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“Then why won’t you let me take you away from here? If you love me so much and if this is what I feel, why can’t I put you somewhere safe?”

“Because we’re cyborgs. And cyborgs do what’s right for their kind, even if that means putting the needs of others ahead of our own.”

Courage and moral conviction. Was it possible to love her even more? He borrowed an expression from Seth. “That sucks.”

“Don’t pout. It’s way too cute, and we have things to do before I can suck on that delectable lower lip of yours.”

“Do we have to?”

“We should.”

He sighed. “I’d still prefer to put you somewhere safe.”

“I know, charming. But it will have to wait. We need what’s hiding on that ship. While I might be smarter than you when it comes to affairs of the heart, you’re still the smartest geek around. You want to keep me safe, then look at this way—you need to put that genius of yours to work and find out what those military jerks are up to, because then and only then can you truly protect me. ”

Put that way, she made a valid point. “Fine. You win. We’ll salvage what we can from the military vessel, but only if you promise to stick by my side, here on the ship where it’s safe.”

“Deal.”

“Really?”

“Well duh. Even I know I don’t look good in a space suit.”

“You always look good to me.”

“Mmm,” she purred. “Remember to say that to me again when we’re alone in your room.”

“Why?”

“You’ll like the result.” She nibbled his lower lip and he groaned because now he could too clearly imagine the result. And damn, he could already hypothesize it would be explosive.

Why wait? When she would have broken off their kiss, he caught her face between his hands and continued the embrace.

“What.” Mmm. “Are.” Lick. “You doing?” she mumbled against his mouth.

“Things can wait a few minutes.”

“They can?”

“Oh yes,” he purred, a sound a few weeks ago he’d never imagined himself capable of making. “I’ve got something more important to take care of first.”

“You do?”

“Definitely. Think of it as your punishment for scaring the hell out of me.” He nipped her lip before sucking on her tongue.

“Mmm. You know this isn’t punishment.”

Zipper opened, he slid his hand inside her jumpsuit and he found her already wet. Wet, hot, and oh so ready for him. He dipped a finger into her channel and she gasped. He murmured, “I’m not done yet.”

With a slowness that made her clench, he finger fucked her, swallowing her gasps, teasing her until she shuddered against him. How he would have liked to prolong this moment forever, but even he knew the clock ticked. Down he tugged the rest of her jumpsuit until it pooled around her feet.

A part of him understood they didn’t really have time for this, that someone could come looking at any moment. Hell, he’d already mentally projected a couple of “Fuck offs!” to Aramus and the others when they tried to mindspeak to him. He needed this moment with Bonnie. Needed it before they faced the unknown and danger again.

Lifting her, he pressed her back against the window, the stars a twinkling backdrop, the sharp contrast of black space making her skin seem even more luminous and perfect. Her legs wrapped around his waist, aligning her with the tip of him. He held off for a moment, though, rubbing his swollen head against her wet slit, loving how she gasped, watching how her eyes shut and her head tilted back, her passion for him so clear. He wanted to freeze time. Keep them in this moment forever. But he was cyborg. Duty awaited, a duty she understood and encouraged.

“I love you,” he uttered in a low tone.

Lashes fluttered as she opened her eyes, her green jeweled gaze capturing his. “I love you too, charming. Now stop being such a tease and fuck me.”

Yeah, that was his Bonnie. To the point, not as delicate as she seemed, and his.
All mine.

One thrust and he sheathed himself within her. She cried out. “Yes!”

Oh yes.
Warm, wet, and wild, her body drew him in, her inner muscles squeezing as he pumped her, drawing out each stroke, maximizing the moment. But she didn’t want it slow.

“Fuck me,” she growled. “Fuck me, charming. Fuck me like only you can.”

The dirty words, which from anyone else would have perturbed him, enflamed him because they were for him. It was he who drove her nuts with passion. His body, his cock she wanted. And he gave it to her, thrusting, hard and fast, in and out until her fingers dug into his shoulders, and her mouth rounded into a silent scream.

He wasn’t so quiet. He yelled her name as he came, his hot spurt triggering her own orgasm, the muscles of her sex squeezing and undulating along his length.

In that moment, he wasn’t a cyborg. Or a human. He was simply alive. Alive and in love. It felt fucking great.

Breathless and sated in his arms, Bonnie couldn’t bring herself to regret admitting her love for him. Selfish or not, she couldn’t deny herself the happiness, not when he admitted how he felt. What purpose would hurting them both serve? So what if he was too good for her? She had the rest of her life to prove she deserved him. The rest of her life to atone for her past. The rest of her life to love him.

