Iron nodded, his eyes narrowed as he glared down at Mira. “I’ll deal with you tomorrow.”
It was a threat. Mira turned in Flint’s loose hold to wrap her arms around him. He’d stopped Iron from hitting her. She curled tightly into his body. Hot tears filled her eyes and she didn’t try to stop them. She figured Flint could feel her tears soaking through his clothes because he wasn’t in uniform. He was wearing pants and matching shirt made from some kind of soft gray material. She’d seen some of the men working out wearing outfits like the one he wore.
Flint let her hold him for approximately thirty seconds before he gripped her arms. “Release me. We are going in my quarters to talk.”
She let him go but she didn’t want to. Flint closed the distance to his doorway to run his palm over the lock pad. The doors opened instantly. He paused and looked at her.
“Get inside.”
Mira almost ran into the quarters she’d shared with Flint. She noted that nothing had changed. At the sound of the doors closing, she turned to face Flint. He hesitated and then shook his head at her.
“I do not understand you. First you escape from me and now you are begging me to take you back.”
She wiped at her tears as she gazed up at him. “Please don’t sell me to that man.”
“It’s already done. When Doc goes on shift in about seven hours he will clear you from Med. You will belong to Iron.”
“I know I messed up but you hurt me. I’m human, damn it. We’re emotional. You made it clear that I’m nothing more to you than property. I’m…” She took a deep breath. “You hurt me, hurt my feelings, and I got scared that you’d get bored with me and sell me. My brother had a card collection. I want to be more than a damn card collection to you. That’s why I ran away. You saved me again. Please don’t let Iron take me, Flint.”
“You are still property so nothing has changed. Your feelings still should be hurt.”
“They are but I’m here. I didn’t get away. If I have to belong to someone, I’d rather it be you.”
He frowned at her. “Your logic is lacking, Mira.”
“If I were back on Earth, my life would be different, but I’m here. If I have to be here, I want to be with you. What isn’t logical about that? Iron hates me and he’s going to hurt me. You promised that you wouldn’t hurt me and you haven’t.”
“You think you are safer with me—that I won’t hurt you?”
“You said you wouldn’t hurt me.”
“I did say that.” He nodded. “Undress, Mira.”
She stared at him and then reached for the bottom of her med shirt. He wanted her. Did that mean he’d changed his mind? She wanted to ask. She opened her mouth but shut it again quickly when Flint shook his head.
“No words, Mira. Just do as I say. Show me you can obey me. Remove your clothes and get into my bed now.”
It sounded like a second chance. She tugged off the med shirt to reveal that she wasn’t wearing anything under it. Flint’s eyes were on her body as she watched him. Passion burned in his dark blue eyes. He bent, removing each of his boots. The shirt and pants went next. She climbed on his bed as she watched him strip naked. He took her breath away. He was perfection as he moved for the bed.
“Spread your thighs for me.”
She spread her legs wide open. He climbed on the bed to sit between her thighs. His gaze took in her exposed sex before they slowly ran up her body. Their gazes met and held.
“You need to obey me,” he said softly. “Can you do that?”
She nodded. She’d obey him if he kept her. She’d happily do anything he said if he wouldn’t sell her to Iron. She didn’t want anyone but Flint touching her. Even as angry as he’d been, he hadn’t hurt her and he hadn’t let Iron hit her.
“Touch yourself.”
She hadn’t expected that order. She hesitated for just a second. Mira put her finger in her mouth, wetting the tip. She let her other hand go to her breast to cup it. Her wet finger moved down her body. She watched Flint’s interested gaze follow the movement until she reached the apex of her sex.
She only hesitated a second before she teased her clit with her finger. Drawing slow circles around the little nub made her bite back a moan. It felt good and having Flint watch her did something to her. It really turned her on. She heard Flint’s breathing increase in pace. Passion flared in his eyes.
He reached for her and she froze. His eyes jerked up to hers. “Don’t stop.”
