“Ship. Where is Taun?”
“Taun is in the workout room,” came the bland reply.
Since when did we have a workout room?
She wracked her brain trying to think. To be fair, there were a lot of rooms that she didn’t venture into on The Renegade.
Oh, right. It was the room on the fifth deck that no one visited. She glanced at her clock. It was in the middle of the night. Taun obviously wasn’t going to come to her, so maybe she should go to him?
That seemed like a good idea. Suni got up and changed from her pajamas, which was an oversized shirt, into loose pants and shirt and made her way to the workout room. She heard the grunts, loud music and machines being worked before she reached the room. When she finally reached the doorway, her jaw dropped. Raint was lifting an obscene amount of weights, and Zema was doing one-handed pull-ups.
Right. They were cyborgs with augmented body parts.
Then her eyes settled on Taun.
He was doing push ups while weights had been piled onto his back. Who had put all the weights there, she hadn’t a clue but that feat alone would’ve taken some man power. As Taun flexed and pushed, every muscle on his body reacted.
Taun looked…delicious.
He had on short shorts and nothing else. His body was perfection—which she already knew. Sweat glistened off bulging muscles that she wanted to caress and lick.
As if feeling her stare on him, he turned to watch her. She didn’t cower under his gaze. She appreciated his body and wanted him to know.
“Come here.”
Suni’s panties instantly wetted at the command. Her feet obeyed without a thought from her brain.
“Yes?”
“Lay on me.”
“Um. Are you sure? I haven’t been eating right and I can’t remember when was the last time I worked out.” Because it had been never.
Taun twisted to the side and the weights from his back clamored to the floor. Her grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him. She slid on his back and stretched out. Taun continued what he had been doing, raising up and down.
“So, you guys do this every night?”
“We need to. If we don’t work out daily our muscles ache. Working out to everyone else causes pain. To us, it relieves it.”
“Uh huh,” was all she could say as she rode his back up and down. She wrapped her arms around him, reveling in the feel of him under her skin.
She glanced at Zema working out by herself. “Is everything going to be okay with her?”
“Yes.”
His answer was too fast and blunt. She placed a hand on his shoulder. “Seriously.”
He grunted out his answer as he continued his workout.
“Taun. If there’s discord with your team, Saph will pick it up. She already has. She’s not going to like it if it continues indefinitely.”
“We’re a pod,” he stated. “We have issues between us, but we’ll work through it.”
“What’s a pod?” She ran a hand over one of his sweaty pecs, loving how he felt under her touch.
“It’s a cyborg unit. We’re a team.”
“Where you all a team before…?”
“No. I don’t know where my other pod is or if they made it off the prison transporter. But if they’re out there, I’ll find them.” He finished his set and sat up, cradling her to him as he repositioned her on his chest. They stared into each other’s eyes as he ran a hand down her back.
“Are you finished?” Her mouth and lips were dry. It was something about sitting on his sweaty body, feeling the heat radiating off him, that did it for her. A pleasurable sensation settled between her thighs, at her core, and she liked the feeling.
“Here? Yes. With you? No.”
“Oh, my,” she whispered.
“For the love of the Ancients,” Raint grumbled. “Can you both just leave already? Some of us need to finish our workout.”
Taun set her down. When he stood, he held out his hand to her. “I have to go to the shower. Care to wait for me in my room?”
“Of course.”
* * *
As soon as they entered his room, Taun dropped to his knees and pulled down her pants at the same time. He looped her leg over his shoulder and buried his face between her thighs. His mouth was hot and greedy on her clit. The first swipe of his tongue sent a wave of pleasure down her spine and to the pit of her stomach. She was a complete mess after that.
Taun’s tongue licked and probed. It delved in and out of her pussy, fucking and licking her walls. Her pussy clenched his tongue. Her wetness seeped from her in waves. The sounds of Taun lapping her made her knees weak and legs shake. Her orgasm rocketed through her.
When her legs were about to give out from exhaustion, Taun looped the other over his other shoulder, lifting her and adjusting her at the same time. He pinned her to the wall and pushed his pants down just enough to free his cock, then lowered her onto it.
Suni inhaled a sharp breath as he entered her, stretching her to her limit. The stretch was both painful but tantalizing. She wanted more. She lowered her core, taking him deeper than she had before. “Oh, yes!”
Taun held her open as he pumped into her. This time there was no time between strokes to breathe and acclimate to his size and she loved it. The sounds of her wetness reverberated off the walls, mixing with the sounds of his hips slapping against her butt. Suni wrapped her arms around Taun’s neck and cried out her pleasure into the side of his neck. “Harder!”
The next strokes made stars dance around her head. It was too much, yet, not enough. She wanted Taun completely and forever. The thought ripped through her just as another orgasm did.
“Ancients!” Taun’s pumps became sporadic and uncontrolled.
They stayed there, her pinned to the wall and him supporting her, while they caught their breaths. Taun carried her to his bed and placed her gently on top. He crawled onto it, positioning himself behind her then pulling her flush against his body, as he draped himself over her back and side.
