Ashes and Metal

by Naomi Lucas

  “Then what’s her will? And don’t spew me yours in hopes I’ll buy it. Your words might be pretty but I know her better than that.”

  “Saving you,” Gunner spat and waved at him. “And saving the others. Pretty much doing what I can to ensure you guys live, that you don’t make it to the slave rings or the flesh stalls, and to get you off this ship.”

  There was a moment of silence while Chesnik held his ground and looked into his eyes. “Sounds like her,” he eventually said. “The one thing I couldn’t get out of her head, even after all these years, was thinking about others.” Chesnik sighed. “She’s a lot like her mother in that way.” His voice was wistful before it hardened anew. “What was her trade, Cyborg? I know you’re using her—”

  “—I’m not using her.”

  “Using her. But the price of a Cyborg is well beyond that. No one person can afford you. No one like her, or me, or anyone else on this ship except maybe the captain. Usually, only planetary governments can hire a Cyborg, and even then it hurts. What are you taking from my daughter?”

  Everything.

  He was going to take everything that he could from her, everything that she allowed him to have. It started with her voice and a bargain for her companionship, he had taken her name and then he had stolen her touches and her kisses. Elodie then gave him her body and he had given her a window into his head, into which she had looked and hadn’t flinched away.

  I would give her my soul. Gunner clenched his hands at his sides as the thought brought on a numbing shock.

  If she reached out and took it, he would let her have it. She would keep it safe and in turn, he would protect her from the horrors of the universe and the despairing thoughts of hell, because loneliness was hell. And they had both been so alone for so long.

  Her everything and my everything are different. The thought didn't make him feel good, and for the first time since he could remember, bile rose in his throat.

  “Ask her yourself,” he gritted out.

  Chesnik kept talking as if he didn't know Gunner was about to lose his mind. “I would if you’d let me speak to her alone.”

  “No. Fucking. Way.” No way was he going to let Chesnik get back into her head. Not if he could help it. “If you’re so dead set on saving her from me and the choices she made, I’m not with her now. I won’t stop you. Try and get to her.” Gunner cocked his head in the direction where the jammed door was located.

  A vein looked like it was about to pop over Chesnik’s brow. The wrinkles on around his eyes grew deeper by the second.

  “You and I both know I wouldn’t get very far,” he accused.

  Gunner took another step back, further unblocking the man’s way. His jaw ticked. “Won’t you even try?”

  “No.”

  Once again anger simmered Gunner’s blood. “You don’t trust me. Or her. And you won’t even try...”

  “I know she’s safe.”

  Gunner snorted with derision. “From everyone but me that is. When you see her next, because there will be a next, tell her that. I dare you.”

  The enmity between them was palpable but short-sighted. A banging noise beside Gunner had him turning away. The elevator door shook the crate as it tried to close. It then slid back into the panel before trying again with another bang. It continued to rattle when Chesnik broke the silence at his side.

  “You’re not holding up your end of the bargain well. I’ll be telling her that. Some of us died as you holed up and used her.”

  The man really does have a death wish. He wondered if it was to punish his daughter for choosing him over her own father. It was more reason not to hurt or kill the man. Gunner wasn't going to give Chesnik the satisfaction.

  “You mean the men in the brig, the ones you left to die earlier?” Gunner snapped. “I can’t control people like I can machines. If they get themselves killed because they think they know better than I do, then they’re idiots I couldn’t save to begin with.”

  “Why wait until now?”

  “To give the crew upstairs some time to stew, and to come up with a plan that wasn’t rushed from the heat of battle. To let the unrest congeal and solidify and to give everyone down here a chance to regroup, to eat, and to heal. I’m trying to give everyone the best chance possible to survive. We’re no longer in Andromeda, which means they have a destination in mind and one I’m very curious about. The captain didn’t need to warp us if we were still headed to Elyria, but he did. So what does that mean?”

