Breathing Vapor (7 page)

Silence stretched.

Mira avoided Vapor’s gaze, primping, using the control panel as a reflective surface, smoothing her hair and straightening her garment.

He wanted her. Badly. Breeding with her fully would dissipate that out-of-control desire. He could then view her with detachment, and, if his brethren decided she was their target, he could do his job, feeling no guilt, no conflict over the kill.

Vapor relaxed, pleased with that plan.

The ship slowed. His female transformed into Mira the Merciless once more, her body stiffening and her face hardening. It was an act, a personality donned for the humans’ benefit.

Was her softer side an act also?

Be on your guard.
That instruction was for
both Thrasher and himself.
Her plans for us might be malicious.

They might not be. Being human doesn’t make her the enemy.

Being female doesn’t make her a friend,
Vapor countered.

The ship reached the entrance of a gate, stopped for a couple of heartbeats as it was scanned, and then continued into the private grounds.

“Assume that every chamber and every being at this event has a recording device.” Mira’s voice was curt, cold, cutting. “If you disobey a command, exhibit emotion, call me by my name…” Her gaze settled on Vapor. “I will have to reprimand you. Harshly. Understand?”

“We understand,” he spoke for Thrasher also. “But our primary objective is to protect you. If any being tries to harm you, we will risk that reprimand.”

Mira’s eyes warmed for a heartbeat and then cooled once more. “Every attendee at this party will try to harm me. I’m not the being you’re tasked with saving.”

“Who
are
we tasked with saving?”

She opened her mouth, paused, shut it, paused again, then spoke. “It’s better that you don’t know.”

“Better for whom?” Vapor asked. He’d prefer to have the knowledge, to be prepared for whatever might happen.

Mira looked away from him, his pain-in-the-rectum female not answering.

What is she planning?
He glanced at Thrasher.

I have no idea.
His friend shrugged, appearing as confused as he was.

The ship came to a halt in front of a huge structure. Mira reached out to open the door.

“Wait here.” Vapor pushed her back into the vehicle and exited first. Large humanoid males lined the ramp into the structure. They were armed yet ignored him, surveying the surroundings.

A tiny female stepped forward, a tray in her pale hands, her smile not reaching her eyes.  “Welcome. Would you like a beverage?” She offered him a clear container filled with yellow liquid.

Vapor scanned it. The beverage was non-toxic, safe for consumption.

He returned his gaze to the female. She took a hasty step backward, her eyes widening. Vapor allowed her to retreat, feeling no attraction toward her. She was small and timid and weak, not suitable for a warrior such as himself.

“It’s a cyborg, stupid female.” Mira stomped up the ramp behind him, blatantly disobeying his orders to wait. His fingers twitched, the urge to discipline his reckless female intense. “Machines don’t require beverages.”

Mira claimed the container for herself, drinking the liquid without scanning it first, her throat moving with her swallows. She had no caution, not caring if she lived or died and that irritated Vapor.

“This beverage is barely tolerable.” She curled her top lip as she tossed the container to the female. “Come.”

He would reprimand Mira for that order also.

Vapor followed her as she walked toward the structure. Thrasher trailed both of them, making wry comments about the humanoid guards over their private transmission lines.

Another female opened the doors. She was scantily clad in white, her large breasts barely covered, yet Vapor felt nothing for her. She hadn’t Mira’s strength, her defiance.

None of these females are as solid as ours is.
Thrasher sounded as unimpressed with the selection as Vapor was.
Their frames are flimsy and fragile, unable to withstand a vigorous breeding session with a K model cyborg.

We’d break them.
He wouldn’t break his little human. Vapor’s gaze dropped to Mira’s swaying hips. Her ass jiggled as she moved, begging for his palms. He’d mark those curves, punish her for taking risks, for making the task of protecting her more difficult.

They paused at the top of an incline and gazed out at a sea of pale-clothed bodies. Heads turned. Lips moved, the voices too low for human hearing.

Vapor wasn’t human. He heard everything.

“Fuck. That horrid female is here.”

“Is she wearing sun stones? I hate her so much.”

“I’m hiding in a back chamber. Tell me when she leaves.”

“She has cyborgs as a fashion accessory. Why didn’t I think of that?”

They hated her, feared her, envied her. Mira’s spine straightened and her chin lifted. She knew they wished her harm. Vapor fought the urge to put his arm around her, to safeguard her.

“Mira.” A willowy blonde glided toward her. Her lips curled upward. The rest of her face didn’t move. It was frozen and unnaturally smooth. “You look ravishing.”

