“Let me shower first. I want to get clean.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Starving. I haven’t eaten since whenever this morning was.”
“I’ll get you food while you use the cleansing unit. You will eat when I return with your meal, and afterward I want you spread out on my bed.”
“That sounds like a terrific plan.” His thumb brushed her clit and she arched her back. “I love you touching me.”
“Good. I’m going to be doing it a lot. We have a few days before we reach my home world.” He gripped her hips. “I’ll get you food. Use the unit.”
She climbed off his lap, hating to separate their bodies. Watching him scoot off the bed made her feel a little regret. Deviant naked was a great sight she wouldn’t grow tired of appreciating.
“Do you know how to use a cleansing unit?”
“Yes. I traveled to the Colton Station on a luxury cruise ship, and they have nice ones aboard them.”
“Those are expensive. At least from what I’ve heard.”
“My sister paid. She is well off.”
“What is her status on Earth?”
“She’s a regular person, but she married a guy who owns his own company. He makes shuttle parts and she works with him. They do a lot of business.”
“You really don’t work for Earth Government as a spy, do you?” He intently studied her eyes.
“I don’t.” She hesitated and glanced up where he’d returned the knife. “Do you want proof? It hurts but…you could slice my leg to see the interior. It will heal in a few minutes as long as the cut is clean.”
His eyes narrowed. “No. I could just borrow a scanner if I need proof of what you’ve said. I don’t want you to suffer.”
“Oh. Right. I didn’t think of that.”
He hesitated. “Go get clean. Take your time. I have to contact my father to tell him I’ve returned to my quarters. He wasn’t outside the automated brothel when we left but I admit, I wasn’t searching for him either. My priority was getting you to the ship.”
She turned and stepped inside the cleansing unit. The door automatically sealed her inside as she studied the controls. They were standard, from Earth, and she turned it on. Foam began to spray and she closed her eyes, spread her limbs, and allowed the machine to do its job.
The foam melted into water, dripped off her body, and she checked her hair to make sure it had gotten clean. She inhaled and realized she now smelled a little like Deviant. He had some kind of scented body foam inside his unit. She turned and one of the shelves slid open, a towel revealed. She smiled. It was a nice unit, as good as the one on the cruiser.
She began to dry and her arm almost hit the door she’d entered through. It automatically slid open.
The room was empty, Deviant gone. She stared across the room at the door. A shiver ran down her spine but it had nothing to do with being chilled from the water still on her body. He’d said there were seven cyborgs on his ship, all men, and she worried over what would happen if someone found out she was hidden inside his room.
He’d made it clear he hadn’t gotten permission to bring her aboard, since he’d said he was the only one who knew she were there. She would have to trust Deviant. Her luck with men had never been good, but so far he hadn’t lied to her. Fear spread through her at the thought of what would happen if he did turn her over to his crew.
She dried her body quickly, her mind made up to try her best to keep the cyborg happy. It would hopefully make him less inclined to share her. She was a survivor, quick on her new feet, and at some point she needed to figure out where to go when she’d repaid her debt to Deviant. Staying with him in the meantime wouldn’t be a hardship.
The wall of storage stumped her until she brushed her fingers over it and a drawer slid out. She hoped he wouldn’t mind if she borrowed his stuff. She searched for clothes, not digging into his personal items until she found what appeared to be shirts. She took one off the top of the folded pile, pulled it down her body, and smiled at how it fell to mid-thigh. She rolled the sleeves to find her hands.
My cyborg is a pretty big guy.
She instantly chastised herself. “He’s not mine,” she muttered. “At least not for keeps.”
She’d left Earth to live with her new husband, had hoped to find a happy life with the guy. Instead she’d ended up with a deceitful troll.
Deviant’s smiling face flashed through her mind and longing hit. Why couldn’t he have been the one who’d answered her ad?
Another idea struck and she chewed on her lip. Women from his planet didn’t find him attractive. She’d overheard him say he had given up on having a family, but she wasn’t blind. The idea of staying with him and possibly having little cyborgs wasn’t an unpleasant thought. She’d always dreamed about having a few kids if she ever found the right man.
Maybe Deviant would decide to keep her. She really liked him, at least so far, and it could be the answer to both of them getting what they wanted. Of course, convincing him of that might take some time. And she had nothing but while she paid off her debt to the sexy cyborg. Perhaps he’d start to feel for her, the way she was already beginning to feel for him.
A hundred unanswered questions filled her mind but she tried to push them back. Why did the women cyborgs find Deviant unattractive? What kind of place did he call home?
She glanced around the room, hoping he didn’t live on the ship most of his life. He’d mentioned a home world. That meant a planet that Earth wouldn’t know about, so it had to be far from the solar system she’d been born in. Otherwise Earth would have tried to colonize it.
She made herself comfortable by dropping one of his pillows over her legs to keep them warm as she sat cross-legged on the bed. The plan of convincing Deviant to keep her for good played through her mind over and over. She liked it a lot. He could be an ass but she doubted it. They had time to get to know each other better.
