He took another deep breath, his chest crushing against hers as he stared into her eyes. “Tell me.”

“Make a deal with me. It’s really good information and if there are other cyborgs like you then it’s a goldmine of information.”

Something flickered in his eyes. “Someone like me?”

She could see him thinking, his expression unguarded as they stared at each other.

She saw something click for him.

“I was incarcerated. That’s it, isn’t it? Did they do something to us?”

Shit. She’d said too much. She licked her lips and nodded, knowing there was no use denying it. “Yes.”

“How do you know?”

“I told you I knew someone who was a guard.”

He studied her features. “Who? Unless you’ve had surgery that I don’t detect, you were too young to have been a guard.” His eyes suddenly widened. “Are there more cyborgs locked up on Earth? How many of them are there? Where are they?”

“Make a deal with me and I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

Rage flashed across his face and then he lifted off her. Rena was shocked at the sudden movement but then she cried out as he grabbed her. He climbed off the bed, gripping her ankle in one of his big hands, dragging her to the edge of the bed. He flipped her on her stomach, dragging her until she was bent over it, pinned facedown against the mattress, his knee shoving her legs apart. He came down on her, almost crushing her into that position.

“How many cyborgs are still prisoner and where are they? Tell me now, Rena. This isn’t a damn game. How many of my people are yours still holding captive? We thought humans killed them all long ago. We freed the last of the survivors twenty years ago after I escaped.”

Shock flashed through her. “I don’t know. I mean, I don’t think there are any surviving cyborgs left on Earth. I can’t tell you something I don’t know.”

“You’re a guard, aren’t you? Or your company is in charge of them? You don’t work for an insurance company, do you?”

She turned her head to stare up at his face. The anger she saw there terrified her. He had the wrong damn idea and his imagination was going wild. “My father was a guard, not me, and Demco is an insurance company. I don’t know about any other cyborgs. I swear.”

“I could hurt you.” To prove a point he shifted his hips.

Dread spread through her. A very hard, thick c**k pressed against her ass as his legs shifted, forcing her thighs wider apart—enough for him to press against her anus. She stared at him over her shoulder, apprehensive, recognizing the threat.

“Tell me everything, Rena, right now. You know how bad I could hurt you. Talk.”

Tears filled her eyes. “I swear. My father was a guard at a cyborg detention center when I was little. He told me stories growing up about the years he was there. He told me how they implanted all captured cyborgs with chips so that’s how I was able to shut you down. If I say the code words it causes the chip to shut you down for ten minutes and makes all your chips reboot so it takes you longer to get back to full speed. I swear.

Please don’t hurt me, Steel.”

He searched her eyes and his body relaxed slightly. The firm press of his c**k eased back from her ass as he shifted his h*ps away from her inner thighs. He took a few deep breaths, still staring into her eyes. He took another deep breath.

“What code words?”

“If I say them you’ll hit the floor.”

“Then why aren’t you saying them? If any of this was true you would have knocked me out by now. Prove it to me.”

She hesitated. “Are you listening to me, Steel?”

He glowered at her.

“Remember you asked.” She took a deep breath, watching his eyes. “Spectrum three- three-three-six!”

She saw him blink and then his eyes rolled back into his head. She braced as his large body collapsed against hers. Naked, hot skin crushed against her back. Gravity though, made him slide down her body and, with a soft thump, he hit the floor. She straightened and turned to stare down at the unconscious cyborg in a na**d heap. She let her eyes go to his still-hard cock, seeing that not all of him was down for the count.

She sighed and got a pillow off the bed. She knew the cyborg didn’t deserve it but she crouched down next to his body and lifted his head, shoving a pillow under him before she eased his head down. Standing, she found the shirt he’d lent her the night before, and put it on. She hesitated, glancing at him, and then walked to his bathroom.

Rena enjoyed the hot water as she quickly showered. She figured it might be her last for a while if the big cyborg was pissed when he woke. She tried to mentally keep track of time while she towel dried and then walked back into his room. Steel was still unconscious. She walked to her bag from the Bridden and got dressed in a pair of comfortable pants and a baggy shirt. If he locked her in a holding cell at least she’d be comfortable. She grabbed her tooth cleaner kit and walked back into his bathroom.

Stepping out of the bathroom a few minutes later, her attention instantly went to the downed cyborg. For some reason Steel stayed out longer than ten minutes. She knew it had to be past that time. Worry gnawed at her again, though he’d woken up fine before after about fifteen minutes. She walked over to him to kneel at his side.

“Steel?”

Something chimed. She realized it had to be someone at his door. The sound echoed again. Rena’s gaze dropped to Steel. She reached for him, her hands touching his hot skin as she started to shake him. Someone was at the door and he needed to wake up.

“Steel!”

He didn’t move. She heard the door open and lifted her head, peering over the top of the bed as three cyborgs in black uniforms stormed into the room. She swallowed hard as their focus locked on her. They paused and then moved around the bed. It just took them seconds to see Steel on the floor with her crouched next to him, her hands still on his arm and chest.

