Defying Death (5 page)

“He wasn’t affected.” Death lowered his head until
their lips were a breath apart. Their kiss had been the best moment
of his lengthy lifespan. She’d been so sweet, so wet and hot and
responsive, embracing him with all the passion in her soft
heart.

And she had promised him another kiss. He hadn’t
left the chamber.

“You don’t…ummm…ahhh…” She shook her head as though
to clear it. Her red-tinged curls bounced against her full cheeks.
“Aargh.” Tifara pushed on his shoulders. “I can’t think when you’re
this near to me and I have to think or beings will die and—”

Death captured her lips, stopping the flow of words.
She mumbled, resisting. He pressed harder and she opened to him,
granting him the sanctuary of her mouth. Their tongues touched. She
retreated. He pursued. She surrendered once more, flesh sliding
along flesh.

What would that tongue feel like on his shaft, on
his tip, flicking over his rim, curled around his balls?

He mouthed over her chin, moving downward. She
tilted her head back, giving him more access to her body. Death
licked over her neck, covering the area savaged by the Palavian.
His nanocybotics would reverse any lingering damage the other male
had caused and Death liked having his scent on her.

“Don’t do that.” Tifara struggled, her breasts
jiggling, his female all curves and passion. “Saliva is full of
electrolytes, mucus, glycoproteins, enzymes, secretory IgA,
lysozymes.”

“My nanocybotics.” He’d mark her again and again
with that unique part of him. Every warrior would know she was
his.

She
was
his female. The nanocybotics wouldn’t
fade. They’d replicate, become a part of her, stop her aging
process, increasing her natural lifespan to infinity.

Tifara ceased moving. “You’re transferring more
nanocybotics to me, which will speed the progression of the virus.”
She had a different view of his nanocybotics, seeing them as an
enemy to be defeated. “But why are you doing that? You’ve already
infected me. Why not move to the next victim?”

“There is no infection.” He told her yet again. “And
there is no next victim. You’re the only female for me.”

She frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. Though being
irrational
is
one of your symptoms.”

She might be right. He might be irrational. His
processors didn’t fully function around her.

He turned his female and brushed her hair to the
side, exposing skin he hadn’t previously accessed. The Palavian had
bruised her. Death, containing his anger, carefully, tenderly
licked her bruised nape.

“Stop that.” She bucked against him. “Until we find
out what is happening, we shouldn’t exchange fluids.”

“Agreed. Once we determine what is happening, we
will exchange fluids.” He already knew what was happening. All he
had to do was convince his female he was correct. “We’ll
breed.”

“What? No.” She wiggled out of his arms and faced
him. “Don’t put words in my mouth.”

He looked at her lush pink lips. “What should I put
in your mouth?”

Her gaze flicked downward. Death stifled a roar as
lust swept over him. She wasn’t thinking about his tongue. His
little female desired his cock.

“Nothing.” Her face turned a deep shade of crimson.
“You put nothing in my mouth.”

The musky scent of her arousal told him she lied.
She yearned to suck his cock and he craved that more than
breathing.

But he wouldn’t imperil her life to achieve that
bliss.

They were surrounded by cruel humans. Breeding with
her now was too risky.

Instead, Death would take another one of her
wonderful kisses.

He lifted her and covered her spluttering lips with
his. She gasped. He invaded, stroking into her softness with his
tongue, tasting passionate female and that hint of the happiness
he’d been seeking.

Tifara moaned into his mouth, her eyes darkening,
her protests fading. She was no longer thinking of viruses and
death, of curing the bond forming between them. The medic had
retreated, leaving a willing, wanting female.

Death drew back and gazed at her. She panted, her
lips glistening with moisture, her magnificent breasts heaving. His
female desired him and soon she’d have him. “You can suck me off
when we are safely in open space.”

Her eyes widened and her spine straightened.

“I’m
not
sucking you off.” She writhed,
twisting in his grip. “And I’m not leaving the battle station with
you.” Her voice rose. “I—”

“Hush.”

“Don’t hush me.” She pummeled the toe of her boot
against his legs.

