His hold on her tightened. “Answer me.”
“The captain’s quarters are straight ahead. I converted the other three rooms for the droids to use to recharge.”
Coal stopped when he carried her into her room and seemed to study the space. The silence between them became so absolute that she heard every breath he took. He moved suddenly and Jill cried out when he bent without warning, released her, and she found herself flung onto her back on top of her bedding. She stared up at the cyborg, who looked huge and terrifying.
“You’re my prisoner now. Don’t move while I find something to restrain you. If you fight I will harm you.” His eyelids narrowed dangerously. “Do you understand me?”
She could only nod. Without weapons she stood no chance of winning a fight between them.
“Good.” He took a deep breath. “I’ve never been on this side of things but as someone who has spent a lot of time being a captive, I give you my word, I won’t abuse you.” To her shock the cyborg suddenly laughed, his dark eyes seeming to twinkle. “I admit I enjoy being the one in control for the first time.”
Chapter Four
Jill struggled against the leggings that held her wrists to the headboard but they had no give in them. Frustration and fear were two emotions she had grown accustomed to in the past few hours since Coal had tied her and left her alone in the room.
The doors opened and the cyborg entered her quarters. He had located a pair of pants that were a little small judging by the snug way they stretched across his hips and thighs, the material enhancing his muscular his legs. His chest remained bare. He paused at the end of her bed. He’d shaved his head, the stubble that had begun to show was now just a memory.
“The freighter isn’t following us and I doubt it will be able to travel for a very long time.”
“Good.” The last thing she needed would be another run-in with them. “What are you going to do with me and my droids?”
He cocked his head slightly, watching her for a long moment. “I’ve set a course to take us to the last location where I know my people’s ships were. I don’t want to risk communications. We are closer to Earth than I wish and the probability is high that they might overhear my transmission.”
Cyborgs had ships, which meant there were more of them. She digested that information. “What are you going to do with us if you find your friends?”
“I’ll release you and your shuttle.”
Relief swept through her. “Thank you.” She wanted to believe him but part of her remained leery. “Do you promise?”
“I’ll tell you what you told me. You’re my prisoner, I am in control, and I have no reason to give you false hope. I could do anything to you that I wish but I don’t want to harm you.”
“I didn’t say it that coldly.”
An eyebrow arched. “I am not you.”
“How are my droids?”
“Fine.” He paused, his features relaxing. “You have a lot of spare parts stored in your cargo hold. Why didn’t you fix them? Most of the supplies are there if you’d only inventoried what you possessed.”
“I don’t know how. I had to teach myself to pilot and I did replace their damaged eye sensors. I just couldn’t find matching ones. They aren’t blind. I’m kind of proud of that.”
“I wouldn’t be. You did a bad job. The color is adjustable. They have fully functioning vision now, matching colored lenses, and no more short circuits.”
She relaxed. “You really fixed them?”
“I enjoy working while I think.”
“Thank you.” She meant it, knowing he hadn’t had to do it.
He shrugged. “It needed to be done. Your entire shuttle is in bad shape. It will take us days to reach our destination and in the meantime I have made a list of repairs to tackle.”
“Really?” A rush of appreciation filled her. “Thank you. That’s so nice.”
His posture straightened even more. “You saved my life and didn’t mistreat me. I checked your computer logs and you were headed for Hixton Station just the way you stated. I also talked with the droids while I worked on them. You had no reason to deceive them and they were certain you meant to release me upon arrival. They state that you are honest and do not tell them lies. I decided, after reviewing the facts, that you need to be rewarded. You admitted to losing a financial opportunity by removing me from the freighter. While I don’t have money to pay you, I do have expertise.” He paused. “I’ve decided to repair your ship, your droids, and you.”
She felt gratitude right up until that last word. “Me? I’m not hurt.”
“You’re afraid of males and believe sex is one-sided. That’s a flaw on your part. Your male harmed you.”
“My ex-male and I’m fine. I don’t want to hear a lecture on it again. I also don’t want to date anyone in the future. It’s not a defect if it’s not a problem.”
“I am not going to talk to you.” He reached for the front of his pants. “I am going to show you pleasure.”
Jill gaped at him, her mind trying to make sense of his words while dread rolled through her. Coal tore open his pants to reveal―
Her gaze jerked upward and she locked her full attention on his face, refusing to glance down at the dusky, hairless skin he’d revealed under his navel. “You’re not wearing underwear.”
“I was fortunate to find pants that barely fit. The males who discarded the clothing I found were much smaller than I.” He bent, stepping out of the pants. “Do not fear me.”
“Stop,” Jill ordered. “I’m not flawed or damaged. Put the pants back on.” Her gaze nearly strayed downward to his groin area when he straightened, knowing he stood there naked, but she kept her gaze locked with his by sheer force alone, ignoring her curiosity. “I don’t want fixed.”
“I reviewed your medical history. You told the truth when you stated Arm is a medic model as well as a defensive android and he has detailed scans on you.” Coal put a knee on the mattress, the bed dipping from his weight near Jill’s feet. “I calculated your cycles and now is a safe time for you to have intercourse.”
