Kissing Steel (7 page)

men hear about this, they will taunt me.”

She experienced a little fear as she stared into his eyes. “What are you going to do to

me?”

He took a deep breath, almost crushing her chest in the process since he had her

tightly pinned. “I don’t know. You didn’t harm me, you had no intention of killing me,

but I do want to know how you disabled me. I don’t feel any injuries and I didn’t see you

move to attack me.”

She was tempted to knock him out again but she was afraid he’d crush her if he

totally went limp. He was too heavy to lift. There was no point in it anyway, besides just

seriously pissing him off more. Other cyborgs would just come in to free him if she tied

him up again and she knew it would be soon since it was obviously morning hours so he

would be missed right away. She assumed he had a job to go to today.

“Rena? I’m waiting.”

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Kissing Steel – Laurann Dohner

She met his gaze. “If you keep me and don’t give me away I’ll tell you how I can

easily overtake you. Isn’t that worth something? Bargain with me, Steel.”

His jaw clenched. “You know I could torture it out of you, don’t you?”

She knew that. “Yes.”

“Then answer me. How did you knock me out?”

She hesitated. His hold on her wrists tightened, making her gasp from the pressure.

Tears filled her eyes at the pain. She saw something in his gaze flicker and his hold on

her instantly eased.

“Tell me now, Rena.”

She blinked back the tears as she moved her fingers. He hadn’t broken her wrists but

she knew he could have if he’d wanted to. She shook her head. “It’s all I’ve got to

bargain with.”

His jaw clenched. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You don’t have to. Just make the deal with me. I’ll tell you how I did it if you keep

me and don’t give me to the engineer guy.” She paused. “Or anyone else for that matter.”

Anger filled his features. “Why don’t you just demand I totally set you free for you

to return to Earth?”

“We’re too far from Earth and I’m not stupid. Even if you were willing to let me go

all you could do was put me on a pod. I know pirates are thick this far out and my pod

would get caught. They aren’t made to be defender units so I’d be easy prey. They are far

worse than you are. I could ask you for the shuttle I came here in but I don’t know how to

pilot it. If you had a cyborg pilot me to Earth, it would be a suicide mission for any

cyborg, since they’d be killed. I know the best I can ask for is to stay with you.”

He took another deep breath, his chest crushing against hers as he stared into her

eyes. “Tell me.”

“Make a deal with me. It’s really good information and if there are other cyborgs like

you then it’s a goldmine of information.”

Something flickered in his eyes. “Someone like me?”

She could see him thinking, his expression unguarded as they stared at each other.

She saw something click for him.

“I was incarcerated. That’s it, isn’t it? Did they do something to us?”

Shit.
She’d said too much. She licked her lips and nodded, knowing there was no use

denying it. “Yes.”

“How do you know?”

“I told you I knew someone who was a guard.”

He studied her features. “Who? Unless you’ve had surgery that I don’t detect, you

were too young to have been a guard.” His eyes suddenly widened. “Are there more

cyborgs locked up on Earth? How many of them are there? Where are they?”

“Make a deal with me and I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

Rage flashed across his face and then he lifted off her. Rena was shocked at the

sudden movement but then she cried out as he grabbed her. He climbed off the bed,

gripping her ankle in one of his big hands, dragging her to the edge of the bed. He flipped

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Kissing Steel – Laurann Dohner

her on her stomach, dragging her until she was bent over it, pinned facedown against the

mattress, his knee shoving her legs apart. He came down on her, almost crushing her into

that position.

“How many cyborgs are still prisoner and where are they? Tell me now, Rena. This

isn’t a damn game. How many of my people are yours still holding captive? We thought

humans killed them all long ago. We freed the last of the survivors twenty years ago after

I escaped.”

Shock flashed through her. “I don’t know. I mean, I don’t think there are any

surviving cyborgs left on Earth. I can’t tell you something I don’t know.”

“You’re a guard, aren’t you? Or your company is in charge of them? You don’t work

for an insurance company, do you?”

She turned her head to stare up at his face. The anger she saw there terrified her. He

had the wrong damn idea and his imagination was going wild. “My father was a guard,

not me, and Demco is an insurance company. I don’t know about any other cyborgs. I

swear.”

“I could hurt you.” To prove a point he shifted his hips.

Dread spread through her. A very hard, thick cock pressed against her ass as his legs

shifted, forcing her thighs wider apart—enough for him to press against her anus. She

stared at him over her shoulder, apprehensive, recognizing the threat.

“Tell me everything, Rena, right now. You know how bad I could hurt you. Talk.”

Tears filled her eyes. “I swear. My father was a guard at a cyborg detention center

when I was little. He told me stories growing up about the years he was there. He told me

how they implanted all captured cyborgs with chips so that’s how I was able to shut you

down. If I say the code words it causes the chip to shut you down for ten minutes and

makes all your chips reboot so it takes you longer to get back to full speed. I swear.

Please don’t hurt me, Steel.”

He searched her eyes and his body relaxed slightly. The firm press of his cock eased

back from her ass as he shifted his hips away from her inner thighs. He took a few deep

breaths, still staring into her eyes. He took another deep breath.

“What code words?”

“If I say them you’ll hit the floor.”

“Then why aren’t you saying them? If any of this was true you would have knocked

me out by now. Prove it to me.”

She hesitated. “Are you listening to me, Steel?”

He glowered at her.

“Remember you asked.” She took a deep breath, watching his eyes. “Spectrum three-

three-three-six!”

