“We bonded when we met on Earth.” The words came from her easily as she crossed the room to stand at Blackie’s side, peering up at Steel. “He lost me and I think it kind of hardened him against emotions. He’s really sorry and, in hindsight, feels terrible about some things he’s done. We talked about you and your wife on our way here.”
Blackie took her hand. “Don’t, Eve.”
She wasn’t ready to give up. Steel’s expression lacked any hint of his thoughts but he listened. “I’m sure you had one of those moments when you fell in love with your Rena that changed your outlook on everything. Blackie is seeing things differently now. He’s really torn up about stuff he’s done in the past and I told him that he can make it up to everyone if he just expresses how he feels. Everyone deserves a second chance, don’t you think?”
Steel said nothing.
“Look at me. I’m standing on a planet of cyborgs when my entire line was left behind on Earth to die. I don’t blame everyone here for that. It’s Parlis’ fault. He’s the one who lied to me. Blackie was taken in too, by lies, and now he knows the truth. He was doing what he thought was right. I don’t know all the details of what went down between you guys but he feels horrible. Trust me on that.”
Steel’s piercing gaze left her and he frowned as he spoke to Blackie. “You love her?”
“Yes. She’s everything to me.” Blackie didn’t hesitate to answer.
“She obviously loves you. I have no problem with you anymore, Blackie. My memory is lengthy but I accept that you’re no longer a threat to Rena. You and I will be on good terms. Agreed?”
“Agreed.” Blackie gave a sharp nod. “Thank you.”
“Treat your woman right. She’s your number-one priority. Never forget that. It’s not a dereliction of duty to place her above all else. She will be the reason you enjoy life.”
“There’s no need to give me that advice.”
The cyborg’s silver-blue gaze lowered to Eve. “My Rena will want to meet you. You appear human and she doesn’t enjoy spending time with cyborg women. She finds them too emotionally remote to connect to. You may feel the same way about them once you learn more about Garden. You’re welcome to visit us.” He glanced at Blackie. “You may bring him after I speak to her. She may not be receptive at first but we’ll attempt a polite social gathering. I’ll send you an invitation to dinner soon.”
“Thank you!” Eve grinned. “We would love that.”
The cyborg left, closing the door behind him, and Eve couldn’t resist laughing as she hugged Blackie. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
His arms wrapped around her. “It wasn’t the smoothest verbal communication I’ve shared but it wasn’t as dire as I estimated it would be.”
“Did you think he’d punch you?”
“There was a high probability. I believed he came here to warn me to stay far away from his woman or to ask me to request residency in another building.”
“We got a dinner invite instead. See? This apology thing works.” She backed up enough to stare at his handsome face. “So give me the tour. I’m mostly interested in the bedroom. We have a lot to celebrate. I’m talking about sex, just in case that hint wasn’t strong enough.”
“Do you want to check on Danica to be certain she’s safe? Gene won’t allow any harm to come to her but I understand how you might want verification.”
A hint of guilt struck when she realized she’d totally forgotten about that situation. Her priorities had changed and getting Blackie naked had been her only fixation. It didn’t mean she loved Danica less but her mate came first. Blackie trusted Gene and she wanted her mate to know she had faith in his judgment.
“How long do those drugs last?”
He paused, seeming to calculate in his mind. “We have approximately four hours and twenty minutes before she rouses.”
“There’s no point in bothering them if she’s snoozing. Let’s inspect this bedroom of ours first. We’ll contact your friend afterward.”
“We should send the communication in case she wakes early. I based that calculation on human response time.”
“Okay.” She allowed him to lead her into the living room to a wall with a screen. “I’m not going to be able to work anything here, am I?” She raised her hand and pressed it to the surface. Nothing happened. She tried again but couldn’t link to the system.
Blackie brushed hers aside and placed his on the sensor. “They are coded for cyborgs only. It won’t be a problem. I can set our home to voice activation and program it to follow your commands.”
“Even the door locks?”
“Yes.” He closed his eyes and in seconds the screen lit up. Gene’s face appeared.
“How did it go? Why are we on a visual connection?”
“Everything went according to plan. Parlis and Jezel have been taken into custody and stripped of their status. Eve wished to leave a vid message for Danica.” He released the pad and nodded. “Go ahead. Gene can end the transmission when you are done. I’ll meet you in our bedroom.”
“Great.” She watched him disappear down a hallway and remembered the other cyborg waited. She stared into his eyes. “She’s going to be pissed that you drugged her and took her to your ship.”
“I assumed.” Gene shrugged. “I will be able to handle the situation.”
Eve sucked in air. “Can you record this and show it to her when she wakes?”
He touched something. “Recording.”
“Hi, Dani.” It was a term she only used when she knew her sister was angry. “I’m really sorry about you being slipped a sedative. They wanted to make sure one of us survived if Freedom had any nasty surprises waiting for us on the surface and he did. You were actually the lucky one since you missed being shot at and enduring a wild ride in an armored vehicle. I’m fine. Freedom is toast, okay? He’s been locked up and is in deep shit. Gene is going to return you to the surface so don’t bust his balls, okay?”
