Indulgence (92 page)

“Before tending to me, you’ll treat own wounds.” He remained
angry on her behalf and that warmed her insides.

“They don’t hurt much, sir.” She wouldn’t lie to him,
wouldn’t tell him they didn’t hurt her. Joan searched through her stash,
located a pain inhibitor. “And I don’t have metal sticking out of my face.”

He grumbled.

“Close your eyes, sir,” she instructed.

He gazed at her warily.

He doesn’t trust me.
Joan sighed. “Here.” She sprayed
her wrist, numbing it. “It won’t hurt you. See? And you have other senses. Use
them.”

He closed his eyes.

She misted his face wound with the pain inhibitor, the
moisture leaving trails on his blood-smeared cheeks. “You can open them again.”
She doused every wound she could find, wishing to ease his torment.

“What did you do to me, female?” he roared, touching his
cheek. “I can’t feel my face.”

“That’s how pain inhibitors work, sir.” Why was he being so
irrational? Unless… She paused, gazed upward at him. “Didn’t your previous
engineers use them before they treated your wounds?”

“And reduce the pain of a machine?” He glared at her. “What
do you think?”

They plucked shrapnel from his body without giving him
anything to dull the agony. The anger in Joan escalated. “They must have used
them when they removed your ball.”

“They didn’t.” Rage’s lips twisted. “They used a prolonger.
Do you know what that does, little engineer?”

She did. Joan felt faint.

“It kept me conscious but didn’t dull my pain. I felt
everything.”

Shit. “It was designed to keep you alive on the battlefield,
allowing you to return to base camp where medic supplies were available.”

The Humanoid Alliance had used it to torture him. Joan
couldn’t think about that right now. She had to focus on her injured cyborg.

“I don’t understand some humans.” She picked up a pair of
grippers and stepped on the elevation platform, rising to his level.

“I don’t understand any humans.” Rage watched her.
“Especially not you.”

“Be still, sir.” Her hands trembled, the prospect of hurting
him causing her stomach to twist. “I’ll try to be gentle.” She captured the
piece of metal between the jaws of the grippers and pulled. It was stuck
securely. She pulled harder.

The metal dislodged. Joan fell backward.

Rage strapped his arms around her, his reflexes inhumanly
fast, his quick response preventing her from toppling off the elevation
platform. “Careful, female.”

“Thank you, sir.” She avoided his gaze, acutely aware of the
heat of his palms through the fabric of her flight suit. “Got it.” She held the
piece of metal up, triumphant.

“You should be naked.” He didn’t release her, rubbing his
fingers over her back, cleaning them on her flight suit. “That’s our
agreement.”

“You said I should be naked when you are, sir.” She turned
her attention to the wound on his shoulder. That piece of what looked like
green shell was removed easier.

“You’ll be naked when we are alone.” He leaned forward, his
nostrils flaring.

Is he smelling me?
Joan removed an unknown material
from his side.

“Female,” he barked and she jumped. “We are alone.”

“Yes, sir, Rage, sir.” She liked saying his name. Joan
balanced the grippers on one of the armor-covered shoulders, using him as a
horizontal support, and she unfastened her flight suit. Undressing didn’t feel
as awkward as it did yesterday.

That wasn’t a good thing. Her cheeks heated as she lowered
the fabric, revealing her full breasts, taut nipples, wide hips. He’d smell her
arousal. Again. She slipped her feet out of her boots.

“They damaged your breasts also.” The cyborg cupped her
curves, lifting them, as though testing their weight. Joan bit her bottom lip,
holding back a moan of approval, his hands big and rough yet agonizingly
gentle. “Did the males touch them?” He fondled her breasts, swiping his thumbs
back and forth across her nipples.

“No, sir.” Her voice was husky. “They smacked me against a
wall panel.”

“Because they believed we were breeding.”

She should say yes. Rage would view that as a personal
affront, might extend some protection to her.

But it would be a lie and she wouldn’t lie to her cyborg.
“Because they wanted me dead, sir.”

“Why do they want you dead, little engineer?” He licked the
red mark on her skin with the flat of his hot, wet tongue and she quivered, her
pussy dripping with need. “You’re one of them.”

