Page 18 of Darken
“We fought their damn war for almost a century. How is it that we are on the wrong side of the Federation from a bunch of crime lords?” Darken demanded.
“We’ve asked that question, and no one can give us a real answer,” Jolt said. “All we can figure is they have someone high up indebted to them.”
“They must have one of their own on the high council,” Vyken said.
“Gina didn’t go into detail, but White is into BDSM, emphasis on sadism. He tortured Gina because she refused to service a male; he’d ordered her to.” Darken’s rage was almost palpable. “The haunted look in her eyes when she told me was all I needed to know she wasn’t making it up.”
“I don’t think she ever talked about it much with Layna either,” said Axel.
“Is there any hurry for me to start making my rounds? I would like to take a few weeks to get to know my mate and make sure she can work through what happened to her and us after the crash.”
“Take the time you need,” said Vyken. “The southwest has been on their own this long; they can wait a few more weeks. What about you? Finding your female is pretty emotional for all of us.”
“I am pissed they destroyed my new sky cycle, and I want to kill Devlin White. But I have never known such bliss as when we breed,” he admitted. “Our virtual mates didn’t come close to reality. It’s so much more than we ever dreamed.”
“The evil ones who made us knew just what incentive to use to make us fight,” said Vyken. “They planted that seed in our brains from the beginning. Then to find out, they lied to us. No mates were waiting for us to share our lives.”
“Yet Admiral Gregor convinced you to come back.” Darken picked up his mug and took a drink.
“That man did so much for me and our kind; I couldn’t refuse his dying wish. Then when I got here, I saw there was so much we could do, especially when we found all those cyborgs on the bottom floor of the old lab still in stasis,” Vyken replied.
“I think Jacob Black might have destroyed us had he known we were down there,” Axel remarked.
“That prick was a piece of work,” Vyken muttered. “I don’t regret killing him for a nanosecond. I only wish he’d suffered more for what he did to Danya.”
“Do you think more cyborgs will return to Earth now that we have the means to help them find their mates?” Axel asked.
“I hope so. We need more help to restore infrastructure to the rest of the world and collect DNA profiles for our database. Cyborgs are still finding mates on their own,” Vyken said. “Brekar has gone off on his own now that Chicago is rebuilt. …Looking for his mate on his own.”
“Considering how few of us have found mates so far, we should never lose sight of just how fortunate we are,” Jolt said.
As the other three cyborgs murmured their agreement, a soft knock drew their attention to the door. Vyken pinged it open, and Danya smiled at him across the room. “We’re getting hungry. Are you guys about finished so we can join you for lunch?”
“That would be great,” Vyken replied.
They shifted their positions at the table and passed around the plates and silverware piled at one end of the long table. The women entered with an array of sandwiches, salad, and fruit and joined their mates at the table.
Darken and Gina left shortly after the meal and rode his refurbished sky cycle in hover mode on the road to Gina’s house. Soon as they were inside and the door closed, Darken lifted her in his arms and claimed her mouth in a deep passionate kiss.
Gina wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders and her legs around his waist and kissed him back with an equal measure of passion. Carrying her into the bedroom, he set her to stand beside the bed, where they helped each other off with their clothes.
After holding their desire at bay through lunch and chat drinks afterward, neither cared to delay their joining with foreplay. They both moaned their pleasure as Darken slid his cock into her wet heat in one precise thrust. He started the rhythm slowly, increasing speed until he pounded into her.
She met him thrust for thrust, letting out little cries of delight each time they slammed together. Wailing as he took her to climax, she cried out his name when his hot seed squirted against her womb, and she came even harder.
Then she saw the vision of Darken’s pleasure entwine with hers and reverberate between them. It was so beautiful, she could find no words, but the tender passion of his kiss seemed to be all that needed to be said.
Packing eventually came later. So late that they spent the night at the house and headed back to the southwest territory in the morning.
Chapter Twelve
End of the “honeymoon”
Darken and Gina perused the satellite feed of southwestern United States projected on their holo-screen. Having located the waterfall where they met the horsemen and the man who called himself foreman, they searched the land around it for buildings and field patterns that would indicate a working ranch.
“There.” Darken pointed to the screen. The ranch was on the edge of a village near the Rio Grande. The waterfall where they were accosted was almost thirty miles across the desert.
“I don’t get it,” said Gina. “There’s nothing there. Why would they care that we were there? We couldn’t have done any damage.”
