by Susan Hayes
“You’re healing nicely. Try not to over-do it for a day or so and you should be back to one-hundred percent. Do us both a favor and try to avoid getting stabbed again for a while, too,” Alyson told Jaeger.
“I try to avoid it in general, but tonight things didn’t go as planned.”
“Mhmm, I hear that from a lot of my patients. I’ll write up a report and send it to Corp-Sec. You’re free to go. I hope you’ll both come back again soon to talk about the tests?”
Jaeger nodded. “I’ll be back.”
Toro opened his eyes and straightened up to his full six-foot-seven-inches of height, dwarfing everyone else in the room. “Me, too.”
“Great! You can organize that with Anne on your way out. Cynder, I’d like to do some bloodwork on you soon, too.”
Cynder grimaced. “Didn’t we just do that?”
“Mhmm, but I need another sample. I’m working on something new. Please?”
Cyn nodded. “I’ll be by in a day or so.”
“Make it tomorrow, if you could.”
“Okay, doc. Tomorrow.” Cynder didn’t know what Alyson was working on, but she trusted her. If the doctor wanted her blood, she could have it. She would do anything to make sure that she and the other cyborgs on Astek Station never had to seek help from the corporate lab techs who had once been their caretakers.
Jaeger got to his feet, and Cyn indulged in a moment of pure, female appreciation for the way he looked shirtless. He was all muscle and strength, with powerful shoulders and a broad chest that appeared bigger now he was out of his clothes. Well, half of his clothes, anyway. The cut on his side was covered, and the stark white of the bandages contrasted with the golden hue of his skin. She glanced away before she was caught staring, but there was no denying he was an attractive man.
Of course, having seen her lose her shit a few minutes ago, he probably wanted nothing to do with her. Why would he? Why would either of them? Doubt gnawed at her insides like a hundred tiny mouths, all of them laughing as they tore into her confidence.
“Give me a second to clean up and we can head back to the club together,” Jaeger said, giving her an intent look.
“I should really be getting back. I’ve still got work to finish and at some point I need to give my statement to Corp-Sec.” If they were going to cancel their date, they could do it later, and preferably not in person.
“It’s your day off, Cyn. The work can wait, can’t it? Walk back with us,” Toro said.
She gave a sharp shake of her head. “I’ll see you two later. I need to change and clean up properly. Take care of yourselves, and no more fights, okay?”
Toro looked like he was about to argue again, so she didn’t give him the chance. She gave a quick wave to Alyson and ducked out the door before any of them could say another word. She didn’t want to talk details right now. Fraxx, she didn’t want to talk at all. She wanted a scalding hot shower, fresh clothes, and some industrial strength mouthwash to get the metallic tang of fear and anxiety out of her mouth.
She barely slowed down as she passed Anne at reception. “I’ll be back tomorrow. Doc wants to run some more tests.”
Anne didn’t have time to do more than nod before Cynder was out the door and back on the main concourse. She spotted two security officers heading to the medical center and breathed a sigh of relief. They had to be here to talk to Jaeger, which meant he would be tied up for a while. She had made good her escape…for now.
Less than thirty seconds later Toro proved her wrong.
“Why aren’t you with Jaeger?” she asked as he appeared beside her, his longer stride easily keeping pace with hers.
“He’s going to be tied up for a while, so I thought I’d walk you back to the club and grab him a fresh shirt. I’ll be back before Corp-Sec’s finished with him.”
They walked in silence for a little while before she finally spoke. “Back there. I uh…wanted to say thank you for what you did, and for not making a big deal about it.”
“It wasn’t a big deal. Like I said: We’ve all been there. We’re human, Cynder. We might be stuffed full of tech and enhancements, but we’re still human beings. You can’t live through what we did and not have it affect you. If it didn’t, then the assholes who say we’re only machines would be right.”
Bitter laughter rose from her throat. “Sometimes, I wish they were right. Don’t you?”
