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 ass**le 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