B Cubed #3 Borg (4 page)

            “Fibber,”
he offered a quicksilver smile to take the sting out of his words before
turning his back on her and heading for the control panel.

            Sage
let out a relieved breath. Being ignored was better than his scrutiny. There
was something about the way he looked at her, like he was drinking her in and
would continue to do so until there was nothing left.  She sank down on the
nearest seat and tried to calm her galloping heart.

“Buckle up,” he called.

She did. Cleared her throat and asked, “So,
where are we going?”

His big hands flew over the controls, more adept
than any Bred she’d ever seen. Their race was strong but not usually so technologically
savvy. Berrick must have been practicing since his emancipation to become so
proficient.

  The door shut and the tunneler angled down
against the bedrock. “To the thermal beacons.”

Sage braced her hands on either side of herself
as the tunneler rocked. “What are those?”

“Relay devices that detect changes around the
globe.”

Sage wasn’t sure what good that would do, but
the Born tended only to worry about themselves. “Are you looking for anything
in particular?”

Berrick didn’t respond right away. Maybe he
hadn’t heard her question. Or maybe she was being nosy and his silence was his
way of letting her know it without being rude. She picked up Lily, who was
remarkably calm considering the little dog didn’t like strange men any more
than her mistress.

Since the tunneler only had one window right
above the helix nose, there was nothing to see other than crushed rock. This
trail had no illumination, so the only light came from inside the tight cabin.
Her companion was a dark massive shape in front of her. All bulging muscles and
coiled power.

“I’m looking for signs that our planet is dying,”
He murmured, startling her.

“Dying?” All the air left her lungs. Here she’d
been panicking over her mating—and whatever it entailed—and the planet could be
dying?

“I was told by a soothsayer that she’s almost
out of time. The readings will confirm it, one way or another.”

“What—?” she cleared her throat and tried again.
“What if the earth really is dying? Is there anything we can do to fix it?”

She wanted him to say yes, of course, where
there was a will there’d be a way. But he held his piece again and her heart
sank.

“Why didn’t this come up at the summit?” The
fact that all the factions would perish if the planet died seemed like
something they should have been made aware of. Was there any point to calling a
truce of they were all doomed anyway?

“It’s a relatively new worry and nothing’s been
proven yet. That’s what I intend to find out. I’m sure the accord will grant
all factions full disclosure. If she is dying, the only way any of us will
survive is if we all work together.”

Sage thought about her uncle’s prejudice against
the Bred and the Borg. She thought about the people in the hallway that had
seen her off, uncaring as to her fate.  About the men who’d hurt her. Banding
together wasn’t something the Born did. She hugged Lily to her and the little
creature yelped in protest.

“God help us all,” Sage breathed.

Chapter Three

            Dayen
mentally swore as he took the third beacon reading. All of them relayed the
same information. The rocks of the crust were cooler than they had been a year
ago, and almost half the temperature of what they’d been two years ago. 

            “This
doesn’t mean anything, not really.” he told Sage, who stared wide eyed at his
data. “We’ve only tested rock on the dark half of the planet so far.”

            “What
other information do you need?” Beautiful blue eyes fixed on his face.

He could lose himself so easily in those eyes.
Dayen forced himself to refocus on the tunneler controls and on inputting the
new code. She was still nervous about him, both Dayen her cyborg fiancé and
Berrick, the big man piloting the tunneler. Staring at her would only compound
her fear.

 Her thoughts were less frantic than they’d been
when he first told her about his mission.  As he picked up her unique
frequency, he was also practicing blocking them out, making his mind immune to
her innermost thoughts. It was an exercise Aunt Cass had taught him, slowly
erecting a barrier that would eventually be impervious to her projections. He’d
never gotten the hang of it but then again, he’d never been so motivated to get
it right.

“A sample from the mantle perhaps.”

“What’s that?”

“Another layer of the Earth. The one directly
below the crust.”

“How many layers are there?”

Dayen enjoyed her curiosity. She was sharp and
attentive, inquisitive like a child but not overly pushy, allowing him to
consider the data before he responded. The perfect student, she possessed a
genuine thirst for knowledge. For every question he answered Sage had two more
ready to go. Her eagerness to learn overrode her fretting because she’d moved
to the seat beside him to observe his testing.

Dayen held up his hand and ticked off the
layers. “The crust, the mantel and the core.”

“The crust is where the Born colonies are?”

“It’s where we all live. In some places the
crust is over forty miles thick. The cyborg colony is just closer to the mantle
because the mantle is warmer.”

She absorbed that for a minute. “Why is it
warmer?”

