Stealing Coal
Stealing Coal
Book 5 in the Cyborg Seduction series.
Jill has learned the hard way that men can’t be trusted and sex only causes pain. In
the lawlessness of space, women are a sexual commodity—to be used and abused. She’s
doing a man’s job, with only her father’s brutal reputation and three androids to help
keep her alive when she sees a massive, handsome cyborg chained to a freight table.
The abusive crew plans to sell him to fight in gruesome death matches. It’s stupid, it’s
insane, but Jill can’t leave him to such a horrible fate.
Coal has survived being a captive breeding slave
and
irreversible damage to his
cyborg implants, but his honor is still intact. He’s grateful Jill saved him and he’ll repay
her the only way he can. He’ll fix her—with his mouth, his hands and his body. He can
teach the little human just how much pleasure she’s capable of feeling.
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
Stealing Coal
ISBN 9781419933240
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Stealing Coal Copyright © 2011 Laurann Dohner
Edited by Pamela Campbell
Cover art by Syneca
Electronic book publication March 2011
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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales
is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
STEALING COAL
Laurann Dohner
Special thanks go to Mr. Laurann for encouraging me to follow my dreams, and to
Kele Moon, who became Coal’s cheerleader as I wrote his story.
Laurann Dohner
Explosions hurt Coal’s ears and he realized he probably wouldn’t escape the Earth
shuttle before it blew up. His feet pounded down the hallway and he didn’t dare slow,
taking a blow to his shoulder when he slammed into the corridor wall. He bounced off
and kept going as the lights flickered around him until he entered an open lift to take
him one floor down.
The doors sealed and he clenched his teeth, hoping the power didn’t fail
completely. He’d be sealed in the small room, something he feared, trapped there to die.
The lift dropped quickly and then jerked to a halt. Doors slid open and he realized he’d
been holding his breath. He sucked in smoke-filled air and moved forward quickly,
fighting a cough.
Hope flared in Coal that he might make it out alive. Loud, angry voices drew him
and he increased his pace, ignoring the burn in his lungs from breathing the
contaminated air. He rounded a twist in the ship’s belly and nearly ran straight into the
small group of people clustered there.
Coal studied the two cyborgs locked together in an obvious tense moment. Ice had
a council member pinned to a wall but he jerked his arm up to point at Coal. The
weapon aimed at his chest lowered a second later.
“Coal? What are you doing onboard? You should be back on the
Star
.”
“With my damaged implants I couldn’t connect to the shuttle computer.”
Humiliation hummed through Coal at having to admit his weaknesses. While he
guessed the other cyborg males knew his flaws, stating them aloud made the damage
inside his head a little harder to take. He touched the scars on the back of his head,
pushing away the memory of being strapped facedown to a hard surface and the pain
he’d suffered while a female operated on him against his will. He’d been able to ignore
the agony at first but once the implants were destroyed it had screamed throughout his
body until he realized the terrible sound had not only reverberated in his mind but had
actually passed his lips. He shook off the memory and continued, “I couldn’t bypass the
doors that locked me inside a storage room when I entered it in search of the remaining
bots. It seems some doors you may enter but need a code to exit. What is going on?”
Coal’s gaze darted between the cyborgs and he wondered why they were obviously
ready to engage in battle.
“No time to explain.” Ice shot a glare at the council member, pure rage on his
features, but then his expression softened when he turned his gaze on the attractive
human woman.
Fascination transfixed Coal while he watched Ice and the female argue but he didn’t
see anger. He saw pain, fear, and heartbreak exchanged between them. It struck him
6
Stealing Coal
immediately how strongly those two were attached to each other. He swayed a little on
his feet when the gravity stabilizers on the shuttle weakened but then returned to
normal.
His mind worked quickly, assessing the situation. Only two pods remained but four
of them stood in the hallway. Ice wanted his woman to get inside a life pod to jettison to
safety while the council member wanted to leave her behind.