“Are you alright? I was rougher than I should’ve been.”
She ran her fingers up the arm that he’d laid across her middle and chest, letting her fingers play with his hairs. “I’m probably going to have a hard time walking later. But this was good.”
Taun kissed her shoulder. “You should’ve made me stop.”
She snuggled against his chest. “Never.”
She liked this. She wanted this to last forever. But there was a matter of his home and the others he wanted to find.
“Do you have a mother and father?”
“I still have both. I don’t know where they are.”
“Do you think the emperor has them in prison?”
Taun blew out a breath. “I don’t know. They were off-planet on holiday before Shui’s intentions of capturing our loved-ones and family members, but they were due to return. I tried to send them a message not to return to Kirs, but I don’t know if the message reached them or not. Shui captured my pod before I could find out where they were.”
She slipped her fingers into his large palm and held his hand. “I’m sorry, Taun.”
“None of this is your fault. You didn’t make Shui turn into a murderous tyrant bent on conquering worlds.”
She rubbed a hand up his arm and across his chest, taking the time to caress every muscle as she did. “I know. I just feel bad for you all. You’ve already gone through a lot to become what you are and the person who was supposed to protect and have your back turned on you.”
“It’s not an easy life. I knew this going into the transformation, but I was willing to see it through for the better or the worse.”
“Your plan?”
He pulled her closer, cradling her to his body. “Find my pod mates and others like us and return home.”
She raised her head to look at him. “But won’t Shui kill you?”
“We’ll be smarter than he is. We can’t leave him to overtake Bionus and we can’t have him remain
in power over Kirs. My people deserve better.”
Suni bit her lip. The question she wanted to ask next would reveal her feelings and her vulnerability for the need that raged through her.
“So, I gather growing up with Yovit was a hard life?”
She sighed deeply. “It wasn’t always bad. At least not when our mother was alive. It was good. I mean, Yovit was always Yovit, but she created balance and stability. Whenever he came up with his next great money-making scheme or investment she would say, ‘That’s Yovit, being Yovit’ and we would all laugh.” Suni blinked back her tears. “It was funny, until it wasn’t anymore.”
“How old were you before she passed?”
“Seventeen. She gave died giving birth to Tayan.”
Taun hugged her tighter as her breath hitched on a sniffle. Even though it had been years ago, sometimes it felt like her death had just happened and she needed to complete the grieving process all over again.
“Your planet isn’t an M-Class planet? I haven’t heard of anyone dying in childbirth on developed worlds.”
“Oh, no. Our planet or technology on it wasn’t the problem. It was Yovit.” Her voice took on a hard edge. “By that time, he had so many debts that no one would extend credit to him. My mother gave birth to Tayan at home with Saph and I to help. Yovit was off planet, on The Renegade, chasing some investment when she had gone into labor.”
“Suni, I’m so sorry.”
She sniffled. “That was no more your fault than us being responsible for Shui’s actions.”
He ran a hand over head and down to the tips of her hair, where he lingered, playing with it. “I know. I just wish I could take that pain away from you.”
“Having you all onboard has been good for us. Saph claims that she doesn’t like you here, but it feels good…right. We’re all a team. Kind of like a family.”
Taun stiffened. His breathing stopped. The air changed in the room. “Suni, you do understand that we aren’t staying, don’t you?”
She pressed her nose and chin against his chest. “But you could. I can talk to Saph and continue to work on her. She’ll agree once she understands how close we’ve become.”
“No, Suni. We can’t stay. I have to get back to my pod, my people, my family and my planet.”
This time Suni stiffened. “What about me?”
“You’ll finish the scavenger hunt, and you’ll go back home where you belong.”
“And us?” She tried to hide the pain in her voice but wasn’t successful. It shook as she spoke.
“Suni, there is no us. There can never be an us as long as I remain wanted by Shui.”
Chapter Seventeen
Vril leaned against the doorframe, watching Saph as she scrutinized the holo map in front of her. He had asked the ship’s computer system her location and wasn’t surprised when the response was, “You do not have permission to access Saphyra’s location.”
In fact, he would’ve been surprised if the message had been different. Despite not being told where she was, he knew exactly where to find her. The bridge. It was where she seemed to always be, unless she was glaring at him in the dining hall over her food.
She hadn’t heard him approach. It wasn’t that he had been trying to sneak up on her, she’d been so engrossed in what she was doing she hadn’t reacted when he had knocked on the side of the wall. He thought about knocking again but paused, taking a few minutes to study her, just as she was studying her map.
Some people might think of her as plain. Nothing stood out about her. She could blend in with a crowd of people and no one would take notice.
Except for him.
Her hair was dark but held hints of red, gold and bronze. With his enhanced eyesight, the highlights made the strands shimmer and shine under the artificial light. She wore it hanging on her shoulders in an uneven cut. In the short amount of time that he had known her, he could guess that she had done the cut herself. Probably taken a knife to it because it was in her way and hacked at it without a care to the style or who might see her wearing it. He couldn’t imagine her worrying about impressing someone with her hair.
