I should have known it would be there. From the day we met, it had been there. No explanation, no logical reason to exist, but it was there. We didn’t fight it; we kept it secret yes, but we never fought how we felt about each other.
Why was I fighting now?
I pulled his hand free across my lap and shifted so I faced him. The hand that held the bag of ice fell limply to his side. I cupped his cheeks with my hands and forced his gaze to meet mine. “I am the one who’s at fault, Acer. You deserve the truth. I didn’t hurt myself trying to get away from you.” I brushed my thumb over his lower lip, and he inhaled sharply. “The truth is, I never want to get away from you. All I wanted to do was crawl back into your arms and kiss you until we were both breathless.”
“Truth?” His voice betrayed a hint of hope.
I wanted to smack myself. My actions made him doubt himself. “Truth.” I stated firmly. “You don’t remember us, but I’ve realized that’s okay. You don’t have to because I do.” I placed a hand over his heart. “I’ve been treating you like you aren’t the Acer I knew, and while it’s true, I forgot that no matter what happens you are mine. I ran the tip of my nose along his neck, drinking in the scent I loved. “No mind-wipe can ever erase that.” I raised my head and looked past the hundred reasons my mind tried to tell me this wasn’t my Acer. He was. Every bolt, every circuit, every wire.
He was mine.
“I am done fighting. I promised you I would find you if you got lost. I intend to keep that promise.”
“How?” he asked as he placed his hand mine resting over his heart.
“I think it’s better if I show you.”
His heart picked up speed beneath my palm. “Show me.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
*Acer*
“How about we start with a kiss? A real kiss this time.” Marley’s finger traced the seam of my lips.
With that simple touch, my internal core temperature rose. “A kiss?” I swallowed hard. I wanted that kiss.
You want more than that, cyborg, my processors chimed. You want her to touch you, anywhere, everywhere. Think how good her hands will feel on your frame. Now, think about her lips doing the same. I smothered a groan. Just the idea alone caused my cock to start to harden within the confines of my pants. I quickly ordered it to stand down, my cheeks heating as I prayed Marley wouldn’t notice.
Her lips tipped up at the corners. She knew. I waited for her to say something, but she simply pressed her lips to mine, she captured them and claimed them in one blissful swoop. Her hands cradled my head while her lips moved over mine, seeking entrance. I parted my lips to grant her entry. The kiss started soft and sweet but morphed into something different. Desire flared as she stroked her tongue along mine, and I must be a fast learner because I wasted no time and copied her movements. I returned the kiss with everything I had, pouring out everything I felt but didn’t have words for. Her taste ignited my processors, and I burned. I ached to have any part she granted me.
She grew pliant in my arms, her body relaxed, as she gave me complete control of the kiss. I drove my tongue in deeper, seeking more of her flavor and was rewarded with a muffled moan. I answered with a moan of my own before I ended the kiss and pulled back struggling to catch my breath. My heart hammered against my chest; I licked my lips, savoring the remaining, lingering taste of Marley.
She mimicked me, her pink tongue peeked out of the lips that a second ago fused to mine. She licked her lips slowly as her eyes roamed over every inch of my frame. Pure heat ignited in her gaze.
Lust. She desires me. The idea startled me. A cyborg was not a desirable choice for a human unless they were a Service Model, and with my incomplete status, it would be logical to assume I would be an even less desirable candidate.
Apparently, that logic didn’t apply to the female on my lap “You truly desire me.” It wasn’t a question. My processors buzzed with the revelation, as a mouthwatering scent flooded my senses.
She smelled good enough to eat.
I inhaled deeper. Arousal. I recalled the image of her in the Technology Model’s arms, and my processors confirmed she had not given off any scent. Marley hadn’t wanted him. She didn’t want any cyborg. She wanted me.
“Lock your legs around me,” I ordered, a thrill went through me when she quickly complied. I stood and took her with me, sheets, and all as I deposited her on the edge of the bed. I dropped to my knees, grasped her hips and drew them towards my face.
