“Do you have any more food?” he asks.
I free the protein bar packed in the pocket where my empty water bottle sits and hand it to him. “I have a few more, but not many. Berries and jerky. That’s it.”
“How much?”
When I’m clothed again, I sit on a rock and watch him fold his wings up and climb back into his pants. His boots are mostly toasted, but they’ll hold together for now. I admire his contoured backside for a brief second before his pants cover him again. “Enough for a few days for me. Doubt it’s enough to feed many more.”
Armor hums in deep thought as he chews the bar. “Karambit will get us more. Possibly Javelin and Mace. I will free Carver first. He can access the others. Many are still in hibernation. A few may have been rendered the Black Death. But if we can get to Catalyst and fuel him, he can charge the others.”
“How many of you are there?” I ask.
“Forty-four in total.” He glances down at me. “We cannot dig at your pace. That’s why we need Carver. The BlazeStar leaves intwo days. That is the only ship large enough to hold all of us and get us off Ellipsis.”
Armor walks out of the cave, stops, and glances back. Insecurity hides in his radiant eyes. “Do you want me ofyourchoice?”
“Right now?”
A light smile touches the corners of his mouth. “In general.”
He’s having doubts after last night. But he’s not the only one. Knowing he still wants me with him makes me more eager to keep going. “Did not expect to dig up a Titan dragon and definitely not one who’s attracted to me.”
“I’m a Titanshield, not a dragon,” he corrects.
I shrug as I join him in descending the hills to the desert.
“Can’t believe you dragged me all the way up here,” he mutters. “You’re so small.”
“I am committed to my duty,” I counter.
“I didn’t mean that as an insult, more as an observation of your impressive resilience. I am one of the largest Titans produced. That could not have been easy.”
“You are my only thread of hope, of a connection to the world. We needed each other. Still do, but for a different reason now.” When he looks over at me, I wink. “You pack quite the rifle under your armor,Armor.”
He laughs in a bashful way that exposes just how human his emotions are. “As long as you liked it.”
My pussy slicks just thinking about bonding with Armor. “Pretty sure I’ve topped out with you. Anyone else would pale in comparison.”
“You choose me? You don’t even know me.” Armor surveys the desert plains and then checks on me.
Titans are all built with the same loyalty, protective nature, and honesty. The only real differences are in their designed skills and a few personality quirks.
“I want you to be mine,” he adds. “But I know that was fast. I don’t know what came over me.”
“I did.”
His face darkens a little. “Esthi.”
Stars, I love the way the depth of his voice rumbles through my core. I grip the straps on my pack to ground myself. “I’d like to be yours. But I won’t claim you as mine.”
“Please do.”
“It feels too out of place because of what you are and what I am. I don’t want to feel in any way like I’m implying that I own you because you were treated like tools, objects, andthingsfor so long. It just doesn’t feel right.”
Armor scans the dirt around the hole I dragged him out of hours ago. “Then I have not yet proven my humanity to you. I will work on that soon. Wait here. I’ll be right back.”
I sway between my boots. “That’s not what I…”
Armor squats down and launches himself high in the sky. In my night vision goggles, I watch his wings spread and guide him in a downward death dive. Then he binds his wings tightly around him, forming a point, and slams into the desert so hard he vanishes below its surface and slings waves of crumbling dirt into the air.
