She sat on the edge of the bed and gently washed away the blood from his skin, glancing up at his face. He looked younger in sleep, peaceful, and all the harsh lines that he usually wore were gone.
“Be okay, alright? I’m sure we have a ton more arguments to have before you’re rid of me. Plus, if you stay the way you are, think of all the bad things I could do to you.” She smiled. “I’m sure that’s your biggest fear. What is that horrible Earther plotting with her devious mind?”
But her humor faded, because it was possible he’d never wake up. “You’re paranoid for no reason. You haven’t hurt me. We agree on the definition of self-defense, remember?”
She put a clean bandage on the wound and scooted higher, almost afraid to see what waited under the larger one on his shoulder. She placed the med kit up by his pillow, where she usually rested her head while they slept. It was tough to get close enough to him so she lifted his arm, inched closer, and laid it across her lap to lean in.
Her hands trembled a little as she used her fingernails to carefully break the seal on the bandage and lift it up. There wasn’t one cut, but two. Maze said Stag had been hit with shrapnel. The medic had done more than just clean and bandage the top cut. It was deep, and she could see foam, a bonding filler that would prevent more bleeding as he healed.
“Damn, Stag,” she whispered. “That had to hurt like hell.” She gently cleaned around it, wondering if he needed stitches instead. Her crew would have gotten them but Stag was a cyborg. His medic would know best. She put a fresh bandage on and straightened, her gaze wandering over his stretched-out body.
His arm jerked on her lap, startling her. She looked at his face, seeing it twisted in a grimace, possible from pain. She caressed his cheek. “Stag? It’s okay. Can you hear me? You’re in your room.”
He groaned, and she thought he might wake, despite the sedative. That would be a good thing, in her opinion. She was concerned what the lack of oxygen had done to him.
She touched him a little more firmly, stroking his smooth skin from his jaw to his ear. “Stag? It’s Nala. You’re safe. Do you hear me? Maze and a few of your men brought you to your room.”
Then he thrashed violently and in a split-second, brought up his knees. One of them hit her in the back and she fell on top of him, stretched across his upper body.
His eyes remained closed but he took a swing at her. His fist missed her head but some of his fingers caught in her hair. It hurt.
She shoved away from him and fell off the bed, landing on her ass. He thrashed more, made a pained sound, and she climbed to her feet, rushing to the panel.
“Maze!”
His voice came seconds later. “What’s wrong, Nala?”
She glanced over her shoulder. Stag thrashed, turned, and almost rolled off the bed.
“Help!” She jerked her hand off the pad and ran back to him, almost tackling Stag to put him on his back and away from the side of the bed.
He fought and tried to buck her off. She shoved at his chest, attempting to pin him down, but he was incredibly strong.
“Stop! It’s okay, Stag. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
Blood seeped through the bandage on his shoulder when she pressed her head to his chest to avoid a swinging arm directed her way. The bright red trailed toward her when he attempted to roll them into the wall, but she ignored it, keeping herself pressed tight against him, her arms around his waist.
Her gaze lifted to his face but his eyes remained closed. It was as if he wasn’t awake enough to realize he wasn’t still outside in his space suit, possibly having a flashback of fighting to survive.
She hoped Maze was close as the big cyborg under her rolled again and almost dumped them both off the bed. She braced one foot on the floor and shoved, pushing him back toward the center of the mattress.
* * * * *
They were going to kill him.
Stag fought against the three guards. They’d come to cause trouble, but he wasn’t willing to let them put him inside one of the food-storage lockers to see how long it would take for his body to freeze. They were bored, and they’d targeted him for amusement.
One of them laughed. “Think it’ll be okay when it defrosts?”
“They might have to replace the skin on the exterior if we leave it in there until the end of shift. It’ll be an ice cube.” He lunged at Stag, using a prodded weapon to try to stun him.
Stag twisted, avoiding it. “You’ll be brought up on charges for this. Destruction of property is a criminal offense. I won’t survive.”