She pinched her nipple between her index finger and thumb. Her fingertip moved, doing slow circles around her clit. She’d never had a man watch her masturbate. Her cheeks reddened slightly with embarrassment but it was also a turn-on. Her gaze tracked down Flint’s exposed body to stare at his erect cock as she continued to play with her clit.
Flint’s fingers brushed her finger and then he ran them down the line of her slit. He slipped the tips of two fingers into her pussy, testing her readiness before pushing them deep inside her when he found how wet she was. Mira closed her eyes and bucked her hips against his hand. He drove his fingers deeper. She moaned.
Flint curled his fingers and tapped at her G-spot with his fingertips. Pleasure made Mira moan louder as she rubbed her throbbing clit harder and faster. She pinched her nipple. Her hips wiggled against his hand. She knew she wasn’t going to last. It had been days since she’d had sex. Her inner muscles quivered and she knew she was going to come.
“Please, Flint. I want you inside me. I’m going to come.”
He tightened his hold inside her vagina and rubbed against her G-spot. She threw her head back, arching against his hand, and cried out his name as she came. Her body jerked with every spasm. She ground her pelvis against his thick fingers as she rode out her climax. She pulled her finger away from her clit, opening her eyes.
Flint was turned-on and breathing fast. He met her eyes as he withdrew his fingers. “Roll over on your hands and knees. Now.”
Mira didn’t question the order. She rolled over on the bed onto her hands and knees. She turned her head as Flint rose so he was on his knees behind her. A firm hand gripped her hip, curling it around her hipbone, as he moved closer to her.
“Put your elbows on the bed. Brace, Mira. I’m going to fuck you hard and fast.”
She lowered her chest to the bed, fisting his bedding tightly to get a good hold. A soft moan escaped her lips as his thick cock pushed inside her. He eased in slowly until he was buried balls deep in her quivering pussy. She still felt the aftermath of her climax. His balls brushed against her oversensitive clit so she knew he was in her that deep. His other hand gripped her hip, curling around it too. He withdrew slowly and paused.
“Hold on tight,” he almost panted.
She cried out in pleasure as Flint started to fuck her fast and deep. His hips pulled back and rammed against her ass. He was big and thick. Pleasure and pain shot through her with every rapid thrust. If she weren’t gripping the bedding he would have ridden her straight down into the mattress with his powerful, driving thrusts. The sound of his hips hitting her ass filled the room, along with their heavy breathing.
Flint tensed as his cock pulsed inside her. He stiffened, his cock jerking inside her in short bursts. “Mira.” He groaned her name as he came hard.
Mira almost wanted to scream when Flint slowed his movements. She’d been so damn close to coming a second time. With a few more short thrusts, he spilled everything he had into her and then withdrew from her body. He moved back, releasing her hips. Mira collapsed on her side on the bed, turning her head to stare at Flint.
He climbed off the bed to walk to one of the storage drawers. She watched him as he withdrew a hand towel and used it to clean his body. He hesitated for a long moment before he turned his head. Their gazes held. He tossed the towel at her on the bed. She reached for it. She could feel wetness seeping onto her thighs. Flint walked to the corner and presented his back to her.
She wiped her thighs clean and sat up. “Flint?”
“What?” He didn’t turn around. His voice was tight and he sounded angry.
“Thank you for keeping me. I’ll make everything up to you, I promise. I’ll make this right between us. If you give me access to a terminal I’ll have my money transferred to you. You can have everything I have if you want it. I don’t want you to lose your money.” She climbed off the bed to approach him.
Flint’s entire body went rigid. He had the best ass and when his body tightened, it made the muscles in his ass flex. She walked up behind him, letting her hand brush down his spine.
“I’ll never run away from you again. Thank you for giving me another chance. You won’t regret this. I’ll be the best damn…” it hurt her to say it but she did, “property that you own.”
Flint turned to face her then. Anger masked his features, making his eyes narrow and his full lips press tightly together. The anger surprised her.
