I’m coming for you, female. Prepare to be claimed.
Briella wiggled in her captain’s chair.
Many planet rotations had passed, and those words, paired with the dominance in her cyborg’s voice, still reduced every part of her to mush. She wanted to be claimed more than anything.
The problem she faced was…
The being Odium wanted to claim wasn’t her.
She’d sold him an illusion. Her fingertips drifted over her scarred cheek. And when he came face-to-face with reality, he’d be furious.
He would reject her, and that would be the harshest fuckin’ rejection in a long lifespan riddled with it.
But she had no willpower to save herself that agony. Every interaction, every conversation with her warrior turned her on. It gave her a jolt of belonging, of connection.
She was too addicted to him to stop.
“I’m straddling you.” She relayed another one of her dreams to her E Model.
There was nothing displayed on the main viewscreen, yet she envisioned him situated there, seated in a chair similar to hers, watching her with his dark eyes, lusting after her.
She ran her hands over her flight suit-covered form, handling herself as she wanted him to handle her—firmly, knowingly, with a bit of roughness. “You’re naked. I’m naked.” They rarely wore clothing in her fantasies. “You’ve bound my hands behind my back. I can’t touch you…with my fingers. But I can touch you with my lips, my breasts, my pussy.”
“Are you wet for me?” His voice swept over her, tightening her nipples.
“I’m always wet for you, my Odium.” That was the truth. His deep tones never failed to slicken her pussy. “I rock into you, grinding myself against your big cock.”
She rolled her hips, pressing against the seat and then easing her contact with the hard surface, repeating that motion again and again.
His size excited her. Every cyborg she’d seen had been large.
Odium would be huge also. All over.
She craved his girth, his length. He’d stretch her, fill her, add a hint of pain to their fervent fucking.
“Need builds in me.” She panted as desire coiled around her. “I’m hot for you.” She cupped her garment-clad breasts, squeezed hard and released, squeezed hard and released. “And I’m close, so close.”
“Do not come.” His command straightened her spine. “You will not find release without me.”
“My Odium.” She squirmed in her seat. If she slapped the heel of her hand against her mons, she would break, would find one more moment of satisfaction with him.
“I’m landing on Mercury Minor shortly after sunrise.” He refused to relent on his stance.
She couldn’t wait that long to come. “But—”
“No.” His stern tone obliterated her urge to defy him. “If you come, I will be very disappointed with you.”
He would be very disappointed with her even if she didn’t come.
But she wouldn’t make the situation worse for herself, for them.
“Okay. Fuck.” Briella slumped over the console, resting her heated cheek on the cool metal. “I’ll wait until you arrive to come.”
After he shattered her heart and she flew far from the planet, she would take matters into her own hands and give herself the orgasm to end all orgasms.
Sweet sandfighters. She gritted her teeth. With the way she was wound up, one air pocket, one stretch of turbulence would send her over the edge.
“Don’t touch yourself, my female.” He issued yet another command.
She bit back a moan. Either he was utterly unaware how fuckin’ hot his directive-uttering was, or he was a sadistic brute who delighted in tormenting her.
Both possibilities stimulated her.
“My hands are on the console.” She flattened her palms against the surface. “I said I wouldn’t find release until your shuttle craft landed on Mercury Minor, and I meant it.”
“Unlike cyborgs, humans and mostly humans can lie.” His words made her uneasy.
She had lied to him. Numerous times. “Yeah. We can lie. But I’m not lying about this, so let it go.”
As soon as she said that, she knew she’d fucked up.
“You’re not lying about that.” He seized on that slip of her tongue. “What lies have you told me, my female?”
What lies hadn’t she told him? “I have to go.” She stood, skimmed her hands over her flight suit, smoothing the wrinkles in the fabric. “I’m meeting with Mohini.”
“She won’t touch you either.” Her cyborg was possessive of her.
Briella liked that. Too much.
“Mohini isn’t interested in touching me.” And she wasn’t interested in touching the female. The only being she wanted to fondle was Odium.
She shouldn’t say anything more, should end their conversation and walk away.
But she couldn’t fuckin’ do that. Because she was a wanton for pain, liked to torture herself.
“I’m grateful, my warrior. For everything you’ve said and done. For the others, but especially for me.” She took a deep breath and released it. “You’re a good male, and you deserve some fuckin’ happiness.” His happiness wouldn’t be shared with her, and that tore her up. “I’ll be here when you land.”