“Of course I do, Lydna.” Mira bent toward her, kissing the air. “My father gave me these.” She touched a strand of her pale white hair. “Hmmm…I seem to have lost a sun stone.”

“Only you could say that and not care, lucky female.” Lydna’s laughter was brittle. “Showing up here with hunky cyborgs on your arms.”

“Yes. Where are yours?” She patted Vapor’s stomach. Pleasure radiated from her touch. “I expected to see some cyborgs at the door. They’re what every being is bringing to events this solar cycle.”

The other female eyed him. “I wasn’t aware that they were available for private purchase.”

“Darling, everything is available for purchase. Look at it.” Mira spread Vapor’s chest covering, revealing more of his skin. “It’s a must-have.” She stroked his abs. “You can dress it up any way you like. I recommend having two.” She pulled Thrasher closer. “See how thin I appear, standing between them.”

“They
are
large.” Lydna tentatively touched Vapor’s stomach and every cell in his body rebelled. He didn’t want another female’s hands on him. “And dangerous.”

“Dangerous?” Mira scoffed. “They’re machines. They follow our instructions.”

Lydna appeared skeptical.

“Would I do this to a dangerous being?” That was all of the warning Mira gave him before she slapped him hard across the face.

He maintained his blank expression. Barely.

Lydna gasped.

Mira, Vapor’s insane female, laughed. “See? It’s harmless.”

“Harmless.” Lydna tweaked his left nipple. Vapor didn’t react. She pinched him harder.

Harmless
, Thrasher mocked.
Wait until I transmit this to Ace.

We’re not to relay any of the details of this mission.
Vapor was now grateful for Mira’s peculiar request.
We gave our word.

He stared straight ahead while Lydna abused him, breaking skin, leaving bruises.

Mira mocked the beings around them, cruel in her observations. She intentionally nurtured the hatred toward her. Vapor didn’t know why.

Lydna slid her fingers downward, over his cloth-covered cock. He redirected his attention to her, mentally preparing himself for more torment.

“It’s huge.” She unabashedly felt him up, tracing his shaft and his cock head through the thin material of his ass covering.

Vapor felt disgust, not arousal. She wasn’t his female. She had no right to touch him.

“It’s not functional?” She cupped his balls and Vapor gritted his teeth.

“It isn’t interested in sex,” Mira blithely lied.

She knew blasted well he was interested in breeding. He’d have her bent over a horizontal support, his cock in her pussy by the end of the planet rotation.

If he survived her friend’s grip. Lydna squeezed his balls hard, the agony she inflicted upon him almost bringing Vapor to his knees.

“That’s a good thing.” Mira’s tone was bored. “Why would any being want it to function in that way? It’s a machine.”

“Oh.” Lydna yanked her hands away from him. “Yes, no being would want that.”

The female we’re accompanying wants that.
Thrasher pointed out.
What game is the Designer’s daughter playing?

No being knows.
Vapor moved his gaze to Mira’s beautiful face.

“This conversation is becoming tedious,” she declared. “I need another beverage.” She flounced away without a backward glance. Vapor and Thrasher trailed after her, surveying the crowd for possible danger.

They hadn’t moved far before another female approached them. Mira worked cyborgs into the conversation, positioning them as a necessary fashion addition.

Is she planning to sell us?
Thrasher asked as a female caressed his ass.

Vapor’s lips flattened. He wouldn’t be a toy for some bored female’s amusement. He was a cyborg, one of the top warriors in the universe, designed to kill.

The female placed her palm on his cloth-covered cock, her action making a mockery of his thoughts, of his pride. As she chatted with Mira, she stroked him up and down.

He felt nothing, only humiliation and anger.

Mira, the being responsible for his emotional turmoil, traipsed through the chambers, showing them off, allowing attendees to fondle and abuse them.

After the thirtieth female grabbed his cock, Vapor was ready to wage war on these enemies posing as her friends. Even Thrasher had lost his sense of humor.

You willingly allow her to touch you?
His friend transmitted.
Why? There’s no pleasure in it.

There’s no pleasure in these females’ touches
, Vapor corrected.
Mira’s caresses are different. The bliss she invokes exceeds that of a hard fought victory against a worthy opponent.

Hmmm…
Thrasher considered his words.
I’ve experienced something similar.

Vapor doubted that he had. His gaze shifted to his female. She was as miserable as he was. Her smile never wavered but the bleakness in her eyes had become more pronounced, the lines around her lips deepening.

