Choosing Chuckles Read online

  “Frag you.” Humor flashed in Chuckles’ eyes. “This is my female. Baby, this is Truth. He never takes any situation seriously.”

  “Baby?” His friend’s eyebrows lifted.

  “Only I call her that.” The growl in her sir’s voice turned her on.

  “That you are calling her that communicates how special your female is.” Truth turned his attention to her. “Do you have a sister, Chuckles’ female?”

  “I have many sisters of the heart.” She smiled at her cyborg’s friend, liking his sense of fun. “Do you like females with scales?”

  He was larger than Keeper. The Dracheon might like him.

  Chuckles made a choking sound.

  “I might be interested in a female like that.” Truth’s eyes sparkled.

  “I assure you that you do not.” Her cyborg rejected the pairing of his friend with Keeper. “You—”

  “There are a large group of tiny humanoids behind you.” Truth rested his hands on his guns. “They’re approaching us with small stones in their hands.”

  Bettina spun around. The furry beings had returned. “Those are our friends.”

  Leader chattered. Chuckles and Truth responded. She was envious of and grateful for the cyborgs’ ability to speak numerous languages. At least they could easily communicate with the small beings.

  Her lack of vocabulary didn’t interfere with her interpretation of what was happening. Some of the furry beings laid a square woven from vegetation on the ground.

  Old Mother placed a rock matching the one in the pendant she was wearing on the square and hobbled up to Bettina, her arms outstretched. “Friend.”

  Bettina crouched. “Friend.” They hugged.

  Old Mother moved to Chuckles, hugged him and called him friend also. Truth received a hug and a longer greeting, much to his obvious delight, the male laughing and grinning.

  For Bettina, the communication was more emotional. It was a good-bye, not a hello.

  One by one, each furry being placed a rock on the square, hugged her, and called her friend, before moving toward Chuckles and Truth.

  By the time, Leader hugged her, Bettina was crying hard. She would miss them so very much.

  “I’ll transfer the gifts into your chamber.” Truth must have sensed the poignancy of the good-bye. He folded the woven square into a makeshift pack. “Captain will place these in quarantine. I’m 100.0000 percent certain of that.”

  He carried the rocks into the ship, leaving them alone with their friends.

  Bettina didn’t have the words to say what she felt, likely wouldn’t have been able to utter them if she’d had the vocabulary. A hard ball of emotion formed in her throat.

  She pointed to each furry being and then at her heart. “I will miss you.”

  Chuckles spoke. He must have translated her message.

  The furry beings pointed to her and then at their hearts.

  Stars. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

  Chuckles added his own message, his voice gruff. He dipped his head. Leader and the rest of the beings did the same.

  “It’s time to leave.” Her cyborg swung her into his arms.

  The males whooped. Old Mother and some of the other females mimicked their breeding noises. Bettina’s face heated as Chuckles carried her into the ship.

  The furry beings teased her as only family and close friends could.

  And she was parting from them. Perhaps forever.

  “I’ll miss them, sir.” She sniffled, pressing her cheek against his body armor-clad chest.

  He nodded and didn’t say anything…which said everything. Her cyborg would miss their friends also. She hugged him tight.

  They entered a private chamber. The pack with the rocks was set against a wall. A sleeping support dominated the space.

  Brightly colored containers and just as vividly hued folded fabric were arranged on that surface, as were a collection of assorted wires, perfect for crafting decorations.

  “What is this, sir?” She wiggled, the objects diverting her attention away from her less-happy thoughts.

  Her cyborg slid her body over his, setting her booted feet on the floor. “What does it look like?” He didn’t meet her gaze.

  She raced to the sleeping support and unfolded the fabric. They were flight suits. One was bright pink. Another was a vivid shade of blue “Oh, sir.”

  She opened the containers. The first one held sparkle. The others were filled with pigments, some for her hair, others for her lips, her eyelids, her cheeks, fingernails. There were fasteners of all different kinds for her curls.

  Truth might have retrieved the supplies, as he referred to them, but Chuckles was the only being who knew her preferences, who cared that much about making her happy.

  She held a flight suit against her curves, glanced in a reflective surface on the wall and cringed. Her hair defied gravity. Her eyes were red. Her cheeks were splotchy.

  Those supplies were needed. She set the garment down. She was a mess.

  “With all this.” She waved at the items. “I’ll soon be beautiful again, sir.” She hurried back to her cyborg. “Thank you.”

  “You’re already beautiful, baby.” He wrapped his arms around her, folding her into his big body. “I love you.”

  “I love you too, sir.” She snuggled against him.

  They were leaving their friends, had lost some of them permanently. Grief stabbed at her as she thought of Blue Eyes.

  But they would make new friends. She pushed the sorrow away. And they had each other.

  She was a fortunate female.

  * * *

  Eleven planet rotations later, Bettina applied sparkle to her face. Her things were finally out of quarantine. As Truth had predicted, the captain of the Reckless, Chuckles’ leader, had separated the objects into a separate chamber until he was assured they didn’t pose a threat to his female, son, and crew.

  She understood his concern. Her cyborg was as protective of her.

