“Explain.”

“He wasn’t around much while I was growing up. He retired and came to work for me once I bought the freighter. Ever heard of that saying ‘making up for lost time’? It fit. He was really overprotective. Men couldn’t look at me without him drawing a weapon. He didn’t trust them not to hurt me.”

“By forcing sex?”

“That too. He was also worried they’d give me a disease or worse.”

“Abuse you?”

“Do you know what real women in brothels are worth, this deep in space? I do. My dad constantly told me. He was terrified some guy was going to trick me into trusting him, kidnap me, and sell me on the black market.”

“It happens.”

“I know. I hear the news too. It’s partly why I decided to buy a bot. They’re programmed not to hurt humans, they don’t carry diseases, and my dad wouldn’t want to shoot it because it doesn’t have an ulterior motive. He’d consider it safe…and I’d have had company.”

“You had a crew and your father. It wasn’t a large freighter. You weren’t alone.”

“Can you put me down?”

He eased her onto her feet and released her. She slid along the wall and moved around him to put space between them. “Thank you. And I may as well have been.” She took a seat on the bed.

He turned, watching her.

“They were all my dad’s age or older. All ex-military. What did I have in common with them? They were always talking about the past. It was a struggle to even get them to take orders from me. I’d give them, and they’d glance at my dad. He’d nod and then they’d do what they were told. I was just a kid to them. How is that for honesty? But I knew I could trust them. They weren’t going to slit my throat to steal my freighter or the cargo.

“I spent most of my hours working or in my quarters alone. My dad didn’t like me hanging with his friends in our down time. I think he was afraid they’d stop viewing me as his baby girl and see me as a woman. He’d have killed anyone who thought about touching me. Not that I was interested. Dad not only picked the crew because he trusted them, but they had some pretty gross habits. So not sexy to see men spitting and hearing them sharing the graphic details of past sexual encounters with whores. Denny even had the crawl and refused to take care of it. Don’t get me started on how disgusting that is.”

“I’m not familiar with that term.”

“Some people get very dry skin on ships, and it begins to crack and peel if they don’t coat the affected areas on a regular basis to protect it from happening. There’s not enough moisture in the air with life support. It dries them out. Get it? Denny had the worst case of it I’ve ever seen, because he refused to use the medicine. It spreads if you let it go. He’d just randomly start bleeding if he moved wrong, breaking open a scab. He had a bunch of them.”

Stag curled his lip in disgust.

“Exactly. Any more questions about why I wouldn’t get involved with someone on my freighter?”

He approached her and sat a few feet away on the bed. “Why did you want to own the Pride?”

“My dad always told me stories about his space adventures when I was growing up. I realize now he embellished a lot but it sounded so exciting. Plus, unlimited opportunities for growth in business. Not like on Earth. I could make as much as I wanted, as long as I put the time and effort into it. Why did you want to be in charge of this ship?”

“I’m a natural leader.”

She smirked. “You are a control freak. We’re being honest, remember? It should go both ways.”

A ghost of a smile played at his lips. “I enjoy giving orders more than taking them.”

“Who doesn’t?”

They stared at each other. She spoke first. “I’m sorry for the sex-bot thing, okay? You’re a person. I’m clear on that now.”

“I won’t call you an android again. Unless you lie to me.”

She held out her hand. “Truce?”

He glanced down at her offered gesture, then rose to his feet. “That would imply we’re not enemies. You’re an Earther, and I know better than to trust you.”

She fisted her hand and put it on her lap. “I don’t know what someone else did to you, but I’m not them. You understand that, don’t you?”

“It’s in your nature to be treacherous.”

“You’ve treated me badly since we met, and yet I’m still willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. The only reason you saved me was because you were angry. Am I wrong?”

He just stared at her.

“I’m grateful to be alive. I’m going to focus on that.” She stood. “Come on, meet me halfway. We’re stuck together for a while. We can at least try to be pleasant to each other until you let me go, when you can.”

“You’re never going to be let go. Once we leave the dead zone, I’ll hand you over to other cyborgs. They’ll find you a place in our society and make certain you can’t ever contact other Earthers to share the information you’ve acquired about us.”

She regretted getting up, wishing she were still sitting. “What are you talking about?”

“You heard me. Don’t be obtuse. You were saved by cyborgs, and now you’ll live in our society. The life you knew is gone forever. That’s the price of living. Now, prepare to have your wrists tied so I don’t have to worry about you attempting to harm me while I sleep.”

Nala wanted to deck him. She spun away before he could see the rage he caused. He’d not only just dashed any hope of being set free, but they were right back to square one.

If he wanted a fight, he would get one. She’d make him want to drop her off at the first space station they passed.

Chapter Five

Stag felt better after a solid six hours of sleep. He’d released Nala before he’d left his quarters. She hadn’t said a word and avoided eye contact. That was fine with him. Their conversation had unsettled him. He’d almost forgotten what she was and where she came from.

Yammer stretched his arms upward and yawned. “This is tedious.”

“Would you prefer we were under attack?”

The male turned, lowering his arms, and gave Stag an odd look. “You’re in a sour mood. I had hoped having a female in your bed would help with your disposition.”