Raven Willow-Wood Page 4

  Shaking his head, he glanced around and tried to stick to the shadows. A part of him actually hoped that his low expectations of his fellow Cyborgs would be dashed and he'd soon be set upon by a crowd of warriors, but his scanners informed him that he was alone. Ultranium, the metal compound from which all Cyborgs were formed, was easy to scan and enabled Cyborg's to see if their brethren were about them or if they were alone.

  Normally this kind of scan was used in battle, as ultranium was only used in Cyborgs and not in the manufacture of Robots. It enabled a warrior to see if his enemies or his friends surrounded them.

  Although his low expectations had merely been reinforced, he didn’t want to take any chances. While he was the sole figure on the grounds, having always been Deltra's outspoken opposition, his appearance was well known and easily recognizable. So, on a grimace, he allowed his nano-bots to recreate flesh to cover his head's metallic frame work. Never having shown himself in his complete form to anyone since the accident that had forced him to become a Cyborg, it was the perfect cover. Even though the safeguards here were appalling, he didn’t want anything to set him back from reaching his love and returning her to safety.

  Two of the oldest Cyborgs in creation, he and Deltra, were revered by many of the younger Cyborgs. Their strength and fighting skills were spoken of highly and were often mimicked.

  Age for Cyborgs was not a problem. Unlike humans, the older a Cyborg grew, the stronger it meant he was. Not only that, but the time of their creation was also highly important. The older models were stronger and tougher, as their engineering had been individualized, their every weakness sought out and mended, their every strength improved upon and enhanced, until it was like a superpower. This individual touch strengthened them, where the younger Cyborgs had many more weaknesses having been, basically, mass produced. At least, at the time they had become cyborg, there had been less time to devote to tweaking them to eliminate weaknesses and both fewer resources and poorer quality parts to use.

  Their limbs and organs had been mass produced, and, although a scan had always been undertaken at the time of augmentation, only a certain few weaknesses had been discovered and improved upon. No strengths had been improved. Creating a Cyborg had become an easy operation, a simple matter of outfitting a human so that they lost nearly all of their humanity. But in Deltra and Zeno's day, it had been a highly experimental and complex surgical procedure.

  He knew that the fight with Deltra would be the hardest part of recovering Brooke. Having to battle Deltra's warriors could weaken his plight. So he moved through the stronghold stealthily, trying to stay out of sight when and where he could as he attempted to reach Deltra's quarters without being spotted by any of the others.

  As he went through the building, he had to sneer at the way it was set out. Its appearance had been improved. No longer was it the cold and comfortless stone keep that it had once been. Now, it was richly decorated and very attractive, which was all very well and good, but where were the building's defenses? Where were the guards?

  Shaking his head, he realized that Deltra had become so arrogant, so assured of his victory over the Robots, that he'd relaxed the security. Appalled at such stupidity, he walked along the corridors and peered into every room. He was surprised at the numbers within the building. It boded well for him.

  Rather than being overflowing with Cyborgs, he realized that only the leader's favorites, generals and highly respected peers, took residence here. The lower class warriors, who would have been far more use to the leader's security, were obviously stationed elsewhere in the compound.

  He saw rooms for sport and rooms for gathering as he continued his search. When he moved from the main corridor up the stairs of the stone, he realized the rooms on the upper floors had been converted to bedchambers. Striding stealthily past them, he heard grunts of pain and moans of pleasure, squeals of orgasm and shouts of distress.

  Feeling like he was in a damned whore's palace, he frowned at each door. It was difficult to pass the rooms where the occupants were obviously suffering. In fact, it was more than difficult. He longed to knock the doors down and end the existence of whoever was causing such sounds of pain.

  Only the thought that eventually, it could be Brooke who was moaning in pain, stopped him from forcibly entering the rooms and punishing the bastards who were enjoying the pain they caused. The depravity of some of his fellow Cyborgs sickened him. At times, he felt ashamed to be what he was.

