Page 33 of Linked to the Rogue Cyborg

“We have to get to the bottom of these deep emotions,” she murmured. “It’s not natural for you to feel so intensely for me, K-lx.”

“It’s the Kindred way.” He shrugged. “We get fucking obsessed with our mates. And yes, I know—you’re my Mistress, not my mate,” he added quickly. “But the Link we share—it’s almost like a Soul Bond. Like what I had with… with…” He frowned. There was a name on the tip of his tongue—who was he thinking of?

“Like Cynthia?” she asked softly.

“Yes!” A fragment of memory rose in his mind—a human woman with long, black hair smiling at him…and then it was swallowed in the mists before he could grab it.

“Who was she?” Corinne asked.

“I think she was my mate.” He frowned down at her. “How did you know about her?”

“You were calling out for her when I woke you. You were in a lot of distress.”

K-lx remembered a flash of his dream and shook his head.

“Goddess. All I remember is a deep feeling of loss.” He frowned. “Is that why you gave me your nipples to suck?”

Her cheeks went pink again but she nodded.

“I found a manual online that tells how to deal with your kind of Cyborg—with K-units. It gives a formula for Dream Eradication Elixir which I’m supposed to drink daily so I can make the Dream Eradication Nectar for you to drink.” She touched her breast. “I should have given it to you earlier but I was so upset…”

“You had a right to be,” K-lx told her. “I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that—shouldn’t have threatened to breed you without your consent.”

She shivered and he felt a rush of desire go through her but it was clear she was trying to stay in control.

“Cybernetic Units do not breed their Handlers,” she said primly. “You and I have already gone a lot further than we ought to. I think from now on we should keep things to a bare minimum.”

“Meaning what?”

K-lx frowned. He didn’t like losing ground. If she’d been absolutely opposed to any kind of romance between them, he would have backed off. The Kindred weren’t rapists and consent was sacred to them. But he could feel the need inside her—the aching loneliness he knew he could fill.

And he could feel her desire too. She wanted him as badly as he wanted her. It felt like the Goddess had brought them together for a reason.

But Corinne was shaking her head.

“You’ll keep sucking the nectar from my breasts, because otherwise your past trauma might make you go Rogue,” she told him. “And you’ll keep jerking off nightly—you need a sexual release. But we can’t do…this again.” She motioned with one hand, indicating the way they were entwined naked in bed. “It’s going too far. We have to be careful.”

“Can I at least keep holding you?” K-lx pulled her closer to his chest. “I think that helps keep the bad memories at bay too,” he told her. Which was partially true, but mostly he couldn’t bear the thought of not being able to cuddle her soft, curvy body against his own at night while he heard her sweet, soft voice in his ear.

“Well…” Corinne sighed and he could feel her mentally giving in. Not just to keep him happy though—she was lonely too and she liked being held. He could feel that clearly through their Link.

“Come on, baby. Let’s get some sleep,” he suggested, settling down on his back and drawing her against his side.

“All right.” She sighed again and pillowed her head on his chest. “We can sleep together tonight…but we might have to revisit this later. Especially if you can’t behave.”

“I’ll behave,” K-lx growled and dropped a kiss on her forehead. But inside he was vowing to keep her safe, no matter what she said.

And if that fucking Silas threatened her…well, he was going to be fucking sorry.

20

CORINNE

After that night, things fell into a kind of routine. Well, if anything could be considered routine with a huge, seven-foot-tall Cyborg trailing her everywhere like a menacing bodyguard, Corinne thought.

She still wasn’t certain if she was doing the right thing, allowing K-lx to get so close to her. But there were some things she couldn’t avoid, if she wanted to take care of him properly. She had to keep drinking the DEE compound to give him her nectar. And she had to make sure he got off at least once a day or night, to keep his emotional and sexual needs met.

Corinne tried to keep things clinical—she felt guilty about letting herself catch feelings for her Cybernetic Unit. It wasn’t ethical or right and it certainly wasn’t professional. But somehow, at the end of every day when she straddled the big K-Unit and gave him her breasts to suck, she couldn’t help feeling for him.

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