“It’s superheated rock, liquid in form. It’s
also the thickest layer of the planet. Have you ever seen a volcano erupt?”

She shook her head. “What’s a volcano?”

Dayen drummed his fingers on the console as the
tunneler rumbled along. The Born did their children no favors by keeping them
ignorant to the world around them. Sage’s keen mind could be an asset to him,
but first he had to educate her to the way things worked.

Another reading from a thermal beacon wouldn’t
give him much more to work with than he’d already obtained. Decided, he input
the new coordinates. “I’ll show you. You’ll want to take off that dress
though.”

Blue eyes went wide and a spike of terror
pierced his shield. He winced in pain and cursed himself. “I didn’t mean it
like that. Your clothes aren’t warm enough for where we’re going. There’s a set
of thermal coveralls in the back. Go get changed.”

Her stomach rumbled and he felt her hunger
clawing at her. That need he could fulfill right away. “There are nutrient bars
in the drawer beneath your seat. Help yourself.”

“Thank you.” She sent him a smile tinged with
relief and left, the dog following hot on her heels. Dayen focused on the
readings and tried to ignore the sound of rustling clothes. His cock throbbed
as his enhanced senses carried her fresh feminine fragrance to him. The tang of
fear did little to dilute her womanly aroma. Fresh and clean with just a touch
of lustful spices. Despite her fear and reluctance, Sage’s body responded to
his nearness. Without intending to she beckoned him closer almost choked him
with her pheromones. The beast prowled restlessly, hungry for more of her, for
all of her. Getting out of the vehicle would help him retain control.

He hoped.

Dayen knew he must master his shielding soon. It
was necessary to close his mind off from her thoughts because he needed to
touch her. To give her pleasure where she’d only known pain as well as claim
her for his own.

“Ready,” Sage moved to stand beside him once
more. The silly confection of the gown was gone but the thermal suit was almost
worse. Though more of her delectable skin was covered the tight material hugged
her every dip and swell of her generous body.  He could trace every curve with
his eyes, and was reaching for her before he knew it. Her surprise barely
registered as he skimmed his hands down over the flare of her generous hips.

Sage stood frozen, her jumbled emotions pinging
against his shield. He could feel her surprise, her anxiety and even the spike
of fear, but he was able to tune it all out. Everything except the well of
desire that expanded inside her as his hands skimmed across her topography,
learning the terrain.

“Berrick,” she whispered.

His grip on her tightened.
It should be our
name on her lips.
The beast snarled, not approving of the deceit. Animals
didn’t lie.

Dayen was more philosophical about it. What was
one more identity in his ever changing mash-up of them? In this instant, he
didn’t want to be the heir to the factions, a reincarnated soul, a beast’s
human host or the tormented hybrid telepath that was mankind’s only hope.
Berrick may be an invention, but he had a simple life and he could do his job
and make love to the woman before him without considering what anyone else
needed.

And what about what she needs?
Another voice said.
Isaac’s voice.

Dayen looked up into her guileless blue eyes. They
were wide, the emotion behind them a fathomless mixture of hope and dread. Feelings
he saw but didn’t experience.

The fabric showcasing her shape also prevented
skin to skin contact but with a start he realized her hand rested on his bare
arm. She was touching him and her thoughts and emotions were cloaked. The wall
had come up effortlessly, giving him his first taste of normal.

The beast was hungry for more of the warmth that
radiated from her palm but the man was lost in the first pleasurable human contact
he’d ever experienced. Both craved more of her.

He stared up in her with absolute wonder at the
same time she licked her lush lips and whispered, “We can’t do this.”

She was his. She wanted him. He needed her.

“The hell we can’t,” he snarled and pulled her
down onto his lap.

****

Sage gasped as Berrick pulled her body flush
against his. He was hard everywhere, she discovered as his pulsing shaft rubbed
against her scantily clad backside. Good Gods, he was immense!

            She
should be afraid, being alone with a large aroused male that had hauled her
down to him like she weighed no more than Lily.  Part of her was scared
witless, of course she was. That was the only reason she hadn’t jumped up or
struggled at all.

           
Liar.

            No,
it wasn’t fear that was keeping her immobile on what had to be the hardest
chair in the history of sitting. It was something in the way Berrick’s leafy
green eyes bore into her, how his hands roved over her, touched her neck, the
side of her face, loose strands of her hair.

            If
he’d tried to unzip her newly donned thermal coveralls, she would have fought
him. If he’d groped her breasts or ass or between her legs, she would protest.
But no, his touch was focused on her hands and face almost as though he’d never
held a woman this way before.

            And
how ridiculous was that?

