by Lisa Lace
Chapter Eighteen
Everything had been quiet since the party emerged from the tunnels. Wrath kept his ears tuned for the distant roar of armored vehicles and the staccato hum of helicopters even though it was technically Watcher’s job. Green Squad had spent several hours resting and regrouping as they tried to decide on their next course of action.
From this point forward, they would have to move through open desert. They would no longer have tunnels to protect them and conceal their location. It would only be a matter of time before the human military caught up with them. Wrath slammed his fist into the rock of the mountain, feeling all the frustration of their inferior position. Even though their pursuers were only human, they had superior weaponry. They also didn’t have malfunctioning biochips that could affect the outcome of any battle.
The desert heat made the cyborgs unanimously vote to wait near a mountain and its shelter until they could move during the cold night. The human soldiers couldn’t see at night as well as Green Squad, and the cyborgs’ superior vision would provide a slight advantage.
Weapon had asked an uncomfortable question. “Can we leave the humans? They’re only going to slow us down.”
The cyborg leader understood the logic behind Weapon’s question, but he knew Weapon also had an ulterior motive. Weapon had been itching to kill the humans ever since they had arrived, and he was looking for any excuse to satisfy his bloodlust. “They are slow,” Wrath agreed, “but we need them if Cyborg Sector catches up with us. I’m not willing to give up our leverage for a little convenience. We can carry or drag them if necessary, but we’re not going to abandon them.”
“What are we going to do with the woman?” Wire asked quietly. He kept his hands busy by tearing apart a seed pod from a mesquite tree. “Is she our ally now?” He looked up at his commander curiously.
Wrath didn’t have to ask for clarification about what he meant. He had tried to be discreet about his interaction with the reporter, but it was hard to hide things from cyborgs. They had heard every bit of the exchange with their enhanced hearing and understood what had happened. Wrath had only thought of himself when he fucked Rachel. For the first time since they left Cyborg Sector, Green Squad’s interests had come second to something.
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. She’s still a human. We can’t afford to be fooled by her, especially when we’re in such a precarious position.”
Wire nodded, and Weapon decided to speak up. “Does that mean you want her bound again and put with the other prisoner?”
“No.” Wrath’s answer came quickly. “She can stay where she is until we’re ready to move again. After that, she’ll be at my side.”
Wrath knew immediately that the other cyborgs thought he was making the wrong decision when he saw the pained look on their faces. But Rachel had no place to go even if she managed to escape. She would die in the desert before she ever had a chance to find the government soldiers sent to hunt down Green Squad. If she wanted death, that was her business.
When two cyborgs on hunting duty returned with a kill, Wrath ordered them to bring Rachel some food. He was afraid to take it himself. What if she affected his judgment again? Fucking the woman had been foolish. If the government had caught up with them at the wrong time, Wrath would have been completely vulnerable. He should never have surrendered to base desires, no matter how much his body wanted her.
As the sun began its descent toward the horizon, Wrath ordered his men to break camp and prepare for the next leg of their journey. Many mountains and canyons surrounded their location, and Watcher had chosen a site that seemed likely to offer enough shelter for all of them. It was a good distance away, and they would have to march swiftly through the dark.
Wrath went into the small cave himself to fetch Rachel. The woman was his problem now, and he wouldn’t ask any of his men to deal with her by themselves. They might succumb to her as readily as he had. He had no way of knowing what she might say or do to his soldiers in an attempt to win her release. The idea of her naked and writhing underneath one of his men, allowing anyone else inside her instead of him, infuriated the cyborg. He did not want any of them seduced
Wrath dismissed the guard assigned to the grotto and peered inside. Rachel lay on her stomach in the warm sand, resting her head on her hands. She had her eyes closed. From her breathing patterns, Wrath could tell she was asleep and unable to take advantage of him. He felt safer knowing that the girl was secured. Whenever she blinked and accentuated her big green eyes, he felt compelled to rip her clothes off. He couldn’t see her eyes if she was sleeping, nor could she say things that made him question his beliefs. Rachel’s body movements, including jiggling breasts and swaying hips, were sexy even when she was hiking through a tunnel. They weren’t a temptation now.
But there was something about her presence that made Wrath want to roll Rachel over and fuck her again. He wanted to yank off her dirty, sandy clothing to find the treasure of smooth skin underneath. He wanted to run his tongue over every inch of her body. He imagined other things they could do together, though he didn’t know the origin of the fantasies. Pictures flashed through his mind that he had never seen before. No one had programmed him with these instructions, but he could easily see himself licking the warm spot between her legs, burying his face in her chest, and forcing her down as she wrapped her lips around his cock. A hot sensation burned through him, and he curled his fists in anger. How could this girl — this human — have so much influence over him?
“Get up,” Wrath commanded gruffly. He was afraid of letting Rachel wake naturally after seeing what she was capable of doing to him even while she slept. “It’s almost time for us to move out.”