  “I don’t understand? Why don’t you think we’re not headed to Elyria anymore? He could warp and stay within the same galaxy, even the same solar system.”

  Gunner rubbed his lips and turned from the elevator to look back at Chesnik.

  “Because that was where we were headed from the get-go. The warp is a power sap, to do so to make it to a nearby location slightly faster isn’t done lightly. I know something about meetups and drop-offs and Elyria is ripe with them. Timing is important. He’s either sped it up...or ditched it entirely, either of which would destroy his reputation in the system. A man who can’t deliver is a man not worth permitting to live. If we’re not headed there, that means something has changed. Whether it’s with the crew or with the captain, something changed. What that change is? I don’t know, but I think it’s time for us to find out.”

  ENERGY COURSED THROUGH Gunner as he made his way back to Elodie. He’d only left her for an hour but it felt like an eternity to him.

  His hand settled on his chest, over his heart, where it beat heavy under his still healing thumb. He realized it was the first time he had ever paid attention to it.

  The machines clanked on all sides, energy and power fueled them, fueled him. Though his plans were now in motion, the organ under his palm drummed steadily.

  Gunner came upon his mate sleeping in the back room—in their nest—right where he’d left her. Elodie was in the throes of slumber as he kneeled at her side. Her cobbled-together distress beacon was laid out next to her.

  Whether it could be repaired or not was still up in the air, but he had been impressed with her single-minded fortitude. Her fingers still clutched it to her side, as if she worked on it in her sleep, and when he touched the metal of her gadget himself he could feel the pieces conduct under his fingertips.

  She’ll have it working soon. He could help her repair it, he knew, but he wasn’t good with rebuilding machines because he lacked patience. His lavatory-turned-brewery was a testament to its lack. It was a steampunk nightmare in bathroom form.

  Gunner brushed the hair from her face. He meant to wake her but now he couldn’t. Elodie was all his when she was asleep. She was content. At peace.

  Elodie’s eyelids fluttered. Dreaming. Gunner quietly lay down next to her and feathered his fingers over her temple.

  Dirty. Now only one of us is dirty. His hand stilled.

  ‘Why wait until now?’ Chesnik’s question repeated itself. He had many answers for it, depending who asked, but the real answer plagued him.

  I want her to fall in love with me before she has a chance to leave.

  I’m a selfish fucking bastard.

  All he really wanted to do was use what time remained for his own desires. He didn’t care about the others, the captain or the freighter ship, and he could still leave at any time.

  Right now, he could light the vessel ablaze and make his escape. He could leave in an escape pod and contact the EPED and let the thumb-tip that was still buried in this ship be a tracker for him to find later and meet up with Stryker.

  He could leave his only lead to his own ship’s whereabouts, but if he did that, Elodie and Chesnik and the others would get hurt. Although he could lead them to the escape pods himself, it would mean he would have to split up with Elodie. It wasn’t like he could tether his escape pod to hers. And if she got hurt...

  If her escape pod malfunctioned...

  Gunner ran his pointer finger over the hook of her ear, across her forehead, and down the br
idge of her nose. He traced the outline of her face in an effort to memorize every detail. He couldn’t take that chance. Jackals mate for life.

  “Don’t leave me,” he whispered. She mumbled and swatted his hand. Gunner slipped closer until her breath fanned his face.

  Fall in love with me, Elodie.

  Let me keep you.

  Chapter Eighteen

  GUNNER’S GLAZED GREY eyes, wraith-like and zombified, appeared before her. She jerked in surprise, not expecting him so close.

  “Ugh.” Elodie rubbed her face. “How long have I been asleep?”

  “A couple of hours.”

  Her eyes widened. “That long?” She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept so long. Even so, she was tempted to go back to sleep again. Knowing Gunner was watching over her made her feel safe enough to rest peacefully, without fear. She licked her dry lips. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

  “You needed the rest.”

