“Exactly.”
Dawn shoved her hands out and pushed on his hard chest, surprising him enough that he stumbled back a step. She spun on her heel and walked a few feet away to put space between them before she faced him again.
“Fine. You want to play it this way? That was the last damn time you fuck me, pal. Until you change your mind and treat me with some respect and like something more than a piece of ass, you aren’t touching me.”
Iron crossed his arms over his chest. “You’ve agreed to be my slave.”
“Slave, yes. Hooker? No. People live with their pets, let them sleep with them, spend time with them, and talk to them. I should rate higher than pet status.” She ran to the door, blocking his exit. She reached out and gripped the sides of the doorframe. “You’re not leaving until we work this out. I refuse to sit in here fuming until tomorrow morning.”
“You don’t issue demands. You’re the slave.”
“Then be a better slave owner,” she shot back. “And then I wouldn’t have to issue demands for basic humane living conditions. You even turned off the coms in here. What if I get sick or needed help? I have no way to reach you, damn it.”
That drew a frown from him. “I will activate the com system for you so you may only contact me. That is a fair demand.”
“So is asking you to live in here with me so I’m not alone all the damn time.”
“I don’t trust you.”
That made some of her anger die down a little. “I won’t really kill you like I threatened. I’m not stupid. If you die, I imagine that some other cyborg will take ownership of me.” She paused. “That’s not on my wish list, okay? Besides, you made a deal with me over Cathy, and as long as you’re alive our deal remains intact, so I know she’s being taken care of by that black-haired jerk.”
“Vollus is not a jerk.”
“He better not be. Cathy is young and vulnerable. I’d like to talk to her soon to make sure she’s really all right.”
“You don’t trust me?”
She stared at him. “You don’t trust me either.”
Iron gave a small nod of his head. “Agreed. I will let you talk to the human tomorrow. I will connect the com lines but then deactivate the link afterward. I don’t want the two of you plotting an escape so your communications will be monitored.”
“That’s acceptable.” She sighed. “Sleep with me. I’m so lonely and bored.” She hesitated, hating to ask anything of him but damn, she had gone stir-crazy the night before and all day. She was even happy to see her captor, it had been so bad.
“It is not a good idea.”
“Why?”
He hesitated, watching her with hooded eyes. “I told you, I don’t trust you.”
“We just went over this! Did you turn off your ability to hear me or what? I will not attempt to kill you since I’m motivated to keep you alive and healthy. That’s just simple logic, Iron. I don’t want to be alone and I’m so desperate I’m asking you to stay. Don’t leave me in here alone again unless you have to work. It’s too damn quiet on this ship. I can’t even hear the engines hum.”
Something softened in his look. “I’ll stay for a little while but then I will return to my quarters to sleep.”
Irritation welled inside her. “Talk to me then.”
He walked to the bed and sat. He sighed. “What do you wish to talk about?”
“What do you do for a living?”
“I command the Star or the Rally, depending on where I am needed. I’m a pilot, as I stated.”
“What happened to the men you stole the Rally from?”
He frowned. “Why do you wish to know?”
She hesitated and then walked to his built-in dresser, opened drawers and removed one of his soft shirts to put on. The room had warmed since he’d adjusted the temperature so she was not freezing but since he was dressed she wanted to be as well. She faced him when she was covered to her mid thighs in his baggy shirt.
“I met them four years ago after they showed up at Vonder station in need of repairs. I welded the cargo blast door area to patch them up enough to make it back to Earth but they never got there.”
He hesitated. “We didn’t kill them if that is what you believe. We captured them and took them to the Folion.”
She frowned. “Isn’t that one of those hooker ships from the Monker solar system that uses…?” She stopped talking to just stare at Iron. She flushed, remembering how she’d taunted him about having a robot for a girlfriend. If he was familiar with the Folion then she’d hit a nerve with him. She saw his features tense and then bit her lip to not laugh. “Shit.”