She noticed Gene’s eyes widened at her request and grinned. “I’ll see you soon. Be good and play nice. That’s an order from me to you. I’m still the first. Love ya!” She nodded at Gene and ran her finger in a slicing motion over her throat. “You can stop recording. Hopefully that will keep her calm but just in case, watch out for her knees near your groin, okay?”
He swallowed. “I understand.”
“Good luck. You can hang up now.”
The screen went dark and Eve spun, tracking her mate down the hallway. His scent lingered enough that she bypassed the first two open doors without glancing inside and entered the third one on the left. He stood at the end of a large bed, minus his uniform shirt.
“Getting undressed without me?”
“You seem to enjoy looking at my skin.”
“I do.” She crossed the large space, noticing the views beyond the tinted windows, showcasing the city. “One question though. Can people from the other buildings see inside here? Don’t you guys own blinds?”
“Computer, remove all exterior light.”
The windows darkened until the glass turned black. “Wow. That’s a cool feature.”
“We work different shifts and daylight can annoy some during a sleep cycle.”
“I’m going to like it here if the food is good. That’s my only holdout now,” she teased, openly examining his muscular chest and reaching out to splay her hands on his abs. “I love everything else I see.” She slid her palms lower, to the waist of his pants. “Let’s get you out of these and discuss what else might taste good.”
Blackie stiffened his spine when Eve dropped to her knees before him and used her fingers to unfasten his pants. He lowered his chin, watching her as she tugged them down until his dick was free. Having her so close was more than enough to make blood rush to that area.
The light touch of her fingertips exploring the sensitive skin at the base of his shaft then traveling upward to the head increased his heart rate. He inhaled sharply and stilled, enjoying her intimate attention. Her g
aze lifted to his and she smiled. Her tongue darted out to lick her lips and they parted, inching closer. He locked his knees to keep upright when she surrounded the bulb of his dick with her hot, wet mouth.
“Eve,” he groaned as she took more of him, lightly teasing him with her tongue and suction. It took control not to move when the urge to thrust hit.
It became a mixture of torment and pure pleasure when one of her hands cupped his ass while the other one slid up the inside of his thigh to caress his scrotum. She massaged it, working his dick between her lips at the same time. His eyes closed as he experienced every sensation from her warm breath fanning his lower belly to the erotic spell cast each time she nearly withdrew, only to take a little more when she advanced forward.
He blindly reached out, grabbing the post of the bed for support. Every muscle in his body seemed to grow rigid as he drew closer to ejaculation. He didn’t want to come too fast but his body refused to listen to his commands.
“Eve,” he warned. “I can’t take any more.”
She sucked harder, moved faster, and he totally lost the ability to speak. He’d expected her to stop but instead she pushed him beyond his limit. A loud groan filled the room—it came from him—as hot pleasure seized him. Wood snapped about the same time as his sanity when she swallowed his seed, her mouth milking him until his legs gave way.
Blackie fell back, hitting the bed instead of landing on top of his mate. His dick was pulled from her sexy grasp as he fought to open his eyes. He trembled a little as he attempted to recover, not sure how to react since he’d never experienced such a powerful reaction before.
Eve rose and climbed on top of him until she straddled his lap. “I love the way you taste.”
She lowered her head and brushed a kiss on his chest, inching upward until she nuzzled her face against his throat. “I hope you have a fast recovery time. That turned me on, Handsome. You make me so hot.”
“Take off your clothes.”
She rolled off him without further urging. He sat up and lifted one foot, tearing at his boot. He threw both across the room, not caring if they caused damage. The pants were already tugged midway down his thighs so it was just a matter of lying flat and lifting his legs to shove them the rest of the way off. He turned on his side to watch Eve finish stripping.
Her pale skin invoked desires to stroke his hands across every inch of it until he knew how all of her body felt. She removed her clothing and he lunged, surprising her with the quick, aggressive action, pinning her under him. He took care not to bruise her skin as he yanked her arms above her head and his knee pressed against the center of her legs. She parted them for him and he wiggled into the space between.
Her beautiful eyes sparkled with amusement as her eyebrows lifted. “You’re as hard as a rock already? I’m impressed.”
It was just a matter of adjusting his hips before he aligned the crown of his dick at the soaked seam of her sex. He rubbed up and down, using it to tease her clit. The soft moans she made only increased his desire to be buried inside her.
“Say you love me.” He needed the words.
“I love you.”
He maneuvered his pelvis until his dick pressed against the small opening of her pussy and he pushed forward. Eve moaned louder as he thrust deep, making her take all of him in one firm motion. He paused there.
“You are home to me.”
She held his gaze.
“You are everything that is right in my world, Eve. I will never let you go or leave you. We’re one together and that makes us complete. I won’t allow anything to come between us.”
“Let go of my wrists.”
He released her and was pleased when she slid her fingers into his hair, holding it back from his face.
“I won’t either, Handsome. You’re my entire life and reason for living. You’re my mate, the other half of my soul. I will hunt you down if you try to leave me because I’d die without you.”
