She worried every time he was sent into battle. This round of fighting must have been extremely fierce. Half of his handsome face was missing. His form had been stripped to the frame. The pain must be excruciating. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and kiss every wound.

  That wasn’t possible. Officers could be watching them. She had to treat him like he was merely another cyborg, one of her dollies.

  “Oh my, look at how dirty my dolly is.” She maintained the inane chatter as she sprayed the warm water over him.

  The liquid streamed between his pecs, navigated his defined abs, caressed his hipbones. The force of it removed some of his skin. His booted feet were braced apart. A puddle of crimson spread around him.

  His brown hair was mussed. His dark gray eyes were focused on something in the distance. She wanted his gaze on her face, his flattened lips pressed against hers.

  They’d meet during the rest cycle as they always did when he returned to the compound. He’d kiss her, fuck her, shelter her in his arms.

  They’d then leave the planet at sunrise. She’d convince him to do that, to choose her. There would be no more good-byes, no more worrying about whether or not he’d return to her.

  They wouldn’t have to sneak around, to hide their relationship. He could claim her openly and she could claim him. They’d be free to love each other, to spend every planet rotation together.

  Her warrior turned slowly, his expression reflecting a blankness all cyborgs had perfected, and she concealed a wince behind a silly smile. His back was worse than his front. Clumps of dirt clung to his battered flesh. Tuffs of human hair, the strands much lighter than his, were stuck to his right shoulder.

  She washed him. Rivulets of water ran down his spine, between his clenched ass cheeks. Every part of him was tight, honed, muscular.

  The Humanoid Alliance viewed cyborgs as weapons. Her warrior was more lethal than any gun but he was much more than that. When they were alone, he held her with a heart-melting tenderness, spoke words that made her glow.

  The liquid coursing over him turned clear. He faced her, looking over her head.

  “You’ve been a good dolly.” The officers liked it when she called the cyborgs that, viewing it as humiliation, a form of torture. They didn’t realize it gave her a reason to fuss over the males, to show them kindness she otherwise couldn’t. “You deserve a pretty.”

  She placed a pain-reducing decoration on her warrior’s chest, brushed her fingertips over his skin. He twitched. The movement wouldn’t have been noticeable to a being watching them. She felt it to her core.

  Leaning closer to him, she whispered, “I’m thankful you’re safe.” She caressed his chin. “I will show you how thankful later.”

  Unable to give him more time than the others, afraid that might raise alarms, make him a target, she reluctantly drew back from the male she loved and turned her attention to the next warrior.

  Chapter Three

  After returning to the cyborg holding structure, Stealth inserted energy feeds into his wrist sockets and listened to his brethren rave about his female over the transmission lines. The combination of the pain inhibitors, the kind words, and the gentle touching had won over the tough warriors.

  She spoke to me as though I was a being.

  There’s no pain. It has been planet rotations since I haven’t hurt all over.

  For a moment, my processors malfunctioned, and I viewed her as my female.

  Some of the more enthusiastic comments irked him. He wanted his brethren to like his female, but not too much. She was his.

  She said females dream of eyes like mine. Lethal wasn’t immune to her charms. Is that true?

  I don’t know. He admitted that. Cyborgs couldn’t lie but humans could. She tells me she dreams of me.

  If I could dream, I’d dream of the Homeland. Boom contributed that to the conversation.

  They couldn’t dream because they didn’t sleep.

  I’ve never felt anything as soft as your female’s hands on my skin. Lethal remained on that topic.

  She’s mine. Stealth reinforced his claim on her.

  We all process that. His friend assured him. She hosts your nanocybotics. She smells like you.

  And you smell like a K Model. Boom sniffed. Bah.

  Only cyborgs, with their finely-honed senses, could detect the scent. Humans couldn’t smell him on her.

  My female will be leaving the planet at sunrise. She’d take his heart, everything living and good, with her. He’d be an empty shell of a male without her.

  What is her target location? Boom asked.

  Stealth couldn’t process why that was relevant but he had no secrets from his brethren. He sent them the coordinates of the Ahkian base on Waaban Two.

  We’ll visit you. The C Model vowed. There will be a delay. We’re traveling to the Homeland first. His friend clung to that impossible goal.

  You’ll visit me? Stealth frowned. I’m not leaving with her. He wouldn’t put every cyborg in the universe in danger.

  All of the transmission lines on the planet went quiet for a heartbeat, the silence unnerving.

  Are you malfunctioning?

  You’d choose battle over your female?

  You’d leave her unprotected?

  The warriors all protested at once, their transmissions overlapping, the consensus being he was a fool.

  We’re dead. Lethal pointed out that indisputable truth. We can’t defeat one hundred enemies each. If you fight beside us, you won’t change our fate.

  You’re not a C Model. Boom gibed.

  Leaving will put every cyborg at risk. Stealth argued. The humans will know we have free will and decommission our brethren.

  That is why we blew up Fidget this planet rotation. Lethal slowed his transmission as though he was communicating with a being devoid of processing power. The new officer assigned to our fighting batch won’t notice one missing cyborg.

  They had done that for him? Stealth swallowed his emotion. To run away from a battle… Deserting his brethren felt wrong.