Toro shook his head. “No. Machines don’t laugh. They don’t have friends. They don’t care about anyone.” He grinned. “They can’t appreciate a good cut of rare steak, either.”
“Or buttered popcorn?” she asked, smiling a little herself.
“Now you’re getting it. We survived, Cyn. I figure that means we owe it to the ones we lost to live the best lives we can. Appreciate everything. Experience all the things they can’t. Like going out on a date with a beautiful woman. We’re still doing that, aren’t we? Going out together?”
“If you two still want to go out with me after my meltdown? Then yeah, our date is still on. I wasn’t sure if you’d want to.”
“The only reason I’d miss our date is if the universe exploded.”
She blew out a breath and her smile grew a little bigger. “Okay then. Toro?”
“Yeah?” he asked.
“I like what you said about experiencing things and living the best lives we can. It’s a nice way to think about everything.”
“You do?” He looked pleased and a little surprised.
“I do. A lot. Thanks.”
“No. Thank you.”
She stopped and turned to look at him. “For what?”
“For not laughing.”
“Why the veth would I laugh at you?” she demanded.
He shrugged. “I’m not good at explaining myself. Not really good at a lot of things, actually. The only thing I know I can do is hurt people. That’s it.”
His words made her heart ache. She took his hand in hers and squeezed it. “That’s not true. You didn’t hurt me. You helped.”
He closed his hand around hers. “I could never hurt you.”
A low, simmering heat started to grow in her heart, slowly spreading outward. She ducked her head as her cheeks started to burn. The man had made her blush. She didn’t blush. She didn’t hold hands either, but somehow that’s what she was doing. Blushing and holding a guy’s hand…in the middle of the station’s main concourse. I’m losing my fraxxing mind.
Toro tightened his grip on her hand and started walking, drawing her along with him. “We should get back, though. You probably want to get changed, and I need to grab Jaeg something to wear. Got anything pink and sparkly in his size? I promise to take pictures if you do.”
She laughed. “Do I look like someone who owns anything pink? I could check the lost and found, though. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
Toro’s rich chuckle sent a tiny thrill down her spine. “Great thinking. Maybe next time he’ll think twice before letting himself get stabbed. He’s got to start fighting back.”
Cyn blinked. “What do you mean?”
“When you get back to your office, replay the security vids. I’ll bet my pay for the next two fights that he didn’t throw a single punch. He’ll defend himself, but he won’t fight back. Not ever.”
“Never?”
“Not since we left service. Like I said, we’ve all been there. We all find our own ways to deal with it.” Toro gave her hand one last squeeze as they approached the doors to the club, then let her go before they got close enough for anyone to see them. As grateful as she was for his discretion, part of her missed his touch.
“I’ll check the vids right after we find him something pink and sparkly to wear.” She glanced up at him. “I’m glad you walked back with me.”
“I am, too.”
This evening hadn’t gone at all the way she had expected, but now it was over, she was thankful for every strange second of it. Well, almost every second. If she had it to do over, she would prefer Jaeger hadn’t
gotten stabbed a second time. Now she knew he wouldn’t fight back, she understood why Toro was so protective of his brother. He watched over Jaeger the same way she’d tried to protect her sister, Dana. Toro had done a better job, though. Jaeger was still alive.
CHAPTER FIVE
Toro walked into the small gym and noticed two things straight away. The first was that Dai and Erik, two of the other fighters present, were sporting fresh welts and bruises. The second detail was that Cynder was in the ring, currently matched against the sparring bot they used for practice. She was beating on it with a ferocity that made him worry about the bot’s survival. It also told him where the other fighters had gotten their new bruises.
Cynder was on the warpath.
The gym was as well-kept as the rest of the Nova, though the equipment was far from new, and the entire space couldn’t accommodate more than a half-dozen people at a time. Instead of investing in a wide array of workout gear, someone had decided to install grav-plates around the space. Workouts could be varied simply by dialing the gravity up or down in your area. It was a slick system, and one Toro had never seen before.