  Which earned him the respect of her dad and Duggar. They communicated with him every planet rotation, were sometimes more interested in speaking with Chuckles than they were in speaking with her.

  The scheduled in-case-of-death message to Duggar had been cancelled before it could be sent from off-ship storage. Her dad, because she’d told him she would be out of communication for a while, hadn’t worried when he hadn’t heard from her.

  “I received a message today, sir.” She gathered her hair into three bunches on top of her head, fastening them.

  The tendrils had been colored bright pink, the same shade as Blue Eyes’ fur. They were beings with the same heart, as Leader had told her cyborg and her cyborg had relayed to her. She would never forget her friend.

  “That message was very interesting.” She looked at Chuckles via the reflective surface.

  Her cyborg grunted. He didn’t meet her gaze.

  “Smarts was directed via an anonymous communication to an abandoned ship. It was positioned near the shuttle craft, had been modified to resemble the ship I told her I’d return to her, the vessel Dusta and his males had blown up.” That her cyborg had thought to replace the ship, ensuring she kept her vow to the team, meant the universe to her. “There were handhelds on board, with instructions on how to scan for tracking devices.”

  Her cyborg scowled. He did that when he was caught being softhearted. “Captain has ordered all crew to meet on the bridge.” He held out one of his hands.

  As a distraction strategy, it was effective. The captain wasn’t a being anyone kept waiting.

  And she was considered crew. Bettina clasped her cyborg’s fingers, allowing him to draw her to her booted feet. The captain had explained that to her upon her arrival at the Reckless. She and her cyborg were a team.

  “Is there anything I should know in advance of this gathering, sir?” She glanced up at him as they walked side by side through the ship.

  “I have no additional details, baby.” His gait remained uneven.

&
nbsp; His left knee would always be damaged. The best minds in the universe couldn’t repair it. But her cyborg claimed it pained him less now than it had before he had met her.

  He credited the increase in his nanocybotics for that, said the boost was due to breeding with her. That was such male logic. Her lips twitched. She suspected the healing balm had lessened his agony.

  They entered the bridge. It was crowded with cyborgs. Kasia, the captain’s human female, sat on her male’s lap. She wore the decoration Bettina had crafted for her, the gold-colored armlet encircling her lean right biceps.

  It looked good on the female. Bettina’s chin lifted with pride.

  Future, Kasia and the captain’s son, sat silently in a chair to their left. He was an adorable smaller version of his enormous dad.

  That dad, the captain must have been waiting for their arrival. An image of a black-eyed E Model cyborg appeared on the main viewscreen as soon as they entered the bridge.

  Chuckles straightened. The E Model must be someone worthy of respect.

  “Vector.” The male addressed the captain. “Make this transmission private.”

  “The freighter hasn’t re-entered cyborg-controlled space, sir.” The captain ignored the E Model’s request.

  “The activities of three unidentified cyborgs, if they truly were cyborgs—”

  “They were cyborgs.” The captain’s eyes blazed. “I’m 97.5869 percent certain of that.”

  “—are low priority.” The E Model’s tone was extremely arrogant. “The Reckless has been assigned a more important mission, an assignment critical to cyborg survival. You are to explore all life-supporting planets within our sector.”

  The captain, Chuckles, even Bettina, stared at the male.

  She had seen the size of their sector. It was huge, the task of exploring it formidable…and exciting. Who knew what they might find on those planets?

  “Every spec about the planet will be logged.” The E Model expanded on their new mission. “Every human or humanoid inhabitant’s genetic information, along with their identifying details will also be input into a database. I’m sending you all of the information you should require about the assignment.”

  He must have sent it through the cyborgs’ transmission lines. Nothing appeared on the main viewscreen.

  “And if we refuse this assignment?” The captain lifted his chin.

  “This isn’t a request.” The E Model’s face hardened. “I expect your first report within ninety planet rotations.”

  The image on the main viewscreen reverted back to one of open space, distant suns sparkling on an expanse of blackness.

  “Ninety planet rotations.” The captain shook his head. “Plot our course to the nearest life-supporting planet.” He sounded resigned to completing their mission.

  The E Model must be extremely powerful.

  “Who was the cyborg on the main viewscreen, sir?” Bettina whispered to Chuckles. The male hadn’t introduced himself, had assumed everyone knew who he was.

  “That was Power.” Chuckles wrapped his arms around her, drawing her close to him. “He leads the cyborg council.”

  That explained the male’s arrogance. She considered the council member’s words. “We’ll be visiting new planets, sir.” She wiggled.

  “This mission will be dangerous,” her cyborg grumbled.

  “It’ll be fun, sir.” She contemplated the possibilities. “Think of the rocks we’ll find, the new friends we’ll make.”

  He tightened his hold on her. “Only you would process it that way.”

  “What other way is there to process it, sir?” She turned her head and gazed up at him, confused by his response.

  “We’ll be exploring unknown planets, meeting unknown beings. Some of those beings will be hostile.” His lips flattened, his handsome face darkening. “You will obey me, baby, when we land on those planets. If I tell you to run, you’ll run.”

