B785 (16 page)

His robotic eyes roved her frame, noting the shallow furrow along her arm instead of the gigantic hole he’d imagined. “Played? Why?”

She smirked at him. “Because I thought you’d enjoy a chance to slay the dragon and save the princess.”

“Some slaying. You killed him, not me.”

“Yeah, well, you were taking too long. But don’t worry, up until the part where you let him talk, you were kicking some serious ass. Did I mention how hot you were while doing it? Like, seriously hot. You can come to my rescue anytime. However, next time, do it shirtless, would you?” She winked.

He actually growled before yanking her close to him. “You brat! Don’t you ever scare me like that again.” He shook her.

Up came her hands to cup his cheeks. “Sorry, charming. I can’t promise that. Now, my turn to ask, are you alright?”

“I sustained no real injury.”

“I wasn’t talking about that. I mean, I just killed one of your buddies. Are you okay with that? Are you traumatized? Sad?”

“He was a traitor.”

“He was also your friend.”

In this case, cold logic countered any emotion he might have had. Einstein’s gaze hardened. “A true friend wouldn’t have killed fellow cyborgs and would have trusted me to help him and his brother.”

“Speaking of whom, he spoke like his brother was onboard. We need to warn the others.”

“The communications in this room are disabled. We need to leave the room and get to an active communication console.”

Before they could act, a pounding erupted at the door, which had slid shut after Astro’s entry and relocked itself. Einstein strode over and yanked the portal open, cursing as he fumbled with the manual controls. Seth rushed in, his usually pristine coif mussed. “Dude, you’ll never believe this but some guy, a cyborg who looks just like Astro, but one that we never liberated, tried to kill Nova and Bolt and take out our engine room.”

“Oh, I believe it.”

“You mean you knew? Did you crack the hard drive already? Did…” Seth’s voice trailed off as he took in the carnage on the floor. “Shit. I see you found out the hard way. You both okay?”

“Nothing a shower and some therapy won’t fix.”

“Therapy?” Bonnie’s brow arched. “I thought you said you were okay?”

“Physically, but mentally, I think I need some healing.”

Immediately, her face creased in concern. “What can I do to help?”

“Get the shower going.”

“How is that supposed to help?”

Seth laughed. “Oh, princess. I think you’ve created a monster. Brainiac here needs some sexual healing, which means I should get out of here.”

“Take that with you.” Einstein pointed to the body. “And eject it along with his brother’s body. I’d suggest doing it quickly. Apparently, the military claimed Astro’s brother had a bomb inside him. Seeing as how our ship is still intact, I’m going to assume death doesn’t trigger it, but let’s not take any chances.”

“A bomb? Shit! And what will you be doing while I risk blowing up some crucial part of my anatomy?”

“Getting that sexual healing you were just talking about.”

“Now isn’t the time,” Bonnie said primly.

“Oh yes it is.”

For once, Seth was thinking with his head instead of his dick. “She’s right. It isn’t. We should report to Aramus.”

“You can do that right after you flush the bodies. Now, Seth,” Einstein replied in a firm tone. “Or do you want to see what subroutine I’ve got programmed in your BCI?” He didn’t have one, but Seth didn’t know that.

Ignoring Seth’s grumble about bossy intelligence bots with too much pent up testosterone, Einstein advanced on Bonnie.

She licked her lips. “We really should go see the boss.”

“After we clean up.”

“What you have in mind isn’t clean, charming.”

“Oh, I beg to differ. I find it most
cleansing.
” He purred the last word and smiled as her breathing hitched. With a squeal, she turned and dashed into the bathroom, him on her heels.

Duty might be the cyborg way, but Einstein was more than a robot. And he had needs. Needs that required tending. Now.

Covered in the fleshly matter of a fallen former friend should have killed his ardor, but his relief at discovering Bonnie unscathed trumped everything. Well, almost everything. He still felt a great need to reassure himself she was alive. That he was alive. And despite what duty demanded, he’d take care of that need first. He’d allow himself to be selfish because he was more than a cyborg or a machine. He was first and foremost a man. A horny man with a naked woman—who he loved more than anything—waiting for him under a warm spray with a beckoning smile.

