Cynthia Sax's Blog, page 194
December 13, 2015
Cover For Crash And Burn
Yay! I have a cover for Crash And Burn, the next cyborg story (releasing February 23rd), and I love it!
Crash And Burn
Crash was manufactured to be one of the best warriors in the universe. The cyborg has spent many human lifespans fighting the enemy. But, unlike his battle-loving brethren, he doesn’t enjoy killing. When he escapes the Humanoid Alliance, he vows to never end another life.
Then he meets Safyre, an infuriating human female, and he considers breaking his vow.
Safyre will do anything to save her friend, the being she loves like a sister. She’ll ravish a huge hunky cyborg, kiss his best friend, and invoke scorching hot desires the male never realized he could feel. Dark soulful eyes, a quick wit, and a tempestuous passion won’t divert her from her mission.
Love, and a planet-destroying weapon, however, might stop her permanently.
Pre-order link coming soon (and you WILL wish to pre-order Crash And Burn. Trust me on this.)
***
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Vapor is the most advanced cyborg the Humanoid Alliance has ever developed. He’s a finely honed weapon, a warrior without parallel, half man and half machine. No lock can contain him. No being can stop him. Whatever he wants, he takes.
He wants Mira Breazeal, the Designer’s daughter.
She’s his one temptation, his sexy target. Vapor shouldn’t crave her caresses, steal her kisses, make her scream with ecstasy. The cyborgs want her dead and they would question his loyalty if he didn’t kill her. The humans would shoot him on sight if he dared to touch her.
Their love is forbidden. Their desire could be lethal. One human and one cyborg will risk everything for a moment of passion.
Buy Now:
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Breathing-Vapor-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B015UN87JC/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Breathing-Vapor-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B015UN87JC/
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breathingvapor-1897324-340.html
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/breathing-vapor-cynthia-sax/1122718203
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/ebook/breathing-vapor
December 12, 2015
SciFi Saturday News – Hacking DNA, Stormtroopers, and Solar Winds
Here is the round up of the SciFi stories that inspired me this week
Hacking DNA and Deep Space Travel
Are you writing a shifters in space SciFi romance and you want a reason for them existing?
Amor Menezes, an aerospace engineer and synthetic biology researcher, shares
“For resource utilization, it’s obvious that on a long-duration space mission you’ll want to take advantage of every material at your disposal. We think that engineered organisms could certainly help us repurpose materials we’re currently wasting, like the one kilogram of carbon dioxide that astronauts exhale each day.”
Solar Winds
Want to talk about solar winds in your SciFi romance (sexy – grins)?
“Waves of plasma from the sun known as solar wind have been found to affect the levels of water on the moon as well as other lunar features, according to new a research conducted by scientists in Sweden.”
Star Wars’ Finn
I loved this interview with John Boyega, the actor who plays Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I feel his excitement. As a cyborg writer, I also loved his insights on playing a Stormtrooper.
“It was so intriguing about the role. I think for me, wearing the helmet and being part of the Stormtroopers felt so strange. Like, so this is what it feels like to just be one of the many. And to look the same, and to have to do the same thing. To be under the same orders. This is what it feels like. And I was actually quite shocked as to how much Finn’s journey is investigating [that idea]. He’s a fun character, he has a very complicated history, but we get to experience the individuality of Stormtroopers, and it’s never been done before.”
What has inspired you this week?
***
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Vapor is the most advanced cyborg the Humanoid Alliance has ever developed. He’s a finely honed weapon, a warrior without parallel, half man and half machine. No lock can contain him. No being can stop him. Whatever he wants, he takes.
He wants Mira Breazeal, the Designer’s daughter.
She’s his one temptation, his sexy target. Vapor shouldn’t crave her caresses, steal her kisses, make her scream with ecstasy. The cyborgs want her dead and they would question his loyalty if he didn’t kill her. The humans would shoot him on sight if he dared to touch her.
Their love is forbidden. Their desire could be lethal. One human and one cyborg will risk everything for a moment of passion.
