Stealing Coal Read online

  Stealing Coal

  Laurann Dohner

  Book 5 in the Cyborg Seduction series.

  Jill has learned the hard way that men can’t be trusted and sex only causes pain. In the lawlessness of space, women are a sexual commodity—to be used and abused. She’s doing a man’s job, with only her father’s brutal reputation and three androids to help keep her alive when she sees a massive, handsome cyborg chained to a freight table. The abusive crew plans to sell him to fight in gruesome death matches. It’s stupid, it’s insane, but Jill can’t leave him to such a horrible fate.

  Coal has survived being a captive breeding slave and irreversible damage to his cyborg implants, but his honor is still intact. He’s grateful Jill saved him and he’ll repay her the only way he can. He’ll fix her—with his mouth, his hands and his body. He can teach the little human just how much pleasure she’s capable of feeling.

  Ellora’s Cave Publishing

  www.ellorascave.com

  Stealing Coal

  ISBN 9781419933240

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Stealing Coal Copyright © 2011 Laurann Dohner

  Edited by Pamela Campbell

  Cover art by Syneca

  Electronic book publication March 2011

  The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing.

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  Stealing Coal

  Laurann Dohner

  Dedication

  Special thanks go to Mr. Laurann for encouraging me to follow my dreams, and to Kele Moon, who became Coal’s cheerleader as I wrote his story.

  Prologue

  Explosions hurt Coal’s ears and he realized he probably wouldn’t escape the Earth shuttle before it blew up. His feet pounded down the hallway and he didn’t dare slow, taking a blow to his shoulder when he slammed into the corridor wall. He bounced off and kept going as the lights flickered around him until he entered an open lift to take him one floor down.

  The doors sealed and he clenched his teeth, hoping the power didn’t fail completely. He’d be sealed in the small room, something he feared, trapped there to die. The lift dropped quickly and then jerked to a halt. Doors slid open and he realized he’d been holding his breath. He sucked in smoke-filled air and moved forward quickly, fighting a cough.

  Hope flared in Coal that he might make it out alive. Loud, angry voices drew him and he increased his pace, ignoring the burn in his lungs from breathing the contaminated air. He rounded a twist in the ship’s belly and nearly ran straight into the small group of people clustered there.

  Coal studied the two cyborgs locked together in an obvious tense moment. Ice had a council member pinned to a wall but he jerked his arm up to point at Coal. The weapon aimed at his chest lowered a second later.

  “Coal? What are you doing onboard? You should be back on the Star.”

  “With my damaged implants I couldn’t connect to the shuttle computer.” Humiliation hummed through Coal at having to admit his weaknesses. While he guessed the other cyborg males knew his flaws, stating them aloud made the damage inside his head a little harder to take. He touched the scars on the back of his head, pushing away the memory of being strapped facedown to a hard surface and the pain he’d suffered while a female operated on him against his will. He’d been able to ignore the agony at first but once the implants were destroyed it had screamed throughout his body until he realized the terrible sound had not only reverberated in his mind but had actually passed his lips. He shook off the memory and continued, “I couldn’t bypass the doors that locked me inside a storage room when I entered it in search of the remaining bots. It seems some doors you may enter but need a code to exit. What is going on?” Coal’s gaze darted between the cyborgs and he wondered why they were obviously ready to engage in battle.

  “No time to explain.” Ice shot a glare at the council member, pure rage on his features, but then his expression softened when he turned his gaze on the attractive human woman.

  Fascination transfixed Coal while he watched Ice and the female argue but he didn’t see anger. He saw pain, fear, and heartbreak exchanged between them. It struck him immediately how strongly those two were attached to each other. He swayed a little on his feet when the gravity stabilizers on the shuttle weakened but then returned to normal.

  His mind worked quickly, assessing the situation. Only two pods remained but four of them stood in the hallway. Ice wanted his woman to get inside a life pod to jettison to safety while the council member wanted to leave her behind.

  Zorus wasn’t a stranger to Coal. The male had fought hard to free Coal from the female cyborgs who had forced him to be a breeder for them, using his seat on the cyborg council to assure that Coal got away from his abusers. Zorus had raged at the females over their treatment of a fellow cyborg in front of Coal, standing up for him. He’d even talked to Coal privately, offered friendship, and shared information—they had a common bond. Coal’s abusers had been female cyborgs while Zorus had survived similar abuse at the hands of humans. Coal had appreciated the council member sharing his secrets to give him a sense that he wasn’t alone in suffering the memories that haunted him.

  Coal’s full attention shifted to Ice. They didn’t know each other well but he knew he could count him as a friend. His gaze lowered to the small female. The human stared at Ice with such raw emotions it stunned Coal. She really loved a cyborg. A human—one of those who’d attempted to kill the entire cyborg race—pleaded with Ice while openly admitting her feelings. The life pods were set up to support one life each. The gravity of the situation hit as Coal did the math. His eyes closed with the realization that two needed to die to give two a chance at survival.

  He’d wanted to enjoy freedom, get to know his cyborg brothers, and become part of cyborg society. He’d been denied any sense of happiness by the females of his race when they’d crashed on the surface of a planet after escaping their own executions on Earth. His life had just begun anew when he’d found his cyborg brothers and for the first time in decades he’d been given the opportunity to embrace life with joy. His eyes opened in time to witness Ice knock Zorus out cold with a punch.

  “Give him to me.” Coal reached for Zorus, a decision made. Ice and his woman loved each other and they deserved a real shot at a future together. He and Zorus were emotionally damaged, probably not salvageable anyway. Coal’s body couldn’t be repaired and Zorus had a bitter heart that rarely showed any emotion except rage, perhaps incapable of it after all he’d gone through. “You both need to escape now. I’ll stay behind.”

  Ice didn’t move. “Coal, you and Megan are taking the life capsules. I’m staying behind with Zorus.”

  It amazed Coal that anyone cared that mu