It took only a few seconds for him to shred the clothes from his body and join her. Turned to face the wall of the shower, Bonnie smiled coyly at him over her shoulder. He pressed against her slick back, his cock rubbing along the crease of her ass, her head turned so their lips could fuse together.

“I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered between licks and nips, the horror of the moment still fresh in his memory.

“We won,” she murmured back. “Just like in the fairytales, good triumphed over evil.”

“Your stories forgot to mention the fact the hero almost dies of a heart attack in the process.”

She chuckled. “Oh please. You have a biomechanical heart and I have healing nanobots. Besides, it would take more than one bullet to kill our love.”

Einstein groaned.

“Too much?” she teased.

“Yes. But I’ve got the cure for corny one-liners.” Parting her wet thighs, he probed her sex with the tip of his cock. She pushed back against him, tilting her hips to take more than just the head of him into her. He obliged, sheathing his length in her channel, feeling every atom in his body come alive.

“Mmm,” she hummed. “If this is how every battle ends, then remind me to not miss a mission.”

In he thrust, hard enough to make her gasp. “Oh no you don’t. I’m going to lock you in a castle where you’re safe, princess.”

She scrabbled at the wet walls as he pounded into her. “You’d better plan on staying with me then because I won’t stay behind while you go facing danger.”

“I don’t plan on ever leaving your side.”

Her brilliant green eyes met his in a stare that wrenched his entire being. “Promise?”

“Bonnie, I love you. You make me feel alive. You make me want to live. You make me a better man. One who is more than just a sum of parts. Just try and get rid of me.”

“Oh, charming.” She sighed his nickname. “For a cyborg who claimed once upon a time that he had no emotions, or a single clue, you say the most beautiful things. Now less talk and more fuck. Princess wants to come.”

Laughter, a natural sound he’d once thought himself incapable of, slipped from his lips, and soon changed to panting. And to think he’d once thought passion was just a thing made up of hormones. Good thing he found the right woman to teach him better.

*

It took a second round of lovemaking before Einstein declared himself recovered enough to meet with the rest of the crew. To her surprise, no one said a thing when they finally showed up, although Seth did have to hide a knowing smirk.

Given the treachery of Astro, she expected a somber pall, but she’d not counted on the cyborg way of handling things. In their minds, things were very black and white. Astro had a choice. He could have asked for help. He would have even gotten it. Instead, he betrayed them. And for that, no one had any sympathy.

The bodies of the traitors were ejected into space and ashed with the onboard lasers. Aramus didn’t want to leave any evidence of them behind, most especially their cortexes. That wasn’t the only thing that occurred while she and Einstein took care of business. An emergency message was sent to the cyborg homeworld detailing the events. Joe and the others needed to know there was a possibility their location was compromised and take extra measures to keep everyone safe. Einstein, however, didn’t seem at all concerned, his faith in his programming of the units unshaken despite the fact the military managed to get so close to one of his friends.

As for the hard drive, they didn’t find anything else of interest on it, the final recording the only thing of value or interest. Aramus was less than impressed.

And as for the paperweight?

Paper Mache and paint. As it turned out, it was a gift from the captain’s niece. If the captain hid any secrets, they blew up when the ship did. In the end, they were no further ahead even if Aramus and the others counted their results after the military’s ambush attempt at a victory.

Bonnie reserved judgment. She knew all too well the dragon, and despite this setback, she doubted General Doom would give up, but at the same time, she wouldn’t worry about it. She’d been given a precious gift. The gift of a second chance. A chance for a fairy tale ending with her prince charming, and dammit, she planned to enjoy every second of it.

Because I am more than a machine. More than
a
tool for the military
. I am Bonnie. Flawed princess, enhanced human
,
and cherished lover of the most wonderful man in the universe.
Despite what the future might bring, she had everything to live for. And best of all? She was loved.

As for the humans who thought to take it away?

Bring it, you bastards.
Because I intend to fight for my right to love and happiness.
I won’t let anyone,
and I mean
any
one,
take away my
happily ever after without a fight.
Even if it meant disobeying Einstein about staying out of the path of danger. Besides, she loved his idea of
punishment
. It was why she programmed Aramus’ chair to do that very naughty thing. It was worth every single chastising moment of his lashing tongue.