She had a purpose for this party and it wasn’t enjoyment.

A male, young, relatively fit… for a human, sidled close to Mira, unabashedly gazing at her breasts. A low rumble rolled up Vapor’s chest.

She was his female. No other male would touch her.

He took a step toward Mira.

We have a situation,
Thrasher announced.
There are beings gathering outside the structure.

Vapor bombarded the area around them with energy pulses, scanning for life forms, weapons and other possible threats.

Three sides of the chamber were secure. The security of the fourth, the far exterior wall, was severely jeopardized.

Large numbers of humanoids scurried back and forth, working industriously outside the structure. They were heavily armed and were constructing some sort of device.

Vapor didn’t know what their plans were and he wasn’t going to stick around to find out. Protecting his female was his first priority.

He stalked toward Mira, stopping only when his chest pressed against her back.

“We have to leave,” he murmured into her right ear.

“We can’t, not yet,” she whispered back.

“This isn’t a debate. We’re leaving. Now.” Vapor grasped one of her wrists.

“I make that decision, not you.” She wrenched her body out of his grip and marched away.

He stared at her, watching her hasty retreat, his fingers twitching. When they left the event, he’d spank her ass until it was bright red.

I smell fuel,
Thrasher warned.

Cursed female. Vapor hurried after her.

And an igniter.

He ran, pushing humanoids out of his way. Females shrieked. Burly humans reached for their guns. Mira turned. Vapor scooped her into his arms, curving his body around hers.

The blast drowned out her protests and pushed them both forward. He fell to the floor, covering Mira completely. Heat flowed over him. Shards of debris pierced his neck and back, striping his skin with deep gouges of pain.

Vapor remained still, enduring the agony, absorbing it all.

He hoped it would be enough to save her.

Chapter Six

Mira couldn’t see anything. Her view was blocked by her cyborg’s massive arms. But she felt. Oh, did she feel. Her body ached. Her cheek throbbed where it had connected with the floor. There was a burning in her right shoulder.

She wasn’t certain what had happened.

All she knew was that it was really, really bad, and she had caused it, by telling Vapor about her mom.

Mira had been standing by mom’s side, holding her hand, when she had been apprehended. The Commander in charge had wanted to kill her also, to tie up loose ends, ensuring that no being ever knew that the wife of the famed Designer had been a traitor.

Her mom had begged and pleaded with male, sacrificing her pride and her dignity to save Mira’s life. She made her vow to remain silent, telling her that bad things would happen if she ever said anything about that planet rotation.

Mira had kept her promise. She’d never told another being, never talked about that planet rotation, ever.

Until moments ago, in her transport ship.

She’d told her cyborg, because she had to tell some being, the knowledge was eating her alive, and she knew he wouldn’t believe her. That hadn’t mattered. She had talked and now, others were paying for her mistake.

Unable to deal with the consequences of what she’d done, she remained still, feigning unconsciousness. She was safe. Her body was safely tucked under Vapor’s, hidden from the worlds.

The scent of smoke and fuel singed her nostrils. Liquid dripped, dripped, dripped on the stone tiles by her face. Each droplet fell as if in slow motion. She suspected the substance was blood.

It wasn’t hers. It must be her cyborg’s.

Vapor’s breath blew over her hair. His chest rose and fell. He was alive.

For now. She heard a rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire, barely audible through the rush of sound in her ears.

Cyborgs were tough but they
could
be killed, especially big, hunky cyborgs lying flat, making themselves as large as possible to protect their human females.

“Vapor.” She wiggled.

“Stay where you are.” His voice was low and rough. “Thrasher is clearing the first wave of insurgents and then we’ll move.”

Why wasn’t he helping his friend? Panic coursed through her. “Are you hurt?”

“My injuries are minor.”

Minor. Mira relaxed. She could deal with minor. “Shouldn’t you be fighting?”

Vapor shifted over her. “Our mission is to protect you. I’m protecting you.”

“But—”

“Don’t question me, foolish female. You’ve already put all three of us at risk with your recklessness. Remain quiet and still and allow us complete our mission.”

His anger was justified. Mira’s body trembled. This was all her fault.

She had caused her mom’s death by telling Lydna about their secret meeting place and she’d caused this disaster by telling Vapor about her mom. How many more beings had to die before she learned to keep her big mouth shut?

“Hush.” Vapor kissed the top of her head. “I didn’t mean to scare you. We’ll survive. The humanoids aren’t skilled fighters. Thrasher can subdue them.”