That vow would be kept.
She closed the communication line and stared down at the console. “Goodbye, Odium.”
Emotionally, she would end their relationship now, while they both cared for, respected each other. At sunrise, she would tell herself the warrior she confronted was someone else, was someone she didn’t host feelings for.
That would make the humiliation easier.
She donned her goggles. Her fingers lingered on the cool metal.
The lenses had been designed especially for her, were manufactured to conceal her eyes yet not interfere with her vision.
The frames were ancient, had been passed down in Captain’s family from generation to generation. The older female had come from a long line of pilots, and, when she gave the eye coverings to Briella, her mentor said her ancestors would be honored she was wearing them. She was a damn fine flyer, was worthy of their goggles.
That was the proudest planet rotation of Briella’s life, and touching Captain’s gift now gave her confidence. She was a damn fine flyer. Those words were the fuckin’ truth.
She moved through her freighter. The ship had been her mentor’s final gift to her. It was her home, her sanctuary, a place where she felt safe, protected from judgment.
Briella had to leave that space for a few moments.
Her meeting with Mohini hadn’t been a lie. She had a matter to discuss with the Praecipuan.
Torque, Odium’s friend and her assigned guard, was waiting for her outside her vessel. He stepped out of the darkness. “The sun has set. We’ll require additional illumination if you plan to complete more repairs.”
“There will be no more repairs.” The few remaining dents in her ship were required to convince the Humanoid Alliance or other enemies it was utilized to haul goods, not rescue beings. “I heard the evacuees were cooking nourishment this shift as a thank-you for your kind’s hospitality.”
“You heard correctly.” Torque tilted his head and sniffed the air. “It smells delicious. We should get there before B and his son arrive. B Models have huge appetites.”
It was a marvel that B Models continued to exist. Briella had researched cyborgs thoroughly. They were beings who also sported mechanical eyes, and she had sought to know everything about them. All the databases had declared B Models obsolete.
Those databases were full of shit.
Two B Models called Mercury Minor home.
B, the aptly-named father, was inconceivably old, had fought for the Humanoid Alliance long before her ancestors had settled on Sabik Binaire.
Parts for his kind must have been hard to source.
Yet he still sported matching eyes, didn’t have one visible scar.
She, in contrast, was a pieced-together mess.
But she could fly. Her shoulders straightened. She had that important skill, couldn’t ever forget that valued she added to the universe.
“If we delay, there will be no nourishment left for us.” Torque continued to chatter.
“Then why the fuck are we still here?” Briella marched in the direction of the celebration.
“Odium will arrive at sunrise.” The warrior, his friend, matched her stride.
“Yeah, he told me he’ll be landing on Mercury Minor soon.” She scrubbed the dread from her voice. “I’m glad you’ll be here to greet him. You’re a good fuckin’ friend, Torque, and he might need one of those.” If her plans to shift Odium’s focus away from her didn’t work.
“He won’t need me.” Her guard laughed. “He’ll need you, his female.”
She had heard the chatter. The cyborgs believed they had genetic matches, fated mates. But Odium was mistaken. She wasn’t his match. At all.
Briella touched her goggles, ensuring they were in place.
And she said nothing.
There was no need to speak. Thankfully.
Torque could carry a conversation on his own. He talked about females and nourishment and how fire made everything taste better.
She liked the male, would miss him when she left.
But not as much as she’d miss Odium. Fuck. That parting would hurt.
As they neared the site, Briella spotted Mohini sitting on a boulder by one of the fires. She sent her guard to retrieve food and claimed a spot on the huge rock. “Have you been successful in your mission?”
Her friend hadn’t stopped searching for a warrior willing to transport her to Keid 9.
“No.” Firelight flitted over the female’s flawless face. “The beings here either don’t have access to a ship, or they don’t respond to my persuasions.” She blew out her breath. “The cyborgs also limited our connections to their systems. Security precautions, they said.” She wrinkled her nose. “And, since my last attempt at stealing a vessel failed disastrously, they’ve been watching me closely. It’s frustrating.”
Briella knew all about frustration. Her body remained on edge from her talk with her cyborg. “Odium arrives at sunrise. You could implement my plan.”
It hurt like a heated sword to her gut to say those words.
