UNIT 78_RESCUED Read online

  “Well, I have a prescription for that,” Dr. Chambers said crisply. “How about a hot shower, a little clear broth, and a good night’s sleep?”

  Kyrin thought about that—thought about being able to sleep without being drugged and to wake without worrying that today would be the day her body and mind finally succumbed to the breeding chemicals. It sounded wonderful.

  Of course you already succumbed, whispered a nasty little voice in her brain. You went completely fuck-lust crazy and begged Rich to breed you when you hardly even know him. I wonder what he thinks of you now?

  The voice made her remember her own voice, hoarse with longing as she begged for his cock inside her. It made her remember the way she’d bucked her hips toward him, trying to get more of him inside her.

  No better than a bitch in heat, it whispered.

  Kyrin winced in shame. Goddess, if only she could forget what she’d done—what she’d become. If only she could have met the big cyborg when she was in her right mind instead of strung out on breeding drugs and high on lust.

  Of course, he’d done what he could for her, even though it couldn’t have been easy for him. He had been kind and patient and hadn’t showed any of the disgust he must have felt when he’d had to lick up the sticky secretions from her breasts or breed her when she was in heat, but how did he really feel? Was he inwardly revolted by her? Did he hate what he’d had to do in order to complete his mission and rescue her?

  Kyrin didn’t want to know. But she couldn’t help thinking wistfully of what she’d seen when Rich had first brought her into the medical cubical—the other big cyborg kissing Dr. Chambers like he couldn’t get enough of her. Would that have been her and Rich if she’d met him under other, less crazy and awful circumstances? Could they have come together on their own?

  “Hey, you’re awfully quiet there, Kyrin.” The doctor’s soft voice broke into her dizzy loop of self-recriminating thoughts. “What do you think of my prescription of shower, soup, and sleep?”

  “I think it sounds wonderful,” Kyrin said gratefully. “I want a hot shower right now more than I think I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.”

  Except to be bred. Don’t forget how badly you wanted that. You begged for it, whispered that nasty little inner voice. Kyrin winced, wishing she could be rid of it—wishing she could get away from the shame and pain of what she’d just been through.

  But as the doctor helped her off the table and led her to a shower unit, she had a bad feeling the nasty little voice was here to stay. Nothing could erase what had been done to her…or make her forget the way she’d acted. Even under the influence of the breeding drugs, she felt she had crossed a line she could never forgive herself for crossing. She had gone too far into darkness, and the darkness had made a place for itself inside her.

  Kyrin wondered if she would ever feel normal again.

  Chapter Ten

  Kyrin tossed restlessly on the small cot in the med cube where Dr. Chambers had left her. After the hot shower and the clear broth, which had helped to settle her stomach, she had drifted off into an exhausted sleep.

  But even in sleep, she couldn’t seem to escape her past.

  “Wake up, Novice! Today is the blessed day! The day you will be bred.”

  “What?” Kyrin opened her eyes and found she was back in the Breeding Compound with Sister Yancy standing over her, the light of fanaticism in her eyes.

  But hadn’t she escaped from here? Hadn’t Rich come to save her? Where was Rich?

  Kyrin looked around but the big cyborg was nowhere to be found. Instead there was only Sister Yancy. Then, suddenly, Father Tr’Ayer appeared beside her.

  “She’s mine—mine this time. Mine to breed!” His silver teeth got closer and closer as Kyrin shrank away from him, trying to cover herself and shivering because she was naked and alone, so alone…

  Then, all at once they were in the Breeding Chamber again and once more she was being strapped into the awful metal and leather harness. Everyone in the crowd was cheering for her to be bred. But when she looked at the person strapping her in, it wasn’t Rich—it was Father Tr’Ayer ogling her naked body, his eyes filled with an avid, greedy lust.

  “Breed her! Breed her!” the crowd chanted and every one of them had Sister Yancy’s face. “BREED HER! BREED HER!”

  “No!” Kyrin screamed, trying to twist away from the straps that held her in place. “No, I don’t want you! Where’s Rich? I need Rich!”

