Melting Iron (20 page)

“He has seen many females without their clothing on. He’s our breeder. Change your clothing quickly, or don’t. I won’t—”

The door opened and Viper stepped in. “The
Vontage
is sending a shuttle but they wish to speak to you now.”

Plono
moved quickly toward the door. “Stay here, human. I will return shortly and then escort you back to your work crew. If you leave my home it will be considered a threat against my females.”

In stunned silence Dawn stood there staring at the male tied to the bed after they were left alone. He frowned at her and then tugged his arms but they were tied at the wrist. When he spoke, his voice was unnaturally deep and a little rough, as if he didn’t use it much.

“Do you plan on just staring at me?”

“I’m sorry.” She flushed, her cheeks heating up. “Why are you tied down? What are you being punished for?”

“I escaped and they had to track me down.” A cold smile angled his full lips upward. “It took them two months to find me this time so now they are keeping me tied up around the clock and they send fifteen women with me when they allow me to go to the river to bathe.”

“You’re a
cyborg
. Why would you try to escape from your own people?”

He jerked on the rope again, the wood creaking but not giving way. “You’re a slave as much as I am. Did your ship crash here?”

“No. I’m with some
cyborgs
who
came here to rescue the survivors of the
Moonslip
. That would be you. No one told you?”

A deep growl tore from his lips as he twisted again in his ropes, this time using his legs as well. The sheet moved, sliding dangerously low on his hips. Dawn averted her gaze, not wanting to embarrass him, suspecting that he wore nothing under that sheet.

“No one told me. They don’t talk to me much unless it’s to give orders.”

“But you’re a
cyborg
.”

He frowned. “Change your clothing or they will return you to work that way.”

“I’m not stripping naked in front of you.”

A black eyebrow arched.
“Modesty?”

“I guess so.”

He twisted again, pulling on the rope but unable to break free. “I will close my eyes. You shouldn’t suffer needlessly for having a rare female trait.”

A rare female trait?
Was he for real? Dawn watched him lower his head and close his eyes. She hesitated and then quickly stripped out of her wet jumpsuit, the material sticking to her. She shivered as she put on a threadbare shirt and a pair of large cut-off pants with a tie waist. The clothes were old and nearly falling apart at the seams but they were dry against her skin and really large.

“I’m done. Thanks.”

He opened his eyes, lifted his head, and gave her a nod. “Will you do me a courtesy?”

“What do you want?”

“Will you tell your owners about me? Tell them I wish to have a discussion about earning my freedom. Are you owned by males or females?”

“Male. Singular.” Dawn glanced around the room and then moved to the table by the door. She grabbed the small item and moved toward the bed. “I’ll tell him but instead of asking for that, why not ask for this?” She held up the steak knife. “I’d want to be cut loose.”

Shock stunned his features. “Your male will punish you for freeing me.”

Dawn put her knee on the bed, going for the wrist closest to her. She shrugged. “What is Iron going to do? Yell at me?” She snorted. “Not talk to me for a day? I’ll survive.”

The knife wasn’t very sharp, so she really had to saw through the thick rope, but she managed it. He still looked amazed as he snatched the knife from her fingers, turning to hack through the rope gripping his other wrist.

“Tell your male I forced you to free me to avoid harsh punishment,” he said softly. “I owe you a favor.”

“You don’t owe me a thing,” Dawn said, backing away from the bed. “But you might want to wait to free yourself until I’m out of here or that woman is going to be back here real soon to see you’re loose.”

He hesitated, turning his head to stare at her. A slow smile spread across his features. “We could both escape. I will take you with me into the mountains. They will eventually capture us again but we’ll both be free until then.”

Dawn backed up. “No thanks. I don’t want to go anywhere but back to Iron.”

The
cyborg
stared at her with a confused expression. Dawn sighed.

“I love him. I’m working on making him love me back. He might threaten to put me over his knee or tie me to his bed but he won’t hurt me.”

Coal cut his legs loose and then sliced through the rope that was tied to the frame, taking all of it with him as he climbed off the bed. Dawn gasped and spun around to present him with her back as he stalked totally naked to the crates of clothing, obviously comfortable in his bare skin.