“I’m female, sir.” She panted as he sucked on her, his
nanocybotics scattering her control, making her forget his wounds, her duty.

It was as though she was drugged. She couldn’t resist him,
didn’t wish to stop him. Ever. She never wanted anything more than his mouth on
her nipples. It wasn’t natural. Yet it was. It felt right, real.

“They don’t see me as an equal.” She forced herself to
think, to continue their conversation.

“You’re stronger and cleverer than many of them.” Rage
flicked her right nipple and she gasped, the bliss fantastical. “How could they
not perceive that?” He drew the peak into his mouth, torturing her with
pleasure.

“You’re stronger and cleverer than them, also, sir.” She
clung to his shoulders, her passion rising too quickly to manage. “Do they see
you as equal?”

He growled against her, the vibration of his lips pushing
her closer to the edge. “Do you dare to compare your situation to mine?” He
wedged one of his hands between her legs, laying claim to her pussy.

“No, sir.” She moved against him, brazenly rubbing her
wetness over his fingers. “I serve you. You’re my cyborg.”

“I’m your master.” His eyes glowed with pride and passion.
“You belong to me, are mine to do with as I will.”

“Yes, sir.” She couldn’t form a longer reply. Her breasts
were alive with his touch, his nanocybotics working her like a thousand tiny
tongues, concentrated where his mouth engulfed her skin. Her pussy warmed with
the friction of his palm.

“Right now, I wish to repair your damage.” He laved her
breasts with his tongue, covering her with his unique form of care, spreading
his seduction across her entire chest, and she writhed against him, fighting
her release, wishing to delay this delicious torture.

“I want my female in prime condition when I breed with her.”
Rage pushed two of his large fingers inside her.

She whimpered, the fit tight, stretching her.

“You’ll take me, little engineer.” He spread his fingers,
increasing the pressure. “Not today. You haven’t yet earned that reward.” He
pumped her, his rhythm fast, hard, squeezing the breath from her chest. “But
soon. I’ll fill your snug human pussy with my cyborg cum.”

“Yes, sir.” Joan wiggled, impaled on his fingers.

“I’ll breed with you whenever, wherever, however, I desire.”
His lips moved against her as he thrust his fingers between her pussy lips,
filling her again and again. “And you’ll deny me nothing because you serve me.”

“I serve you, sir.”
Let me come
, she wanted to beg
yet didn’t dare. He was in control, would give her relief when, if he wished.

“When I tire of you, when you no longer satisfy my needs—”

She shook with want and need and an endless yearning.
“You’ll kill me, sir.” Saying the words gave her some power and she wasn’t
scared of death, only of not finding release.

“Yes.” He drove into her pussy with his fingers and nipped
her breast with his lip-covered teeth.

She screamed, bearing down on his hand, taking him deeper
inside her. Her inner walls constricted around him, as though trying to make
their bond permanent.

His mouth tugged and pulled at her nipple, extending her
orgasm until she had nothing left, sagging against him.

Rage drew her upward with one arm, this demonstration of his
strength impressing her. “My female.” He licked the scratch on her face. His
nanocybotics warmed her skin as they repaired her damage. His fingers remained
inside her.

“I’ve never reacted this way to a male, sir,” she whispered,
her loss of control scaring her. “Never. Is it the nanocybotics?”

“They didn’t arouse the other females.” He pulled his head
back, viewed her once again with suspicion. “And you were wet before I touched
you.” Rage removed his fingers from her pussy. She felt their loss immediately.
“Are you certain you’re not on breeding drugs?” He sniffed his hand, then
licked the glistening juices off his skin.

He’s tasting me.
Joan pushed away her embarrassment,
focusing on her issue. “Do you detect anything, sir?”

“Fertile female.”

“I’m not fertile, sir.” She shook her head. “I took a
fertility inhibitor ten planet rotations ago. It’s viable for one solar cycle.”

“It doesn’t matter.” His tone told her he didn’t believe
her. “You won’t create offspring with me.” He placed his weapons on a
horizontal support.

“But--”

“Remove my armor and clean me.” He abruptly ended the
conversation.

She bent over, unfastened his leg coverings, set them aside
to be cleaned and repaired, did the same with his arm coverings.