Slowly, he let her go, his reluctance clear. She understood it only too well. They’d both just taken a huge leap in their relationship. This was a moment they would remember and cherish forever. It deserved a certain solemnity. However, duty called. People waited on them.

“We really should get back to the others.”

For a moment, he didn’t reply. His hands wandered her body and against her lower belly, his cock, still semi-hard, pressed slickly.

“They can wait a little longer.”

“They’ll come looking if we don’t get back to them with an answer.”

“Screw them.”

“Charming!” God, she was such a bad influence on him.

“What? We’re about to head into possible danger. Who knows when we’ll have a moment like this again? I’ve done my duty for years. If I want to take a few minutes and be selfish, then damn it all, I will.”

“You know Aramus will blame me.”

“He better not or I’ll have him singing show tunes,” Einstein growled.

She giggled. “That’s just mean.”

“For everyone who has to listen.”

The devilish grin on his face had her laughing. “Oh and to think I used to think you lacked a sense of humor.”

“I did until I met you. I might have woken you from your sleep, but you woke me to my humanity.”

If she could have shed tears, she would have; as it was, her throat tightened. “Now that was romantic.”

“It was?”

“Most definitely.” She kissed him. She only meant to do so softly in thank you, but he had other ideas. Hungry as if they’d not just assuaged their passion, he devoured her mouth, his tongue seeking hers for a hot duel that roused the heat that always seemed to simmer when he was around.

“We really should get going.”

“We will. When I’m good and ready,” he murmured back. “I have a problem that needs tending first.”

“Is it hard?”

“Oh yes.”

“Distracting?”

“Very much so. Enough that I could never concentrate on the task at hand.”

Turning in his grasp, she tossed him a coy smile over her shoulder. “We can’t have that now, can we?”

“Nope.” Over she bent, waggling her bottom at him. He stepped up behind her and with his cock gripped in one hand, rubbed himself against her. She moaned.

“We need to make this quick,” she gasped.

“I don’t think that will be a problem.” Grasping one of her shoulders, he pushed into her and she moaned. Her already sensitized pussy quivered around him, their new position according him a new angle to penetrate her. Deeply he thrust, the head of his dick hitting her sweet spot, but as if that weren’t enough, his fingers also found her clit and rubbed.

“Yes, yes, yes,” she chanted as they rocked in unison.

“Hey Einstein, how come you’re not answering…” Seth’s intruding voice trailed off. “Um, I see you’re busy, but, uh, well, you know we’re kind of all waiting on you.”

“Get out,” Einstein grunted, not slowing his pace.

“Is this going to take long?”

Bonnie almost screamed it wouldn’t if he’d leave. Thankfully, Einstein spoke for both of them. “Get out before I program you to wear dresses and makeup and rename you Sally,” he yelled.

“Testy. Testy. When you’re done, mind meeting us in the control room? We have decisions to make.”

“Fuck off!”

Bonnie wisely didn’t giggle as Seth purposely drove her lover insane. Their fault for choosing such a public place. What amazed her more than their location was the fact Einstein didn’t withdraw or retreat into his usual shy shell at the interruption. Nope. The sexual monster she’d created didn’t lose his erection or his pace, although he did shift in such a way as to hide her from his friend’s view. And women thought chivalry was dead.

“I’m leaving. Geez. You know sex is supposed to relax you, right? Oh and just so you know, that window isn’t polarized.”

Which meant anyone outside the ship could be watching? Unlikely, given their location in space, but somehow exciting. Einstein must have thought so too because he pounded her furiously as soon as they heard the distinctive snick of the door sliding shut. Flattening her palms against the glass, she took it, and begged for more. Begged him to fuck her. To claim her. To love her.

Despite what would happen in the next few hours, they’d at least found a few things, other than nirvana. A chance for a future. Hope. And best of all, love. A love Bonnie would do everything in her power to hold on to.
The military is not taking this away from me.
Not without a fight.

Sated, quickly cleaned up and dressed again, they finally made it to the meeting and walked into a roomful of smirks and one gigantic scowl.

“About time you fucking showed up,” Aramus snarled.

Considering where he’d prefer to be—between Bonnie’s thighs where everything in the universe seemed perfect—Einstein calmly flipped his middle finger, which sent Seth into hysterics, saw Aphelion hiding his face behind his hand, and Aramus steaming. “Bonnie and I had things to discuss.”

“Wish I could have more discussions of that sort,” Seth whispered to Nova.

The old Einstein would have blushed, but the new one? He took a seat beside his lover and grinned. “You can all be jealous of me later. What have we discovered about the downed ship? According to the reports I gleaned on the way over, no hostiles have been reported. The communications channels are silent and there are no signs of activity that we can perceive. Correct?”

