Page 19 of Darken
“I think they were just posturing. The land they claimed doesn’t have much value other than the waterfall. It’s desert. Southwest, there.” Darken pointed. “That’s where we crashed on that butte.”
“Wow, that’s a long way to that waterfall. And you carried me for hours.”
“And I would do it again. That was the easy part. I would do anything for you.”
Gina smiled at his openly tender look. She didn’t doubt him, and she was beginning to understand how cyborgs differed from ordinary men. Their creators brainwashed them, tapping into their subconscious through bio-integrated processors implanted in their brains. The scientists use that connection to give them a virtual life while in stasis. Training them to fight and kill through war simulations, they made adjustments to suppress their emotions and pump endorphins to make them enjoy the killing.
Even so, there were limits. Early models burnt out mentally and became less efficient when forced to eat, sleep, and kill without a tangible reward. So, they used sex in the form of an avatar of their genetic mate, whom they came to love. She would be their reward at the end of the war.
Only that didn’t happen because the governments didn’t want to fund the necessary research. The lawmakers feared the consequences of allowing the cyborgs to return to Earth and breed with their daughters and granddaughters.
Gina had learned the history of the cyborgs after her friend Layna mated Axel Rex. Some of the things she learned made her angry. One lawmaker had proposed destroying the cyborgs when they were no longer needed for war. Another suggested returning them to stasis indefinitely instead of the life they were promised for doing mankind’s dirty work.
Anyone who saw the way Axel looked at Layna and their twins wouldn’t doubt that a cyborg could love as fiercely as they could fight. That was the way Darken looked at her, a look that could take her breath away.
A month after he’d rescued her and claimed her as his mate, Gina admitted to herself that she was in love with him. Visiting and talking with the other women was so helpful in understanding how cyborgs behave in a relationship.
Gina and Darken were still in the process of meshing their lives together. Darken was very protective to the point he started to change his mind about taking her on his excursions into communities that became isolated from the world outside after the first attack of the Mesaarkans.
Axel Rex had caught some men in his towns attempting to kidnap young women to sell to Eastern Overlords to become sex workers. Despite their agreement with the Enclave brokered by the Federation, third parties were trafficking females, males, and even children.
Devlin White had Gina taken from the Enclave village no less.
Once they pinpointed the possible location of the Morenza ranch, Darken grew pensive, and Gina noticed right away.
“What is it?” she asked. “Something is bothering you.”
“The mission tomorrow could be dangerous, and I don’t want to put you in danger. There are too many variables for me to calculate the odds of that happening,” he said.
“Until I moved to the Enclave, I was in danger most of my life. Leaving Devlin to live in Farringay was no paradise. I had to fight frequently to keep from getting raped or caught by gangers and sold to one of the brothels.”
“That’s because you didn’t have me.”
“But I do now, don’t I?”
“You know you do.”
“What am I going to do here all by myself while you are out cruising the countryside?” Gina asked. “I was kidnapped from my house at the Enclave in broad daylight. I thought we decided that going to the communities together would be more friendly, less threatening.”
“We did, but you have to understand, there is only one thing I am afraid of---losing you.”
“Which is why you got me the nanite armor. I want to make sure nothing happens to you either.”
Darken pulled her onto his lap, facing him. “To say that I love you barely covers what I feel. You are like a piece of me that has been missing my whole life, my only chance to know love and make offspring to be part of a family.”
A lump rose in Gina’s throat and her eyes brimmed with tears. “Oh, Darken, that’s how I feel too. Now that I’ve known you, I can’t imagine a future without you.” She sniffed and hugged him tightly, kissing his neck. It had hit her hard and fast, but she had known from the moment she learned they were matched that he was the love she had been waiting for all her life, as trite as it sounded.
Devlin had killed any romantic fantasies she’d ever had. The two years she spent in the ruins of Farringay had finished off any hope of a mate and a family. Not until Axel claimed Layna as his mate did she begin to hope there would be someone for her.
Gina leaned back and framed his face in her hands. “Someday, we’ll have babies, and I will have to stay here and care for them. Until that time, I don’t want to spend my time here alone, waiting for you to come home.”
“And I really don’t want you to, but there is an unknown risk factor.” He leaned his forehead against hers and sighed. “We will go together as we planned. If there is a problem, you will activate your armor immediately.”
“I am comfortable with that. I know how to use the blaster, and you got me that new shock wand.” She caressed his face then kissed his lips lightly.
Darken accepted the invitation, kissing her deeply, swirling his tongue around her, and pressing her against him, so her sensitive breasts were crushed against his chest.
His cock had been hard against her mons for some time, and it was unlikely he hadn’t scented her arousal. When they reached the point of taking off clothes, Darken stood with Gina in his arms and carried her into their bedroom, where they stripped down quickly and came together on the bed.