“He’s fine. I can explain. You see—”

One of them moved lightning fast, a hand wrapping around her throat. She tried to scream as she was yanked off her feet. Another hand was under her arm. Alarm and dread, along with pain, jolted through her and then she was thrown through the air until she hit the wall. She couldn’t even scream as pain tore through her side where she hit it hard. She fell, landing in a heap on the floor, more pain flashing through her body.

Rena lay there in a haze of pain. She had to struggle to get air to her lungs. Rough hands grabbed her, jerking her up, and it was enough movement for her to suck in air at least. Her eyes opened as she stared up into a malevolent pair of black eyes in a metallic- gray face surrounded by jet-black, wild hair. He gripped her by her upper arms, holding her limp body up before slamming her hard into a wall again.

“He’s coming around,” a voice said from somewhere behind the enraged cyborg who gripped Rena. The cyborg glared at her and then his hands tightened on her arms.

A scream tore from Rena, caused by the excruciating pain she experienced as the man hurt her until she thought he was going to break her arms. She stared into a pair of utterly cold eyes. In the next instant she saw surprise grip his features a second before he dropped her when he was yanked away. She hit the floor, her legs refusing to hold her weight, collapsing on her ass. Sobs tore through her. She tried to move her arms but they wouldn’t lift, hanging dead at her sides. Through her tears she looked up to see Steel, naked, punching the black-haired cyborg who went crashing to the floor on the other side of the room.

Steel turned to face her, rage on his features. Their gazes locked but he became blurry to her as more tears flooded her eyes. She blinked and as her vision cleared she saw him on his knees in front of her, his hands reaching for her. As Steel touched her arm she screamed in pain. He released her instantly, his head snapping around.

“Get a medic, damn it.” He almost roared he words. “Move now!”

The black-haired cyborg sat up. “She was attacking you. She’s lucky that’s the worst I did to her.”

Steel growled. “Get out, Burn. If you permanently damaged her, I’ll do the same to you.”

“She attacked you.” The black-haired cyborg rose to his feet. “I just disabled her arms. I didn’t break bones. If she’d been a male I would have killed her.”

Steel turned his head, staring into Rena’s eyes. She blinked back more tears. Her arms hurt bad, her side throbbed, and tears kept filling her eyes, making her blink to let them fall down her cheeks. She saw regret on Steel’s features. He reached out to touch her but his hand froze inches from her skin.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “Hold on. He pinched the nerves in your arms. It’s painful but they aren’t seriously damaged.”

She opened her mouth to talk but she just gasped in air instead, fighting more sobs.

She couldn’t remember hurting this much, ever. Steel’s features turned harsh, anger making his jaw clench. He reached for her again, this time his large hand cupped her cheek and jawline.

“I’m sorry.”

“You…you told me to do it again to prove that I could. You—”

“I know,” he cut her off. “They thought you’d harmed me somehow.” His head turned. “Where is the damn medic?”

“Wire is on the way,” a blond cyborg said softly. “What the hell is going on here? You were unconscious.”

“She claims to be the daughter of one of the guards assigned to cyborgs on Earth after we were put in detention. She said they implanted us with a chip to incapacitate our kind by voice command.” Steel hesitated. “I asked her to show me, so she shut me down to prove it. She wouldn’t have harmed me. She’s had the opportunity to do that since last night when I brought her onboard.” Steel eyed her with a quick glance. “She just showered and changed her clothes while I was down.”

“Fuck,” Burn hissed, glaring at Rena. “Break her jaw so she can’t do it again, damn it. Most of us on this ship are from those detention centers.” He moved forward. “If you don’t have the stomach to incapacitate her then move aside. I don’t want her opening her mouth and knocking me out.”

Steel released Rena and was on his feet, spinning around in the blink of an eye to grab the advancing cyborg. He grabbed him by his throat. “Touch her and you will suffer.”

The blond took a step closer, looking uncomfortable. “You just said she is able to incapacitate by words. If she’s an Earth operative, she could kill a hell a lot of us, Steel. I know why you don’t want her killed. She needs to tell us more about the chips but I’m with Burn on this. Disable her ability to speak.” He reached behind him and withdrew a knife. “If you don’t want her to suffer then I could permanently disable her voice box with one jab.”

Horror engulfed Rena. She could feel her fingertips, a burning pain shooting down her arms, and realized the nerves must be working again. She tried to move her arm and got her wrist to move. She backed up until she hit the wall. She looked up at Steel’s na**d backside. He was silently standing there, staring at the other two cyborgs. Would he let them do that to her?

Steel slowly turned his head, their gazes meeting. Rena was afraid to talk now, afraid to utter a word in case they thought she was attempting to shut them down. She silently pleaded with. He took a deep breath.

“You don’t say a word, all right?”

She nodded.

“I don’t trust humans.” Burn looked pissed. “You need to let one of us disable the threat, Steel.”

The blond ran his eyes over Steel. “They had sex. Maybe he’s not rational.” His attention turned to Rena. “If I was nailing her and she was any good, I’d be a bit protective of her myself. She’s cute and little, not like our women, and it’s probably brought out every protective instinct in him. They would be active in me if she were mine.”