Cyborg Mate by Cara Bristol

Author:Cara Bristol [Bristol, Cara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cara Bristol
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Like a wraith, she floated, as if gravity were hers to command. Cascading curls framed her face and danced down her slender back. The intricate designs painted on her cheeks emphasized her exotic beauty. Her gaze revealed little, those black eyes holding onto her mysteries, but her rare smiles were as sad as they were sweet.

She hid her emotions well, but he could read her, and his chest tightened with a painful ache.

Jules still cared.

“The library of ancient books is one of the largest we have,” Jules said as they strolled down the corridor. “Of course, most everything we read these days is on the electronic network, but much of the ancient wisdom is still recorded in paper volumes.”

Books. According to his cyberbrain, they had visited a library. His human brain didn’t remember because he’d been too busy staring at Jules, absorbing her presence into his consciousness.

“Rumor has it the seer consults with the Book of Prognostications before pairing mates.”

“The seer chose your mate based on something written in a book a thousand years old?”

“Not exactly. She gets visions of who should be matched, but she checks with the ancient verses for clarity.”

“It might be time to retire that book,” March muttered.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.” Maybe if the crone had consulted something a half millennium more modern she wouldn’t have ruined two lives. Three, counting Jules’s would-be consort. Naimo would be better served with someone as desirous of the bonding as he.

Jules peered at him through her lashes, and one of her rare smiles lit up her face. There was no sadness, only an unexpected playfulness. “I saved the best for last.”

“And that is?”

“The grotto.”

“We’re going outside?” He glanced out the window. Nightfall bruised the sky; before too much longer blackness would prevail.

“You’ll see…” She skipped away and beckoned with a curved finger.

I shouldn’t be here. This is playing with fire.

Years of hurt and longing melted to naked awareness. Passion clung to the air like the portent of a Terran thunderstorm. He breathed in desire and then exhaled it . It flowed in his blood, resistant to the commands of his nanos. It sizzled and snapped with the slightest contact. Her skirts swept against his legs, and his breath caught. She brushed his arm, and his heart pounded. He caught a whiff of her hair, and he grew rock-hard.

Through no fault of his own, he’d already aroused suspicion among the imperial court. If he ignited a full-blown political incident, Carter would have his ass. Dale would kick whatever was left. Penelope Aaron would take a piece of him, too. His presence threatened the amity the Association of Planets had worked hard to secure, would jeopardize Dale’s spacecraft contract, and would dash any hopes of establishing a Cy-Ops base.

Julietta maintained her secretive smile as she led him through the corridors. His cyborg brain could remember where they’d been and how he’d gotten there, but he had no schematic of this palace to orient himself to guess where they were headed.

“How far is it?” he asked.

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