In less than a minute the man had a pair of pants on and was grabbing things around the room. Dawn watched him silently as he used a sheet to gather supplies. He was smart to grab things while he could if he planned on going into the mountains. She noticed he kept hold of the rope.

“You’re taking hacked rope?”

He paused, meeting her gaze. “Tell them I pulled free. If there is no evidence left behind they won’t know you cut me loose.” He stared down at her. “Are you sure you do not wish to flee with me? I won’t harm you.”

“I’m sure but thanks for the offer. Good luck with running, but instead of doing that, why don’t you go talk to the
cyborgs
who
came to rescue you?”

“Their females will just hand me over to my females so there is no point.”

“There aren’t any females on the
Star
. That’s the ship I came on. I was told the men outnumber the females on the
cyborg
home planet.”

His features showed his shock. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. “Go to the hill where the
Yas
is. Iron, the guy who owns me, is up there with a crew of his men fixing the shuttle. That’s where I came from today.”

He moved to the corner, studying it, and then was shifting the metal wall to open it up a few feet to reveal the outside and trees. He glanced back at Dawn, staring at her for a long moment before he slipped out of the room.

Dawn sighed and walked to the front door. She hesitated, wondering how much shit she would get into if she just waited on the outside. It might give Coal a little more running time if no one came in to see he was gone. She lifted her chin, pushed on the door and stepped outside.

She saw Iron storming toward her, looking enraged. Ice was on his heels.

“Dawn, I warned you not to run,” Iron snarled.

“I didn’t. There was a boy who—”

Iron reached her, his hands wrapping around her as he jerked her against his body. He held her there, lowering his head to hers and a strong arm wrapped around her.

“I was worried.” He said softly.

“A boy fell in the water and I pulled him out. I’d never run from you.”

Iron sighed. “If you’re lying I will punish you. They will tell me the truth.”

So much for trust.
Dawn sighed as Iron released her. She saw
Plono
heading their way from another house.
It sucks
, Dawn thought,
that he needs verification instead of just believing me
.

Chapter Twelve

“She freed my male.”
Plono
was furious as she glared at Dawn.

A deep frown was fixed on Iron’s features. “What male?”

The fuming
cyborg
woman hesitated as a look of dread flashed on her face before it disappeared. “I have a slave.”

Iron jerked his head toward Ice. “Alert our men that there is a hostile human free. He might go for the
Rally
.”

“He’s not human,” Dawn said softly. When Iron’s head jerked her way, she met his stunned gaze. “He’s a
cyborg
.”

“What in the hell is going on?” Ice stepped forward, glaring at
Plono
. “You enslaved one of our men? Why?”

“He was the only breeding male. The others were sterile. We tried but only Coal was able to produce for us. He refused to service our women so we had to take measures to force him to comply. After he started running from us and we were forced to track him countless times, we changed his status from free to slave.”
Plono
glared back at Ice. “All of our children are from him. Would you prefer that we did not breed?”

“Fuck,” Ice cursed. “You forced him?” Rage curved his hands into fists and his body tensed. “You enslaved him? Turned him into a breeding machine for any of your females who wished to have children? Is that what you’re saying?”

“It was the only option he left us with.” Her full focus turned on Dawn. “She freed him. I know he couldn’t have broken loose himself. I tied him down personally. I demand she be punished.”

The woman who had taken
Davton
from Dawn earlier stepped forward. “She saved the life of my son,
Plono
. She deserves mercy for that.”

Irritation flashed on the
cyborg
woman’s face.
“Fine.
I will only give her ten lashes instead of twenty for her helping my male escape.” She shot a dirty look at Iron. “You will help find him since your slave freed him. That is fair.”

Iron gripped Dawn’s arm. “If you touch my human I’ll take a whip to you and give
you
twenty lashes. No one touches her but me.” He jerked his head at Ice. “Let’s go. We’re going back to the
Star
and have a conversation with Steel and Flint over this.”

