by Susan Hayes
At least she’d stopped shivering. That had to mean she was getting warmer, even if she didn’t feel like it. She would rest up for another minute, no more. She wasn’t some delicate flower that needed a hero to sweep in and carry her to safety.
At first, Raze was happy to make the hike in silence. He’d never been much for talking, and he had already spoken more today than he usually said in a month. It wasn’t long, though, before memories started to stir; recollections of the last time he’d carried someone out of this valley. In a few minutes, he would be walking past the graves of his cybernetic batch siblings. They had all died here, on this starsforsaken planet, during the Resource Wars. Cyborg soldiers like him had fought, bled, and died in a series of corporate battles that spanned the galaxy and lasted a decade.
Raze and his siblings were some of the first cyborgs created, and they had been to hell and back more times than he cared to count. They had lost a few of their number along the way, but out of his twenty-five original siblings, all but five were buried here. He carried them here himself, digging their graves and laying them to rest, one by one. It took him three days, and when it was done, he swore that if he survived, he’d come back one day. Back to the only family he had.
The dark memories threatened to drag him down, and he fought to keep his focus on the present. There were no enemy forces hunting for him anymore. No wars to fight. No danger.
No, that wasn’t true. There was danger. The scout in his arms represented a threat he had no idea how to fight. She was also his only source of intel.
“Tell me what you know about Torex’s plans are for this system.” When she didn’t answer, he looked down and discovered his visitor was unconscious. Fraxx. There was no way she’d drifted off to sleep while being carried. Something was wrong.
“Hey, scout. Sevda. This is no time for a nap. Open your eyes for me.” He gave her the lightest of shakes, but she didn’t move. Not so much as an eyelid flutter. He didn’t have much experience with normal human injuries. Cyborgs were built to be stronger, faster, and endure far harsher climates. Climates. Shit.
He took a good look at her face. Even soaking wet and with a few cuts and bruises marring her face, she was still beautiful. She had soft features, golden skin, and dark lashes that fanned her cheeks. But beyond her appearance, something else struck him. Her lips still had a bluish tint, and her skin tone was a little ashy. He had his arms full holding her, so he bowed his head and pressed his cheek to hers. There was no warmth in her face—her skin was as cold as the river he’d pulled her out of.
He thought back to the moment she stumbled. He should have seen it then, but he hadn’t spent much time with humans, and he’d forgotten they simply couldn’t endure the same trials he could.
She was hypothermic. He needed to get her inside, dried off and warmed up, fast.
“You stay with me, Sevda. I’m not carrying another damned corpse up this trail.” He tightened his grip on her and broke into a run.
He made it to the cabin in minutes, despite the slick footing and mud on the path. He pushed himself so hard he was out of breath, which wasn’t something that happened often. He sprinted the last few feet across the cleared land of his farm and got them both under the porch and out of the weather. The rain was still pouring down, but the next wave of the storm hadn’t hit yet. A quick hip bump to open the door and they were inside the welcoming warmth of his home.
He kicked the door shut and jogged across the cabin toward the alcove he used as a bedroom, right beside the woodstove he used to heat the cabin. He placed her carefully on the bed and pulled all the blankets from the far side over her in a temporary cocoon. It wouldn't be enough, but it would stop her from getting any colder. At least, he hoped it would.
“I’ll be right back,” he told her, and moved a few feet away to strip off his wet gear and wring some of the water out of his hair. He was soaked to the skin, but unlike Sevda, the cold and wet didn’t bother him. The nanotech in his blood did more than keep him in perfect health, it helped him regulate his body temperature no matter how extreme the weather was. He tossed his still-dripping clothes into a corner, pulled on a pair of loose-fitting pants and then grabbed an armload of wood from the wood box. Once the fire was stoked, he looked back at Sevda. She hadn’t stirred at all.
Time for more drastic measures.
“You can slap me for this later, but right now, I need you out of those wet clothes,” he said. It wasn’t likely she would hear anything he said, but he had to say it anyway. If his siblings could see him now, they’d all be laughing their asses off. Raze, the silent, stoic one, reduced to a chatty nursemaid.
Once he had the blankets pulled back, part of the problem became obvious. He had been too busy to notice before, but Sevda’s outfit was far too lightweight to provide any protection from the elements, and it wouldn’t have been enough to hold in any of her body heat. It clung to her like a second skin beneath her thin rain jacket. All she was carrying was her comm device and a blaster, both of which he placed out of reach before returning to the task of getting her warm and dry.
He got her boots and jacket off easily enough, but the rest of her clothes resisted every attempt he made to gently remove them. With a grunt of frustration, he tugged open a drawer on the bedside table he’d made himself and pulled out one of the multi-purpose tools he’d brought with him. “Sorry, but I’m about to ruin your outfit, too. By the time you wake up, I’m going to have a list of things to apologize for.”
He cut her out of her clothes as quickly as he could and tried his best to keep his gaze locked on his hands and not on the beauty lying in his bed. It wasn’t easy. With every inch of her skin that he uncovered, his libido paced at its leash like a panther on the prowl. He was doing this to get her warm, not to get her naked. He would keep reminding himself of that until his cock finally got the message.
