Avion (Cyborgs: More Than Machines, #7) (18 page)

Aramus slumped. “We don’t.” And they all knew it.

They needed more time. She needed to get them more time.

“I can do this.” Lilith closed her eyes and reached out to the shields once more. It took only a nudge to focus the shields behind them. All of the force field. She didn’t yet add her own kinetic energy to the mix. She’d save that for the last possible second so she could pour as much of herself as she could into it.

Not too much of yourself, vixen. Too much and you might get lost.

But if I don’t,
she replied,
then it won’t matter.

Funny how she and Avion retained their mental link. She wished she knew why, or how. What made him special?
Is it love that lets our minds speak?

Arms wrapped around her. “Then we’ll become lost together,” he whispered.

Kentry announced, “Thirty seconds until the jump, but they’re done charging.”

“They’ve fired,” Aramus said, followed by the expected, “Fuck. Prepare for impact.”

Lilith concentrated, urging all her nanos to help her.
We need your aid if you want to survive.

Survive. There was a word they didn’t argue with even if their very acknowledgement of it meant the bots were more emotionally driven than even they expected. Funny how the instinct for survival trumped all.

Avion and Lilith poured all they had into maintaining the shield, and while it shuddered under the initial impact, it held.

However, the laser burst, a power unlike anything, kept pushing. Their shield wobbled. The ship shuddered.

“I can’t hold it,” she cried. “I can’t—”

She’d forgotten she wasn’t alone. Avion was the first to siphon his essence into maintaining their shield. More energy poured into the barrier, as more hums of minds joined. One by one, all the chosen on board, except for Kentry, who kept counting down to death or salvation, became part of the group, pushing back against the laser that would disintegrate them.

Would it be enough? Their collective strength peaked and then wobbled. Lilith sagged in Avion’s grasp, and a few of the voices dropped out, their biological hosts tapped out.

It proved enough though. The bright destroyer light blinked off just as Kentry shouted, “Brace yourselves!”

W
hen they popped out of the jump—what seemed like a blink of an eye but was actually over thirty-two freaking hours—Avion staggered. He didn’t fall, though. He couldn’t since he also supported a slightly trembling Lilith.

“We did it.” She breathed the words, her surprise evident.

“Fucking right we did,” Aramus boasted with a smug smile. Yet, he couldn’t hide his earlier worry evident by the finger dug grooves in the armrest of his chair. “Kentry, where in space are we?”

“Um, I don’t know how, but we’re actually only hours from the cyborg homeworld.”

“Hours? What do you mean only hours away? How the hell did that happen?” A piercing gaze shot Avion’s way, fixing on Lilith who remained cradled in his arms. “Freaky girl, did you mess with my coordinates again?”

Her hair, the tips trimmed into neat ends since they’d met, tickled as they flew with the shake of her head. “Wasn’t me. I’ve never seen these coordinates before.”

Aramus frowned. “I have. It’s where I was hoping to be able to plot our next course just before we jumped.”

No one said it, and yet Avion could have sworn the nanos swarming in Aramus oozed superiority. The confidence of their ornery host was rubbing off on them already.

“Battle stations, report. Any signs of the enemy?”

“Nada. Nothing, zilch,” Seth replied, “which makes me the ultimate winner in our space invader match with nine confirmed hits.”

“Rematch later in the simulator?” Adam asked.

“Count me in too, right after I eat a skid full of minerals. I am freaking starving,” Avion said, rubbing his flat belly.

As it turned out, they all were hungry. The energy they’d expended, not to mention those lost hours in limbo while they traveled, had their nanos working overtime to ingest. Even the onboard slop proved better than nothing.

“First thing I’m getting Einstein to do,” Aramus said as he dumped more salt on his plate, “is fix that bloody food machine so it spits out something edible.”

“If that fails, there’s a conservatory on board that should be capable of growing some crops,” Riley said, playing with her food, a moue of distaste on her lips.

“And we kept some of those beasts those croc dudes were so fond of,” Xylo added. “Wanna bet it tastes like chicken?”