Iron was on his feet in a heartbeat. “I’m going to my other quarters.”
Dawn moved, diving into his path. “How the hell was I to know you liked to do girl robots?”
His jaw jerked as he clenched his teeth. “They are better than sex droids.”
Confirmed! She couldn’t help but grin at him. “So, how are they?”
“I’m going to my quarters.” He tried to step around her.
Dawn backed up until she hit the door, bumping into it. She spread her arms out across the width. “No. Come on, you were giving me shit about sex droids but I’ve never used one. They are too damn expensive and if you could see the bunk I’m assigned to, you’d know I couldn’t fit one of those big things in there with me. Of course every woman on the station would be stealing it and that’s just gross since I don’t share my sex toys.” Her grin returned. “So, how is an actual artificial intelligence robot in the sack? I heard they are pretty state-of-the-art.”
Thick arms crossed over his chest, a telling sign that she noted he did when he was irritated. “They aren’t as good as the real thing. I refuse to discuss this with you. In my defense I am not in a family unit with a female and I get assigned a lot of long missions on the Star.”
“There aren’t girl cyborgs onboard? You said you knew they were white instead of pink below the belt.”
“There are female cyborgs but they aren’t assigned on this ship. We are all single males aboard the Star and the Rally. Our missions are more dangerous than the other ships we have and females are rare so we won’t risk their lives.”
That killed some of her amusement. “What kind of things do you do? How dangerous is it to be on this ship?”
“We acquire things for our people.”
“Like women?”
He hesitated. “No. You were taken for my personal use. We board vessels and salvage what we can use from them to take back to our home world, Garden. After we left Earth we found a habitable planet to settle on. We’ve built a city but resources there are limited except for food and water. All of our building materials and electronics have to be taken off world.”
“So you’re cyborg pirates?”
“We do not take people to ransom them back to Earth Government or their families and we do not sell them to the sex trade.”
“You just take women to be personal sex slaves.”
That drew a frown from him. “Until recently that was never the case. The lead commander, Flint, took a human first and offered me and some of the other high-ranking males the opportunity to own human women.”
It took her seconds but then anger burned in Dawn as if a sudden flash fire had been ignited. “You bastard. You had no intention of cutting Cathy or me up, did you? You kidnapped my crew to make them sex slaves for your cyborg buddies, didn’t you?”
He shrugged. “You wanted to believe we were ghouls and it worked in my best interest to allow you to assume you were correct. You agreed to be my sex slave. The deal is final.”
“But your jerk friend who has Cathy said I was going to be taken to the doctor for a procedure. What was that about then, if not to cut me up?”
“I’m planning on taking you to see him so there will be no question as to whom you belong. But work has prevented me from finding the time to make those arrangements with him.”
“You’re going to chip my ass?
Seriously? Like parents do to children so if they get lost someone can scan them and the readers say who they belong to?”
Dark blue eyes blinked a few times, regarding her silently. He didn’t deny that was exactly what he was going to do and it really irritated her. Pet owners, as well as parents, did the same thing with their animals. She guessed it must have really amused him to know she was terrified of being filleted like a fish when instead he just wanted to have an implanted data chip shot in her ass.
“You tricked me.”
He let his hands fall to his sides. “The result would have been the same. I chose you from the Piera.”
Shock tore through her. “You chose me?”
He nodded. “We didn’t take all fourteen women. We could have but we just took the women we chose. Vollus chose your young friend and I chose you.”
“Why me?” She was still shocked.
He hesitated. “You were smaller than I would have liked but your hair drew me.”
Dawn reached up to absently finger a lock of her red hair. “Seriously? Why?”
“You are as rare as I am.” He paused. “Not many humans or cyborgs have our coloring. I thought that if I ever bred you that our children would end up with that coloring.”
Her mouth was hanging open and the second she realized it, she jerked her jaw up to press her lips together. Her mind was going a mile a minute, trying to take it all in. One word hit her like a brick. “Breed? As in have kids?” She pressed back against the door.
