Page 5 of Max
“Do people around here know that the war is over?” he asked.
“I think so. I heard that the cyborgs were coming back to help fix things. I’m guessing that’s why you are here.”
“Yeah. I never planned to come back, but my unit commander got a call for help from Vyken Dark asking us to come. He’s the head of cyborgs on Earth. I was living on Phantom, our cyborg colony, working my job, just existing day to day. They promised us that if we survived the war, our genetic mates would be on Earth to welcome us when it was over.”
“Let me guess. It was a lie.”
“It was one way to control us and a strong incentive for us to keep fighting. They kept telling us to ‘do it forher.’ But when the war ended, only the cyborg converts were returned to Earth. The in vitro bred cyborgs were diverted to Phantom for debriefing. That’s when we finally learned the truth.”
“There are no genetic mates?” Falyn asked.
“Yes, there are, but not the way we were promised. They were supposed to locate and arrange for us to meet them. It never happened. The Enclave is building a database now, but with limited success. The gene pool used to create us came from Earth, but only a fraction of the cyborgs recently awakened, and those returning have found their mates.”
“And what about you? How will you find your mate?” she asked.
“Do you have a mate?” Max asked casually.
“No, but I wasn’t hinting.”
Max hadn’t intended to tell her, but her hopeful expression changed his mind. He paused for a breath, then said, “I didn’t have a plan until I found you… Falyn, you are my genetic mate.” He gave her a wry smile. “I have been told my social skills are poorly developed. Even my avatar mate complained, and she was AI-driven.”
“You got those men off my trail, saved Angus when I thought I had to put him down… and you are incredibly sexy.” She smiled at him, flirting shamelessly.
“Does that mean you will accept me as your mate?”
“It means I like you so far and want to get better acquainted.”
“I really need to kiss you,” he said bluntly. Leaning in and cupping her face, he pressed his lips to hers.
Falyn sighed and moved her lips against his, opening to his exploring tongue. He took his time probing and swirling his tongue around hers. Joy blossomed in his soul as he kissed his genetic mate for the first time. That she kissed him back nurtured the hope that she would accept him as her mate.
But he ended the kiss sooner than he wished as his pants had grown painfully tight in the crotch. The scent of her arousal made it even worse.
“Wow, that was nice,” she assured him as their lips parted.
“It was,” Max agreed. “I would like to do it again, but it makes me want to breed with you.”
“Um, yeah, I understand that. I don’t think I have ever reacted to a man like my body is right now. Are you wearing some kind of love potion?”
“No, it’s just my pheromones… because we are genetic mates. I can hardly believe it. I didn’t want to leave Montana when I first got my orders. I just like the solitude of the mountain where I assembled my home.”
“You couldn’t ask for an alternate assignment?”
“I didn’t have a good reason to make such a request. Captain Savage didn’t ask what I wanted; he asked if I would come. Besides, my teammate Stalker is fully extended in the Los Angeles megalopolis. The San Francisco version was not as heavily populated, but Stalker couldn’t cover both even with help.”
“Well, I am sure glad you arrived when you did…. I am so sorry I shot you. I’m not usually so careless with a gun. I don’t like them, but I don’t feel safe going to town without one.”
“I could see how surprised you were when it went off. I knew it was an accident.”
“Thank you for understanding. I swear I will be more careful from now on.” Falyn fell silent, stroking her horse’s head as he nickered. “I think he’s feeling better.”
As soon as she said that, Angus rolled from his side and stood. “Well, I guess so!” Falyn stood, examining him in the fading light.
Max stood, took a penlight from his pocket, and shined it on its injured leg so Falyn could see it, too. He also ran a scan from his internal computer. “The bone is set, but I think we should wait until daylight to walk him back to your homestead.”
“I should probably take off his saddle and let him graze. I don’t know how many miles we ran from those men. I don’t even know them or why they were chasing me.” Falyn worked at unfastening the cinch on her horse’s saddle.
“Human trafficking. It’s happening everywhere the overlords and gang bosses rule. We believe they are shipping them to offworld slavers.”
