“Yes. We discovered there were thousands in stasis in two locations. When the Federation learned of it, they asked us to come here and do this,” he explained.
“I’m glad you are here.” She smiled at him. It was hard not to like him. There was genuine warmth in his gaze as he spoke, and he was gorgeous.
“And I am glad you are here, too.” The usually stoic Jolt found himself smiling back.
Suddenly, after spending his whole life adhering to his duties and obligations, Jolt wanted his time to be his own. He wanted time to enjoy getting to know this female he’d waited his whole life to find, realizing he had only been minutes away from discovering her too late.
Iris went back to eating her food, and she seemed to be savoring every bite as she concentrated on using the tableware as Jolt had shown her. He could see it was a little awkward for her, but she was improving with every bite. She ate slowly, savoring each mouthful.
As he watched her mouth, he recalled how soft and sweet her lips felt against his as he held her in his arms. He didn’t think any further or his cock would give away how much he wanted her.
Jolt felt a little torn on how he could give her the time she needed to recover and keep his natural desire to mate with her in check. He wanted to be with her to help her along, yet it would be easier to control his yearning if he left her on her own and attended the demolition of central Farringay.
Axel could handle it. There was nothing complicated about scanning crumbling buildings for life signs and dropping in some smart demolition grenades to bring them down. The ganger attacks on the cyborgs in full body armor were merely an annoyance. All they had for weapons were projectile guns. Those were barely an irritation for an unarmored cyborg.
Jolt’s second in command was young and eager to show his worth. He’d only been awakened a few months ago, unlike Jolt who had come back to Earth after fighting the Mesaarkans all over Federation space for eighty years. He was ready to be done with taking orders from them.
Neither he nor his brothers could figure out why the Federation insisted on putting the starport in Farringay, other than its proximity to the Atlantic coast. It was no secret why the Federation was not forthcoming with more funding for reconstruction on Earth. Other members of the Federation Assembly blamed Earth for starting the war with the Mesaarkans.
It had been an Earth-based corporation, not the government that committed the atrocities against the Mesaarkans. The other worlds the Mesaarkans devastated were in no way involved, but the aliens didn’t differentiate because they were all aligned with the United Galactic Federation of Worlds. Some of the other worlds were lobbying to expel Earth because of it.
The people who were suffering the living conditions now had nothing to do with the war. There was nothing fair about it, which is why most of the other worlds in the Federation governing body voted against expulsion. That didn’t mean they were going to support reconstruction on Earth.
So, they had cyborgs to do the work and only enough materials to build the starport and the surrounding community. Neither of which would directly benefit the current residents. It was up to the Enclave if they would help these people or not.
Jolt had sat across from Iris while she was eating. When she was finished, he took their plates and tableware to deposit in the slot of the cleaning system. He came back and sat down beside her to show her how to work the tablet com. He set the voice recognition feature to respond to her voice.
He had her ask it to tell her about Earth before the war so she could understand the standard of living before the devastation. Iris was fascinated by the amenities of modern living that she had never known.
“Is that what you cyborgs are going to do here?” she asked.
Jolt shook his head ruefully. “We’re just building the starport and residential compound. The Federation isn’t supplying materials for anything else,” he explained. “Old Chicago is a different story because the Enclave is backing reconstruction there.”
“Are you going back there when you finish here?” she asked uneasily.
“I think so,” he said watching her expression. “I am hoping you will agree to be my mate and come with me.” Just looking at her, committing every nuance of her expressions to memory made him happy. Her scent was mesmerizing.
Iris looked relieved. “I like you. I liked it when we kissed---but I know you want more… And I just don’t know.”
“Iris,” he said softly. “It’s understandable after what happened…”
“It’s not that---I don’t remember anything but getting hit---but it happened before. I didn’t want it, and I didn’t like it.” she tried to explain.
“That’s because the scum who did that to you didn’t care whether you liked it,” Jolt reached for her hand. “I would be ashamed to take pleasure in your body without pleasing you as well.”
He leaned around and lightly touched his lips to hers in a tender kiss. “I will know when you are ready.”
Iris caught her breath as she felt an unexpected flutter between her legs at his kiss and the admiring glint in his midnight blue eyes. Her eyes widened ever so slightly as she did.
Jolt smiled at her with a suspiciously knowing look. She felt sure he had sensed her reaction to his nearness. As he kissed her again, she knew it was not her imagination.
He could have told her that his body was putting out pheromones to attract her because she was his genetic complement. He could have told her what pheromones were. But instead, he kissed her longer and slower because they were alone in the mess.
As he scented her arousal, he knew he was making progress, but he wouldn’t press her. He could give himself relief imagining the time he could finally claim her.
Chapter Four
“Administrator Gwen Fielder assured me that the Enclave would accept refugees from Farringay displaced by the demolition,” Vyken said on the cyborgs’ internal network.
