B Cubed #3 Borg Read online

  It must be a Bred thing, there instinctive understanding of a woman’s fear. His understanding and compassion was a drug as potent as his salty lips and just as addictive. The less he demanded the more she wanted to give.

  The feeling was completely foreign, and a little bit wicked. She was promised to another man so what the hell was she doing letting this Bred warrior kiss her with such abandon?

  He broke the kiss, only to trail his lips down the side of her neck. She tipped her head to the side to give him better access.

  “So sweet,” he murmured a second before he took her earlobe in his mouth and tugged. Something electric zinged through her and she bucked against him. “So hot and ripe and mine.”

  A hand covered her breast, a thumb stroking over the cloth covering her nipple. She arched against him with a cry, needing more, needing him to touch her bare flesh that way, to suckle her into his hot, wet mouth.

  As though she’d voiced her urges, his hand went to the front zipper of her thermal suit and pulled it down to her waist. She’d removed her undergarments when she’d put the thermal suit on to prevent any unsightly lines or bulges. Cool air caressed her bared flesh made the tips of her breasts tighten all the more. He laid her back over the console and green glistened like emeralds as he drank her in.

  Until there’s nothing left.

  One hand cupped the swell of her left breast, so gently, almost too light. She shivered in his grip and he firmed it, his focus still locked on her exposed flesh. He licked his lips.

  “Please!” Wildfire burned through her and the relentless need jolted her out of the lusty stupor. She was so close to losing control and the fear was there, fear that she’d hit a point of no return. He was so big and if he lost it, he’d hurt her. “Berrick , stop. We can’t.”

  His gaze darted to her face, his chest rising and falling with quick harsh breaths. “Mine.” The voice was guttural and rough, no longer human.

  She held very still, instincts warning her not to move. She didn’t remind him that she was promised to the Borg leader. Arguing with a large and very aroused male who held her vulnerable flesh beneath his massive hands was not a good idea. Of course, teasing him with kisses and letting him bare her breasts before trying to halt the preceding hadn’t been very bright either.

  He can do anything to me. The though caused a surge of panic and her vision blurred.

  His nostrils flared as though he scented the air. Thick dark eyebrows drew down. “You fear me?” The hand on her breast let go.

  The second he released her, Sage slithered to the floor, tucking herself into a ball. Lily was by her side at once, nuzzling at her face with a cold wet nose.

  Above her, Berrick breathed in a ragged rhythm, one sharp inhale, then a puff of air being expelled like a dragon breathing fire.

  Sage called herself every name in the book. What the hell had she been thinking, teasing him like that? If he hurt her in retaliation, she had no one to blame but herself for being so fricking stupid.

  “No one will hurt you.”

  She started when she realized he’d crouched down beside her, was looking directly at her.

  How had he known what she’d been thinking? And more importantly, could she believe him when he’d been seconds away from losing it?

  “I give you my vow that no one will ever hurt you again. Especially not me.” Those green eyes hid his inner thoughts even as they probed her. Searching for what? She wished she knew so she could give it to him and then he’d stop looking at her that way.

  Abruptly, he rose and headed toward the shuttle door. A blast of cold washed over her as he exited the craft, leaving her alone.

  Sage stroked Lily’s head and fought the urge to go after him. Stop poking the bear, little girl, if you don’t want your head bitten off.

  Her gaze flitted around the shuttle until it snagged on the white of her wedding dress. Shame coursed through her. She was supposed to be getting married, not gallivanting off in a tunneler and cavorting with a Bred. She hadn’t given Dayen a passing thought while she was writing on another man’s lap. Though the marriage contract didn’t specify that she was supposed to be a virgin—good thing—she ‘d assumed that her affianced state meant she was supposed to be faithful after she’d signed on the dotted line. Somehow she doubted the Borg heir would appreciate her coming to him straight from another man’s arms.

  He might even punish her for her indiscretion.

  What was it about Berrick that made her take foolish chances?

  And, more importantly, what could she do to protect herself from doing it again?

  Chapter Four

  Dayen had never been so close to losing himself to the beast. His thoughts swam in and out of focus as he prowled around the tunneler, ignoring the biting wind that howled between the barren hills.

  No moon or stars lit his tracks yet he made an exact circle around the vehicle, once, twice, and again as he tried to walk off the feelings that stirred within him without abandoning Sage completely.

  Her nearness drove him to distraction. The scent of her arousal was like a splinter in his mind, slowly driving him mad. His own lust roared to respond to it and he’d almost given over to it entirely.

  With his hands on her, he couldn’t hear her thoughts so only the acrid tang of her fear clued him into the fact that something had gone horribly wrong. And when he’d let her go, a wave of terror had nearly drowned him.

  Dayen wasn’t experienced enough to know if he’d actually done anything to frighten her or if Sage had experienced some sort of flashback. He’d gotten so lost in the new experience, touching without pain. It was addictive. Even after her fear broke through his lust fogged brain, he was reluctant to release his newfound source of pleasure. When he came back to himself, she cowered on the floor like a wounded animal.

