B Cubed #3 Borg (11 page)

            “But
what has that got to do with those beasts?” Sage asked, her gaze locked on the
cyborg’s face. “Are you telling me those creatures were smarter than the
average person?”

            “I
have no way to be certain without an autopsy, but I’d say that no, in them, the
serum didn’t work the same way.  I’d like to do some further tests,”

            “Later,”
Dayen snapped, cutting the cyborg off with a low growl. “I need to speak with
her privately.”

            “Yes,
sire.” The woman spoke and then dragged her reluctant mate to the door.

            “Sire?”
Sage raised an eyebrow in Dayen’s direction.

            He
rose and squared his shoulders, his gaze fastened on her. “There have been some
changes.”

            She
snorted. “Is that right,
Berrick
?”

            He
winced and she heard his unspoken apology in her own head. Was inundated with
cloying guilt and sickening regret.

            “Stop
that,” she snapped and gripped her head in both hands.

            “What?”
he reached for her and the sensation cut off abruptly.

            She
sighed in relief and looked up into his eyes, those leafy green eyes that
belong to her mate. The man who had saved her, lied to her, risked everything
for her.

            “You
can hear my thoughts?” He asked in a tone of wonder.

            Could
she? “No, it was more like I experienced your emotions. I supposed this means
I’ll have to forgive you for lying to me, if only so I can breathe when you let
go of me.”

            “I
don’t want to let go of you,” he murmured. There was a seductive note in his
voice and multiple dimensions of possibilities. “Not ever.”

            She
put her hand on his chest. “I know why you lied to me. Really, I understand
that.”

            “But?”
he prompted.

            She
sighed. “But, you could have told me. Later.” As she looked in his eyes she
allowed herself to relive their time in the cave together.

            He
was thinking about it too, she saw the memory smoldering in his eyes. “I didn’t
want you to fear me when you were just beginning to open up to me.”

            Sage
looked away. How could she make him understand? Without thinking about it she
rose from the padded bench where she’d apparently been camped out for the last
few months. Strange she didn’t feel grubby like any other long illness she’d
suffered through before. “I’m so clean.”

            “I
came every day to bathe you.”

            She
looked up, startled. “You didn’t have to do that.”

            His
chin lifted, that same look of absolute pride she’d come to. “Tending to you is
my right as your mate. And there was no way I was going to let Rothguard put
his perverted hands all over you.”

            She
laughed in spite of herself. “Perverted?”

            He
tapped his skull with his free hand. “Telepath, remember? Of course, he’s a one
woman male, but the variations….I know what everyone goes in for, whether I
want to or not.”

            She
grinned up at him. “I guess I will now, too.”

            His
humor fled. “I would not have seen you burdened with this, Sage. You have
endured enough.”

            She
pulled away from him, staggered under a wave of loss coming from him, but
managed to keep herself upright. “So far, you’re the only one I’ve picked up anything
from. And otherwise, I feel pretty damn good.”

            “Not
as good as you look,” Before she knew what he was doing, he yanked her toward
him and settled his mouth over hers. It was a breath steeling, soul renting,
heartbreaking kind of kiss. Big hands cupped her head, as his lips pressed in
on hers, and his tongue swept inside. It was an
, I thought you were gone for
good and I’d never have the chance to do this again
kind of kiss. And
wouldn’t that be a crying shame?

            She
yanked away from him, heart pounding. “I can’t do this.”

            “Sage,”
His tone, so full of anguish, nearly broke her resolve.

            “No,
Dayen, damn it. Too much has changed. I can’t just be your prize anymore.” She
pushed herself away from him. “I was going to kill myself, did you know that?”

            He
flinched, features paling as though he was about to vomit. She let herself
remember that morning in the cave, when she’d held not even a glimmer of hope,
only tired resignation. The choice between the hell she knew and the hell she
didn’t.  His legs nearly gave out as her memories bombarded him. It hurt her
too, to see him lost and hopeless beneath the weight of her onslaught, but she
pressed her hands against the bench, determined to remain standing.