I nuzzled her inner thigh, and her hands slammed against the sides of my skull. “Acer, maybe we should stop.” The words tumbled out of her mouth, but there was no conviction in her tone.
“Why?” I pressed my fingertips into her thighs. “You told me you would show me.” I tipped my head back, and even disheveled and tangled in sheets, Marley was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
I had been one lucky cyborg.
I was one lucky cyborg.
The voice in my CPU was right about one thing; I wanted more than a kiss, but although I was dying for her to touch me right now, I wanted something else more. I longed to run my hands over her soft skin and taste the tantalizing scent between her thighs.
My programming pounded a furious beat inside my head. Taste her. Bring her pleasure. Remind her she is yours. The last thought made my circuits spin. Could this beautiful female truly be mine? Not the cyborg I was before, but mine.
I inched her thighs apart slowly. “Have I tasted you before?” If I had been a smart cyborg, the answer would be yes.
A blush worked its way up her neck, staining her cheeks and darkening the tips of her ears. “Yes.”
“How many times?” I growled.
“Once,” she answered breathlessly. “Only once.”
Once? Only once? Maybe I hadn’t been the smartest cyborg.
I dropped my head down and brushed my lips over her clothed pussy. “I want to remember how you taste.”
Her hands clutched my skull, and she tugged my head closer to the space between her thighs. Her body trembled beneath my hands. “Me too,” she confessed, softly. “When you touch me, I forget you don’t remember.” Her hands tilted my head, the heat that blazed in her eyes was hot enough to set my wires on fire. “All I see is you,” she ran a finger down my cheek. “All I feel is you.”
If I had been waiting for permission, that was it. I couldn’t be bothered with taking the time to remove her pants and whatever she wore underneath. I dug my fingers into the cloth and ripped, seams tore; the sound almost music to my ears. Even better, the scent of her arousal intensified. I couldn’t help the grin that spread across my face, nor the rush of blood that went straight to my cock.
My eyes locked on a set of pretty, pink, swollen lips that begged me to taste them. Without thought, I licked my lips and watched in fascination as Marley’s pussy grew wetter. Her honey dripped, slicking her thighs as I spread them wider to accommodate the size of my frame.
The grip on my skull tightened. “Make me feel.”
Her wish was my command. I dipped my head and dragged my tongue slowly up her slit. The taste slammed into my circuits, and I groaned.
More.
I need more.
I licked and sucked, feasting on her pussy as I learned what she liked. My tongue flicked over the tender bud at the juncture of her thighs and she arched, a loud moan filling the space. Her groans muffled by her thighs. They pressed harder against my skull, locking me to her as if she feared I would stop.
I wasn’t going anywhere. My processors hummed, my cock rock-hard as her flavor cycled through my circuits on glorious repeat.
“Don’t...you...oh god.” She lost the ability to form complete sentences as she began to ride my face, chasing her pleasure with reckless abandon. I let her use me, my tongue, my mouth, my lips, the smooth metal of my face growing warm when she rocked against me.
“Yes,” I growled as I chased after her, my own hips rocked against the bed in time, matching her movements. I franti
cally sought her clit and drew the bud into my mouth. I sucked hard, and she shattered, her thighs shaking as she called my name. I came then and there, cum erupted from my tip to soak through my pants, creating a mess.
It wasn’t only my pants that currently were a mess. Every system inside me was wrecked. My processors blown apart from the force of cumming so hard I could have sworn I lost power for a second.
Pride washed through me. That had been me. Not him. I sank back on my heels and smiled. The slick of her release coated my cheeks, lips and chin.
“Holy hell. That was...”
“Incredible,” I finished.
She tipped her head to look at me. “Yes.” She smiled. “Now, it’s your turn.”
Satisfied, this Marley was far from the hesitant Marley who only planned to give me a kiss. Her words made my cock twitch. It wanted what she offered. I wanted it badly. Unfortunately, I needed a moment to recover.