  Having long ago realized that he could do nothing about being a Cyborg, he passed the rooms with a grimace. As much as it pained him, he had to help Brooke first. By fighting for her, he could change the future of all the captives. That power was within his grasp.

  Fighting Deltra wasn't as simple as fighting any warrior. Had Brooke been taken captive by anyone else, he could have simply disarmed them and taken Brooke. With Deltra, he would have to kill him. It was either that or be killed himself. Cyborgs lived by the rule of survival of the fittest. Killing Deltra would mean taking over the leadership of the entire Cyborg enclave. He wouldn't be punished for murdering the leader. He would be celebrated for being the tough bastard he was.

  Being the leader of his brethren wasn't exactly something he wanted, but he would be duty bound to do so. As leader he could make the appropriate changes to the Cyborg society, stop the raids for humans, and put an end to the maltreatment of man. Taking over the role as leader was a big job and something he was entirely capable of but not something he wanted.

  He wanted Brooke. He wanted a peaceful and loving life with her.

  That was no longer possible. The thought saddened him, but as long as Brooke was by his side, that was all that counted. He knew he could rely upon her to stand by him. It just wasn't the Utopia he'd wanted for them both.

  Had Deltra left Brooke alone, it would never have come to this. Although he disapproved of the Cyborgs and their leader, he wouldn't have fought or instigated mutiny. He’d been happy to be by Brooke's side. He would have remained her guard for the rest of their lives, leaving the politics to those who were actually interested in them. He had no patience for the bullshit of leadership, something which would have to change, he thought with a scowl.

  This whole situation was Deltra's fault. He'd overstepped his bounds by taking his woman. His death lay at his own doorstep.

  In a way, it was a good thing that he would take power. His role as leader meant that Brooke would forever be safe. She would never have to fear being captured by another Cyborg. She would rule by his side and forever be protected. She could finally live a softer life, the kind of life he wanted for her.

  That fact alone made him relish the prospect of ending Deltra's existence.

  Cyborgs were practically indestructible. The only possible way to kill one was to sever its head and cauterize the wire and veins at the source of both ends then destroy the head by incinerating it.

  It wasn't pleasant, but it was the only option open to him.

  By cauterizing the wires and veins, the seal acted as the end of the line for the nano-bots to work on. By sealing the edges, they couldn't pass that point and couldn't heal the wound. Destroying the head was only a precautionary measure. Nano-bots were good and could heal almost anything, would even have been able to rebuild an entire head, but the cauterization stopped that in its tracks.

  Zeno knew that that was the only option open to him tonight. He had no other choice. Deltra's death meant safety for Brooke and that was all he wanted.

  His memory banks had told him that the top of the food chain always stayed in the stronghold's tower, which meant that he had to access the tower to kill Deltra and save Brooke.

  It was an odd place to use as headquarters, but tradition had kept it as that and the building needed constant upgrades to keep it in line.

  The building had been chosen by the scientists who had studied the possibilities of human enhancement. Taken up as their residence, they'd lived and worked there, the basement acting as their lab
s and place of research.

  The first and last Cyborg had been created here.

  They'd been trained and taught how to use their new enhancements here.

  It was the base of every single Cyborg in the world, and, because of that, it was considered headquarters and home.

  Cyborg production had stopped, and there were no plans to create anymore, as it was so damned hard to kill a Cyborg that there were no real worries about their numbers decreasing.

  Not only that, but there were far too few humans left who actually wanted to become enhanced with engineering considering the effect the change had had on those who had chosen to become cyborg. Any desire to change had ceased with the onset of the Second Technological War.

  It was therefore good that the Cyborg population was high unlikely to dramatically decrease. Even the Robots hadn't been able to achieve that feat.

  Creeping through the stone hallways, Zeno's thoughts were running in all directions. He worried about Brooke. He analyzed the fight that would take place between him and Deltra. And he thought about the future of the cyborgs under his leadership and the problems that would cause in his relationship with Brooke.