Buy Now:
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Breathing-Vapor-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B015UN87JC/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Breathing-Vapor-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B015UN87JC/
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breathingvapor-1897324-340.html
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/breathing-vapor-cynthia-sax/1122718203
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/ebook/breathing-vapor
December 11, 2015
Releasing Rage Interview
The always awesome Cara Bristol has interviewed me today!
Stop by and ask me questions. You know I’m an open book. Bad pun intended (grins)
http://carabristol.com/2015/12/an-interview-with-cynthia-sax-about-sfr-cyborgs-breathing-vapor/
Here’s a snippet…
Cara Bristol: The romances I’ve read of yours all have a strong theme of domination and submission. Do all your books have that? Do you see yourself continuing with that theme in the future?
Cynthia Sax: Not all of my stories have domination and submission in them. The themes are driven by the characters. Cyborgs are warriors, manufactured soldiers. If beings disobey their commands on the battlefield, they could die. It makes sense that, when they give orders, they expect to be obeyed, even in their sexual relationships. It also makes sense that they’d reprimand their loved ones for disobedience and that these reprimands would be physical. Warriors prefer action over talking.
***
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Vapor is the most advanced cyborg the Humanoid Alliance has ever developed. He’s a finely honed weapon, a warrior without parallel, half man and half machine. No lock can contain him. No being can stop him. Whatever he wants, he takes.
He wants Mira Breazeal, the Designer’s daughter.
She’s his one temptation, his sexy target. Vapor shouldn’t crave her caresses, steal her kisses, make her scream with ecstasy. The cyborgs want her dead and they would question his loyalty if he didn’t kill her. The humans would shoot him on sight if he dared to touch her.
Their love is forbidden. Their desire could be lethal. One human and one cyborg will risk everything for a moment of passion.
Buy Now:
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Breathing-Vapor-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B015UN87JC/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Breathing-Vapor-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B015UN87JC/
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breathingvapor-1897324-340.html
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/breathing-vapor-cynthia-sax/1122718203
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/ebook/breathing-vapor
December 10, 2015
Releasing Rage – 5 Star Review
It’s About The Book gives Releasing Rage 5 stars!
Woot!
And this is one of my favorite reviews of all time because she gets this story. She totally gets it. There’s nothing a writer loves more than hearing that a reader understands exactly what the story is about.
http://itsaboutthebook.com/2015/12/07/releasing-rage-cyborg-sizzle-1/
Here’s a snippet…
“I broke all of my personal rules for writing reviews with this book. First, I’ve stopped giving 5 Stars to a series book, especially the first book in a series, but here I am giving this one an enthusiastic 5 Stars. This one does stand alone nicely and has good resolution, so that is my excuse.”
***
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Half Man. Half Machine. All Hers.
Rage, the Humanoid Alliance’s most primitive cyborg, has two goals—kill all of the humans on his battle station and escape to the Homeland. The warrior has seen the darkness in others and in himself. He believes that’s all he’s been programmed to experience.
Until he meets Joan.
Joan, the battle station’s first female engineer, has one goal—survive long enough to help the big sexy cyborg plotting to kill her. Rage might not trust her but he wants her. She sees the passion in his eyes, the caring in his battle-worn hands, the gruff emotion in his voice.
When Joan survives the unthinkable, Rage’s priorities are tested. Is there enough room in this cyborg’s heart for both love and revenge?
Buy Now:
On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Releasing-Rage-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B00ZOL1DRO
On ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-releasingrage-1850041-340.html
On B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/releasing-rage-cynthia-sax/1122455646
December 6, 2015
Interview With J.K. Coi
I sat down (virtually) with J.K. Coi for a short interview. J.K. Coi’s latest release is Protecting his Ass(ets), a Contemporary Romance.
Cynthia Sax: What makes Steve, the hero, absolutely lickable?
J.K. Coi: Steve Nolan is completely comfortable with April as his bodyguard, and that makes him really sexy. I love the fact that he has no problem asserting his own masculinity without diminishing any of April’s significant strength. He can let her be his bodyguard and acknowledge her intelligence and experience without feeling threatened by it, mostly because he knows where his own gifts and talents lie and he’s confident in himself.
