Seducing Stag Read online

  “Adrenaline junkie?”

  “No. I don’t seek excitement and danger to enhance my life experiences.”

  “Then why do you do it?”

  “Someone has to.”

  “You have a hero complex, don’t you?”

  “No.”

  “A death wish?”

  He hesitated a little before answering. “I’m not in a family unit, nor do I have many close associations to other cyborgs. I’m expendable.”

  It caused her chest to ache. He really believed that. She could see the sincerity in his eyes. Had anyone ever loved Stag? She doubted it.

  “I’d grieve you, so don’t get yourself killed.”

  He pulled his hand away. “Those are polite words but spare them for someone else.”

  “Now you’re breaking my heart.” She turned on the bed, inching closer to him. “We’ve been intimate. I don’t hate you, Stag. Sure, sometimes I’d like to strangle you. You’re tough to get close to but you’re a good man. I wouldn’t kill you.” She grinned. “Just a little choking would be involved if you really pissed me off, but I’d stop before I really hurt you.”

  “Sexual intimacy means nothing.”

  Again, his words stung. “Ouch. Well, I’m not you. It meant something to me. I can’t compartmentalize my body from my feelings. Sorry. You die, I’m going to cry. Deal with that.”

  That seemed to either irritate him or make him uncomfortable. “Go to sleep.”

  She frowned. “I thought you wanted me to―”

  “No,” he cut her off. “This ends now.”

  She studied his handsome face and the way he looked at her. “You’re starting to feel things for me, aren’t you? Afraid?”

  He glared.

  “I’ll take that for a yes.”

  “You don’t frighten me, Earther.”

  “Right. And stop calling me that. I think you’ve spent a lifetime, however long that is, keeping everyone distanced. You admitted you don’t have many friends and spend all your time on this ship. You don’t want anyone to care too much about you because then you might feel something back. You make me sad, Stag.”

  “Go to sleep.”

  “Do you plan to tie me up again?”

  “You’re no threat. Just stay near the wall and don’t touch me.”

  The rejection hurt. So did the fact that he wasn’t ever going to let her get close to him again, emotionally or physically. Part of her wished she could hate him, but she wouldn’t have that ache in her chest if that were possible. Stag might be prickly and remote, but she’d seen traits in him that had softened her heart toward him.

  “Fine.”

  “I no longer wish to talk to you.” He stood. “I need to check on something.”

  She watched him leave. It was more like fleeing.

  She cursed, lay down, and scooted all the way over against the wall. Tears filled her eyes and she let them flow.

  Maybe she’d allowed herself to feel for him only because she’d lost everything else in her life.

  Chapter Eleven

  Stag wiped sealing gel off his hands, staring at Kelis. “Well?”

  The cyborg checked the sensors and nodded. “Pressure seems to be holding. We’ll know for certain after the engines start.”

  “I wonder what else can go wrong?” Hellion closed one of the electronic ports and sighed. “This has to be the worst mission we’ve been on.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far.” Kelis kept his focus on the pad he held. “Remember that colony ship we found adrift? I still have nightmares about that.”

  Stag grimaced. “I try to forget.”

  “What are we talking about?” Maze entered the engine room.

  “The ship where the colonists went nuts and slaughtered each other,” Hellion answered. “We had to clean up bodies for days so we could haul it back to Garden for them to salvage.”

  “I thought we decided to never bring that up again.” Maze handed out water and an power bar to each man. “Drink and eat. You’ve been down here for six hours without taking a break. What reminded you of that ship?”

  “Hellion believes this has to be our worst mission.” Kelis put away the pad and opened the energy bar, taking a bite. “I disagree. We were able to blow up the Pride, didn’t have to scrape up decaying bodies, or haul that thing back to Garden. We did escape the dead zone. This flooding mess wasn’t as bad as body removal and it didn’t involve wearing suits to avoid a putrid smell.”

  Stag thought of Nala as he ate the bar and drank his water. She’d loved the Pride. He wondered what she’d have thought of having her freighter salvaged for building supplies on Garden, rather than being blown up. He was glad he never had to find out. Her crew and father had died aboard. It was probably best that she never had any kind of reminder of that once she reached the planet.

  “Let’s hope nothing else goes wrong.” Hellion took a seat on the case containing all the damaged wiring he’d had to replace.

  “Did you feed our guest?” Stag addressed Maze.

  “Of course. She claimed you’ve been avoiding her.”

  “I’ve spent most of my time down here sorting this mess.” He hated the way he felt he needed to defend his actions as the males all gave him questioning looks. “The line ruptured and flooded out this section. I wanted to personally be on hand for all the repairs.”

  “Every wire, circuit, and filter had to be switched out for new ones,” Hellion grumbled. “I found damage in all the panels. I also replaced the seals so they won’t leak if this ever happens again. Stag and I have practically had to live here.”

  “Exactly,” Stag said, feeling grateful the male took his side. “The engine fluid caused erosion, since the pumps were slow to drain out the section. I fixed those too.”

  “I told you I could help out more.”

  Stag hid his irritation with Kelis. “Your skills were better used in Control monitoring for any signs of the Markus Models searching for us.”

  “Maze could have monitored the sensors since shuttle repair isn’t his forte. We’re moving slow enough for their sensors to misread us.”

  “Perhaps they adjusted their sensors. We can’t take that chance. It’s logical for them to assume we suffered severe damage at a minimum if we escaped dead space after they set those bombs. We’d be slow moving or have to find a place to hole up to do repairs. I want someone in charge of Control who is skilled with battle tactics if needed.” Stag glanced at the medic. “We’re also in pirate territory. You might hesitate to fire on them, since they’re known to take female captives. You’d feel sorry for any innocents aboard their ships. No offense, but I wouldn’t put you in that position.”

  “None taken.” Maze smiled. “I never want to take your seat, Stag. I don’t want to make those difficult decisions.”

  A beep sounded and Stag turned on coms. “Status?”

  “Nothing to report but you wanted an update every two hours,” Veller stated. “We aren’t picking up any traffic in this system.”

  “You have excellent timing. Repairs are finished. Start engine two, but baby it. Compensate for the difference with thrusters.” Stag motioned the men in the room to move toward the door to a safe spot in case any of the seals blew. “We may as well test them now while we’re in communication.”

  A loud hum began and Stag relaxed within minutes when nothing went wrong. He smiled. “Let’s go home, Veller. I’m on my way to you.”

  He nodded at his men and left fast, done with the conversation. He knew he’d avoided Nala and didn’t need his crew giving him any crap about it. They wouldn’t understand how unsettling his last conversation with her had been.

  He stopped in one of the crew quarters quickly and used the cleansing unit, then borrowed an outfit from Hellion’s storage.

  He reached Control five minutes later. Veller stood and moved out of his seat. Stag dropped into his chair, placing his palm over the pad. The screen in front of him showed open space.

  Then th