Seth gaped at him. “Dude, when did you have time to ascertain all that?”

“Some of us know how to multitask.”

“I can vouch for his skill in that area,” Bonnie added, her innuendo finally bringing heat to his cheeks.

Clearing his throat, Einstein veered the topic back in the right direction. “After analyzing the situation, running some hypothetical scenarios and statistical probabilities, I see no reason why we shouldn’t investigate the crash site and see what we can salvage.”

“Our orders from Joe are to bring Bonnie to the rendezvous point as soon as possible,” Aramus replied as he drummed his thick fingers on the table in hard staccato bursts. “Once she’s on her way, then we’re clear to return and check the ruins out.”

“Waiting might mean we lose our chance at discovering what the military is doing, though. I think we should grab what we can now. We are here, after all.” Serious for once, Seth made his position clear.

“Agreed. My statistics say the likelihood of anything salvageable remaining if we delay at less than eight percent. This is our window of opportunity,” Einstein added.

“We have orders.”

Bonnie sat up straight in her seat. “Orders pertaining to me, which means I should get a say. And as I told my prince charming here, I say that getting all the intel we can is more important than getting my ass out of here. When else will we get a chance like this?”

“Are you asking me to counteract a direct command?” Aramus met her gaze with a dark one of his own.

“I think the situation warrants it,” Einstein said, adding his voice to her argument. “Joe is our leader, I don’t dispute that, but in this instance, he’s speaking with his heart, not logic. An hour ago, I would have agreed with him. Bonnie is important. Really important. But, she’s right when she says we might not get another opportunity like this. These military ships have some kind of new technology, something that renders them invisible on our radars. We need to find out what it is. Our whole world is in danger if we don’t.”

Bonnie, a serious look on her face, met Aramus’ gaze and held it, not a feat many could manage when he wore his vicious scowl. “I’d like to also add that my life won’t be worth squat if the military can track and follow us without us being the wiser. I’d say that trumps everything at this point. I know Joe means well and he’s acting on behalf of my sister. Trust me, the importance you are all placing on me is flattering beyond belief, but I am just one cyborg. The needs of all must come before one.”

“For a PITA, you’re making sense for once,” Aramus answered, in less of a grumpy tone than usual.

“Aah, a compliment. Quick, someone mark it on a calendar.”

“I take it back.”

“Too late. We all heard it. You’re no longer the heartless Tin Man from Oz. Next thing we know, you’ll be singing show tunes.”

“Einstein, muzzle her before I throttle her.”

“Touch her and you’ll be singing soprano.” Einstein said it with a deadpan expression that made Aramus’ brows rise. “Besides, you won’t have to listen much longer because since we’re all in agreement, we should get moving. Who knows how long we’ve got before someone comes to investigate. We need to get a small team in and out as soon as possible.”

“Any idea what we’re looking for?”

I wish.
The not knowing was what bothered him most. Einstein shrugged. “Nope. This new technology has me stumped. I never did figure out what those new bugs we pulled from previous missions were made of, so chances are, whatever we’re looking for won’t show up with our usual scanners, which means you’ll need to rely on your visual senses.”

“In other words, whatever doesn’t come up on the screen but we can see with our eyes is what we want to take.”

“Exactly.”

“Gotcha, dude. I volunteer to be part of the boarding crew.” Seth raised his hand and in minutes, they’d decided who would go and who would remain behind. Only the most observant were chosen to go: Seth, Nova, Astro, and Bolt would scour the downed military vessel.

Aramus didn’t seem happy at the decision to have him remain behind, but as Seth pointed out, of them all, his eyesight was the worst. “I’ll oversee the operation with Einstein in the command center. The rest of the crew will man portholes on all sides of our ship to watch for incoming. Aphelion, I’ll want you sitting on the lasers, ready to defend us. PITA, you’ll be on the com system. You hear anything and you let me fucking know. While retrieving data and hardware is important, we still don’t want to be taking any stupid chances. Any questions?” Heads swiveled all around, but no one had anything to add. “Then let’s get moving. I don’t want to be hanging around here too long in case the military decides to show up with a fucking armada. Good luck, everyone.”

“And may the force be with you,” Bonnie added, to which Seth began to hum a tune that Bonnie and a few others joined in, something Einstein’s memory banks called the “Imperial March.” Apparently, the catchy song referenced a seventies cult movie series titled
Star Wars
. Trust his lover to turn a serious situation into something light, but it eased the tension in the room.

As for the images he filtered of a certain princess from said movie in skimpy attire? It certainly gave him ideas for later when he got Bonnie to safety.