Page 8 of Stalker
“Good enough to get me out of a few jams and some rape attempts.”
“This job is dangerous, and I want to make sure you are prepared,” he told her.
“I lived in Farringay most of my life, and I’ve had a few run-ins with gangers. I killed one once.”
Neely had a defiant look that almost dared Stalker to ask what happened. He had a pretty good idea.
“Can you read and write?” he asked instead
“My mom taught me when I was a kid. She had some old books handed down through her family that she kept stashed. It would be hard to fly without it.”
“And how did you learn to fly? There aren’t that many working flyers in this territory.”
“My father. He worked for Overlord Berke smuggling. He would come by from time to time and take us up. He started letting me fly it and eventually taught me everything. After he died, I took over.”
“What about your mother? Is she still alive?”
“She is. She is a hostess in one of Berke’s pleasure houses. She worked her way up from sex worker. I became a sex worker when I got old enough. My father was one of her customers, but he always had a soft spot for Mama and me. He didn’t want that life for me, so he taught me to fly.
“One day when he arrived, he was ill. He’d been stabbed in a fight. The wound wasn’t life-threatening, but he went septic and died of an infection. Before he died, he told me the flyer was mine.”
“That’s why you were so upset by its destruction. It was a gift from your dying father.”
“Yes.”
“But it brought you to me…” he smiled at her. “Let’s go get some lunch. We still have a long trip ahead of us. Your armor belt should be ready by the time we come back.”
Chapter Five
Gone were the days of world-famous restaurant chains. Stalker took Neely to a diner near the shuttle port, where they had a meal of steak and potatoes.
“How did you get the name Stalker?” Neely asked between bites.
“I chose my name because we stalked the enemy and killed them. I picked Knight because we were defenders of the Federation.”
Neely saw something flicker in his eyes that took him back to the war and a very dark place.
“How did you do that year after year? Weren’t the cyborg marines in the thick of the fighting on every planet.”
“Two things. They programmed our bodies to secrete endorphins when we were in the thick of it. The more enemies we killed, the bigger the risk, the better we liked it.”
“That’s twisted.” Neely frowned.
“When that didn’t work, our internal computer would remind us that we would return to Earth to be matched with our genetic mates. The female who would love us, and who we would love. We would make children and raise them together. We lived it in virtual reality.”
Neely didn’t know what to say as she looked into his eyes. He was talking abouther. Stalker and the other cyborgs had battled year after year for nearly one hundred years for the promise of love.Her love.
Could she love him? She thought he deserved to have someone love him. The only thought she had about babies was to get an implant to prevent it. That still had a few years on it.
Stalker was so damned attractive and sexy. Just thinking about running her hands all over those muscles and having them pressed against her made her core throb. That bulge in his pants promised a cock that could fill her amply.
The way he looked at her like she was the girl of his dreams…. Because she was. The guy had been brainwashed with the promise of his perfect mate he could recognize by her pheromones.
Neely felt torn. If she went to California with him, there would be no turning back. It was all or nothing. She had to walk away now or take a leap of faith.
“You’re still thinking about it. My fate is in your hands.”
“It’s not like I can instantly fall in love with you because you say we’re genetic mates even if you are sexy as hell and smell good.”