“I?” The one in charge laughed. “Look at it, trying to act like one of us. You’re nothing but a skin droid. You’re an it, and we want to see if you turn blue once that skin you’re wearing starts to freeze over.”
They didn’t seem to care that it was against the law to injure him. Another one of the crew came at him, swinging a metal rod, aiming for his head.
Stag ducked, avoided the blow that would have knocked him out, and grabbed the rod. He tore it from the Earther’s hand and swung it himself. All three jumped back.
“I thought you said it couldn’t hurt any of us?” The youngest of the bunch backed up farther. “It looks pretty pissed.”
The one who seemed to be in charge pulled his stunner weapon and pointed it at Stag. “You’re programmed not to attack. Looks like it’s defective to me. I say self-defense, what about you guys?”
Stag glared at the Earther. “Discharge that weapon and you’ll set off alarms. Security will play the feeds to witness the event and they’ll see that you came after me. I’m expensive.” He glanced at the Earther’s uniform and curled his lip. “You’re support staff, not even military. They’ll toss you out an airlock for the money you’ll cost them to replace me. You and your two friends won’t survive to see the end of your shift.”
The Earther cursed and holstered his weapon. “Fuck you, skin droid! Get that thing. We’ll hurt it where it doesn’t show. No way am I letting this thing talk to me that way.”
Stag tensed, shifting his grip on the rod, as the men spaced out around him. They wouldn’t use weapons to set off the alarms, now that he’d reminded them of that safety feature. He couldn’t kill them, but he wasn’t about to allow them to cause him massive damage or death.
Two of them came at him. The fight was on.
* * * * *
Nala was grateful when Maze rushed into the room and came to help. He threw his body over Stag’s lower half, grabbed his arms, and tried to pin them down.
“What happened?”
“Hell if I know! I changed his bandages and then he started fighting. I tried to keep him down. I didn’t want him hitting his head if he fell off the bed or slammed into the wall.”
“Move.”
That wasn’t an easy thing to do. She had to wiggle a bit to get off Stag and out from under part of Maze.
The door opened again as she climbed off the bed, and Hellion entered. “What’s going on?”
“Get restraints,” Maze ordered. “I need my med kit outside the door, too.”
Hellion spun away but the door remained open. Nala stared at the corridor, tempted to flee.
It was a chance to escape—but where would she go? It was possible they had life pods on the ship. She had no idea the size of the vessel. Then again, if Stag had been telling her the truth, they were in the Pitch.
Stag yelled, the words not clear. She watched as Maze used more of his body to pin down the injured cyborg. Stag continued to fight whatever demons he saw in his sleep. She glanced at the door one last time, then rushed to the bed and gripped Stag’s ankles when he tried to use his knees to kick at Maze, the way he’d done to her before.
“I should have paralyzed his limbs,” Maze grunted.
It scared Nala that Stag wasn’t waking. “What’s wrong with him? Seizures?”
Stag jerked one of his legs out of her hold and nailed Maze in the back. She scooted to the side, waited for Stag to straighten his leg, then
fell forward, using her entire body to hold them down. He still managed to lift her a few inches before dropping his legs back to the bed.
“I sedated him so he won’t wake. Sometimes our bodies will react to dreams because of our dependency on our cybernetics.”
“I thought you said they were down, drained, off…whatever.” Stag lifted her again with his legs and she clutched at the other side of the mattress, trying to keep him from tossing her off completely.
“That’s the problem.”
Someone grabbed Nala from behind. One arm slipped around her chest, the other around her hips, and she was lifted off Stag. She would have fallen from the fast motion, once she was put on her feet, but Hellion almost hugged her, stabilizing her balance.
He flashed a smile. “Stay back, beautiful Nala. I have this. You could become bruised, and that would break my heart. I’d kiss them though.”
Her mouth parted, astonished by the muscled cyborg, but Hellion turned away and grabbed one of Stag’s ankles. He had dumped fabric restraints on the end of the bed and quickly fastened Stag’s leg to the frame. He went to work quickly to restrain the other leg.