All the time, she talked about the previous deployment’s
battle, the footage she’d watched while he was fighting. There were areas where
she could improve his speed, the motions of his mechanics. He grunted, saying
little, frustratingly not adding to her knowledge base.

The body armor was a challenge. Joan struggled to lift it
over his head.

After many humiliating moments, Rage finally relented and
assisted her, covering her fingers with his. The warmth from his touch lingered
long after he released her.

She inspected him for wounds, extracted more shrapnel, and
then removed the blood and grime, swiping the cleaning cloth over his face,
neck, shoulders, back, cock and lower. There wasn’t one patch of skin she
didn’t touch.

She noticed the wounds on his wrists. She wasn’t an idiot.
She realized that was where the designers had hidden two of the three tracking
devices. But she said nothing, knowing he didn’t trust her enough to talk about
his plans.

“Do you wish me to relieve your pain, sir?” She gestured at
his hard cock. He’d been erect since she removed his armor.

“You can suck me off later in your shift.” His low voice
revived passions that should be sated. “When your cheek is fully healed.”

That was very considerate of her rough, tough,
I-plan-to-kill-you-soon cyborg. Joan smiled. “Thank you, sir.”

“You won’t thank me then.” He glowered at her. “I plan to
use you hard.”

Her smile widened. She wanted to be used hard.

“Repair my armor,” he commanded.

Joan not only repaired his armor, she improved it, using a
new coating that had recently become available. While she worked, polishing
every groove, Rage inspected and performed maintenance on his weapons. She
shared information from bulletins she’d received on weapon upgrades. He
listened, his big body leaning slightly toward hers.

Happiness wrapped around her heart. She was no longer alone.

“Spread your legs for me.” His deep voice cut through her
rambling on projectile management. “Show your cyborg how wet you are for him.”

She suspected he wanted to humiliate her, to punish her for
the pain others had given him. Instead, his gruff command aroused her, creating
the wetness he desired.

She opened her thighs and tilted her hips upward, showing
him everything. “Do you wish to breed with me, sir?”

She wished to fuck him, to take him deep inside her, to fill
her womb with his unique seed. What would the nanocybotics feel like against
her sensitive inner walls? She quivered, anticipating that bliss.

“I wish only to look at my female now.” Rage’s gaze lowered,
his eyes sparking with blue bolts of energy. His cock remained hard.

He must be in pain. She darted her tongue over her bottom
lip.

“You will taste me later.” He placed his repaired weapons in
the wall panel, securing them. “Have you ever killed a being?”

Joan blinked, this abrupt change of topic cooling her ardor.
“I have, sir.”

He lifted his eyebrows in silent inquiry.

Shit. He wished for more information. “There was a bovine,
Wanderer.” She gazed at him, seeing only the animal’s face. “She was sweet,
loving, would wait for me at the gate when I returned home from the primary
academy. She got her name because she would wander from the herd. One day, she
wandered too far.” Joan swallowed, hard. “A predator found her. He ripped her
stomach open and severed the tendons in her hind legs, laming her. He didn’t
kill her.”

“You did that.” Rage’s voice was cold.

“I had to, sir.” She clasped her hands to keep them from
shaking. “She was in pain, bellowing for my help.” She could still hear the
cries now, pulling at her heart. “I couldn’t fix her. It was too much. And she
stared up at me with her big brown eyes as though she counted on me to stop her
agony. My father told me he would have done the same, but could I have somehow
saved her? I don’t know.” She thought about that even to this planet rotation.

“You’re crying because you killed a bovine.”

Was she? Joan swiped her fingers across her cheeks. Her skin
was dry. “I never cry, sir.”

“You were crying without tears.” He wouldn’t allow her the
illusion of strength.

“I’m sorry, sir.” She turned her head, hiding her face from
him, ashamed that he saw what so many other beings didn’t. “She was the first
being I killed. There were other bovines, some predators, and then there was
the attack on the agri lot.”

“You killed your cyborg?”

“C345925 saved me. I would never harm him.” She remembered
how magnificent he was, how strong and fierce and brave. “I doubt anything
could.”

“He was a C model like me.” Rage’s tone was dry. “He could
be killed.”