  And selfish fuck that he was, he wanted to pull her into his arms and lose himself in her touch so he didn’t have to experience her fear firsthand. He’d abstained, denied himself he comforting silence of her body, just for being so weak.

  He prowled the other direction, still restless. The beast demanded he kill that Born male, the one who’d dared to hurt her, to violate what was Dayen’s to cherish. If there had been any doubt in his mind before, the fact that touching her eased him made him all the more sure that she was meant for him alone. And he would avenge his mate.

  As soon as possible, preferably before their marriage ceremony and his ruse was revealed to her. The thought of action calmed him. He’d gleaned enough about Sage to know that though she was altruistic and soft hearted, she would not hold the death of that vile Born against him. She had wished the rapist dead, too, feared he’d return for her.

  Peace of mind would be Dayen’s gift to her, an apology for deceiving her. She would forgive him in time and then he could enjoy more of her heated touches, her sweet kisses. All he had to do was discover the man’s identity.

  Dayen stopped midstride and turned to face the shuttle. He’d never dug for specific information before. Didn’t know if he even could work through the quagmire of thoughts and feelings without losing himself. Did Sage even know who had hurt her?

  He’d have to ask questions, convince her to confide in him. How though? His life so far hadn’t prepared him for such a task. Being close to others was painful, something to be avoided. But Sage was different. He adored everything about his resilient little mate, but how could he get her to reciprocate those feelings?

  He sorted through the thoughts that he’d gleaned before he left the ship. She’d been scared but that wasn’t all that had held her back. She worried about being faithful to her intended. His lips twitched at the irony even as his chest swelled with pride, both because she wanted to be true to him and because he tempted her beyond her reason. If he simply told her who he was he’d alleviate that concern immediately.

  Somehow though, he thought honesty at this juncture would do more harm than good. He didn’t want her to feel foolish or used. Neither woul
d help his cause of gaining her trust. Better to continue to be Berrick.

  With that thought in mind he strode for the tunneler. The door opened before he reached it and Sage appeared with her mongrel in tow.

  She cast him a furtive glance and shrugged in apology. “Lily had to go.” She gestured to where the mutt squatted.

  “Oh,” he said, rather stupidly. “All right.”

  “About before…” she hesitated and shivered in the wind. She’d pulled up the hood of her thermal suit so that it covered her head but still her hands were turning blue.

  He wanted to reach for her hands again and warm them with his own. Her body ran so much cooler than his, a measly 98.6 was nothing compared to the harsh environment of topside. She was so fragile, he wanted to cocoon her, maybe in his greenhouse. He knew plants made her happy.

  Instead, Dayen yanked his own gloves out of his pocket and handed them to her. She frowned from the gloves to him and then back again. He cleared his throat and explained. “I never use them. I’m used to the cold.”

  He heard her think again that he was Bred, because many of them had been genetically engineered to withstand the extreme temperatures better than the Born. She took the gloves with a murmured, “Thank you.”

  “I’m sorry I lost control,” Dayen offered the words he knew she yearned to hear. At least they were the truth, he was sorry, mostly that they hadn’t been able to finish. With that thought in mind, he said, “I know you are spoken for. I have no excuse for my actions other than I have never had a woman before and you tempted me beyond reason.”

  One glove fell from her hands. He bent and picked it up, then took the dog’s leash so she could put it on. She didn’t move. He frowned, listening for her thoughts but the only sound came from the wind. His concern mounted. “Sage? Are you all right?”

  ****

  The wind stung her eyes.

  Blink, stupid, Sage commanded herself.

  Her eyelids worked, good thing, she was sure they had frozen shut in the bitter cold. She couldn’t believe she was topside once more, couldn’t believe that she was standing here freezing in the cold with a man who claimed to desire her beyond reason when she was supposed to be marrying another.

  And had he just said…?

  “You’ve never slept with a woman before?”

  He tilted his head to the side, green gaze assessing her. “No. Put that glove on.”

  She did as he commanded and he took her gloved hand in his naked one. The heat of him warmed her frozen flesh even more than the fabric protecting her skin from the elements.

  “But how—?” Sage cut off the rest of her ultra-rude question, how is that even possible, before it got out. It was none of her business why Berrick of the gorgeous green eyes and stellar bod was a—oh holy mindfuck— virgin.

  She swallowed and shivered in the chill. Strong arms came around her. Was it wrong that she wanted to lean into him and soak up his heat and scent and pretend she was someone else for just a little while? A woman who was free of duty and panic and internal strife and simply enjoy being with a man who wanted her too.

  “We’d better get moving before you freeze to death,” Berrick murmured.

  His breath was hot on her ear. “Moving?” Her voice sounded vague as the winds carried her words from her lips. “Where?”

  “Right up there. There’s something you need to see.” He pointed to the top of a hill. She nodded and picked up her dog. He looked down at Lily, whose coat was inadequate for the weather. “Best leave her in the tunneler. She’ll be safer out of the storm.

  Berrick carried her dog back inside their vehicle, poured Lily a small dish of water and sealed the door behind him.