She saw him blink and then his eyes rolled back into his head. She braced as his

large body collapsed against hers. Naked, hot skin crushed against her back. Gravity

though, made him slide down her body and, with a soft thump, he hit the floor. She

straightened and turned to stare down at the unconscious cyborg in a naked heap. She let

her eyes go to his still-hard cock, seeing that not all of him was down for the count.

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Kissing Steel – Laurann Dohner

She sighed and got a pillow off the bed. She knew the cyborg didn’t deserve it but

she crouched down next to his body and lifted his head, shoving a pillow under him

before she eased his head down. Standing, she found the shirt he’d lent her the night

before, and put it on. She hesitated, glancing at him, and then walked to his bathroom.

Rena enjoyed the hot water as she quickly showered. She figured it might be her last

for a while if the big cyborg was pissed when he woke. She tried to mentally keep track

of time while she towel dried and then walked back into his room. Steel was still

unconscious. She walked to her bag from the
Bridden
and got dressed in a pair of

comfortable pants and a baggy shirt. If he locked her in a holding cell at least she’d be

comfortable. She grabbed her tooth cleaner kit and walked back into his bathroom.

Stepping out of the bathroom a few minutes later, her attention instantly went to the

downed cyborg. For some reason Steel stayed out longer than ten minutes. She knew it

had to be past that time. Worry gnawed at her again, though he’d woken up fine before

after about fifteen minutes. She walked over to him to kneel at his side.

“Steel?”

Something chimed. She realized it had to be someone at his door. The sound echoed

again. Rena’s gaze dropped to Steel. She reached for him, her hands touching his hot skin

as she started to shake him. Someone was at the door and he needed to wake up.

“Steel!”

He didn’t move. She heard the door open and lifted her head, peering over the top of

the bed as three cyborgs in black uniforms stormed into the room. She swallowed hard as

their focus locked on her. They paused and then moved around the bed. It just took them

seconds to see Steel on the floor with her crouched next to him, her hands still on his arm

and chest.

“He’s fine. I can explain. You see—”

One of them moved lightning fast, a hand wrapping around her throat. She tried to

scream as she was yanked off her feet. Another hand was under her arm. Alarm and

dread, along with pain, jolted through her and then she was thrown through the air until

she hit the wall. She couldn’t even scream as pain tore through her side where she hit it

hard. She fell, landing in a heap on the floor, more pain flashing through her body.

Rena lay there in a haze of pain. She had to struggle to get air to her lungs. Rough

hands grabbed her, jerking her up, and it was enough movement for her to suck in air at

least. Her eyes opened as she stared up into a malevolent pair of black eyes in a metallic-

gray face surrounded by jet-black, wild hair. He gripped her by her upper arms, holding

her limp body up before slamming her hard into a wall again.

“He’s coming around,” a voice said from somewhere behind the enraged cyborg who

gripped Rena. The cyborg glared at her and then his hands tightened on her arms.

A scream tore from Rena, caused by the excruciating pain she experienced as the

man hurt her until she thought he was going to break her arms. She stared into a pair of

utterly cold eyes. In the next instant she saw surprise grip his features a second before he

dropped her when he was yanked away. She hit the floor, her legs refusing to hold her

weight, collapsing on her ass. Sobs tore through her. She tried to move her arms but they

wouldn’t lift, hanging dead at her sides. Through her tears she looked up to see Steel,

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Kissing Steel – Laurann Dohner

naked, punching the black-haired cyborg who went crashing to the floor on the other side

of the room.

Steel turned to face her, rage on his features. Their gazes locked but he became

blurry to her as more tears flooded her eyes. She blinked and as her vision cleared she

saw him on his knees in front of her, his hands reaching for her. As Steel touched her arm

she screamed in pain. He released her instantly, his head snapping around.

“Get a medic, damn it.” He almost roared he words. “Move now!”

The black-haired cyborg sat up. “She was attacking you. She’s lucky that’s the worst

I did to her.”

Steel growled. “Get out, Burn. If you permanently damaged her, I’ll do the same to

you.”

“She attacked you.” The black-haired cyborg rose to his feet. “I just disabled her

arms. I didn’t break bones. If she’d been a male I would have killed her.”

Steel turned his head, staring into Rena’s eyes. She blinked back more tears. Her

arms hurt bad, her side throbbed, and tears kept filling her eyes, making her blink to let

them fall down her cheeks. She saw regret on Steel’s features. He reached out to touch

her but his hand froze inches from her skin.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “Hold on. He pinched the nerves in your arms. It’s

painful but they aren’t seriously damaged.”

She opened her mouth to talk but she just gasped in air instead, fighting more sobs.

She couldn’t remember hurting this much, ever. Steel’s features turned harsh, anger

making his jaw clench. He reached for her again, this time his large hand cupped her

cheek and jawline.

“I’m sorry.”

“You…you told me to do it again to prove that I could. You—”

“I know,” he cut her off. “They thought you’d harmed me somehow.” His head

turned. “Where is the damn medic?”

“Wire is on the way,” a blond cyborg said softly. “What the hell is going on here?

You were unconscious.”

“She claims to be the daughter of one of the guards assigned to cyborgs on Earth

after we were put in detention. She said they implanted us with a chip to incapacitate our

kind by voice command.” Steel hesitated. “I asked her to show me, so she shut me down

to prove it. She wouldn’t have harmed me. She’s had the opportunity to do that since last

night when I brought her onboard.” Steel eyed her with a quick glance. “She just

showered and changed her clothes while I was down.”

“Fuck,” Burn hissed, glaring at Rena. “Break her jaw so she can’t do it again, damn

it. Most of us on this ship are from those detention centers.” He moved forward. “If you