Cyborg Seduction: A Science Fiction Cyborg Romance (Burning Metal Book 3)

by Lisa Lace

  Now that she had succeeded in getting her desires met, Rachel wondered what the cyborgs had been eating for a year. Cyborg Sector fed their inhabitants a liquid diet through a set of tubes connected directly to their bodies. The nutrient fluid had everything the cyborgs needed to keep them healthy. She had studied the cyborg diet for a story on her local news channel several years ago. When the soldiers went into the field, they carried dense rations that were high in calories and protein. A scientist she had interviewed over the phone told her the rations were completely tasteless to humans and the texture was unpalatable. Apparently, the cyborgs never complained.

  When Wrath returned, he wasn’t carrying any rations. He held a chunk of meat in his hand. It was cylindrical, pale, and glistening. The meat had the imprint of tiny bones pressed into the flesh, and a few grains of sand stuck to it.

  Rachel stared at it uncertainly. The churning in her belly could have been either hunger or nausea. The 'food' he presented her with was less appealing than the old, overpriced fare at the airport. “What is it?” she meekly asked as she held out her hand.

  “It’s our breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Rattlesnake.” He slapped the meat into her palm without ceremony.

  The reporter couldn’t take her eyes off the substance in her hand. Was this a trick? Was she supposed to eat it, or were the cyborgs playing a joke on her? Were cyborgs capable of joking? She had no doubt that they would be pleased to make her uncomfortable. On the other hand, Wrath had wanted to keep her alive so far. Rachel had never been a particularly picky eater, but she did prefer her cuisine to have preparation.

  “Can we cook it first?” Cyborg Sector already knew their location. It was getting late in the day, judging by the shadows at the entrance to the cave, but they wouldn’t be giving anything away by lighting a small fire.

  “Why would we do that?” His scowl deepened as he spoke.

  Rachel glanced up at him, then back down at the food with an impatient motion of her free hand. “For one thing, it would remove any germs.” For the first time in her life, she wondered if snakes could have parasites.

  “We irradiated it.” The cyborg touched an area of his skull behind his ear, indicating that blasting food with nuclear radiation was a function built into the cyborgs. “There are no germs.”

  “But it will taste better.” She groped for an explanation. “Cooking it will change the texture.”

  Wrath glared at her again. “Eat it or don’t, that’s up to you. What you see is what we have.”

  Rachel took a small bite of the rubbery meat. It tasted disgusting, but it was edible. She couldn’t understand how people could order snake in fancy restaurants. The cyborg nodded his head, looking satisfied.

  “Will you sit with me?” She was feeling bold. She hadn’t intended to invite Wrath to eat with her. It seemed out of place, especially when the cyborgs knew enemies were right outside the door. Rachel couldn’t help acknowledging the intense feelings she still had for Robert. They had been locked away inside her heart for years. She knew he was a cyborg now, but that wasn’t how she saw him.

  “Why would I do that?”

  Rachel quickly ran through a list of potential answers in her head. She couldn’t tell him that it was because she missed him. She imagined that if they sat down and ate together, it would remind him of the awful burgers they used to buy from the local gas station on their lunch breaks at school, but she didn’t want to say so. And she couldn’t explain that eating together was a thing that humans did.

  “I want to cooperate with you,” she finally said. “I’m happy to tell you anything I know. It might not be as much as Clayton since I’m only aware of declassified information released to the media. But I want to live, and I want to make things as easy as possible for you.”

  The cyborg eyed her warily, turning his head slightly to the side like it would give him a different perspective. It was a human response, but he wouldn’t want to hear that.

  “I’m exhausted and I want to speak with you face-to-face. Sit with me, and I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

  Wrath dismissed Weapon with a nod of his head. The scarred warrior strode across the cave and stood on the other side of Clayton. The consultant seemed to shrivel back against the rocks. His right eye was practically swollen shut, but he still managed to shoot a dirty look at Rachel from across the room.

