Flint’s mouth tightened. “She is branded now so there is no question of ownership.” He turned to glare at the room. His voice rose, deepened, as he addressed his crew. “I do not share my personal possessions and she is completely mine.”
Iron uttered a foul curse. “I guess that means you won’t trade something for her body for an hour then.”
Flint’s jaw clenched. “No.”
Doc walked over to Mira. “I gave you a shot to counteract the paralyzing agent so you should be able to move now. Come with me, young lady. I have to take your measurements. You can keep the shirt on. I just have to wrap a measurer around you in some awkward places.”
Flint moved away to face off with Iron. The two men glared at each other. Mira was relieved as sensation rushed back and she was able to climb off the bed easily when she could move again. Doc led Mira to a corner by a desk where he opened a drawer and removed an electronic measurer. He leaned forward, eyeing her, as he moved the device around her body so it could scan her.
“Are you all right?”
Mira eyed the man who whispered so Flint couldn’t hear him. She nodded. Doc moved the scanner lower, circling without touching her breasts and back to take her measurements there.
“Do what he says. He’s a good guy. You got lucky. Some of the crew would barter your body out. Flint doesn’t share shit. He won’t hurt you and he’ll protect you. Just pray he doesn’t die.”
She swallowed. “What happens if he does?” She whispered the words.
Doc went to his knees, running the device around her lower body as he lowered it. He glanced down then looked up at her and shook his head. “You will be left to his family and if he doesn’t have any then you’ll be auctioned to the highest bidder. If you’re in deep space his things are divided amongst his men equally so it’s fair to all.”
They were in deep space. Horror hit Mira as that sank in. She’d be divided between his men? She was only one person. As if Doc read her mind, his expression was grim.
“You’d belong to all of them. They would all get to use you.”
Terror hit her at that thought, so strongly her knees went weak and she had to lock her legs to keep upright. She jerked her attention to Flint, seeing he was just feet from Iron. The two men were still glaring at each other like guard dogs trying to stare the other down. A horrible thought struck her.
“Do they assassinate each other?”
Doc shook his head. “Luckily no. Cyborgs will not kill other cyborgs. I meant if he died in an accident or if we run into pirates. Those crazy pirates love going after large ships. This used to be their flagship until it was taken from them by the cyborgs. Sometimes they attack just to piss us off. We lost two of the crew the last time we had a skirmish with them. I doubt they’d attack the Star right now though because we have the Rally with us this trip but you can never tell with pirates. The Rally is a heavily fortified large jumper shuttle so it might make them think twice before attacking two ships.”
Doc got to his feet and nodded at her. “All done,” he called out to Flint. “I’ll feed her information in and have her clothing manufactured within a few hours.”
Flint turned. “I won’t forget your two bottles. They will be delivered to you when we dock on Garden. I’ll dispatch the order today so it’s automatically done.”
“I know you won’t forget.” Doc smiled.
Flint held out his hand to Mira. She ran to his side to grip his hand, not needing any real encouragement than that. She was too close to Iron for comfort. She refused to even look at as they passed him. She heard him sniff as they did though and she stiffened. Why had he sniffed her? Did she still smell like cooked meat?
Flint led her through the throng of men who had decided to spend their free time watching Mira. She refused to look up at them, keeping her eyes on the floor, and brushed against Flint with every step. If she could she would have crawled up him into his arms so he could hold her. She knew he could carry her like that, that he was strong enough to do it if need be, but she just didn’t think he’d appreciate her wrapped around him.
“That wasn’t bad, was it?”
They walked into the lift. Instead of putting her hand on the wall, she faced Flint and walked right into his body. He released her hand and she put her face on his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. She knew she’d shocked him when his body tensed but he relaxed and wrapped his arms around her.
“Are you all right?”
“No. I was scared.”
His hands were open on her back. He patted her with one hand. It was a light tap and she got the feeling he wasn’t used to comforting anyone. It was an awkward gesture but she appreciated it.
“I told you that I want no harm to come to you, Mira. I will protect you. The men won’t harm you and I won’t trade you away. You belong to me.”
She looked up into his beautiful blue eyes and then shut hers. She burrowed tighter into his body, seeking the comfort he gave her. He held her even after the lift had stopped. He finally pulled away.
“We will finish this in my quarters. Someone will call the lift at some point and I do not want to be still in it, holding each other.”
She smiled, relaxing at the humorous situation and the horror in his voice at the thought of just that. She took his offered hand and he led her back to his small room and opened the door. Once inside she asked, “Do you have a mirror?”
“No. Why do you want one?”
“I want to see what these look like. The markings, brandings, tattoos—whatever you want to call them.”
Flint didn’t hesitate to remove his shirt and drop it on the floor, smiling. “They look like this.” His fingers brushed the marks on his shoulder. “Only on your white skin and you have some red marks that will fade in days.”
Laughing, she shook her head at him. “Very funny.”
“You calm when you laugh and I want you calm. I feel…” he paused.
“You feel what?”
He hesitated. “Protective. I never had a desire to own a woman before, Mira. When I met you and you took my hand I didn’t want to release it. You smiled at me and you made me laugh. Humans who first see us always react in three ways. They are terrified that we exist still, they are disgusted by us, or they are confused about what we are. You are the first to be glad to see us alive.”