The gunfire stopped, replaced by wailing, the sound of hundreds of beings in pain. Vapor braced his body upward.

Mira turned her head and met the blank gaze of a blonde female.

Memories flooded her brain, mixing the past with the present, and, in that one heart-stopping moment, she was a little girl again, kneeling on the cold, hard floor, pulling frantically on her mom’s hand, begging her to speak, to say anything. Her mom hadn’t responded. She was already gone, her body an empty shell. Her eyes, once filled with life, with laughter, with love, were flat and soulless.

They haunted Mira every rest cycle. This female’s eyes would also. She struggled to put a name to the beautiful face. Kay…Kim…Kimya. That was it—Kimya.

She was a young socialite. This had been a date night for her and her husband. They had two small offspring whom they left in the care of her parents. The parents lived three districts away. Hopefully they would be safe from harm.

From physical harm. They’d suffer from emotional harm. Their mom wouldn’t be returning to them, wouldn’t ever hold them, kiss them, tell them they were loved.

Crimson stained Kimya’s chin. Her body was shredded, her limbs posed at impossible angles. A hand, not connected to her, was curved around a broken beverage container. Jewels decorated the pale lifeless fingers.

“I killed her,” Mira whispered.

“You didn’t kill her.” Vapor pushed himself to his feet, grunting with the effort.

Moments ago, beings had been smiling, laughing, reveling in their position at the top of the social hierarchy. Now, everywhere Mira looked she saw devastation, bodies, destruction, gore.

“I did this.” Her head spun. Her stomach heaved.

“You didn’t do this.” He bundled her into his arms, losing his chest covering in the process, and pushed her face against his chest. “Don’t look. This is my world, not yours.”

This
was
her world. She had destroyed it. Mira inhaled Vapor’s scent, a mixture of male and metal, not knowing how to repair the damage she’d done.

“The insurgents are regrouping. They have the structure surrounded.” Thrasher’s voice was as ragged as Vapor’s. “The humanoids can’t fight worth a frag but they have numbers. They’ve turned the entire city into a battlefield.”

Booms echoed. The building shook. White pigment powder fell from the ceiling, coating their hair and skin.

“Then we find somewhere to wait it out.” Vapor didn’t sound concerned. “Are the safe rooms unoccupied?”

“They’re full of beings and the insurgents are trying to blast them open as we speak.”

“The tunnels,” Mira mumbled against her cyborg’s warm skin.

“What?” Vapor eased his hold on her.

She gazed up at him. His face was blackened, deep cuts carved into his cheeks and chin. “There are tunnels under the city.” X used them to hide supplies from the Humanoid Alliance. “Few beings know about them.”

“Thrasher?”

The cyborg was roughed up also, streaks of red parting his hair. “Scanning.”

Movement to the right snagged her attention. A male, a being she’d only met once, dragged his body across the floor, forging his way toward them. He had no legs, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

“That could work.” Vapor nodded. “Where’s the nearest entrance?”

The male reached out his dirty fingers to her. “Please,” he beseeched her.

Oh fuck. What could she do? She wasn’t a medic. She didn’t know how to heal him.

“Mira,” her cyborg boomed and her attention snapped back to him. “Where’s the nearest entrance to the tunnels?”

“Don’t know.” Her gaze drifted to the pleading male. More beings had joined him. “We need to help them.” They had to reverse the destruction she’d caused.

“We need to take you to a safe location. Thrasher?”

“Located it. Sending you the directions.” The cyborg gazed over his shoulder. A flap of skin hung off the back of his skull and Mira’s world wobbled. “They’re trying to enter the chamber again. Go.” He raised his guns. “I’ll cover you.”

“Hold on.” Vapor ran, grasping her with one arm, shooting with his free hand. Mira tucked herself into a ball, clinging to his sticky neck. He hunched his shoulders, shielding her with his body.

Gunfire rang out. Vapor turned, shot, sprinted, shot, ducked behind a pillar, released a barrage of projectiles at beings Mira couldn’t see. She gripped him harder.

He descended ridged ramp after ridged ramp, carrying her as though she weighed nothing. The shooting slowed, then stopped.

Vapor was a cyborg. The humanoids couldn’t match his speed.

He continued to run with her. Lighting dimmed and the air cooled. A mustiness replaced the scent of smoke.

Vapor bent, yanked at a trap door hidden in the floor, flung it open, revealing blackness. “Don’t let go.” There was no ramp, no ladder.

