She was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.

  “Stay where you are.” She held out her hands, as though she sought to physically stop him.

  He frowned, expecting a warmer welcome from the love of his lifespan.

  “When you touch me, I stop thinking. We have to talk.” The giggly act was gone. Before him was a strong, intelligent female, direct in her statements, intent on her purpose, whatever that was.

  He wanted her with every cell in his body. “Then we’ll talk.”

  “You have a close bond with your brethren. I respect that, love you for it.” Her expression was grave. “But I can’t leave you. I can’t say good-bye again. Not to you, the male I love. It would break me.” Her bottom lip trembled.

  “My female—”

  “No.” She wouldn’t allow him to speak. “Odoon has reserved two seats on the ship for us. I hid a pack in here earlier in the planet rotation. There are enough sunstones in it to give us both a new start. I want you to come with me.” She touched her chest. “I want you to choose me. Please, Stealth.”

  “I choose you.” He told her. She was his priority, his everything.

  “I understand Boom and Lethal have been your friends longer than we…” She stopped talking. Her gaze met his. “What did you say?”

  “I choose you.” Stealth took a cautious step forward. “There will be no more good-byes. From this moment on, you and I will be together.”

  They would share an eternity of bliss. His nanocybotics would repair any damage aging caused, expand their lifespans limitlessly. He would protect her from other threats.

  She would never die.

  His female’s mouth dropped open. Silence fell between them, broken only by their breathing, hers louder than his.

  He waited patiently, giving her the time she needed to absorb his words.

  She blinked once, twice. “You’re coming with me?”

  He nodded.

  She stared at him. “We’ll be together forever?”

  He dipped his head a second time.

  “Yes!” She ran toward him and jumped into his arms.

  He caught her easily. She weighed less than some weapons he’d handled. He lifted her high against him. Her breasts pressed against his body armor. She wrapped her legs around his waist. The covering cloth fell to the floor.

  “I love you.” She smacked her lips against his chin. “I love you.” She kissed his right cheek. “I love you.” Her lips brushed against his left cheek.

  He spun, taking her with him, her happiness feeding his, her exuberance infectious. His female captured his face between her hands, her palms soft against his skin, as they moved faster and faster. The horizontal supports filled with structure maintenance supplies blurred. The overhead lights streamed into a circle of brightness.

  She covered him with kisses, marking him with her love. He laughed, his joy overflowing, pouring out of him, an unstoppable stream of delight and wonder.

  After defeating nearly impossible odds, they were now free and together. No one and nothing could separate them. He would cherish his female and their relationship, protect her with everything he had.

  His future was with her.

  Chapter Four

  They would be together. Forever. There would be no more goodbyes.

  Zebrina had been preparing her arguments, believing she’d have to fight to convince her warrior to leave the planet with her. But Stealth had chosen her without any prompting. He valued her more than his loyalty to his brethren.

  That meant the universe to her. Her chest warmed as he spun her around, her naked body pressed against his body armor.

  They laughed, his joy amplifying hers.

  There was no need to whisper, to sneak around. Thunder might be cracking outside the storage structure. Rain might be pummeling the roof. Inside the space, it was only him and her.

  The building, like many of those created by the Humanoid Alliance, was semi-soundproof. Humans couldn’t hear them.

  “I’m so happy.” She kissed Stealth’s handsome face. His wounds had completely healed, his golden skin a shade lighter where he’d been hurt.

  “We leave at sunrise.” He slowed and then stopped.

  She wasn’t a small female yet he held her easily, flattening her curves against his armor-covered form, lifting her in the air as though she weighed nothing.

  Her booted feet dangled above the structure’s stone floor. She felt like she was floating physically and emotionally.

  “We leave at sunrise.” She nodded. “What will we do until then?” She lowered her gaze to his mouth, wanting him, needing him.

