Her Cyborg Mates: Zodiac Cyborgs, #4

By Mina Carter

Even the most feared beings in the galaxy need love...

A cancer class cyborg, all Cael has ever known is war and pain. The love and support of her unit is all that kept her going even in the darkest days. But only two of them make her burn with need and desire, but she can't let it show. They're gemini's, coded for seduction, and she knows they'd never look twice at a nerdy cancer like her. She'd die for them, but kiss them? Romance? She's not brave enough to make that first move...

She's all they've ever wanted, and everything they think they can't have...

Infiltration units pulled from their tanks at the same time, Eoin and Archon have always done everything together. Every battle, every undercover mission for the fleet, they've been by each other's side. The one thing that could come between them? Cael, their unit's delicate, beautiful cancer class. They've shared before, can they persuade her that her future lies with not one of them, but both?

But life as the galaxy's most feared and hunted race is never easy. When Cael is taken by their enemies, she must make a choice. Her life or the lives of the men she loves...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mina Carter
• Release date: Sep 29, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393979777

Mina Carter

Mina Carter was born and raised in Middle Earth (otherwise known as the Midlands, England). After a slew of careers ranging from logistics to land-surveying she can now be found in the wilds of Leicestershire with her husband, daughter and a cat who moved in and never left. Suffering the curse of eternal curiosity, Mina never tires of learning new skills which has led to Aromatherapy, Corsetry, Chain-maille making, Welding, Canoeing, Shooting, and pole-dancing to name but a few. A full-time author and cover artist, Mina can usually be found hunched over a keyboard or graphics tablet, frantically trying to get the images and words in her head out and onto the screen before they drive her mad. She's addicted to coffee and Dairy-lea cheese triangles.

Book preview

1

She would never get tired of breathing free air.

Or of not being controlled.

Or of not being Combined Fleet Property.

CN-2067a, Cael to her friends, stood in the middle of the dirt track and closed her eyes. The slight breeze lifted her hair. Dropping her head back, she filled her lungs to bursting, holding the breath until her onboard rattled warnings in her ear about oxygen levels.

She ignored it for a few moments and then let the breath go with a contented sigh. She could have held on longer but that wasn’t the point. There was no command subroutine controlling her onboard any more so if she wanted to turn herself red in the face by not breathing, she could.

Opening her eyes, her vision was filled with blue. The vast, unending blue was unmarked by clouds or aerial vehicles. No ships or orbital stations. Just the vivid blue of the never-ending sky.

It was her favorite color.

It reminded her of hope.

It reminded her that she had a future. Finally.

A smile on her lips she looked down and around. Redemption, the home base of the cyborg rebellion lay around her. She snorted. Such a fancy title for something that was little more than a rag-tag collection of extruded plasti-pods, metal-framed buildings, and command units.

It looked like every forward operating base she’d ever served on crossed with a battered trading outpost. Which made sense. All of them, every single cyborg here, were former military... so when they’d rebelled, they’d followed their training and set up camp. In the dirt and dust of the valley floor, they had command modules in the center with residential pods curving around to the north and east. The vehicle compounds and landing pads lay to the south while a couple of barracks and the mess halls sat to the west.

She sighed, a small smile on her lips as she started to walk again. It was a familiar setup and eased her need for familiarity and routine. Like most Cancer-classes, she had ingrained thought processes and a need for patterns. There was a process for everything and everything had a process. Even the toiletries in her bathroom were arranged in a pleasing pattern, though that pattern did change too often for comfort...

She cut that thought off as she walked, nodding to a couple of male cyborgs as she passed by them at the water buckets. Scorpios by the looks of them, they were too big to be anything else but too small to be Leo-classes.

Hey! a female voice cut into her reverie and she turned to see Samara, her CO’s human mate, running to catch up with her. For a moment Cael’s attention was highjacked by the human’s delicate appearance.

Inwardly, Cael sighed. What she’d give to look like the curvy little human. She was tiny and delicate in a way Cael could never be, not with her advanced combat chassis and the enhanced systems running through every part of her body. Even as a Cancer-class, physically one of the smallest and weakest of the Zodiac classes, she could still play chicken with a shuttle and walk away the winner. No man would ever look at her the way Lyon looked at Samara, all growly protectiveness and desire that made the romantic heart she claimed she didn’t have go all pitter-patter.

Not that she wanted Lyon... far from it. Lyon was her CO and the closest thing she had to a father figure. He’d saved her life more times than she could count, and without him she’d never have survived her first battle. She’d been so fresh out of her tank and still figuring out how her legs worked. No, she wanted the love story—for a guy to look at her the way Lyon did Samara. Like she was his everything...

