But he was going as crazy as she was. No doubt about it. And it nearly killed him thinking that Lucy’s current sweet response was nothing but her pulses arousing her in order to follow the dictates of some lovemaking program. Hadn’t that been what he’d done as a Cyber Husband? He understood what was driving her actions and he couldn’t let himself forget for a single moment that the real Lucille Evelyn Pennington had never chosen to be in his arms.
As he met Lucy’s lust-filled gaze, Eric ordered himself to remember the angry hellcat crying in her cage. That version of her was just as much reality as this willing version was… maybe more so… no, definitely more so.
Pulling away, he let go of Lucy’s hair and ran fingertips over the scars around her collar bone and those on her breasts. “Can I order you to heal these scars permanently?”
Lucy nodded. He lowered his head and let his lips find each one as he slid down her body.
“Make them all go away then, Lucy. I’m commanding you to do it. And tomorrow I’m going to see if Kyra can do a flush of all your companion memories. If we get very lucky… very, very lucky… you’ll have a complete loss of memory about those times, just like my friend King did about his Cyber Husband years. That part of your past is not worth hanging onto.”
“Most of what you said exceeds my understanding, but I can remove the scars for you. I have accessed a healing acceleration program and it is already starting the process. I cannot estimate how long it will take. The amount of organic energy required for cellular renewal may also cause me to require additional sleep. You may be alone while my body regenerates those cells.”
Eric fell to his knees, kissed her navel, and covered the cut wounds down her sides with his hands so he wouldn’t have to see them. He looked up and met her gaze. “Sleep for a week. I don’t mind. I’ll take care of you.”
Lucy nodded, looking confused but grateful. Her super conditioned hair fell wetly forward to frame her expression. Eric couldn’t imagine ever forgetting how utterly feminine she looked in that moment. He felt her hand stroking his hair.
“You are not like any other contract I’ve ever had,” she whispered.
Eric smiled at her statement, and then returned to his task, stroking hands down the backs of her thighs. He rocked on his heels to kiss the scars encircling them. Then easing back, he lifted one ankle at a time to his mouth’s reach, running his tongue in the bracelet of chain scars there. He recognized those… had known what they were the first time he’d seen them. He’d once had a set just like them. His scars were healed now like hers would soon be. But unlike Lucy, he knew he could never have the luxury of forgetting, not unless he gave up every piece of data that made him who he was.
That had been Kyra’s worst news about his restoration. Escaping the past was never going to be possible for him. But hopefully it would be possible for her.
Rising to his knees again, Eric kissed her stomach and put his head against it, knowing full well what was beneath just a few layers of skin. If the weapon inside her had detonated at that moment, he wouldn’t have cared for either of them. Lucy wasn’t crying in her cage. He wasn’t standing outside it feeling helpless. There had not been many blissful, peaceful moments like this one in his life. God only knew what trauma had created the woman he called Lucy Hellcat.
But none of that was here. Today… tonight… he was determined to create a blissful, liberating, and perfectly human moment for both of them.
Lowering his head to the juncture of her thighs, Eric set about doing just that. Lucy’s fingers dug into his shoulders at the first stroke of his tongue in her most intimate place. She protested that he had to stop, that it was forbidden for her to receive without giving, but for once he couldn’t do as she asked. He ran his lips over soft skin and shushed her.
Her head fell back and her body arched as he pleasured her. Pressing against one of her legs, his over-stimulated body erupted in sync with her orgasm, something he’d never had happen to him before. And then Lucy fell over him, mumbling codes frantically. He rose as he caught her falling body, shocked to realize she was now completely and utterly unconscious in his arms.
“Oh God. What have I done to you now?” Eric said roughly.
He swung her body up higher in his arms and let fly every swear word he knew. Some hero he was turning out to be. He held her comatose body under the pouring water and frowned about how vulnerable she looked. What kind of negative program trigger could he possibly have activated by merely giving her sexual pleasure?
