Chapter Six

Zaya

After supper, we washed up the trays from the food and left them to dry. Steele asked, "Do you still have the com-tablet the cyborg Dagger brought you?"

"I do. I keep it in a bedroom drawer. I used to read stories on it at night when it was too dark to do anything else."

"It can do a lot more than that. You can communicate with the outside world and get news and all kinds of information. You can educate yourself on almost any subject."

"I don't know anyone else to call with it, but I used it a lot over the winter. I checked every day or so at first to see if they found my mate." I paused and smiled at him. "You. I finally decided to wait for the call."

"And you never got it," he said contritely.

I'm sure he saw the memory of disappointment on my face.

"No. You came to me instead." I smiled, touching his arm. "Just like one of my stories."

Steele took me into his arms and held me close. "I should have come sooner before they could take you."

"You couldn't know." I laid my cheek against his chest and slid my arms around him. "And I'm glad you are here now."

As he held me, I was starkly aware of every inch of his body pressed against mine. I could feel his hard cock pressed against my belly, making my core flutter and my nipples taut and achy. He wanted me, and I wanted him, but I couldn't say the words I knew he needed to hear.

I sighed and pulled away. "It's getting dark. I should get the animals settled in."

Steele let me go, though he seemed reluctant. "I'll come out with you and see if there is room in the barn for the rest of the supplies."

"I am glad I had the animals outside when I was taken because they wouldn't have survived had they been locked inside where they couldn't get food and water."

"I have to agree," said Steele as we walked outside. "With both buildings open, they could get inside when they needed shelter."

There was plenty of room in the barn for the pallets of animal feed and a machine he'd brought.

As it got later, I became edgy about making sleeping arrangements. I'd left the kettle on in the kitchen to make us some herbal tea after we finished chores. Steele probably knew I was only delaying the inevitable, but he humored me and sat at the table while I poured us each a cup. We sat there together, waiting for it to cool, then drank it in silence.

I wanted to be with Steele, but I was reluctant to say it. What if he rejected me again? The old ranch house has four bedrooms, so we wouldn't need to share one unless we wanted to. The bed in the main bedroom, my room, was king-size and large enough for us both.

I had to say the words, or Steele would hold back. I looked at him longingly. He gave me a tender smile and reached up to caress my cheek, a gesture of encouragement.

I swallowed nervously. "Steele, I—I wish to breed with you."

Of course, he already knew because he could scent my arousal, but he had vowed to wait until I asked. He smiled, pushed his chair back from the table, and drew me onto his lap, straddling him. Wrapping me in his arms, he kissed me gently.

"As you wish, my mate," he murmured when he ended the kiss.

I smiled at him and pulled his head down for another kiss, opening my mouth to encourage his tongue to dance with mine. I felt his erection against my mons and instinctively rubbed against him, causing him to moan against my lips.

Pressing my sensitive breasts against the hard wall of his chest, I caressed his head and shoulders. He felt so right in my arms, and his scent was playing havoc with my libido since I woke up in the hospital with him beside my bed.

Although our first meeting had been pretty spectacular, I would have felt attracted to him had we met in a casual situation. This cyborg was my mate. There was no reason to hold back from claiming each other. By breeding, I knew we were committing to the relationship. I already sensed a special bond between us.

I was intensely drawn to Steele. I believed I would come to love him as our relationship unfolded. However, at that moment, my desire for him was at the forefront. I wanted— needed the satisfaction I knew he would give me and to give him the same.

Before our mutual arousal reached a fever pitch, Steele asked, "Do you want to take this into your bedroom?"

"Yes, it's down the hall, the last door on the left."

"Hold on." Steele stood with me wrapped around him and carried me down the short hallway to the room indicated.

It was dark, but I knew he could see fine in the unlit room. The bed was still made as I'd left it the day I was taken. I had never shared it with anyone. While I knew the Mesaarkan had taken my virginity, the actual memory had grown quite hazy. I didn't really think about it much since the nightmare. I could hardly think of anything but my lust for this big, handsome cyborg. Yet I craved the emotional connection that we'd been developing between us.