With the danger behind them, the cyborgs returned to their usual carefree bantering, some scowling, some smiling, but all together, all individuals and yet part of a family.

A family on its way home. To help them move out.

Avion didn’t look forward to the task of telling Joe, who’d worked so hard building the cyborg world, that they needed to vacate. But then again, the ship they’d pirated was huge, the galaxy an even bigger place. They’d find somewhere else to live. Somewhere maybe they wouldn’t have to hide or fight.

Okay, they’d still need a little bit of fight because, really, you couldn’t take all of a cyborg’s fun away.

Speaking of fun.

As couples splintered off, while the singles took first shift, Avion found himself searching for a room he’d come across while sifting through the ship’s schematics.

The holographic chamber was realistic from the shifting sand under their feet to the sound ocean waves made as they rushed up onto the beach and then sucked back down.

It wasn’t quite an Earth paradise, not with the three moons in the sky and the pink waters, but it was romantic, and dammit, his vixen deserved it.

After all she’d been through, all she’d done, and given, it was time Avion gave back.

He swept her into his arms and strode to the water’s edge.

“Avion, what are you doing?”

“I am going to make love to you in the moonlight.” Because he wanted to see the soft kiss of the moons’ glow on her skin.

He set her down on her feet, his eyes locked on hers. In silence, they stripped, removing the robes given to them in E’dann’s temple. Their bare flesh didn’t react to the touch of the air upon it. And yet, she shivered.

Finally Avion could truly appreciate the telling expressions on her face. From the way her lids lowered to half-mast as desire consumed her. The pink flush in her cheeks, which she adorably didn’t try and control. The tempting dark buds topping her breasts that begged for his mouth. And, ah, the delicious and shadowy vee between her thighs that promised nirvana.

Enhanced in both strength and agility didn’t mean they were graceful as their passion consumed them. In a clash of breath, teeth, and mouths, they came together, joined by the lips, forever tethered by their hearts—and tech souls.

He loved how she let herself go. No attempt to be clinical or in control. On the contrary, Lilith let her knees sag as she lost herself to desire. He caught her before she could fall, and amidst frantic kisses, he lay her down on the warm and damp sand.

“I should have thought to bring a blanket,” he murmured against her mouth.

“My nanos can handle a little bit of friction.” She nipped his chin before nibbling on his lower lip.

You can handle a little friction? What about a lot?
he teased. His body covered hers, his arousal trapped between their bodies. Up she arched, pressing herself closer with a soft moan.

Her silent plea was quite clear. But Avion wasn’t ready to give in yet. Despite their frenzied kiss, he let his lips leave hers to trail sensually down her neck, nipping at the soft skin. He stopped for a moment at her pulse.

It fluttered, a rapid staccato against his questing tongue. He kissed it before moving onward. A certain erect tip called him. He answered with his hot mouth, latching onto it and not letting go, even though she cried out and arched.

That’s it, vixen. Let yourself feel...

It’s too much.
She said that, and yet she still grabbed his hair to hold him close.

He switched breasts, grazing his teeth against the hard nub of her nipple. He bit the tip just to hear her scream out his name. “Avion. Please.”

“Please what?”

Eyes awash with the mists of heaven met his. “Give me what I need.”
Give me yourself.

I am already yours.

Not what she wanted to hear. He almost chuckled as she growled, “Don’t make me kinetic your ass to the ground. I could, you know, and have my way.”

For a moment he was tempted to let her try. The idea of her pinning him so that she could straddle and ride him, her hair tossed back, her breasts riding high as she took all of him...

Damn. Another time. This was his seduction.

And she’d just have to wait—and suffer more pleasure.

She wasn’t the only one who could use her enhancements for the greater erotic good.

He caught her hands and pinned them to the side, trapping her, despite her struggles.

“How are you doing that? Why are my nanos aiding you instead of me?” she asked as her tech refused to answer.

“Because I promised them an experience they wouldn’t forget.”

