I halted my steps, and my fingers slipped from his. It took him a moment before he realized I released his hand and planted my feet in the hallway; my body refused to move another inch.
He spun around to face me. “Why did you stop?”
“Because I need you to tell me what’s wrong.”
He shifted from foot to foot, his hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck. “Nothing’s wrong.”
I crossed the remaining distance between us. “You are a horrible liar, Sunshine.” I grasped his chin. “You haven’t said one word to me since we left the lab. I noticed Dax talking to you. What did he say?”
“He confirmed something I already suspected.” His golden gaze refused to meet my eyes. They wandered up and down, checking out the walls and the ceiling until finally settling on his boots.
“And what is that?”
He lifted his eyes. “That my earlier version was a monster.”
I let go of him and staggered backwards. Spots danced in front of my eyes as my whole body went still. My Acer had never been a monster. Misunderstood, afraid, and trapped by things he couldn’t change, but never a monster.
Monsters were the ones who had tormented him. Who had only saw an unfinished cyborg freak, enabling their justification to hurt and abuse him worse than the others. Monsters were like the cruel doctor. Someone who stole a girl away from her life and locked her in the dark to fulfill their own sick purposes.
“He was never a monster. You were never a monster.” I took another step back, my knees weak.
“Marley,” he reached for me, but I shook my head.
“No.” I pointed a shaky finger at him. “You don’t know what he went through. What we went through. How we suffered. How hard we fought to find our way back to each other.”
He moved, trying to close the space between us, his eyes flashing. “Dax said; I don’t know if he’s right. Tell me Marley, did saving me break your heart?”
“Does it matter? I made my choice. I thought you made yours.” I clutched my stomach as a wave of nausea rolled through me. “We had a deal.”
“You’re right. I am sorry. I just feel so confused. I look at Rust and don’t understand how I could have done something like that.” He shook his head sadly. “The Medical Model will be forever disfigured.” He held his hands out in front of him, “because of these!” His hands trembled. “And I can’t even remember why!”
I took his hands in mine, holding them until they stopped trembling. I couldn’t stand the look of pure torment on his face. I hadn’t wanted to bring up the past. Content to leave it behind and start again, but it was clear to me that course of action hurt my cyborg. I took a breath. “Because he was part of something that hurt me, Acer. That is why you hurt him.”
He blinked; fast shaky breaths exited his lips. “He helped to hurt you? Why?”
“Someone very bad did horrible things to us. Years and years of horrible things, Acer.” I exhaled the breath I hadn’t known I’d been holding. Another round of nausea gripped my stomach, and I worked hard to force whatever was threatening to come up to go back down. There was more to say. “You weren’t thinking straight. All you knew was Rust helped the person who hurt me. You lost yourself to the madness of your failing programming and your rage. When you came to your senses, you ordered Reaper to destroy you. You believed you deserved to be punished and that your death would be the only way to protect me and the others from your deteriorating processors.”
I grabbed his shoulders. “I couldn’t let death take you, not after I survived hell to be with you again, even if you forgot me.” I thumped my hand to my chest. “Even if it broke my heart.”
I leaned my ear to his chest and let the sound of his steady heartbeat calm me. “I could survive a broken heart. I would have never survived your death.” I tilted my head back so I could see his face. “It’s always been you,” I whispered. “I love you, Acer. The past you, the present you and what you will be in the future. You are my cyborg. Mine. And one day, you will remember that.”
He wrapped his arms around me and held me close, burying his face in my hair. I heard him draw in a breath and knew he was filling his lungs with my scent.
“I don’t need to remember,” he whispered softly. “I knew I was yours the moment I came online.”
*Acer*
I leaned down and scooped Marley up and into my arms. Like the night before, I carried her the rest of the way along the hall and into our quarters. This time though, I had other things on my mind. I shut the door behind me with a well-placed kick and strode right to our bedroom, depositing Marley gently on the bed.
The corners of her mouth twitched. “Have something in mind, Sunshine?”
I nodded while I reached to yank the hoodie off but then remembered about Quackers in the front pocket. Carefully, I tugged him out of my pocket and searched the room for a good place to put him. I thought about what I planned to do with my female. I looked into Quackers’ dark eyes. “One moment.”
I quickly stepped out of the bedroom, taking Quackers with me. There was an empty shelf in the living room. I placed Quackers on the shelf. “Stay. I will be back to collect you after I spend time with my female.” The little duck didn’t reply, but I imagined he was thankful.
I raced to the bedroom, and my feet came to a grinding halt when I stepped through the doorway.
My female lay stretched out over the bed, her clothes in a messy pile on the floor. Every inch of her glorious skin revealed for me to gaze upon, to feast on.
She leaned up on her elbows and flashed me a grin. “You are a tad overdressed for what I had in mind, handsome.”
I grabbed the bottom of my hoodie and yanked it over my head. My boots went next, kicking them off; they landed haphazardly somewhere on the floor. I gripped the waist of my pants and shoved them off, taking my boxers with them. I straightened and proudly displayed my frame for my female. I waved a hand over my bare form. “Better?”
Her eyes roamed over me and settled on my cock. It swelled under her heated gaze.