He went through his warm-up routine quickly, keeping an eye on Cynder the whole time. Something was bothering her, and he wanted to know what had changed since last night. Together they’d dug through the lost and found items until they had found a sequined top in a blinding shade of lime-green for Jaeger. She had been laughing as she bid him good night and reminded him to send her pictures later.
She wasn’t laughing now.
She knocked the bot into the corner of the practice ring with a vicious kick, and the poor machine started to chatter and chirp in distress as several systems registered damage.
“I think you killed it,” he called over to Cynder.
“Piece of junk was half-dead already. I just put it out of its misery.”
“You need a new sparring partner?” he offered.
She didn’t answer him right away, so he tossed some rocket fuel on her simmering temper. “I promise to go easy on you, sugar.”
“Take it easy on me? Oh, you did not just say that. Get your ass in the ring, stud. You’re going to eat those words.”
Toro joined her in the small practice ring while the other two fighters lugged the dead sparring bot out of the way. Standing this close to Cynder, he could see she was tired. So tired not even her medi-bots could completely remove the dark smudges beneath her eyes or the shadows lurking in her green eyes, dimming their usual fire.
He raised his fists and cocked a brow at her. “You sure you want to do this? It looks like you’ve been at this for a while.”
“She has, and she’s leaving a trail of broken bodies behind her. Good fraxxing luck, Toro. You’re going to need it,” Dai stated. He was leaning against a nearby wall, clearly intent on watching the upcoming bout.
“Please, you’re not broken. Tenderized, maybe, but you shouldn’t have dropped your guard like that.”
Dai touched his split lip with his middle finger. “Next time, can you point that out without breaking my face? I have a date tonight!”
Cynder winced. “Sorry. You should have said something. Maybe you should ask her to kiss it better?”
“Good plan. If she slaps me for it, I’m blaming you for that, too.”
Toro cleared his throat. “Still waiting to hear if you want to take a break, Cyn.”
“I don’t need a break,” she said and raised her fists.
Toro reached up to tap his knuckles to hers before backing up a few steps. “Then bring it on.”
She came at him like a runaway comet, and he had to move fast to block the first set of punches she threw at him. This wasn’t the woman he had watched fight in the ring the night they met. Whatever she was dealing with, it had her off her game and running hot. He fought back, matching her blow for blow. She sped up her attacks, and he did the same until both of them were fighting hard and moving faster than any human could hope to match.
“Re’veth, if that’s what it looks like when they don’t hold back, it’s no wonder she kicked our asses,” Erik said.
“Who said I wasn’t holding back?” Toro called over to the spectators.
“You better not be!” Cynder came at him again, but this time, she let her anger get the best of her. Her strikes were wild, missing their target by a few inches each time. She was taking risks, too. Overreaching herself, sacrificing her balance for another chance to hit him. They fought back and forth across the entire ring, neither of them giving any ground at first. He almost cornered her once, but she fought free and then sent him crashing into the ropes with a roundhouse kick that would have caved in his ribs if they weren’t reinforced by metal.
He kept moving, drawing her out until she finally gave him the opening he had been waiting for. She attempted a high kick, and he caught her leg as it came around, locking his hands around her ankle and yanking upward. She crashed to the mat with a grunt, and he followed her down, pinning her beneath him.
She swore and thrashed, not willing to concede defeat just yet. He admired her spirit, but he was more worried about the reasons why she was pushing so hard. He managed to catch her wrist in one hand and pinned it above her head as he used his weight advantage to keep her trapped beneath him.
“What’s gotten you so grumpy?” he asked in a voice pitched low enough that only she would be able to hear him.
“I’m not grumpy! And fraxx, you’re heavy! What the hell did they reinforce your bones with, lead?”
“Tungsten alloy, actually.”