Eric stood there for a while, holding Lucy in his arms while the water washed over both of them.
Chapter 8
Eric glared at the metal bars in disgust. Because no one could guess what version of Lucy would be in control when she woke up again, the collective decision was to put her back into a cage. Nero had secured this one with an old fashioned chain and non-electronic lock, something the forward thinking scientist had brought with him just for this exact purpose. Which to be fair, Eric had to admit, was a valid precaution to take with a former military cyborg packing an anti-security program.
Nero had pretty quickly found Aja Kapur’s and Meara MacDonald’s files among the forty-two military women who had been converted into Cyber Soldiers along with Lucy. They were still in cages because of their attempts to rescue her. Nero and Kyra were discussing their restorations. The companion code added another layer of complexity to the regular process.
The captivity of all three women were on his head. Lucy’s fellow soldiers had eluded the UCN for years. Now they’d been taken down by the very woman they’d spent their lives trying to find. And all of it happened because Eric had accidentally flipped the switch on Lucy’s processors.
“When are you going to yell at me and tell me how stupid I was for going alone to see her?” Eric turned to see Peyton shaking his head. “Just say it. I deserve your anger, but I swear I’d do it all again. What if you had triggered her companion program delivering the information? Think how complicated that would have made your life with Kyra. You can call me whatever names you like. I’m still glad it was me Lucy accepted as her new contract.”
“Did I say anything negative? No. So calm the hell down,” Peyton ordered sharply. “I got over being pissed about two seconds after I heard what happened. None of us could have known what effect hearing her real name would have on her until we saw it in action. Captain Pennington has been tweaked and re-tweaked so many times that Kyra said she was glad to finally get a chance to work on the woman without drugging her first. Sorting out her code is like looking at an elaborate game with all sorts of hidden triggers, odd twists, and surprise prompts for unexpected things like her protection protocol.”
Eric nodded and frowned. He swiped a hand through his hair and then caught himself. He glared at Peyton, who smirked as he watched.
“If you knew it was that bad, what took you guys so long to get here? Nero wouldn’t tell me. He just said you’d be here today and that I had to deal with the situation as best I could.”
His frown deepened when he saw Peyton straighten his body and shift into Marine captain mode. His instincts went on full alert. What else had gone down while he was gone? Eric stood silent as Peyton stared at the cages for a while before answering.
“We were delayed because Dr. Bradley Smith disappeared just after he heard what happened. He didn’t ask permission. He didn’t hesitate. He just fucking left Norton on his own and Kyra can’t call him back no matter what she tries. I’ve got Marcus working on tracking him down with those new tracers we installed in him, but so far no luck. The man has gone underground or the satellites would be pinging. We’ve put all restorations on hold until we can determine what’s going on because Evil Brad was assisting Kyra on nearly all of them. We’re doing another recall because we have no choice. And fuck… we just finished the military chip check.”
Eric crossed his arms, glaring at their invisible enemy. “I think somebody upgraded Evil Brad’s processor while Kyra wasn’t looking. I noticed several odd things when I called him to help me unlock Lucy’s hidden Cyber Wife files. He was acting as independently as any restored cyborg does.”
“I hadn’t noticed. Explain,” Peyton ordered, crossing his arms as well.
Eric nodded. “I argued with Brad when he refused to do as I asked. When I demanded he comply, he had some sort of seizure hissy fit. Brad finally gave up the information I was wanting after he self-corrected, but I got the feeling he was faking it. While I was reading, he left without asking if we were done, without seeking permission, and without saying goodbye. Shit hit the fan with Lucy before I could report Brad’s weirdness to Kyra.”
Peyton sighed in frustration. “Stop. There was no way to see that coming either, so don’t go there with your guilt trip. Obviously, we have another covert super scientist fucking with us. William has been looking for the one who calls himself Creator Omega. The guy seems to have a whole bunch of secret projects going on under our noses… the New World Companion one being the most vile we’ve come across.”