It took forever to reach the cyborg homeworld, long enough for Bonnie to just about drain him. Despite the research Einstein had done on human females and their emotional reactions, his girlfriend—as she liked to call herself—didn’t react to stress in conventional methods. She didn’t rely on food, exercise, or displays of emotional drama. No, his female was unique in that she used sex as a catharsis. Not that he truly minded. His stamina could more than keep up with her sexual appetite; it was the teasing he put up with that grew tiresome. Although, Einstein did secretly enjoy Seth’s jealousy.

“Could you keep it down a little at night?” Seth groused on more than one occasion.

Coached by his girlfriend, Einstein leaned back in his seat and tossed him a lazy smile. “Jealous?”

“Fucking right, I am. Not all of us are lucky enough to have a woman to call our own. And I’m mighty tired of tugging one with my ten friends.” Seth waggled his fingers and Einstein laughed.

“Let me see, what would you say if you were in my shoes?” Einstein tapped his chin. “Oh yeah. Too bad, so sad, suck-ah!”

The slang coming from his lips made Seth stare at him for a stunned moment before they both broke into big gales of laughter. It was a laughter Bonnie shared with him when he relayed the conversation to her as they waited to dock. With a thud, the ship hit solid ground and her mirth died. She clenched his hand tight, so tight his nanobots rushed to the area to repair the damage, but he didn’t say a word. He knew how she looked forward to and dreaded this moment. Unfortunately, given communication was reserved for emergencies only, she’d not gotten much of a chance to converse with her sister. For some reason, the idea of meeting with her sibling both exhilarated and terrified her.

“I think I’m going to throw up,” Bonnie said as she gulped unnecessary air.

“You are not ill, nor are we performing maneuvers.”

“Yeah, and yet my stomach is churning and my nerves are shot.”

“If you do vomit, try to keep it to the side. I just shined my boots.”

The dirty look she directed his way made him chuckle, but she eased up a bit on her grip. “I think I liked you better when you didn’t get my jokes.”

“Truly?”

“No. I love you, Einstein.”

“And I love you too, princess.” Yes, he’d finally caved and started calling her by the nickname most of the crew adopted. It seemed apt. After all, they’d met under extraordinary circumstances, fallen in love freeing him from the shackles which hid his humanity, vanquished everything in their path, and found passion in each other’s arms. Now they just needed to live their happily ever after. Or would as soon as they completed this one last step.

The rumble of the engines died as they powered down. The interior pressurized and the bay doors slid open. Bright sunlight streamed in along with foliage scented air, a refreshing change from the recycled gases on the ship. A gangplank extended from the vessel. Bonnie, despite the fact she didn’t need to breathe, practically hyperventilated.

“Ready?” he asked softly.

“No.” She laughed nervously. “Silly, huh? Here I’ve been dying to see my sister and now I’m scared and wishing we were back in space.”

“Never silly. Just nervous, which my studies say is normal.”

“You and your studies,” she scoffed, yet her grip on him loosened an iota.

Together, they strode into the sunshine, fingers laced, but not for long.

A squealed, “Bonnie!” tore his girlfriend from his side as she ran to meet the dashing figure of Chloe, who couldn’t wait a moment longer to reunite.

The pair made a touching sight even to cyborgs hardened by circumstance and programming. Aramus, ever the diplomatic one, managed an only slightly sarcastic, “Get a room,” as he skirted the hugging sisters.

Standing to the side, Joe gazed fondly upon the reunited sisters, a hint of moisture in his eyes. “Thanks for bringing her home,” he said softly as Einstein came up beside him.

“Don’t thank me. Thank fate or whatever magic brought me to her in the first place.”

“Holy shit. Don’t tell me you don’t have a logical explanation for what happened?”

“Nope. It appears not everything in the universe has a scientific answer.” Some things just happened. And while happiness couldn’t be predicted or created or dissected into parts, Einstein still appreciated the end result.

He might have started out his mission as a cyborg who thought science and logic were the only things that mattered, but he returned home realizing that some things just didn’t have an explanation. Love happened. Fairy tales could exist, even for cyborgs. Anyone could have their happily ever after.

Even a geeky prince charming and a bionic princess.