “I love you, Josephine.”
“I love you, too.”
And he cradled her and their child as they looked out over their valley, over their new home on Mars, the planet where their dreams had come true.
Author’s Note
Thank you so much for reading High Plains Cyborg! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! This series allows me to combine my love of cyborgs and Westerns and science fiction and, of course, Mars! I’ve been fascinated by Mars since I first read Edgar Rice Burroughs and his tales of Barsoom. Although I don’t have throats and bejeweled princesses, my version of Mars is also fictionalized. While many of the things I touch on in the story have a scientific basis, I have taken some liberties with what is possible, at least currently.
Whether you enjoyed the story or not, it would mean the world to me if you left an honest review on Amazon. Reviews are one of the best ways to reach other readers!
I have the best readers and I appreciate you all so much! I also have to give a special thank you to Janet S. for a fast and thoughtful beta read.
So what’s next on Mars? As you might imagine, M-231 is ready for a woman of his own!
In The Good, the Bad, and the Cyborg, a desperate widow needs a helping hand… and a cybernetic one might be just be perfect for the job!
Available for pre-order now on Amazon.com!
And if you’d like to keep up with all the latest developments on Mars, or any of my other series, please sign up for my newsletter!
Other Titles
The Alien Invasion Series
Alien Selection
Alien Conquest
Alien Prisoner
Alien Breeder
Alien Alliance
Alien Hope
Cosmic Fairy Tales
Jackie and the Giant
The Treasured by the Alien Ser
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Mama and the Alien Warrior
A Son for the Alien Warrior
The Alien Abduction Series
Anna and the Alien
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Cam and the Conqueror
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High Plains Cyborg Page 6