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“I’ll be fine for another twelve.” He rested his hands on her hips, pulling her close.
“You’re sure?” She didn’t try to hide how concerned she was.
“I am.” Reaching up, he cupped her cheek, his thumb gently moving over the shadows of fatigue beneath her eyes. “But you need to go rest.”
“I do, and I willafterI bring you and Ganesha something to eat. I know you’ve both recharged, but you still need something in your stomachs. Any requests?”
She could tell he would tell her not to bother, but apparently, he was learning that when she decided to do something, she did it. “I’ve always been partial to raten noodles.”
“Northern or southern style?” she asked and smiled when his eyebrows shot up. “Several of my backup singers love them and always argue about which style is best, so the ship always has both.”
“Southern.”
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Taly quietly hummed the melody to one of her songs as she guided the hover cart down the corridor with four covered bowls of raten noodles. Two southern-style and two northern as Ganesha wouldn’t tell her what he liked, insisting he wasn’t hungry.
She’d found Vujcec in the dining hall, head down on a table, fast asleep. After waking him, she led him to one of the open suites. It was a testament to his exhaustion that he didn’t even comment, just fell into bed fully clothed. It made her want to do the same, and she would as soon as she got this food to Ganesha and Ranvir.
“Here you go, guys,” she announced as she entered the bridge. Ranvir immediately turned to her in the captain’s chair while Ganesha remained facing forward.
“Four?” Ranvir asked, looking at the domed covers.
“I thought it should be more than enough for two hungry cyborgs.”
He didn’t know how to process her actions and went with the most straightforward response. “Thank you.”
She grinned. “You’re welcome. Oh, and I put Vujcec in the last suite on the right. He was asleep on his feet.”
“I’d forgotten about him,” which shouldn’t happen with his cybernetic brain.
“He was a big help getting the colonists settled,” she told him.
Ranvir nodded. “You need to get some rest, too.”
“I’m heading for my suite now.” She glanced at Ganesha. Seeing him occupied, she leaned down to whisper in Ranvir’s ear. “Maybe you could join me after your shift is over.”
It took a moment for Taly’s words to register. When they did, his entire body stilled. Blood flowed to his cock as her lips brushed the top of his ear, her warm breath caressing his skin. There was only one answer. “I’d like that.”
“Then it’s a date,” she told him before pulling back. Giving him one final teasing look, she left the bridge.
“For future reference,” Ganesha told him, still facing forward. “You should let Mamsell Zulfiqar know all cyborgs have exceptional hearing.”
“I will.”
Ganesha finally turned in his chair and faced him. “Do you think it wise to become involved with her?”
Ranvir had never been good at expressing his feelings, even before becoming a cyborg. He especially wasn’t good at doing it with someone outside his pod, but they needed to start building some trust if any of them were going to survive. If it took revealing his uncertainty, then so be it.
He took a deep breath and exhaled roughly. “No, but I’m drawn to her in a way I can’t explain and isn’t logical. Yet, I know I will willingly die to ensure she doesn’t.”
Ganesha studied him with an odd expression. “She’s your cymar.”
“My what?” Ranvir had never heard that term before.
“Cymar,” Ganesha repeated. “It’s the term the scientists who created us used for those of us who have the inexplicable need to protect someone when our processors say it’s illogical. It means she’s your mate. Not every cyborg has this defect.”
“Mate,” he murmured, both his brains swirling with confusion. It didn’t feel like a defect. It felt like a necessity.