“Well, that explains it. Hitting you is like punching hull plating,” she huffed and shoved at his chest one last time.
“Does this mean we’re done scaring the normals?” he asked, inclining his head toward the wall where their audience had been watching.
She looked up then laughed. “They’re gone. They probably went to tell my brothers we were killing each other in here.”
“So, we can expect them to arrive any second to make sure you’re in one piece. That doesn’t give us very long for you to tell me why you’re beating on your employees and an innocent robot. What happened last night, Cyn? What’s wrong?”
She stiffened beneath him, and the light in her eyes dimmed even further. “Nothing happened. I went and watched the security footage like you said, then I had a long, hot shower and went to bed.”
Taking advantage of their positions and their brief moment of solitude, Toro lowered his head until their lips were only an inch apart, and he could look deep into her eyes. “Don’t lie to me. You can always tell me the truth, Cyn. Always.”
“I didn’t sleep well. That’s all. It was a rough night, and I came down here to work off my stress.” Her eyes narrowed. “Happy now?”
“Not really. I don’t like seeing you pissed off and hurting.” He closed the distance between them and dared to brush a brief kiss to her lips.
She tensed as he kissed her, but once he lifted his head, she relaxed again. “Do, you always take what you want without asking?”
“Not usually. Next time, would you like me to ask?”
“You think there’s going to be a next time?” she challenged him.
Toro knew he shouldn’t have done it, but he refused to regret what had happened. He had wanted to kiss her since the first time he had laid eyes on her, and even that brief taste of her lips was enough to know he wanted a whole lot more. More kisses. More time in her company. More of everything about her.
He released her wrist and reached down to stroke her cheek, his fingers grazing over the scar on her jaw. It was an angry red this morning, standing out starkly against her fair skin. “I’m hoping there’s going to be a next time, yeah. You’re amazing. Why the hell would I want to stop at one kiss? You’re sexy, tough, funny, and you throw a mean left hook. I’ve never met anyone like you before.”
“I’ve never met someone like you, either. No one else is crazy enough to try to kiss me while he’s got me pinned to a mat. Then
again, it’s been a few years since anyone managed to pin me at all, so you also have that going for you.” She closed her eyes and added. “Next time, I’d appreciate it if you asked me first.”
“Cyn, may I kiss you before I let you up?” he asked.
She cracked open an eye and laughed. “You don’t waste any time, do you? Okay, crazy man, one kiss.”
This time, he didn’t stop with a gentle touch. He cupped her cheek in his hand and slanted a heated kiss across her lips. Fire streaked through him when she lifted her hand and tangled her fingers in his hair, tugging him closer. His cock hardened in seconds, and there was nothing he could do to hide his reaction from her, not when they were plastered together from chest to boots. She tasted like sugar-dusted berries, sweet and ripe with promise and he knew one taste was never going to be enough.
Cynder’s eyes flew open, and she uttered a frustrated groan. “Up. We need to get up, now! We’re about to have very concerned company.”
Toro’s thoughts were so tangled it took him a second to figure out what she was talking about, and by the time he understood, it was too late to move.
“What the hell is happening?” One of the twins bellowed as footfalls pounded toward the gym.
“Are you okay, Cynd—” The door was flung open so hard it nearly came off its hinges, and Luke charged through the door, coming up short when he spotted his sister and Toro tangled up on the mats.
“I ran down here to make sure you two were still in one piece and this is…not what I expected to find. Damn it, warn a man, will you? I don’t need to see this!” Luke said, averting his eyes to the ceiling.
“Sorry,” Toro muttered as he pushed himself off Cynder.
“Not your fault. You did have permission after all,” she said, then turned to her batch brothers, who were both now standing in the doorway with stunned expressions. “Don’t you dare say one word, either of you. Utter a single syllable and I’ll bring up every time I walked in on you two and Zura, starting with that time I found you having sexy breakfast time on the counter and working in chronological order up to that incident last week where I found you three in the fight ring…”