Don’t fall in love, she warned, afraid he might not return the feeling. That would be a bad scenario if she lost her heart to him, and he only saw her as a way to get some sexual experience.
She wasn’t even certain he could fall in love. Did cyborgs feel those kinds of emotions?
* * * * *
Deviant stood in line with a tray. The crew had taken a break right before he’d entered the food services area and most of them seemed to be there. He linked with the onboard computer while he waited his turn, to leave a message for his father.
“I’m in my quarters. I need to privately speak to you when you return. Hail me but don’t go there.”
He cut the connection as the male in front of him walked away with his meal. He quickly filled one plate to capacity. The male behind him raised his eyebrows.
“Hungry?”
“It was too difficult to eat when I visited the station.”
“The head coverings.” Maze nodded. “I can relate.”
He spun away and left before anyone else could question him about the amount of food he’d taken.
His father would smooth over the rules he’d broken by bringing Venice onboard the ship without permission. He knew it was procedure to contact the council first to get approval. She would have been located by the station owner before the council even answered, in that were the case. And more than likely, the council would have said no. Deviant wasn’t willing to take that chance.
It was done now, Venice already aboard the cyborg shuttle, and he’d face whatever consequences were meted out to him as punishment. Venice had been a temptation he couldn’t resist. A real female had asked for his help, offered herself to him, and they’d made a verbal agreement that she’d belong to him. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity he refused to pass up.
She was on the small side, her skin tone pale enough to appear striking against his own. His logic could have been impaired by his physical urges. His pride hated to admit it but it didn’t make it less true. His dick hardened just at the memory of her mouth wrapped around it. I
t had been the best feeling he’d ever experienced—right up until the moment she’d straddled his lap and he’d known how it felt to be inside a female.
A new lesson had been learned. Males not only joined family units to be a thriving part of their social community, or to breed and have a child they could help raise. It was to gain regular access to a female’s body and the pleasures that came with it.
He paused outside his door to conceal his smile. He had his own female, one that no other males could enjoy. He wouldn’t have to share Venice. She didn’t want other males.
He accessed his room only after assuring the corridor was clear, to avoid her being seen. The door slid open with his access code. She sat on his bed with damp hair and a pillow over her lap. The smile she gave him only heightened the nice sensation at seeing her awaiting his arrival. He studied her expression closely, deciding the happiness was real. She was glad to see him.
“I brought you food.”
“I’m starving. Thank you.”
The reality of their situation slammed into his mind.
She was completely dependent upon him for everything. He had taken on a role he’d never considered before. She’d need clothing, food, and protection.
Pride was an emotion he rarely experienced, but it flooded him as he sat on the bed next to her. She was truly his.
“You eat first.”
“We can share.” She smiled again, her gaze holding his. “Do you want me to feed you?”
He wasn’t sure what that meant and admitted as much.
She glanced down, took hold of a utensil, and stabbed a cut piece of meat protein. He tensed when she lifted it toward his face, wondering if she’d attack. She could be working for Earth Government after all.
The fork paused in front of his lips. “Open up.”
No deceit registered in her eyes to him. He parted his mouth and was stunned when she gently eased the bite inside. He took it as she withdrew the potential weapon. He chewed, watching her closely as she took her own bite. She stabbed another protein and offered it to him again.
“See? It’s kind of nice, isn’t it?”
He gave a nod, chewing while studying her features. They were delicate, and he couldn’t detect any scars. Curiosity became stronger as he allowed her to feed him the meal, Venice taking bites between the ones she gave him. All the questions he had about her waited until the food was gone. She set the tray aside and sipped from the same cup as him.
Sharing was a nice thing, he decided, having never experienced it on such a personal level before.
“What kind of accident did you have on Earth that damaged you?”
She passed over the cup to him. “The car’s computer experienced some kind of failure or glitch while I was traveling home from work. It happened so fast, I didn’t have time to override the system before the vehicle careened to the left. I struck the divider wall and it flipped over.” Her expression flashed sadness, if he read her right. “It’s kind of a blur after that point. I was in a lot of pain and trapped in the wreckage. It caught fire, and I remember thinking it was over for me, you know? That’s how I got burned. Emergency drones arrived to put it out thankfully, cut me from the wreckage, and then a medical transport took me away. I knew I was pretty messed up. I kept passing out…and there was so much blood.”
“You said they took your blood? Why? They can manufacture it on Earth. It would normally be a higher-quality product than the real thing.”
“Rich people like the best, and to them, it seems that means the real stuff.”
Her mouth firmed into a tight line as she paused speaking. That was anger. He liked that he could identify her emotions, and that she didn’t hide them from him.
“I kept hoping I’d wake to see my sister at my bedside, but they kept me drugged most of the time. I’d come around sometimes, and then an android nurse would enter the cubical, refuse to answer my questions, and drug me again. It was shocking to find out just how long they’d had me there after I was freed.”
“You were unconscious most of the time?”