Nala backed up and watched as Maze and Hellion finished strapping Stag down. They tightened the restraints enough that he only had a few inches of movement. Maze had a rip in his sleeve, but otherwise looked okay. He opened the kit that Hellion must have carried in and yanked out an injector, programmed it, and pressed it against Stag’s neck.
Stag stilled fast. Shouts still came out of him and he tossed his head, his expression pained, but he wasn’t fighting anymore.
Maze turned and looked Nala over. “Did you sustain any damage?”
“I could check her over,” Hellion offered.
She glanced at the cyborg, to find him smiling. “I’m good.”
Maze cleared his throat. “Thank you, Hellion. You may go now. I have this under control.”
Hellion stepped closer to Nala. “You really should let me take a look at you. I’d be happy to view every inch of your body to search for bruises.”
“Hellion! Out. Now.” Maze’s tone deepened. “Flirt with her later.”
“Fine.” Hellion walked to the door but then stopped and turned. “Beautiful Nala? I would take orders from you. I’d do anything you asked.” He licked his lips. “Often. As much as you wanted. Stag may have been offended when you believed we were sex bots, but it would be a privilege to be yours.”
“Out!” Maze stepped between them.
The door sealed and Maze sighed, spun, and shook his head. “That one has emotional issues. I apologize.”
She recovered. “He’s, um, very friendly at least.”
Maze moved to his kit and bent. “That’s an interesting way to put it. He’s juvenile, and at times downright annoying. It’s no wonder the female ended their contract in record time.”
“Can you say that in a way that makes sense?”
He closed the kit and rose, gripping it. “Marriage contract. A female cyborg accepted him into her family unit, but ended it within days. He doesn’t do well in our society because of his flirtatious behavior. That’s why he was assigned to Stag. He’s got more patience than most others, and there are no females onboard.”
“A player cyborg, huh?”
Maze cocked his head, peering at her. “Ah. It took me a moment to grasp the term. Hellion is impulsive, and allows his feelings to control most of his actions. He didn’t flirt with other females when he was married, but she wasn’t comfortable with his open affection toward her. It unnerved her. Cyborgs are more reserved. Hellion is not. It’s considered a flaw.”
She glanced at Stag. His lips were clamped together tightly. “What’s going on with him? Is it a sign of brain damage?” That was her biggest fear.
“No. He’s dreaming. It can happen at times when a cyborg is injured and partially sedated. I’ve paralyzed him from the neck down.”
“Won’t that make him stop breathing or something? It sounds horrible.”
“No. He just can’t move around now. It won’t affect his organs. Can you tend to his shoulder?”
“He needs stitches.”
Maze shook his head. “It will heal enough that they aren’t required. We aren’t like you. It’s why we don’t use them in such minor injuries. I must return to Control. Call me if there’s another problem.”
He started to leave, but paused. “He can still feel pain, so be aware of that.”
“I’ll be careful not to hurt him.”
Maze left and she got the smaller med kit back on the bed, taking a seat next to Stag. He turned his head, muttered something, but seemed to calm a bit. She reached for the bandage on his shoulder. It was coated with blood near the bottom, which had been smeared over his skin. Maze probably would have to change his uniform. She figured it was probably bloody since he’d pressed Stag down with his body.
She got another wet cloth. Stag’s skin was firm but remarkably warm and velvety soft. “It’s just you and me again.” She began to clean him. “I’d hate to know whatever was just going through your head.”
It made her wonder just how bad a life he’d had while he’d been on Earth, if that was the cause of his nightmare. She paused, reached up, and caressed his cheek.
“Don’t make me feel bad for you. You’re starting to.”
Chapter Seven
Nala came awake when she heard a low growl. She was curled into a ball between the wall and where Stag had been restrained on his back. Hellion and Maze had stretched him out, his arms and legs spread, so she’d had little space to sleep.
She lifted her head and found Stag’s eyes open, the cyborg glaring at her.
