by Susan Hayes
Kit threw up his hand. “You made your point. So, uh, any reason why Erik was pounding on the office door claiming the two of you were beating the hell out of each other?”
“We weren’t beating the hell out of each other. We were just practicing. I was in a bad mood, and after I broke the sparring bot, Toro offered to spar with me. I guess we got a little out of hand and panicked the normals.”
“You broke the bot? Again? Those things are fraxxing expensive, Cyn!” Luke exclaimed.
“Erik was concerned enough that he sent us both down here to make sure you both survived whatever the hell you were doing, so yeah, I’d say you panicked them.”
“It’s been a while since I went all out with someone I knew wasn’t going to wind up hurt if I did. I guess I got a little carried away,” Cynder said.
“We got carried away. It was fun, though. I’m game to do that again any time you want. Though maybe next time we should warn everyone else to stay clear, yeah?” Toro got to his feet and then offered a hand to Cynder, helping her up.
“That would be a good idea.” Kit frowned. “So uh, you two are good?”
“Really? You need to ask that? Out, you big jerks. Both of you.”
Luke snickered. “If you hadn’t deactivated our internal comm channel, this wouldn’t have happened, so don’t get all cranky with us. Be glad we used to be your commanders and still have broadcast override or you wouldn’t have known we were coming at all. I shudder to think what I might have walked in on if that had happened.”
“Strawberry pancakes and whipped cream, Luke. Health violations in the club’s commercial kitchen. Remember?”
Luke’s mouth closed with an audible snap.
“I’ll track down Erik and Dai and apologize for letting things get out of hand,” Toro said. “For the record, you never have to worry about Cynder when she’s with me or Jaeger. We’d never hurt her.”
“Not even if they tried,” Cyn added.
Kit stared at Toro for a long time, then nodded. “If you ever do, you better be off the station and clear of the Drift before Luke or I find out about it.”
“Out!” Cyn yelled, blushing wildly. “You want to go all protective and alpha, do it with your wife. She thinks it’s cute. I don’t.”
Cynder waited until her brothers had left the gym before turning to Toro. “That was an interesting end to our sparring session.”
He ran a hand through his hair and gave her a look hot enough that she felt like she’d fallen into a star. “Any time you want to spar again, you just let me know. Maybe next time we’ll do it without an audience, or interruptions.”
“Not even Jaeger?” she asked. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about whatever this was evolving between the three of them, but if this was happening, she needed to know what she was getting herself into. Due to the way they trained and fought, most cyborgs were tightly bonded to at least one other person in their batch. It was obvious that Toro and Jaeger had that connection. Cyborgs bonded that way tended to share everything, including their romantic partners. She was pretty sure they were looking to share a woman, but before this went any further, she wanted to be sure.
“If Jaeger was with us, he wouldn’t be part of the audience. He’d be a participant. At least, that’s what we’re hoping for. That’s your call, though, not ours.”
She liked that he had given the choice over to her. She liked it a lot, actually. “I agreed to go to dinner with both of you, didn’t I? I only wanted to be sure. Things like this, they can get complicated if everyone isn’t on the same page. Not that we have a thing, exactly.”
He cocked his head. “I think we might. Have a thing, that is.”
“One kiss doesn’t mean anything,” she stated.
He hauled her into his arms and held her tight, his head bowed until they were so close that their breath mingled.
“That kiss meant something to me, Cyn. You mean something to me. I’m not good at finding the right things to say, but I wanted you to know that.”
Fraxx. He was sexy on a bad day, but when he said things like that and looked at her like she was the center of his world, her entire body hummed with need and her heart pounded like she had done a ten-mile run in double gravity. “I think you said that perfectly.”
He actually blushed a little at her compliment, and her libido slammed into hyper-drive. Who knew the big, sexy, brute had a bashful side? It was completely unfair.
“Before I let you go, are you sure you don’t want to tell me why you were in such a lousy mood this morning? I know there’s more to it than you’ve told me.”
She didn’t want to talk about it. It would only show him how broken she truly was, and that wasn’t how Cyn wanted either of them to think of her. “Does it matter? I feel better now.”
“Nothing like beating up two guys and a robot to put you in a better mood?”
“They weren’t what helped. That was all you.”
He actually blushed again. “I’m glad. The next time the nightmares come, message me. We’ll meet down here, and I’ll give you a repeat performance.”
“Who said I had nightmares?” she asked. For someone who kept saying he had no gift for anything but violence, Toro was damned perceptive.
“You did. You’re tired this morning, and I know that look in your eyes. I’ve seen it in Jaeger’s often enough and mine, too.”
She blew out a breath and leaned into his chest, just a little. “Okay, I had some bad dreams. Seeing Jaeger bleeding yesterday, the blood on my hands, it made me remember something I don’t like to think about.”
“Is that when you got this?” he asked, stroking his thumb over her scar.
“Yeah. Do I want to know how you figured that out? I thought Jaeger was the magician, does that make you the mind-reader?”