  With his big body blocking the wind, Sage managed to stagger her way slowly up the hillside. Her feet sank into snow almost up to her knees, but the thermally lined cloth kept her covered skin toasty warm. Still she was ashamed to admit she was out of breath by the time they crested the rise of the hill to see for miles beyond.

  She blinked, squinted at the horizon where a distant mountain appeared to be smoking. “What is that?”

  “A volcano. Newly formed since the world stopped turning. Inside it is hundreds of thousands of gallons of molten rock. It’s set to blow any day now. When it does, it’ll release ash into the air and the lava will spill out of the top of the mountain and into the valley below. Eventually it will cool and solidify into igneous rocks. That liquid rock is called magma and it’s what the mantel is comprised of it’s what lies beneath the crust.”

  Sage nodded, her eyes still glued to the distant peak. “And your readings told you that the mantel is cooling? What happens if it solidifies?”

  He shifted behind her as a harsh blast of wind buffeted against him. “Then the planet will die. Without a source of heat no life can thrive here.”

  She turned to face him. “So, what can we do?”

  Somber green eyes looked down on her. “I don’t know.”

  “How long do we have?”

  “At the current rate of cooling, two generations at most. You and I will be long gone but our children and their children will suffer and die out.”

  Despite the dire message, Sage paused at the way he said our children. She knew what he meant, humanity in general, but it sounded as if he was planning to procreate with her.

  Focus Sage, dead planet, end of life as we know it. Get your priorities in order!

  “There must be a way to stop the cooling process,” she said.

  “It requires further study. It might be safest to consider abandoning the planet all together but we need somewhere to go and some way to get there.”

  Sage looked back at the volcano as the enormity of the situation came in for a landing. Two generations didn’t seem like much time when confronted by total extinction.

  Suddenly the irony hit her with the impact of a crashing meteor. “So, it’s all pointless then?”

  “What?”

  “The treaty to unite the factions. The summit. My great and noble sacrifice.” Hysterical tears leaked out of the sides of her eyes and spilled down her cheeks and she looked away, unable to hold his gaze while she lost her shit. “What’s the point if we’re all going to die in less than a century?”

  A warm palm cupped beneath her chin and lifted her face until she had to look at him. “It will be all right, mein Schatzi.”

  She sniffled and was about to ask what the odd phrase meant when he stumbled into her with force enough to knock her to the ground in a bone-jarring impact.

  Snow stung her exposed cheeks as she face-planted into the ground. She rolled immediately to her back to breathe and see just what the hell had happened.

  Her eyes went wide in astonishment as she saw Berrick rolling in the snow with some sort of creature. He kicked out and the thing went sailing over his head and halfway down the hill, giving Berrick time to regain his footing. The monster charged back toward them. She’d never seen its kind before with long shaggy white fur, and teeth as big as her forearm jutting from a triangular shaped head. Part wolf, part Siberian tiger maybe. Its pitiless black eyes were fixed on its mark and it bellowed its fury at Berrick, who stood armed with nothing more than his bare hands. Who was focused, not at the slavering beast, but on her.

  “Run for the tunneler!” he thundered.

  He didn’t budge. Clearly, he meant to stand his ground against the monster and cover her escape. “Come with me!” She urged.

  He growled at her, his lip pulled up in a snarl, green eyes glowing with an unholy light. “I said go!”

  And then the creature was on him. It leapt, twisting in midair and took him to the ground again.

  Jaws snapped inches from Berrick’s face, but he somehow managed to grip the creature’s snout and keep it from ripping out his throat. The struggle went on and on and the beast broke free in a flurry of snow then lunged back into the fray. She screamed, fearing that Berrick was about to die, but the roar that came from the thrashing mass of limbs on
the ground drowned out her terrified cries. It was even more chilling than the wind, a bone freezing sound that intensified as a spray of red arced from the struggling pair.

  The blood steamed as it hit the snow at her feet.

  Then something rose and faced her. She thought it was the creature at first, that it was somehow standing on its powerful hind legs and was seconds from charging her. Then she saw the glow of eerie green and realized it was Berrick that stood before her. But not the way he had been.

  His nails had grown long and blackened to look like claws. His arms and legs seemed longer too, almost as if he could run on all four limbs, like the monster. His jaw jutted at an unnatural angle, almost snoutlike in appearance. It had to, in order to accommodate the massive set of teeth that dripped with the creature’s cooling blood.

  “Sage,” the monster that had been Berrick rasped her name with its gore covered mouth. A mouth she’d kissed not even an hour earlier.

  She didn’t think, didn’t plan and didn’t pause to ask questions.

  Sage put her head down and ran.

  Chapter Five

  She runs from me?

  Dayen roared again as he gave chase, unsure of what he’d do when he caught his mate. Chastised her for not obeying him, certainly. Punish her for running from him, definitely.

  Take her lush body in the snow with the heat of battle still upon him? The beast had final risen, finally taken over and it wanted its due. He burned with need for her, to hold her and know she was safe in his arms once more.