“I don’t know much about attracting a female I just know you are the one I want to mate,” he said, hopefully.
She nodded, glancing down at the bulge in his pants. “Yes, I can see that.” Looking back up at his face, she realized he was a complete innocent. He might be a cyborg, but he was also very human. He wanted to love and be loved.
He wanted to love her.
Mikki found him utterly adorable, but she didn’t see how their lives would fit together. She’d been through a lot in her life. She’d done things she would never want him to know, as well as the horrible things that had been done to her.
But her body was telling her she wanted him. Something told her that she shouldn’t just turn him away. She had just come out of two years of mostly hell. She was in no frame of mind for a serious commitment. Rax was too sweet to just blow him off.
Of course, she knew that was just one side of him. Cyborgs were primarily bred to be warriors---to kill the enemy. Rax looked like he could effortlessly kill someone with his bare hands. Even so, there was a softness in his eyes when he looked at her that was hard to ignore. It was a lot like the way she’d seen Calan looking at Ajha.
“I’ll tell you what, Rax, I’m not going anywhere, so we don’t have to jump right into anything. We can take some time to know each other better before we start talking about mating.”
Rax smiled, and Mikki felt as though she’d been punched in the gut. She was a goner.
“Calan and Ajha will be asleep for hours. Are you hungry? We can order something from the food processor in their flat and talk over breakfast.”
“That sounds great. I never eat right before a fight, so I haven’t eaten since midday yesterday,” she agreed and started toward the door.
When she got out into the corridor, she realized she didn’t know where to go.
“This way,” Rax gestured to the right then led the way into their friends’ flat. “Take a seat. Would you like somejernwhile the food is processing?”
“I don’t know what that is, but I’ll try some.”
Rax got a mug of steamyjerntea from the dispenser while ordering a breakfast of eggs and toast from the food processor. It was ready almost as soon as he’d set the jern in front of Mikki. He pulled out the plates of food, setting one in front of her and one at his place. He got a mug of tea for himself and sat down at the table across from her.
The tea was too hot to drink, so they dug into the food and ate in silence for a few minutes.
“So Calan started this place all by himself?”
“Pretty much. His brother Jamerin and his wife Parei were here the day they found me, but they just brought Calan to Earth on their passenger freighter. They pulled out the next day.”
“Who paid for all of this?”
“He did.”
“But why?”
“He came for Ajha, but also because his mother is from Earth. Her childhood was pretty much a horror story like Ajha’s and probably yours,” Rax said. “He wants to restore civilization to Farringay outside of Starport City.”
“How’s he going to do that?”
“This place is a start---to give people a safe place to live and raise their children. Educating them on how to build and run a community.”
“I know I’m grateful for his getting me out of that fight circuit. Two years of fighting in the cage up to three times a week,” she said. “They didn’t care if I was hurt or not.”
“Calan is a physician and a psionic healer. I’m sure he can help heal your old injuries,” Rax assured her. “He has healed many with his skill as a physician. But he will use his psionic abilities in an emergency.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Mikki said as she finished her food and reached for her mug of jern. It was still warm but no longer steaming. “Hey, I like this.”
“We’re growing it, so it will be plentiful,” he said. “I know you haven’t gotten much rest, but if you feel like walking, I’ll show you around.”
“Sure, might get to see some of my old friends.”
A few minutes later Mikki and Rax were walking down the corridor between the long row of flats. At the moment, all the residents were currently housed in private flats that included the converted offices.
That might last a few days. There had been a dozen people waiting for admittance just that morning. Rax and Calan no longer handled the admissions. The council had appointed four admissions agents to do the intakes and assign accommodations.