He finally got all but her underwear removed, and by then he knew that the fire and blankets wouldn’t be enough. Her skin was chilled everywhere he touched her, and she still wasn’t awake. He lifted her again, holding her limp body against his chest while awkwardly moving back the blankets enough he could get her beneath them.
Once she was settled on the bed, he pulled the covers over her and added the few spare blankets on top for good measure. Then he slid in beside her and pulled her into his arms so her back was to his chest. He tucked her head under his chin and wrapped his arms and legs around her, sharing his body heat.
“And here I never figured I’d have a woman in my bed again.”
A little time later she stirred. “So c-cold.”
“I know you are, sweetling. I’m doing what I can to fix that.” It was a relief to hear her speak again. If she was awake, then the odds were good she would make a quick recovery.
She burrowed under the blankets, wriggling her mostly naked body against his until he was half out of his mind. “Lie still, Sevda. You need to rest.”
“Tired,” she muttered in what sounded like agreement.
“Then sleep. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
She finally quieted, but the peace didn’t last for long. As her body temperature rose, she started to shiver hard enough he had to tighten his grip on her to hold her still. Her teeth chattered so violently that her next attempt to talk was almost intelligible.
“Wh-wh-at iz wro-wrong wi m-me?”
“Hypothermia. You were in the water long enough your body temperature dropped, and you weren’t dressed for the elements. I’m not used to humans, I forgot you’d be affected by the weather, too.”
“Not, just hu-human. Torski, t-too.”
Well, that explained a few things. Torksi’s were larger than humans and far stronger. They also had a higher body temperature. “So that’s why you’re so tall. I wondered.”
“Hot-t-t blooded t-too.” She managed to twist around in his arms so that she was on her back looking up at him.
Her eyes made sense to him now. He’d thought they were brow
n at first, but now he’d taken a better look, he realized there was a cluster of black around her iris. All or partially black irises were another Torski trait. Curious, he slipped a hand under the covers and took her hand in his, counting her fingers. Five. Well, she didn’t have all the traits of her alien side, or there would only have been four.
She seemed to know what he was checking, because she bared her teeth, revealing her canines were elongated into prominent fangs. “Got-t the t-teeth, though.”
The first thought that crossed his mind was to wonder how those sharp points would feel raking across his skin. He was still lost in thought when he realized she was watching him intently, waiting for his reaction with a guarded expression. He knew the look. He’d worn it often enough himself while he waited for people to turn away. Sometimes it was the scar on his face that did it, but most of the time, it was the moment they realized what he was: a cyborg. To most, that made him nothing more than a killing machine, a corporate-owned creation with a barcode on his wrist and no soul.
He offered her a confession of his own in exchange. Without a word, he held up his left wrist to show her the barcode imprinted on his skin. Instead of pulling away, she reached up and stroked her thumb across the mark.
“Th-that ‘plains why you’re s-so damned b-big. I wond-dered.” She tossed his own words back at him with a hint of a smile.
He actually laughed at that. “You must be feeling better.”
She nodded, her hand still on his arm. That was the moment she realized her own arm was bare. Her eyes narrowed, and then she started scrambling to put some distance between them, which put her in jeopardy of falling out of bed.
“Clothes!” She managed to get out the single word without her chattering teeth breaking it up.
“You’re not wearing many. No. Now stop flailing before you end up on the floor with a concussion to add to your list of injuries.” He lifted the blanket and pointed out the fact he was still wearing pants. “I’m still mostly dressed, but skin to skin contact was the only way to get you warmed up. I don’t exactly have a med-bay in my cabin. Options were limited.”
“That b-bad?”
He nodded. “You don’t remember getting here, right?”
She shook her head.
“That’s because you were out of it. I couldn’t rouse you, and that worried me. I should have made sure you were warmer before we started walking back to the cabin, but I’m not used to worrying about anyone else, especially not a non-cyborg.”
“Shirt?”
She must have decided that if she kept to single words, it was easier to talk.
“I can get you one of mine. Yours -- uh, I had to cut it off.”
She arched a brow at that.
“Does it look like I get a lot of practice undressing beautiful women out here? I went with the expedient solution.”
“Shirt. Please.”
Something about the way she said it breathed life back into a part of his heart he thought had died the day he buried his siblings.
“I’ll be right back. I don’t promise it’ll be fashionable, but it’ll be clean.” He got out of bed and went to fetch her a shirt, ignoring the part of his brain complaining that he much preferred her to stay naked.
That part of his brain needed to shut the hell up. Naked or swaddled in three layers of blankets, it wouldn’t matter. Nothing was going to happen. Once she could get back to her ship, the sexy scout would fly out of his life. Maybe she’d repay him for saving her life by making sure that his planet stayed off Torex’s radar. All he wanted was to be left alone.
It wasn’t much to ask after all he’d been through. So, why the fraxx wasn’t the universe cooperating?
4
Sevda woke with a start. What the hell was that noise? Had something hit the ship? “Eddi, report!” The words were out of her mouth before she was even fully awake.
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” drawled a male voice that was most definitely not her ship’s AI.
