“I won’t last long,” he said softly. “You’re too good at that. I believe you said you want to straddle me. Rise and release me.”

Hesitant to do that, she slowly eased him from between her lips and started to get to her feet but Steel was faster, bending forward, his hands gripping her upper arms to help her to her feet. He kicked off his pants and briefs as he moved to the bed, sat down on the edge and held out both hands to her.

She moved toward him in a heartbeat, tearing at her clothing to get free of them, wanting nothing between her skin and his. Steel patiently waited, his c**k standing at full attention between his slightly parted thighs and then she stepped between those thighs.

His strength never ceased to amaze Rena he firmly grasped her hips, lifting her easily to put her on his lap where she straddled his hips. She was the one to reach between them, grip his cock, and guide him to the entrance of her body, but right before she could adjust to ease down on him, Steel surprised her by moving her again, tossing her on the bed next to where he sat.

“What—”

Steel gripped her thighs with his hands right behind her knees, shoving her legs up and apart, baring her pu**y to him where he leaned over her, his face above her stomach.

His eyes had gone cold.

“You did not believe me when I told you the truth. Perhaps you were with another male while I was gone.”

“Are you kidding? I was locked in your room.”

His expression softened. “It is not pleasant to be accused of something you did not do, is it, Rena?”

She took a deep breath, feeling her cheeks warm with embarrassment. “I get it and you’ve made your point.”

A silvery eyebrow arched. “Have I? Perhaps I won’t believe your words and will investigate your sex to make certain that no male scents are there.”

Her heart was beating quickly but as his words sank in it sped up just a bit more, knowing what he was going to do. “Go ahead.”

Steel spread her thighs wider, lowering his face closer to her wide-open pu**y. “You owe me an apology for not trusting in my word since I have never told you a falsehood.”

“I’m sorry, babe.” She meant it. “It’s just that it’s really hard for me to trust a man after being married to one who lied to me every time he opened his mouth.”

Steel hesitated so close to her pu**y that his hot breath teased her throbbing cl*t that ached for his tongue. “This is the man who you belong to on Earth, the one you will be returned to?”

“I don’t want to talk about him right now. You wanted to inspect me, remember?”

She forced a smile. “I’m turned-on and if we keep talking about that subject it’s going to kill my mood so fast it won’t be funny.”

“I wouldn’t want that,” he said softly. “I am so hard for you after you taunted me with your mouth.”

A soft moan came from Rena as Steel brushed a surprising kiss on her inner thigh as he turned his head, nuzzling her with his cheek where his lips had touched her. He took a deep breath, inhaling her aroused scent, a barely audible groan coming from him.

“I can’t smell any males on you.”

She arched her h*ps up, lifting her ass from the bed to offer her body to him. “Please, babe. Stop teasing. I’m sorry, all right?”

He didn’t speak but his mouth did the talking for him as his tongue slid across her clit, hot and wet against her bundle of nerves, making her aware of the differences between a slight lick and then a slower one that applied pressure. Her fingers clutched for the bedding but she had the urge to fist his hair to keep him in place as his tongue licked her repeatedly from down to up.

“That feels so good.”

He stopped. “I should do this for a while to see how wet I can make you and to teach you to never question my word. Make you wait.”

“Please don’t. I said I was sorry.”

“Ummm.” He licked her again, his tongue rasping across her cl*t in one slow, long lick.

He was torturing her, Rena realized, making her pay for questioning his honesty as he went at her as if she were ice cream, one lick at a time in the same repeated fashion that was driving her passion higher but not enough to make her come right away. She really wanted to get off in the worst way. She wiggled her ass on the bed but Steel’s hold on her thighs pushed her flat. She was just able to writhe in need from the h*ps up, feeling incredibly empty inside to the point of near pain.

“Please, babe,” she nearly whimpered. “More pressure, faster, or f**k me.”

Steel suddenly lifted up from between her thighs and threw himself on his back.

“Ride me now, my little siren.”

She was more than happy to do that now that she was free. Her gaze swept down Steel’s sexy big body, loving every inch of him, thinking he was pure perfection as she straddled his hips, her hand gripping his c**k and guiding it to her pu**y. She met his gaze as she eased down. Rena cried out in rapture as Steel slid home into her welcoming depths. Her body was on fire. She threw her head back, her hands opening on his chest where she was slightly bent over. She started to move on him, frantically lifting up to slam back down, taking him hard, fast, and as deep as she could.

Her cl*t brushed against his body as she rode him, his hands gripping her h*ps to help her move even faster, lifting her and jerking her down. His legs moved, his knees bending, feet flattening on the bed, and then he was thrusting up into her quicker, his hands gripping her and holding her still where her knees braced her. The sound of their ragged breathing, their bodies slapping together, and Rena’s moans filled the room.

Steel’s c**k was creating amazing sensations inside her and the faster he moved, the better it was until her muscles quivered, her pu**y clamping down around his cock, and then a scream tore from her as the orgasm burst through her.