  “I’m here, sweetheart—right here.” A low, familiar voice broke through the dream, scattering it to shards, and then Kyrin felt strong arms around her, holding her close.

  “Rich?” His warm scent, spicy and masculine, reached her nose and convinced her this wasn’t a dream. “Oh, Rich…” She buried her face in his broad chest, trembling so hard she felt like she might shake herself apart.

  “Sweetheart…” There was a helpless tenderness in his deep voice, as though he didn’t know what to do for her.

  Just hold me, Kyrin wanted to tell him. Just hold me and don’t hate me for what you had to do to get me free of the Tr’Lows.

  But she couldn’t seem to get any words out. All she could do was press against him until, slowly, the shaking began to die down.

  “Are you okay?” he asked at last. “I heard you calling for me and I was right outside the med cube door, standing guard so…”

  “I…was having a dream.” Kyrin looked up at him. “A bad one. I…I was back at the compound.”

  His mouth turned down in an angry frown.

  “Those bastards! I wish I could kill every last one of them for what they did to you. I’m so sorry I didn’t get you out of there in time, sweetheart.”

  “What do you mean?” Kyrin looked at him in obvious confusion. “You did get to me in time. You saved me, Rich.”

  “Not from myself.” His frown turned into an expression of self-recrimination. “I’m so damn sorry for what I had to do to you in there, Kyrin. I hope…hope someday you’ll forgive me.”

  “What you had to do? Don’t you mean what I begged you to do?” She laughed bitterly. “Goddess, when I think of what you went through to get me out of there…it must make you sick when you think of it.”

  “What?” He shook his head. “What are you talking about? Why would touching you…making love to you, make me sick, sweetheart?”

  “Call it what it was—breeding,” Kyrin said bluntly. “And how could it not make you sick? When I think of the state I was in, leaking and needy and begging you to…” She shook her head and looked away, unable to go on.

  “Hey. Hey, look at me.” He hooked a finger under her chin and turned her gently so she had to look into those pale blue, strangely beautiful eyes. “Nothing about you could ever make me sick or disgusted, Kyrin,” he told her. “You’re beautiful. So fucking gorgeous it hurts me.” He put a fist over his chest as though to illustrate where the pain was. “I’m the one who’s a monster—half man, half metal, just like in that fucked-up prophecy of the Tr’Lows.”

  “I don’t mind your metal half,” Kyrin said shyly. “I mean, I’ve heard stories about rogue cyborgs and all the damage they can do but well…you’re not like that. You’re kind and patient and generous, and you came to save me when no one else would or could.” She put a hand on his arm—the metal one, not the human one. “Thank you, Rich. Without you I would have died.”

  “And…” He cleared his throat. “You don’t hate me for what I did in…in the, uh, Breeding Chamber?”

  “You did what you had to do to save me,” Kyrin assured him quietly. “I don’t see how you could have done anything else.”

  “It’s just…” He frowned and looked down at her hand still resting lightly on his metal arm. “Just that I swore to your father I wouldn’t touch you. Not that I care what he says. Our unit doesn’t recognize the Space Corps’ brass as our COs anymore.” There was a note of pride in his deep voice. “But I do try to keep my word when I can. I fucked up pretty badly this time
in that respect.”

  “You saved me,” Kyrin emphasized, leaning closer to him. There was something about the big cyborg—maybe the warm scent of his skin or the way his pale blue eyes seemed to gleam in the dimness of the med cube… Kyrin didn’t know what it was that drew her to him, but she did know she wanted badly to kiss him.

  Rich was leaning toward her too, a serious look on his face.

  “Sweetheart—” he began, his voice a low, intimate rumble.

  “Med cube? Come in, med cube. Is Dr. Chambers there?” came a deep voice over the comm.

  “Doc’s gone to sleep but I’m here.” Rich sounded annoyed that they had been interrupted. “What do you want, 80?”

  “It’s not what I want. It’s what Admiral Pierce wants.” 80’s voice was dry.

  “My father?” Kyrin exclaimed. “Where is he? What does he want?”