  Her cyborg fulfilled her silent request for a kiss, covering her lips with his. She opened to him. He explored her mouth, transferring more of his nanocybotics. Her flesh was bubbling and fizzing.

  They’d kissed and touched and fucked countless times. She was no longer completely human. He had shared some of himself with her. She healed quickly, was stronger, thought clearer.

  Those thoughts were currently completely focused on him, her warrior, her male. His gray eyes glowed with energy. Their tongues danced. She tasted of him, of metal and male, danger and sanctuary.

  When they were together, they could be themselves. He could be gentle and loving. She could be serious, not have to hide her intelligence. Her cyborg desired more than the pretty package she showed others. He wanted her.

  And she wanted him. She plucked at his body armor, craving more contact. “I need to touch all of you.”

  She had to assure herself he had healed. Seeing his form ravaged down to his frame always shook her. Not every cyborg returned to base. She had been achingly aware of that fact.

  Every time she parted from him, she worried she’d never see him again.

  Her past had taught her she had valid reasons for concern. When she’d said good-bye to her mom, leaving home for the academy, she assumed she’d see her again. The compound had been touted as being secure, beyond the Rebel’s reach.

  Yet that good-bye had been final. Her mom had died. Words had been left unspoken between them, love not fully expressed.

  She didn’t take that risk with her cyborg. Her lips skimmed over his chin.

  “I need you to touch all of me.” He set her booted feet on the floor and stripped off his protective armor, revealing golden skin and defined muscle.

  If it weren’t for the model number inked on his cheek, he could be mistaken for a human…a huge, amazingly fit, gorgeously made male.

  The streaks of black in his brown hair absorbed the light. Those strands were short, buzzed close to his skull. Her fingers twitched. From experience, she knew they would be soft. And it was the only hair he sported, his form designed to be easily cleaned.

  His cheeks were permanently smooth. His gray eyes contrasted vividly with his countenance. His chin was square, not a hint of shadow on it.

  Wide shoulders tapered to narrow hips. His feet were braced apart. His cock was erect.

  Her mouth dried. He was huge, would fill her completely.

  “When we’re apart, I sometimes feel you inside me.” She confessed, her cheeks heating. “Your nanocybotics are there but so is another part of you.”

  She had experienced a fullness, as though his cock remained inside her pussy.

  “When I was in battle, my systems would malfunction and I’d smell you.” He breathed in deeply, his nostrils flaring. “My processors informed me that wasn’t possible but my body rejected that logic.”

  “Did you get hard?” She moved closer to him. “I became wet.” She drifted her fingertips down his chest.

  His muscles rippled. “My cock hardened.” His lips twisted. “Much to the other warriors’ amusement.”

  “Did they think battle turned you on?” She brushed her fingers over his hipbones and his cock bobbed. “The C Models would approve of that response.”

  “Boom was impressed.” Stealth pushed his hips forward.

  She took his offering, curling her fingers around his shaft. “You impress me.” She pumped him slowly, savoring the warmth, the hardness against her palm. “I’m grateful for your strength, your skill, your determination, and that you’ve returned to me yet again.”

  “I will always return to you.” His vow hitched her breath. Cyborgs didn’t lie. They valued their honor. He meant what he said, would ensure it was the truth.

  “I’m counting on that.” She ran her hands over his length.

  His lips flattened. His eyes darkened. She smiled, enjoying the control she had over him, one of the universe’s best warriors.

  “Don’t tease me, female.” His voice deepened to a stimulating growl.

  “It isn’t teasing to delay release.” Though it felt that way. “We have the entire rest cycle to find fulfillment.”

  She doubted either of them would last that long. A dab of pre-cum already appeared on his slit. She swept her thumb over it and his fingers folded into fists.

  “I can stroke you, taste you.” She wet her bottom lip with her tongue. “Bring you—”

  “Enough.” He grabbed her by the waist, pulled her toward him. Shocked, she released his cock. He lifted her until her breasts were level with his face. “You can stroke and taste me later.”

