Avion (Cyborgs: More Than Machines, #7) (8 page)

“Yes, you are staying here, but don’t worry. You won’t have to share it with me. This will give you some privacy. I just need to grab a few changes of clothes, and it’s all yours.”

“You are leaving?”

“I’ll be just down the hall in the barracks with Kentry.”

“And
Rosalind
?”

The way she said the name raised the hairs on his arms.
Did she just growl?
Jealousy? Was it possible?

“She’ll be there too. But on an opposite shift.”

The crease on Lilith’s brow didn’t ease.

“If you leave, I will be alone.”

Avion wondered if she knew how lost she appeared in that moment, hugging herself in a gesture so unlike her usual confident speech and actions.

“You’re not alone. I’ll be just down the hall. Adam and Laura are right across from here too.”

“Adam and Laura are busy,” Lilith said. “In a manner that I don’t think they’d appreciate interruption.”

Avion thought it best to not ask how she knew that. “There’s other people around in case you get lonely. Remember, you’re not getting locked in. You can go anywhere you like on this ship. If you need me, come grab me, or if you get lost or don’t want to wander, then just use the intercom.”
Or send me a mental nudge.

“I don’t wish to be alone. Can you not stay?” So innocently asked, and the storm clouds in her eyes stilled for a moment as she stared at him.

Wouldn’t he love to stay with her? He’d love to lie with her in that bed and hold her as she slept. Remain in this intimate room, where they could indulge in some of the more carnal ideas that he’d been entertaining since her sudden striptease in the control center. Staying was such a good, and yet utterly bad, idea.

“I don’t think I should.”

“Why?”

Because if he stayed, he might not be able to keep his hands—which seemed possessed of a more carnal mind—from roaming. “How about you tell me why you don’t want to stay here alone?”
What has you frightened?

Haunted eyes met his. “I’ve been alone. Alone for a long time. I don’t want to be alone anymore. Stay with me.”

No one with a heart, even a mechanized one, could resist that plea. “You never have to be alone again. Not while I’m around.” He opened his arms, only belatedly wondering if she’d even recognize the comforting gesture.

Even given her lack of social blending and skills, she understood the offer of a hug when she saw it. She stepped into the circle of his arms, stiff at first. He folded his limbs around her, bringing her gently into the folds of his body until her head rested upon his chest. Tentatively, her hands crept around his waist until she returned the embrace.

This close to her, he couldn’t stop his body from reacting.

She noticed. “You are aroused.”

And embarrassed. “I am. I told you, Lilith, you are attractive. Enough that I cannot seem to control myself around you. A lingering result of my recent defectiveness.”

“You think there is something wrong with your attraction to me?”

Any other woman and he might have assumed she fished for a compliment, but this was Lilith. Innocent Lilith locked away, shunned, and unused to interactions with the opposite sex.

“Nothing wrong. A man would have to be dying to not notice your beauty.” Actually, even dying and blind, he’d found himself drawn to her.

“Then why do you wish to control your arousal?”

“So I don’t frighten you.”

She laughed, a delighted sound of surprise. “Scare me? Your desire is not dangerous.”

“No, but you might find it overwhelming were I to act on it.”

“Kiss me.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ve been analyzing my own bodily reactions to you, and I think that I perhaps also suffer the same lack of control. The same desire. I wish to test this theory. Kiss me.”

Her demand lacked romance. Her wish was perhaps a little too scientifically curious in nature. It didn’t stop Avion from giving her what she asked for.

Why wouldn’t he? It aligned perfectly with what he’d wanted to do since they’d met.

He loosened his hug so he could raise his hands to her face, cupping the perfect and clear skin and angling her face to align with his.

Eyes, brimming with curiosity, met his gaze. They stayed opened, even as he lowered his face to press his mouth against hers. A soft, almost platonic kiss to test her reaction.

He didn’t count on the spark that jumped between them. He wondered if his eyes widened as much as hers did. He drew back.

“Again.”

With pleasure. He dipped his head and, this time, did more than just quickly press. He slid his mouth along hers, the sensual slide of flesh. He caught her lower lip between his, a gentle tug, and noted how her heart rate increased, her breath emerged in a warm rush, and her lids dropped, suddenly heavy with awakening passion.