  “Seems like I caught the two of you together at a bad time,” 80 drawled. “Sorry about that, kids, but the admiral appears to be pretty unhappy that we recovered Kyrin and didn’t bring her back yet.”

  “She needed time to recover,” Rich growled, sounding defensive. “And I wanted Dr. Chambers to look her over.”

  “Excuses, excuses…” 80 made a tsking sound. “I’m afraid you’ll have to save it for the admiral. He’s outside our cruiser with his weapons locked and loaded, demanding his daughter’s safe return—and here I’m quoting—‘right fucking now.’ So maybe you two ought to put a pin in whatever you’re doing and hustle your butts on down to the bridge.”

  “Damn it!” Rich sounded really upset and Kyrin was too. But she knew her father well enough to know he wasn’t joking.

  “I’d better go.” She pulled reluctantly out of the big cyborg’s embrace and reached for the robe Dr. Chambers had thoughtfully given her, along with the long white nightgown she wore.

  “I’ll come with you,” Rich growled. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s go see what your father wants.

  Rich tried not to notice the rounded curves of her body under the nightdress as she twisted to put the robe on, but memory conspired against him. For a moment all he could think of was her soft skin and full breasts beneath him as he buried himself balls deep in her softness, the press of her breasts against his chest as he powered into her. Bred her.

  Fuck! He shook his head to dispel the memory and found her watching him, an odd look on her face. Sure, just scare the crap out of her again, why don’t you, Rich? he berated himself and then forced a smile to his face and held out his hand.

  “Come on, sweetheart. We need to get going.”

  She put her hand into his and he savored the touch, running his thumb over the back of her knuckles as he helped her down from the bed. She shivered as her bare feet hit the cold deck plating…and that did it.

  Bending at the waist, he scooped her up in his arms, nestling her against his chest. She didn’t argue, her arms going around his neck. He closed his eyes for a second, imprinting the memory on his long-term storage banks. He wanted to remember everything—the way she felt against him, the slight weight of her in his arms, the way she smelled. Everything.

  “Rich?” she whispered, and he opened his eyes to find her watching him, concern in her lovely eyes. Before he could think about it, he dipped his head and claimed her lips in a quick, soft kiss.

  He broke it off before it could get too hot and heavy, which it would—especially as they were in a room with a bed—and whirled on his heel to take them out of the room. He walked through the ship at a fast pace, nodding to the few of his comrades that they passed. No one spoke. They didn’t need to, not with the internal communications they all shared.

  He didn’t want to talk, though. He wanted to savor the feeling of Kyrin in his arms, and she seemed to want the same, her face buried against his neck as he walked. They didn’t have the time together he’d wanted because he knew as soon as they reached the shuttle bay, she would leave him.

  And that’s the problem, isn’t it? the little voice kicked up again. You don’t want her to go. You don’t want just time, you want her. You want her to look at you with that soft look again, her lips parted as she waits for your kiss. You want her to look at you like a man she could love…

  He didn’t have an answer for that. Because he wasn’t a man. He was a machine. At least half machine. A tool sent to rescue her and bring her back where she belonged. And that wasn’t at his side. His hopes crashed and burned as he reached the internal blast doors for the shuttle bay and walked through them.

  Waiting for them in the middle of the bay was a Space Corps shuttle, the rear door open and the gangplank down. It was surrounded by armed marines—human ones, not cyborgs. A hard-faced officer, a major from his rank insignia, stood next to Unit 77. They both turned as he approached with Kyrin in his arms.

  “You will hand over the admiral’s daughter!” The human’s voice was shrill and demanding. “I will return her to the admiral’s ship.”

  Rich flicked a glance down to the name tag on the guy’s jacket. Lewis. Major Lewis.

  “Not a chance,” he growled, his grip tightening slightly on the woman in his arms. “I was tasked with retrieving her from Beacon Five so I will return her to her father, as requested.”

  Lewis turned. His tilted-up nose and condescending expression as he looked around at the assembled cyborgs made it obvious he found their very existence an affront. Rich wanted to punch him in the face. Repeatedly. With his metal arm.