“I have to hush you.” His female wasn’t using her
processors. “If others hear your words, they’ll enter the chamber
and I’ll have to kill them.”

“There will be no more killing,” she ordered,
lowering her voice once more. “No spreading of the virus. No
sucking any being off. No exchanging of fluids of any kind.
No—”

He kissed her again, unable to resist her passion.
She clamped her teeth together, denying him entrance. Death inhaled
her bottom lip, pulling, pulling, pulling. A whine rolled up her
throat and she opened to him.

He reprimanded her for the delay, whipping her
tongue with his, hooking his arms around her waist, restraining
her. She fought him, squirming, trying to break his embrace.

Death tightened his grip on her, lifting her upward
until her booted feet dangled. She made a little sound of distress
and clasped his shoulders.

Sensing her anxiety, he flexed his muscles,
displaying the strength in his physique, communicating without
words that she was safe. He had her, would never allow her to fall,
to be damaged.

Tifara softened, submitting to his dominance,
turning her beautiful face upward. Death deepened his kiss, pulsing
his tongue into her mouth. She caressed his neck, skimming her
fingertips up and down, up and down, and he rumbled with
pleasure.

They’d kissed four times. Those four moments were
worth any retribution he’d face for rebelling against orders. Joy
bloomed inside him, alien, yet right. Their connection was
irrefutable. He’d do anything to keep that link.

To keep her.

The floor shook underneath his feet. Containers
fell, smashing on the tiles. Tifara swayed against him, gripping
his shoulders, squeaking in alarm. He held her tight.

The explosives he’d set on the other end of the
battle station had detonated. “It’s time to leave.”

“We can’t leave.” She looked around them. “You’re
contagious. You’ll spread the virus throughout the battle
station.”

There was no virus but he didn’t have time to argue
with her. “We won’t be on the battle station. We’ll be on my
ship.”

Her eyes widened. “You’ll be isolated.” She ran
around the chamber, gathering items. “No one will disturb us or
become infected. That’s a clever solution.” She beamed at him.

Death stood straighter. “We’re leaving, female.”

“Not before you wear these.” Tifara slipped hand
coverings over his fingers. They adjusted automatically, fitting
him like a second layer of skin. “And this.” She reached upward, a
mask in her hands.

Death lowered his face, allowing her to attach the
mask. It wasn’t necessary but it cost him nothing to humor his
female.

She donned a mask also, concealing most of her
beautiful face. “There.” Her voice was muffled. “That should reduce
the spread of the virus. Though we could—”

“No, we couldn’t.” He heaved his female over his
right shoulder.

“Oomph.” The air whooshed from his female’s lungs.
“Set me down, warrior.” She drummed her fingers and boots against
his body armor. “I have to retrieve my medic pack.”

He couldn’t allow that. Her medic pack could contain
tracking devices.

“Be silent and still.” Death flung one of his arms
across Tifara’s legs, securing her to his form. “And fewer beings
will die.” He grasped a gun with his free hand.

“No beings have to die.” His female whispered. She
reached for his gun, was unable to touch it. Her arms were shorter
than his. “I’ll do anything you say.”

Death grunted, doubting she would. His female had
processors of her own. He slipped through the doors, carrying her.
No heads turned. No beings noticed their exit. He darted across the
hallway, moving at cyborg speed, and faded into the shadows.

“Wait.” Tifara slapped the back of his head to get
his attention.

It was unnecessary. She always had his
attention.

“Press that.” She waved her hand at a round red
circle. “It’ll sanitize the chamber and stop the spread of the
virus.”

His female and her blasted virus.

“Did you hear me?”

He had acute senses. He heard her. Death glanced at
the circle. Humans, unlike cyborgs, had the ability to lie. She
might be trying to stop their escape. The circle could be an
alarm.

He doubted anyone would investigate it. The scene
around them was chaotic. Humans and humanoids rushed past them,
yelling, panicked. Medics assisted the damaged. Warriors barked
orders, waving weapons.

He’d take a chance and trust his female. Death
tapped the circle with his gun.