  She wasn’t a fool. If anyone told her to run, she was running.

  Until then, she would divert her hyper-protective cyborg, assigning him a sexy task to complete, a means to exercise his dominance.

  “You should test my obedience, sir, before we land on those planets.” She gave him her most provocative smile. The tests she envisioned were extremely erotic, the thought of them wetting her pussy. “That way you’ll know I’m ready.”

  “I’ll test you.” Energy lit her cyborg’s brilliant blue eyes. “And if you fail, I will reprimand you. Harshly.”

  Stars. She wanted that. “Thank you, sir.”

  He shook his head, his lips twitching. “You’ll be the death of me, baby.”

  She beamed at him, hearing the love in that statement.

  # # #

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  Other Books by Cynthia Sax

  Cyborg Sizzle Series

  Releasing Rage

  Breathing Vapor

  Being Green

  Crash And Burn

  Defying Death

  Chasing Mayhem

  Jumping Barrel

  Hers To Command

  Ghost of a Machine

  Seeking Vector

  Knowing Zip

  Taking Vengeance

  The Cyborg’s Secret Baby

  Dark Arsenal

  Refuge Series

  Dark Thoughts

  Dark Flight

  Dark Strength

  Dark Fire

  Dark Warlord

  Dark Cure

  Chamele Barbarian Warlord Series

  Warlord Sky

  Releasing Rage - Excerpt

  Here is an excerpt from Releasing Rage, the first story in the Cyborg Sizzle series.

  * * *

  Joan pressed her hands against the exterior wall panel of his chambers. The thick metal door slid open. She stepped into the firewall square. The door behind her closed and she authorized the interior door to open.

  A buzz swept over her. No, not simply over her. Into her. She gasped, her inhalation of air drawing more of this unknown presence inside her.

  It was too much, almost suffocating. Joan swayed, lightheaded. “Do not faint. Do not faint,” she repeated to herself, closing her eyes.

  The rolling under her feet gradually stopped. She opened her eyes and wished she hadn’t. Crimson spray covered everywhere she looked. Gore was splattered into the farthest corners, hanging from the ceiling. Cleaner bots scrubbed the walls and floor.

  This was why she felt dizzy, she reasoned. She smelled and sensed this butchery.

  C899321, the being she had been told was responsible, stood in his uploading dock, a cable inserted into his nape, his towering form naked, covered with blood, his long black hair dripping with it.

  He turned his head, locked his gaze with hers and she sucked in her breath. There were worlds of agony, of rage, in those bright blue eyes. This was no rational, logic-driven cyborg. This was a man, an animal, crazed by bloodlust and pain.

  “They thought to pacify me with the use of a human female?” he thundered, his deep gravelly voice clawing across her skin, awakening parts in her she didn’t realize slept. “I’d kill you before I allowed you to touch me.”

  This insult didn’t hurt her the way he’d intended. Joan knew she wasn’t the slim tiny female males desired. She was solidly built, good breeding stock, as her mother had once said.

  She discarded his words and focused on the torment in his tones. He hurt. Horrifically. Her fingers twitched, the urge to reach out to him, to comfort him, tremendous. Judging by the flex of his powerful biceps a
nd thigh muscles, by the anger radiating from him, he wouldn’t appreciate that response.

  He also wouldn’t listen to any command she issued. A reprimand, verbal or physical, would add to his hostility. Some being had already tried to restrain him and failed. The reportedly unbreakable wrist and ankle cuffs attached to the frame of the uploading dock had been shattered, rendered useless.

  Joan discarded four solar cycles’ worth of theory on how to handle malfunctioning cyborgs, realizing now that the academy experts knew nothing.

  Her late father, however, had taught her how to deal with wild beasts.

  “I would never touch you without your permission.” She lowered her gaze, showing submission, recognizing C899321 as the dominant male he was. He’d seek to harm any aggressor, to protect himself and his territory. If she wasn’t female, she suspected she’d already be dead.

  “I also would never hurt you.” Joan stuffed a couple of cleaning cloths into her pockets and dropped to her knees, into a puddle of red. The moisture soaked through her flight suit. “I’m here to serve you, to clean you.”

  She slowly crawled forward through the liquefied remains of the previous engineer. Having lived on an agri lot and spending the last solar cycle in the waste processing chambers, guck no longer fazed her.

  “You don’t want to be dirty.” Joan kept her head bowed, her voice calm and soft. “That would interfere with your mechanics.”

  She filled the silence with a flow of reassuring words, telling him she meant him no harm, that she was there to help him. Joan kept her gaze lowered, concentrating on his feet. He stood with them braced apart, preparing for an attack, ready to defend himself. His feet appeared human except much, much larger, his metal frame concealed with skin. When not covered with blood, that skin would be gray.

  The current J models could pass for human, designed not to frighten the general population. The C models were clearly cyborg, from their giant stature to their unnatural skin tone. Some engineers found them to be scary and primitive. Joan didn’t. She associated C models with safety, with caring, with C345925’s unexpected act of kindness.

  Joan knelt in front of C899321. Her heart pounded so loudly, she suspected with his superior senses, he could hear her.