Mira opened her mouth to point that out. Vapor wrapped his arms around her and jumped. She screamed, the sound muffled against his chest. The fall felt endless, the blackness terrifying.

His body jerked and he dashed forward, air rushing over them. Vapor turned left, left, right, left. He must be navigating the maze of tunnels. Mira wasn’t certain. She couldn’t see anything. Dust fell from the ceiling. Booms reverberated through the space.

He slowed. A cringe-worthy creak joined the sounds of battle. “We’ll wait here.” He jostled her. Metal scraped against stone. He grunted. His muscles flexed against her, stretching tighter and tighter and then they relaxed.

“Can I help?” she whispered.

“You’ve done enough.”

Fuck. She had. She whimpered, remembering the carnage she’d caused.

“Hold it together, female.” Vapor’s voice was gruff.

There was a thump, thump and an illumination stick glowed, lighting his grim face. He lit three more, placing them around the small chamber. It appeared to be some sort of ancient laboratory. A piece of primitive machinery blocked the door. A sleeping support was pushed against a far wall. More machinery was covered with a layer of grime.

Mira eased her hold on him. “We can’t stay here. I did this. I have to undo it, save the others.” She had to somehow make things right.

“You didn’t do anything and we’re not going anywhere.” Vapor’s jaw jutted. “Not until the fighting is done.”

“This was all my fault. I have to—”

“No, you don’t have to.” He drew back the top covering of the sleeping support and plunked her ass on the clean surface. “You didn’t listen to me earlier but you’ll listen to me now.”

He was a bastard. She slid her fingers along his neck, down his back. Blood coated her palms. A piece of metal protruded from his skin.

All thoughts of helping others vanished.

“You said you had minor injuries.” Her voice rose. “You have shrapnel sticking out of your body. That’s not minor.”

“It isn’t lifespan threatening.” Vapor shrugged. “Are you damaged?” He gripped the bodice of her fabric wrap.

“I don’t have debris piercing my skin.” She batted his hands away from her. “Turn.”

He complied and she gasped. The skin on his back was shredded, his flesh cut down to his metal frame. She swayed, lightheaded. The shrapnel in his neck was dwarfed by a huge piece of beam protruding from his left shoulder blade.

“I did this to you.” Her soul ached. “I knew. I knew.”

He spun around to face her. “What did you know—that the insurgents were coming? That they were bombing the building?”

“I knew.” She couldn’t think.

“What did you know?” Vapor caught her waving wrists and pulled her toward him. “Tell me, female.”

“That’s it.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “I told you.”

“What?”

“My mom said if I ever told any being about that planet rotation, the planet rotation she died, bad things would happen. But I told you anyway and beings died and you got injured. You’re in pain, Vapor, and it’s all my fault. I knew. I knew.”

“Telling me about your mother didn’t cause this.” He looked at her as though she was crazy and she might be. She didn’t know anymore. “Use your processors.”

Mira didn’t have processors. She had a human brain and it couldn’t absorb the horror of what had occurred. All she knew was she had finally broken her silence and moments later, beings were dead. That couldn’t be a coincidence. “I thought if you didn’t believe me, it wouldn’t count. No beings would get hurt.”

“Listen to me, you stubborn, pain-in-the-rectum female.” Vapor wrapped his arms around her, folding him into his big body, his tender actions belying his tough words. “You didn’t cause this. The attack had nothing to do with your mother’s death.”

Logically, she realized that. Emotionally, she believed it was all her fault. “But—”

“The insurgents were gathering before you told me about your mother.” He rubbed her back, moving his palms up and down, up and down. “I’m a warrior and I know battle strategy. Judging by their numbers and by their level of organization, they’ve been planning this for planet rotations. Unless you fed them information or financed their efforts—”

“I didn’t.” She’d never encourage any being to battle the Humanoid Alliance.

“Then you had nothing to do with the bombing.” Vapor rested his chin on the top of her head. She leaned against him, absorbing his warmth, his strength.

Cyborgs didn’t lie. If he said she had nothing to do with the bombing, she didn’t. The tension slowly eased from her shoulders. The tear tracks on her cheeks dried, pulling at her skin.

The guilt didn’t entirely dissipate. “I feel responsible.”

“You weren’t, not for the attack.” His chest rose and fell. “If you want to be held accountable for something, you can take the blame for the injuries to Thrasher and myself. You should have left when I told you to leave.”

“Your back.” Mira pushed against his chest. He didn’t move. “You need a medic.”