Page 21 of Her Cyborg Warriors

6

Surnen, Personal Quarters, The Colony

I could not believethe female Trax carried into my quarters truly belonged to me. To Trax. To us. A female all our own. Forever—if she didn’t reject us in the next thirty days.

She’d seen me. All of me. She knew of my Hive integrations. She looked upon them all. I was not the warrior I’d been in my youth. I was still strong. In fact, I was stronger, thanks to the Hive.

But were Trax’s fears my own as well? Would this small human reject me because of what I had become? Would she reject Trax for the silver that circled his neck, that made him look… different? I was accustomed to what the Hive had done to me. Trax, however, had never made peace with his integrations, to how he’d changed. Worse, to the way his own family had reacted to his altered visage. Trax was more guarded about his integrations, even on a planet where everyone had them.

The interest Mikki had shown, the desire in her gaze, had not been influenced by my needs or wants as her mind had been completely her own. When she’d looked upon me, I had noted no signs of disinterest or disgust. The opposite, in fact. When I bared myself to her, she had not yet been wearing my collar, and I’d watched her closely, saw her gaze scan every inch of me, then stall on my cock. I was eager for her, and she’d seen the evidence. I hadn’t lied. How could I when the proof of my desire was evident in the thrust of my cock, the ache in my balls with the need to fill her with my seed? Marking her flesh with love bites wasn’t a Prillon custom, but I had a strange urge to do so. The collar around her neck wasn’t enough. I wanted the Atlans and Everians on the planet to scent me and Trax on her skin. To know she was well pleasured and protected.

Mine. They were both mine now, Mikki and Trax. My family. Mine to protect. Trax was emotional, aggressive and tended to react without thinking. He was also honorable, strong, nearly as fast as an Everian and absolutely ruthless in battle. He was a good choice as a second for my female, but I had no doubt that it would be up to me to protect them both, to keep us together as a cohesive unit. They were my responsibility and one I was honored to bear. I felt Mikki’s delight at the way Trax carried her. My forearm still burned where she’d reached to me for comfort when Trax’s emotions had overwhelmed her.

That small action on her part sealed her fate. She had reached for me. Me. That one instinctive act of trust had nearly made me throw her to the ground and fuck her in the transport room. She was mine, utterly and completely mine, whether she knew it or not.

I had no idea of the depth of my possessiveness until now. A fierce protectiveness overcame me. I would not see her harmed. I could not survive something happening to her. Not like what happened to my mother. My fathers hadn’t followed protocols on an alien world, and that oversight had killed them all. I could not risk this human’s life because I was lax in my role as mate. Emotions I’d held at bay were now appearing. Hope, for one. A second chance at a real life. The deaths of my parents had happened over two decades ago. A different time, long before I joined the Coalition. But my mother’s wild innocence and my fathers’ tendency to indulge her had changed my path. It had led me here and, ultimately, to Mikki.

I would be fierce for her. I knew nothing else, felt nothing but protectiveness and desire. Even greed. Yes, I was greedy for this female to be all mine. I would share her only with Trax.

The collars’ connection between all three of us was intense. I had heard of what would happen when we wore them, but the reality was beyond expectations. I’d never had this mental bond with another. I could feel Trax’s eagerness for our mate amplifying my own desire. His thrill of having her here. His worry that she might reject him. That he might fail me as a second.

I hoped his worry would prove futile, but his doubts had become mine and contributed to my decision to bare myself to our female upon our first meeting, as had been done in the old ways. I wanted her to see me, all of me, silver and gold, Prillon and Hive, and know the damaged male she would have as her own.

If she were to reject me, I would survive the pain if the act was done early, at first sight, before I knew anything about her.

Now, with my collar around her neck, I was fucked, because Mikki’s feelings couldn’t be hidden. While I could not see her face tucked into Trax’s body, I didn’t need to read her emotions. I felt them.

She was overwhelmed. Thrilled. Eager. Nervous. Aroused.

Thank fuck for the last because I would get inside her. Soon.

Very soon.

The emotions I did not sense were disgust. Disdain. Judgment. She appeared to have taken one look at both of us and accepted us as we were.

I failed to sense possessiveness. Longing. Love. The lack caused my chest to ache, and I wasn’t sure when I’d become so weak as to need those things from a small human female.

The moment I’d seen her, that was when the dagger had landed in my heart. Her banter had twisted the blade, her desire shoving it deeper within me. We must win her over. To lose her now would break me in a way I could not have imagined.

“This is where you live?” she asked, looking around my sparse quarters once Trax put her down.

“This is where we live,” I corrected.

“I will forfeit my quarters today and move my things here, to be with you, mate,” Trax said.

I paused and took in the space as she might. Plain walls the color of warm desert sand. Simple furnishings of a table and chairs for dining. In the corner, a comfortable seat where I read in the evenings. Another long seating area for guests, which had not once been used. Until now. Now it was needed, although I would not mind if Mikki sat upon my lap.

Or at my feet.

The view from the window was of the arid, barren section of the planet. Base 3, our home, was not in the most welcoming of environments. Red and brown rock scattered in aggressive formations as far as the eye could see. Small, spindly plants fought for purchase in the nearly nonexistent soil, clinging to the rocks with hooklike barbs that burrowed into the hard surface beneath. There was no water, no kindness in the landscape. The window was not in place so I could admire the austere beauty of the planet, but to keep my small living space from feeling claustrophobic. But it did nothing to improve the lack of comfort in my personal space.

Attached was a room with an S-Gen station and a huge bed. When The Colony began accepting brides, the governor had ordered all quarters to be ready for mates. For Prillons, that meant a bed for three. There was also a bathing room. Nothing else. Did Earth women require more? I knew not. I would see to her every need myself and would provide anything tangible she required from the S-Gen machine.

Everything else, Trax and I would see to ourselves.

Like her pleasure.

“We are as unaccustomed to the match as you,” Trax said, sliding a hand over her hair. “We are given only a few minutes notice prior to your transport that we are mated.”

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