Page 5 of Darken
Glancing around, he scooped up his female and carried her as fast and as far as he could before the sky cycle exploded. Only afterward did he realize that the rock they slammed against had stopped them inches from a cliff with a drop of about 300 feet. The plateau overlooked a desert extending as far as he could see. Without his CPU scanner, he could only guess where they were.
Darken only stopped running when the cycle exploded behind them. Turning in a slow circle to get his bearings, he realized they had landed on a butte in the middle of a desert. He couldn’t be sure which one; he only knew he’d been on course to his new home coordinates.
Once he tried to shake their pursuer, he had gone off course. He only knew he was somewhere in the southwest of North America, a hundred or more miles south of his new home in the desert. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he had one hell of a headache that felt like his whole head was throbbing in time to his heartbeat.
For a moment, he glanced back at his sky cycle ruefully as the remains burned, sending a cloud of thick black smoke into the air. His ion rifle was still inside when it exploded.
At least he still had his knives, pistol, and sidearm, and Gina, most precious of all, his genetic mate. She was breathing. He fervently hoped she wasn’t badly injured.
“Gina, wake up! Gina?”
She groaned as someone patted her face then gave her a little shake. Then she gasped, remembering the last time she woke up. Her head was still pounding, and she felt sick to her stomach.
It took her a few seconds to realize she was no longer tied up. Finally, she opened her eyes and looked up into dark green eyes. “Darken, you came for me.”
“Of course, you are my mate, and you are beautiful,” he said, smiling down at her. He was sitting on the ground, holding her on his lap. “How do you feel? We had a pretty rough landing.”
“Like someone hit me on the head really hard.”
“That’s not surprising, I feel much the same, and my internal computer is not working. The cycle blew up, so I have no way of contacting headquarters to send a transport for us.”
“Do you know where we are?”
“Not exactly. We’re in the desert somewhere southwest of the Enclave. I was heading for my new home because I thought you would be safer there,” he explained. “Are you sure you were not hurt anywhere else? I wish my scanner were working, then I would know for sure.”
“I feel a little sore in places, but that could be from lying on the hard floor in one position tied up for hours,” she told him.
“Do you think you can walk? We should get you out of this sun.”
“I think so. I won’t know until I try.” She turned on his lap, trying to get leverage to stand, and she found herself pressed against him, her face very close to his. They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment before Darken gripped her waist and pushed her up to stand on her feet.
Although he wanted to take her in his arms for a kiss, his priority was her safety. But kisses could come later. As Gina stood, she swayed slightly on her feet, apparently still feeling lightheaded. Darken jumped to his feet and offered his hand to help steady her. She took it without hesitation, and they started walking on the butte to find the easiest way to the desert below. The route was steep, but Darken got them down safely. Soon, they were walking across the vast desert stretching out in front of them.
Gina was neither short nor slender, but she seemed to be standing beside a 6’7” cyborg. The top of her head only came to the base of his neck. She had hazel eyes, mostly green like his but with a ring of gold around the center. She had a straight but not pert nose and full kissable lips. Her smokey brown hair was in disarray over her shoulders and down her back, with an elastic hair tie clinging to a thick lock on her other shoulder.
Darken took it between his forefinger and thumb and slid it from her hair, handing it to her. “You might need this later.”
Gina gave him a faint smile and tucked it into her pocket.
In the distance, Darken could see some greenery in front of some dark-colored mountains. They might find water there, so they headed in that direction at a leisurely pace because of the heat. With the trees, there would also be shade. The one-liter bottle of water in his pack would not last long.
Darken lamented that neither had a hat to help shade them from the sun. His brand-new ranger hat and all of his possessions were in the storage compartment of the sky cycle when it exploded. The pack he had rescued was emergency supplies for if he got stranded as they were now.
After about thirty minutes at a leisurely pace in the desert heat, Darken stopped them and urged Gina to drink her fill of the water.
“What about you? I know you’re a cyborg, but don’t you need water too?”
“I do but not as much as you. Even though my central processor is offline, my nanocybots are still working. They will regulate my body temperature so that I don’t lose water sweating,” he explained.
“Gee, I think I would like some of them.”
“And you shall have some when we mate, and every time we mate.”
“Oh, ah…” Gina flushed as she understood the implication.
“You did request a cyborg, mate, didn’t you? Mate, as in we will breed and make offspring?” Darken gave her a sidelong glance. Her attraction was so powerful; at times, it was hard to think of anything but how much he wanted her. Knowing her life could still depend on his thinking clearly, he forced his thoughts back to the present.
Gina blushed a deeper shade of pink. “Well, I did… I mean, I do, but I thought we would take some time to get acquainted first.” After drinking about a quarter of the contents, she handed the bottle back to him.
