Kissing Steel (3 page)

Another one snorted. “Forget it, Nile. Teg and I would appreciate her more.” The

black-haired cyborg winked at Rena. “Pick me. I could eat you alive.”

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Kissing Steel – Laurann Dohner

One of the cyborgs in the back shoved forward. “If she gets to pick who she belongs

to then I want to be in the running.” He smiled at Rena. “I promise not to break you and

you’d enjoy living with me and my brother much better than them.”

She tried to remember what her father had told her about cyborgs but just one story

came to mind about a prisoner her father had guarded who had been damn possessive of

his belongings. He was the biggest cyborg in lockup and he’d beaten anyone who had

tried to touch his things. Her gaze flew to the silvery-skinned cyborg with the strange

pale blue eyes and beautiful hair that flowed to his shoulders.

He was the biggest of the eight cyborgs, she’d just heard him say he hadn’t had a

woman in a long time and he was no longer married because his wife had screwed

another man. She stared at him, taking note of his handsome features, his attractive,

muscled body, and those full, firm lips.

Something inside her was drawn to this cyborg, perhaps it was the fact that he’d been

betrayed by his wife. Rena knew all about spousal betrayal, bitterness, and being lonely.

She lived it every day of her life and had for years, trapped in her travesty of a marriage.

She saw a kindred soul in those seconds. If she had to go to bed with a man, he was her

first choice, as her gaze swept over him again, feeling attraction in ways she hadn’t

experienced in years. The thought of having sex with the handsome cyborg made her feel

warm and almost eager to explore the reality of how it would feel to be touched by him.

She made a sudden decision. She stared at the big cyborg when he turned his head,

maybe sensing her desperate focus on him. She barely hesitated.

“Give me to him.” She pointed at Steel, her gaze locked with his. “Please.”

Shock widened Steel’s eyes and his jaw dropped.

Flint laughed. “Done. You now own a human, Steel. Congratulations.”

Steel whipped his head around, glared at Flint. “No.”

Flint turned, still chuckling as he pushed through his men to leave the shuttle. “I’m

your best friend. You wouldn’t want to insult me by not accepting a gift, would you?”

Steel growled a curse before he glared at Rena.

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Kissing Steel – Laurann Dohner

Rena wasn’t on the
Star
or the
Bridden
. The irritable cyborg, Steel, had let her grab

her things from the shuttle. Keeping hold of her arm the entire time he’d taken her onto

the
Star
, he then furiously marched her to the other shuttle. He’d locked her in a holding

cell for hours and then had collected her. She’d been shocked when he’d escorted her

onto another large ship that wasn’t the
Star
. She’d seen the ship’s tag on a few places as

she was led down hallways, reading that she was on the
Vontage
.

It took her a few minutes but she finally remembered why the name was familiar to

her. The
Vontage
had been a traveling pleasure hotel ship that traveled from Earth, to

Saturn, and then to the Moon. Demco hadn’t insured the ship so she’d never seen the

claim for the theft but it had made the news. While in repair dock the
Vontage
had been

stolen after a deck fire had caused damage on one of the levels. Her eyes widened as she

stared at where Steel had led her.

It was a hotel suite that had a huge four-poster bed. The walls were a bright blue with

black carpet and furniture but it was the erotic art hanging on the walls—pictures of

human men and women embracing while nude—that prominently covered three of the

walls, that stunned her. It looked as if the room had been designed for a romantic getaway

for a kinky couple. As she eyed the bed she saw chains and restraints wrapped around the

posts of the bed from top to bottom, resembling entwined silver snakes.

“It’s…” She was speechless.

“I never changed the décor since I have better things to do with my time. The bed is

comfortable.” His voice was rough and husky.

She turned her head to meet his gaze, having to look up. He was well over a foot

taller than her five-foot-three. She swallowed and brushed her brown hair from her face.

“You’re still annoyed with me, aren’t you?”

“You think so?” He growled the words. “You threw yourself at me.”

“I did not. I just asked to be given to you.”

“Why?” He growled the word.

“I’m not a pleasure worker and I didn’t want to become one.”

Those strange eyes locked on her. “What makes you think Flint would have done

that to you?”

“I have ears that work.” She put her hands on her hips. “I heard what he said about

giving me to the cyborgs and holding a lottery for me. I also heard those…men.”

“We hold lotteries when women have too many males to choose from and she can’t

make a decision. Numbers are assigned and one is drawn. The winning number gets her,

so you would have been given to one male. If he wanted to share your body with other

males it would have been his decision. You are human and that makes you property.”

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Kissing Steel – Laurann Dohner

“I’m a person, not property.” Anger poured through her at being considered a thing

someone could own as though she were a pair of boots.

“Cyborgs were property on Earth.” He took a few steps toward Rena before stopping

just mere feet from her. “When we escaped so we weren’t murdered by humans we took

a page right out of your laws and made you property that belongs to us.” He took a deep

breath. “Why did you choose me?”

She nervously licked her lips. “I heard what you said, implying you didn’t want me

killed. I also assumed that you don’t like to share a woman since you didn’t want your

wife back after she slept with another man. You’re really big too.” Her gaze ran up and

down him, studying him closely. “You can protect me from other cyborgs.”

A silvery eyebrow arched. “If you are referring to the bullshit stories that we cut up

humans for spare parts it is false. We take DNA samples because our gene pool isn’t as

varied as we wish. A lot of cyborgs were created from the same DNA samples, making

breeding difficult because we must be tested to ensure we aren’t from the same donors

before we form a family unit. If a couple is set on becoming a unit even if their DNA is

too similar we need spare samples from human donors that we can use to implant the

female so the DNA is solid for their offspring.”