His hand slid from her cheek to cup her head, drawing her close while his tongue traced the line of her lips.

The slightest of tremors went through her. He slipped his tongue into her mouth. She inhaled suddenly. He touched her. Let his tongue glide along hers, a sensual dance that drew a low moan from her.

He sat upon his bed and dragged her onto his lap, not once letting his lips stray from hers. He could have kissed her for hours, but Lilith seemed intent on taking things further.

She stripped off the shirt he gave her and tossed it to the floor.

“What are you doing, vixen?”

“The fabric was irritating me.”

“I’m sure it was, but that doesn’t explain why you’re rubbing yourself on me.”

Indeed she was. Since he was already bare-chested, it meant their upper bodies now touched skin to skin. The erect nubs topping her pert breasts poked at him. His mouth actually watered at the thought of tasting them.

“I want to touch you.”

Her stark request slowed him worse than a cold shower. “This isn’t right.” He placed her upon the mattress and stood.

Bending down, he grabbed the shirt, determined to place it back upon her, but before he could turn around, she’d wrapped her arms around him from behind and pressed her nude body against him.

Why do you reject me?

Her soft touch on his mind let him see her hurt.

He clasped her hands and held them as he turned in her arms. He brought her palms up and placed them on his chest. “I am not rejecting you. Trust me when I say it is taking every ounce of willpower right now not to toss you on that bed and make love to your body.”

“Why stop yourself? I am amenable to that idea.”

“You’re curious. You’ve also just been released from a prison. To do this now...” He blew out a noisy sigh. “It just seems wrong. Like I’d be taking advantage of you.”

“You are worried I will regret having sex with you. I won’t. I am fully cognizant of what I want. I’ve weighed the pros and cons.”

“And what are the cons?”

“That you will become emotionally attached to me.”

“Too late, I already am.” And he didn’t care if it was his BCI or heart making the assertion. Avion just knew it was true. His remark seemed to fluster her. “Any other cons?”

“What if I become emotionally attached to you?” Followed by a whispered,
What if I begin to care and you reject or leave me?

Then she’d be all alone. Like she’d been alone for most of her life.

Hadn’t Avion recently learned just how fleeting life could be? Everything could vanish in an instance. They could die, today, tomorrow, next week. By denying Lilith the closeness she craved now, was he, in fact, doing more harm than good? Didn’t she deserve to feel close to someone?

And if she later on decides she doesn’t want me, that she wants to change her rapid choice?
Then he’d go on a murderous alien killing rampage.

His version of physical therapy.

“So what are the pros?”

She slapped hands to cheeks, which pinkened. Again he couldn’t help but feel flattered by the reactions she couldn’t control. The more she hung around Avion and the others, the more she lost her placid demeanor. A fiery personality, with an adorable, shy side hid within.

“Come on, vixen. You spilled the cons, now for the pros. Why should I make love to your luscious body?” He trailed a finger down the valley between her breasts, noting her shudder.

“Because.”

“Because? That’s not an answer.”

“Because I don’t have one. I am aroused but don’t know why. I ache between my thighs and only know that you are the cure. I want to touch your skin and have you touch mine. I need.”
I need you.

Yup, there went the last of his defenses. The right thing be damned. He wasn’t leaving this room. He wasn’t leaving her.

Why bother to say it when he’d much prefer to show her? As he angled them toward the bed, he cupped her face and kissed her soft lips. He guided them to the mattress, their lips remaining latched as he shed his pants and toed off his boots.

When her back hit the mattress, he kept himself to the side, his engorged shaft pressing against her hip.

He let his hand roam, skimming her silky skin and exploring her slender shape. He cupped a small breast, his thumb brushing over the tip, and she sucked in a deep breath.

He stopped kissing to peek at her and was so glad he did. She presented a stunning image. Lids partially hid the swirling colors of her eyes, passion flushed her skin pink, and as for her lips? Swollen and parted in invitation.

“You are staring,” she observed.

“Admiring. You truly are beautiful, vixen.”