Eric nodded, dropped his arms, and paced restlessly in front of Lucy’s cage.
“Lucy mentioned him. He’s definitely involved in her situation.”
“According to Rachel, the women she encountered when she was captured, acted a lot like your description of Captain Pennington’s programmed responses. Also, they seemed to have similar skills to hers. They were the ones who let Rachel out of her electronic cage and inadvertently helped her escape. Rachel said the guy who worked on her called himself Creator Omega. Too bad he kept her from seeing who he was. I’d love to see the bastard’s face at least once before I smash it.”
Eric stared at the three comatose bodies as his mind whirled. “I don’t know what’s happened with Lucy, but she said she put the women in black into hibernation—whatever the hell that is. It looks a bit like cybernetic shut down to me, but I don’t think their processors are fried. They’re sort of like sleeping animals in this condition—like real hibernation. All their organic systems have slowed to a near stop, just functioning enough to keep them from dying. I think somehow I managed to activate that mode in Lucy. Don’t ask me what happened though… the only person I’m telling is Kyra. I’ve dishonored Captain Pennington enough as it is.”
Peyton wheeled out a desk chair and sat down in it. He needed to conserve energy and sitting kept him from pacing, a nasty emotional habit he couldn’t seem to break himself from doing. He looked at the man who he’d known since he was practically a boy.
“Nero’s busy working on a wake up code to bring them out of the state. Kyra’s considering using their hibernation state to attempt to restore them, instead of evoking a full shutdown. They’re in that room Nero uses as an office arguing about the best scientific thing to do in this case. That’s why I’m commiserating with you and not in the monitor room doing research. My hearing is too sharp and those two don’t bother to lower their voices around me anymore.”
Eric walked to the cage where Lucy was lying comatose on a cot. He’d dressed her in the clothes she’d had on before their shower and towel dried her hair as best he could. He’d crawled in beside her in the bed, one arm locked around her until help had shown up. Now his hellcat was back in her worst hell and he couldn’t do a damn thing to get her out of it. He’d rather have her pacing, screaming, and throwing a fit. At least then he’d know she was alive.
“Can I admit something to you, Peyton? Marcus isn’t here and I think I’m going to have a meltdown worse than any of Lucy’s temper tantrums if I don’t get it out of me soon.”
“Sure. Did you kill somebody you shouldn’t have?” Peyton asked, grinning at the shock on Eric’s face. “I’m kidding, son. Lighten up. I’m sure you haven’t done anything unforgivable. You said her name and bad things happened. We’ll deal with it. Fucking shit like this has been going on since Kyra first restored me. You know that.”
“Yes. But this is worse shit… at least for me. I have completely lost my objectivity. I don’t know when this happened, but somewhere during this hellish mess, I fell in love with Lucille Pennington.” Eric snorted when his confession rendered Peyton speechless. “Yes. I know what that look means. You don’t have to tell me how this is bad timing and the worse move ever. I’ve thought all those things and more.”
Peyton snorted and then finally shrugged. “Strange is the new normal isn’t it?”
Eric snorted in reply. “You know, I think it happened when she took a stroll through the bad shit in my head that time. I would kill people to save her, Peyton. If you saw all the scars on her body, you’d know why I feel that way. And yes, I realize I fell in love with a side of her we need to get rid of for her sake. I understand that. I fucking accept it. But I just wanted someone to know what I felt. I’m probably never going to get a chance to tell her, regardless of what happens.”
“I hear what you’re saying, and yes, I saw her scars. I kept them out of her capture records because she’d suffered enough indignities. Kyra is still miffed, but I insisted. The woman has been treated worse than any soldier we’ve restored to date. If I could, I would remove the balls of any man who ever touched her without her permission.”
Eric winced and nodded. Was he in that group? “What’s Kyra said about Lucy’s chances of being restored?”