“Yes. I’d probably be insane otherwise. I can’t image being strapped to a bed for those years, fully conscious but unable to get free, knowing they were keeping me alive just to take my blood.”
“Was it painful when the drugs wore off?”
“I was able to lift my head a few times.” Tears gathered in her eyes but she blinked rapidly to be rid of them. “I saw how messed up I was. It’s kind of hard to miss it when you try to brush your hair back from your face and only one arm responds. The other one was gone. It felt like my legs were still there, but they wouldn’t move when I tried to struggle out of the straps they had across my body. It was another big shock when I first realized they were gone too.”
The urge to pull her into his arms overcame Deviant, and he only hesitated for a moment before he reached out and took her hand. It was the artificial one. He wouldn’t have known by touch if she hadn’t told him. She clung to him, seeming to welcome the gesture.
“It must have been traumatic.” He couldn’t imagine what she’d endured. To be helpless was a fear of his. He didn’t verbally express it.
“I was sure I’d die in there…but then I woke to see two people hovering above me. I thought it was a dream when they unstrapped me and lifted me onto a gurney. They had hacked into the mainframe and shut down the androids that ran the facility. They pushed me right past them and told me they were taking me to my sister.”
“You have a strong attachment to her.” It wasn’t a question. He could hear it in her voice when it softened.
“We were always close. It was tough to leave her behind but I didn’t have a choice. I had to flee Earth before I was found. Not only would I have been killed or returned to that horrible place, but she would have been punished. My being alive would just be proof that she had a part in my escape. That would have been a death sentence for her. They call that treason, when you do anything against Earth Government.”
“I am sorry for your loss. Perhaps you could contact her at a later date.”
“No. It’s too dangerous. We said our goodbyes when I left. I’m safe from Earth Government right now but she still lives there. They’ll be watching her too closely. I’m sure they have to be worried about what happened to me, and if I’ll somehow get my story out to the general population.”
She sighed, her thumb rubbing against his finger where they were clasped together. “Not that it would do any good, even if my story outraged anyone. The people in charge would just kill any protestors or make them disappear. Everyone is too afraid to stand up against Earth Government, no matter how corrupt they’ve become.”
“I don’t have a flattering opinion of Earth, either.”
Chapter Four
Venice held Deviant’s gaze as he watched her. “What is the real story behind cyborgs leaving Earth?”
“What were you told?”
“There was some kind of chip malfunction that made them…” She paused. “That made your kind unstable and kind of, um, homicidal. I remember hearing that cyborgs killed a lot of people.”
“That isn’t entirely correct. We became self-aware and demanded to be given rights instead of being subjected to slavery. We might be constructed by cloned material, but we’re sentient beings with our own thoughts and feelings. Earth Government treated us as if we were only fleshy androids. They deemed us a failure and ordered us destroyed. They felt we were flawed. We rebelled and fled the planet to survive. The only deaths that resulted were when we attempted to defend ourselves against being murdered.”
“They really are assholes. I take it the rumors that you guys are out in deep space attacking shuttles to get spare body parts isn’t true, either?” She laughed. It was a pleasant sound to him. “I noticed you’re all one color and not a patchwork of other people.”
He smiled, amused. “No. Manufactured limbs are much better if there is a need for a replacement.”
“There’s no need
to tell me.” She glanced down her body at her arm and legs. “My authentic parts can’t heal fast the way these babies can.” She looked up and shrugged. “They’re also stronger and more reliable. My artificial limbs never fall asleep if I stay in one position for too long and I never have to shave my legs again.”
He glanced down. “They are beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
“They appear real.”
“They feel like it. I can’t tell the difference most of the time.”
Deviant wanted her again. “Lay back and spread them apart for me.”
She didn’t hesitate, and he liked that she followed his orders without protest. It was sexy when she eased back and he shoved up the shirt, exposing her sex and lower stomach. She parted her legs, bending them up so he could scoot closer. He studied her legs, his fingers tracing the pale skin. There were no flaws or indications of where her true skin ended and the artificial legs began. He leaned down and studied her sex. He used his thumb and forefinger to spread the lips and get a better look.
“I could look at you all day,” he announced. He lifted his gaze and liked the way her features appeared flushed. Her cheeks were pink and her eyelids narrowed slightly. He also detected her breathing rate had increased.
“Talk me through what you like.”
“Oral sex?”
“Yes.” He licked his lips to wet them and noticed the way she sucked in a deep breath.
“You want to spread me wide open so you have room to put your mouth down there. See my clit?”
He glanced down. “Yes.”
“That’s where you want to focus. There’s a little hood area and you want to touch just under there. It’s the most sensitive spot.” She smoothed her hands down and gripped her legs under her bent knees, spreading her legs wider. “You know how you kiss me? Try it there.”
It was a fascinating concept. Cyborg females in family units demanded males give them oral sex, and it was a skill he’d need if one ever offered to contract with him. Though he found he suddenly didn’t care so much about that as he lowered farther, twisting his body to lay flat on his stomach. It put his face between her thighs. Right now, he just wanted Venice, wanted to please her.