A pink tongue slipped out to wet her lips. “Much.” She slid off the bed and sauntered over to me, hands on her hips. “Hold still.” She walked around my frame, her fingers trailing over skin and metal, leaving sparks in their wake. Could a cyborg combust? It appeared I was about to find out. She gave my ass cheek a squeeze, and I jumped.
She let out a throaty laugh before I felt warm breath against my ear. “I love your ass. It’s perfect.” Soft kisses whispered across my shoulder blades. “You’re perfect.” Her lips moved along my back, tasting metal and skin. “Every inch,” she dragged her tongue up my artificial spine and I shuddered.
She dropped to her knees in front of me, and the action put her mouth directly in front of my cock. “I’ve been dying to get my lips around you.”
My cock twitched in anticipation. My heartbeat picked up speed, and my mouth ran dry. I swallowed hard, forcing lubrication down my throat. I grasped under her chin and tipped her head back. Her green eyes darkened to a deep olive, the glossy orbs blazed with heat as she looked up at me. “You haven’t tasted me before?” My voice came out thick with desire.
“No. This will be a first.”
This would make a brand-new memory. One for just us. I released her chin and nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
Cool fingers wrapped around my hot flesh as she gripped my base and gave a few slow and steady strokes before she captured my cock with her tongue, bathing the crown. My tip leaked milky beads of pre-cum. She pressed her tongue into the slit, gathering the first drops of my taste.
She moaned when my flavor hit her tongue. “Yum. More.” She leaned forward and took me fully into her mouth, sealing her lips around my length.
Warm, wet heaven encased my cock, and a moan slipped past my lips as my knees threatened to buckle. I locked my frame to the floor. I would remain standing if it killed me. I never wanted to escape the heaven of her mouth.
She moved up and down a
long my length, taking as much of my cock as she could into her glorious mouth. Her hands glided over the rest, moving in time with her mouth. The sensation of the warm cavern of her mouth and the softness of her hands stroking my cock was wreaking havoc on my processors. They hummed; the wires in my arms flashed a bright, gold hue.
I rocked my hips gently, matching the motion of her mouth, desperately trying not to spill down her throat. I wanted to, but there was someplace I wanted to be more. “Marley, stop,” I said hoarsely.
She eased off my cock, her mouth making a wet pop as it slipped free from her lips. Her head tipped up, and she searched for my eyes. “Did you...” She bit down on her lip. “Did you not like it?”
I slid my hands to cradle her cheeks with my palms. “It was so good you were blowing my processors. I never felt anything like it.”
“Then why did you want me to stop?” She frowned.
“Because there is something I want more.” I ran my thumb along her cheek. “I want to remember what it feels like to be inside you.”
Her frown morphed into a soft smile. “Oh.”
I sought her hands and pulled her to her feet.
She tugged her hands free and made straight for the bed. Climbing up, she crawled to the middle and laid back. Her thighs parted in open invitation. “Join me.”
I don’t think I have ever moved so fast, even with my cock protesting that it was no longer in her amazing mouth. I hovered at the edge of the bed and leaned over to kiss the top of her foot.
She let out a giggle. “I thought you wanted to be inside me.”
My mouth traveled up and to place a kiss against her calf. “I do, but I plan on taking the scenic route.” I moved my lips over one leg then the other, planting kiss after kiss until I felt I thoroughly kissed both. Next, I discovered her hip bones. They jutted out a bit too sharply. When I brushed my lips over them, I realized it was probably due to her time spent in whatever nightmare the Global Allegiance trapped her in.
Once she felt comfortable, I wanted her to share what had happened to her. It was hell on my circuits to know someone hurt her but not knowing how.
I kissed the planes of her flat stomach. Far too flat for my liking. Another stark reminder of the damage she had suffered at someone’s hands.
I lifted my head, seeking her eyes. “You’re mine now, Marley. No one will ever hurt you again. I promise.”
She captured my head with her hands and gave a sharp tug, dragging my frame the rest of the way across her body until we were face-to-face.
“Wasn’t done.” I smiled.
“You can finish later. I need you, now.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face in the crook of my shoulder. “Make me yours. Completely yours.”
Who could resist those words? Not me. I settled myself between her thighs, found her entrance, and plunged into her depths with one thrust. “Fuck,” I hissed. If I had thought her mouth was heaven, burying myself deep inside her pussy was pure nirvana.
“Fuck is right. God, how I missed this. So good, Acer.” She lifted her legs and wrapped them around my hips as one foot dug into my ass. “Move,” she ordered.
A laugh sounded in my processors. She said that last time too. You better move, cyborg. Don’t keep our female waiting. Shock rolled through my frame, but I had no time to question the voice. Marley dug her fingertips into my shoulders and thrust her hips upwards. Pleasure jolted through my frame, shattering everything but the feeling of being inside her.
I started to move, dragging my cock all the way out except for the tip then slamming back home. Over and over, thrust after thrust, my body moved in time with hers as pure rapture sizzled up my frame
“I won’t break, cyborg. Harder,” she commanded.
I growled and slammed my hips against hers, sending the bed smashing into wall. I monitored my force, making sure I wouldn’t damage her, only giving her what I knew she could handle.