“Umm, I’ll need a minute,” I couldn’t blush, not really, the metal of my cheeks didn’t show any change of color as an indicator, but I could feel it. Heat rose, it warmed the metal, and I squirmed under her gaze.
“Why?” She glanced down and noticed the state of my pants. “Oh,” she said with surprise in her tone.
I ripped off part of the sheet and threw it over my lap trying to hide the wet spot from view. “I couldn’t help it. Your taste was delicious. I couldn’t get enough. The moment you called my name; I couldn’t help it. I came so hard; I think I might have gone offline for a second.”
It was her turn to blush. “No one’s...I mean...that’s hot.”
My processors sat up. “Really?”
She nodded.
“It doesn’t bother you?”
Her eyebrows rose. “Why would it?”
The familiar heat of blush returned. “Because I didn’t even last long enough to get my pants off. I bet the earlier version of me managed to last long...”
Her hand shot out and covered my mouth. “Don’t you dare finish that sentence, cyborg. I am done comparing who you were with who you are now. You were the cyborg I wanted. You. I find it sexy that bringing me pleasure brought you pleasure. It makes me feel like you truly do enjoy being with me.” She let her hand fall. “That this whole thing isn’t one-sided. I worry, you know.” She tugged on a strand of her hair and wrapped it around her finger as her gaze roamed the room, looking everywhere but me.
I gripped her chin and forced her to look at me. “This is not one-sided. I am the one who pushed for more. I wanted more. This pull, this attraction. I don’t understand it, but I feel it.”
“Let’s make a deal? No more fretting over the ‘what’s in the past’. We can’t change it, anyway. Let’s spend our time making new memories, okay?”
I let go and pressed quick kisses along her jaw and up her cheek which caused her to giggle. Inside, I smiled. I wasn’t sure what I liked more. Her calling my name when she climaxed or the sounds of her laughter when worry started to eat away at her. I did know I wanted to hear more of both. I nuzzled the shell of her ear and relished her quick intake of breath. “You have yourself a deal.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
*Marley*
After quick, separate showers, I let Acer talk me into letting Dax examine the back of my head. I might have winced while I washed my hair in the shower which had a very worried cyborg racing through the bathroom door to check on me. I smiled to myself as I walked to the lab with Acer’s hand wrapped around mine.
The heavy weight consuming my soul now felt a tad lighter. Acer and I had a chance for a fresh start. A chance to fall in love all over again without fear and dread hanging over our heads. We could embrace being happy—really happy. The stupid kind of happy. The sighing, laughing, can’t keep our hands off each other kind of happy. My grin got wider.
“What are smiling about?”
“You. Me. A second chance at happiness.”
His stopped walking and turned to look at me. “You were happy with me?”
“I am happy with you.”
My words were rewarded with a brilliant smile. That smile caused a group of cyborgs walking down the hall in the opposite direction to stop and stare. Acer seemed oblivious to the attention and kept grinning at me like an idiot.
I gave him a nudge. “We have company.”
He turned and flashed his smile at the group of cyborgs. “Hi!”
The cyborgs took a step back. “Why is he smiling at us?” one asked.
“Did you hear him say ‘hi’?” another chimed.
“What is wrong with him?” the third added.
The look on Acer’s face became adorably confused. “My processors are running at one-hundred percent which means there is no reason for you to worry. I am fully functional.”
“What is going on here?” a new voice echoed from down the hall. Dash’s blue frame appeared around the corner. Iris followed behind him, complete unaware as she chatted away. The closer the pair got, the more I could hear what she said.
“Can you believe it blueberry? He just gave them to me! I didn’t even have to pull out the big guns and hug the big gray bastard.” Iris chuckled to herself. I could see she carried a big box in her hands which she gazed lovingly toward.
“Not that I really think Reaper is a bastard. Not anymore. He is sweet and adorable, and I think I might have to...wait! Is that Acer and Marley? Why are they stopped in the middle of the hall? Why is that group of cyborgs staring at Acer like he grew another head?”