“You like him, Beast.” Mohini nudged her side. “I won’t interfere with whatever you have.”
“We don’t have anything to fuckin’ interfere with.” Briella lowered her voice. “He thinks I look like you.”
“Oh, Beast.” Sympathy reflected in her friend’s eyes.
“Fuck off.” Briella didn’t want her pity. “Are you doing this or not? Because if you’re not, I’ll ask someone else and—”
“I’ll do it.” Mohini fell for her bluff. There wasn’t anyone else. Everyone on the planet was too fuckin’ loyal to Odium. “But—”
“I didn’t know what you liked, so I brought you a little bit of everything.” Torque had returned with two huge heaping platters of roasted roots and assorted grains.
“Is this massive amount of food what you deem to be a little bit of everything?” Briella took one container. She was thankful for the interruption, didn’t want to hear Mohini’s reservations about her plan. “This is way too much sustenance for me.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” The cyborg grinned. “I’ll finish anything you don’t eat.” He sat on a nearby boulder.
She glanced at Mohini.
Her friend met her gaze and nodded. She would distract Odium when he arrived.
Briella pushed away her misgivings and focused on the food in front of her.
Briella left the festivities as soon as she’d finished as much of the nourishment as she could manage, giving the rest of it to Torque. She retreated to the sanctuary of the freighter.
The space was warm and much too quiet. Her apprehensions about the following planet rotation didn’t allow her to sleep.
She gave up trying to rest and played her music loud. That drowned out some of her turbulent thoughts. Singing off-key at the top of her lungs silenced the rest.
As sunrise approached, she spent an embarrassing amount of time on her appearance. She donned her favorite flight suit. The dark-green fabric clung to her curves and accentuated the various shades of brown in her hair. She arranged those curls to hide some of her scars. Her goggles were polished until the frames shone.
She looked as good as she could look, and that gave her more confidence.
“You can do this,” she told herself. “The male you see this planet rotation isn’t the same fuckin’ male you’ve been obsessing over.” That lie would ease her pain. “He’s a different being, a stranger. His rejection won’t mean anything to you. Nothing at all.”
She squared her shoulders, lifted her chin, exited the freighter.
Torque was waiting for her as he always was. “Are you ready, Odium’s female?”
No. She wasn’t ready. “Let’s do this.” She stomped toward the designated landing site.
A crowd of cyborgs, humans, and humanoids had gathered at those coordinates. Some of the humanoids were Praecipuans, the beings she’d helped rescue and Odium had risked his lifespan to save.
Briella positioned herself at the far edge of the group.
“You can move closer to the landing site.” Torque gestured in that direction. “You’re his female.”
She wasn’t anything to anyone. “I’m fine here.”
“Then we’ll stand here.” Odium’s friend shrugged and positioned himself next to her.
She preferred to be alone, but expressing those feelings would do fuck all.
Except hurt the kindhearted warrior. Which she’d rather not do.
Torque wouldn’t grant her privacy. The male had his orders and wouldn’t move.
He was as honorable as Odium was.
Fuck. She clasped her hands before her form. Her cyborg would be furious at her when he uncovered her deception.
“Fly away, freighter pilot. Fly away.” She amended the lyrics of her favorite song to apply to her situation, relaying them under her breath.
“I’ve researched that musical composition, studied the source data.” Torque cocked his head to the side. “It varies from your version.”
“I’m not a good fuckin’ singer.” She accepted that truth.
The male’s forehead furrowed. “Then why do you—”
“Singing brings me joy.” And joy was rare in her lifespan. She tilted her head back, stared up at the descending ship. “Are you certain Odium is inside that shuttle craft?” She changed the subject.
“I’m 100.0000 percent certain of that.” Torque gazed upward also. “He’s transmitting to all of us, assuring us he’s not the enemy.”
She watched as the shuttle craft landed. Its manufactured wind whipped her carefully arranged hair away from her face, exposing her scars. She braced her booted feet apart and pondered her next steps.
Technically, she could leave now. She had promised Odium she’d stay on Mercury Minor until he returned.
According to Torque, Odium was inside the shuttle craft. The vessel was situated on the planet’s surface. Her warrior had returned.
She could depart before he exited the vessel. That would be cautious, safe.
Her curiosity stopped her from taking that prudent line of action.
She’d been constantly communicating with, fantasizing about the male, and she wanted to view his face. Just once. It would be one more memory to add to her hoard.
