Chapter Twenty-Five

Rachel picked up the phone in her hotel room for the last time. She would get a new smartphone as soon as she could, but for the moment she had become accustomed to the old corded phone on the nightstand. It felt like a marvel of modern technology after spending several days stranded in the desert.

“Thank you for calling Cyborg Sector,” said an automated, nasal voice after several rings. “For accounts payable, please press one. For accounts receivable, please press two. For the rehabilitation department, please press three. If you know your party’s extension, you may dial it at any time.”

Rachel rolled her eyes. She had battled with the robotic receptionist too many times. There were never any departments willing to help her. On several occasions, she had been told to call back at a better time. Sometimes they tried to transfer her to another person and proceeded to disconnect the line. She hoped it would be different this time and kept hitting the zero button until she reached an operator.

“I’m trying to reach the laboratory.”

“Is there a particular employee you wish to speak with?” The human on the other end of the line didn’t sound different than the automated phone tree.

“Not really. I want to talk to someone who can give me information about a specific cyborg who’s my friend.” Rachel had tried every excuse she could think of to get access. She had claimed to be a delivery person, the wife of a scientist, and an Uber driver. She was willing to do anything to get someone on the phone helping her. Nothing had worked, so she had resorted to the truth.

The receptionist paused for a moment before replying. “I don’t think anyone is going help you since you aren’t a blood relative, but I’ll transfer you. Maybe you’ll get lucky.”

“Thank you.” Rachel meant it. She would bake the woman a cake and deliver it to Cyborg Sector herself if she could find the right person.

The sound of someone yanking a receiver off the wall assaulted her ears, followed by a young, irritated voice. “Lab, this is Jeff.”

Rachel nearly jumped at the sound of another person on the line. “Hi, Jeff. I wanted to check the status of a patient.”

“Really? Well, this is a first. Who’s the patient?”

“His name is Wrath.” She had struggled to remember Wrath’s original alphanumeric designation from Cyborg Sector. It had been in her briefing paperwork, but that was all lost in the explosion.

Jeff didn’t bother to ask for it. “I don’t have any cyborgs here by that name.” He hung up with a click.

Rachel slowly put down her phone. She had done everything she could, and Cyborg Sector wasn’t going to continue to pay for her room. They hadn’t given her any more information about Wrath or Green Squad, and they were finished interviewing her.

It was time to go home.

Rachel zipped her suitcase shut. She closed her eyes as she tried to imagine what was waiting for her back home. She probably didn’t have a job after she had refused to give Cindy the story. There might be a position for her at the local news station, but it would be a long shot. She might not even want to work in the news. Maybe it was time for a change.

For the moment, she would be busy enough just trying to piece her humanity back together again. Her home, friends, and therapists were all waiting for her, only a short plane ride away.

A knock sounded at the door as she hoisted her suitcase off the bed. Frowning, Rachel set her bag down and crossed the room to peer through the peephole. It was too early for the maid, and she hadn’t ordered room service. She hoped it wasn’t another reporter trying to track her down for an interview.

The man on the other side of the door was no journalist. He was tall and bulky with wide shoulders. His golden blonde hair was cut shorter than she remembered, and he was clean-shaven. Instead of a tattered camouflage uniform, he wore a blue t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. He looked nervous.

Rachel pushed herself back from the door, her heart pounding. The lab technician hadn’t been lying to her. There was no patient named Wrath. The hospital had discharged the cyborg, and he had come looking for her.

Was he going to kill her for bringing him to Cyborg Sector? She swallowed as she ran through her options. There was a fire escape on the other side of the room, but a killer would expect that move. He hadn’t been pleased the last time they spoke. She wondered how much he remembered about their rescue from the desert.

Rachel would never know what he wanted if she didn’t talk to him. Without thinking too much about it, Rachel turned the knob and opened the door. If Wrath wanted to kill her now, then her problems were over. She had been through too much recently, gaining and losing the man of her dreams a second time. If the coldhearted cyborg couldn’t get over his hatred, maybe ending everything now was for the best.