Not one, two guys, the little voice in the back of her head whispered. She ignored it as she smiled in welcome. No way was she going down that route.

Hey... how’s it going? she asked as the human woman caught up with her. Clinic all okay? A thread of concern ran through her voice.

Samara was a nurse, and medical staff was something they desperately needed. Cael’s stomach sank again. If only she’d been something useful like a Taurus-class... no need for a battle computer when they had no assets for her to control.

Yeah, all good. Samara smiled, a little tiredly. I was just going to grab a bite to eat if you want to join me?

Cael’s onboard presented information on the woman’s physical responses in the back of her mind, but after a moment she flicked it to mute. There was nothing majorly concerning, just what she’d expect for a woman pulling the kinds of shifts Samara had been at the clinic.

Several times she’d been outside her pod watching the stars when she’d seen Lyon walk by, carrying Samara home after he’d forcibly removed her from the clinic. Most times the little human had already been asleep.

Her stomach rumbled and answered the question for her.

Looks like that’s a yes then, she chuckled, rubbing a hand over her midsection. Samara’s gaze followed her hand.

God, what I’d give to have the metabolism you guys have, Samara grumbled with a grimace on her face as she pulled at her scrubs. I swear these shrink in the wash.

Cael shook her head, a small smile on her lips. You don’t.

She didn’t continue. There was no need for Samara, the sweetest, kindest human Cael had ever met, to know what horrors her people had perpetrated on Cael’s. It would be cruel and, besides, with Samara working in the clinic, she’d find out the worst of it sooner rather than later.

Samara blew out a sigh, her gaze connecting with a couple of cyborgs walking past. Both were gorgeous, with the sort of catwalk sex appeal looks that instantly made Cael feel dowdy. G-classes... Gemini units were built for infiltration and seduction.

And both directed hard looks at Samara.

Cael’s expression tightened, and she glared at both cyborgs until they backed down. Unlike them, she was a Cancer-class, a combat model... given half the chance they knew how badly she could fuck them up. Both looked away, quickly walking by, but Cael didn’t let up, glaring at them until they turned a corner.

Do you get that often? she murmured as she and Samara started walking again.

The human shrugged, quickly hiding her unhappy expression. Only a little. I can understand it, though. We... humans... did horrible things to you guys. It’s only natural they should hate me.

Hate the fleet, yes, Cael agreed with a growl. But not you. Did you ever operate on any of us? Did you remove limbs and install implants before we were woken up? Did you implant the onboard comps they used to control us?

Samara’s eyes grew wide. No. None of that. Lyon was the first cyborg I’d ever worked on.

Exactly. And what did you do? Cael asked, her voice holding a rougher edge. You dealt with his injuries and treated him as a person.

Well, yeah. Because he is. You all are, the nurse argued softly, her steps slowing as they both noted a small group of cyborgs up ahead.

Cael’s shoulders rose with tension until she spotted two familiar figures. Identical, they were both broad-shouldered and heavily muscled, and she’d know them anywhere. Eoin lounged against the wall of a pod while his brother Archon smiled charmingly, chatting to... Cael’s heart sank. The beautiful cyborg woman in front of him, hanging off every one of the male Gemini’s words, was another female G-class.

For fuck’s sake, she hissed, her words low enough that only Samara could hear her. "What is it with fucking female Geminis? It’s like more of them survived than any other fucking class."

We had a female Scorpio come in the other day, Samara commented as they walked by.

Cael focused all her attention on the human’s words, totally ignoring her two unit mates. If they wanted to screw the brains out of some G-class they’d only just met, that was their lookout. She wasn’t jealous. Not in any way, shape or form.

Really? she asked with interest. Females in the larger classes like Leo and Scorpio were rare.

Yeah. Her unit were all killed apparently. She was the only one who got away. She was in a bad way when the rescue team got to her. Samara shuddered, her sympathy for the other woman obvious in her expression. I really hope she pulls through. She’s been through hell.

Cael’s lips compressed as they walked into the dining hall.

So had they all.

Your dick will get us into trouble one of these days.

Archon ignored the comment over his internal link with his brother, Eoin, the same charming smile on his face as he looked at the woman in front of him. Tall and stacked, she had masses of honey-blonde hair that fell around her face in artful waves. Her features were a work of art, designed and sculpted by genetics and in-vitro surgery to be any man’s perfect fantasy. With wide, bright blue eyes, a pert nose and bee-stung lips, she was a walking wet-dream.