Mating with Steele would change everything.

Standing beside the bed, he kissed me passionately, still holding me with my arms and legs around him. He kissed me until my whole body was trembling with desire for him.

"Please, I need you to take me now," I whispered when I could speak.

"Then we have too many clothes on. I'll let you down now so we can fix that," he said lightly and set me on my feet.

Without further talk, we proceeded to disrobe. I hesitated briefly, but then I figured I didn't have to hide anything from Steele. He had already seen me nude when he rescued me. As we undressed, we dropped our clothes on the floor.

I turned back the cover on the bed by feel and slid under it, holding it open for Steele to lay beside me. He took me into his arms for another kiss, and I reveled in the feel of our skin-to-skin contact. His hard chest pressed against my aching nipples, soothing their need for attention a little as we kissed.

Steele slid his hands up my sides and used his thumbs to rub and tweak my nipples. Delightful zings went straight to my clit and made it throb. Rubbing my clit against his hard cock pressed between us, I moaned against his mouth.

Steele reached between us and gently pushed a finger over my clit, between my folds, and into my opening. I was so wet there was little resistance as he slipped it into me. I groaned and pressed against his hand for more.

"I'm ready," I said. "I want you inside me. I want you to fuck me hard so I feel you inside my soul." Like there was never anyone but you.

Steele rolled us over so that he was on top. I spread my legs and drew up my knees to give him full access to my pussy. He raised his hips and used one hand to guide the tip of his penis into my opening. It was a tight fit but I was wet enough for him to slide in easily. Moaning, I put my arms around him as he lowered his body against mine.

"Oh, you feel so good."

"Yes, you do feel good," he murmured. "I will take you hard as you wish, but you must tell me if it's too hard. Hurting you is the last thing I ever want to do."

With that, he kissed my lips tenderly, stroking my hair with one hand. Slowly, he started to pump in and out of me, rotating his hips to stimulate my clit as he fucked me. I moaned and clung to his shoulders as he began to pound into me harder and faster.

"Yes, oh yes! Steele, so good," I huffed as our hips slammed together again and again.

I closed my eyes, seeing his big hard cock in my mind's eye rammed deep into me as I delighted in the feel of it. Soon, my muscles tightened as my orgasm built low in my belly until my body seized with the first contraction. But Steele couldn't stop as he was chasing his bliss.

He was doing just what I asked of him, and it was working. In those moments, Steele was the whole universe on me and in me as our mouths fused and our tongues entwined. I could hardly breathe as a second orgasm coiled within. This time, we both came together, and Steele loudly groaned as he poured his essence into me, and I squeezed him intimately.

"Steele," I crooned his name as an endearment. "Omigod, you were wonderful."

His lovemaking had made everything fade into the background, just as I had hoped. While he took me, I could think of nothing but the big, sexy man in my arms pounding into me. It was exhilarating and exhausting, and I felt very satisfied.

My lips and mouth, as well as my nether region, tingled from the nanocybots in the saliva and sperm. It was kind of pleasant, actually.

As I looked up into Steele's eyes, I felt a sense of awe at the pure adoration there. This cyborg loved me! It didn't matter that he didn't say the words. He didn't have to. It scared me a little. What if I wasn't enough? What if I couldn't love him as much as he loved me?

As he pulled out, I felt a loss that he was no longer part of me. But I was pretty sure, as we kissed and caressed, it was only a matter of time before we would breed again.

"Will you say the mating pledge with me?" Steele asked.

Although I didn't know what he meant, I said, "All right."

"I'll say it first, then you say it back. I am yours, and you are mine as long as I breathe."

I was stunned, realizing what this meant, and I stared up at him wide-eyed. Despite my surprise, I only briefly hesitated before I repeated the words exactly as he had said them. "I am yours, and you are mine as long as I breathe."

When I finished, he smiled brightly and kissed me. "Now, we are mates."

"Is that like being married?" I wondered.

"Exactly."

"Even though we barely know each other?"

"I know enough. You are my genetic mate. I am programmed to love you and care for you as long as I'm alive. I know you don't love me yet, but I know you will because it's in your genes."