That frown again. “What other definition of breeding do you know, to even ask that question? Of course I am discussing reproduction.”
“I’m thirty-six!”
He shrugged. “Your point being?”
“I don’t want kids. My five sisters all had a bunch of them when they were young and I didn’t for a damn reason. I have seventeen nieces and nephews so if I want to play mommy I just babysit some of them for my siblings when I’m on Earth and I’m cured instantly of feeling my biological clock ticking. No damn way will I agree to have kids.” Her gaze flew up and down his big body. “And I sure as hell wouldn’t have them with you.”
All expression left his face. He was motionless but then she noticed his hands fisted at his side. “You don’t think I’m a fit breeding partner because I’m a cyborg?” He growled deep in the back of his throat. “You just stripped me and asked me to touch you yet you think I am not worthy of implanting your eggs?”
“Implanting my eggs?” She gaped at him. “This has nothing to do with you being gray, damn it. Look in a damn mirror. You’re the size of a hover cycle and if we’re talking giving birth, think about it. What were you at birth? Twenty damn pounds?”
He frowned. “I wasn’t birthed. I was grown in a lab.”
Dawn’s heart was pounding. “So you plan on taking my eggs and having children grown like you were in some lab after you knock up my eggs? I refuse! If I have kids, not that I will, but if I did I’d have them the old-fashioned way.”
Iron moved, crowding her space as he went chest to face with her. She stared up at him as he put his hands flat on the door on both sides of her, pinning her where she stood. He looked furious as he glared down into her eyes.
“I didn’t ask you what you wanted. If I decide to breed with you then we will breed the old-fashioned way, as you put it. I’ll activate my sperm and have Doc examine you to fix any problems he finds with you that may hinder my implanting your eggs.”
She had to swallow hard as a lump formed in her throat. “I didn’t agree to that. I said I’d be your slave, not a baby maker.”
Iron’s face lowered until they were almost nose-to-nose. “You’re property, Dawn. The sooner you realize that your life is no longer your own, the sooner you can learn your place.”
Fear and anger flooded her. She went with anger and instantly tried to shove him back. She caught him unaware, actually made him stumble a few feet, and she kicked out at him. Her bare foot hit his hip, knocking him back more. Dawn glared at him.
“I always have a damn say, Iron. You learn that.”
He rubbed his hip, returning her glare. “Do you want me to put you over my knee and spank you to teach you that I am in control?”
“Try it, asshole. I haven’t been spanked since I was ten years old and hid my dad’s favorite fusion wrench for two damn weeks to get even with him.”
Iron lunged forward. Dawn ducked but she knew he had missed her within inches. She ran and leapt on his bed, turning so her back hit the corner. She glared at the big bastard where he hesitated at the corner of the bed. He looked irritated.
“I can reach you easily there.”
“Try it, Iron. I dare you.”
He grabbed for her. Dawn pushed off and propelled her body at him to jump on him. She hit his chest and screamed as he grunted. He stumbled back, obviously not expecting her to attack him. It happened fast but Dawn knew it was going to hurt the second she realized he’d been off balance and her momentum hit him too hard. He went backward, falling and she went with him.
He jerked her before they hit the floor, yanking her lower on his body so he took the brunt of the impact with Dawn landing on top of him. She heard a cracking sound and scrambled to get off him before he could grab hold of her. His big body had cushioned her fall so she wasn’t hurt in the least as she rolled off him and got to her feet, spinning to face him as she backed up quickly.
Iron lay on the floor not moving, his eyes closed. Dawn backed up almost into the foam cleansing room to put as much space between the two of them as possible. Her gaze fixed on the still cyborg, waiting for him to open his eyes and come after her. He stayed down as the seconds passed, his eyes remained closed, and the only movement was the rise and fall of his chest.
“Damn it, Iron. I’m not stupid. You’re playing possum.”
