“Yes, let’s get that one,” he nodded and helped me take it off.
“That’s an excellent choice,” said Lucy when we took it back to the counter to pay for it. “These are made right here in town by the weavers across the street. That will be eighty credits minus your forty, which leaves forty,” said Lucy.
“Can I give you my print?” Steele asked.
“Sure.” Lucy took out a tablet and said a code, then turned it toward Steele so that he could press his thumb to a square and the middle. Momentarily, the screen changed to the message that said ‘paid in full.’ “Can I get you anything else?”
“Thank you. That’s all we need today. How have you been since the invasion last week?”
“Other than a few nightmares, we’ve been doing all right. I had no idea that we had been at war with those creatures,” Lucy said. “What do they want?”
“They want us,” I said grimly. “They are former military turned mercenary slavers. Apparently, there is a black market for humans in their part of the galaxy. Not only are they ugly, they’re not very nice either.”
“Oh my!”
“Don’t worry,” said Steele. “We brought in two more teams of cyborgs to patrol Gretchen while we search for their base and root them out.”
I didn’t say anything even though I knew that Steele had already found their base. I suspected that it was confidential since no one knew the identities of the humans collaborating with the Mesaarkans.
“I sure hope you get them all,” said Lucy. “I’m sure glad Zaya was here with that gun when that monster came through the door. I thought sure he was going to kill us.”
“Or worse,” I murmured. Though the memory of my captivity had faded, I never completely forgot. No one would ever do that to me again, I vowed.
Lucy’s eyes widened, and I think she suspected what I meant. “But we don’t have to worry about that now. You’ve got your big, handsome cyborg to protect you.”
“Indeed. He got me a bigger gun, too,” I grinned. “It was good to see you again, Lucy. We’ll stop the next time we're in town.”
While we were talking, I folded the robe into a neat little bundle that I carried under my arm as we left the store. Steele and I flew back to the ranch in time for lunch. We had a light meal of salad with grilled chicken and bread I had made the day before.
Afterward, we went into the bedroom, and I put on the new robe to model it for Steele. He liked the way that it tended to open in the front because I tied the belt loosely at the waist. I knew by the look in his eyes he wanted to breed. That was enough to set my body humming, wanting him.
I was in a playful mood, so I backed away as he advanced until my back was against the wall. He reached for the belt and untied it, pushing the sides apart and feasting his eyes on my naked form. Instantly, my nipples were hard, aching for attention. Steele ripped open the closure on his pants and lifted me against the wall.
“Do you wish to breed as much as I do?”
“I do.”
He held me against the wall and took one of my nipples in his mouth, sucking it while I held and caressed the back of his head. Then he sucked the other one until I was squirming.
Steele set me down and paused to strip off his clothes, then he picked me up and slid his cock into me. He was so strong that he could hold me without support as I wrapped my legs around him. He carried me that way to the bed and tipped us onto it.
We fucked joyously—even though we had already done it twice that morning. I adored that cyborg.
Chapter Seventeen
Steele
Two days later, Lieutenant Hawk and Sergeant Rowe took me into a cyborg net conference to brainstorm our strategy for taking the Mesaarkan base.
“The Mesaarkan base is heavily fortified. Our primary objective is to capture the base and neutralize the Mesaarkan slavers. I will lead the first team to take out the guards,” said Lieutenant Hawk. “Sergeant Rowe will lead Bravo team. Protector Nova will be responsible for cutting the power and communications. Charlie team will move around the perimeter inside the bases and capture or neutralize any enemy personnel they encounter.
“The map on your internal display shows all of the key points: main entrance, secondary exits, and known guard positions.
“The Intel from the bee drones indicates that we can expect heavy resistance inside the base. I’d like to take as many alive as possible to avoid repercussions; however, I realize that may not be doable. Any questions?”
“No sir,” came the answer in a chorus over our connection.
“We’ll leave from the barracks at midnight,” said Lieutenant Hawk.
