Page 17 of Kiss of Fury

“Worth a try.” Steel hopped into the rear and grabbed the roll bar.

Fury got behind the wheel and drove through the gap. He hugged the fence line for a short distance before veering away to creep behind the herd. A couple of animals glanced their way but then returned to grazing. He drove past the herd and then hooked a U-turn, drawing closer. Another pass and reverse, and the herd shifted toward the enclosure.

“It’s working,” Steel called in a hush.

Little by little, he nudged the herd. A few strays sprinted away at one point, but he guided them into the fold. When the entire group congregated by the gap, he backed away then pointed the vehicle at the beasts. “Hang on for sudden braking.”

“Got it,” Steel replied.

Gunning it, he drove the conveyance directly at the herd.

“Hi-ya! Hi-ya!” Steel shouted.

The hornigers eyed the approaching wagon with mild curiosity.

Shit, it’s not working.Atthe last second before he had to hit the brakes, the animals stampeded into the enclosure.

“It worked!” Steel cheered.

“Like a charm.” He grinned, drove inside the fence line, and parked the vehicle so it blocked the gap. “Let’s get this fixed.”

They jumped out and unloaded the plasticine rail sections. “Keep an eye on Mama,” Steel advised. “She’s pissed.” The horniger cow eyed them vengefully as her frightened calf bleated. “I have no desire to get goredagain.” He’d come between a horniger and her calf, and she’d skewered him like a shish kebab.

“I have no desire to experience it for the first time,” Fury agreed.

After pounding three new posts into the hardened ground and setting them with a fast-drying cement compound, they connected short strips into rails.

“You and Honoria talk about having kids?” Fury asked.

“We discussed it to the extent that I told her I didn’t know if it was possible for a cyborg to sire children.”

“Dr. Twygg could tell you if you’re fertile. There’s probably a scan for that.” He smirked.

“He’d love it. I don’t think he bought our argument that humans heal exceptionally fast. He’s been after me to come in for further tests since the goring.”

“We can’t risk that.”

“Fuck, no,” Steel said. “You gonna tell Verity you’re a cyborg?”

“We’re trying to keep it secret, remember?”

“Not from our wives.”

“Tell the devoted mother who’d do anything to protect her child she married an assassin?”

“Who better to protect her and her child than an assassin? She couldn’t get a better bodyguard.”

True. If he’d been on Earth, he would have settled the Dorn problem permanently. “She won’t see it that way. She’d perceive me as a threat.”

“Honoria accepted it.”

Fury fumbled with the rail section he carried. “Accepted it? Hey, I was there. She freaked. She ran from you, and you got gored by a horniger—which almost exposed our secret.”

“She accepts it now. Take it from an old married guy—it’s not a good idea to keep secrets from your wife.”

Old married guy? How could Steel say that with a straight face? He’d been married less than a month. “She’s not my wife yet. And if we don’t hurry and finish this fence, she’s not going to be.”

Thankfully, Steel knew when to shut up. As they worked in silence, Fury’s thoughts turned to the imminent wedding. This should have been the happiest day of his life, but the situation wasn’t how he’d envisioned it. He’d never anticipated there could be a third party involved. He resigned himself to a year in limbo, but he still resented it. This wasn’t what he’d signed up for. He craved the love he’d never had. Hiswhole life, he’d been under Solutions’ control, denied the rights afforded to every human. Even friendships were discouraged, Solutions often pitted one cyborg against another. Until meeting Steel, he’d never had a friend. No one had cared if he lived or died. He was a piece of equipment, a capital asset on Solutions’ balance sheet.

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