Moss placed his hands on his hips and looked out over the pool. He could see the creature in all its monstrous glory without the help of infrared glasses. Although a masculine pair had been provided to him from Lucy.
In fact, she’d offered the use of anything he might need stored in the estate’s armory.
Which, upon review of it earlier that morning, had everything a Cyborg such as himself would ever need to defend the entirety of Loxuria from outside invaders. There’d even been a suicidal battlebot in stasis. The kind of military tech that should never be in the hands of a citizen.
With every second that passed, he liked Lucy Larkswest and her family more and more.
But none of that mattered. He needed nothing but the strength of his body and the wiles he’d cultivated from years of stealth missions during the war.
Lucy was going to see him in all his beastly glory soon enough, and when that happened, she may never be able to look at him again without becoming nauseous.
Or insanely curious.
Moss peeled off his EPED jacket and folded it over a nearby chair.She’s watching me.He grinned and proceeded to slowly—very slowly—take off his boots, his shirt, his pants, until nothing left clothed his frame except his nanotech biosuit. The suit left nothing to the imagination, including what he was packing between his legs.
He heard Lucy’s unsteady footsteps coming from behind him long before she appeared. She seemed to be taking her time approaching him.
The glass door opened and closed and he turned to face her. “You should remain inside. It’s not safe out here. There’s more than one monster who’d love to taste your flesh.”
“There’s two of them now?” she asked, her voice rising.
Moss laughed. “Like I said, it’s not safe.”
Her pretty brown eyes darted over him and the grounds wildly. “Areyougoing to be safe? Maybe this isn’t such a good idea. I don’t want you to get hurt. I’ve seen what that thing has done to my androids. There’s nothing left but-but parts. You didn’t even take anything from the armory and I can very clearly see you don’t have space to be hiding an artillery battery inside that suit.”
“Worried about me now?” He liked that.
“I’ve been worried from the beginning! You just took off all your armor and now this all seems like insanity. Maybe we should try the bazookas again.” Lucy turned and moved away from him. “Maybe now that you’re here the house will let me power up the fighter jet and we can take it down from above. There are other ways—less personal, up close, and uh, personal ways.”
Moss rushed ahead and inserted himself in front of her. She stopped abruptly, nearly colliding into him. “Lucy, it’s alright. I’ve dealt with far worse than this.”
“Worse than swimming in an alien pool with a monster that wants to eat you? That’s ten times your size? You’re practically naked!”
“Worse than flying through open space without a spacesuit.” He gripped her shoulders, leveling her a look. “My kind has survived many battles and will survive many more.”
Her face scrunched up, brows furrowing and all. He wanted to lean in and smooth her skin with kisses.
“Cyborgs?”
Moss shrugged. “Sure, they could survive an apocalypse, but someone like me, well… I’m pretty awesome. Grade A awesome. I’m good for about six apocalypses at the same time.” He released her shoulders with a squeeze.
Lucy continued to look at him wearily, her worry diminishing as her gaze left his face to scan the rest of his body. He didn’t need tech to know that she was affected by it. He reached up and tugged a strand of her pink and black hair. “Let me be the multi-million dollar pool boy you hired.”
Her lips rose into a small smile. He knew he’d won.
“If you’re certain…” She stepped back.
It was harder for him to let her back away than to do what came next. He desperately wanted to kiss her silly.
“I’m more than certain.”
Lucy turned away when her back hit the glass door. “The second I think that certainty is gone, Mr. Johann, I’ll be wielding those Star Blasters like a mad woman. Don’t underestimate my protective instincts.” She was through the door and fidgeting on the other side before he could answer.
He turned back to the problem at hand, unable to hide the wide grin on his face.
“If you have to throw some missiles into the mix, try to make sure they detonate under the water. I enjoy a good bubble bath.”
8