            “You
were meant for me.” His voice had changed, grown deeper, darker almost like a
growl. Such a contrast to the way his hands shook as they tunneled through her
hair the way the vehicle tunneled through the earth’s crust. He cupped her head
and urged her down until her forehead rested against his. “
Mine.”

            A
shiver shook her even as his heat seeped into her, not of fear, but of desire.
She wanted to curl into him and absorb all that warmth that flowed from his
being. He licked his lips and her gaze fell to the sensual line of his mouth,
wondering how they would feel.

            The
thought had barely registered before her hand lifted to trace the bow there.
Soft, such a contrast to the rest of him.

His eyelids grew heavy as she explored his mouth
with her fingertips. A deep rumbling echoed in his chest, a sound that conveyed
contentment, satisfaction and hunger all at once. 

A hand enfolded her own extracting her hand from
his mouth. “I’m going to kiss you now,” he murmured a second before his lips
were on her own.

Sage jolted at the sensation of his mouth on
hers. Against her will her eyes slid shut. His fingers laced through her own
and one arm snaked around her back, pulling her tighter to him until her
breasts flattened into his chest. His tongue invaded her mouth and she opened
for him, eager to give him whatever access he craved as long as he kept
touching her. He groaned at her easy acquiescence and she had the bizarre sense
that nothing was ever easy for Berrick, that he had had to fight for everything
he needed. But he wouldn’t fight her, no matter how much he wanted her. She
knew that, instinctively from the careful way he held her, not pinning her. He
let her know he craved her even as he was careful not to trap her.

It must be a Bred thing, there instinctive
understanding of a woman’s fear. His understanding and compassion was a drug as
potent as his salty lips and just as addictive. The less he demanded the more
she wanted to give.

 The feeling was completely foreign, and a
little bit wicked. She was promised to another man so what the hell was she
doing letting this Bred warrior kiss her with such abandon?

He broke the kiss, only to trail his lips down
the side of her neck. She tipped her head to the side to give him better
access.

“So sweet,” he murmured a second before he took
her earlobe in his mouth and tugged. Something electric zinged through her and
she bucked against him. “So hot and ripe and
mine
.”

A hand covered her breast, a thumb stroking over
the cloth covering her nipple. She arched against him with a cry, needing more,
needing him to touch her bare flesh that way, to suckle her into his hot, wet
mouth.

As though she’d voiced her urges, his hand went
to the front zipper of her thermal suit and pulled it down to her waist.  She’d
removed her undergarments when she’d put the thermal suit on to prevent any
unsightly lines or bulges. Cool air caressed her bared flesh made the tips of
her breasts tighten all the more. He laid her back over the console and green
glistened like emeralds as he drank her in.

Until there’s nothing left.

One hand cupped the swell of her left breast, so
gently, almost too light. She shivered in his grip and he firmed it, his focus
still locked on her exposed flesh. He licked his lips.

“Please!” Wildfire burned through her and the
relentless need jolted her out of the lusty stupor. She was so close to losing
control and the fear was there, fear that she’d hit a point of no return. He
was so big and if he lost it, he’d hurt her. “Berrick , stop. We can’t.”

His gaze darted to her face, his chest rising
and falling with quick harsh breaths. “
Mine
.” The voice was guttural and
rough, no longer human.

She held very still, instincts warning her not
to move.  She didn’t remind him that she was promised to the Borg leader.
Arguing with a large and very aroused male who held her vulnerable flesh
beneath his massive hands was not a good idea. Of course, teasing him with
kisses and letting him bare her breasts before trying to halt the preceding
hadn’t been very bright either.

He can do anything to me.
The though caused a
surge of panic and her vision blurred.

His nostrils flared as though he scented the
air. Thick dark eyebrows drew down. “You fear me?” The hand on her breast let
go.

The second he released her, Sage slithered to
the floor, tucking herself into a ball. Lily was by her side at once, nuzzling
at her face with a cold wet nose.

Above her, Berrick breathed in a ragged rhythm,
one sharp inhale, then a puff of air being expelled like a dragon breathing
fire.

Sage called herself every name in the book. What
the hell had she been thinking, teasing him like that? If he hurt her in
retaliation, she had no one to blame but herself for being so fricking stupid.

“No one will hurt you.”

She started when she realized he’d crouched down
beside her, was looking directly at her.

How had he known what she’d been thinking? And
more importantly, could she believe him when he’d been seconds away from losing
it?

“I give you my vow that no one will ever hurt
you again. Especially not me.” Those green eyes hid his inner thoughts even as
they probed her. Searching for what? She wished she knew so she could give it
to him and then he’d stop looking at her that way.