“What about my male?”
Plono
was still angry. “We are leaving the planet soon and without your assistance we won’t be able to find him. He is very cunning at hiding from us.”

“We’ll find him,” Ice hissed. “And we’ll make damn sure he’s off this planet and out of your control.”

“He’s mine,”
Plono
took a threatening step toward Ice.

“Enough,” Iron ground out. “We will find the male and then address his status.”

Ice shot a disbelieving look at Iron. Iron met his gaze and nodded. “We need to get back to the
Star
now to have that meeting.”

Relief flooded Dawn as she walked away with Iron and Ice, leaving the small camp behind them. As soon as they were out of earshot, Ice spoke.

“We’re going to find this male and make damn sure those females don’t get their hands on him again.”

“Agreed,” Iron sighed. “I didn’t want to fight with them. What they did was wrong but who knows what the council will decide. He was the only viable male but most of the council will have issues with his becoming a slave. Our main objective now is making Steel and Flint aware, and to find this male.”

“His name is Coal,” Dawn offered. “He’s about six-foot-four, really buff, with dark brown eyes and he’s bald.”

Iron stopped walking, studying Dawn. “Did you free him or did he break loose?”

“I cut the ropes.” She lifted her chin, daring Iron to get mad at her over it. “They had him tied down naked to a bed and I was ordered to ignore him like he didn’t exist. It pissed me off.” She hesitated. “I told him to head for the shuttle we were working on and that I thought you’d help him. He thinks women rule all the men and that your women will just hand him back over to those bitches back there. I told him men outnumber women.”

Ice sighed. “Perhaps he will come to us so we don’t have to look for him.”

“Perhaps.”
Iron let his hand trail down Dawn’s arm to her hand, which he grasped. “I worried that you’d run from me. I am proud that you saved the small child’s life.”

“I just hope your doctors can fix his legs. He’s so damn cute and it never would have happened if he wasn’t in those damn leg braces.”

Iron studied her eyes. “You care about him.”

“He’s a little kid. Everyone should care about them.”

“He’s a
cyborg
.”

Dawn snorted. “So?”

Iron looked away from her. “Let’s go.”

Her gaze wandered the area around them, hoping to spot Coal, but when they reached the old shuttle no one but Iron’s men were there. He gave them an update and then led Dawn back to where the
Rally
had landed. Ice had stayed behind to keep an eye out for Coal in case he showed up looking for help.

Depression flooded Dawn as they left the planet’s surface. She realized Iron was watching her as she sat on the cargo hold floor near him. Turning her head, she met his narrowed gaze.

“Are you well, Dawn?”

“I’m bummed.”

That drew a frown from him.

“You’re going to lock me back up in our quarters.”

His features softened with understanding. “My meeting won’t run long and then I’ll be back to
my
quarters.”

She didn’t miss how she had said “our quarters” and he’d said “my” with a definite emphasis on it. It might be habit for him to talk in the singular but she doubted it. She guessed it was a gentle reminder that he owned everything and that included her. Pain sliced through her chest.

After Iron left her locked in their quarters, Dawn stripped out of the borrowed clothing, going into the cleansing unit immediately to wash the river smell from her hair and body. She leaned against the wall as foam hit her naked body, her thoughts all centered on Iron and his stubborn pride. Would it kill him to relax and not try to put walls between them? First it was his issue of not sleeping with her and now he was trying to keep her at arm’s length with petty wording.

The foam made her body tingle as it melted to liquid. She climbed out and dried off with one of Iron’s thick towels. She had to do something or she was going to be miserable. That wasn’t acceptable. Dawn shook her head. No way was she going to live with a man who made her unhappy. She dropped the towel, walked to the bed and stretched out naked on it.

Fiona was bothering her as well. Would the woman be able to force Iron into her bed? If Dawn could go back in time she would have hit her harder when she’d punched her in the face. The
cyborg
seemed damn determined to make little redheaded babies with Iron. Dawn clenched her teeth and raw jealousy poured through her at the thought of him touching another woman, willing or not. He was hers, carried her name on his body, and they were married.