A few additional moments wouldn’t make much difference. She touched her goggles, ensuring they remained in place. He wouldn’t see her. She’d flee before that happened.
“Wish me luck,” Mohini murmured as she passed Briella.
Her friend was always beautiful, but this sunrise, her allure was unparalleled. As she moved, her long purple hair and shimmering garments flowed behind her, creating the illusion she was floating on air. Her flawless face glowed. Her full lips glistened. Her matching eyes sparkled.
She was everything any warrior could ever want. Briella drifted her fingertips over the scars grooved into her left cheek.
Mohini would beguile Odium with her many fuckin’ charms. The warrior would forget all about the voice over the communication lines.
He wouldn’t attempt to find Briella.
Her shoulders rounded ever so slightly. She felt the loss of his attentions to her damn core, and that bothered the roasted roots out of her.
It shouldn’t impact her. The plan had been hers.
The transference of her cyborg’s affections was the best strategy…for everyone. Mohini would gain access to the ship she needed. Briella wouldn’t have to confront Odium and endure that soul-shredding humiliation. Odium would host only wonderful memories of her.
She would like to be someone’s happy recollection.
“We can approach the ship now.” Torque gestured toward the shuttle craft. Its ramp was lowering. “It’s safe.”
Safety wasn’t the reason she was stationed where she was.
“Go. Give your friend your report.” She shook her head. “I’ll remain here.”
The male glanced at the ship. His gaze returned to her. He cocked his head to the side. The cyborg was clearly torn between seeing his friend and watching over her.
“Odium has returned.” She rolled her eyes. “Your guard duties are over.”
“He’ll want to be alone with you.” Torque’s head dipped. “Odium is a lucky bag of bolts.” He walked toward the vessel.
Odium would be a lucky bag of bolts…once he encountered Mohini.
Briella’s stomach churned as she gazed at the ship.
Why the fuck was she torturing herself?
She should leave now, before Mohini and Odium met. Seeing the two of them together would tear her soul apart.
But then the doors opened, and the toes of two huge black boots became visible.
She lifted her gaze and her breath caught. That footwear was attached to an equally large male.
Odium was built like the warrior he was. The body armor barely contained his muscular form. Well-maintained weapons decorated the garment. His stance was strong. His hips were narrow. His shoulders were wide.
Desire hit Briella like a missile, almost knocking her over. Her pussy grew wet. Her nipples tightened.
She’d researched E Models, had seen some of his kind on Mercury Minor, and she believed she knew what to expect.
But her overly active imagination had fallen far short of envisioning Odium. His hair was the blackest black. His skin was gray. Not one scar marred his countenance. His eyes were dark.
His face. Stars. His face.
All the cyborgs she’d met had been handsome. Odium, however, was Mohini-levels of beautiful. He was that exquisite female’s physical match.
Briella’s desolation escalated. She took a step backward.
Odium’s nostrils flared. He turned his head, gazed directly at her.
She froze in place. That was impossible. There were hundreds of beings stationed between them. He must merely be looking in her direction.
Seeking to test that theory, she shifted to the right.
His gaze tracked her.
Her warrior had somehow located her in the crowd.
Briella’s palms dampened. Her stomach knotted.
Others sought to speak to Odium. He didn’t look at those beings. His focus was on her.
It was heady, exciting, worrisome. She brushed her fingers over her goggles. They were in place, so her eyes were hidden.
He saw her scars. Those couldn’t be concealed.
But he couldn’t view the worst of her disfigurements, the part of her that had evoked fear and hatred in her kind, that made the toughest of warriors avoid her.
She could endure his perusal, could stand her ground and—
Mohini approached Odium.
His gaze flicked toward the female.
Her friend was impossible for any male to ignore. And her cyborg was certainly a male. He vibrated with vitality, with power.
Briella wanted him with every cell in her body.
Mohini appeared as enthralled with Odium. Her eyes glowed with interest. Her lips moved. Her friend’s words were too softly spoken for Briella to hear.
But she could imagine what was being said, and every flirtatious comment, every glance, every movement was a dagger stuck deep into her face. The pain, the torment lashed her again and again.
It was unbearable. Panic filled her. She couldn’t do this, couldn’t stand by passively and watch her friend seduce the male she wanted. That was beyond her capabilities.
She turned away from them and ran.