Cynthia Sax: What is one thing that makes you super excited about Protecting his Ass(ets) release?
J.K. Coi: I’ve been excited for this story ever since meeting Steve in Ben’s book, IN BED WITH THE COMPETITION. He was a horrible, smart-ass flirt, but there were depths to him that I was eager to explore, and he turned out to have more going for him than even I had originally imagined.
Cynthia Sax: What is your favorite line from Protecting his Ass(ets)?
J.K. Coi: It’s a little more than a one liner, but I like the exchange between April and Steve so much and this is a great example of it.
“Wait!” she cried. “Don’t you dare ruin those pants.”
He paused and grinned at her. “I have others.”
“No you don’t,” she reminded him, looking back into the pantry. “Not unless you think your devastating smile is enough to keep people from noticing that your clothes have all been slashed to ribbons.” She scooted to grab a roll of paper towels from the bottom shelf.
He grinned. “You think my smile is devastating?”
Heat bloomed up to her forehead. “I think you know exactly what you do with your smile, and it’s all very calculated.”
“Shit. My secret’s out.” His grin only widened.
Cynthia Sax: What creates conflict between April and Steve?
J.K. Coi: April and Steve are from very different worlds, and she’s been burned before by the class gap and doesn’t want to let her guard down again. Steve’s learned from experience to keep his true self close to the vest unless he wants his privacy aired to the entire world. Because of it, most people take his flirty, playboy image at face value and don’t get to see the genuine guy with a math geek’s heart that he really is.
Cynthia Sax: Thank you for joining us today, J.K.!
J.K. Coi’s Website: http://www.jkcoi.com
*****************************************************************************
When a sexy CEO needs protection…only the best will do.
CEO Steve Nolan is wealthy, successful, and in danger. Now, thanks to his business partner, he has a bodyguard—a rigid, controlled woman with a smoky voice that invites steamy thoughts of rumpled sheets and oh-so-satisfying sleepless nights. So if Steve has to play the game, he’s going to make damn sure he’s in charge of the rules…just as long as no one finds out.
April Porter has met incredibly handsome, high-powered men before. Guys just as smooth, who didn’t take her seriously, and who broke her heart. So she’s just here to do her job and stay focused and professional.
Even if Steve Nolan isn’t just another rich jerk.
Even if the sexual spark between them keeps getting hotter.
And even if protecting his business and his ass(ets) means April could lose her heart in the bargain…
Buy Now:
At Entangled: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/protecting-his-assets/
On Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Protecting-His-Assets-J-K-Coi-ebook/dp/B01828N3UU
On Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/protecting-his-assets-jk-coi/1122956743
On iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/protecting-his-assets/id1059406237
December 5, 2015
SciFi Saturday News – Star Wars As Space Opera, Time-Space Ripples & A Self-Fueling Space Junk Eating Machine
Here is the round up of the SciFi stories that inspired me this week
George Lucas 1977 Star Wars Interview
How much science needs to be in SciFi? According to George Lucas, not much.
In a 1977 Star Wars interview, George Lucas shared
“I think of this as a movie Disney would have made when Walt Disney was alive.”
“I call it ‘space opera.’ That’s a genre that’s been around a long time, in the books of Burroughs and Heinlein, but never really done on film.
“What I attempted was science fiction without the science. I wanted an engaging Saturday matinee movie, but not camp or parody. And not a heavy intellectual trip like ‘2001.’ Think of this as ‘The Sting’ in outer space.”
Investigating Time-Space Ripples
Want a little time travel in your SciFi Romance?
“In a long-running quest to find gravitational waves in space, the European Space Agency (ESA) successfully launched a mission yesterday (Dec. 4) to test wave-finding technology.
The mission is called LISA Pathfinder and will not actually search for waves itself. Rather, the mission will serve as the trailblazer for the technology scientists hope will help find these ripples in space-time.”
A Self-Fueling Space Junk Eating Machine
If you need a human-made device that could possibly create a universe-wide disaster or add a horror element to your SciFi Romance, how about a self-fueling space junk eating machine?