“What?” She gasped.
“You’re not ovulating.” Coal paused, frowning at her. “I don’t wish to impregnate you. I am a unique cyborg by having active, healthy sperm. It’s why female cyborgs forced me into being a breeder while they kept me in captivity.”
“I don’t want you to touch me. I don’t want to have sex with you. Just stay back, Coal.”
He watched her silently for long moments before he spoke. “I don’t see fear. You appear angry.”
“You’re threatening to force sex on me, the thing you feared I’d do to you. I am angry. I didn’t hurt you and molesting me would just be wrong.”
“I won’t harm you.”
Jill snorted. “Sure. Right. Put your pants on. I don’t want this.”
“You honestly believe intercourse is painful.”
“It is.” Fear inched up her spine but she tried to mask her emotions and not show it. Her ex-husband had gotten more turned on when he knew he’d terrified her. “Please don’t touch me, Coal. I saved your life.”
“We’ll start with the basics.” He hesitated. “Don’t fight me.”
Jill jerked up her legs to her chest and kicked out with both feet together, aiming for Coal’s wide chest. Her boots never made contact. Large, strong hands grabbed her ankles instead and took the force, slowing her momentum until he held her legs immobile inches from his body. His frown deepened.
“I ordered you not to fight me.”
“Go fuck yourself if you want to get laid.”
His eyes narrowed as he stared down at her. “This isn’t about my pleasure, it’s about yours.”
“Then put your pants back on. That would make me real happy.”
He sighed, blowing out a deep breath. “Relax.”
“Leave me alone.”
“You’re making things more difficult.”
“I saved your life. I didn’t have to st
eal you from that freighter. I could have left you there to be beaten and sold. You said you were grateful.” She tried to find the guy’s conscience. “You said you were forced to have sex with women. You don’t want to do that to someone else, do you?”
“We don’t need to have actual intercourse but I will fix your fear of men touching you and show you that pleasure isn’t one-sided.” His hands shifted their hold on her ankles, lifting her legs higher until her bottom rose from the bed. “I hoped you would welcome the lesson.”
“I don’t.” She wiggled but he didn’t release her.
Coal shifted his hold again, using his thumb to wrap around one of her ankles and his fingers curled around the other one, holding both together with one hand. His free hand tore off her boots. He tossed them behind him, the sound of them hitting the floor was loud inside the room.
Jill struggled and twisted when he reached around her and unfastened her pants. It didn’t do any good when he got them open and tugged them upward, baring the lower half of her body. He took not only her pants but her panties when his fingers hooked into the waistband of both.
“Damn you,” she panted. “Stop!”
“I’m much stronger than you are. Fighting is a waste of your energy.”
“I saved you,” she raged.
“And I’m repaying you.”
“You’re really screwed up if this is the thanks I get.”
He paused, her pants bunched at her knees. A frown marred his features as their gazes locked together. “I am flawed.” Broad shoulders shrugged. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
“I don’t want this.”
“I don’t have money to repay you. I owe you for saving my life.”
“Then let me go. You’re in command of the Jenny and my droids. You’re a tank on legs and I know fighting you would be flat-out stupid. I’m willing to believe that you’re going to let me go when we find your friends and that you’ll turn everything back to my control. You can fix stuff and that’s payment enough, okay?”
Coal still hesitated. “I want to fix you as well. I know women’s bodies and while you’re not a cyborg female, I feel confident that I’m capable of giving you pleasure. The least I can do is right the wrong done to you by a male.”
She knew that he was completely serious and meant what he said. He thought touching her would fix what her ex-husband had done. The truth showed clearly in his slightly confused expression. She twisted hard, trying again to break free. Regardless of his motives, she didn’t want to have sex.
“I’ll make a deal with you.”
Jill stopped struggling. “What kind of deal?”
“Let me pleasure you at least and if you don’t enjoy what I do then I will stop.”
“I don’t want you to touch me.”
“I’m going to but I am willing to negotiate the terms by offering a reasonable solution with a deal.”
“What if I say no?”
“You’ll continue to fight me and make it more difficult for me to fix you.”
“And if I agree and don’t like what you do to me?”
“I’ll stop.”
“Okay, stop. I’m not enjoying this.”
“I haven’t begun yet.” His dark gaze flashed his annoyance.
Jill glared at him. He continued to frown at her, unmoving, until her legs began to hurt from his hold on her ankles.
“This isn’t real comfortable.”
He eased her ass back down onto the bed and released her ankles. She pulled her legs down, trying to cover her exposed lower region but Coal used it to his advantage, tearing her panties and pants the rest of the way down her legs. He tossed them behind him. Jill gasped and put her heels against her bottom, her knees drawn up, and locked together to cover her sex while she glared at him over the top of them.
“Spread your thighs for me.”
“No.”
“Give me five minutes of access to your body and if you want me to stop after that time, I will. That’s fair.”
“Fair would be you untying me and handing me a weapon to even out the odds between us.”