Steel roared out a loud sound that wasn’t exactly a word. Rena was too overwhelmed by her frenzied cl**ax and the resulting euphoria to do more than collapse on his broad chest, panting, and smiling as his arms wrapped around her as he continued to come inside her, jerking under her, a softer groan coming from his parted lips. “Wow.”

His hands ran from her back downward until he cupped both of her ass cheeks, massaging them gently and then gripping them, holding onto her there. She enjoyed the feel of his hands on her, loved the fact that she was totally on his chest but he was able to breathe, making her body rise and fall with every deep breath he took. Her breathing slowed along with his as the minutes passed and her vaginal walls finally stopped twitching and her brain started to function properly now that she wasn’t gripped with lust.

“Did you call me your little siren?” She lifted her head, staring down at Steel, not sure she’d heard him right.

His gorgeous eyes sparkled with amusement. “It is a term of endearment.”

“Siren? Aren’t those mythical creatures that lured men to their deaths? That doesn’t sound too endearing.”

Steel chuckled, shaking his head, and looked even more amused. “A siren is a seductress, a thing of beauty, charming, a temptress—perfectly descriptive of you.”

Rena couldn’t help but grin back at him. “That’s the nicest name anyone has ever called me then.”

He tugged her down flat, one hand leaving her ass to curve around her waist, holding her against him. “I do not lie, my little siren. You are all of those things to me.”

The side of her face pressed against his chest, his heartbeat music to her ears as she relaxed on top of him, joy filling her slowly, spreading through her mind and her heart.

Her cyborg had just thought up a wonderful nickname to call her to express his affection for her. Steel Cyborg was turning into Mr. Romantic and she knew her resolve melted even more when it came to keeping Steel at a distance from her heart.

Chapter Ten

Their time ran shorter and shorter, two days passed way too quickly for Rena. Steel walked in the door looking frustrated and she hid a smile as she tried to not openly stare at his messed-up hair. It was apparent that he’d run his fingers through it often.

“Frustrating day at the office?”

Steel paused, tilted his head and then slowly smiled. “You know I do not work in an office.”

She crossed the room, just wearing one of his shirts. “I know, it was just a saying that I thought would make you smile, which it did. I take it that you didn’t have a good day?”

“No. The Moonslip has had some issues since we began our flight home and Fiona refuses to allow one of our men to command her ship. She hasn’t been in charge of a large vessel in twenty-five years but she refuses to relinquish control to someone else.”

“I’m sorry.” She walked right up to him until she could touch him. “I know what will help.”

A grin easily curved Steel’s lips. “A kiss?”

“A kiss, getting you out of that uniform, and getting you into bed.” She put her hands on his shirt. “You look like a man who could use a nap.”

She laughed as he lifted her off her feet and headed for the bed, his beautiful silvery blue eyes sparkling with humor.

“A nap is for young children. The last thing I am thinking about is going to sleep when we take our clothing off to share a bed.”

The door chime sounded and Steel sighed as he lowered Rena back to her feet. “I almost forgot that I ordered a special meal for us.”

Rena arched her eyebrows as Steel walked to the door, opened it, and allowed two cyborg men inside. She saw a lot of food and two bottles of wine as the men set two trays on the table by the door, both taking a second to glance her way before Steel ushered them quickly out of the room.

“Is that really wine?”

He nodded. “I thought since this was our last night together that we’d have a special dinner and I know on Earth wine with the meal is symbolic for romantic.”

Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest. “Tomorrow we’ll reach Outpost Five then?” She’d purposely not asked, not wanting to know exactly when they would part ways.

All traces of humor were gone from Steel. “We’ll be close enough in ten hours to put you in a pod and send you on your way. I wanted you in range of the Vontage long enough to make certain you reach it safely so that is when I calculated that you’ll need to leave.”

Ten hours? Oh god. Rena nodded and turned away to blink back tears that filled her eyes before he could spot them. I don’t want to let him go. I don’t want to leave Steel.

Just the thought was enough to make more tears fill her eyes. I’ll never see him again. I’ll never— “Rena?”

His voice drew her from her panicked thoughts. She blinked rapidly, forced a smile that made her cheeks hurt, and turned back to face him. “Yes?”

“Flint and I discussed how to handle this and the plan we came up with is very simple. One of his men flew Pod 3 from the Star and docked it with the Vontage so you can have it when you go. The memory banks on it have been altered so anyone checking the logs will see what we programmed them to reveal.” He watched her as he spoke, his face expressionless. “That will fit the cover that we came up with for you. You said you followed that pod’s signal so you will tell anyone who asks that you found the Star but it was damaged in the firefight your recovery team had with the pirates that helmed the Star. You need to tell them that both ships were destroyed along with every life aboard except you managed to get to the lone functioning pod and jettison away.” He paused.

“Can you say that? It will hopefully make your company stop hunting the Star and explain why you don’t have the Bridden since we plan to keep it. Your recovery team really spent a lot on upgrades we don’t have available to us to shield it so it’s virtually undetectable until it’s within visual range of its target.”