The countdown to the release day for Strive For Forever continues!
I’m sharing the third scene from the first chapter this week.
You can read the first scene here:
http://tasteofcyn.com/?p=10875
***
“I wanted only you to find it.” Grin nodded. “No one else. Especially not the Humanoid Alliance.” They all hated their manufacturers. His peace-preferring friend was no exception to that. “If something happened to me.” That if cast a chill around Strive’s heart. “I projected you would come here with Raw, and the two of you would locate it.”
“You projected that correctly.” Raw and Raw’s female rejoined them.
“What are you hiding?” Strive ran his fingers over the stone. There was a slight grove on the surface. He pressed it.
The stone slid forward, revealing a storage space. In that storage space was an object wrapped in purple fabric.
He reached for it.
“Don’t touch it.” Grin’s female blocked his hands. “Not unless you absolutely have to. It has… powers.”
“It’s a weapon.” Raw’s eyes gleamed with interest. Their warrior friend viewed everything as a potential weapon.
Grin’s head dipped. “It can be a weapon.”
Raw had been correct.
Strive rolled his eyes. They would never hear the end of that.
“What does it do?” The male nearly vibrated with excitement.
“It’s a source of life, a gift, and it saved my kind.” Reverence and gratitude softened Grin’s female’s voice. “But if it is wielded improperly, it could destroy the universe.”
“It must be protected.” Grin wrapped one of his arms around his female.
That explained the extensive defenses they’d erected around the settlement and around their domicile.
Strive’s friend and his female were not only protecting her kind. They were protecting a mysterious weapon. And the universe.
“Who is aware of this weapon?” Raw’s processors had shifted to battle and to potential foes.
“We retrieved it from a Humanoid Alliance facility.” Grin relayed that news. “And we utilized it there.” His expression turned bleak.
His female appeared as grim as he did.
Beings must have died when they’d wielded the weapon. Strive’s friend disliked killing as much as he did.
“Frag. I wish I could have seen that.” Raw was a different type of being.
“No. You don’t wish to see that.” Grin’s female didn’t process how much the warrior enjoyed battle. “And the gift wasn’t the only object we retrieved.”
She pressed the top of the stone again. It slid back into place.
“Don’t show them.” Grin spoke to his female. “Strive will find the objects.” His friend said that with a confidence Strive didn’t share.
He hadn’t detected anything else unusual on his first scan of the chamber.
His second scan was slower, more detailed.
He focused on the objects sporting his designs.
Which were many. His friend had decorated his home with Strive’s art.
That pleased Strive. Tremendously.
The beams over their heads were engraved with images of the constellations as seen from the Cyborg Homeland. They were true to the designs he’d fabricated.
The floor tiles sported images of interesting rocks and streams he’d visually captured. The colors had been changed to shades of brown. But that was the only variance.
The wall panels were so lightly etched that at first glance they appeared devoid of decoration. The images were of plants.
Every vegetation depicted were equipped with defenses. The blooms of the Taphao Thung 2 fire bushes sketched on one panel exuded toxic spores. The giant leaves of the Brahen Base plant featured on another panel snapped shut when touched, trapping prey in their grips. The thorns of the Lipperhey 76 rose displayed on a third panel could pierce the toughest body armor.
Those thorns were upside down. Strive moved toward that panel.
His friend’s grin relayed he’d found the second hiding spot.
He skimmed his fingers over the panel. There were no unusual dips in the metal.
Stepping back, he perused the wall again.
The thorns were upside down.
Upside down.
On impulse, he felt along the edges of the panel. He located a fingerhold on the side and tugged. Nothing happened. He tried to rotate it. The panel moved.
Strive spun the image until the thorns faced in the correct direction. A click sounded, and the panel shifted to the right, revealing a compartment. That small space held a pack.
He leaned forward and a wave of scent hit him. It was a bombardment of beauty in vapor form, and it nearly knocked him off his booted feet.
Strive staggered and gripped the wall for support. His cock hardened. Desire rushed through his circuits. He saw bursts of colors—reds, greens, yellows, blues—but his processors communicated they didn’t truly exist.
The fragrance was pure inspiration. He breathed deeply, filling his nostrils and his soul with that sweet mixture, a combination of lust and wanting flavored with a hint of forever.
His auditory and visual systems fluctuated. His systems threatened to shut down.
***
Read the next scene (available July 17th) here:
http://tasteofcyn.com/?p=10881
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Strive For Forever
This cyborg seeks to vanquish an ancient entity and save his curvy human female.
Euryale made a terrible mistake. She opened a container she shouldn’t have touched and released one of the oldest lifeforms in existence. That all-powerful entity is now utilizing her as its host body and is slowly draining her energy.
Soon, she’ll die.
Euryale has accepted this fate and is determined to use her remaining moments in the universe to save as many lives as she can.
Her plans do NOT include a smoldering-hot, poetry-wielding cyborg willing to decimate entire planets to save her.
While under the control of the Humanoid Alliance, Strive, a K Model cyborg, disobeyed direct orders and refused to kill on their behalf. If he hadn’t escaped their cruel clutches, his defiance would have led to his death.
The male knowingly risked that fate to save the lifespans of complete strangers.
There is nothing he wouldn’t do to protect Euryale. The curvy human female is his genetic match, the one being he is destined to defend.
And she is in danger.
Strive would break every vow, cross every boundary, risk absolutely everything to keep her from harm.
Including battle a deity no one has ever defeated.
***
Strive For Forever is Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features an inspired cyborg, a joke-cracking scientist, and an all-powerful deity with plans of his own.
Pre-order Today:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Strive-Forever-SciFi-Cyborg-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BSMXYHPC
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Strive-Forever-SciFi-Cyborg-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BSMXYHPC
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Strive-Forever-SciFi-Cyborg-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BSMXYHPC
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/strive-for-forever/id6445480449
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/strive-for-forever-cynthia-sax/1142963331