“You do not think my eyes too strange? Most people cannot look into them for long.”

“I love your eyes. They reflect your moods.”

“And what is my mood right now?”

“Hungry.”

Hungry for passion.

Avion could practically taste her rousing excitement. Her aroused musk perfumed the air and left him throbbing.

The temptation of her body drew him, and his lips coasted the velvety smoothness of her breasts. Oh, how she trembled.

Erect nipples teased, and he sucked those taut buds, tugged them with his lips and teeth until she emitted the most wondrous moan. He angled himself over her, using his forearms to brace himself as he continued to please her begging breasts.

He nudged at her legs until she parted them enough for him to insert a thigh between them. He let himself press against her moist core. And she was wet. Wet and hot.

She was also not a placid lover. She cupped his face as he paused in his licks and nibbles of her breasts. She drew him to her and kissed him. Kissed with a fervency that had him groaning.

“You make me feel so alive,” she murmured against his lips. “I want more.”
Show me.

An invitation he could not refuse. He lifted himself over her, the head of his cock nudging at the damp entrance to her sex. Lips locked as he thrust into her, right through a thin membrane.

He gasped. She gasped. They both stilled.

Did I hurt you?

A little. It is nothing.

But she was wrong. It was everything. Lilith had given him a precious gift. One he didn’t want her to regret.

He kept his mouth slanted over hers, nibbling at them, letting her adjust to his size. Propped on one arm, he let his free hand toy with her flesh. He pinched and rolled her nipple until she shivered, tightening the muscles of her channel around him.

Sweet torture.

Roaming a little lower, he withdrew himself just enough to insert his hand between them. He found her clitoris. Found it, took advantage of it, and reaped the reward.

Her hips undulated as he rubbed her nub. Her sex pulsed around him. She emitted small sounds of pleasure. He began to thrust, small strokes as he continued to tease her pleasure button.

She was small. Tight. Perfect.

And she was also begging.

“Please. Give me. Give me. Make me.” She couldn’t quite articulate what she wanted. A good thing he knew what she needed.

He withdrew his hand to better penetrate her. Deeper. Harder.

Oh yes, he’d hit the right spot. He could tell by the low moan.

“Yes. Yes.”

He didn’t know if she even realized she chanted aloud or that her legs wrapped around his waist, drawing him deep, locking him in place, able to only grind and feel the tight moistness of her sex. His turn to make a noise.

Had there ever been a more perfectly pleasurable moment in his life? Buried, balls deep, within Lilith’s body. Joined to her. Body and mind.

What about soul?

Deep questions had no place in the maelstrom brewing between them. She met him thrust for thrust, the strong suction of her sex gripping and stroking him, the muscles milking him as he pushed in and out.

He couldn’t help but pant against her lips, but she panted too. In that moment, they weren’t perfectly controlled. They were flesh. And blood. And passion.

In rhythm, they found bliss, bodies rocking to a tune only their bodies knew. Shudders swept her and brought him to orgasm. Together, they came, their heartbeats pounding in sync for that splendid moment in time.

It stole his breath. It stole his thoughts. It stole his strength.

He collapsed on her. His energy spent. His vision dimming. His body not cooperating.

It seemed the transfusion hadn’t entirely worked.

Once again, his nanos died.

I
’m alive.

I’m dying.

I’m having an orgasm.

So pleasurable it was almost painful, and yet, she’d do it again in a microsecond.

Unfortunately, her lover might not have the same ability.

Avion collapsed on her, and after the explosive passion, which still muddled her brain, it took her a moment to process what it meant.

When it did, a new emotion assailed her, and panicky words emerged from her lips, words not spoken by Lilith but the other who lived in her head. “We killed him. Oh no. We killed the man we love.”

Not quite. But Avion certainly wasn’t well. The boost from her nanos seemed to have worn off. Once again, the bots coursing through his body chose to die rather than regenerate.

It made no sense.

Lilith rolled him off her body and onto his back. She skimmed her hands down his length, but it didn’t change the prognosis. While the nano-infused blood she’d given still did its best to repair, slowly, one by one, the tiny bots that he needed died.