He chuckled. “I pay attention to things. For one thing, we don’t usually scar. The medi-bots make sure that doesn’t happen. So however you got this, it was bad enough that you couldn’t heal yourself properly. This morning it looks irritated. Like maybe you’ve been rubbing it.”
“You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for. I got this the night my twin sister died. Her name was Dana. She was…” Her throat tightened, nearly choking off her next words. “She was the best of us all. I should have protected her better. I should have saved her somehow.”
Toro tucked her head beneath his chin and held her close. It was the first time in her life anyone had made her feel small, like something delicate that needed to be cherished and protected.
“If she was your twin, then I imagine she was amazing. Just like you. We were at war, Cyn. You can’t blame yourself for what happened. I bet she wouldn’t want you to, either.”
“She was my rock. The only one who could keep me grounded. Life without her is…less.”
“You lost your twin. Life isn’t ever going to be the same, but maybe, it shouldn’t be less of a life. You know?”
“My head knows that, but my heart still hurts. It’s easier when I don’t think about her or any of it.”
“Then Jaeger got himself stabbed and you were right back there again?”
“Pretty much. Only this time the outcome was a lot better. How’s he doing?”
“He’s fine. If he follows that doctor’s advice and takes it easy today, by tomorrow, it’ll be like it never happened. The only real casualty is his shirt. He’s still whining about that.”
“He’s got good taste in clothes. Every time I see him he’s dressed to kill, and I don’t think he’s worn the same thing twice,” she said, eager to change the subject to something besides her sister and the past.
Toro snorted with laughter. “It’s nice to know you’ve been paying that much attention. Jaeg likes his clothes all right. The day we were released, he went out and spent a lot of scrip on new outfits. Tailored. Nice fabrics. Nothing like the uniforms we used to wear.”
“Well, we can add the cost of a new shirt to Bryan’s tab. That bastard still owes us f
or his drinks last night. He might as well pay for the shirt, too. After all, he’s the one who ruined it.”
“I’m glad that’s all he ruined. You know, if he hadn’t lost his mind, you and I wouldn’t be here right now. I’m a little grateful to the asshole.”
She burst out laughing. “That’s one way to think about it. I don’t think Jaeger would share your gratitude, though.”
“I don’t know about that. We’ve got a date with the most beautiful woman on the Drift tomorrow night because of what happened. I think that’s worth a little pain and bloodshed. I’m betting he would, too.”
“You’re only saying that because he’s the one who bled.”
Toro loosened his hold on her just enough to be able to lean back and look at her. “No, I’m not. Jaeger’s the only friend I have in the whole fraxxing galaxy. I never want to see him hurt. Back when we served, part of my duty was to protect him. I’ve been watching his back since the day we started training. That’s never going to change.”
“The rest of your batch is gone?” she asked, then frowned. “Whoa, hold up. You were assigned to protect Jaeger?”
He nodded, and his next words were steeped in sadness. “Most of them are gone. There were only four us left by the time we were released. Ward and Vic are cloned twins, commanders, like your partners. We lost touch with each other a while back. Last I heard, they were heading out to the Drift. They’re one of the reasons we ended up out here. Maybe we’ll run across them one day. They’re the only family we’ve got left.”
“If you stick around here, I bet you’ll find them. Every ship working the asteroid field comes into the Drift, eventually. That’s only the answer to my first question, though. What about the second? Why were you assigned to protect Jaeger? He seems perfectly capable of taking care of himself.”
“Jaeger was our demolitions expert. Building and defusing explosives. For him to do his job, he has to be totally focused on what he’s doing, or we all went boom.”
“Dangerous work. He was lucky to have you.”
Toro snorted. “I saved his ass more times than I can count, but the truth is, he saved me, too. I was created to be a straight up killer. They only gave me one skill set: the ability to hurt my own kind over and over for no other reason except those were my orders. Sometimes, it felt like keeping him alive was the one good thing I could do. It was the only thing that made me human instead of a killing machine.”
Cynder reached up to twine her arms around Toro’s neck and leaned back to at him. “You’re not a machine. None of us are. You reminded me of that last night. We’re more than that, Toro. You’re a man, and I think you’re a good one.”
His lips curved into a slow smile. “Thank you. It means a lot that you’d say that. Jaeger and me, we’ve traveled all over since we left service. We’ve seen a lot of places and met a lot of people, but none of them were our friends, and no place felt like home. Not until we came here and found the Nova Club. This place is different.”
Pride swelled inside her. “That’s what we always wanted this place to be. Not just a club, but a home.”
“I think you’ve succeeded. Maybe, if things work out, Jaeger and I can make it our home, too. I mean one day, not today. We should probably go on our first date before I start talking about the future, huh?” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek before losing his hold on her.
“A date might be a good place to start,” she said, releasing her arms from around his neck and taking a step back. She needed space to think about what had happened between them, and what might happen tomorrow night. She also had to figure out how she was going to deal with her batch brothers and their teasing, because she knew damned well there was going to be a lot of it. They were going to enjoy getting back at her for all the mockery and laughter she sent their way when they had fallen for Zura.
Veth. Their payback was going to be a bitch.