             “Why?”
he rasped, voice tight with pain.

            “Because,
I’d been told that Dayen intended to hand me out like some kind of reward. The
way Berrick acted furthered that belief.”

            He
blanched and then grated. “I’d never do that to you. You’re
mine
.”

            “Why?
Because my uncle sold me to you?  Because you can touch me without feeling
crippling pain?”

            “Because
I love you!” he thundered. He reached for her, but she dodged back, shook her
head.

            “I
don’t even know you.”

            His
hands fell away and they stood in silence. Really, what more could they say?

            “I
will fix this,” he growled and then turned on his heel and left.

            All
the resolve leeched out of her and she leaned against the bench.

            “Sage?”
A beautiful red haired woman moved into the room and extended her hand. “I’m
Allora, Dayen’s mother.”

            Sage
flinched and tried to tug her hand back.

            “Oh,
none of that now.” Allora let her go but her lips curved up into a smile. “I
too once suffered from an arranged marriage. I know how helpless it can make
you feel.”

            “How
did you get out of it?” Sage whispered.

            Allora
shrugged. “I ran away with my lover.”

            “My
lover didn’t really exist.” She blushed as she realized what she’d admitted and
to whom.

            The
grin on Allora’s face widened. “Oh, he exists. Let me tell you about my son….”

Chapter Ten

            Reduced
to a Peeping Tom.

            Dayen
watched Sage on the monitors he’d installed in his parent’s home, the closest
he’d been to her since she’d awakened transformed. Unlike him, she didn’t seem
to have a problem being touched by others, a fact that would have sent him into
a rage if anyone other than his mother and father had tried. But she looked
happy, almost joyful as she worked in the small greenhouse he’d set up for her.
Lily dug in the dirt beside her. It was nowhere near the size of the one that
waited for her in their domicile, but she hadn’t come to see him, never mind
move in with him.

            Though
a mountain of work waited on the desk behind him, he couldn’t tear his eyes off
the screen casting her image. She knew he was watching, he’d informed his
mother he wanted Sage to be made aware of the monitors that had long ago been
installed so he could see the parents that couldn’t hold him. Yet his mate
ignored them as she crouched over a row of tomatoes.   

            In
so many ways she was different from the woman she’d once been, the one he’d
seen but feared to approach. Fire had forged her into a weapon of grace and
strength. He’d seen her sparring with his mother and several other cyborgs. She
was undefeated  had taken pride in the fact that she was stronger, faster than
any who came up against he Born, Bred or Cyborg. It gave him a measure of peace
to know she could care for herself.

            “Productive
morning?” Aunt Cass asked from the doorway.

            He
growled and shut off the feed. “What is the point of having a prophetess at my
side if she can’t tell me what I need to do to keep the world from ending?”

            Cass
didn’t sit on the chair she usually occupied, instead moving to the opening
that provided a view of the world below. “I wish I could just tell you, but you
know I can’t.”

            Dayen
rose, his beast restless, unable to remain still without the sight of his mate.
“I’ve done everything you’ve asked, everything I can. A team of the faction’s
best and brightest are working around the clock, searching for a solution. We
don’t know where the problem is, Cass.”

            She
smiled up at him. “You’ve learned to speak as a leader.”

            Though
it was juvenile, he rolled his eyes. “Terrific. I sound like a leader to a
doomed species. It doesn’t help me find answers or convince my mate to give me
another chance, so what purpose does it serve?”

            She
answered his question with one of her own. “Do you know why the world stopped
spinning?”

            “No
one does, for sure.”

            “Hmmm,”
she said and moved toward the door.

            Dayen’s
jaw dropped. “Hmmm? The fate of all life depends on me and the best I can get
is
hmmm
?”

            “Don’t
be so dramatic, Dayen.” She waved cheerily and left.

            He
spent the remainder of the day in meetings, reviewing scientific evidence
gathered by members of every faction. There were other things he needed to do as
well, other disputes that needed a judgment, other problems to solve. Being
called “sire” was cold comfort when it compared to the never ending battle to
keep humanity from imploding on itself.