The doors sealed. He heard the sound of spraying on
the other side of the walls. Tifara hadn’t lied to him. The chamber
was being sanitized.

“Thank you.”

“Be silent.” Death ran with his female, staying
concealed in the darkness.

Red lights flashed. Beings grabbed weapons. The
foolish humans thought they were under attack.

The battle station shuddered again and Tifara
squeaked.

He’d only set one round of explosives.

Fraggin’ hole. Death moved faster, his grip on his
female intensifying. The humans might be right. They could be under
attack.

“What did you do?” she muttered. “We’d contained the
virus.”

They had contained it because there was no virus.
Death burst into the docking bay, Tifara slung over his shoulder.
Engines whirled. Pilots ran for their ships.

He sprinted toward the vessel he stole from
Crash.

A human warrior spotted him. His eyes widened.
“Intru--”

Death shot him before he finished that damning word.
The male fell, clasping his chest, blood gushing between his
fingers.

“He might survive that wound.” Hope lightened his
little medic’s voice.

Death shot him again.

“Aargh.” His female completely disregarded his
command to remain silent.

Another warrior, hearing the gunfire, turned. Death
shot him also.

“Stop shooting beings.” She smacked his back with
her small hands. “There’s no one to heal them. We’re low on
medics.”

The battle station would be permanently short one
curvaceous medic. Death put another projectile into the warrior
Tifara believed needed healing.

“I said, stop that.” She slapped his back harder,
trying once more to gain his full attention.

She’d never lost it but Death didn’t stop. He shot
every being he saw.

Tifara murmured her diagnosis after each hit. If she
thought the warrior might survive, he shot the male again, easily
dodging the return fire.

The humans were slow and disorganized. They couldn’t
synchronize their defense as cyborgs were able to, not having the
training or the ability to transmit messages on private lines.

Death stomped up the ramp, slapped a control panel.
The doors closed.

He entered the bridge, plopped Tifara in one seat,
removed the irritating mask and the hand coverings and tossed them
to her.

“Are we alone?” She looked around.

He grunted, claiming the other seat.

She translated that correctly and discarded her own
mask and hand coverings. “What should I do? I know nothing about
flying ships.”

“You do nothing.” He placed his hands on the
console’s control panel. Energy flowed into his palms, up his arms,
the ship’s systems connecting with his circuits.

The engines rumbled. The ship lifted.

His female gripped the armrests of her seat. “Are
you sure there’s nothing--”

“I’m sure.” Death piloted the vessel toward the
exit.

“Unknown vessel, you’re not cleared for departure.”
Human voices crackled through their primitive communication
channels. “Wait your turn.”

Frag that. Death increased his ship’s speed. He
wasn’t waiting for their approval.

The humans squawked with unhappiness. They did
nothing to stop him.

His ship blasted into space. The momentum pushed him
backward. His female screamed, flipping into the air. He caught her
wrist and pulled her into his lap.

“Hold on.” His voice was gruff.

“That was my fault. I didn’t strap myself in. I
should have. It is merely that I haven’t left the battle station
for a long time and I forgot about takeoffs and…” She chattered
nonsense and clung to him.

Satisfaction filled his soul. His female was scared,
trembling against his chest, and his killing spree had horrified
her but she trusted him.

That was a base to build their relationship
upon.

He returned his hands to the control panel and gazed
out the main viewscreen. The area around the battle station was as
congested as the docking bay. A fleet of shiny new ships faced the
rebel’s ragtag collection of vessels. Projectiles zinged past them.
Ships exploded.

“This doesn’t look good.” Tifara’s dismay mirrored
his. “Tell me your cyborg buddies are in the pretty ships.”

“Humans are in those vessels.” And those humans
fought for the Humanoid Alliance, the beings who had previously
controlled him. They weren’t any buddies of his.

“The battle station might be a hot zone for
infection. We have to warn them.”

Death doubted the Humanoid Alliance planned to enter
the battle station. They had just blown up a planet. They wouldn’t
hesitate to destroy a battle station.