sighed. He ignored the men as he walked her through the massive room to the corner. She saw that they’d used that corner to set up some kind of medical area with two med beds. A man sat on one of them. She was shocked when she realized he was human. He was an older, mid-fifties , white-haired man in good shape and he had a reading tablet on his lap.

“Doc?”Flint’s voice was deep.

The white-haired man jumped and turned his head, a grin instantly appearing. “Flint.” The grin died when he spotted Mira as shock hit the man’s features. He turned to study her and she saw a scar on his cheek.

It was a deep grove that ran from his ear down under his chin. “Who is this?”

Flint turned and glanced at Mira. “Her designation is Mirasia Carver but you may call her Mira.”

Doc climbed off the med bed and frowned at Flint. “I heard we intercepted a shuttle. Was it damaged?

It wouldn’t support the crew?” The man turned his eyes on Mira again. “Are you a pilot, young lady?”

“She was a passenger but now she’s mine. I want you to examine her for a tracker device and then I want her branded as mine so there’s no doubt that she belongs to me.”

Mira’s heart missed a beat at his words. She swallowed and looked up at the big man gripping her hand.

“Branded?”

Flint didn’t even glance at her, instead keeping his full attention on Doc. “Then I need her sized for clothing because it’s your job to be impartial. I thought you could do it since I don’t want another male to touch her.”

Not wanting to be ignored, she gripped Flint’s wrist above their clasped hands, with her free hand.

“Flint? You’re going to have me branded?”

He sighed and looked down, his gaze slightly annoyed. “You saw my markings. You will get markings that are exactly like mine so it marks you as mine. You will be much safer once you are marked clearly so there will never be a doubt of ownership.”

“But…” She was at a loss for words. “I don’t want tattoos.”

He looked irritated. “Notice that I did not ask your permission. You do not want there to be a property dispute over you.”

“I don’t even know what the hell that means.”

He turned fully to face her. “It means that until you are clearly branded as mine that someone could steal you and brand you as theirs. I would have to track you down if I could even find you to get you back from wherever you ended up. I would not like to have to do that and I know you would not like being stolen. You could be severely damaged, if not killed, in the process. This protects both of us.”

“Damn it, Flint. She’s not something to own. She’s a woman.”

Flint shot a glare at Doc. “Doc, she’s human and on Garden she is property. If you will not do it then I’ll have Yarger do it. He doesn’t have access to your meds that would numb her from the pain. I do not want her to feel pain so I’m asking you to do it.”

“Son of a bitch,” the white-haired man cursed, slamming his reading tablet down. “Fine. Do something with all of them or do you want all of them watching me undress her?”

Mira turned her head and realized that she was still the focal point of the room. Even more cyborgs had appeared. She did another head count—eighteen now. She saw the third man from the shuttle as well as most of the men from the control room. She swallowed hard in uneasiness at their intense stares and moved so close to Flint that she walked into the front of him, putting his large body between her and most of the men.

Flint turned his head to eye the men and sighed again. “Don’t any of you have something better to do?”

No one moved but a few of them laughed. Flint shook his head, turning to the doctor. “They will not leave. Let’s get started. I know it must be done here for your scanners.”

Horror hit Mira. “You expect me to undress in front of all of them?”

Flint climbed up on a med bed and straddled it with his back to the men. He patted the med bed in front of him. “Climb up.”

“But—”

His voice deepened and his eyes narrowed. “Climb up now. Obey me.”

“Shit,” she cursed, carefully climbing up on the med bed.

She had