Rachel jumped at his words. Her body twitched as she woke from her slumber. As soon as she saw Wrath, Rachel smiled as if he had spoken gently to her. She rolled onto her side and stretched her arms, inadvertently raising the hem of her shirt and revealing her stomach’s pale, smooth skin above the waistband of her jeans. “Where are we going?” Rachel sat up and dusted the sand from the front of her body, making her breasts shake enticingly.
Wrath clenched his jaw. Did the human know what she was doing to him? Rachel claimed to know little about cyborgs, but she certainly knew how to manipulate them. He wondered if she had done the same thing to Clayton, bewitching him with subtle moves of her curvy body until he couldn’t control himself. Wrath couldn’t forgive the male for giving in to his urges, but now he understood the big picture more clearly.
“None of your business,” he snapped.
The reporter didn’t seem deterred by Wrath’s grumpy attitude. She stood slowly, rubbing delicate hands over her body to remove the rest of the sand, and then casually stepped across the tiny cave to stand in front of the cyborg. “I had fun with you this morning,” she murmured. She stared into Wrath’s eyes before her gaze lowered to his lips.
The cyborg leader took a step backward and started inching toward the exit. Wrath would only be able to regain control over himself if he put some distance between them. If he remained here, next to Rachel’s luscious body, he didn’t know what would happen. “We have a long march ahead of us. Everyone is leaving in five minutes.”
“Do you think you could leave my hands untied today?” Rachel asked pleasantly. She was directly behind Wrath again. Her breath felt hot on his back, and his senses were overwhelmed with her scent. “I might enjoy it in a different setting, but it makes it hard to walk.”
Wrath flexed his arm muscles, slamming a fist into his hand. “I don’t know what you’ve done to me! If I hadn’t interfered, would you have fucked your human cohort? Perhaps you will seduce one of my men next. I won’t let you infiltrate our ranks with your feminine cunning.”
Rachel had been reaching out her hand to touch him, but she pulled it back after he spoke as though she had burned her fingers. She had looked confident before, holding her back straight, but her shoulders appeared to curl in on themselves as she crumpled before th
e cyborg. In an instant, Rachel transformed from a strong woman into a scared victim. She seemed to get smaller as she retreated to the small cave without turning her back on him.
Wrath forcefully blew air out of his lungs. Rachel was a gifted woman. She had more than one strategy to take over his mind and took alternate approaches to penetrate his defenses. Was her fear another one of her schemes? If she couldn’t keep control of him with sex, perhaps she would try to make him feel sorry for her.
She was succeeding. Wrath had to stop her, somehow. “I suggest you change your behavior if you want to live.”
“I’m not doing anything,” Rachel insisted. Her voice sounded weak and confused. “I thought...I thought...” She trailed off, letting the cyborg fill the blanks in for himself.
Wrath wanted to take Rachel in his arms and share his strength with her, but he didn’t want her to manipulate any of the cyborgs. He didn’t want to play games with a human. “Yes,” he said slowly. “You thought you had me under a spell. You almost had me convinced that everything you said about my human past was true. Fucking here this morning was supposed to be the proof. But you are not the one in control.”
Rachel shook her head furiously. Her eyes were wide, and she looked scared. “I’m not trying to be in control of anything.”
“Don’t argue with me!” Wrath’s voice bounced off the walls of the mountain and seemed to echo all the way out across the desert. “I took you because it was what I wanted at the time. It had nothing to do with you. Don’t start thinking otherwise.”
Instead of explaining that sex had been her idea, Rachel stared at him. Her face crumpled, and a single tear began working its way down her cheek.
The sight of her sadness ripped Wrath’s heart in two, but he was determined to remain unmanipulated. Satisfied that he had made his point, Wrath turned to leave.
“What about Clayton?” Rachel sniffled.
“Why does it matter what happens to him?” How could she care about the consultant after what he had tried to do to her? Had the two humans planned their fight for his benefit?
“Please don’t hurt him. I don’t know why you’re not happy with me. Promise me that you won’t kill him.”
A scene flashed in front of Wrath’s eyes. The desert vista before him faded away and was replaced with an image of Rachel sprawled on the grass. He was next to her but wasn’t relaxing. He had shoved her to the ground and felt a burning sensation on his knees where they had scraped against the curb. Rachel stared up at him with horror in her emerald eyes. His arms were shaking uncontrollably, and his blood felt like it was vibrating inside his body. He wanted to do something to fix her, either scream or cry. He felt like pulling the girl into his arms and never letting go. He knew that a crowd had gathered around them, but he could see only her.
It wasn’t real. Wrath pressed his hands against his eyes in a futile effort to push the vision away. The memory must have been something the reporter loaded into his mind to make him believe the things she’d said about their past. He had never been a human and had never done anything to protect her. Or had he?
Pain penetrated through the side of Wrath’s skull like someone had shot him. He clamped his lips together, unwilling to let Rachel see how easily she could manipulate him. She wanted Wrath to promise her something, and even though he was not in a position to guarantee anything, he wanted to tell her yes. Something deep inside his soul, past all of his systems and controls, urged him to comply. It was wrong but hard to resist.
“I will promise nothing!” he finally blurted as the pain in his head began to subside. “He is my prisoner, and I will do what I want with him. I will do what I want with you as well.” Unwilling to continue the exchange of words, the cyborg stormed out of the cave.