Zorus wasn’t a stranger to Coal. The male had fought hard to free Coal from the
female cyborgs who had forced him to be a breeder for them, using his seat on the
cyborg council to assure that Coal got away from his abusers. Zorus had raged at the
females over their treatment of a fellow cyborg in front of Coal, standing up for him.
He’d even talked to Coal privately, offered friendship, and shared information—they
had a common bond. Coal’s abusers had been female cyborgs while Zorus had survived
similar abuse at the hands of humans. Coal had appreciated the council member
sharing his secrets to give him a sense that he wasn’t alone in suffering the memories
that haunted him.
Coal’s full attention shifted to Ice. They didn’t know each other well but he knew he
could count him as a friend. His gaze lowered to the small female. The human stared at
Ice with such raw emotions it stunned Coal. She really loved a cyborg. A human—one
of those who’d attempted to kill the entire cyborg race—pleaded with Ice while openly
admitting her feelings. The life pods were set up to support one life each. The gravity of
the situation hit as Coal did the math. His eyes closed with the realization that two
needed to die to give two a chance at survival.
He’d wanted to enjoy freedom, get to know his cyborg brothers, and become part of
cyborg society. He’d been denied any sense of happiness by the females of his race
when they’d crashed on the surface of a planet after escaping their own executions on
Earth. His life had just begun anew when he’d found his cyborg brothers and for the
first time in decades he’d been given the opportunity to embrace life with joy. His eyes
opened in time to witness Ice knock Zorus out cold with a punch.
“Give him to me.” Coal reached for Zorus, a decision made. Ice and his woman
loved each other and they deserved a real shot at a future together. He and Zorus were
emotionally damaged, probably not salvageable anyway. Coal’s body couldn’t be
repaired and Zorus had a bitter heart that rarely showed any emotion except rage,
perhaps incapable of it after all he’d gone through. “You both need to escape now. I’ll
stay behind.”
Ice didn’t move. “Coal, you and Megan are taking the life capsules. I’m staying
behind with Zorus.”
It amazed Coal that anyone cared that much about him and only asked for Coal to
protect his human from the council as a thank you for his sacrifice. Ice…trusted him.
Amazement nearly floored Coal over the sheer magnitude of anyone willing to die so
that he might survive. He felt honored.
7
Laurann Dohner
Coal listened as the woman pleaded with Ice. She was willing to die with him
before she’d leave him behind. Coal moved before he changed his mind. His fist
slammed hard into Ice’s face and he watched silently as the cyborg slumped to the floor
with the already unconscious Zorus. He bent and grabbed Ice under his arms.
“Open a pod. I’ll place him inside it and you take the remaining one. When he
wakes, tell him to live a happy life for me, and that will make us even. I kept my
promise. I protected your life since you won’t be in any danger with a live male in your
family unit.”
The woman activated a pod.
Coal inhaled. “The fire has spread inside the walls, into the electrical conduits is my
best estimation. It’s just a matter of time before the damage is so severe that no life will
be sustainable. We don’t have much time. Open it.”
The pod slid out fully from the wall and the woman activated the lid to open it.
Coal adjusted his hold on Ice’s large body, cradling him enough to lift him over the
edge and settle his body inside. The human only hesitated for a second before she
climbed in after him.
“What are you doing?” Perhaps she didn’t understand the specifics of the life pod.
“These are designed for one individual.”
“If he wakes before we’re picked up, he’s going to freak out and may get himself
killed. If I’m on top of him I can keep him calm and still.” She paused. “And I’d rather
risk both our lives than just leave you behind to die.”
Coal released her.
A human willing to risk her life for mine?
Amazing.
She’d rather die
than be parted from the cyborg she loved. A burning sensation in his chest caused pain
as he watched her gaze at Ice beneath her.
Pure
Love.
That emotion showed so clearly on
her features that he knew he wasn’t misreading it. Coal identified the source of his ache
with one emotion of his own.
Envy.
No one would ever look upon him that way.
“You’re brave.”