Time seemed to pause when their eyes met. Rachel could hear her heartbeat. It echoed off the walls and pounded in her ears. The cyborg breathed heavily as he lifted his arm. She cringed as she waited for the first blow to come. Instead, she felt the gentle touch of cyborg fingers on the side of her cheek. “Rachel,” he breathed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t understand before. But I think I do now.”

Looking up, Rachel met his eyes. They were no longer the steely blue of a cyborg, but the soft cerulean of Robert Williams. The sight blurred as her tears started falling.

“I didn’t know where you were, or what had happened to you. Nobody would tell me anything.” She focused on his sneakers now, a strange sight on a man who had only seemed comfortable in combat boots. If she looked at his face again, she was going to lose control completely. She was already on the edge of hysteria. “I called Cyborg Sector. I asked anyone to talk to me, but they wanted me to forget you existed.”

Before she knew it, Wrath pulled her into his arms. The warmth from his skin took away her worries, encouraging her muscles to release the tension of the past weeks. Could it only have been that long since she joined the team of scientists to find Green Squad? Her ordeal would have been worth it for this moment when she found herself pressed tightly against his chest.

“I’m sorry, Rachel,” he repeated. “I know you tried to tell me. I didn’t think it was a possibility that I was ever human. Everything you said was right. Cyborg Sector operated on me and fixed my biochip. I’ve never felt better in my life.” Wrath spoke quickly, as though he thought he might not get everything out. His voice rumbled in his chest, and Rachel pressed her cheek into the vibrations.

She wanted to reply and ask him what he was going to do with his life. Wrath had months of rehabilitation to go through before he was ready to start over. But if she asked the questions in her heart, she might not like the answers. Rachel couldn’t bear to know if they would have to live apart from one another.

When he released her, it felt like winter snows had descended. She needed his warmth next to her. Wrath spun her around and gently touched her shoulders, leading her back into the hotel room. He followed behind her, shut the door, and turned the lock. “I want you, Rachel.”

A shiver of pleasure rippled down her spine, and Rachel immediately turned to look Wrath in the eyes. “You do?” She couldn’t stop herself from crying even though the cyborg looked disheveled. He wasn’t wearing fancy clothing or taking her out to a fancy dinner, but she couldn’t imagine a more romantic situation.

“Yes. I think I always did, but I couldn’t understand everything.” Wrath shook his head, resting his fingertips above his left ear. “Some of the things that happened while I was in Green Squad are still a haze in my memory. Even if I remember what I did, I don’t necessarily know why. I treated you poorly. I was angry at the time, but it doesn’t make sense to me now.”

Rachel smiled. There was a big contrast between the Wrath in the desert and the innocent person in front of her. “I know what the problem was. You thought I threatened your way of life,” she explained. “If you accepted me and my ideas, then there was a possibility you might not be a cyborg anymore.”

He nodded. “You’re not threatening now, and I know what I want. I want to be with you. I will be with you.” Wrath closed the distance between them with one step and grabbed her by the hips.

It was a shock to have him so close again. Rachel vividly remembered everything they had done in the tiny cave after their trek through the mountain, but it seemed like a fantasy. “What if I say no?”

“Then I’ll keep trying. I’m not going to stop until I have you. We were meant to be together.” Wrath led her to the bed and stood in front of her.

The reporter giggled in surprise. The cyborg’s sweatpants did little to hide his bulge, and she reached out to feel it pressing through the fabric. Rachel saw a reflection of her desire in his eyes, and she knew how badly they wanted each other. It wasn’t going to be like fucking him in the cave. She was with someone different now. Wrath was more of a human, but he had not released his hungry, animal instincts.

Slowly, she undid her shirt, starting at the bottom. She watched his eyes as they devoured every inch of her skin as she revealed it. When there were only a few buttons left, he couldn’t control himself any longer. Wrath reached forward with one hand and ripped her shirt off, sending buttons flying across the hotel room. Rachel immediately put her hands behind her back to undo her bra to stop him from pulling it off and impaling her with the underwire.