“Space junk–both manufactured and natural–has been orbiting our planet and threatening satellites and spacecraft with collisions. And accordingly, engineers and scientists have been devising ways to get rid of the mess. But whether it’s a spacefaring robot or spacecraft carrying nets or traps, it requires power, and that’s an expensive prospect. So, engineers at the Tsinghua University in Beijing have proposed a design concept for a space debris engine that can eat its way through the junk and convert it into plasma fuel to sustain its mission.”
More Photos From Space
National Geographic has shared some inspiring space photos
Including this photo of Saturn’s rings and a crescent Enceladus, the planet’s third largest moon.
What has inspired you this week?
***
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Vapor is the most advanced cyborg the Humanoid Alliance has ever developed. He’s a finely honed weapon, a warrior without parallel, half man and half machine. No lock can contain him. No being can stop him. Whatever he wants, he takes.
He wants Mira Breazeal, the Designer’s daughter.
She’s his one temptation, his sexy target. Vapor shouldn’t crave her caresses, steal her kisses, make her scream with ecstasy. The cyborgs want her dead and they would question his loyalty if he didn’t kill her. The humans would shoot him on sight if he dared to touch her.
Their love is forbidden. Their desire could be lethal. One human and one cyborg will risk everything for a moment of passion.
Buy Now:
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Breathing-Vapor-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B015UN87JC/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Breathing-Vapor-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B015UN87JC/
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breathingvapor-1897324-340.html
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/breathing-vapor-cynthia-sax/1122718203
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/ebook/breathing-vapor
December 2, 2015
Breathing Vapor And Character Traits
See other great SciFi romance posts here – http://sfrcontests.blogspot.ca/p/sfr-brigade-presents.html
In Psych 101, the first year university psychology course I took many, many years ago, the professor told us that every character trait could be both a strength and a weakness. I was fascinated by that concept. At first I thought, ‘No way. There are some traits that are one and not the other.’ But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was true.
Mira, the heroine in Breathing Vapor, for example, is a liar. Lying is bad, right? We’re taught that as children. Yet we lie all the time. We tell loved ones that everything will be okay when we don’t think it will be. When our buddies need our help, we’re magically ‘not busy.’ When we’re asked how we are, we say we’re fine, even if we aren’t.
Lying is one of Mira’s greatest strengths, a tool she uses to help others. It is also her greatest weakness. Love is based on trust. Trust is based on truth. She doesn’t tell anyone the truth. How can she be trusted? How can she truly be loved?
Vapor, the cyborg hero, is a killer. You can’t get much worse than that. He ends lives. Except Vapor is a warrior, a soldier. Soldiers kill to protect. They follow orders. They end lives to keep others safe. That’s noble, not a bad trait.
In the story you’re reading or writing, does one of the main characters have a trait that is both a strength and a weakness for her/him? Do YOU have a trait that is both a strength and a weakness?
For example: I tend to daydream a lot. That’s great for my job as a writer. It isn’t so great when I drive. (which is why I choose not to drive)
***
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Vapor is the most advanced cyborg the Humanoid Alliance has ever developed. He’s a finely honed weapon, a warrior without parallel, half man and half machine. No lock can contain him. No being can stop him. Whatever he wants, he takes.
He wants Mira Breazeal, the Designer’s daughter.
She’s his one temptation, his sexy target. Vapor shouldn’t crave her caresses, steal her kisses, make her scream with ecstasy. The cyborgs want her dead and they would question his loyalty if he didn’t kill her. The humans would shoot him on sight if he dared to touch her.
Their love is forbidden. Their desire could be lethal. One human and one cyborg will risk everything for a moment of passion.
Buy Now:
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Breathing-Vapor-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B015UN87JC/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Breathing-Vapor-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B015UN87JC/
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breathingvapor-1897324-340.html
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/breathing-vapor-cynthia-sax/1122718203
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/ebook/breathing-vapor
Being Green Releases Today
Being Green releases today. This 40 page short story is available for free to newsletter subscribers. Instructions on how to download this story will be in today’s newsletter.
