Cyborg (24 page)

“You were busy,” she said sulkily. “I don’t want to interrupt you.” Her eyes narrowed when she made the last comment. In vain, she waited for the snide remark he’d made to her before when she’d interrupted their game--‘you already did’.

His lips twitched, as if he knew exactly what she was fishing for. Releasing his grip on her arm, he held his hands wide. “As you see, I’m at your disposal.”

The temptation was so great to slug him right in the jaw that Amaryllis felt a wave of nausea wash over her when she tamped it. She really, really didn’t want to go into the kitchen with him, but she was just as reluctant to bear up his low opinion of her. “Fine!”

she said tightly, turning and stalking to the kitchen.

He followed her at a leisurely pace. She was tapping her foot on the tile floor impatiently when he arrived. Ignoring the obvious signs of temper, he began by instructing her on the equipment.

“I got that already from the ‘bot.”

He ignored that, too, continuing until he’d demonstrated each appliance. When he’d finished, he turned to look at her. “Now. We’ll start with something simple. Can you boil water?”

Her temper was already on slow boil. She gave him a narrow eyed look. “You put water in a pot and set it over the heat, right?” she said sarcastically.

He nodded and crossed his arms. She stared back at him for several moments, but she could see he wasn’t going to say anything else until she’d shown him. Snatching a pot from the rack, she filled it with water and slammed it down on the cooking top.

When she’d switched it on, she stood over the pot, staring down at the water. It didn’t seem to be doing much of anything. “How do you know when it’s boiling?” she asked finally. “You could always stick your finger in it to test the temperature.”

“Very funny.”

He moved to the refrigerating unit and removed a tray of eggs. “When it’s bubbling and churning.”

It was a rocky start to say the least and Amaryllis was convinced he was just trying--and succeeding really well--to make her feel stupid and useless. The lecture became more interesting, however, when he began placing the eggs in the pot and explaining the different dishes she could make with cooked eggs.

She did so well with the first couple of recipes she tried she decided she was pretty darned good at it. She threw a grin at Cain. “This wasn’t too hard.”

His lips twitched. Lifting one finger, he flicked a crumb of egg yolk off one cheek. “Aside from the kitchen looking like a battle zone, you seem to catch on quickly.”

Amaryllis glanced around self-consciously and saw that he hadn’t exaggerated a great deal. “Guess I’ll have to work on the technique,” she said wryly.

He picked up a stuffed egg and held it up to her. “The real test is here--the taste.”

Amaryllis studied it doubtfully but finally took a bite. Relief flooded her. “It’s good!” she said happily. “It really is. Teach me something else. Something--grander.

Really impressive. Dante and Reese are going to be so surprised when….”

It was unnerving to see how quickly he transformed from amusing companion to frozen wasteland. He smiled thinly. “Another day, perhaps. I need to get back to my study.” Amaryllis felt her jaw go slack in stunned surprise. As he turned and strode away, she called out to him. “Cain?”

He stopped at the door, turning to look at her questioningly, but his expression wasn’t at all welcoming and she found she couldn’t gather up the nerve to ask him what she really wanted to ask. She forced a smile. “Thank you.”

When he’d gone, she stared absently at the food on the counter for a while and finally put it into containers and set it inside the refrigerating unit. The encounter left her feeling uneasy and guilty, vaguely angry and confused.

She missed having him to talk to, having him tease her. It had nothing to do with being lonely, or having no one to talk to now, though. It was Cain she missed and she couldn’t figure out how to get through that stone wall he was steadily building between them. She couldn’t think it was because he wanted sex and needed that outlet. If he had, he had only to ask, and he knew it. For that matter, he didn’t actually have to ask. He could have come to her room.

She’d wanted spontaneity but had realized being completely spontaneous could create problems. Reese was fighting a running battle with possessiveness. If she’d left things completely up in the air, Reese would have planted himself firmly in her bed and challenged anyone that wanted to take his place.