  She ignored him, focusing instead on Wrath as he squatted down on the sandy ground next to her. Wrath rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. He watched every one of Rachel’s movements as she nibbled rattlesnake meat out of her palm.

  “I won’t sit,” he said stubbornly. “I have to be ready to defend myself. But I will listen to you.”

  The reporter glanced at the other soldiers to see if they were paying attention to her. They were acting as though they couldn’t hear the conversation, probably out of respect. There could be no privacy in an open cave like this. She decided to tell the truth. “I’m sorry if I upset you with all my talk about being human.”

  It had distressed her to see Wrath so confused and angry over the truth. She had no way of knowing if the pain he experienced was because of something she had said to him or a result of his memories. Either way, she felt responsible. “I don’t know what else might convince you, but I promise you that I’m not trying to fool you.”

  The cyborg didn’t say anything, but Rachel could see the emotion in his expression. Most of the cyborgs held a grim, neutral look on their faces. Wrath slightly pursed his lips, and his eyes burned into her. He looked concerned, which seemed more appropriate for a human than a cyborg.

  “I won’t say another word about it if that’s what you want, but I wish you could understand that I’m not a spy. I’m not here to harm you, or gather information on you, or convince you to go back to Cyborg Sector.” In the back of her mind, Rachel believed it would be the best thing for everyone if the cyborgs returned peacefully, but she would have to argue the point later. “What can I do to get you to trust me?”

  “As I told your colleague, I have no reason to believe either of you. All you’ve done is try to confuse me.” His voice was naturally deep and rumbling, and Rachel could feel the vibration in her body when he spoke in low tones. “I doubt you have any information I would find valuable.”

  Rachel nodded and took another bite of the meat. If she ever made it out of here alive, she would never look at rattlesnakes again. “It’s possible, but isn’t it worth a try? Ask me something.”

  He considered her a moment, tilting his head and squinting at her. “What do you think they’re going to do to us at Cyborg Sector?”

  Rachel nearly choked on a piece of the rubbery meat as it almost slid down her throat before she was ready to swallow. Coughing and sputtering, she finally recovered enough to answer. “All I know is the same things they’ve told you. They want to get you back into the lab so they can rehabilitate you and let you live out a civilian life. I know that’s probably a frightening idea if you’ve only known the life of a soldier.” She knew there was more to him than fighting but didn’t want to get into another argument. “But going through rehabilitation doesn’t mean you have to sit around on your ass all day. Maybe they can find you a different position in the military. My point is that they don’t intend to harm you.”

  “That doesn’t help me at all,” Wrath growled. “If I refuse to go with them, I will die. If I willingly go with them, it is like death for me. They will turn me into a human, and I would rather perish in a blaze of glory than turn into a soft lump of flesh controlled by Cyborg Sector.”

  Rachel felt a burning sensation at the back of her eyes. There was no way to reason with an irrational cyborg. “I wish you could see that going with them is your best choice. Why would you throw your life away? They want to help you.”

  The cyborg shook his head. “No, they don’t. You just think they do. I considered it for a moment. Perhaps my men would be better off if they didn’t have to fight for their s
urvival. But one thing is consistent with humans: you are notoriously unreliable. You want me to trust you but don’t explain why I should.”

  Blazing hot tears swelled in Rachel’s lower eyelids. This man whom she had cared for so much was going to keep running. He would never have a chance to live a normal life again, and she wasn’t sure why. Something must have happened to him after he joined the military and donated his body to Cyborg Sector. She wanted to ask him if he remembered any of that. Did he know how he had been injured or even killed? But speaking about his death seemed like even more treacherous ground than his childhood. More importantly, if she pressed Wrath and hurt him emotionally, he would never understand that she wanted to be his ally.

  “Please, I’m not your enemy. I’ll do anything to make you believe that. Anything.” She didn’t miss the dart of his eyes down her body. Rachel wondered what thoughts were running through his head. Rachel had not come here to become a sex slave for a cyborg. Had she?

