Authors: Laurann Dohner
to dress and get your food.”
“Good.” She dried off quickly and accepted a shirt that Ice lent her.
He dressed and left her alone in his quarters. Megan walked to the bed, sat down
hard on it, and stared around the confining space. This was going to be her home for a
while.
What if the Cyborg Council wouldn’t change its mind? She bit her lip, thinking
hard. How long would Ice allow her to share his room? If the cyborg council did ever
decide she could live, that she could return to Earth, that would mean she’d be leaving
the
Rally
and Ice behind.
“Well shit.” She sighed, shaking her head at the mere thought of losing him. She
had no desire to be set free. She had grown really attached to tall, gray, and sexy. He’d
be damn displeased if he knew it. No matter what, she needed to hide it.
* * * * *
“Ice?”
Ice turned to face Blackie in the hallway. The other cyborg looked grim. “Is it done?
I need to see her body to verify it for the council.”
Ice’s fists clenched at his sides, pain throbbing in his injured hand. He shut down
his pain sensors to that arm and glared at Blackie. “I want you off my ship.”
“It is not yours.”
“Megan is no longer a threat. That’s all you need to know.”
Dark eyes narrowed. “She’s dead?”
“Get off my ship. That’s an order. We’re undocking with the
Bridden
in minutes. Be
on it or you’ll be a part of my crew.” He spun away and walked toward the mess hall.
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Laurann Dohner
“You don’t want to be under my command.” The threat was clear and he knew Blackie
would understand that.
“What are you doing?” Confusion clouded the cyborg’s voice.
Ice stopped walking and turned to stare at the man in the hallway. “I’m not blindly
following bad orders from the council.”
Blackie shook his head. “I hope you know what you are doing. I’m leaving but
Zorus will not back off.”
“I don’t expect him to.” Ice looked away and continued to walk down the corridor.
When he entered the mess hall, he wasn’t alone. The medic happened to be seated
at a table eating a meal. He put down his fork, staring with sympathy at Ice, and slowly
stood. Ice glanced away from him and moved to the food unit.
“Ice?”
Ice tensed, turning to face Varion. The medic’s expression hardened as he inched
closer, moving purposely toward him.
“What?”
“I’ve prepared the cargo bay to store the human female’s body. Is it done?”
Ice’s hands gripped the tray he prepared with food hard enough that he could feel
the metal bending. He gently set it down on the counter and faced the medic full on.
“No.”
“The council contacted me and wants me to verify her death as soon as her life is
extinguished. I am to write them a report.” The man grimaced. “I can’t imagine how
difficult this must be for you. If you are unable I will prepare an injection that will be
painless for the human female. There’s no need for her to suffer.”
The door opened and Onyx walked inside the galley. He paused, frowning, and
then sighed loudly. “I am sorry. I know you liked the female.”
Varion glanced at Onyx. “He hasn’t taken her life as yet.”
A frown curved Onyx’s lips as he stared at his best friend. “Do you need me to do
it? I won’t hurt her, Ice. You know this.”
Ice blew out his breath. “She isn’t going to die. She’s going to remain on the
Rally
in
my room. She’s no threat if she’s a prisoner inside my quarters.”
“Have you lost your damn mind?” Onyx inched closer, his gaze fixed on Ice. “The
council will not be pleased. They gave us direct orders. Blackie is still aboard, waiting
for verification of her death.”
“The council deemed her a threat to us if she was able to report us. She is not to be
freed. She will remain in my quarters with no access to communications. Her threat
status is zero under those conditions. I just ordered Blackie to return to the
Bridden
and
he is leaving. I want you to undock with them as soon as he’s gone.”
“Councilman Zorus will not be pleased,” Onyx warned. “You know he has no
tolerance for humans. He hates them all and believes they are a risk to Garden.”
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Touching Ice
“He’s an ass,” Varion muttered softly. “But Onyx is correct, Ice. The council ordered
her death and we must do their bidding.”
“We’re not on Garden.” Ice turned away, gripping the tray, and continued to fill it
with food for Megan. “Her threat status is zero locked in my room and I won’t kill a
female.”
“One of us will do it then,” Onyx grimly offered again.
Ice spun and glared at his longtime friend. “Attempt it and you will regret it. She’s
under my protection inside my quarters.”
Their gazes locked for long moments and Onyx clenched his teeth. “Damn. You
have it bad for her, don’t you? Just how good in bed is she? Was Blackie right about
that?”
“I find myself oddly fascinated with her and yes, the sex is exceptional,” Ice
admitted. “If she were in your room you would find yourself feeling protective as well
and not willing to kill her or allow her to be killed. I would support your decision not to
let your woman die if our roles were reversed.”
Broad shoulders sagged. “I know that. Fine. You know that ass Zorus is going to
have a fit but I’ll stand by you.” Onyx glanced at Varion. “Are you in on this madness
as well?”
“I’m not for killing females. With our history, we should have learned the value of
them by now since we suffered a great loss with our own when we fled Earth.” He
nodded at Ice. “I’m in but I refuse to accept command until this is resolved somehow.
They could order me to kill her and then it would be my future at stake with them. You
get all my command shifts, Ice.”
Onyx nodded. “Mine as well. I’m commander next shift so now it is yours. It is the
least you can do since you’re putting us all in danger of repercussions when the council
realizes you have circumvented their direct orders.”
Ice nodded and sighed as he heated the tray. “Tell the men what my stand and
decision is about Megan. If anyone has a problem, alert me. I want to know if I need to
watch my back.”
“They will probably agree since we all respect you greatly,” Onyx acknowledged
softly. “But I doubt any will be willing to take command of the
Rally
until this situation
is over. You know what that means.”
