by Aurelia Skye
His eyes had widened slightly, and they abruptly moved from her as his expression shuttered. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking, or if he shared the intense reaction. It was disappointing and frustrating to have him look away, and it took patience not to rush forward, take his hand from where it rested on the arm of the chair, and stare into his eyes as she asked him if he felt it too.
By the time he reached them, his expression was completely neutral, and when his gaze darted in her direction, it seemed to move on rapidly before returning to MX’s.
“Welcome to the enclave. I spoke with Gwen and your general, so I’ve been apprised of the situation. General DVS requested I select a partner for you, MX409. I believe you know Heather?”
MX shifted, making Raven suddenly aware of his discomfort. She had thought she picked up unease on the way during their journey, which had fortunately been uneventful, but she hadn’t asked him about it. She’d been too consumed by her own thoughts to reach out and ask about his concerns. Observing him now with the Heather Leith had introduced, she could see he was more nervous than ever. She almost reached out to offer a comforting hand, but held back. She and MX weren’t especially close, but that could be said of him and everyone.
“Hello, Ms. Sanchez.” MX409’s voice sounded thick. “I wasn’t expecting to be working with you.”
She nodded, looking a little angry. “Likewise, but I have the knowledge to complement your needs, and we’re working together for a common good, so I think we can do this.” She sounded slightly unconvinced, as though her words were meant to brace herself as much as anyone else.
Raven was somewhat unaware of the subtext, but the name Sanchez was familiar. Heather must be related in some fashion to the human woman MX had killed when the cyborgs and humans first met weeks before.
“Do you mind showing MX to his quarters please, Heather? I’ll escort RVN99 to where she’ll be staying.”
Leith’s voice was husky, with a hint of roughness, and it sent shivers down her spine. With a word of parting to MX, Raven stepped up to Leith, standing beside him in his chair. “I prefer Raven.”
The leader cleared his throat. “I thought cyborgs went by designations?”
“Technically, but Carrie likes to humanize our names. She chose Raven for me, and I like it. It sounds better than letters and numbers to me.”
He nodded as his chair started to move. “I’ll try to remember that. I’m Leith Campbell, and I guess I’m the leader now that Gwen has moved to the cyborg base to be with her mate.”
“I was briefed,” said Raven, feeling awkward. She wasn’t certain what to say to him. She couldn’t just blurt out the thoughts in her head, or tell him she was certain he was fated to be her mate. As they moved along the corridor, he kept a careful distance between them, and his interaction at a minimum, making her compulsion to tell him start to wane anyway.
She was still feeling the pull, and he drew her in, but it seemed clear that the feeling wasn’t mutual. In fact, he looked uncomfortable, and she was the most obvious reason for his discomfort. Either he didn’t like her personally, or he didn’t like having another cyborg liaison in the enclave. Whatever his reasons, it was obvious to her that he didn’t want her there, and that hurt more than it should have, considering she didn’t really know him at all.
***
Leith finally let his face relax after the door closed behind Raven. He’d kept his expression deliberately neutral, maintaining an aloof distance between them as he tried to process what was happening. One look at her had been enough to send his pulse rate skyrocketing, which was a disconcerting experience.
Of course he’d found women attractive over the years, but he had never made any effort to act on it. The accident that had put him in the wheelchair had rendered him insensate from the waist down, so while he had some physical reaction to attractive women, it was more cerebral for him. The little blue cyborg was the first woman who had made him react so strongly, and he was still reeling.
He couldn’t identify exactly what it was about her that left him in this state. She had the typical light blue skin that all the cyborgs had, along with a network of luminescent veins and circuitry that faintly glowed underneath her skin. It was a strangely beautiful sight, but he hadn’t had the same kind of reaction when he had met the general’s mate.
Perhaps that was because she was only half cyborg, but he didn’t think it was that. Possibly it was Raven’s sparkling brown eyes rimmed with dark blonde lashes several shades darker than the golden-blonde strands she had worn confined in a ponytail. His fingers had twitched at the instinctive urge to run his fingers through them after freeing her hair from the band holding it.
He couldn’t explain his reaction to Raven, but he was desperate to avoid it. It would simply complicate working together with her and the other cyborgs, especially when nothing could come from it.
If he maintained a distance between them, it was sure to cause the spark of attraction to fizzle quickly. As lovely as she was, she would likely have no problem finding potential partners either among the cyborgs or the humans, and she wouldn’t look twice at him anyway. He’d accepted long ago that he would likely never find a partner, especially since he couldn’t give her children or satisfy the usual physical needs of a woman.
Leith had been certain he was reconciled to that, and instead had devoted himself to helping the enclave in whatever capacity he could. Much of his existence was in this intellectual realm, and he turned his talents toward invention, improvement, and designs that would help the humans survive for at least another generation. He was content, and it was bewildering to have Raven arrive and throw his carefully ordered existence into immediate chaos.
As he made his way toward his quarters, after having arranged a rendezvous with Raven in the morning to begin their investigation, he was tempted to contact Gwen and request DVS send a different cyborg instead. Only the humiliation of explaining why held him back—that, and a strange reluctance to see Raven leave and never return. He couldn’t have her, but he wasn’t ready to see her leave just yet.
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About Aurelia
Aurelia Skye is the pen name USA Today bestselling author Kit Tunstall uses when writing science fiction romance. It’s simply a way to separate the myriad types of stories she writes so readers know what to expect with each “author.”
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