Chapter 14

My little mate is upset.

Kaden ached to comfort her, but they were past due for an intimate conversation, and their time together was almost at an end.

Fuck, the thought of leaving her on Terra gutted him every damn time it crossed his mind. But she would be safe there, in the home they’d procured on her behalf, and more than comfortable due to the sizable number of universal credits they’d loaded into the new account Trace set up for her. She would lack for nothing. Kaden would make sure of that, even if he were halfway across the galaxy with his team, dealing with the Zyphorrans.

And deal they would. They would ensure those bastards never touched Calie, and they would end the threat the vermin posed to the stability of the IAC.

After a prolonged silence, Calie let out a sigh and her brow scrunched, her little pout both delightful and distracting. “That mate thing sounds seriously romantic, Kaden, but it also seems like a paranormal romance novel. My bestie back home reads these wolf shifter stories, um...where a person can change into a wolf, and they always have fated mates.”

Because fiction tends to mimic reality, my little mate. On any planet. “Yes.”

The cute furrows on her forehead deepened. “Yes, what?”

“You were fated to be mine.”

She huffed. “Yeah, you already said that, and you’re making no sense.” She shook her head. “Look, dude, I love you, but it’s my choice to love you. I don’t believe there are some all-powerful goddesses sitting on thrones somewhere weaving a web of everyone’s fate in the universe and connecting them together. Not in any galaxy.”

Kaden swore his heart fucking stopped.

“What did you say?” He knew damn well what she’d said, with his superior cyborg hearing, but he wanted to hear her love words again.

“What? Oh!” She clapped both hands over her mouth, eyes wide. Redness blossomed on her face.

He laughed and dragged her from her chair onto his lap. “You love me.” Elation sang through his circuits.

She squeaked as he settled her across his legs and shook her head. “Pretend you didn’t hear that.”

Never. “I love you, too.”

“You do?”

“With everything I am.” He cupped her head and backed up his words with a kiss.

He plundered her mouth, possessing every inch of it, stroking deep with his tongue, sliding his over hers in a sensuous dance, eliciting delightful moans from her. She melted in his embrace, giving to him as much as she received, but when he glided a hand over her mound to pet her there, she cried out and tried to wriggle away, turning her head to the side.

He chased after her mouth, but she shoved at his chest. “No, no, no, we can’t have sex.”

“I think we’ve proven we can. Multiple times in fact.”

Another push at his pecs. “Be serious!”

“I’m quite serious.”

“Ugh! I mean it. We’re great at, you know, the physical stuff, but let’s be real. We spent the last few weeks not talking about the future.”

She wasn’t mistaken. He preferred to savor the present, especially given their upcoming separation, and so he’d thrown himself into every precious moment they’d shared.

“We both shy away from what needs to be said. We need to work on that.” She climbed off his lap and made for the door.

He caught her wrist, halting her flight. “If we must talk, then why are you leaving?”

“Not leaving, putting some space between our bodies, so I can think straight.”

Concern dampened his buoyant mood. “Your thought processes are malfunctioning? Are you unwell?”

“No, you stupid cyborg. I love you! And I can’t think clearly when I touch you!”

He smirked. “You love me.”

“Stop! Yes!” She frowned. “But it changes nothing. We can’t be together.”

She tried to yank her arm free. He released his grip before she hurt herself with her futile tugging. When she bolted out the door, he followed. To his relief, she didn’t flee, but instead whipped around to face him, hands up as if to keep him away while she backed up a few more feet. “That’s close enough.”

“As you wish.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “For now.”

“No, for good. We can’t...” She blinked fast and bit her lip, then seemed to shake off her emotional state, straightening her spine and lifting her chin. Brave little mate.

But she didn’t need to be brave. Because he’d reached a decision. I’m not leaving her.

For eons, duty had always come first. He’d saved the denizens of the galaxy innumerable times. He’d trained and lived and fought alongside his teammates for as long as he had memory. He would miss his comrades, but another could take his place.

From then on, Calie was his duty, his mate, his choice.

“Look, Kaden. The situation sucks, but I get it. You have your super important job of saving the universe or something, and also not getting into a war with your allies, the Terrans, over me, and I have to start a whole new life of my own, on my own, on Terra.”

He unfolded his arms and straightened from the wall. “No, Calie. You do not get it. You are my future, my everything. I cannot, I will not, leave you. Not now, or ever.”

“Maybe we could try a long-distance relationship,” she murmured, as if she hadn’t heard his vow. Her expression darkened. “But hold on, are you sure you love me? That you’re not just saying the words because you think you don’t have any other choice, other than the one some,” she made air-quotes with her fingertips, “ all-powerful Fates forced upon you?”

“You misunderstand, dear one. We are biologically compatible, which makes us ideal mates.” He stalked toward her, nice and slow. “That we are well suited in all other ways, and that you stole my heart, are very fortunate bonuses.”

She retreated a step. “Biologically compatible,” she echoed, focusing on what he considered the least significant portion of what he’d said. “So, science connected me, a human, to you, a cyborg? How do you know? Did your medical machines test me at some point?”

He advanced a few more inches. “As you know, my nanobots were introduced into your system to heal you.”

She shuffled backward. “Right, and...?”

“Were you not my mate, after completing their task of healing you, the bots would have dissolved. Instead, they thrive and multiply.”

Her eyes widened. “I’m a cyborg now?”

“No, but you will live a very, very long time, heal quickly when injured, and are immune to most known diseases.” He edged forward and this time, she didn’t budge.