“Is that what you thought that was? Me changing my mind? I already sold you, Mirasia Carver. It’s a done deal. You just belong to me until the end of Doc’s sleep cycle. I can’t stop the sale even if I wanted to. It’s final.”
Her knees went liquid under her. Mira didn’t even try to stop her fall as she collapsed to the floor. Pain shot up both knees as they slammed into the unforgiving metal. She stared up at Flint in horror.
“No. Don’t say that.”
Flint’s expression softened as he crouched naked in front of her to stare into her eyes. “I told you to obey me. You humiliated me in front of my crew when you ran away. You cost a lot of money to chase down. What was I supposed to do? Keep you when you didn’t want to be kept? I had no idea you’d still want to be mine when you were returned. I sold you to Iron before I knew you were ill. It’s done and nothing can change that.”
She reached for him, grabbing his hands. “Please, Flint. Use my money to buy me back. Don’t let him take me. I want to stay with you. Do you want me to crawl? I’m already begging.”
Flint jerked his hands from hers as he straightened to his full height. He moved away from her to another part of the room. He kept his back to her.
“He is set on the sale. He wants you and now he’ll have you in a few hours. Even if I offer him money for you so he’d make a profit he will not sell you back.”
Her mind was in a daze. “But I carry your mark. Doc said no cyborg would want me with another cyborg’s branding mark on me.”
Flint turned to frown at her. “He won’t keep you for long. He’ll sell you to another when he gets bored. I could buy you back when he’s done with you but…” He sighed. “I don’t think you will be the same.”
“You mean you don’t think I’ll be sane.”
Dark blue eyes looked away from her. “That and Iron made it clear after he purchased you that he’d be willing to rent you out to the men on the ship for a few hours at a time. I didn’t know until after we’d agreed to the sale.” His eyes turned back to Mira. “Plenty of them were interested. I had plans for you, Mira. Those plans are broken now.”
“What plans?” If she wasn’t cried out already she probably would have started again.
“I wanted to breed. I wanted to have children with you. I was going to take you to Garden and make a family unit with you.”
Pain and shock tore through her. “Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“I had no reason to share my plans for our future with you. I owned you so I didn’t feel the need to discuss it with you because I thought you might argue with me about it. I didn’t want to make you emotional again. I didn’t know how you would react to my plans. By the time Iron is done with you, having a family unit with you would be impossible. He’ll have to make you sterile when he rents you out so you won’t breed.”
“You said I couldn’t get pregnant by you.”
“You can’t get pregnant by me now. I haven’t taken shots to activate my sperm to make them viable. Then I will be able to impregnate you. Not all cyborgs need them. Most cyborgs have viable sperm.” He sighed. “Iron told me after I sold you that he was having your uterus removed. Most pleasure workers have that done to prevent pregnancies and if males get rough it reduces the risk of internal bleeding. There is less to damage.” He shook his head. “He never mentioned any of this before the sale. I wouldn’t have sold you to him if I had known all of his plans.”
Mira got to her shaky legs and walked to the bed. She sat down hard and curled her arms around her legs, hugging them. She started to rock back and forth. Her future was going to be hell. Iron was going to turn her into a ship whore. She’d rather die than suffer what Iron had planned for her.
“I have to return you to Med, Mira,” Flint said softly. “I was angry when I sold you. If I had known you would want to be returned to me, I wouldn’t have made the deal with him. It is done. I can’t make him sell you back to me.”
Mira lifted her head to stare into his Flint’s eyes. She didn’t miss the regret there and she could swear she saw sadness reflected in the cyborg’s gaze. It wasn’t going to save her though from what Iron would do to her and allow other cyborgs to do to her. Anger and pain tore through her. Why couldn’t Flint have just told her he wanted to have a family with her? She never would have run away. That was a relationship—having children together. If she’d known he had those kinds of plans, she wouldn’t have been so hurt.
“Get dressed, Mira.”
She didn’t want to move. She shook her. “Kill me, Flint.”
Shock hit his features. “What?”