She tossed her head back as her fingers dug deeper into my flesh. “Don’t... oh...god.” Broken phrases fell from her mouth as her pussy clenched around my cock.
I gritted my teeth, refusing to give in to the flashing order in my processors to cum. Not before her, I shot back to the directive in my head.
“Right there,” she gasped.
I adjusted my angle and drove my cock into the same spot repeatedly. The walls of her pussy pulsed then clamped down like a vice as a rush of wetness gushed over my cock, a scream was torn from her throat.
Now! I ordered and let go, my control fracturing as I roared. I emptied every drop of cum into Marley’s welcoming, wet heat that was draining me dry.
My frame gave a full-body shudder. Warning lights were going off behind my eyes, but I ignored them. My frame wanted to collapse, but I forced myself to withdraw from Marley’s body and roll to the side. I sprawled on my back, forcing air through my simulated lungs as black spots danced in front of my eyes.
“Amazing,” I uttered as the world went black.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
*Marley*
“Acer?” I shook his shoulder gently. No response. I shook him a bit harder. “Come on, Sunshine.” In a minute, I would panic, but for now, I prayed it was the mind-blowing sex that knocked him temporarily offline.
His eyes flickered, a faint gold hue illuminating the room. I sighed in relief. Okay, so it had been the sex. I suppressed a laugh. I was sure, if I had processors instead of a brain, I probably would have shut down, too. Sex with Acer was better than I ever imagined. It didn’t matter he couldn’t remember the first time. He made up for it.
I watched his eyes flashed once, twice, three times before he came back online with a jolt; his frame shook the bed. “Wow,” he exclaimed, awe filled his voice. His head turned towards me, a grin plastered across his face.
I laughed and rolled over, pressing my body to the side of his frame. I draped an arm around his waist. “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”
His mouth opened then closed then opened again. “I don’t remember my past. I don’t know what I said or what I did to win your heart. I can’t recall what it was like the first time with you. All I know is right now.” He sat and traced the lines of my face. “And right now, I know that I am the luckiest cyborg who ever lived. My frame. My heart. My soul is yours, Marley. You are my home today and forever.”
Tears sprung to my eyes and I blinked them back but not before a few slipped down my cheeks.
He thumbs brushed over my cheeks, wiping them away. “Why did my words make you sad?”
I shook my head. “Not sad, Sunshine. Happy.”
My heart fluttered inside my chest, tiny tendrils of my soul reaching out, desperately seeking his. I found it. The connection was faint, a whisper, a mere shadow. But it was there. A rush of tears broke free, the dam holding them back cracked open, and this time I didn’t bother trying to stop them.
I grabbed for his hand. “Can you feel it?”
A small gasp and his eyes went wide. He nodded frantically. He pressed two fingers into the well of his chest. “I feel it, here.”
I mirrored him, my fingers pressing into my chest. “Me too.” Relief washed through me, the empty feeling that existed after the wipe seemed to grow smaller. I grabbed his face and kissed him hard. “The bond is reestablishing itself. It’s taking its sweet time, but it’s there.”
“Bond?”
“Dr. Shaw hid something inside all cyborgs programming. Something that would only activate when you met the someone who was your other half. It gave you the ability to fall in love, Acer. To bond to a female-your female.”
“And us—we were bonded before I was wiped?”
I could only nod, words failing me.
He dropped his head and stared at his chest, directly where his heart rested, then he zeroed in where my mine pounded fast and hard. “You really are mine. And I am yours.”
“Forever, Sunshine.” I laughed; joy exploding in my veins. “Just try and get rid of me, now.”
<
br /> “Never,” He growled, claiming my lips, no longer timid or shy. He kissed me like I belonged to him.
And I did.
I always had.
Nothing stopped me; even when I knew they would kill me if they learned I had fallen for the yellow prototype model who should never survived past a single day out of the vat.
I crushed his frame to my body and held on so tight he let out an oomph. “Sorry.”
He chuckled.
I put my mouth against his ear. “It doesn’t matter what you did or what you said in the past. You’ve won my heart twice, now, cyborg. You’ll always win it. My heart has only ever belonged to you.”
*Acer*
After another round of circuit-frying sex, Marley fell asleep in my arms. Her bare skin pressed against my naked frame, sending jolts of pleasure through me. The connection flowed between us, a steady current of love and belonging. I could feel it grow stronger. It filled an empty space in my programming, a void that had been driving me towards the one person who could complete me.
The need for Marley gripping me from the moment I came online, now made sense. That voice in my head, a ghost from my past haunted my CPU until I recognized the female resting in my arms was mine.
Welcome back. You figured it out sooner than I expected. I assumed you would fuck things up for a bit longer. The voice laughed inside my head. Who are you? I asked. It felt a little weird to have a conversation in my processors with a strange, but sort of familiar, voice in my head, but oh well. It was happening.
I am no one and someone. Think of me as a part of your past self buried so deep not even a wipe could remove me.
What part?
The only one that mattered, cyborg. The part that belonged to her.
I tried to scan my programming, but despite the bond and the voice they remained blank.
Will I ever remember?
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