Wrath closed his eyes. “I don’t know how long I’m going to last. The sight of your body is making me lose my mind.”

“Then I guess we’d better get started.” With her bra finally unfastened, she flung it across the room to land on top of the scraps of her shirt. Rachel held Wrath still with one hand, running the other underneath his t-shirt and pulling it off over his head. He’d already removed his shoes somehow, and she paused as she stripped him free from his pants.

“I didn’t get to see this very well before,” she said as she came face-to-face with his cock. It was thick and hard already and looked even better than she had imagined. “I don’t think you’ll mind if I spent some time with it, right?”

Without waiting for his reply, Rachel’s mouth descended over his erection. She held the base of it with her right hand while she slid her mouth up and down his shaft, feeling every vein and ridge with her tongue. Wrath moaned, sending a tingle of excitement down her spine and into her pussy. There was something exciting about having the power to turn on a man. She opened her throat fully, taking in as much of him as she could while her other hand slipped down inside her jeans to her slit.

He was hot and hard, and Rachel wanted him inside her. But she also wanted this to last as long as possible, even if it meant the maid would eventually come around to kick them out of the room. His hands were tangled in her hair, holding her head in place as he fucked her mouth. Her pussy tightened under her fingers, appreciating the attention. The reporter sucked and pulled at his cock, working harder as he became more aroused. Even though it was big enough for her already, it became thicker, and his balls tightened under her attention.

“I’m going to shoot my load straight down your throat,” he grunted.

Pulling his erection out of her mouth with a wet pop, Rachel looked up at him. “No, you’re not. Not yet.”

With a roar, the cyborg scooped Rachel up and tossed her onto the bed. She expected him to mount her immediately in a repeat of their previous performance, but he had something else in mind today. Wrath yanked her jeans down her hips, pulling them over her ankles and chucking them across the room. They hit the mirror and fell onto the dresser. He was too busy ripping Rachel’s pink panties into two pieces with his bare hands to pay attention to her jeans.

He stroked her gently with his fingers, barely touching her as he kissed her neck. He worked his way down her neck, his tongue flicking out to lick her skin. When the cyborg reached her breasts, he wrapped his mouth around her nipple and sucked it into his lips.

Rachel gasped. The force of his mouth was painful, but it made her hips start grinding against him. He kept her nipple firmly latched between his teeth as he teased the tip of it with a hot tongue. When he finally let go to pay attention to her other breast, he left it standing as a pert bud. She moved against him, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him to her body. He buried his face in her chest and began stroking her sex more intensely.

“Do you want me?” he asked when he finally came up for air and Rachel was forced to release him.

“God, yes,” she squeaked. “So badly. You’re torturing me.”

He grinned. “Good. I’m not done yet.” Wrath moved farther down the bed. His tongue went to work on her, inflaming the heat between her legs as he licked and sucked her clit. He caressed her throbbing center of pleasure until she couldn’t take more stimulation.

“Get inside me,” Rachel begged, her back arching and her hands clutching fistfuls of the sheet. She was exploding inside, and she needed Wrath to fill her.

Wrath stopped only long enough for a short reply. “No. Not yet.” He laid his tongue against her pussy while gently probing inside with a finger. “I want to hear you beg.” He added a second finger, slowly moving them in and out of her body.

“Please.” She felt her inner muscles contracting in waves, drawing his fingers farther inside. Rachel felt as though she would never stop coming, and it was too much to handle. “I need your dick in me. I’ll do anything.”

“I wouldn’t say that if I were you,” Wrath warned as he finally pulled away. The cyborg stood, grabbed her by the thighs, and pulled her to the end of the bed. He wasn’t finished teasing her yet. He pressed the hard head of his cock against her, pushing hard enough to let her know he was right above her entrance, but not going inside. Wrath pushed harder, letting only the tip of his erection into her before pulling himself out again. He held his cock by the base with one hand and slapped it against her, teasing her clit at the same time.

