Chapter 5

The cyborg is kissing me.

I’m kissing a cyborg.

The cyborg is all man.

Ribbons of desire danced through Calie as Kaden devoured her mouth.

Every brush of his lips, every nip of his teeth unleashed a torrent of want within her, an inner fire stoked high, burning away the past. Slaying the demons of forced captivity.

Reviving a part of herself she thought lost forever.

He groaned as he explored her mouth, sliding his tongue along hers over and over. Warm. Wet. And oh so sexy. And she met him stroke for wicked stroke, unwilling to come up for air. No way would she be the one to break their magic moment. He tasted like metal and man, an intriguing combination—her new favorite flavor combo.

She pressed her chest against his massive armor-covered pecs, her hands flitting along his powerful back, kneading and scratching the spaces between his weapons, desperate for more closeness. Greedy for a hint of skin, and more of the passion they stoked with their simple kiss.

But it was no trivial kiss. No fleeting attraction. She sensed...potential.

An irrational certainty blindsided her, scorching her to her core.

We have a connection. One I just might want to explore more.

She clasped his shoulders and jumped, locking her legs around his hips. Her excitement skyrocketed as he caught her and cinched her higher. Secure. Safe.

On fire.

They kissed like they had zero plans to ever stop.

The cry of an alien bird echoed outside, out over the lake. Reality roared back into her consciousness, and they froze, mouths parting as they both came up for air, his breath bathing her tingling lips in heat.

Man, she wanted to kiss him again. Many many times.

Kaden scanned the lake behind her, his grip on her glutes firm and reassuring. She studied the contours of his harsh and handsome face, lingering on the messed up side, where new bluish gray skin had already formed. His healing tech had also erased all traces of the blood from his wounded head.

Nanorobots were amazing. She wasn’t impressed with some of the things she’d experienced while forced into slavery in an alien environment, in a galaxy far from her home, but the technology, especially the nanoid robotics Athena had taught her about, fascinated her.

She fluttered her fingertips over Kaden’s new flesh, and he leaned into her touch, his pretty amber eyes closing. Thick, dark lashes, the same color as his ebony hair, flickered against his silvery skin, tempting her to dive in for round two but...

“We should go.” She didn’t want to leave their little lust bubble, but safety came first.

“Yes.” He opened his eyes and unwound her legs from his body before easing her to the ground, his gentleness making her smile. His palms lingered against her waist, as if he was reluctant to release her, to lose the contact.

She shared the feeling. Her mouth still tingled from their fierce kissing, and she would love for her whole body to sizzle like that as soon as possible. They absolutely needed to locate a secure haven immediately.

Kaden scanned their surroundings, the stoic expression on his face giving away nothing of his mood. His breathing was level, too. In soldier mode, if she were to hazard a guess, given his hyper-vigilance and the way he patted every knife and gun strapped to his sleek armor. He even had weapons in his boots.

He slid a gun from a holster on one thigh. “You know how to shoot?”

She shrugged. “Simulations. Target practice in VR. Athena designed them for me.” Practical entertainment after the Q’Larev abandoned Calie and the station. “So, yes?”

“Good enough.” He handed over the weapon, quite small yet still rather large for her hand. Light enough to wield one-handed, though. She could make do.

“Is Athena okay?” Kayden’s ship was a mess. Did her friend survive the crash?

“I don’t know.” He surveyed her face, and his expression softened. “We’ll come back for her...when we can.”

She didn’t want to leave her pal behind, but she understood the urgency. Imminent mortal danger and all, and they’d already lost valuable escape time during their whole couldn’t-keep-their-hands-or-lips-off-each-other frenzy, so... “Okay. Thanks.”

“Come.” He held out a hand. Her tummy flip-flopped as she accepted it. Her emotions were seesawing from desire and lust to anxiety and dread. Kaden’s touch helped settle her somewhere in between.

He led her through the wreckage, lifting her over large bits of detritus, thrilling her with his strength and attentiveness, proving more thoughtful than any dude she’d ever dated.

Do cyborgs even date? She certainly wanted to find out, if they made it out of the situation alive. Bet the odds are super high in our favor, given Kaden is basically an invincible, regenerative superhero.

“Stay behind me.” Kaden pried open the exit doors.

She whistled. “Dude. You are so strong.” She pictured all that yummy muscle holding her against a wall while he banged into—

“Yes, I am.” He scanned the beach.

While Calie wrangled her randy thoughts into submission, Kaden lifted her into his arms and jumped to the ground.

He placed her on her feet then pointed to a large outcropping of rocks protruding from the sandy beach several yards away. “Shoot that, please.”

“Why? Already told you I can shoot. We’re wasting time.”

“And we have no time for a lengthy explanation. Please, Calie. Aim and fire.”

“Fine.” She leveled the gun at the rocks and fired, clipping off the right edge of the fattest rock. “Ha! See?”

Silence had her glancing up at him.

Kaden wasn’t looking at the stone she’d chipped. Nor did he seem particularly impressed with her prowess, darn the man. His expression seemed... Stunned? Possibly filled with wonder?

Something flashed in his eyes... Surprise? Excitement?

“Are you okay, dude?”

“Affirmative.” A grin flashed and disappeared, and man-oh-man, if she thought he was cute before? That ghost of a smile took his handsomeness to a whole other hawt level.

He seemed awfully pleased about something. She opened her mouth to ask, but he hoisted her into his arms again.

“I’m going to carry you now.”

“Why?” She was perfectly capable of walking or running or whatever. Thanks to him protecting her with his body, she was injury-free.

“Again, not the time for exposition. Hold tight to your weapon.” He flipped her over one shoulder.