  “That won’t be possible.” He raked a glance over Kyrin, held safely in Rich’s arms, and he turned a hard look on Rich. “You do not have the correct security clearance to board the admiral’s ship.”

  “But my clearance was plenty good enough when he wanted my help?” Rich snorted. Some humans were assholes. He was glad he wasn’t one anymore. Not really.

  “Hand over Ms. Pierce,” Lewis threatened, the marines around the shuttle raising their rifles in concert.

  “Snappy,” Rich sneered, raising the corner of his lip. “Did you all practice that for long?”

  “Major Lewis,” Drew’s voice was cold, his body language controlled as he put an arm out ready to shove Doc Chambers behind the protection of his bigger body. “May I remind you that you’re on our ship here?”

  “And may I remind you,” Lewis shot back, his cheeks flushing, “that I outrank you, Captain Fisher. Now, release the girl, or I’ll have his brains scrambled. See if you cybernetic freaks can fix him then!”

  Kyrin gasped, and Rich shot her a look. Her expression was tight, the look in her eyes one of fear.

  They got a bead on you, man… Harper rumbled over their internal comms, cluing him in on what she’d seen. Behind your right ear.

  Rich froze. Fuck. If they shot him there, and they got it just right, the bullet would penetrate his skull at the right point between his organic and metallic skull… and yeah, scramble both his brains and his processor.

  How the fuck did they know that? he demanded of the hive mind.

  No idea. That was Drew and he didn’t sound impressed. I’ll get Claudia on it. We don’t need weaknesses like that.

  Their entire exchange took a less than a nanosecond, just long enough for Lewis to smile smugly.

  “Captain Fisher is dead. I am Unit 77.” When Drew spoke it wasn’t through the internal network. His voice was as cold as ice. Chilling. “If any of your men fire, none of you will leave here alive. That I promise you.”

  “Please… I don’t want anyone to get hurt,” Kyrin struggled in Rich’s arms. Gently, even though every part of him screamed to keep her close and run, barricade himself with her in his quarters so they couldn’t take her from him, he set her down on her feet.

  “I’ll go with him. I’ll be okay. I promise,” she whispered to him, her hands still on his chest like she didn’t want to let him go.

  He covered her hand with his and glared at Lewis.

  “My mission was to return her to her father. I will not have you assholes welching on the dea
l by saying we didn’t fulfill our end of the bargain.”

  “Get away from him,” Lewis ordered Kyrin, the threat implicit as laser beads decorated the front of his chest. “Or my men have orders to fire. Your father does not want you anywhere near this metal asshole.”

  How does he know your ass is metal? I told you, man, gay metal porn is so last year… 80 snorted over the comms, his flippant sense of humor doing nothing for the situation when the man himself was standing behind and to one side of Drew, his expression one of cold retribution as he looked at the marines in his arc of fire.

  Rich knew, like all of them, that he’d already picked his targets, cross-referenced them with the units to either side of him to ensure they all had overlap, and could have a weapon in his hand within a nanosecond.

  The humans would never survive.

  But Kyrin would never forgive him for the slaughter right in front of her.

  Almost as if to prove his point, she cried out, stepping right in front of him. Instantly, the laser sights clicked off. No one would risk shooting the admiral’s daughter. Not unless they could pin it on the cyborgs…

  “No! No one is shooting anyone. I am going back to my father’s ship now and no one will get hurt,” she announced.

  “I’ll go with you,” Doc Chambers said, stepping around Drew and approaching Kyrin. Her gaze, as cold as that of her cyborg lover behind her, speared Lewis. “I am Doctor Claudia Chambers. I’ve been treating Kyrin since her recovery from the compound. I’ll wish to speak to your doctors about handing over her care.”

  “No.” Lewis’ voice was hard and flat, the look in his eyes disgusted as he swept over the small figure of the doctor. “You’re the bitch who cyberized all these abominations… and you’re screwing one of them. God knows what drugs you’ve been pumping into her—”