A name popped into her aching head. “Raze?”
“Mhmm.”
She sat up and got her first look at her surroundings. This was not her ship, and Raze was…wow. No wonder she remembered him. He was big, sexy, gruff, and…not wearing much.
She ignored the screams of protest from her bruised and battered body and scrambled out of bed, then nearly jumped out of her skin when another boom of what had to be thunder shook the walls of the cabin.
“What happened? Where are we, and where the fraxx are my clothes?” She was wearing her panties and a shirt two sizes too large for her, and as far as she could tell, that was it.
Raze chuckled and rose up on one elbow, baring more of his heavily muscled chest. “At least you’re consistent. That’s pretty much the first thing you asked me the last time you woke up.”
“What was your answer the last time? And when was that?” She shook her head, trying to clear some of the cobwebs, but all that did was make her headache worse.
“You landed your ship in my valley, went for a walk during a thunderstorm, and got caught in a flash flood. I fished your soggy ass out, you checked in with Eddi, and then I carried you back here, to my home. Hypothermia’s a bitch. I saved your life. You’re welcome.”
His grumpy delivery jogged her memory even better than his recital of the facts. She remembered him catching her in the cold floodwaters and his casual dismissal of what would happen to him if he got hurt out here on his own. He was like her, alone in the universe.
“Thank you.” She rubbed her aching head and sat down on the edge of the bed.
“Again, you’re welcome. How are you feeling?”
“Like I got bounced across a riverbed and nearly drowned in the process. I’m stiff and sore, but I’ll live. I’d ask for a pain-blocker, but given what you are, I guess you don’t have any need for them, do you?”
“Afraid I don’t have anything like that.” He frowned for a moment, then snapped his fingers. “But I do have something that should help. It’s an ointment I use on the noats. At least, I try to use it. The stupid beasts like the taste so much they keep licking it off.”
“What’s a noat?”
Raze got out of bed before answering, revealing more of his stunning physique, and a body with more than a few scars. Cyborgs had been created to fight in what the corporations called bloodless wars, but judging by what she could see, he’d suffered and bled more than she could imagine.
“They’re an indigenous herbivore. My batch brother, Slash, named them noats because they’re not goats, but they’re similar. Not goats – noats.”
“You have a brother out here? I thought you didn’t want company?”
His sea-blue eyes turned stormy. “I don’t. I’m alone.”
He walked away without another word. Perfect. She’d been awake for less than five minutes, and she had already managed to piss off the only other self-aware lifeform on the planet.
“This is why I work solo,” she muttered to herself.
The floor was cold under her bare feet, so Sevda climbed back under the covers while she watched Raze check the contents of several drawers until he found what he was looking for.
“Try that.” He lobbed the container to her.
“Thanks.” She caught it automatically, then winced as hot pokers of pain stabbed into her shoulder. Her cybernetic prosthetic merged with her body just above the elbow, which meant that her shoulder and upper arm had taken a lot of abuse while she had clung to the rock. Might as well start there.
She opened the container and the scent of camphor, mint, and a host of herbs she didn’t know the name of, instantly transported back in time. Her mother had used this ointment, or something very like it, to fix everything from aches and bruises to sore throats and chest colds.
Amazed, Sevda lifted the container to her nose and breathed in deeply, not caring that the fumes were strong enough to bring tears to her eyes. She could almost hear her mother’s voice and feel the gentle touch o
f her hand.
“It stinks, but it works,” Raze said.
“I know this stuff. My mom called it her magical fix-anything medicine. I haven’t seen it in years, though.” She gently applied some of the ointment to her cheek. She didn’t need a mirror to know she had a bruise there, she could feel it. After that, she scooped out a dollop with her fingers and smoothed it onto her bicep, belatedly realizing she should have rolled the sleeve up first.
“Magical fix anything medicine, huh?” Raze reappeared at the door of the sleeping alcove and crouched in front of the wood stove.
“Mhmm.” Sevda was trying to focus on massaging the goop into her aching muscles, but her gaze kept straying to the chiseled god crouched only a few feet away. If things were different, she’d be tempted to reach out and touch him right now. Hell, she was tempted to do it anyway, and that was probably the worst idea she’d had today. He had made it clear he liked his solitude, and while he’d been kind enough to save her life, that didn’t mean he’d welcome a sexual overture from a mixed-race mutt like her. Not to mention the fact that her arrival meant his time on this planet was likely coming to an end.
When he opened the door of the stove, she stopped breathing. Flames licked at the logs as he tossed fresh wood on the fire. Fire. She hadn’t seen a fire burning in years. She lived in a high-tech world of space travel and artificial atmospheres, where fire wasn’t just archaic, it was fraxxing dangerous.
“You okay?”
She shook herself free of the memories and discovered Raze was standing in front of her, a look of concern softening his eyes and making him even more attractive. “I’m okay. It’s just been a long time since I saw an open flame. Or smelled old-fashioned ointment, or sat in a log cabin while a storm raged outside for that matter. It’s all taking me back to my childhood.”
“You grew up like this?” Raze sounded utterly stunned by the idea.