“Wow... This...this is a lot to absorb.”

He halted an arm’s length away from her, watched her shift from foot to foot, fist and unfist her hands. Indecision and hope warred in her expression. He pushed onward.

“Fate, fortune, circumstance, luck, however you wish to identify it...this inexplicable something brought us together in a vast universe. We’re compatible in all the ways that count. We’re the lucky ones.” He extended a hand to her. “Let’s not waste our chance.”

She reached out then jerked her arm back. Crossed them both across her torso. Searched his face with those big blue eyes he could happily drown in.

“Pretty words, Kaden, but we’re still going to Terra.”

He nodded. “Correct.”

“So...” She swallowed. “You’ll stay with me? W-we can really be together?”

He inclined his head again. It took tremendous strength of will not to haul her into his arms, to kiss away any last doubt, divest her of her clothing and sink deep into—

She leaped into his arms.

He caught her, thrilled when she wrapped her limbs around him and squeezed as if she never wanted to let him go.

He shared the sentiment, his heart pounding in his chest, elation overwhelming his systems. With a quick pivot, he pressed his mate against the wall, pinning her in place with his hips, so he could make good on his fantasy of mere seconds ago.

With his fingers entwined with hers, he raised her arms overhead, securing her arms along the surface behind her as he lowered his head. She met him in a fierce kiss that stole his breath. She’d already stolen his heart. He would gladly give her every piece of himself.

Her boot heels dug into his armor-covered ass, and she moaned into his mouth, ramping up his lust. It was always like that with her, an insatiable need for closeness, for union, and it would never be otherwise. His little mate was smart, courageous, loving, and so fucking sexy—

His erection strained against his armor, demanding freedom. But it would have to wait. He switched his hold, clasping both her wrists in one hand while his other delved under her shirt to knead her breasts. Calie cried out and arched her spine. He gave her more, tweaking each nipple in turn while they kissed and kissed and kissed.

“Amazing multitasker,” she rasped against his mouth. Her thighs squeezed his waist, and she wriggled her core against his hard cock.

He nipped her neck, caressed her quivering abs then delved past her waistband to stroke the curly hair covering her mons.

“Yes, Kaden, more!”

As my mate wishes, so it will always be. He tapped her clit.

More sweet cries escaped his beautiful mate while he rubbed and circled and pinched her swollen nub. His dick throbbed, desperate to thrust into her, and he rocked his hips while he kept up his worship of her wet center, debating whether to rip off her pants there in the hall, or transport her to their chambers to—

Alarms blared.

An explosion rocked the ship.

Kaden braced his mate against the wall, curling around her as a communications channel burst to life in his head with Rex shouting orders and Trace muttering a ceaseless string of curses due to the Zyphorran war cruiser that had uncloaked and surprised them. It was significantly larger than their vessel.

It was virtually impossible to get the jump on Trace or any cyborg. That the Zyphorrans had succeeded in hiding from them yet again, signaled just how large a threat the race had become.

“What’s happening?” Calie asked as he set her on her feet and adjusted her shirt.

“Zyphorrans.”

“Fuck.”

He handed her the weapon she’d used on the mining planet. “Exactly.”

Escape pod. Now, Rex barked at Kaden.

I’ve already given Athena access to the pod nearest your location, Trace added. She can jump at will between her home on Calie’s arm and the transport. See you later, on Terra.

You better. Kaden hauled his mate over one shoulder and took off at his top speed.

“Déjà vu,” she muttered, adding, “I like this gun. When do I get to shoot some bad guys?”

He skidded to a stop at the pod’s access port. “Not now.”

“Aw, why not?”

“We’re leaving.” He hustled to the vehicle.

Calie banged on his back with the gun. “We can’t go! We need to help!”

He set her on her feet. “Captain’s orders.” Their departure, her safety, was priority number one.

His fierce little mate aimed her weapon at him. “We’re staying.”

He plucked the gun from her hand, sent the access code to the pod, and swooped her into the vessel the second the hatch opened.

“Hey!” She glared at him as he wrangled her into the seat next to him and secured her in place, settling the weapon on her lap.

Mere seconds later, he piloted the pod at top speed away from the battle, setting a course for Terra. The pod lacked sufficient capacity to make the trek, but no matter—another cyborg vessel was already en route to rendezvous with them, while others headed to aid his team.

Calie poked him in his ribs with the gun’s muzzle. “We need to talk about your constant need to manhandle me. Your caveman bossiness is sort of sexy, but not all the time.”

“You are sexy all of the time,” he replied.

“Good answer.” The barrel left his side, and his mate flopped back into her seat, kicking her boots up onto the console and staring out into space.

A comfortable silence descended as they progressed further and further away from danger.

His woman caressed her firearm. “I like this gun.”

“It is yours.”

“Thanks. You seemed super excited the first time I shot it at those rocks on Q’Larev Quarry-09.”

He ceded pod nav and general control to Athena and gave his mate his full attention. “That’s the moment I knew you were mine.”

“I thought the nanobots surviving inside me told you that.”

“The fact you could use my handgun—operational only by another cyborg—was the physical proof and first indication the bots thrived in your system. It was later confirmed by med scans.”

She grinned. “Cool.” A sultry hum wafted from her throat, and her gaze glided from his face down to his torso, lingering on his groin. “I know another weapon I want to handle...”

Desire roared through his systems. “Then let us waste no more time, my little mate.”