  You have to protect our female. Lethal’s transmission was gruff. She’s the only kindness we’ve ever experienced in this fraggin’ harsh lifespan. We’ll die happy knowing she’s safe.

  Boom grunted.

  You can’t allow the Humanoid Alliance to take that joy away from us, K Model. Lethal insisted. Give us a guilt-free death. You owe us that much for saving your human-like ass multiple times.

  I’ve saved your ass more than once too, Stealth retorted.

  I’ve saved both of your asses the most times, Boom boasted.

  They argued good-naturedly, talking about past battles, close calls, the moments they’d shared. The two warriors were his friends, his brethren, and walking away from them would be the most difficult thing he’d ever done.

  But he’d do it…for Zebrina, to protect her, to make the future they’d often talked about a reality. They would be free. His clever female could be herself, not the manufactured being she showed the Humanoid Alliance officers.

  When she touched him as she had after she’d cleaned him, he could respond. He could gaze into her beautiful blue eyes and say the human love words. The universe would know she was his and he was hers.

  While he communicated with his brethren, he planned and researched the escape, hacking into Humanoid Alliance and Ahkian databases. He reviewed the schematics of the ship, noted the security around the embarkation point, pinpointed possible threats.

  They had an opportunity for happiness. He wouldn’t squander it.

  * * *

  Stealth waited until the sun sank below the horizon before he removed the energy feeds and dressed in a new set of body armor. He slid guns into his holsters and daggers into his sheaths, their weights comforting him. The weapons had been calibrated for his female’s use also, would allow him to better protect her.

  We’ll monitor communications for any new developments. Lethal told him.

  That would assist me. Every time he accessed the Humanoid Alliance networks, he took a risk. A human highly skilled with technology could trace the breach back to its origins.

  If the query occurred inside the compound, the human wouldn’t be concerned. It could be an officer looking for information. Anyone encompassed by the walls should have clearance.

  Once Stealth left the compound and entered Ahkian terrain, the access might sound an alarm. The human could determine his physical location, find his female, the ship his female’s friend had obtained.

  Relaying information through the E Model would eliminate that possibility. His friend had accomplished as many missions as he had. He trusted Lethal with his lifespan.

  Stealth unlocked the doors to the holding structure and slipped into the darkness undetected. Those were simple tasks to complete. He was a K Model. There were few systems he couldn’t access and the Humanoid Alliance had designed him to navigate enemy territory unnoticed.

  The sky was black, the stars covered with clouds. Humidity hung heavy in the air. It would rain, as it usually did during the rest period, the weather concealing his rendezvous with Zebrina.

  He sprinted at cyborg speed from structure to structure, his tread soundless on the pathway. The Humanoid Alliance had covered the lush vegetation with simulated stone.

  Every compound throughout the universe had a similar appearance. The humans cleansed the planets they conquered, stripping away their uniqueness.

  They had tried to do the same with the cyborgs. All warriors within the same model had similar appearances. In contrast, their personalities were vividly different. The Humanoid Alliance couldn’t control that.

  And they couldn’t control who the warriors loved, who he loved. He waited outside the domicile Zebrina shared with her father, the commander.

  Three officers walked toward his hiding place, the males chattering. Stealth kept both them and the doors to the domicile in view.

  “I heard he was as high as a shuttle craft when he left the battlefield,” one male said. “For all we know, he got lost.”

  “He could have run away.” Another male mused. “Battle scared the shit out of him.”

  “It scares the shit out of all of us. I…” Their voices faded as they moved away from Stealth.

  Battle scared the shit out of them? His lips twisted. The officers sent him and his brethren to do their fighting for them. They didn’t face the enemy. The humans waited a safe interval away from the battlefield.

  Stealth watched the domicile, monitoring his surroundings. Thunder rolled in the distance. Lightning lit the horizon. The storm approached.

  The doors opened and he straightened. His female appeared, a silly smile on her beautiful face, her generous curves clad in a simulated-flower-covered vivid-pink flight suit.

  He preferred she wear darker, less conspicuous garments. She argued that if someone spotted her, they would find the somber colors suspicious. The officers viewed her as a frivolous female. She had to be who they expected.

  The humans didn’t value their females. He shook his head. She was much more than her gorgeous façade. His female was a warrior. Her weapon was information and she used it to save offspring. The more of them she saved, the less offspring he and his brethren had to kill.

  Ending the lifespans of beings who hadn’t yet truly lived was torture. The cyborgs hadn’t a choice. They had to do it. If they resisted, the Humanoid Alliance would decommission every cyborg. That was one more reason they hated their human masters.

  Stealth followed Zebrina as she wandered along the pathways, swinging an impractically small pack. Her hips swayed. Her delectable scent filled his nostrils.

  His body hardened. It had taken all of his control not to react when she’d cleaned him. He had no restraint left now. His need for her flowed through his circuits, made his systems hum.

  He wasn’t the only being watching his female. Two officers lurked in the darkness, their eyes yellow from Mox-X, their gazes tracking Zebrina’s progress.