She’d told both Reese and Dante that, since Gallen had an eight day week, three nights of the week were hers. Period. She could spend them alone, or, if she wanted to spend the night with one of them, she’d do the choosing. She’d given each of them a special night that would be theirs alone and the remaining two nights were up for grabs--for spontaneity.

She had never quite gotten up the nerve to tell Cain which night was his, but she knew the three of them had discussed it. She’d heard them.

But Cain hadn’t come to claim his nights yet.

Irritated, Amaryllis concentrated on cleaning up the worst of the mess she’d made, summoned the ‘bot to clean the rest, and went up to her room to bathe. Dante and Reese would be back soon. She might not have anything special to offer them, but she figured edible was pretty special considering her last couple of attempts to feed the crew.

She mulled over the problem with Cain while she soaked. She wasn’t much for subtlety. She far preferred just to go straight for the root of a problem and make a hole.

Unfortunately, she just hadn’t been able to bring herself to force a confrontation on Cain.

Indifference? Or jealousy? That was the real question.

She decided if she couldn’t find the spine to demand to know point blank, then there had to be a way to find out which of the two it was--short of provoking a fight.

Seduction. But how the hell was she supposed to do that? She’d never taken on the role of aggressor before, not in this sort of situation. Her lack of self-confidence hadn’t been a problem with either Reese or Dante. She’d only had to say ‘yes’. Cain obviously wasn’t going to ask and she had a feeling if she tried to ask him, he’d give her one of his withering looks and she’d--wither.

The only woman she’d actually seen ‘in action’ was her mother, but it took a lot of hard thinking to remember anything at all useful. Even when she did remember, she wasn’t certain how useful it would be.

Perfume, clothes, special smiles and come hither glances.

She had perfume.

She didn’t think she could master the come hither glance in this century.

He’d been ignoring her smiles.

She walked around the next thing to naked now, and there wasn’t a huge variation in the clothing. Except for the colors, one outfit pretty much looked like the next.

She felt like weeping when she left the tub and went to examine herself in the mirror. Her belly looked HUGE! She stared at it in dismay, realizing she was really going to have to take the time to actually look at herself once in a while to avoid future shocks.No wonder he wasn’t interested.

The amazing thing was that neither Dante nor Reese had commented on it.

Maybe they had a stronger sense of self-preservation than she’d thought?

Maybe
hiding
herself a little better would help? She thought glumly.

A thorough search of the wardrobe she’d been provided with revealed that she had nothing even close to what she’d been thinking about. Even her uniform would’ve been better than simply walking around bare bellied when her belly was so--round.

She moved back to the mirror and examined the side view. After some deliberation, she finally decided that it didn’t look quite as big as she’d first thought.

There was a very definite roundness that hadn’t been there before, but if she could find something a little more concealing….

The skirts that she generally tied at her waist were virtually transparent, but she discovered when she tried tying it at her shoulders instead, that it seemed to have the effect she was looking for. It was open at the sides, however, and she had no belt to tie it with. After trying several variations, she finally chose two colors that seemed to go well together and used one as a top and the other as it was intended at her waist. The ties at the waist held the two sides of the skirt she was using as a top together, but allowed a peek of bare flesh on her sides.

Concealing, but not enticing. Her lips twisted wryly as she studied the effect.

She sighed, staring at herself critically. Finally, she stripped and pulled the skirts on again minus the top and briefs she usually wore.

The sheer fabric had a muting effect that was far more flattering to her mind than outright nudity, but she could still clearly see her breasts and the curly thatch of hair that covered her mound.

Her eyes narrowed.

If Cain didn’t notice her in this, she would know he just plain wasn’t interested and it had to be something else.

She’d heard both Dante and Reese return while she’d been experimenting with her clothing, listened as they’d mounted the stairs and gone to their rooms. After a time, they’d left again and gone back downstairs. Most likely, the three of them were gathered in the living room, talking or deciding on entertainment for the evening--which was usually some board or card game, although they occasionally watched digi-enactments on the hologram pad in the center of the living room.