The grin that flashed on his features changed his entire look from intimidating to kind of cute in Jill’s opinion. She tried not to notice. The guy knelt on the end of her bed, watching her.
“That isn’t going to happen.” He looked smug.
“Neither is you touching me.”
“It is.”
“No.”
Coal’s grin faded. “I swear not to enter you if you give me five minutes of not fighting and doing as I ask. What do you have to lose?”
“I―”
He cut her off. “You have everything to gain if you agree. I will release you if you want me to stop after five minutes. I’ll free you from the bed and allow you to roam your quarters after I search through it to make sure there are no hidden weapons for you to use against me.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair. You’re an adult female. This shouldn’t be a new fact for you to learn.” He arched a dark eyebrow. “Decide.”
“That’s blackmail. What are you going to do if I don’t agree?”
“I will keep you tied on the bed and keep trying to get you to agree to allow me to touch you until you realize pleasure is possible.”
“I really don’t like you,” she admitted.
“I believe I could make you change your mind about that.”
“Has anyone ever called you a bastard before?”
“Since I don’t have a mother and wasn’t given birth to―no.”
“Here’s a first for you then. You’re a total bastard.”
He had the nerve to chuckle. “Do you agree?”
Jill wanted to scream in frustration. The big cyborg could force sex on her and she wouldn’t be able to stop him. So far he hadn’t hurt her and she believed that wasn’t his intention. Sometimes her droids had set ideas in their programming and it took her a long time to make them understand an error. Perhaps Coal had a glitch in his thinking that had him believing what had been done to her could be easily fixed, as if showing her something once would make years of misery disappear. He’d said he had implants and his brain might be more computer-like than she had guessed.
They studied each other as she chewed on her lower lip. She assessed that he looked pretty determined. If cyborgs and androids were anything similar, he had this course of action firmly set in his brain. She took careful breaths. He wouldn’t hurt her, she saw no cruelty in his gaze, and hoped her instincts were right.
“Do I have a choice? I want free.”
“Open your thighs wide for me.”
She hesitated. “What guarantee do I have that you won’t force yourself on me? You might say you won’t enter me but―” She gasped.
Coal pushed her thighs open. “If I wanted to force myself inside you I could and you wouldn’t be able to stop me. Is my point made?”
Fear made Jill’s heart race. She nodded, unable to speak. She hadn’t expected him to do that. He had her legs pinned open and spread wide.
“I’ve only let a doctor see me this way.”
He shook his head. “Your male was stupid if he didn’t ask you to spread your sex open for your mutual stimulation.”
She couldn’t exactly argue with Coal over his assumption since anyone willing to badmouth her ex had to be right. The hands gripping her knees weren’t painful but he had a good hold on her that prevented it when she tried to shift her legs closed. Her gaze lowered and her mouth parted in shock. Fear came rushing back as she stared at the naked, aroused cyborg and his definitely massive hard-on.
“Your fear isn’t necessary, Jill.”
“You’re big all over.” Her gaze refused to leave that darker-hued, hard cock pointing right at her as the cyborg held her thighs spread open. “Too big.”
Coal followed her gaze to his sex and then lifted his head to frown at her. “If we progress to actual intercourse, I won’t harm you. Women’s bodies ar
e designed to stretch. It’s just a matter of entering slowly to give you time to adjust to my size.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one facing having something that size shoved where the light doesn’t shine.”
He had the nerve to laugh. Jill glared at him. Coal smiled as he inched closer to her. His gaze lowered to the vee of her thighs and his mouth parted, his tongue swiping his full lips to wet them.
“You have very little hair for a human.”
“I thought you said you only know cyborg women.” Jill tried to distract herself from the fact that he studied her pussy very closely. No one but her doctor ever had. Not even her ex had put her under scrutiny the way Coal did. He seemed fascinated, judging by his expression. “You don’t have any hair down there so I’m assuming they don’t either.”
“They either have no hair at all or a lot of it.” He cocked his head. Dark brown eyes rose to meet hers. “Is your hair pattern shaped similar to an arrow?”
A blush heated Jill’s cheeks. “It gets really boring onboard sometimes, okay? Stop giving me that look. I don’t like a lot of body hair and when I use the hair remover wand I tend to make patterns sometimes.” She paused. “That’s not weird.”
“If you say so. It is attractive. Our time starts now and I’ll stop in five minutes if you still wish me to.”
He called her muff attractive. Jill frowned but then she realized the time ticked down. As long as he examined her he wasn’t doing anything else. She relaxed. She’d just talk and stall him until his five minutes had elapsed.
“I could tell you how to make patterns with the wand.”
Something flickered in his eyes. “I know you could. Tell me after my four minutes and fifty seconds have elapsed.”
“Damn!” So much for my plan. Jill tensed when he leaned over, his face hovering close to her skin. His intention became clear as hot breath fanned across her inner thighs. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. “You can’t!”
He paused, giving her an amused smile and an eyebrow arched. “I can’t what?”
“You know.” A deeper blush spread across her cheeks. “I read fiction files with sex in them and you can’t do that. I’d assumed you’d want to touch but not put your face there.”