“Shove your cock inside me!” she screamed. Rachel’s hands clutched at her breasts. Her back arched uncontrollably as her hips pulsed toward him. Wrath finally rewarded her, plunging his cock fully inside her. She exploded and saw stars behind her eyes as they pounded their bodies together. Her walls moved around him as he penetrated her sex. “Yes. Fuck me! Fuck me hard!”

The cyborg gladly complied, thrusting into her. The mattress thumped against the wall, and he had to grab her hips to pull her back down onto him. He slowed down as her pulsing subsided, but the gleam in his blue eyes told her that he wasn’t done with her yet.

“Tell me how you want me,” she said. “It’s your turn.”

“I want you any way I can get you,” he replied. He looked down to watch his cock impale her. “For now, I want you on your hands and knees.”

Rachel rolled over and complied. He wasn’t the same cyborg she’d met in New Mexico, but he still had the same power over her. Wrath could have tied her up and used her as a slave, and she wouldn’t have complained. The mattress shifted as he got on the bed with her and she felt the heat of his cock behind her.

“You’re something else, Rachel. You’d do anything for me, wouldn’t you?” The cyborg’s voice sounded husky, teasing her as much as his body did. He ran rough hands down her ass appreciatively. “I think you’ve been a bad girl, haven’t you?”

Rachel’s nipples perked up again. “I really have. I deserve punishment.” She quivered with excitement at the tension he built inside her.

“How do you think I should punish you? Should I ground you?”

“No,” she gasped, ready for him to begin. “Hit me with your big stick. Teach me a lesson.”

“Gladly.” He started to smack her ass with his cock.

Rachel curved her back, which forced her butt further into the air. He took the bait and mounted her, his cock once again inside her where it belonged. His fingers gripped her hips, allowing the cyborg to push himself all the way inside. She moaned with pleasure.

“I don’t think you’ve learned the lesson yet.” Wrath’s right hand left her hip and moved to her butt. He squeezed it gently. “Have you?”

Rachel shook her head violently. “No. I haven’t. I need you to punish me.”

“I think you’re right.” Wrath pounded his hips harder against her as he drew his hand back. “I’m just the man to do it.” He smacked her round ass, keeping his hand on it to feel the reverberation. “Like that?”

Rachel’s pussy convulsed again. She had always secretly wanted to be punished, but she had never been bold enough to ask for it. Wrath seemed to read her mind. “Yes. More.”

Wrath continued spanking, whipping her with his hand as he crammed his dick into her tight, hot core. He reached up with his left hand and pulled at her hair, yanking her head back.

The reporter screamed with pleasure. Rachel felt out of control. The cyborg kept her pulled against him by his grip on her hair. Every impact of his hand sent a shudder of pleasure through her body. He increased his speed, pounding away until he finally exploded inside her. His hot liquid filled her up, and they collapsed together in a heap on the bed.

Rachel laid her head on his chest, listening to the pounding of his heart as they both tried to catch their breath. “That was unbelievable,” she panted.

Wrath reached an arm around her and pulled her closer. “Yes, you were.”

They lay together in silence. Rachel still didn’t want to ask him any questions about the future. The sex was going to make it harder to leave him and go back home.

“You’re going to stay here with me, you know.” Wrath startled her out of her thoughts.

“What?” Rachel pushed herself up to her elbow so she could see his face.

He returned her gaze with the serenity of someone who knows what he wants and that he would get it. “You’ll stay here with me,” he repeated. “Cyborg Sector has set me up with an apartment nearby so that I can finish rehabilitation. I want you with me.”

She didn’t want to cry. It seemed inappropriate after a fuck session. Nevertheless, tears threatened to come out of the corners of her eyes. “Oh, Wrath. I’d love to.”

He pulled her close with both arms, holding her like a tiny doll. “Call me Robert.”