“First you throw me out of our house, and now you want to blindfold me?” Rin threw her hands up, bemused by her mate’s antics.

They stood in a clearing a short distance from their home, and Rin couldn’t help looking around in appreciation. She loved it here, surrounded by trees and wild, growing things. Granted, some of those things were dangerous and considered humans to be part of the food chain, but nothing in life was perfect. Was it?

“The blindfold won’t be on long, Sunshine. It’s part of the surprise.” Axe flashed her a slow, sexy smile that made her knees go weak. Damn him, he knew just how to get to her.

She held up her hand. “Only a minute. Not a second more.” Rin had spent the last three days as a guest at the royal palace in Haven while Axe “finished up” the surprise he’d been working on. She was bursting with curiosity and ready to make up for the time she’d been away from her big, brooding lover. To make things worse, all the psy-hawks knew about the surprise, but Hera refused to share even a single image or clue.The traitorous bird.

Hera chirped and sent her a pulse of amusement. The psy-hawk flew overhead, circling the clearing as she and the others Rin had taken with her rejoined the main flock.

“You said the demonstrations went well?” Axe asked as he moved to stand behind her. “Was the prince suitably impressed?”

Rin smiled and nodded, only stopping the motion when a strip of silken cloth fell over her eyes. “He was. They tore apart several drones, demonstrated how they could be a threat to enemy aircraft, and performed their aerial acrobatics with extra flair.” She tipped her face upward and raised her voice so it carried into the air above them. “They are all wonderful, shameless show-offs.”

Axe chuckled as he tied the blindfold with gentle hands and then let his fingers tangle in her ponytail to draw her head to one side. His lips brushed hers and a jolt of desire raced through her.

“And you love them for it,” he said. Every word made his beard rasp against her cheek, distracting her.

“I do. Almost as much as I love you.”

To her delight, Axe growled low in his throat. “You better love me more than those featherheads.”

“Most of the time I do,” she teased.

In response, he spun her around and folded her into his arms, her body pressed up against his. “I see. I’ll have to rectify that issue.

Rin fought to keep from laughing as she imagined Axe’s disgruntled expression. “How do you plan to do that?”

“Orgasms.” He rumbled. “Lots and lots of them.”

She leaned her cheek against the hard planes of his chest and surrendered to the need to laugh. “You’ve been spending too much time around Saral and her mates. I swear that female thinks orgasms are the solution to every problem in the galaxy.”

Even blindfolded, she could sense the predatory way he looked down at her. “Based on my experience. She’s probably right.”

After a brief consideration, Rin nodded in agreement. “Possibly, but I’ll need more data before I can confirm the theory. Lots of data.”

“That can be arranged.” There was no missing the smug tone in Axe’s voice. “But first, you need to see your present.”

“Oh yes! And you promised this blindfold wouldn’t stay on for long.”

He swung her up into his arms, breaking into a jog a split second later. “I made that agreement when I thought you’d be more compliant. You distracted me.”

“Compliant?” she spluttered, only half joking. “When have I ever been compliant?”

Axe chuckled. “You’re right. What the hell was I thinking?”

“I have no idea.” She waited a beat before adding a comment just to prove her previous point. “And why aren’t we there yet?”

He slowed to a stop a few seconds later. “We’re here. I was just enjoying having you back in my arms.” He lowered his voice and brushed a soft kiss to the crown of her hair. “I missed you, Sunshine.”

“I missed you, too. Nothing feels right when you’re not with me,” she confessed.

He kissed her brow and then set her back on her feet with care. The blindfold made it surprisingly difficult to find her balance, and she took full advantage of that fact to lean into Axe for support. He didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he kept one arm around her waist to steady her as he gently turned her until she faced what she assumed was the right direction.

“Ready?” he asked.

“More than,” she replied.

A quick tug and the blindfold fell away, leaving her blinking as the sunlight seared her eyes for a moment. She raised a hand to shade her face as she waited for her vision to clear. Then she saw it.

“Axe, it’s beautiful!” she exclaimed and ran toward the most beautiful building she’d ever seen. Four pillars of wood stood equidistant from each other, each of them carved in such a way they looked like the trunks of trees. Beams connected the four pillars and a wooden lattice covered the area she thought of as the roof. “Is this a pergola? Next spring, can we plant vines and flowers to grow up over all of this?” she asked, waving her hands excitedly.

“It is,” Axe nodded, looking on with pride. “But that’s not the best part. Take another look.”

Hera sent her a brief pulse of amusement as the psy-hawk swooped out of the sky, soaring between the pillars and over… a swing? Yes! Suspended in the middle of the structure was a swing large enough for two. Rin hurried over to get a closer look. The wood had the same rich reddish tones as the pillars, and every part had been polished until it gleamed. The seat was a simple design, just a single piece of wood that felt like warm silk beneath her fingers. It was the rest of the design that took her breath away.

Axe had carved the back and sides to look like a pair of stylized psy-hawks. Two familiar heads faced each other from the corners—Amun and Hera.

Both carved birds held their wings extended. Two overlapped to form the back of the seat, while the other two curved around to make the sides. The carvings were so intricate she could see individual feathers.

“Oh Axe. This is… I don’t have the words.”

Hera flew over and perched on the side of the bench that held her likeness. She looked as pleased as Rin had ever seen her, preening as she turned her head and raised one wing to echo the form captured in the wood.

Rin laughed and reached out to scratch the hawk’s neck. “It’s as lovely as you are, Hera.”

The structure sat in the center of a clearing to one side of the house, giving anyone seated there a clear view of the sky overhead and the surrounding forest. She could already imagine herself out here, rocking on the swing as she observed the hawks. She could take notes, make recordings, and take advantage of the shade when summer came again. “Do you think we can plant enough vines to make it rain-resistant?” she asked thoughtfully. “Oh, wait. No, that wouldn’t work. If the vines are too thick, I wouldn’t be able to see the hawks.”

Axe grinned. “I thought about that and came up with a different solution. Look on the shelf on the right side of the swing.”

Shelf? She scampered around to the side and immediately saw what he meant. It wasn’t large, but it would be enough for her to set out a recorder, drinks, and whatever else she might want while working. For the moment, the only thing on the shelf was a small remote control.

“What does this do?” she asked.

“Press the button and see.”

There were only a few options, so she picked the largest one and pressed it. A low hum started, accompanied by an odd tingle that vanished as quickly as it appeared. She knew that sensation. “A force field?” she asked, looking around for the telltale shimmer.

“Strong enough to keep out the worst of the weather, but the birds have no trouble flying through it.”

“This is amazing! I’ve got the most incredible observation post in the galaxy.” She turned around and threw herself at Axe, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing him tight. “I love you so much, and I can’t believe you made this for me.”

“The birds are convinced I made it in honor of them. You’re just allowed to use it.” Axe shrugged out of her grip easily and stepped back so he could look into her face. “I love you and I want you to do what you love in safety and comfort.”

Tears filled her eyes and made her vision blur as she gazed up at him. Her big, growly cyborg, the one even other cyborgs were wary off. He’d done this for her. Crafting this incredible structure with his bare hands.

She reached up to touch his face, then looked back at the swing again. It wasn’t just a structure, or even a work of art. It was love made manifest.

“I am the luckiest woman in the galaxy,” she whispered. “And I love you, too.”

He bent to kiss her, and the moment their lips touched her heart overflowed with a profound and giddy joy. She was home, and no matter what the future might look like, she’d face it with Axe at her side, and love in her heart.

*

I hope you enjoyed this bonus scene for Her Cyborg Lumberjack