“Tomorrow night feels a long way off,” Toro grumbled. “Maybe we can meet up for drinks tonight?”
She shook her head. “It’s fight night. I’m going to be busy and so are you, if you want to be. You’re not scheduled to fight, but we could use you out on the floor as security personnel. You interested?”
He grinned. “Cracking heads on the outside of the ring instead of inside? Count me in.”
“Great. I’ll tell Kit. He’ll get you a uniform and tell you what you’ll need to know. Basically, be polite, be firm, and when they don’t listen, try not to hurt them too badly.”
Toro nodded. “I can do that.”
“I know you can. I wouldn’t have asked you, otherwise.” Cynder hadn’t planned to ask Toro to help. It wasn’t something they did often, because most of their fighters didn’t have the temperament for security work. They were more likely to pick fights then stop them from happening.
Toro was different than the others. He didn’t have anything to prove. Fraxx, based on what she was seeing, he could probably take down every fighter they had without breaking a sweat. Even when she came at him too hard, he hadn’t gotten angry, and the moment he took her to the mat the fight had ended. If things went well tonight, maybe she could offer him a different career path than the one he was on. One with a future that didn’t require him stepping into the ring every week for the rest of his life. He deserved more than that.
Now, she had to explain to Kit why she had taken it upon herself to hire extra security for tonight and what she was hoping it would lead to. He would laugh at her and tell her she was going soft, but she was fairly certain he would bring Toro onboard for a shift and see how he did. They never talked about it, but the Nova wasn’t just their home. They’d created it with the intention of making it a place any cyborg would feel welcome. The one place in a cold, indifferent, galaxy that anyone like them could find a place where they belonged.
“I’ll see you later,” Toro said. “And Cyn? Thanks. For everything.”
“Anytime, and next time, you’re going down.”
He grinned at her. “Until next time, then.”
She headed to her quarters for a quick shower and tried to ignore the thrill that chased down her spine every time she thought about being back in the ring with Toro, or better yet, back in his arms. The man could kiss even better than he could fight, and for her, the combination was as sexy as hell.
CHAPTER SIX
Meetings were far from Jaeger’s favorite way of passing the time, and meetings with security personnel were even further down the list. Yet, here he was, having a meeting with Corp-Sec for the second time in twenty-four hours. At least they had been polite about it. They had contacted him on his comm device and asked when he could meet with them instead of ordering him to appear. They even offered to meet him at the club, an offer he was happy to take them up on. It was the first time local law enforcement had treated him decently. The moment the Corp-Sec officers entered the room, he understood why. They were cyborgs.
Both of them were dressed in the deep red uniforms of corporate security, the closest thing the Drift had to a police department. They kept the peace, enforced the rules when needed, and generally saw to it that the denizens of the Drift didn’t plunge the entire place into perpetual chaos.
The officers weren’t alone, either. Kit Armas was close behind them, followed by Luke and Cynder. Cynder did a double take when she saw him sitting there, then blushed slightly as she made her way to an empty chair to his right.
“Hey, Jaeger. I didn’t know you were going to be included in this briefing,” Luke said as he grabbed a chair from the table.
“I was told to show up by Corp-Sec, so here I am. This is a briefing?” Jaeger asked, arching a brow at Kit. Kit knew he would be here; he was the one who gave him directions to the room.
“I thought that’s what it was. Mack, what’s going on?” Cynder asked, looking at the cyborg security officer with black hair. His partner was a blond, and they showed none of the usual similarities that would mark them as batch siblings.
&n
bsp; “We figured we might as well have you all in at once to tell you what’s going on with the investigation. Save us repeating ourselves. Kit knew about it; I don’t know why he didn’t tell the rest of you.”
Cynder glowered at her brother. “I have a pretty good idea. Not even a little bit funny, Kit.”
Kit guffawed. “Oh, yeah, it was. I wanted to see your face when you saw the other one, and now I know everything I need to.”
“Asshole,” Cynder muttered under her breath.
Now it made sense. Kit wanted to see how she reacted to his presence after catching her with Toro this morning. His brother had told him all about their sparring match, the kiss, and getting caught by her brothers. The big man hadn’t been able to shut up since he got back from the gym. It was the happiest Jaeger had ever seen him. Judging by Cynder’s blush when she spotted him, she was as affected by the morning as his batch brother. The only way he could be happier right now, was if he had been the one to kiss Cyn instead of Toro. That was something he hoped to rectify shortly.
“I don’t know what any of this is about, and frankly, I don’t want to know. That way when the inevitable sibling smackdown happens, I have deniability,” the blond Corp-Sec officer stated as he took the last seat at the table, the one directly across from Jaeger. “I’m Officer Dash Scudo, by the way, and this is my partner, Officer Mack Darian. Nice to meet another fellow veteran of the wars.”
“Jaeger. Nice to meet you, too, I think. Unless you’re here to arrest me. If that’s the case, it’s going to put a damper on a budding friendship.”
Mack snickered. “You, I like. As it happens, we’re not here to arrest anyone, but there are a few things you all need to hear about the fight last night and what caused it…and why our suspect isn’t going to be charged with anything.”