  She wrapped her legs around him. “I will do that.”

  “I’m counting on that.” He flashed a grin, using her words to tease her. His expression was endearingly boyish.

  Her heart melted. The pain and darkness he’d endured hadn’t obliterated the playful side of him and she loved that. She loved him.

  His cockhead prodded her pussy, the erotic bumping redirecting her thoughts. He aligned himself, pushing into her up to his rim, and met her gaze.

  “I’m yours.” She saw that truth in his eyes.

  “You belong to me.” He impaled her upon his shaft.

  She shrieked, digging her fingernails into his shoulders, her pussy suddenly stuffed with hard cock. His tip pressed against her inner walls, opening her to him, the fit snug.

  Every pulse of his veins was relayed, reassuring her. He was alive, was inside her.

  “And I belong to you.” His voice was gruff. “Other warriors talk of liberation. I will never be free. You own me more thoroughly than the Humanoid Alliance ever could. You’ve captured my soul, a part they could never touch.”

  “Stealth.” She cupped his handsome face, emotion choking her words.

  “Hold on to me.” His order contained extra layers of meaning.

  “I will never let you go.” She dropped her hands once more to his shoulders.

  He huffed, elevated her until only his tip was inside her and then drove her downward. She gasped. He elevated her, drove her downward, elevated her, drove her downward, his pace increasing with each fall.

  Her pussy lips smacked against his base. Her breasts slapped against his chest. Heat radiated from all points of contact, her pleasure edged with pain.

  That had been the rhythm of their relationship, moments of bliss followed by durations of torment. But that was poised to change. There would be no more furtive encounters amidst horizontal supports, no more sleep-deprived rest cycles, no more concerns about being caught.

  On Ahki, their love was forbidden. She was the commander’s daughter, human. He was a cyborg warrior, a being her kind labeled a machine.

  If they were discovered, he would die, painfully. Her grip on him intensified. He’d be sliced into pieces while conscious, would feel every cut.

  Her fate would be…she didn’t know. Before this planet rotation, she believed her father would have shielded her. Now, she suspected he would have made an example of her. He would have demanded she be executed, illustrating his allegiance to the cause.

  And she would have wanted to die. Without Stealth, she couldn’t bear to live.

  She pushed away that fear. Both of them would live. According to her contact, Odoon, the planet they were headed toward, Waaban Two, was tolerant of all beings, all relationships.

  The Ahkians were unlikely to embrace them. Humans and cyborgs had killed their loved ones. But she and Stealth would connect with the locals.

  He would be free and she would be also. They would be a normal couple, able to love and talk and touch openly. She could introduce him to the friends she’d meet. He could show his emotions, express his thoughts.

  And they could fuck whenever they wanted, as they were doing now. Desire swirled around her. Her breath grew ragged. Sweat trickled down her spine.

  He grunted. That excitingly animalistic sound wasn’t due to effort. Her cyborg could rut endlessly, his stamina unmatched. Passion gripped him as fiercely as it did her, his eyes glowing with wanting.

  As they moved, she mouthed over his chest, tasting the unique flavor of his skin. He twitched…all over, and her pussy dripped, the scent of them filling the air.

  She hadn’t known much about fucking before she’d met him. There had been a few bumbling experiences with males of different species at the Academy. They hadn’t satisfied her.

  Only her cyborg did. He’d reshaped her body to fit his, had given her more than mere physical release. She was braver for knowing him, more confident, less compliant.

  “Harder.” She smacked her heels against his clenched ass cheeks. “Faster.”

  He increased the tempo, striving to obey her commands. She helped him, pulling herself upward, the muscles in her arms and legs straining with the effort. Sweat dampened her hair, slicked her form.

  Need wrapped tighter and tighter around her chest. It was a struggle to breathe, a fight to stave off her release. Her pussy constricted around his shaft, the friction escalating her yearnings.