“I’m in official command at all times.” Ice removed the tray from the auto warmer
and faced his crewmates. “Contact me if anything arises. I didn’t rest much on my sleep
cycle so I’m going down for a few hours.”
Onyx suddenly grinned. “I bet you are going down. Tell me, do humans taste
anything close to what our women do?”
Ice paused next to his friend and grinned. “Find a human and discover the answer
to that question yourself.” He moved toward the door, which automatically slid open,
and walked out into the hallway.
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Laurann Dohner
His smile died as soon as he moved out of sight of Onyx and Varion. The council
could be vicious and Zorus would be the harshest set against anything human. The
cyborg had a bitter history of his time on Earth, had no forgiveness, and he would be
very angry when he realized Ice had refused to kill Megan.
What if they sent the
Bridden
back so others not under Ice’s influence came to kill
Megan? His hands tightened on the tray. He clenched his teeth. No one would touch
her. He’d kill before he allowed anyone to harm a hair on her head.
He stopped dead in his tracks, feeling the blood drain from his face. What the hell
was happening to him? He thought about killing other cyborgs to protect a human? He
debated if he had lost his reasoning or if perhaps he had gone insane. He uttered a foul
curse. Megan had changed something inside him, influenced him somehow, and he
needed to analyze how deeply she’d affected him.
* * * * *
Megan sensed something was wrong as she finished her meal. Ice was too quiet as
he watched her with a curious expression on his handsome features. He’d also kept his
distance from her by taking a seat near the door at the only small table in the room.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m unsure.” He sighed softly.
“Are you sick?”
“No. That isn’t my problem.”
“Then what is?”
He shifted in the seat and then stood to his full height. “I’m not myself. Since I came
into contact with you I have been changing and didn’t realize how drastically until I
retrieved your meal.”
“Okay. I’m not really sure what you mean but I’m trying to understand you.”
He bent and removed his boots, then his socks, before straightening up. “You have
influenced me in ways I am still trying to figure out. I disobeyed a direct order, nearly
came to blows with another cyborg who struck you, and now I’m risking my entire
future and that of my crew to possible punishment from the Cyborg Council. I never
considered I would do any of these things.”
Guilt ate at her just a little. “I never meant to do this to your life.”
“I believe that.” He paused next to the bed within arm’s reach of her. “There was no
logical expectation from you to foresee my reaction to you.” He sat down gently. “What
was your real plan, Megan? What do you hope to gain from me? Is it information you
need? I have been completely honest with you and I give you my word that I am unable
to harm you regardless of your answers.”
It hurt a little that he was still suspicious of her but she understood. She had lied to
him right from the beginning. “I’m not a bounty hunter and I don’t work for Earth
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Touching Ice
Government. I’m just a programmer who needed a ride when that freighter slammed
into
Folion
. That’s why I ran onto your shuttle and no other reason.”
“You could have chosen any of the cyborg males but you ordered the bots to not
service me alone. Why?”
Shit
. She bit her lip and then set the empty tray aside. “The truth?”
“I would appreciate that.” He lifted his arm and gripped her gently around her
neck.
“Are you going to strangle me if you don’t like what I have to say?
He chuckled. “No. I’m reading your pulse. I’m good at detecting lies. Think of me
as a breathing lie detector. Do not attempt to test me. That will irritate me.” He paused.
“I won’t choke you but you don’t want me angry either.”
She swallowed. “When I saw you that first time when you forgot to leave your
weapon on your shuttle and came aboard
Folion,
I was instantly drawn to you.”
“The first time?”
She knew her heart raced. Ice’s eyes narrowed and he inched closer, looking into
her eyes, carefully studying her. She bit her lip and then sighed, releasing it with her
teeth.
“I spied on you,” she admitted. “I told Clara you were a threat to the station. Every
time you docked with us she made me aware. I monitored you when you came aboard
just so I could see you on the cameras.”
His hand tightened and his features hardened. “So you reported us after all?”
“No!” Megan reached up and held onto his arm attached to the hand around her
throat. He didn’t hurt her but he had a good grip. “She doesn’t report to anyone but the
company and she wouldn’t report that unless she had to file a damage incident report.
It just alerted me and no one else when you came aboard
Folion
. I got to visually track
you while you were aboard so I could see you. That’s how I knew how many times you
visited. I’ve been seriously attracted to you from the first time I laid eyes on you and
you kind of dominated my thoughts sometimes.”
The hold on her eased. “Earth wasn’t in any way alerted?”
“I wouldn’t have done it if that were the case. I knew what you were the second I
saw you. While I might not be a history buff, everyone knows certain things about
cyborgs. Your skin color was a dead giveaway. It stunned me that any of you still
existed because according to what I’d heard growing up, all cyborgs were destroyed.
You fascinated me but I sure as hell didn’t want to get you caught.”
His hold eased more. “So why did you program the bots to ignore me? You did
that, didn’t you?”
“Yes. I had a lot of fantasies about you and hell, I saw my chance to finally get to
touch you in the flesh.”
He took a deep breath. “You’re very brave.”
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Laurann Dohner
“Stupid is the word I’d have used and maybe even pathetic but damn, Ice. I really
wanted to know how it would feel to touch you and have you touch me back. I’d even
go so far as to say it had become an obsession of mine to know. When I signed up for
my job on
Folion
nobody ever mentioned that I’d be locked behind a bulkhead with only
Clara to talk to. The last programmer happened to be a complete jackass and you can’t
imagine what he did to her programming. I tried to change some of it but he was damn
good at what he did and I couldn’t override some of his commands without pulling her
physical motherboards and wiping them, which I couldn’t do because I wasn’t allowed
to leave that one area of the ship unless something really went wrong. Nothing ever did