  “I need—” Gunner grabbed her as she attempted to stand and pressed her back against the floor. He pulled the blanket over them. Elodie swallowed but didn’t fight back—she didn’t really want to. His comforting heat enveloped her, and as quickly as she had woken, it was now as quickly hard to breathe.

  “You need?” He peered into her eyes.

  She scrunched her features and pressed her hands against his chest. “Not this,” she whispered.

  “This,” his voice was a soft feather as he scanned her face, “is resting, healing, rebounding and readying for the next move. This is exactly what you need. It’s what I need.”

  “The anticipation,” she swallowed again, “is killing me though.”

  “Is it?” He smirked.

  Elodie pushed. No give. Gunner was like an impenetrable wall. He was an impenetrable wall. Even bullets came to a dead stop when they hit his internal frame. She’d seen the smashed balls of metal on the floor. “Stop asking questions that I hate answering. There’s no rhetoricals with you.”

  His smile widened.

  The heat was suffocating.

  She didn’t want him to let her go. Her reflection was clear in his wild eyes and as she gazed at herself through him. Elodie liked being the sole thing he saw. And he really saw her, the true her, the self that she’d never shown to anyone before. He had from the beginning. She wanted to believe that she filled his space as much as he filled hers.

  Gunner dropped down onto his elbows and moved closer, crowding. His teasing smile melted into an unreadable, pinched line. She was trapped and it thrilled her. Because he trapped her, captivated her, she was willing. I’m still the only thing he sees. His chest pressed against her own. Elodie dug her nails into his skin, acknowledging the standoff but not pushing him away.

  “I didn’t wake you because I liked watching you sleep.” His lips brushed her own. His breathy words sent her stomach into a somersault.

  “I shouldn’t like that, but I do... Did you sleep?”

  His lips arched back into a smile. “No,” he told her. “I didn’t want to waste a moment.”

  Frown. “Waste a moment? Do Cyborgs live forever? Do they age? Either way, you likely have an eternity of moments to waste.”

  “Not with you.”

  His words gave her pause.

  They caught her off guard. She didn’t like the thought that they had moments that could be wasted, meaning that someday they could run out of moments entirely.

  It made her want to hold onto this second as long as she could. Like he was apparently trying so hard to do. Sad and wistful. The revelation wasn’t a pleasant one.

  She scanned his face, memorizing it.

  His nose bumped hers, endearingly, and she wrenched her eyes shut. Her hands loosened on his shoulders to bury into his tousled hair. A thousand irrational thoughts came to mind but she couldn’t manage to open her mouth or find the courage to voice them. Instead, she pulled him closer and mashed her lips to his, choosing to remain shuttered behind the walls of her eyelids.

  Gunner shattered her heart as he caressed her mouth open and deepened the kiss. A quiet, subtle, and strange desperation built between them. Elodie hitched up and fought for a breath but it only drowned her further. Her senses filled to the brink with him—the heady sweet sweat, adrenaline-tinged musk, and the rumbling thunder.

  His hand gripped the edge of her pants and pushed them down her legs. She untangled herself from them in a rush to bridge the gap. To feel his skin over hers. Her thighs abraded with friction when his were yanked down next and with the blanket still hovering over them both, hiding them from view, Gunner flipped her over onto her front and pressed his weight heavily against her back.

  Elodie moved her arms underneath her chest and rested on them as her hands cupped her face. Gunner’s arms appeared on either side of her head.

  It was quiet as the head of his cock pushed between her closed cheeks and sought entrance. She lifted her butt as far as he let her to close the distance.

  The process was achingly slow, painfully heart-wrenching, and filled her belly with chaotic butterflies.

  Gunner found her entrance, dipping in his thick tip in, before rocking back out. Elodie winced despite her essence slicking her skin but he took it slow and she rested into submission.

  The delicious smell of his pre-cum soon pooled to join her arousal to lubricate his way. It was intoxicating—drugging as it rolled over her—trapped by the man that shielded her. The scent of heady sex bubbled them in.