“I am glad you’re alive. I hated reading about what was done to your people. Earth has a longstanding history of doing messed-up things to people—like slavery and killing off indigenous people to take their land. People have been killed over religious differences, and for the differences in their skin colors. You would think they would learn but history just repeats itself. They killed your people and it was wrong. Humans created cyborgs, which makes us the same in my mind.”
“Remove your shirt.” Flint stepped closer to her. “I want you, Mira.”
Chapter Six
Mira stripped while watching Flint remove his boots and the rest of his clothing. She went to crawl onto his bed but he stopped her by gripping her wrist. He turned her so they faced each other.
“You can’t rub your branded skin for at least an hour.” He released her wrist and clasped her hips instead. “Grip my arms.”
She reached up to curl her fingers around his muscular biceps. He lifted her so she could wrap her legs around his hips. Flint walked forward and braced the side of his shoulder against a thick support column. He hesitated a second before he went for her mouth with his.
She met his hungry kiss. He shared enough passion with her to send her body into flames. She’d always thought cyborgs would be walking computers and she was glad she had been so wrong. Flint was a man who just happened to have inner, hidden electronics.
His large hands gripped her ass, cupping her, pulling her tighter against his hips. She was wet and he was hard. His cock rubbed against her clit, his hips slowly moving so the tip and shaft caressed the length of her slit, teasing her. Moisture soaked them both where Mira sh
owed her need for him the most. She moaned into his mouth, wiggling against him, and broke the kiss. She panted. An almost painful ache to have Flint fuck her gripped her.
“I want you now. Please?”
His eyes locked with hers as he shifted her hips. He was so hard he just needed to move her hips over him to fit them together. He lowered her down his body. Mira wrapped her arms around his neck, gripping the back of it with her hands. To her, the sensation of Flint filling her, stretching her and breaching her deeper was amazing as their bodies locked together, bringing a cry of pleasure from her lips. He was amazingly thick.
“Heaven,” Flint rasped. “If there is such a place, you are it, Mira. You feel like home when I’m inside you. You’re warmth, acceptance, just right. So pleasurable, and perfect.”
His words turned her on more. He wasn’t only handsome and sexy but he was a romantic, it seemed. She bucked her hips. “Nothing has ever felt better than this, Flint. No one has ever made me feel the way you do.”
He moved then, withdrawing a little to slam upward, driving into her depths in a sharp motion. The sensation of it drove Mira wild. She moaned, using her legs to clasp his hips as her hands gripped his back so she could move on him. She braced against his shoulders to ride him as he drove in and out of her body. Flint grew even harder inside her pussy. Her lower back and butt slammed against the side of the support column but it didn’t hurt. She’d probably have bruises but she didn’t give a damn. Flint’s cock was hitting all the right places.
He shifted his hold on her. One of his arms locked under her ass, shelving her bottom on his forearm, while his other hand slid between them. He pressed against her clit with his thumb as he moved even faster, driving harder up into her. It was the last thing she’d expected him to do and her pleasure exploded. She screamed out his name as she climaxed hard.
His hand slid away from her clit so he could wrap both arms around her. He jerked hard inside her, groaning loudly as he buried his face into her neck when he came. He exploded and heated semen filled her deep. They were panting as they stilled, wrapped around each other as Flint stood there holding her tightly.
“You are mine,” he finally whispered. “I will never let you go.”
She should have resented the words but she didn’t. She didn’t want him to let her go. As much as she might miss her family, the truth was she rarely saw her parents. Her father was always traveling the world with his business and her mother’s circle of charity benefits always kept her from making time for either of her two children. Mira’s brother was a senator and she only saw him every few years. With her job as a sales rep for Firmaline, a company that sold products to space stations, she traveled too often to have a boyfriend or keep friends. There really wasn’t much to give up or miss on Earth.
Logically she should be fighting her captor. She should hate Flint for taking her from that shuttle but the truth was that she didn’t. She’d been excited when she’d seen the cyborgs after her initial shock at their continued existence. If he’d left her on that shuttle she’d have blown up and her life would have been over anyway. Thinking of it like that reminded her that he’d saved her life. She was drawn to Flint and she was experiencing strong feelings for him that went beyond his sexual skills. The thought of how he’d gotten those skills finally drew her out of her post-coital euphoria.
“No more hookers, okay?”
Flint tensed, holding her, and lifted his head. He frowned at her. “Hookers?”
“Female pleasure ship workers. I’m yours now and you don’t need another woman, right?”
He blinked, tilted his head. “It disturbs you, yes? I see anger in your eyes at the thought of me having sex with other women. Am I reading you correctly? Why?”
“You don’t want to share me with other men.”
He nodded. “That is correct. You are mine. I own you.”
His words weren’t what she wanted to hear. She wanted him to understand that it went both ways. He didn’t want men to touch her and she didn’t want women to touch him. She chewed on her bottom lip and tried to get him to see it from her point of view.
“Well, since you don’t want to share me and don’t want other men touching me, I don’t want to share you either. If I am yours then you are mine right back.”