And a Gemini-class cyborg rated for seduction whose only purpose was to lead a guy around by his cock and balls until she’d completed her mission objective, whether that was to gain intelligence from her mark or put a bullet between his eyes.

Yeah… my unit got here a few days ago, she said, totally unaware of the conversation between him and Eoin, who was slouched against the wall a few feet away cleaning under his nails with his dagger. Was tough finding this place…

Apart from one glance, where she’d clocked Eoin’s scars and leg brace, she’d completely ignored the other man. But Archon was an infiltration unit, designed and trained from birth to notice anything and everything about a person. The slight tightness at the corner of her lips and the way her gaze shifted to avoid looking anywhere near Eoin said how uncomfortable she was with his presence. Anger swirled through him at that, but he couldn’t blame her. Damaged Geminis were a rarity. Anything that couldn’t be healed was considered a write-off, and a decommission order was given, which meant the affected Gemini was taken to a dissection unit and stripped for parts. Injuries like Eoin’s for the combat classes would have been fine. They’d have removed the leg, given him a metal one, and sent him back out in the field. But for an infiltration unit who had to be more human than the humans? He’d have been decommissioned as soon as they got back to their home base.

Luckily, they’d rebelled and broken free before that could happen.

She’s a chatty one. Isn’t she? Eoin commented waspishly, his expression not changing under the heavy beard he wore to cover the scars on his face. It’s a secret base, blondie. It’s not meant to be easy to fucking find.

Archon ignored the comment, keeping his attention on Isla.

Yeah, stops the fleeties dropping in on us, he said with a smile. Sometimes… yeah, sometimes some G-classes weren’t that bright, especially not without some fleet controller pulling their strings via their onboards.

Eventually you might even get to see home base. He winked, giving the party line that Redemption was just an outlying temporary base in case they were infiltrated. Having the fleet discover their base of operations would be bad… really bad.

She smiled at him, heat in her eyes as her gaze slid over him. It lingered over his broad chest and then warmed as it slid down toward his crotch. Her lips parted as she leaned in a little, her voice dropping slightly.

Well, I know I wouldn’t mind you dropping in on me.

Archon’s smile was automatic and programmed. Flirtation subroutines were as natural to him as breathing. Really now?

E… Have we ever? he asked Eoin over their private channel, unsure whether he’d ever slept with the woman in front of him. All her responses said yes, and a sense of familiarity prickled in the back of his brain. It wasn’t uncommon with G-classes, especially if they were sent undercover. They literally lived their cover lives while on mission. If she’d been assigned as his wife… or they’d been undercover for something else. But he couldn’t be sure. Some missions were so classified their memory banks for that time period were forcibly wiped during debrief. But… his gaze fixed on the dilation of her pupils, the way she swayed against him… sometimes the organics remembered anyway.

Not on one of our joint missions, the answer came back. Could have been a solo? I’ve never slept with her. She’s not my type.

The words were like a dash of cold water, shutting down the automatic reactions of his libido. Isla wasn’t his type either, not his type… the type he, Archon, the thinking being under all the implants and programming, preferred anyway. He might have slept with more women than he could recall, forced to seduce and sleep his way to his objective, but not one of them had been the woman who haunted his dreams. The woman he craved on a soul deep level, needed more than he needed air to breathe, hadn’t ever looked at him that way.

Heads up. Incoming on your six.

Archon didn’t need to turn around to know his brother had spotted Cael. He’d straightened up, his gaze fixed beyond Archon’s shoulder. The only time Eoin paid much attention to anything when not on mission was when the beautiful Cancer-class was around. Archon snuck a glance over his shoulder and sucked a breath in.

Cael walked down the main road, chatting to their leader’s human mate, but the human barely registered. All his attention was on Cael and his entire body came alive just at the sight of her. She was so beautiful. Tall, but still tiny compared to them, she was slender with masses of dark hair and solemn gray eyes that drank in the world around her. Once again, his memory banks nudged him, reminding him of what it had felt like to have her delicate, gentle hands on him, sliding over his skin and cupping the back of his neck as she looked at him with those soft, gray eyes.

The only problem was they hadn’t been in bed. She’d been rebuilding his shoulder at the time. The only reason she’d cupped his neck, lover-like, was to make sure he drank more rot-gut whiskey to dull his reactions for the few seconds she needed to get into his shoulder

Reviews for Her Cyborg Mates

[Missy Tapine-Tumu · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved this story and the Characters are so cool and enjoyable to read about in regards to the storyline.
Love this authors books ?

[Emp Kai · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Anything written by Mina definitely needs to be read!!! All her books are magnetic!