  He tried to still his thoughts and keep his mind on the battle ahead, but it was damned difficult. The responsibility of leading wasn't one he wanted and he damned the fact that it would likely be pushed on him. All because Deltra was a cocky bastard, who hadn't scanned the room for signs of a fellow Cyborg who owned the human he was about to take captive.

  It was hard to believe that he met no one in the halls of the headquarters. It made him shake his head at the laxness of security here. He reached the tower doors easily and gained entry equally as easily. Zeno climbed the staircase to the tower room and was stunned that he wasn't stopped once on his way to the leader's quarters. Stealth or not, that wasn’t pure luck or a testament to his abilities. It was a testament to Deltra’s arrogance and laxness because of it!

  He wondered if it was a ploy to make any enemies lower their guard, but as he entered the bedroom, Zeno realized that it wasn't that at all. Deltra was so fucking cock-sure of himself, that he'd allowed no guard to protect his rooms or the tower's staircase.

  * * * *

  Brooke was so tired of saying no. Her throat actually ached from repeating herself and her head hurt from shaking it so much. No matter how much she refused, no matter how often she turned away from him, the Cyborg who had taken her against her will ignored her refusals completely.

  He hadn’t hurt her, which had come as a great surprise to Brooke.

  She'd spent the first few hours at the place he'd taken her in a state of utter weariness and shock, too grief stricken about Zeno to think much about her own situation. Unable to believe and process that Zeno was no more, her mind had been dulled and couldn't comprehend the truth of it. Not only that, but her body had been bone weary from the journey. The speed in which the cyborg had traveled had been inhuman. He’d gone so fast that it had physically hurt her.

  He'd clutched her head and limbs to his body, tucking her against him so that she was protected but the intensity of the speed. The momentum had been such that she'd spent long hours unconscious.

  When he’d finally stopped and she’d found herself on Terra firma, it had come as quite a surprise, and she'd vomited at the change. Her legs buckling to the floor as she collapsed in a heap.

  Her captor had looked displeased, but, although he'd been clearly annoyed, an impatient understanding had been in his eyes. He'd spoken to her softly and offered her use of his chamber to freshen up.

  She'd gladly accepted it. She’d been numb from her loss, was temporarily blind to the fact that he'd taken her from the man she loved and that she now belonged to him, that he could take from her whatever he wanted. In fact, her subservience had been entirely lacking this day. So lost to all reality, she'd been like a ghost, wandering through periods of lucidity and blankness.

  Completely unable to comprehend what had happened and that she was the Cyborg's slave, she’d behaved and spoken freely, accepting food when she thought she could manage the strength to swallow it and refusing the man's advances when he made them.

  She had been so caught up in her own inner turmoil that she'd only realized that he was growing increasingly displeased with her when they'd gone to his chamber and she'd asked him where she was going to sleep that night.

  As soon as the words had left her mouth, she knew from the look on his face that she'd stunned him. His face, his hideously ugly face, half metal and half human flesh, had been a picture of shock, and, suddenly, the insane urge to laugh at him had nearly overcome her. She’d thought better of laughing in his face though. But the feeling was there just the same. Perhaps she’d lost her mind entirely to be feeling that way?

  Maybe he'd seen the humor in her eyes, or maybe he'd just had enough of her behavior, but he'd grasped her arm tightly enough to make her eyes water and had dragged her into his quarters. “With me, my captive,” he growled angrily.

  His anger should have frightened her, should have made her wary, but it had flashed into her mind that there was no way in hell she was going to let him touch her that way when Zeno, the cyborg she loved, never had. “No!”

  That rocked him back on his heels. He glared at her furiously. “I don’t think I heard you correctly, human,” he said through gritted teeth.

  Fear sent a wave of cold through Brooke, but she was too near hysteria to be able to think. The only thing pounding through her mind was that he couldn’t touch her, that she couldn’t allow it. “I said no! I won’t! I won’t do it!”