He knew that only half of what he had said to Rachel was the truth. Something about her made him want to please her. Until he figured out a way to get rid of the desire, he would never be completely in control.
Chapter Nineteen
The mind-numbing activity of breaking camp and beginning to march again was a welcome relief for Wrath. He moved quickly to help pack gear and check the weapons. His presence was unnecessary, but he needed something to keep himself busy. Otherwise, he would have spent his time thinking about Rachel. The hurt expression on her face made him uneasy. The cyborg wasn’t sure how to explain it, but he felt an urge to try to comfort her.
It was easier to shove the whole incident out of his mind and fill his brain with trivial tasks. The sun sank behind the distant mountains, casting long shadows across their temporary camp.
He retrieved Rachel from the cave when it was time to leave. He didn’t give her a chance to speak or argue. Instead, he stood at the entrance in the rock and ordered her to come. She picked herself up from the ground and followed him obediently. It was a positive sign. If he could keep her under control, it wouldn’t be as hard to be around her as he had feared.
He would never admit the truth to Rachel or the cyborgs, but Wrath had intended to leave her hands free. Immediately after they fucked in the cave, he had hoped he would be able to influence her.
That was before he realized she’d used sex as a tactic against him. He would not allow any cyborg to fall victim to her charms. Using her body, Rachel could easily make the members of Green Squad turn against each other. Wrath had fallen for her once. Now that he knew her strategy, it wouldn’t happen again.
“Hold out your hands.”
Rachel complied, turning her palms up to him willingly. Wrath grabbed them roughly with one hand, pinning her wrists together as he bound them with a length of rope. He tugged on the knot, making sure it was secure before tying the other end to his belt. The line would leave his hands free while simultaneously keeping her in check. The cyborg left plenty of slack in the rope so he could keep Rachel at a distance.
“Keep up with me this time,” he advised her sternly. “If you pretend to fall again, we won’t stop and coddle you.”
Clayton remained in the middle of the group with plenty of cyborgs both ahead of and behind him. Wire had volunteered to be his personal guard again and stood at attention on Clayton’s right. Another cyborg was on his left, and the remainder of the squad assembled in a double line.
Wrath moved to the front of the formation. “If we start quickly enough, we can reach our destination before sunrise.” He set out without saying another word, putting one foot in front of the other at a steady pace. Green Squad did not need a motivational speech to know that time was also their enemy.
The cyborg leader could not appreciate the beauty of the desert colors illuminating the sky behind the mountains. The sun was sending up its final rays before taking its light away. He ignored the slow closing of the buds on the foliage crushed beneath his feet. He didn’t focus his hearing on the calling of night birds coming out to hunt their prey.
Wrath focused on two things: the path in front of him and the presence of the prisoner. Rachel said nothing as she trudged behind him. Her footsteps were lighter than his and less determined. Even so, he could hear them echo inside his head. Every grain of sand she moved with the treads of her boots sounded like a boulder rolling down a cliff. Wrath tried to ignore the sounds, but as soon as he blocked out the vibration of her footfalls, he heard the air flowing into her lungs as she breathed. He couldn’t stop paying attention to her.
There was nothing he could do or say to regain control of his senses. He couldn’t tell Rachel to stop breathing. If the cyborg insisted she walk somewhere else in the formation, he would have to worry about her influence on other soldiers. He might become even more aware of Rachel, wondering if she was watching him or talking to someone else. It was best to keep her at his side.
He prepared himself for Rachel to say something. Would she try to work her magic on him again? To his disappointment, Rachel remained silent.
The only noise Rachel made was the sound of her body moving through the desert. Her footfalls became uncertain as the light faded, bu
t she didn’t stop walking. Eventually, the looming darkness forced Wrath to activate his night vision. Most of the route was flat, but some areas required making their way through arroyos and rock formations. It wouldn’t be an easy journey.
The weird green glow of his night vision revealing the desert around him flashed brightly, then faded to darkness. Wrath paused, not knowing what had happened. If his night vision had failed, he was in trouble. He needed to see if he wanted to move and lead.
Without warning, his vision returned. He breathed a sigh of relief but caught it between his lips when he realized he wasn’t looking at the desert. Instead of sand, cacti, and thorny trees, the cyborg saw a small living room.
He sat on a faded plaid couch. Two other people in the room sat on small, mismatched chairs. They looked at him expectantly. They knew him, but he couldn’t put names to their faces. A breeze rustled the heavy curtains on the picture window.
“Son, we’re concerned about your decision.” The man’s dark blue eyes looked at Wrath as if he could see death with his eyes. “It’s going to change your life forever.”
“I know, Dad,” Wrath replied. He could feel his lips moving, but he wasn’t in control and didn’t even know the words.
“We can’t change your mind.” It was the woman’s turn to talk. She had dark, thin hair that reached to her shoulders. Her brown eyes looked kind. She was on the verge of tears. “You’re an adult now. We want you to know there are other choices. We can help you.”
“I signed all the paperwork. I leave in less than a month.”