Stranded with the Cyborg
(A Cy-Ops Sci-fi Romance)
by Cara Bristol
BlurbTen years ago Penelope Isabella Aaron had been a pain in Brock Mann’s you-know-what. Much has changed in a decade: “PIA” as he code-named her, has grown up and is about to attend her first Alliance of Planets summit conference, and Brock was transformed into a cyborg after a near-fatal attack. Now a secret agent with Cyber Operations, a covert paramilitary organization, Brock gets called in, not when the going gets tough, but when the going gets impossible. So when he’s unexpectedly assigned to escort Penelope to the summit meeting, he balks at babysitting a prissy ambassador. But after a terrorist bombing, a crash landing on a hostile planet, and a growing attraction to his protectee, Operation: PIA may become his most impossible assignment yet.
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Excerpt
Different,
my ass. At the Interplanetary Shuttle Port, Brock leaned against a pillar
outside the arrival gate of Pia’s incoming flight and erased from his face all
indication of how steamed he was. Pia had lived up to her former code name. She
hadn’t changed a bit. He’d have been really pissed if he’d gotten all the way
to Terra and then been informed his protectee had gone AWOL. Fortunately, he
hadn’t yet boarded his shuttle when Cy-Ops had received word through a secure
channel Pia was headed for the ISP. All he had to do was round her up.
All I have to do. He snorted. Nothing involving
Pia was ever easy.
The
computerized voice announced the landing, but Brock remained where he was and
scrutinized the crowd for potential threats. After the craft taxied to the dock
and locked to the terminal bridge, passengers began to disembark.
A carryall
slung over her shoulder, a naked Pia sashayed into the terminal. She wasn’t
technically nude, but Brock’s cyber-enhanced vision could see right through her
travel uniform. Only a cascade of blue-black hair streaming to her waist
impeded a full view. As she moved, her hair swung, giving him a peep show of
generous breasts tipped by rosy nipples. Nothing obscured the tantalizing mound
of her sex, the curls trimmed to a neat vee.
Brock yanked
his gaze to her face. Thick lashes framed violet eyes over high cheekbones and
a cute little chin that masked her stubbornness. The gonna-be-pretty-someday
teenager had transformed into a stunning, breathtakingly beautiful woman with a
flawless, creamy complexion.
Blood
rushed south, and Brock immediately activated his nanocytes to cool the heat.
She had no enhanced vision, and his uniform wasn’t transparent, but his
erection would be obvious if he didn’t control it.
She was
his current protectee, a former accuser, a spoiled, entitled, vindictive
hellion who’d derailed his CPO career, all facts his body continued to ignore.
This was Carter’s fault. If the director hadn’t interrupted him before he could
avail himself of the services of a Darius 4 pleasure droid, he wouldn’t be
reacting this way. If his former friend and current superior officer hadn’t
forced this assignment on him, he wouldn’t be here at all.
Fuck it
all to hell. Brock shoved off from the post.
Pia
stopped dead, blocking disembarking passengers. Her jaw dropped, and her huge
violet eyes widened more. “Agent Mann?” She hadn’t gotten any taller—she didn’t
even top his shoulder.
“Ambassador,”
he growled, mad at her, angry with Carter, and furious with himself.
She licked
her lips. “W-what are you doing here?”
He took
her arm and led her out of the traffic flow. “Is that a question to ask
your…husband?” If she was his wife, his real wife, he’d make damn sure she
never wore another travel uniform. It didn’t matter that only machine scanners,
droids, and cyborgs could see through it.
She jerked
and snapped back her head. “You’re my bodyguard? No, absolutely not.” She
wrenched her arm out of his grasp. “Despite what my mother believes, I don’t
need a babysitter, and certainly not you. You may return to whatever other
duties you have,” she said like she was dismissing an android.
“I don’t
take orders from you,” he said. “I issue them. You’ll do what I tell you to
do.” He leaned in. The scent of her hair swirled around him. “My orders to
ensure your safety supersede your assignment. If that means tossing you over my
shoulder and putting you on the first flight to Terra, so be it.”
Review
Ten years may have passed, but Brock doesn't believe Pia has changed her childish ways.
Pia has devoted her life to making a name for herself without help from her mother. She wants to prove that she is more than a name, plus in some ways, make up for a disastrous decision she made when she was younger.
Now thrown together, they must work together to find a way to survive after an attack on Pia's life. But all their time together brings feeling to the surface that Brock feels he can't act on. He's not the man that Pia thinks he is and he believes he can't give her want she deserves.
But Pia's defiance is strong and pushes Brock to the limits until the truth about his upgrades is revealed. Now Pia must decide if Brock is still the man she believes him to be or a machine. But even is she wants him, no questions asked, does he want her?
I really enjoyed this story. It's a fast paced story about two people that first meet under usual circumstances, parted after a misguided decision, and thrust back together years later. Brock is the same man he used to be, but with certain improvements that makes him believe a normal live will never be within his grasps. Pia wants to be wanted by the one man that she's always wanted. Both have their issues, but I love that even though it may never last, they take the risk. If it's just for the day or for a lifetime, they need to express their feelings.
In the end, this story proves that sometimes you have to take a risk, no matter the consequences. And you just get the one thing your heart desires.
I can't wait to see what Cara will bring us next in this exciting new series.
About the Author
Multi-published, Cara Bristol is the author of more than 20 erotic romance titles. She writes science fiction romance, contemporary romance, paranormal, and spanking romance.No matter what the subgenre, one thing remains constant: her emphasis on character-driven seriously hot erotic stories with sizzling chemistry between the hero and heroine.
Cara has lived many places in the United States, but currently lives in Missouri with her husband. She has two grown stepkids. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading and traveling.
You can find Cara at
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