  “If she wasn’t the commander’s daughter, I’d teach that cocktease a thing or two.” The vilest of the two males muttered the horrific statement, taking another hit of the drug. “She’d beg me for mercy.”

  Stealth moved his hands to his guns, rage pulsing through him. The human had abused the local females in all the ways beings could be abused and his superiors had looked the other way.

  Stealth was aware the commander had left the planet and was unlikely to return. The cyborgs had intercepted the male’s communications.

  Once the officers uncovered the commander’s deception, Zebrina would be viewed in the same way as the local females. Her status would no longer safeguard her. The violent human males would target her. The other humans, angry at her father, wouldn’t protect her.

  She had to leave the planet, travel far away from them. He would accompany her, keep her safe. Together they would find a new home, surround themselves with honorable beings, beings they could trust.

  A raindrop splattered on the pathway. That was followed by another and another until the sky opened up and a deluge poured down on them. The humans ran for cover. They were fragile, weren’t accustomed to being outside in all elements.

  His female laughed and sprinted forward, using her small pack as a head covering. The rain plastered her flight suit to her curves and darkened the color.

  Any human looking out a portal would find it difficult to see through the veil of water. Anyone situated outside a structure would be concerned with his own state. No one would be paying attention to his female.

  Always cautious, she didn’t head directly for their rendezvous point. Stealth chased her through the compound. A grin curled his lips, joy bubbling in his chest.

  She splashed through puddles, the heels of her cute little boots tapping against the stone. Bolts of lightning lit up the sky, illuminated her lush form. The crash of thunder concealed her laughter. The wind plucked at her black curls.

  During moments like this, he felt gloriously free, the equal to any being. The rain washed away his virtual chains, making their surroundings fresh and new.

  She turned toward their destination and anticipation flowed through him. Soon he would hold her in his arms, lose himself in her hot body. They would speak and breed and reaffirm their connection.

  This time, he wouldn’t leave her at the end of the rest cycle. He wouldn’t return to slavery, wouldn’t be forced to follow orders he didn’t agree with, to kill beings he had no disagreements with—the innocent, the harmless.

  His destiny would be hers. He would stand by his female’s side forever.

  She reduced her speed, panting, her chest heaving. His lips twitched. She wasn’t designed for long-distance running. He wanted to swing her into his arms and carry her.

  That wouldn’t be prudent. Beings could be watching them.

  He trailed her as she wandered off the pathway into the darkness. She weaved between the structures, venturing into a section of the compound utilized by lower level workers. Those beings normally ended their shifts when the sun set.

  He scanned the area. There was no one around them. Zebrina slowed, sliding her back along the side of a storage structure, their meeting point.

  She reached out her right palm and placed it on the control panel. The doors unlocked. She slipped inside.

  He couldn’t follow her. Not yet.

  Stealth moved through the compound, listening, looking for an indication someone had spotted his female, had raised an alarm. The rain pelted down on him. Water wet his hair, dripped down his neck, coursing in a stream along his spine.

  Other than the patter of droplets hitting the stone and the rumble of thunder, there was silence. The humans had found shelter, were concerned with themselves, not the commander’s daughter.

  Lethal, are there any updates? He checked with his brethren.

  The lightning frightened the 736th fighting batch’s officer. The E Model’s tone was dry. The human started screaming about being under enemy fire, was shooting the warriors around him. That irritated one of the C Models and he maneuvered the officer onto a buried explosive.

  Boom chuckled over the transmission line. None of them had any sympathy for the Humanoid Alliance officers.

  Two supply ships were shot down by the locals. Lethal continued to relay information. The Humanoid Alliance officers laughed about that, called the locals fuck-ups for targeting empty ships.

  Those empty ships had been flown by human pilots, beings loyal to the Humanoid Alliance. Their own beings died and they laughed.

  Stealth’s lips flattened. Is that all?

  There was a pause in the communications.

  I process you’re her male. Lethal’s transmission softened. But when your female touched me, talked to me, tended to me, it felt as though she cared for me, as though I was special to her.

  She DOES care for you. His female cared for most of the warriors, her heart big enough to encompass all of them. You ARE special to her. But she loves me.

  I have earned the caring of a female. Happiness wrapped around his friend’s words. That’s close to being loved.

  It’s close. It wasn’t the same. Stealth didn’t say that.

  Lethal and Boom and the rest of the cyborgs listening to their conversation were facing certain death. Caring might be the closest they came to being loved. He wouldn’t take that joy away from his brethren.

  Go to her, K Model. Lethal urged him. Protect her for us. We’ll watch the compound through the recording devices.

  Inform me if you detect anything. Stealth circled the compound one more time.

  The rain intensified, soaking him. The storm would lessen the probability of officers exiting their shelter.

  He returned to the storage structure, placed his right palm on the panel, unlocked the door. Another scan of the terrain reassured him there were no beings in the vicinity.

  He entered the tiny space. Zebrina turned her head, looked at him, her eyes wide with fear.

  “You’re safe.” His voice was husky with emotion. “I’m with you.”

  She had removed her wet flight suit, was wrapped in a blue covering cloth. Her damp curls stuck to her face, emphasizing her big blue eyes. Her nose and cheeks were reddish-brown. Her lips glistened.