“When we finish here, I wish to come back to build a home for Iris and me near the Enclave. I think it would be good for her,” Jolt replied. “Now that I am away I realize I prefer the Enclave.”
“Plenty of work for everyone here,” said Vyken. “It’s a different life from our warrior days.”
“Those skills could be useful here to clean out the overlords and gangers,” Jolt suggested.
“It could be done, but whoever they have in their pockets could send powerful enemies in our direction as well as all of cyborg kind. But no one was backing the gangers in old Chicago, and we’ve driven most of them out. Let them stay in Farringay and bring those who want a different life to the Enclave and old Chicago.”
“That was my thought.”
“In the meantime, take the time you need to bond with your female. We’ve earned the right.”
“Thanks, Commander. I will keep you posted.
“You’re welcome, my friend.”
Jolt relayed the information from Commander Dark on the decision of the Enclave council to Axel. His second was glad to get the news because they had found two families and some more women who would be ever so grateful to move away from inner Farringay. Reaching out to his commander and his teams had taken longer than he’d expected.
He found Iris sitting on his bed in his quarters engrossed in something on her new tablet. He’d brought her to sleep in his quarters even though he knew she wasn’t ready for mating. He wanted her close, and he didn’t need that much sleep.
Iris looked up and smiled at him as he entered the room. It made him want to scoop her up into his arms and kiss her until they were both breathless. Something about the way she looked at him lifted his mood introducing him to pleasurable emotions he had never felt before.
Then it disturbed him to realize it was akin to what he was programmed to feel when he killed the enemy in the years and years of war he’d fought. Feel-good chemicals were pumped into them as they were fighting to elevate their mood when they killed. The more they killed, the more intense the euphoria. That changed when they were released from service.
While it didn’t stop him from a perverse satisfaction from killing the men who hurt Iris, it wasn’t the same anymore. Nothing ever felt quite as good until Iris opened her eyes and seemed glad to see him. But now she was unmistakably pleased to see him.
Iris put the tablet on the bed and padded across the concrete floor in bare feet, looking up at him shyly. He rested his hands on her shoulders and rubbed them lightly. She looked up at him, her lips slightly parted. Jolt took it as an invitation to kiss her and gently pressed his lips to hers.
She seemed to need that physical contact as she leaned into him and slipped her arms around his waist. He hugged her lightly, not wanting to pressure her to deeper intimacy. But he couldn’t stop his erection in response to her nearness.
She still pressed against him unconcerned and Jolt was rewarded by a soft little moan as he teased her to open her mouth to his tongue. He made a gentle exploration of her mouth, caressing her tongue with his. His tender probing encouraged her to swirl her tongue around with his.
Jolt kept it light, not wanting to frighten Iris by going too fast. He didn’t have the kind of experience to discern whether she was emotionally ready to deal with the passion he held in check. He had gone years with no female companionship; he could wait for his female to be prepared to mate with him. It felt good to be hard for his woman and have her in his arms, kissing her and knowing she liked kissing him back.
Finally, he had to stop kissing her because it was too tempting to deepen their intimacy. He stood still holding her and looking down at her face, liking the way her short hair framed it.
“What did you find so interesting on the tablet?”
“I had it show me what Farringay was like before the war. It was a beautiful city. People had cars and nice clothes and houses with bots that did everything for them. There was almost no crime and no overlords and their gangers. Then those idiots from the mining survey killed those Mesaarkans.”
“That’s exactly right. We fought that war for many years until we were the only ones left on our battleship. Our admiral asked us to come back and help rebuild old Chicago. The Federation asked us to build the starport here.”
“What about the people like me? Where are they going to go?”
“We’ll take them to the Enclave near old Chicago. They’ll be safe and can start a new life there.”
“And me?”
“You are my female, and I am your male.” Jolt caressed her face with his fingers. “Will you come with me back to the Enclave when I go.”
“I want to…”
“I want that too.”
“I am going to the mountains to do some recon tomorrow in a flier, would you like to go with me?”
“In a flier?” she said apprehensively. “I’ve never been in a flier?”
“I’m not surprised. Probably just the overlords have the only ones that are left,” he said. “You will be safe. I won’t let anything happen to you. I just didn’t think you would want to stay here by yourself.”