She wore a sleeveless shirt that was tight against her small breasts. The air on the bridge was just chilly enough to make her nipples pucker. The thin material of her shirt bunched around her narrow waist. She had on formfitting shorts that stopped mid-thigh. One leg was raised, with her foot resting on her seat and her elbow propped against her knee. Even in the relaxed position she was anything but. Her face was set in concentration and her eyes were full of calculating assessment.
She let out a deep breath. “How are we going to keep this up?” she muttered under her breath.
If not for his enhanced hearing he wouldn’t have been able to make out what she had said. “Keep what up?”
Saph jumped, startled by his voice. She glared at him and set her foot down. “For the love of the Ancients, why are you always sneaking up on me?”
He smirked, finding humor in her response. He didn’t know why her ire was a turn on for him. Maybe because such spit and fire came from such a little and fragile person. Although he would never describe her as such within earshot of her. “I’m not sneaking up on you. It’s not my fault that your hearing isn’t as good as mine.”
He entered the room and sat in one of the empty chairs. It creaked under his weight. Like most of the chairs on this ship it was old and needed to be replaced.
She eyed him suspiciously. “How good is your hearing, exactly? Can you hear behind walls?”
“Depends.” He could’ve elaborated but he found that he liked riling her up.
Her eyes narrowed as she waited for him to say more then realized he wasn’t going to. “More specifically, can you hear through these walls.”
He smiled slowly. Her eyes grew wide as she watched him. “Don’t you dare listen to me while I’m in my private quarters.”
He chuckled. “Calm down, little bit. The walls of this vessel are too thick to properly hear anything. This vessel is made from outdated material. The newer ships have thinner metal alloy.”
It was her turn to smile. “Good for us.”
He inclined his head, giving her that. He turned the chair to face the map and studied it. “What’s going on? Where are we going next?”
She paused. She could either kick him out, telling him he would find out with the rest of his pod or she could tell him. After a few beats she turned back to the map as well. “Before she was abducted, Tayan found the next item.” Saph touched a point on the map. “We’re heading toward Ustrea-4.”
Vril studied the distance. It was far from where they were now. The ship had space jump capabilities which would make the normally week’s long trip traveling at regular speed more like a half-day trip. “What’s the problem?”
“Our jump system. We don’t have the necessary coolant to properly flush the jump capacitor after use. It was broken years ago.”
“You knew this before telling X-9 to jump away from Kenzi?”
Saph nodded. “I didn’t have a choice. The Ghost can outgun and outrun us. There’s no way we could’ve stayed in the same vicinity as him.” She crossed her arms. “You guys may have the ability to regenerate and heal, but my family and I don’t. I had to think of them first and the ship last.” She went back to studying the map.
Vril knew what it was like to have other people’s lives in his hands. Being a leader came with great responsibility. He loved what he did and thrived under the pressure, and also knew full well how that weight could cripple a person if they weren’t strong enough for the job. He watched Saph. She was strong. Stronger than a lot of people he knew, including other cyborgs.
“Do we need to stop somewhere and have repairs completed?”
“We do. But we don’t have the credits for such a repair. X-9 is seeing what he can do to salvage the situation. We aren’t going to jump any time soon, which I knew, but I hate thinking that I ruined our chances to ever jump again. I was hoping that one day
, when we had the credits to get it fixed, that we could do that. Now…” She shook her head.
“No need beating yourself up about it. You made the call, and it was the right one. Your sister is safe and we’re away from Kenzi. The focus is getting to Ustrea-4 and picking up your item.”
“It’s so far away. By the time we get there we’d for sure miss two or three subsequent items. The clues for the items are being released in rapid succession now. Two months ago, taking this kind of journey would be fine.” She shook her head and crossed her arms. “I don’t think we can chance the trip now.”
“And if you skip it?”
“We lose out on claiming the points for it. One thousand—which is a lot. The last item netted us two hundred points.”
He leaned back in his chair and steeped his hands on his lap. “Let’s think about this. Say we did miss the next three items and each of those items were worth two hundred points each. If we went to Ustrea-4, we would still be up by four hundred points.”
“Yes, but someone else may be able to get all four items, putting them up sixteen hundred points. We would be down six hundred points.”
“Yes, but if you didn’t go to Ustrea-4, the most you could hope to net by staying in this area would be the six hundred points. You can’t focus on what someone else can get, concentrate on what we can do.” He raised his right palm up. “We could get six hundred points, or,” he raised his left hand, palm up, “one thousand points.”
She swiveled her chair to the console and stabbed some buttons with her fingers. “To Ustrea-4 it is.”
Huh, she actually listened to his advice. Vril smiled to himself.
“Don’t get so full of yourself,” she grumbled.
He chuckled. “I’m not full of myself.”
“Yes, you are. You’re smirking.”
“So, I can’t smirk now?”
She glanced at him. She had beautiful eyes. Calculating. They didn’t seem to miss anything. “No.” Then turned back to the console.
Saving The Cyborg (Cyborg Redemption) Page 14