“Do you know your name?”
“What have you done to me?”
She sat up, careful not to touch him. “What’s your name? Do you remember?”
“I’ll kill you, Nala.”
He knew hers. That was a great sign. His distrust of her remained too. “Oh good. And I thought you might have suffered brain damage. You’re still the same jerk. Woo-hoo.”
“What have you done to me?”
She climbed over him, carefully trying to avoid touching him as best as she could. “I didn’t put those restrains on you. Maze and Hellion did.” She rolled her shoulders and turned, staring down at him. “You were injured. Do you remember what happened?”
His eyes closed then opened. “The decoy worked but debris hit me.”
She wasn’t sure what that meant. “You were outside in a space suit. I didn’t get all the details except you had to be revived. You came back into the ship not breathing.”
He clenched his jaw. “My neck was broken? Was my spine severed?”
It sank in, the reason why he’d ask. Compassion hit fast and hard. “No. It’s just drugs. You’re fine.” She sat on the bed and put her hand on his chest. “See? Feel. It’s just drugs. They’re going to wear off and you can move everything once they do. The paralysis is temporary.”
He arched his head a little, glancing at the restraints. “I thought you did this. Let me go.”
“No ‘I’m sorry for threatening to kill you’, huh?”
He glowered at her.
“That’s what I figured. Did you think I attacked you while you slept and broke your neck?” She snorted. “You really are paranoid. How do you think I’d get access to restraints like these? Do you keep them stashed inside your quarters? Are you kinky, Stag?”
“Take them off right now. That’s an order.”
She twisted a little and got more comfortable on the edge of the bed, amused. “Or what? You’ll yell at me? What’s it like being the one tied down?” She lifted her hand off his chest and then used one finger to press against him. “You’re at the big bad Earther’s mercy. What do you think I’ll do?” She tapped him with her finger. “Kill you with my fingernail?”
“Take the restraints off, Nala.”
She grinned. “You can’t move anyway until those drugs wear off. Maze didn’t sa
y how long they’d last. Are you ticklish?” She trailed her finger over his ribs at his side, using four of them, lightening her touch.
He sucked in a sharp breath and she froze, surprised. Gooseflesh rose along his skin and his nipples beaded into tight nubs. She met his gaze.
He lifted his head, the only thing he could probably do. Fury showed in his eyes.
It amused her. “You are!”
“Don’t touch me.”
“I’m not a droid,” she reminded him, enjoying it way too much that he was helpless. He deserved her torment a little after all he’d put her through. Karma was alive and well. “Ready to negotiate now, Stag? What are you willing to offer me if I don’t tickle the hell out of you until Maze comes to check on his grumpy patient?”
“Stop touching me and remove the restraints. Don’t make things worse for yourself, Nala.”
That killed her good mood. “Oh, you mean like finding out that at some point, when I do get off this ship, it’s only so I can be sold or whatever to some guy who will make me a sex slave? When were you going to drop that info on me?”
“You won’t be a slave. You’ll be assigned to a caretaker.”
“Owner. Caretaker. Whatever you want to call it. Same difference. He’ll still demand sex from me, right?”
He turned his head, seeming to concentrate on the door. She glanced at it, then him. “Are you trying to contact someone?”
He ignored her and closed his eyes. Frustration had him growling under his breath.
“Let me guess. Those electronics inside you can do that? The ones with a power drain right now?”
His eyes flew opened and he stared at her, looking surprised.
“Maze mentioned something about them having to recharge and it could take hours. Not working yet, huh?”
“Let me go, Nala.”
“I’ll take that as a no, they aren’t. It’s just you and me for a while.”
“You’ll pay for this.”
“What am I doing?” She lightly raked her fingernails over his skin, not hurting him. “I’m only touching you.”
“Stop.”
“Is there something wrong with this? I mean, some jerk is going to put his hands on me at some point, and he won’t care if I want him to or not. Why did you even bother to take me off the Pride? Do you get credits when you sell me? How much am I worth?”
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