Note: If you didn’t receive your newsletter, email me at CynthiaSax@ymail.com
Green, a cyborg warrior, cares for one being—his plant Windy. When Windy becomes sick, he’ll do anything to heal her, even venture across the universe to visit a worlds-renowned plant doctor.
He doesn’t expect to find love.
Doctor Shelby Cooper is the sole resident of a tiny planet. She prefers to be alone rather than risk caring for another being and then losing him. The curvaceous scientist is determined to resist Green’s patient caresses, his thought-burning kisses, his slow seduction.
She has underestimated the power of a cyborg’s passion.
December 1, 2015
Interview With Lexi Post
I sat down (virtually) with Lexi Post for a short interview. Lexi Post’s latest release is Christmas with Angel, a holiday Contemporary Cowboy Erotic Romance.
Cynthia Sax: Where did you get the idea for Christmas with Angel?
Lexi Post: As usual, I am inspired by the classics and the classic that inspired Christmas with Angel was “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” by Bret Harte. That story focuses on the tainted and the innocent, and the relationship between the two. In my story, I ask the question: Is tainted a spectrum and is it a matter of perspective? I did this by focusing on Cole and Lacey’s conflict and on the former abusive owner of Angel, the rescued horse that Cole gave to Lacey.
Cynthia Sax: How does Christmas with Angel start?
Lexi Post: This story starts with Cole setting up a Christmas bower in the barn so he and Lacey can be alone. This was important to show the steadfast love these two have, and have had, since this book focuses on looking in on Cole and Lacey’s Happily Ever After 
As it turns out, they haven’t had much “alone” time.
After Lacey moved in with Cole and his grandparents, his two cousins, one with a baby, and old Billy from Poker Flat also moved in. Cole and Lacey are building a house on the ranch, but it barely has outside walls. So Cole lines an empty stall with hay and sleeping bags and adds Christmas decorations and a bottle of wine and brings Lacey out there to start their first Christmas together. Let’s just say that it gets a little hot in there, especially for this firefighter cowboy 
Cynthia Sax: What causes problems between Cole and Lacey?
Lexi Post: This is a combination of Cole always doing what is right and Lacey being unable to forgive her future mother-in-law. It is Christmas, and as with many couples, the question of where to spend Christmas day becomes a serious issue. Cole expects Lacey to go to his parents’ house for his mother’s annual Christmas dinner party because it’s “the right thing to do.” Lacey isn’t yet ready to forgive Cole’s mother for making him dump her eight years earlier. Lacey would prefer to spend the day at Last Chance because no one else will be on the ranch and they can have some much needed alone time.
Cynthia Sax: Is Christmas with Angel a series and will you be writing more stories in this series?
Lexi Post: Yes and yes! Christmas with Angel is the first book in the Last Chance series and is actually a sequel to Cowboy’s Match which was book #2 in the Poker Flat series. There will be more books in the Last Chance series including Trace’s Trouble which comes out at the end of this month in a boxed set called Ring in a Cowboy. This series takes place on the Last Chance Ranch, hence the name, but it’s more than that. This is a horse rescue ranch and so it is the “last chance” for a decent life for the horses that are brought there, but it also becomes a last chance for the people who gravitate to it as well. Right now I’m expecting this to be a four book series, but you never know
Cynthia Sax: Thank you for joining us today, Lexi!
Lexi Post’s Website: http://www.lexipostbooks.com/
*****************************************************************************
Cowboy firefighter, Cole Hatcher, is determined to do what’s right and take his fiancé with him to his mother’s annual holiday dinner party. After all, the two most important ladies in his life need to learn to get along and the sooner the better. Besides, the rest of the family will be there.
Lacey Winters can’t forgive her future mother-in-law for keeping her and Cole apart for eight years. While she loves Cole’s family, including the five they are living with, she wants to spend Christmas alone with Cole on Last Chance Ranch.
But there are worse things brewing than family drama. This Christmas day, nothing goes as planned…for anyone.