She was shocked. “I hadn’t heard that rumor about you cutting up people. I didn’t

even know cyborgs still existed. You have children?”

His eyes narrowed. “Yes we do. It is required by law that we must increase our

numbers to ensure our continuing existence. We are set on our future and to have one we

must reproduce so it is greatly encouraged to have as many offspring as possible.”

“So you use artificial wombs and—”

“No.” He stepped a little closer. “We reproduce the same way you do.”

Stunned fear filled her, knowing that he could get her pregnant, that cyborgs could

have children. She was pretty certain they weren’t designed to do that. She swallowed

hard.

“I’m not on anything. I mean, I’m not using something to prevent pregnancy.”

He frowned as his gaze raked up and down her. “You’re too damn small and fragile

to have sex with. I couldn’t get you pregnant anyway since my sperm has not been

activated.”

“Activated?”

“We have to take shots to null out what was done to us.” Anger deepened his voice.

“Humans didn’t want us to procreate. They sure as hell didn’t want it to happen since

some cyborgs were used as sex toys by the sick and perverted assholes who controlled us.

We found a way around what they did to us but we have to take shots that last a few

months when we plan to have offspring. I was going to be activated for the woman in my

family unit when I returned to her but my ship was damaged. I was unable to contact my

planet for a while so my female thought I was dead. Now she carries another’s

offspring.”

“I’m sorry. Did you love her?”

He hesitated. “Love is a human term. I enjoyed the sex, she was attractive, we got

along well and I had a good time when I was on Garden.”

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Kissing Steel – Laurann Dohner

“What is Garden?”

“My home world. We found a planet and settled on it after we fled Earth.”

She was shocked again, assuming they lived similar to nomads in space on the ships

they stole. Apparently there was a hell of a lot more to cyborgs than she suspected. She

was also relieved that he’d said he didn’t want to have sex with her since he was a big

bastard. She had been a little afraid of the idea of him touching her.
What if he wasn’t

gentle? What if
…well, she didn’t need to worry about that since he didn’t want her.

“As soon as I’m able, I will find you another male to give you to.” His gaze ran up

and down her again. “I have an engineer who is smaller—about six feet tall and not as

muscular. He might share you with his bunkmate since they are very close friends who

share quarters but they will not abuse you.”

“No!” She stared up at him. “I don’t want to be shared.”

“What you want is irrelevant. What is your name?”

“Rena Gates.”

“Rena Gates, I will give you to another male, and if he shares you, that is his

decision. I have work to do and will return in a few hours. Do not unpack or get too

comfortable.”

She watched him leave with icy dread settling into her belly. She didn’t want to be

given to some guy who was going to share her with other men. She shivered and it wasn’t

in the good way. She worked with a woman named Dana who would have loved being

shared between men but that wasn’t Rena’s idea of a good time. She moved toward the

large bed and glanced at the chains before she sat down heavily on the soft mattress. Her

mind started to work toward a solution.

That’s how two hours passed as she watched the clock on his wall before the doors

opened and Steel walked back into his quarters. He looked stressed and his silver hair

was messy as if he’d finger combed it a hundred times. Irritation flashed in his silvery

blue gaze as it landed on her. He carried something in his arm so her focus dropped to the

container box when he moved toward her and the bed.

“I thought you might be hungry.” He nearly dropped the box next to her. “Eat. I am

going to shower.”

“I wanted to talk to you.”

He had spun away but then he froze. He didn’t turn around, instead chose to keep his

back to her. “We have nothing to discuss. I set a meeting with the engineer in the

morning when he ends his shift but I’m sure he will take you.” He stormed into the

bathroom.

She opened the box and made a face when she saw it was filled with packet food.

She lifted one, shocked as she read it was from Earth. She realized she shouldn’t have

been surprised at all since the
Vontage
was an Earth floating hotel and obviously the food

was from the ship’s massive stores. She sighed, tearing open one that said steak. It wasn’t

too bad but it was all she ate. She heard the water shut off in the bathroom and stood up,

placing the box and her trash on the floor. She turned to face Steel as she waited for him

to enter the room.

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Kissing Steel – Laurann Dohner

He walked out of the bathroom wearing loose, comfortable-looking pants. Her mouth

dropped open as she stared at his thickly corded muscles, thinking he had the best damn

body she’d ever seen. She saw scars on his chest and a thick one on his left shoulder. He

also had weird lines tattooed from the beginning of his collarbone, over the top of his

shoulder that disappeared down over his back. More tattoos adorned his rib cage, making

very attractive patterns on his skin. His wet hair was just shaken out and looked as though

it had some curl when wet. His pale blue eyes fixed on her.

“You can sleep on the floor. You may have one of the blankets and a pillow from my

bed.”

Heart pounding, fearful, and really uneasy, she kicked off her shoes as she locked her

gaze with his. “I’m not sleeping on the floor. You’re also not going to give me to some

engineer who may or may not decide to pass me around to his friends.”

“You are my property and will do as you are told.” The man’s voice went even

deeper, changing from a gravelly tone to an outright growl.

She didn’t think he’d hurt her since he hadn’t wanted her killed. She reached for her

shirt, tearing it over her head. She saw his eyes narrow as his body tensed. Steel’s large