            The
hour grew late and sill he didn’t wish to venture home.  The small, cold cave
he’d shared with Sage was more of a home because she had been there. He closed
his eyes, leaned back in his chair and remembered how she had touched him, the
way her hands and lips felt against his skin, the hoy wet glide as she took him
into her mouth….

            “I
think about it a lot, too.”

            His
eyes flew open and there she was, silhouetted in the doorway. All lush curves
and sweet scent. So beautiful just looking at her broke his heart a little.

            “Am
I dreaming?” he asked.

            “No,”
She moved into the room and shut the door behind her. “I’m not sure what I’m
doing here. I couldn’t sleep and decided to go for a walk.  That’s when I saw
your light.”

            “You
shouldn’t walk around by yourself.”

            “I
would have brought Lily, but she was sound asleep. Besides, no one can hurt me
now,” she stepped closer until her scent enveloped him. “No one but you.”

            “I
will never hurt you.” He vowed, wanting to reach for her but knowing he
couldn’t, that he had to let her come all the way to him. “I love you.”

            Her
lips twitched and he knew she read his thoughts just as he was reading hers.
“How do you do that so effortlessly?”

            “Do
what? Read minds?”

            He
nodded. “I still struggle with it most days. It takes a great deal of effort
to  filter out the noise from everyone else just to hear my own thoughts.”

            “I
can’t hear anyone else’s thoughts, Dayen. Just yours.”

            His
heart beat a little faster. “So I’m different for you, too.”

            “Yates
said I would be a deserving mate for you. Perhaps something that he did was especially
designed for you.”

            “I
chose you as my mate long before Yates. Before we even met.”

            Her
hand rose, shook slightly and slid into his hair. “I know, your Aunt Cass told
me.”

            Cass
always had a reason for everything she did.  “And will you chose me, too,
mein
Schatzi
?”

            Her
eyes were troubled and hungry all at once. “I want to, but I don’t know….” She
closed her eyes, shook her head.

            He
raised his hand to her lips. “Let me take you home.”

            Dayen
turned out the lights and led Sage down the back stairs to the web work of
tunnels that led to his domicile. To
their
domicile. The short walk was
endless. His heart raced and he was tempted to pick her up and run the
remaining distance but refrained.

            They
entered his private space and he released her only long enough to light a lamp.
She was still skittish, still unsure of him and of herself. Even though their
hands remained clasped he understood her thoughts. As much as he wanted her,
had longed for her, he wouldn’t push her for sex tonight. Let her ease into
being with him, get used to him again. Eventually she would…”

            His
thoughts ground to a halt when she tugged on his hand and whispered, “Kiss me.”

            Dayen
didn’t need to be asked twice. He turned her fully toward him and stared into
her bright blue eyes for an endless moment, trying to communicate without words
how he craved her, all of her.

            Slowly,
tenderly, he took her lips, melding their mouths, sharing a breath a moment in
time. He went slowly, recognizing the gift he’d been given, a second chance
with his mate and he was determined not to rush.

            Sage
moaned and plastered her decadent form against him, needing him back fiercely,
demanding, just as she’d been before.

            She
was hot though, as hot as he was and together they blazed higher. She clasped
him closer, he couldn’t decide where to put his hands so they roved over her
back restless and eager for bare skin. He rocked against her, his shaft hard
and aching for release.

            Hands
fumbled against his clothing as she tried to bare him, all of him, to her eager
hands. He gripped her hands once, holding them together and reluctantly leaving
her delectable mouth.

            “Are
you sure? I’m not looking for a quick fuck here so if that’s all this is—”

            She
interrupted him with a hard kiss.  “I want you, Dayen.”

            He
would have closed his eyes to savor those words but he was to ready for her, too
eager to do all the things he’d imagined doing.

            With
only that thought in mind, he stripped her clothing from her body and knelt
before her.

            “Wait,”
she said but it was too late. He’d already caught her scent, the pooling of
woman between her thighs. The dark patch of hair there was soft and springy, he
rubbed his cheek there. She gasped, her hands plowing through his on hair.  He
hooked one leg over his shoulder and cupped her round ass in both hands.