Dark blue eyes narrowed as his body tensed. “You are small and fragile. They could harm you. Other women couldn’t harm me.”
Mira tensed in shock as his painful words hit her and sank in. “Is that the only reason you aren’t trading me to other men? You’re afraid I’ll get damaged somehow?”
“It’s a real possibility. You are mine and I want to protect you from ever getting hurt. If you are harmed, I could lose you and I want to keep you. You wouldn’t be useful to me if you were damaged.”
Her heart plummeted. He didn’t care about her in the way she had thought. He was looking at her as if she were valuable property. Her brother used to collect ancient cards, which he kept in vacuum-sealed boxes to preserve them. Only he could take them out, touch them, because he hadn’t trusted anyone to handle his cards with enough care not to damage them in any way. Her stomach roiled a little, realizing she was like that card collection to Flint.
“Please put me down.” Mira lifted off him, forcing his semi-erect cock out of her as he set her down on her feet. She backed away from him then turned to hide the tears that threatened. She didn’t want him to see. “I’m going to get clean.”
She had nowhere to flee and the corner wasn’t far enough away. She pushed the button for the cleaning unit walls to slide up. In seconds foam doused her. She grabbed a cloth to scrub at her body as the foam melted into liquid, trying to clean off every trace of Flint that she could reach, avoiding her brand because the skin was still a little red and puffy near the markings. She hit the button and shut her eyes as foam doused her again to rinse her body one last time.
The cleaning unit walls collapsed when she was done. She grabbed a towel and started to dry her body. She knew eyes were on her and quickly glanced back and saw Flint, naked still, standing where she had left him, a frown on his face. He appeared to have shut himself down from the way he stood statue-still but his eyes followed her every movement.
“How have I upset you?” His voice was soft.
She turned on him. “You wanted me to think more of you than you being just a computer with a humanoid body.” Her pain turned to anger quickly. “And I believed you had feelings and real emotions. I was wrong.”
Anger sparked in his eyes. Those dark blue depths looked even darker as he glared at her. “I do have feelings and emotions.”
“So do I!” She shook her head. “I was being stupid. I thought you had real feelings and emotions for me.”
“I do.”
“No. You have ownership. That’s all I am to you. I’m property, like the damn shirt you dropped on the floor. You don’t want other men to wear your clothing either, I bet. There’s no difference to you between me and that damn shirt.”
His lips twisted. “That isn’t true in the least.”
“Right. Your shirt might wrap around you but it doesn’t get you off, does it? Yeah. I’m different because you can fuck me.”
Flint watched her warily. “You are very upset and that shirt analogy is not even something I’m willing to debate. It is too irrational. Do I need to take you to Doc to check your chemical levels?”
“I’m a human and I don’t need my levels checked. I’m upset, I’m pissed off, and worse, I’m hurt. You go on about how you don’t want me hurt but you’ve hurt me with your words. I’m more than property, damn it. I’m a person with feelings. I…” She threw up her arms. “I don’t even think I can make you understand just what is so wrong about you treating me this way.”
“You are tired and you have had a lot of distress in a small amount of time. I’ll leave you to rest.” He dressed quickly in fresh clothing. In less than a minute he sailed out of the small living quarters, leaving her alone to sim
mer and stew.
Mira walked to his bed and collapsed on it as hot tears fell down her face. What if he thought another cyborg wouldn’t hurt her? Would he trade the use of her body then? Terror hit her. She’d rather die than be passed around for bartering. The idea of other men touching her made her sick. She wasn’t a pleasure worker. She had mistakenly thought Flint was so possessive of her because the idea of someone touching her would make him jealous. She thought he gave a damn about her and had real, fond feelings for her. Instead she was just property he was securing from possible damage. She didn’t even bother wiping at her tears as they fell.
She sat there for a good twenty minutes before she moved, putting on one of his shirts to pace the room thinking. She needed to escape from Flint. The Star was a large ship, and they all had escape pods. Its pods were probably outfitted for at least ten persons. Survivors could live for weeks in a pod designed to accommodate a lot of passengers.
An escape plan comforted her. The Star had been an Earth ship according to Doc so the pods would be preprogrammed to head for Earth. Hopefully the cyborgs had not changed the programming since they would be able to fly them and set any course as needed. The fact that she was a small woman would help her use less air. Her only hope of escape would be to get to an escape pod and launch. It was the only option. She wasn’t going to be a heartless man’s “thing”. She was more than a piece of property.
An hour later when Flint returned she was calm. He entered the room carrying her new clothing. She eyed the black leather material he held, realizing that all the cyborgs she’d seen seemed to like to dress in black leather. She wondered if her new outfits were made from the same material as their uniforms. Her next thought was, Is he putting me in uniform? She didn’t ask.
Flint placed the clothing on the bed. “Two pairs of pants, two shirts, and one flight suit.”
“What about a bra and panties?”
He shook his head. “We don’t have a clothier machine on board that has been programmed for women’s bodies. The Doc had to modify your shirts by hand to show off your markings. That was the extent of his sewing ability. Unless you can make your own underwear you won’t be wearing any until we reach Garden.”