Buy Now:
On Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B018CLKQJS
On Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1ShMNw6
On iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1061507996
On Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/christmas-with-angel
On Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1NNjjSP
On Amazon AU: http://bit.ly/1LxxZUs
On Amazon DE: http://amzn.to/1lHqUfa
On Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/1PX9xSJ
November 29, 2015
Second Excerpt From Being Green
I shared the first excerpt from Being Green, the short story available exclusively to newsletter subscribers last week.
You can read that excerpt here: http://tasteofcyn.com/2015/11/23/first-excerpt-from-being-green/
Here is the second excerpt
***
She was beautiful, her face round and tanned a warm golden hue, her lips as red as Windy’s petals, her hair as brown as his plant’s soil, and her eyes—
Her eyes are green. Zip’s transmission was edged with wonder. I didn’t know humans could have eyes that color.
They’re the shade of newly formed leaves. Green gazed at his female, enthralled, yearning to touch her, to determine if her cheeks were as soft as they appeared.
She gazed around the chamber. “You’re not physically here.” Lines appeared between her eyebrows. “But I hear your voice…I think.” Her laughter flowed into Green’s soul and settled deep in his core. “I could be hallucinating. I’ve been alone for so long.”
He heard the yearning for companionship in her voice. “The hailing frequencies are open.”
“Oh shit. Did I forget to turn them off?” She scrambled off the sleeping support. The thin, faded, sleeveless chest covering and skimpy ass covering she wore barely contained her jiggling curves.
Green didn’t know where to look, every view of her stirring his lust. His shaft pressed against the fabric of his flight suit. His balls ached. He wanted this female, more than he’d ever wanted any thing, any being.
She slapped her hands along storage compartments. Her fingers were intriguingly calloused and creased with tiny silver scars. “The communicator is around here somewhere. I know it is.”
Was she seeking to turn it off? “I require your assistance, my female. Windy, my plant, is damaged.” And he wanted to talk with his little botanist, to look at her some more.
“My name is Doctor Shelby Cooper, not your female.” She moved a plant container, looked behind it. “And I have been helping you, haven’t I? I gave you general plant care tips. There’s no need to speak to me directly.”
There was every need to speak to her. “If you saw Windy, you might have additional insights.”
She paused. Her head tilted, her curls shifting on her shoulders, the tendrils long and tangled. “That’s true, I might, and you’ve already contacted me.” Her patting of storage compartments resumed. “But to see Windy, I first have to find the communicator.”
“It’s located one row up, three columns to your right,” he directed, trusting her to continue their conversation.
The female’s chambers are a mess. Barrel wasn’t as amused as Green was by her disorganization. Why does she require so many containers?
My female has no means of replacing them if she discards them. He understood her thought processes. His female had little access to external resources.
She isn’t your female.
She is. She’s mine. Green rumbled his claim.
You can’t be certain of that, not yet. Barrel pushed back.
I’m as certain about Shelby as Rage was about Joan. The C Model cyborg had met Joan and had immediately known that the human female belonged to him.
Green felt the same way about his botanist.
Shelby was his.
He had to impress her, but how? Rage had earned Joan’s love by killing for her. According to Shelby’s own reports in scientific journals, there were no other beings on the small, unknown planet she inhabited, no enemies for Green to battle.
“There you are.” She retrieved the communicator, setting it before her, at eye level. “You’re a…” Her lush lips rounded. “No, this must be a mistake. You can’t be Green. You’re a cyborg.”
“I am Green.” Did his female have an issue with cyborgs? Many humans did, viewing them as machines, not living beings capable of free thought and emotions.
“You’re contacting me about your plant.” She grabbed her personal viewscreen and scrolled through the data. “Yes, you want to repair her. Repair.” She blew out her breath. “That does sound like something a cyborg would say, but how does that make any sense?” She spoke to herself, not requiring a reply. “Cyborgs kill beings. They’re warriors, trampling fragile ecosystems under their big boots.”
Green gazed down at his big black boots. He’d done his share of trampling. “We also care for beings. We love them, with everything we have.” His attention returned to the female he was destined to love. “And we’d do anything for them.”