  Wrath’s eyes became hard again as he shook his head. “There is nothing you can do. You are my captive and my enemy. It doesn’t matter if you’re a spy or not. I know I cannot trust you.” Wrath pushed himself up from the ground with a swift motion of his legs. He looked down at Rachel with a cold, cruel look on his face. “I suggest you finish eating.” He gestured toward the remaining food in her hand. “It’s the last sustenance you’ll be getting for a while.” The cyborg returned to the other side of the cave, and Weapon took up guard duty once again.

  Rachel couldn’t choke down any more of the snake. What was the point of eating if she was going to die? The tasteless meat lodged in her throat as she choked on tears, and she spat the contents of her mouth onto the sand.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Wrath had heard enough. There was no point in trying to get anything out of the woman. Even if what Rachel said was true, it would not influence his decisions.

  He had tried to listen and understand what she wanted to tell him. Everything seemed like a lie, but he wanted to do the right thing for all the cyborgs. He didn’t want to make choices that put them in danger. The crossroads in front of him was different than asking them to go into battle. They were built for combat and programmed to follow orders without question.

  Turning themselves over to Cyborg Sector, an organization they knew was their enemy, wasn’t going to happen.

  Wrath could feel Rachel’s watery eyes staring at him although he wasn’t facing her. She was constantly at the back of his mind even if he couldn’t see her. He knew he wouldn’t kill her. But what was he going to do with her?

  “Give me an update,” the leader called to the entryway of the cave. Wrath needed something to distract him from thinking about the woman.

  Watcher stepped inside. “The van hasn’t moved at all. They drove through the debris and packed some of it in their cargo hold, but it looks like they didn’t do anything else.”

  Wrath acknowledged the guard with a dip of his head. It was nearly dark. The humans wouldn’t make a move until dawn. It would have been easier if the second contingent had merely driven up the mountain and attacked them. The cyborgs could have easily wiped them out and never thought about them again. Now they were stuck in their den, waiting for the sheriff and his team to come to their location. Wrath didn’t like waiting. Patience wasn’t part of his nature. But it wasn’t strategic to charge down the hill when they could lose everything.

  “Good. We’ll need extra eyes out there to make sure we see everything they do during the night.” Wrath turned and motioned for two other cyborgs to head out the door. “I want you to report on anything suspicious. Even the smallest movement might be significant. They’re not going to catch us by surprise.”

  As Wrath sat down to eat the remaining snake meat, he thought about cooking the food? Why would anyone do that? A quick scan of the hunk of flesh revealed that it contained vital nutrients. Excessive heat would remove beneficial vitamins. Were humans so stupid that they would prioritize taste over nutrition? He closed his eyes in disgust and tore hungrily into the meat.

  Hours later, the cave was quiet. Wrath could hear the slow, deep breathing of the cyborgs who were not on guard duty and had permission to sleep. The noise provided a uniform background against the more restless, discordant sounds of the humans as they drifted in and out of consciousness. Clayton had fallen asleep quickly after eating, but Rachel had been anxious. She sat with her back against the wall and watched all the cyborgs until there was not enough light left in the cave to use her weak human eyes.

  Wrath could hear her now and quickly picked out her noises from the sounds of everyone else. She slept fitfully, falling into mild slumber and periodically jolting herself awake. With her breath filling his ears, Wrath could imagine the way her chest rose and fell every moment she inhaled. He visualized the soft curves of her body as he listened to her shifting uneasily on the rough ground. Though he was nowhere near Rachel, he thought he could feel her heat radiating to him.

  Wrath rolled over and pressed his stomach against the ground. The sand in the cave was usually cool because it was out of direct sunlight. During the night it was freezing. The more he thought about Rachel, the warmer he became. Right now, Wrath’s thoughts made his skin feel like it would fry off his body.