“Please! Just kill me.” She whispered the words.
“I won’t do that.” He frowned at her.
She stared into his eyes. “You can return me to Med but I won’t let Iron have me. I’d rather jettison my body into space or bleed out than let someone besides you touch me. I’m not a whore.” She took a shaky breath. “I won’t be a whore.”
Flint frowned at her, watching her, and said nothing. He turned away from her to stand silently. Long minutes passed. Finally it sank in that he wasn’t going to help her by ending her life before it could turn into a nightmare.
“You took me off my shuttle, Flint. You took me away from my job, my family, and my friends.” She stared at his back. “When I opened up that cleansing room door to you and looked into your eyes, I felt things instantly toward you. The first time you touched me I felt a strong connection between us.” She paused. His body had tensed. “I just wanted to be more to you than something you owned. I wanted you to care about me the way I was starting to care about you. That’s all I asked for and you left me in the emotional cold. That’s why I ran. Don’t let this happen to me. I trusted you from the moment you held out your hand to me. I put my hand in yours, and along with it, my life.”
Flint slowly turned to face her. His dark eyes locked with Mira’s.
“I ran away because I don’t want you to break my heart. It was a mistake running from you. You’re angry with me right now and you sold me. Don’t you think that was a mistake? There is something between us, Flint. You feel it when we touch, just as I do. It scares me. We have almost nothing in common, yet I feel so much for you. I have no idea what kind of future is out there facing us—together.” She paused, looking at him. “If you give me to that man you might as well just shoot me, Flint. You’ll be killing me all the same. He’s going to hurt me until I no longer want to live. Is that why you took me from that shuttle? So I could end up being a whore on this ship for men who’d make me wish I were dead? No. You took me because you wanted me.”
“Mira…”
She stood and walked closer to him. “You want me as much as I want you. We both feel this. I know you’re pissed off at me. I cost you money and time. I have money to pay it all back so what did you really lose?” She paused in front of him, searching his eyes and then ran her hand up his chest. She let her palm glide over his skin until her fingertips brushed his neck. She finally touched his short hair. “This will grow back. If you hand me over to that asshole I’ll be gone
forever. Don’t do this, Flint. Don’t let me go. You chased me in that damn pod, refusing to let me go, so don’t let me go, damn it.”
Flint’s eyes closed. He took a deep breath. His head turned slightly, allowing Mira access to touch more of his hair. He took slow breaths before finally opening his eyes. He frowned down at Mira but his arms wrapped round her waist. His large hands gripped her firmly.
“You’re difficult, Mira. I’ll talk to Iron. I’ll bargain with him but you owe me. Do you understand? If I get the sale revoked, you had better never try to escape from me again. We’ll chalk this up to a learning experience. I’m trying to adjust to you being human and you don’t know much about cyborgs. We are proud, Mira. You reflect upon me. I command this crew. If I can’t control my own—”
She sighed. “Slave? Property? Go ahead and say it.”
He nodded. “If I can’t control you it makes me look weak in front of them. It’s my job to be in command of my men, Mira. Do you understand?”
She did understand. She nodded. “I get it.”
He lifted her slowly up his body, walking them around the bed. He gently laid her down. “You’re worn out still from healing. You’ll stay here with me.”
“Thank you, Flint,” she said softly. Gratitude and relief filled her. He was keeping her. She had faith that he’d break the sale. He had to. “Just…thank you.”
Flint ordered the lights off as he climbed into bed with her. Mira curled up flush against his large warm body. Flint held her tightly. It felt right, being in the cyborg’s arms and Mira loved the feel of him holding her. She felt safe with Flint. She yawned, physically and emotionally exhausted.
Flint caressed her back, rubbing her spine. “Sleep, Mira. I’m here. No one will take you from me.”
She nodded into his chest. “I swear you won’t regret it.”
His hand slid up her back higher so he could fist her long hair, gently rubbing the strands in his fingers. “It will be all right. When we reach Garden we’ll be a family unit. I want to have children.”