Dash sighed before he smiled at Iris, the look took even my breath away. Pure love reflected in his eyes. “That is why we stopped. I wondered the same thing. So,” Dash crossed his massive blue arms over his chest as his eyes flashed. “Anyone care to tell us what’s going on here?”
I resisted the urge to step back. Service Models weren’t normally known to be aggressive. Out of every model type, they tended to be the sweetest. Oh, a few had returned to the Global Allegiance because their owners wanted them to indulge in darker behaviors, to show more dominance and be willing to hurt them. I always hated when they ordered me to change their programming.
The look in the Service Model’s eyes when they came back online haunted me. They didn’t even resemble themselves after the program change. I completed two before I refused to do anymore. I couldn’t stand taking someone so sweet and twisting them just to make some rich prick happy.
There was nothing in Dash’s eyes that said his programming had been altered, but he sure was giving off an ‘I can kick all your asses and not even break a sweat’ kind of vibe.
Iris let out a happy little sigh. “I love it when he gets all protective. Who says Service Models can’t be badasses?”
Dash smirked. “I am a badass.”
Iris rose up on her tiptoes and planted a wet kiss on his cheek. “Yes, you are, baby. My badass.”
“They are together?” Acer asked with a whisper.
His question made both Iris and Dash frown.
One of the cyborgs from the group, a Technology Model started gesturing at Acer, a look of concern etched on his purple face. “See? He is not acting like himself! That’s why we stopped. There has to be something wrong with him. He smiled at me, Dash.”
Dash’s mouth dropped open. “He what?”
“That’s not all! He said ‘hi’!” one of other cyborgs added.
Dash and Iris gasped.
“You are never nice. You never smile or say ‘hi’.” Dash’s eyes blazed. “I know! Hit me! Come on, hit me!”
Acer’s eyes went wide at Dash’s request. “I refuse!”
“Fine. Growl at me then! Do something—anything unpleasant!” Dash’s brow furrowed, and real worry flashed across his face.
“Stop it! All of you! Acer is fine! He just felt like being nice today, okay?” I refused to explain Acer’s sudden change of behavior. It was his choice if he wanted to let others know what happened. I put my hands on my hips and glared at everyone in the hallway. “Now, could y
ou all please drop this, and let us pass?”
“You heard Acer’s female, move now!” Reaper’s command boomed through the hall, and it made everyone jump. The group of cyborgs took off down the hall, not willing to go toe-to-toe with Reaper. Dash and Iris moved out of his way but remained in the hallway. They stood with their backs to the wall, unaffected by the sight of the Military Model in full kick-ass mode.
Acer watched him as he marched towards us, a bit of an awed expression on his face. “Who is he?”
I took Acer’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “His name is Reaper.”
He scratched his temple. “Reaper? Have we met before? You seem cool.”
Reapers boots screeched to a halt on the concrete floor. “Wait, you think I’m cool now?”
Acer shrugged. “What? Didn’t I think you were cool before?”
Reaper’s mouth fell, and I fought the urge to laugh. Reaper and I had not started out on the best foot. The urge to laugh instead of kick him was a major improvement on my part.
“And now, you understand why we are concerned, Reaper.” Dash said as he pushed his frame away from the wall and walked towards us.
Acer frowned. “By the sound of things, I take it I wasn’t the friendliest of cyborgs, was I?”
“Don’t. It doesn’t matter. There was a reason behind your actions. All that matters is who you are now.”
“Listen to your female, Acer.”
I reached out and poked Reaper playfully in the chest. “What did you say? Acer should listen to me? Did I hear you correctly? Are you sure you are okay? Do I need to run a diagnostic?”
Reaper rolled his eyes. “Apparently Acer isn’t the only one with a personality change around here.”
“I so love this new and improved Reaper,” Iris chimed with a huge grin.
It wasn’t only Iris. I seriously considered tossing my arms around Reaper’s neck so I could give the big gray bag of bolts a hug. In fact, my feet started to inch closer of their own accord.
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