  He didn’t like to think about the human at all, but there was something about her that was irresistible. Her hair, lush and shiny despite her travels, made him want to reach out and run his fingers through the soft curls. In his mind’s eye, he grabbed the ends of it, caressing her hair as he gently pulled her head backward. She looked up at him, green eyes soft but challenging. Wrath ran his hands down her creamy neck, pressing his body against her. Rachel gasped, but she didn’t try to stop him. She wanted him as badly as he wanted her. The cyborg bent his head to taste her, biting her soft lips and flicking his tongue into her mouth. His cock grew hard at the thought of what they would do next. Rachel would be his.

  “Sir!”

  The voice of one of his men cut through Wrath’s dream like a knife and jarred him awake. He had only meant to rest, not fall asleep. He tried to stop thinking about Rachel as he jumped to his feet. He was lucky that something had pulled him out of his fantasy. “What is it? Has the van moved?”

  “No, sir.” The young cyborg was not an observation specialist like Watcher, but Wrath knew he could count on him to give an accurate report. “The van is still in the same position, but someone else is approaching.”

  Wrath moved toward the cave entrance. He heard Rachel draw in her breath as she realized something was happening, but he was determined not to look at her. She wouldn’t be the same in real life as she had been in his dream. He wanted to see her pliant and desirous, not curled up in a ball with fear. On the other hand, he did not want Rachel to understand what he had been thinking and use sex to change his mind. Watcher had also roused and stood alertly at the entrance, awaiting instructions from his captain.

  The young cyborg was still giving his report and pointed at the horizon. “They’re in the distance, but we’ve picked up movement from several armored vehicles five miles away and coming directly to our location. It sounds like a helicopter is also approaching.”

  Wrath decided to take a quick look for himself. Far off in the distance were three armored vehicles kicking up a cloud of dust that would be invisible to humans in the nighttime darkness. They raced over the land trying to get to the cyborgs before anyone noticed them. He heard the steady beat of helicopter blades as well.

  Wrath turned to Clayton angrily. “You didn’t tell me about this,” he said through his teeth. “How long have you known they were coming for us?”

  The human scrambled to stabilize himself. He stood in front of the cyborg, shaking slightly. “I didn’t know. I told you everything they said to me, I swear.”

  The cyborg gave a single shake of his head. “I have been patient with you both and tried to give you opportunities to prove yourselves to me.” He spoke to Rachel but didn’t look
at her face. “The arrival of the convoy shows I should never have believed anything you said.”

  Clayton trembled as he folded his hands in front of him, trying to look as unintimidating as possible. “Please don’t kill me.” He wasn’t too proud to beg.

  “If I wanted to, I could have killed you hours ago. Don’t worry. I won’t kill you yet. You still have value as a bargaining chip.” He turned to the other cyborgs. Those who had been idle became vigilant and started watching their leader for instructions. “Pack up everything you can carry. We’ll leave through the tunnels as soon as we gather all the equipment. We’re not going to wait around here for the bombs to—”

  “They’re not going to use bombs or missiles,” Clayton spoke frantically. “They know there are humans here. Before resorting to violence, they’ll come and talk to you, just like we tried to do.”

  “If you think I’m going to believe that, you’re a fool,” Wrath snapped. “Cyborg Sector no longer considers this a retrieval operation. They’re prepared to take military action. They wouldn’t have brought heavy equipment unless they planned to use it.” Wrath stopped talking to the consultant. The idea that he had to explain himself to a human again made a disgusting feeling creep down his spine.

  “What do we do with the prisoners?” Weapon asked eagerly. The fingers on his right hand covering the plasma gun started to twitch. His left hand fondled a large knife stuck into the belt of his pants.

  There was no doubt in Wrath’s mind that Weapon had chosen his name and specialty well. He didn’t know if Cyborg Sector had a reason to download information on armaments into the soldier’s system, but there was never a moment when the scarred soldier didn’t want to use a knife or gun. Weapon lived for blood, but Wrath couldn’t give it to him yet.