  “Stealth.” She tilted her head back, sucking in air. “Stealth.” She didn’t know what she needed but he could give it to her.

  “Say it, my female.” He thrust upward as he pulled her down on him, the impact shaking her body. “Say it.”

  “Love.” She cried the words that drove him wild. “Love you.”

  “Yes.” He filled her to his base and swiveled her hips, grinding her against him.

  She screamed, clenching around him, breaking into a million pieces. He roared, coming hard, jets of his nanocybotic-infused essence splattering against her inner flesh, flooding her with sensations.

  Bliss rushed over her. The space flashed light and dark. The walls spun around her. She gripped her cyborg’s shoulders, hanging on, as she gyrated, convulsing with pleasure. All of her bubbled and fizzed, acutely alive, aware of him.

  She squeezed his shaft and released, squeezed and released, coaxing every drop from him, until there was nothing left. He shuddered and rested his chin on the top of her head, yet he remained upright, her warrior never faltering, never putting her in harm’s way.

  Her tremors eased. She sagged against him, her fingers splaying over his chest. His humanlike heart beat under her right palm, the tripled tempo reassuringly strong.

  For a seemingly endless moment, neither of them moved. He held onto her, his arms hooked under her ass. She stroked his pecs, comforted that he was whole, unharmed.

  A connection flowed between them, constant and unending. The silence told her things he couldn’t put into words. It was often like this when he returned from the battlefield. The pain followed him, a shadow shrouding their joy.

  “Was it bad this time?” she murmured. Judging by the state of him and his brethren, the fighting had been intense.

  “It will be bad.” His voice was barely audible.

  He was thinking of the future, not the past. Guilt pricked her. She was taking him away from the battle, leaving his brethren with one less warrior to defend the terrain. “I wish your friends could join us.”

  “That isn’t possible.” Stealth kissed her forehead, his mouth hot against her skin. “My priority is ensuring you’re safe.”

  “I’m safe when I’m with you.” And he would be safe also. At sunrise, they’d meet Odoon’s ship. Then they would fly far away from the war, the killing, the death.

  “Does your friend know what I am?” Her warrior nuzzled against her.

  “He knows you’re a cyborg.” She didn’t say more.

  At first, Odoon had refused to transport him. The Ahkian male hated Stealth’s kind, had a justifiable reason for doing so. Cyborgs had killed his female, his two young children, the three beings he’d lived for, loved.

  The warriors hadn’t chosen to end those lifespans. The attack on the tiny settlement had been ordered by the Humanoid Alliance, by her father, the commander. As Stealth had explained to her, they had to obey commands or risk the termination of millions of their brethren.

  But Odoon believed the cyborgs had taken that action out of their free will. He wanted Stealth and his brethren dead. She’d had to remind him how he and the ship he filled with children would have been blown up multiple times if it hadn’t been for her information, for the risks she’d taken.

  The Ahkian male owed her and she would redeem that debt. She wasn’t a fool, despite the act she put on for the Humanoid Alliance. Her friend wasn’t to be trusted, especially with the life of the male she loved.

  Stealth protected her now. Her jaw jutted. She would protect him on the ship.

  Once they reached the planet, they would go their own way, find a new home, far from the Ahkian settlement. Waaban Two hosted many species. They would find new friends amongst the locals.

  “After we leave the planet, communicating with your father will be dangerous.” Stealth’s voice was soft. “The Humanoid Alliance could track us to the planet, apprehend us.”

  They’d kill him, perhaps her also. She’d never risk his lifespan like that.

  “I’ve already said good-bye to the commander.” If the Ahkians had taken action on the information she sent them, she wouldn’t see her father again.

  His death would save the lives of many other beings, males, females, children, babies. The commander would have continued leading the mass torture, the brutal attacks, the killing of entire species. He had to be stopped.

  But he was the first being she’d ever killed. Bile burned the back of her throat. That act ate at her insides.