Including violate hailing protocols, Zip quipped.
“You’re a violent being and I don’t like violence.” Shelby’s fingers trembled. “Not at all.”
“I don’t like violence either.” Green processed that he was an abnormality. Cyborgs were designed to fight, the desire to kill programmed into many of them. “But before I escaped the Humanoid Alliance’s control, I had little choice. Either I killed or I was killed.”
His Shelby frowned, appearing adorably fierce. “That’s not right. No being should be forced to kill.”
“Many humans don’t consider cyborgs to be beings.”
She nibbled on her bottom lip, her thoughts and emotions easy to read. His little female felt outrage on his behalf, then intrigue, then understanding of his predicament. “Some humans don’t value plants either.”
“I value my plant.” Windy meant the worlds to him. “I’m risking my existence to speak with you. If the Humanoid Alliance realizes a cyborg is free–”
“How would they realize that? I won’t tell them.” His Shelby stared at him.
Green held her gaze. What was she saying? Would she help him, help Windy?
“Did you finally determine what your plant’s species was?” She would help them. “My expertise is ancient Earth botany. If it doesn’t fall into that area, I can’t help you.”
Green grinned, his female’s prissiness amusing him. “This is Windy.” He set his plant on his lap. “Her previous models came from Earth.” That was Zip’s hypothesis.
“Hmmm…” Shelby leaned forward, her beautiful face filling the screen. “Can you turn the container for me?”
He complied.
The thought lines between her eyebrows captivated him. Cyborgs were taught to hide their feelings. His little human didn’t have that training, all of her emotions written on her countenance.
“It appears to be a species of poppy.”
“She,” he corrected.
“She.” Her gaze flicked to him, then back down at his plant. “Some beings consider poppies to be weeds. They spread with the early explorers to other planets, have completely taken over at least two that I know of, strangling the native vegetation.”
Green’s amusement faded. He loved Windy and wanted his Shelby to love her also. “Do you consider poppies to be weeds?”
“Of course not,” she replied indignantly. “Poppies are an important part of an ecosystem, and are beautiful, when healthy.” Her disapproving tone straightened his spine. “They are historically important. Poppies were once the symbol of war, of loss on the battlefield.” Her lips twisted. “It’s appropriate that you, as a warrior, would be drawn to it…to her.”
Green exchanged glances with Barrel and Zip. They didn’t have to transmit their insights. He knew what they were processing—Windy was destined to be his.
As Shelby was.
“But poppies are common.” She stacked three similarly shaped empty plant containers, one on top of the other, saving much needed space. “It kills me as a plant lover to say this, but it might be more efficient for you to discard your plant, to replace it, her, with a healthy version.”
She advised that he discard Windy, simply because she was damaged? “There’s no replacing Windy. She’s unique.”
“Physically, she’s not unique.”
“That might be true.” Although Zip had never seen another plant exactly like her, not in all of the databases he’d searched. And, during their escape from the Humanoid Alliance, Windy had survived a short venture into open space, a feat he understood was near impossible. “But emotionally, she’s irreplaceable to me,” Green shared. “She saved me.”
“She’s a poppy. She has very few natural defenses. How could she save you, a big strong warrior?” His Shelby narrowed her eyes, her disbelief tangible.
Green hesitated. If he shared the truth, revealing his weakness and his shame, he could lose his female, lose her respect, her love and any opportunity to breed with her.
But if he didn’t risk this, she’d never appreciate Windy’s importance to him or understand what he’d been through. His female wouldn’t truly know him.
He had to tell her all of it, the good and the bad.
***
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Green, a cyborg warrior, cares for one being—his plant Windy. When Windy becomes sick, he’ll do anything to heal her, even venture across the universe to visit a worlds-renowned plant doctor.
He doesn’t expect to find love.
Doctor Shelby Cooper is the sole resident of a tiny planet. She prefers to be alone rather than risk caring for another being and then losing him. The curvaceous scientist is determined to resist Green’s patient caresses, his thought-burning kisses, his slow seduction.
She has underestimated the power of a cyborg’s passion.