She stood there, knowing it was a trick. He’d already proved he wasn’t above screwing with her head to get his way. She bit her lip as seconds passed into a good minute. He was patient, she’d give him that. She didn’t take her attention from him but then something on the floor caught her eye. The red substance that discolored the floor had her alarmed in a heartbeat.
“Iron?” She moved then, almost diving for him to collapse on her knees next to him. It was definitely blood she saw next to his ear on the hard floor. Her hands shook as she reached for him. “Computer? Emergency Response. I need a medic!” She gripped his face and waited for the computer to respond but it didn’t.
Frustration welled in her as she stared down at Iron’s face. His skin tone looked a little more on the white side at that moment. Her fingers gently eased into his soft hair and tried to find the wound but with his hair braided it was difficult to do. She wanted to scream for help but she knew how thick the walls were and it would mute out all sounds, which meant no one would hear her.
“Damn it, Iron. Open those beautiful eyes for me, baby. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Of all the lame-ass things to do, you disabled the computer completely, didn’t you? I can’t get you help.”
She finally found the wound. It was small, just a gash at the back of his head. She carefully tried to roll him but she couldn’t since he was too heavy to budge. All she could do was carefully turn his head, hoping she wasn’t hurting him more and her fingers were shaking the entire time as she unbraided his hair. He had long, curly, bright red hair and she would have enjoyed seeing all of it as she freed the last of it but she was too worried about the downed man. She didn’t want him to die.
Very gently, she separated his hair where his scalp was cut to discover it really was small but head wounds bled a lot. She pressed her fingertip to it and held pressure there. Her gaze fixed on his profile with his face turned her way.
“I’m sorry, Iron. I didn’t think I could really hurt you. You’re like a damn house with legs. If you just open your eyes, I promise I won’t tackle you anymore. I might even let you tap my ass with one of your abnormally large hands once or twice. Just wake up for me,
open those beautiful blues and glare at me.”
She nearly jumped when he opened his eyes as if he’d heard her. She stared into them and relief flooded her. She smiled. “Don’t move. I’m so damn sorry. You’re bleeding. It’s not bad but you scared me.”
He lay still as he watched her silently and allowed her to keep her finger pressed against his damaged scalp. He didn’t talk so Dawn did.
“I really didn’t think I could hurt you. Are you okay?” She held up three fingers in front of his face with her free hand. “How many do you see?”
Alarm was instant on Dawn’s part when he didn’t answer. “Did you scramble something? Look, repeat what I say, okay? Emergency Response, we need a medic. Can you say that for me, baby? Please say it. The damn computer won’t activate for me and you need help.”
He blinked at her but still said nothing. Alarm turned to fear as she gazed into his eyes, completely worried. “Iron, you have to tell the computer to get help. You disabled the computer from responding to me. Can you activate your transmitter in your head and link to the computer to get help? Try, okay? You hit your head on the floor and you were knocked unconscious. You need a medic. If you can’t—”
She tore her gaze from his, darting her eyes around the room and spotting the fire sensor in the corner of the ceiling. She bit her lip as her mind frantically worked trying to find a solution. It hit her then and she came up with a plan.
“I could start a fire. That would alert the computer to send responders.” She looked down at him. “That’s what I’ll do, okay? I’m going to have to fuck up the door pad to get access to some live wires but I can make some sparks to make fire. I’ll torch one of your shirts. It won’t spread or anything but it will put off enough smoke to trigger the alarm.” She eased her finger from his wound, focused on it and was relieved when it didn’t start actively bleeding again. She nodded at him. “Just hang on, baby. I’m going to get you the help you need.”
She moved to get to her feet but Iron’s hand suddenly shot out and grabbed her, his hand wrapping around the back of her neck. She gasped as he pulled her down close to his face, struggling to not tip forward and fall on him as her hands shot out to brace on the floor next to him. He stopped pulling when they were nearly nose-to-nose.
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