  His mouth caressed the back of her neck, over her nape, and along her shoulders. She leaned her face harder into her hands and stifled her moans as his cock drove deeper. Tears prickled her eyes from the sudden stretch.

  Elodie broke the silence whispering his name.

  Gunner’s hair fell across her cheek as he pressed his own mouth alongside hers, whispering her name back. He pushed down until their bodies plastered together. Locked together. Oh. She rubbed the dew on her eyelashes away.

  Then he began to move.

  Each time before had been a claiming in its own way. This time was different: a branding. He was burning himself into her thoughts as he took her body, and when her legs parted enough for him to fully seat himself deep inside her core, they began to move in unison.

  The silence that had enclosed them vanished in the building frenzy of their bodies. Elodie gasped as Gunner increased his tempo, thrusting harder each time. Rasps filled her ears, their faces still pressed together and their mouths side-by-side sharing the humid air. He rocked into her, spreading her legs further apart and pushed her forward into the floor, his chest hitting her back.

  Gunner slipped his palm under her forehead, cushioning it from his ruthless pounding into her body.

  A roaring grunt and a brutal thrust had her reaching up to grasp his hand. Gunner snaked his other arm under her chest and climaxed violently, holding her to his chest as he seized.

  Hot seed filled her pussy and spilled out to ease the friction where their legs tangled, rubbed, and slapped together. A crazy smile jerked at her lips as his body heaved and careened, caught up by the sudden, unexpected release. Gunner had lost control with her and she liked it, even more so because he had complete power over her own body at the same time.

  “Fuck!” His cheek left hers as he rested his brow against the back of her head. “Fuck,” he grunted again with another thrust, grinding her ass harder with his pelvis.

  An airy laugh escaped her. Elodie didn’t even try to hide it. She continued to giggle as he released her to collapse onto the bedding.

  “How am I going to keep you if I can’t even control myself?” Gunner rasped. “I owe you at least a good half hour for that one.”

  Her pussy clenched. He gave her another quick, brutal thrust.

  “I can’t believe I’m saying this,” she chuckled and gasped. “But you’re...” she almost lost her words as he continued spearing her, “...adorable.”

  He flipped her over onto her back and wicked red eyes filled her vision. My ref
lection. Mirth replaced the desperation and she wrapped her legs around his hips, slipping his thick shaft back into her.

  “Elodie, I’m not adorable.”

  “You are. Right now, you are.”

  Gunner’s face twisted devilishly. “Do I need to prove it to you?”

  Yes. No. Yes.

  “I don’t think that’s possible, anymore,” she teased.

  Gunner crushed his mouth to hers pulled out of her. His mouth bit and tore down her body, grazing his teeth over the long subtle curves of her frame. His face pressed between her shaky legs, and what she felt between them wasn’t entirely human. He wasn’t playing fair, shifting his face back into the frightening visage he wore when he had found her in this room. Elodie refused to look down and give him the satisfaction. He tortured her stubbornness with orgasms.

  When the third one gripped her body, Elodie began to think Gunner liked being vicious with her cunt and enjoyed having his face between her legs.

  A thrill swept through her. She was marking him in her own way.

  SHE WATCHED GUNNER check his weapons and belt them onto the foraged straps that crisscrossed his chest and shoulders. Apparently, he needed to recharge. It was hard for him to admit, and at first she was confused, but as his body healed before her eyes, and his darkening aura faded back into normalcy, she understood.

  Even a Cyborg had its limits. Sex wasn’t one of them.

  Their supplies had increased each day they had spent in the break room. Gunner had left on several occasions but had refused to let her join him. She would’ve cared if she hadn’t been working so hard on building the radio beacon.

  And she had fixed it, despite the odds, at least in a way. It held a charge and lit up when she turned it on, but the connection she’d hoped would happen instantly hadn’t occurred.