“We have a very long life ahead of us and we’re going to live it together. You’re my mate and I wish you to be my wife, the woman of my family unit.” He braced his spread knees and moved, the sheer pleasure of the friction was paradise. “I’ll keep you too tired to ever consider leaving me.”
She moaned. “I’ll give you blowjobs until your knees give way if you try to take off.”
The memory of what she’d done to him with her mouth was enough to drive him into a frenzied need to come again. He pounded against her, taking her more roughly than he’d intended but she didn’t mind as she locked her legs around his hips, using that leverage to grind against him until she cried out his name, her vaginal muscles locking so tightly around his dick that he exploded seconds after she did.
He remembered to roll over, taking her with him in a tangle of arms and legs. His weight might have left her unable to catch her breath. Eve lying sprawled over him felt right, as if she belonged there, always had and always would. He grinned.
“I will be a good mate.”
“You already are.”
“I worried I might fail,” he confessed. “You need things I wasn’t sure I could give you.”
“I worried you’d freak out when you found out how I bonded to you.”
“I’m relieved.”
“Me too. You want me.”
“Always.” He held her tighter. “I have since we met. I grieved your loss.”
“Me too.”
“Your memory haunted my dreams and I never forgot you.”
“You haunted my dreams too.”
“No more,” he whispered and brushed a kiss on her forehead. “We’ll dream about our future together while we’re sleeping side by side.”
She giggled. “Or on top of each other. I don’t know about you but I could use a nap and I’m really comfortable where I am.”
“Always tell me what you need, Eve. I realize I may seem cold or distant at times. That isn’t how I feel. You inspire so many emotions but they are difficult to express until I learn how.”
“You’re doing a great job and I’m not going anywhere. We have time to work out everything.”
“Good.”
Time passed in silence and Blackie nearly drifted to sleep.
“Handsome?”
He liked her endearment. “Yes?”
“I don’t expect you to totally change, okay? I mean, besides expressing yourself more. I love you for who you are.”
“I love you as you are too, Eve.”
“Are you freaked out still about me probably having more than one baby at a time if we ever have kids?”
“It came as a surprise but I will welcome having many children with you.”
“So it’s not a deal breaker?”
“No. It’s a bonus feature to you being my woman. I will warn you that I’ll worry about your health during a pregnancy and probably keep you within my sight at all times.”
“I can live with that. I just want to wait a while, enjoy some adult time before we have to learn how to change diapers.”
“I do as well.”
“Okay. ‘Night. Sweet dreams.”
“Sweet dreams to you as well.” He had just started to drift when the com buzzed. He ignored it. It buzzed again.
“What is that?” Eve lifted her head, glancing around the room.
“Someone is attempting to contact me but whoever it is can wait.”
Her eyes widened. “Shit! Danica. She probably woke up and is giving Gene hell. We better answer it before he needs medical attention.”
“She’s small. He can manage her until after our sleep cycle ends.”
“She’s my sister.” She showed him her hand as her sharp claws slid out. “Remember these? Gene is your friend, right? Do you really want him carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey?”
“I’m not sure what that means but I’ll assume it’s unpleasant.” He released her. “Put on something while I find my pants. I’ll activate a visual.”
Eve grinned. “You’re the best mate
ever.”
Chapter Twelve
Eve was grateful to leave the council meeting. The cyborgs had been nice but she had tired of their questions. She’d pretty much had to give them a rundown of every meeting she’d ever had with Freedom about their plans to escape Earth together, the immediate aftereffects of discovering they’d been left behind and the years she and Danica had survived afterward.
Assurances that Parlis, Fleet, and Jazel would pay for their crimes had been issued. All three had been stripped of their ranks and privileges and were currently locked in cells, awaiting word from the council on their fates. One of the members had hinted it would be death. It wouldn’t change the past or bring her sisters back but the remaining council’s outrage had gone a long way to appease some of her pain.
“We offer our sincere apologies,” a dark-haired cyborg finally stated in the end. “We were unaware of the canine units when we fled Earth or we never would have left them behind. We’re prepared to do everything in our power to make your transition to our society a smooth one.”
“Thank you, Coval.” Blackie cleared his throat. “I would like to speak on behalf of Danica. She has refused to return to the surface until she’s given a few formal clarifications.”
“She doesn’t trust cyborgs after what happened to us so she wants a few things in writing.” Eve decided to be blunt. “I don’t mean to be rude but I can’t blame her for being wary.”
Rais, another male council member, smiled. “Nor do we. What does she ask for?”
“She’s terrified you are going to force her into one of those marriage contracts with multiple cyborgs.” Eve frowned. “She wants to pick her own mate when she feels ready to take one. She doesn’t know about breeding pacts but that won’t fly either.”
Blackie cleared his throat. “What Eve means is—”
“We understood,” Coval chuckled. “Tell your sister we’ll allow her to pick the male of her choice and we don’t consider her to be a cyborg. You were very clear yesterday that your line is opposed to polygamy. We were watching, remember?”
“I’ll personally write it as an official decree,” Rais offered.