             “I
need this, need to taste you. Don’t stop me.”

            “Dayen,”
her voice was low, her eyes unsure.

            “Just
let me try. I promise I’ll stop if you don’t like it.”

            Even
if it killed him.

****

            Sage
watched him as he nuzzled her sex. With one leg over his shoulder she felt
horribly exposed, open and vulnerable. But he was being so gentle, almost
reverent. He’d promised to stop if she said so. And she
was
curious.

            “Let
me,” he asked again as he dropped a kiss on her mound.

            “Okay,”
she whispered. Really, she’d agreed to be his mate. What was one more boon.

            He
didn’t hesitate, simply lowered his face that last inch and licked her seam. Her
hands tightened in his hair at the slow, wet slide of his tongue over her
burning flesh. He groaned and delved deeper on the next swipe, parting her sex
lips to explore. The hands on her ass flexed, trying to pull her even closer as
he really set in.

            Her
head tipped back as he savored her with the hottest, most shockingly intimate
kiss she could have imagined. Green eyes glowed up at her, she could see them
in the dimly lit room, her new home with her new mate pleasuring her. It was
wicked, sinful and she never wanted it to end.

            He
found her clit and tongued it ruthlessly, studying her every response with
those unblinking eyes. She arched as the tempo increased and then bucked
against him, coming hard and fast.  He clasped the tiny bud between his lips
and wetness spilled from her, hot liquid lust. He drilled her with his tongue
and swallowed the evidence of her pleasure.

            Her
knees wobbled, but he held her in place, determined to get every last drop her
body yielded.  She pushed against him and he slid his hands up, allowing her to
melt down his body until she sagged onto his lap.

            Slight
tremors still shook her and she had to focus to get her fingers to unclench
from his hair. She couldn’t seem to catch her breath or find the will to do
anything except nestle against him. His thick cock, still encased in fabric,
pushed against her, but he made no demands. He never would, not of her, only of
himself.

            She
smiled against him, glad to take the next step, to give in to what they both
wanted. It was inevitable and even better because she’d made the choice.
Fighting fate was more effort than she wanted to expend. There were so many
more pleasant ways to expend her energy. “Dayen, make love to me.”

            The
sound of rending fabric and then that hot, steely length was bare to her
stomach. She met his gaze, kissed the mouth that still glistened with her
juices and lifted her hips.

            She
held his gaze as she took him inside of herself for the first time. His eyes
went wide as she sank down, slowly enveloping him into the tight clutch of her
eager body. It was a long, sweet slide, so different from what she’d known
before, it wasn’t even the same act. This was more a melding of flesh a uniting
of two to become one.

            She
rocked her hips experimentally, loving having him within. “How does that feel?”

            His
eyes slid shut and he licked his lips. “I haven’t the words.”

            “Hot,”
she offered as she moved again. “Hard.”

            “Wet.”
his lids opened. “Soft. And
mine
.”

            The
growl in his voice tightened her already stiffened nipples to the point of
pain. They rubbed against his chest as she lifted and plunged, landing a little
harder, moving a little faster.

            Sweat
beaded on his forehead, slicked his chest. The hands on her splayed hips shook.

            “Tell
me what you need,” She whispered

            He
shook his head, brow furrowed as if in pain.

            “Do
you need to move faster?” She guessed. It was what she needed, after all.

            He
nodded. “I’m on the verge of something and I want to let go but…”

            “Do
what you need to. I trust you, Dayen.”

            The
words had barely left her mouth when he had her on her back was moving
frantically on top of her. His hips pistoned wildly, his motions unpracticed
but filled with urgency. He drilled her hard and fast and she loved it. Her
legs wrapped around him and she lifted to meet his powerful thrusts.

            The
tendons stood out along the side of his neck, the muscles in his arms bulged
where he braced himself. She clung to him, nudged higher. His cock rubbed a
spot deep inside her and she arched, crying out as she came around him.