“Hey!” The world went topsy-turvy. Nausea tightened her throat. The cyborg took off at a dead run. The world blurred by in streaks of gray, green, and reddish brown.

Where was he going? How did he even know where to go?

The scent of fresh water and damp sand from the lake area dissipated, replaced by the acrid aroma of alien desert foliage and parched earth. Dust kicked up as Kaden sped along. She coughed and forced herself to breathe in shallow bursts.

Kaden ran and ran.

The planet’s sun beat down on her bare back and shoulders, and her braids bounced and bobbed. The intense heat combined with the jostling ramped up her queasiness.

She closed her eyes and clutched at the weapon straps on Kaden’s back with her free hand, the other squeezing the gun.

Finally, when the nausea grew unbearable, and she was about to tell him she needed to be put down to lose her lunch, darkness swept over them along with blessed coolness.

Musty, humid air flowed into her lungs.

Kaden eased her off his shoulder to standing, steadying her with a solid grip on her elbows. Eyes closed, she took a few breaths, nice and slow, and her queasiness ebbed.

God, his big, strong hands felt so good against her skin, his grasp firm and unyielding, keeping her upright. She opened her eyes, but the hard-packed dirt underfoot and the distinctive odors of sulfur and clay had telegraphed their location before she even did so.

He’d brought them to the Q’Larev mine.

A fine tremor started up in her limbs, and a million-pound weight crushed her chest. Her heart pounded a chaotic beat under the heaviness.

“Calie. Calie.”

She blinked up at him in the dim light.

A furrow formed in his brow, right between his pretty glowing eyes. “Slow your breathing, my female. You’re hyperventilating.”

I am? Huh .

The possessive note in his words registered dimly, and she wanted to ask him what he meant by it, because she was no one’s property, but all of a sudden, he was right—she couldn’t seem to get enough air into her lungs. The room spun.

Kaden let out a disgruntled sound and kissed her.

No. Not kissing her.

Breathing for her. In. Out. Slowing her down. Easing the panic attack she hadn’t recognized right away. Not surprising she freaked out, given their current location, the source of too many traumatic incidents she had no desire to talk about, let alone relive.

The cyborg chased away the terror. Her symptoms subsided, and she clung to his waist, rising on tiptoes to turn their first aid moment into a real kiss.

He broke their connection, putting a handful of space between them.

Disappointment rushed through her, but then he palmed her cheek and planted a kiss on her forehead, the gesture so sweet she almost swooned.

His amber gaze locked on hers, and his chin lifted, nostrils flaring. “I can smell your need. It mirrors my own. Although I would like nothing more than to take you here and now, my female, your safety will always come first.”

Protective cyborg. Was it programmed into him, or was she actually special? But he’d said it again. My. She couldn’t let it pass.

“Why do you keep calling me that? My female . ”

“Because it is the truth.”

Irritation surged. “I’m not a possession.”

He probably didn’t mean it that way, given the blaze of sexual heat in his expression, and his solicitous care of her since before they’d crashed, but she couldn’t help her knee-jerk reaction, especially given their triggering-to-her location.

He frowned. “No, of course you’re not. Never. You are my equal and more.”

The way he stared at her with those vibrant and expressive whiskey eyes, the way he spoke with the strength of conviction in his tone, all of it raised the hair on her arms and streaked shivers over her skin.

She pressed her free hand against his, keeping his palm against her cheek. Energy frolicked, a shimmering, living thing between them, looping back and forth as if they formed a circuit.

Butterflies took flight in her tummy. Whatever was happening seemed... significant. Momentous.

“I don’t understand what is happening.” she blurted. “We just met but... Do you—?”

Heat rushed up from her chest, burning in her cheeks.

Do you feel it, too? She wanted to ask, but her slavery-induced pessimism picked that moment to kick in, sudden doubt cementing the words on her tongue.

She retreated, breaking contact, then crossed her arms over her stomach, the gun bumping against her hip bone. Inexplicable sadness swamped her, and her gaze skittered away from his penetrating stare.

Daylight filtered in from the cave’s opening several yards away, brightening the gloom enough for Calie to note a pile of storage boxes next to a vehicle the Q’Larev had trained her to operate, one used to delve deeper into the labyrinthine underground chambers where the primary mining operations were situated. Playing chauffeur had been one of the better chores, better than manning the laser drills where she’d earned herself more than one beating by—

“Calie?”

His soft-spoken query tugged her out of the downward spiral of her thoughts, away from the nightmarish memories, but it was too late. Neither his concerned expression nor the hand extended toward her could sway the dominant, logical side of her brain from its skepticism.

Sure, when they were kissing, it seemed to be more than a momentary physical hookup, but at the end of the day, due to the unusual circumstances, it was probably just adrenaline-fueled lust.

I mean, c’mon, Calie, wake up. Be realistic.

They’d only met a few hours ago, so how could it be anything more than a passing attraction?

Maybe he’d been alone in space for a long, long time. A massive specimen of powerful man, it stood to reason he needed to scratch a randy itch. Then she arrived, a convenient option that happened to land in his lap.

The negativity swamped her—of course it did, and how could it not?

A quick, casual encounter made much more sense than a sudden, magical, forever kind of soul mate appearing out of nowhere to save her from a doomed space station.

He reclaimed the space between them, looming over her in all his magnificent manly glory, and damn it, she wanted to climb him like a tree, forget all the deep thoughts, abandon the emotional rollercoaster, nix the mistrust and worry.

As if he could read her mind—and maybe cyborgs could do that—his lips parted in a soft, somehow solemn smile.

“Little human... You’re everything.”