  Her flat refusal had shredded his façade of gentleness. He’d grabbed her and literally torn her clothing from her body and, despite his strength and the weakness of the old fabric, the tearing had burned the delicate skin, produced enough pain that her fear had climbed. By the time he’d stripped her naked, she was fighting him mindlessly.

  She’d fought harder when he’d snatched her off her feet, fully expecting him to carry her to the bed. Instead, he’d shoved her against the wall and manacled her wrists and ankles. “You seem to be suffering the delusion that you have a choice, captive!” he growled at her. “You’re mine. I can take what I want!”

  That speech and the chains had cowed her, had effectively brought her mind from its focus on her loss, from Zeno, but not completely. Once her mind had set on the determination that she belonged to Zeno she couldn’t push it away. It made it all the more repulsive to her when the Cyborg began to touch her intimately, stroking his hands possessively all over her.

  When he’d explored her from shoulder to thigh, he cupped a breast in each hand and began to massage them, tweaking her nipples. “I can give you pleasure such as you’ve never known,” he murmured huskily.

  A wave of nausea washed through Brooke, and grief. That wouldn’t be hard when she’d never known any pleasure of the flesh, she thought morosely … except she didn’t want him to make her feel anything at all! She’d wanted Zeno to teach her pleasure, just as he’d taught her everything else!

  His touch disgusted her. Despite that, she felt her body respond to his manipulations and that made her cry. His charming words and rehearsed statements that should have incited her lust meant nothing to her. The feel of his filthy hands as they touched areas that she’d longed for Zeno to touch, had hit her heart hard and made her weep.

  Her tears seemed to give him pause where her defiance hadn’t.

  Actually, the effect wasn’t what she wished for at all. For some reason she didn’t understand, he seemed to want her to comply with his sexual demands, but she couldn't. The thought of him... the thought of his cock... it repulsed her. It made her feel sick.

  For what seemed like hours to her, he teased her, plucking at her nipples until they were so sensitive she sucked in a sharp breath on a scream when he ceased to pluck at them with his fingers and ducked down to take one nipple in his mouth and suck it. The electric jolt that traveled through her seemed like actual
electricity. It hurt. It made her weep harder—and still he persisted, digging his fingers between the lips of her sex and rubbing her clit as he moved to her other breast to torture it as he had the first.

  She closed her eyes, tried to close her mind to what he was doing as she felt her body stir to his determined efforts despite her grim determination that she wouldn’t give in, that she wouldn’t betray Zeno by actually enjoying the touch of the monster that had just as surely been responsible for his death as if he had crushed Zeno with the falling concrete himself.

  That thought sent such a wave of sorrow and revulsion through her that her body abruptly froze and became numb to his touch.

  * * * *

  Zeno opened Deltra’s door and went in, quietly shutting it behind him. The lights in the room were blazing. It took a second for his eyes to adjust from the pitch black of the stairwell to the bright lights. What he saw, though, when he did regain his full sight made his blood boil.

  Brooke was chained to the wall. Her legs and arms were spread, her ankles and wrists cuffed. She was naked, and Deltra stood in front of her with his fingers between her legs as she wept and shook her head. His other hand was around his cock.

  “Despite your struggle to ignore it, you feel the pleasure I can give you, don’t you? Give in to me, my pretty captive, and I will show you far more pleasure. I know every place on this beautiful body of yours to touch. I know just how and when to touch you to give you the most pleasure, and I will.”

  Zeno's heart felt like it was breaking at the tears that flowed freely from Brooke’s eyes. Moments later his heartache was followed by anger that soared through the roof. That the bastard was touching his woman!

  “You always were a charming fucker, Deltra. But it won't work on Brooke,” he said coldly.

  Deltra and Brooke turned in unison, shock on both their faces. Deltra had been focused entirely on Brooke, and, to be fair, her focus was on him as well, so neither of them had noticed someone enter the room. Or if Deltra had, he had assumed it was one of his minions and either dismissed the intrusion or anticipated the added pleasure of being watched while he took his pleasure.