At those words, she stopped squirming. She even stopped breathing. She held herself completely still as his free hand skimmed the length of her smooth thigh. He stopped at the soft curls covering her mound. He cupped her.

She moaned.

He didn’t need the sound, though, to know she was aroused. Heat radiated against his hand, and moisture wetted his fingers. He dragged one tip against her and smiled at her shudder. Another finger followed, and he inserted this one between her damp nether lips.

What he truly wanted was a taste, but he doubted he would last that long. His erection throbbed painfully, demanding satisfaction.

He angled himself over her, the head of his shaft probing at the entrance to her sex. Without bidding, her legs parted wide for him, allowing him to nestle his weight between them. It gave him better access as well, and as he captured her lips, he thrust into her. In that moment, he opened his eyes to see her face.

Her lashes fluttered against the tops of her cheeks, she bit her lower lip, and the slightest hint of perspiration dewed her skin.

Such beauty.

Her eyes opened and looked at him.

Such love.

He thrust deeper.

Such pleasure.

I see you.
He hummed the words at her.

And she saw him back, saw right into an orgasm that left them both stunned and panting on the holographic sand.

No matter what happened next, they would face it together. “You’ll never be alone again.” Not so long as he lived.

“Never is a long time.”

“Good, because there are so many things I want to do with you.”

Starting with a swim, not an intentional one. A wave rolled higher than the rest, soaking them.

“Really rethinking this setting,” he grumbled. “What are the chances we can find a towel?”

A soft giggle left her. “About as good as dry clothes.”

Sure enough, the robes they’d ditched had gotten a good dousing too. As a matter of fact, they got sucked out from shore into the fake sea.

“Well, it’s been a few years since I’ve done this, but then again, with my new nanos, any experience is good. Ready for your first naked streak up a hall?” he asked as he lifted her to her feet.

“I’m ready for anything.”

So was he. He’d faced down death. Found love. And now looked forward to a future.

Even Aramus bellowing through the intercom, “Get some fucking clothes on, you perverts!” couldn’t stop his spirit from flying.

I’ve got love to keep me aloft.

Z
’ stood at the large viewing window, but he didn’t actually gaze upon the flowering mountains, the wild blooms slowly bowing under the weight of sifting ash. He didn’t react to the explosions that rocked the floor under his feet. Nor did he give the order to evacuate. Not this time.

I tire of running.
He tired of living. As guardian of the nanotech, he’d existed much longer than his biological system was ever meant to. Lived long, and alone. A creator with no companion.

Because I lost her.

And instead of dealing with his emotions, he allowed the unfeeling logic of the nanotech to erase them. Except it never completely got rid of his feelings. It simply hid them away where he didn’t have to live with them every day.

But Lilith and the others, the cyborgs as they called themselves, they chose to embrace their emotional side. They let the fury of love, anger, need, and friendship guide their actions and thoughts. It should have appalled him. Perhaps, on some level, it did, but only because it forced him to recognize the lack of it in his life.

Happy, angry, or sad, they embodied
life.
And the last hope.

Right or wrong, the cyborgs would be the last carriers of the nanotech. Once the ancient enemy destroyed this planet, Z’, along with his pool of creation, would cease to exist. There would be no more quests for candidates. No more trying to seed enhancements along the lesser races. A losing cause as those against the sentient robotic enhancements constantly strove to erase them.

But, while this world might be destroyed today, the tech wouldn’t die. The cyborgs would make sure of that.

They are survivors.
It was why the bots chose them.

The hosts—with their hundreds of nano passengers—would seed the next generation, an improved version the likes of which Z’ never imagined. Because that was the problem. When he locked away his feeling side, Z’ had lost his capability to imagine—and hope.

The cyborgs hadn’t. Adversity made them stronger. Caring, good or bad, made them more determined. These cyber-enhanced biological beings with individual thoughts and emotions would pioneer a new path, maybe one that would bring them a chance for peace and, at the very least, survival.

A part of him wished he could live to see what chaos and wonders they would leave in their wake on their galactic quest for a true home and a place to belong.