Girding herself, she left her room and headed downstairs. Stopping by the kitchen, she collected her egg dishes first, deciding to arrange the food on a tray so that she wouldn’t have to try to balance four different containers on her trip to the living room. She was nervous enough; she was bound to drop something.

Without allowing herself time for second thoughts, she strode down the hall to the living room, pushed the door open and headed for the nearest table to set the tray down.

“I made food,” she said brightly as she settled the tray and turned to look at the men.

She discovered when she turned that she had their attention. Unfortunately, she couldn’t read much into their stunned expressions. Her smile fell. “You don’t like it?”

Reese blinked, slowly, as if surfacing from a deep trance. Dante swallowed audibly. Cain simply continued to stare at the curly thatch between her thighs, his eyes glazed, his complexion slowly darkening.

A blush rose in her own cheeks in response. Maybe, she thought, unnerved, this was a mistake. Maybe she looked as ridiculous as she suddenly felt and they were just too surprised by her silly ‘fashion statement’ to think of anything to say.

“What?” Cain finally said, his voice sounding hoarse with disuse.

She curled her lips in a forced smile. She wasn’t about to mention the outfit and force them to comment on it. “The food. Cain helped me. It’s actually quite good.”

She moved to the couch and flopped down on it because her knees felt weak and she had to do something before she turned tail and fled.

Their gazes followed her, zeroing in on her breasts as the abrupt movement caused them to jiggle and sway beneath the sheer fabric.

Dante got up jerkily and took one of the eggs, gulping it down almost whole. His brows lifted. “It is good,” he said, swallowing convulsively again as he turned to her.

His gaze didn’t meet hers, however. It zoomed in on her breasts and stayed there.

Amaryllis shifted. Sitting forward, she smoothed the fabric over her thighs. His gaze followed the movement and moved with her when she sat back again.

Maybe she’d misinterpreted their reaction? She thought a little hopefully. Maybe they were just surprised, not horrified, or embarrassed for her.

Neither Reese nor Cain had so much as moved. When she glanced at Reese, he blinked again, slowly, frowned and looked around as if he was trying to figure out where he was.Cain very casually crossed his legs, but not before she noticed the hard ridge lifting his loincloth.

Smiling inwardly, she relaxed fractionally. “I should have gotten everyone drinks.

I’ll be right back.”

When she returned, the three had pulled up a table and were half-heartedly attempting to sort through a game. They were still behaving strangely, but she saw when she met Reese’s gaze that the thoughts running through his mind were all carnal.

Pleased with herself, she set the drinks out for everyone and settled on the couch once more, crossing her legs and lightly swinging the upper one.

When they’d cleaned the tray of eggs, the game got underway at last. Amaryllis didn’t have much interest in that particular game, however. The looks they’d been giving her had fired her blood and she was far more interested in seeing how long it would take them to act on the desire she could see boiling inside of them--all three of them.

They were paying far more attention to the movement of her leg and the sway of her breasts caused by the movement than they were the cards. When it came her turn to discard, she leaned forward and tossed down two cards. Sitting back again, she uncrossed her legs and set her feet on the edge of the table, fanning her knees instead. The third time she parted her thighs, Cain shot to his feet so abruptly, his chair screeched as it slid across the floor.

Reese came to his feet almost simultaneously. The two men exchanged a look.

More slowly, Dante rose. Abruptly, Cain muttered that he was going for a walk and strode from the room. Without a word, Reese crossed to her. Leaning down, he scooped her from the couch. Amaryllis let out a gurgling laugh. “What are you doing?”

His lips curled up at one corner. “I will show you.”

Dante followed. Reese paused at the foot of the stairs. The brothers exchanged a look and then the three of them proceeded up the stairs.

Amaryllis felt positively decadent when she woke halfway through the morning the following day. Ordinarily, she would’ve bounded out of the bed guiltily as soon as she realized she’d slept so late, but she realized she felt very little guilt over it. She had not, in point of fact, done that much sleeping.