Touching Ice Read online

  The cyborg’s attention wandered leisurely over Megan’s body. “Aren’t you afraid you’ll break something so weak?”

  “No.” Ice’s silvery-blue gaze narrowed dangerously. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll break you for insulting the woman in my family unit?”

  Megan glanced between Ice and the other cyborg, wondering what was going on. The dislike between them was evident. Ice tugged her closer to his body and put his arm around her.

  “What do you want? Your father is aboard the Earth shuttle.”

  “I’m aware. He linked with me and ordered me to find you to give you orders. You turned off your link. Your female is ordered for duty to assist with his new project. He is expecting her on the Earth shuttle immediately so she’s on hand if there is a problem.”

  “No,” Ice snarled. His arm dropped from around Megan’s waist and he stepped forward, going nose to nose with the other cyborg. “She’s the female in a family unit and I do not give my permission for her to be assigned to a dangerous mission. Councilman Zorus has no right to do that.”

  Darius took a step back and his dark eyebrows rose. “My father assumed you’d take that stand. I am to remind you that your DNA is no longer needed on Garden, nor is your female’s. We don’t want to contaminate our gene pool with your contributions any longer.” He lowered his gaze, staring at Megan. “And she is just useless in general unless a male needs sexual release.”

  Ice took a threatening step toward the other cyborg and Megan saw rage on his features. She grabbed his arm to stop him from hitting the jerk. If Zorus was his father then Ice would probably get in trouble if he decked the rude cyborg.

  “It’s okay,” she said quickly as Ice jerked his head to stare down at her. “He’s the one not worth it.”

  Ice stepped back and glared at the cyborg. Darius smiled coldly. “My father wants her on the Earth shuttle now.”

  “I go with her.”

  Relief was instant for Megan. She didn’t want to be on the same shuttle with the Markus Models without Ice.

  Darius paused, obviously listening to a voice in his head. “My father said that is acceptable. Proceed now.”

  “We need clothes.”

  “He said now.” Darius jerked his head and smiled coldly. “Right now.”

  Ice glared at the other man and his hands fisted at his sides. Megan rubbed the arm she still gripped. She wasn’t happy to be stuck in the heavy leather uniform for however long it would take to reach the Vontage but she was too grateful to still be with Ice to really allow it to bother her.

  “What is his problem?” she whispered as they walked away.

  Ice stopped walking and met her curious gaze. “He’s a completely sterile male in my breeding pact. The drugs do not work on him. His female requested my DNA as her donor for his child and the one for herself. It was successful both times and then she called upon me for a third time. After each breeding session, she offered me a place in their family unit but I refused. She already has two males in the family unit and he did not like her wanting me to join their unit.”

  Cyborgs do get jealous, she thought. “I understand.”

  Ice nodded. “We do not get along. He is angry that three offspring in his family are all from my DNA.”

  “I got it.”

  Ice sighed. “Let’s go. Councilman Zorus can be an ass when he’s made to wait.”

  Chapter Twelve

  The bot had been taken down and was no longer within sight when they returned to the cargo hold of the Earth shuttle. Megan was grateful she didn’t have to see that view again. The Markus Models stood frozen where she’d shut them down, their eyelids closed the way they were mandated to do to protect their cloned-tissue eyes.

  “If they aren’t going to destroy them, then within a few days, they are going to need maintenance.”

  Ice stopped walking and stared down at her. “Recharged?”

  She hesitated. “Their living tissue needs supplements as well as recharging their power sources.” She really took a good look at the room around her and saw the name of the ship painted on one of the bulkhead beams.

  “Oh crap!”

  “What is it?” Ice frowned, his gaze following to where she stared.

  “This is the Nugget.”

  “Is that supposed to have meaning for me?” He arched an eyebrow as he met her gaze.

  “This is Victor Barcarin’s luxury shuttle.”

  “Who is he?”

  She bit her lip and then sighed. Cyborgs really were out of touch with Earth if they didn’t know the name of one of the richest men on four planets.

  “You know how I work for Barcarintellus? Victor is the Barcarin in that first half of the company’s name. His partner is Roy Tellus. This ship was designed for him last year and it’s probably the envy of every person who owns a shuttle.”

  Ice’s disbelieving expression almost made Megan laugh, even under these tense circumstances, as she watched him carefully run his gaze around the cargo hold.

  “It looks standard to me.”

  “How many shuttles have you ever heard of that boast the best of everything? Remember how fast you were told this shuttle came at us when they were after the bots? That’s just an example. The news on Earth ran tons of stories about it when Victor Barcarin first took possession of this baby. No cost was spared. It can hold thirty people comfortably so he can have his full personal staff with him wherever he travels—that’s ten more than standard and we’re talking really nice quarters with fresh water baths and showers. The plating on this thing is supposed to be superior to anything on the market.”

  Ice still frowned.

  “From what I heard, you could fly it through a meteor field and it won’t even dent.”

  “That’s impossible.”

  “That’s what the news said.”

  “They lie.”

  Megan stared up at him, having to agree since she knew, according to everyone on Earth, that cyborgs were all supposed to be dead. That had to have been posted on the official news channels at least once for everyone to believe it.

  “I wonder how they stole it.” She stared at the still Markus Models. “They had to have escaped while Mr. Barcarin visited the testing facility.”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  That was true enough. They had escaped, stolen the Nugget, and for some reason had come after the bots. A horrible thought struck Megan. “I bet those things activated the thief modes on the bots, looking for Clara.”

  Ice had started to move again, tugging her toward the doors to the interior of the shuttle when he paused. “Clara was the main computer on the Folion, correct?”

  “Yes. If they had gotten their hands on her they could have controlled a lot of the company’s assets. They could have blackmailed them to hand over more Markus Models. I bet they were disappointed when they realized Folion had been destroyed and Clara with it.”

  “We must have been their backup plan.” Disgust laced his tone. He told the two cyborgs standing guard by the interior doors, “Don’t take your focus from them.”

  “We won’t,” one of them promised. “They are nothing similar to us.”

  Ice glanced at the four still models and nodded his agreement. “They escaped Earth somehow and Megan doesn’t trust that they will remain powered down.”

  “Understood,” the other cyborg said softly as his hand reached for his weapon and his fingers curled around it. “We will remain vigilant.”

  Ice touched the pad by the door and it opened. He got his first glimpse of luxury living as they entered the hallway. He paused, staring at the floor and then the tiled walls. His eyebrows rose.

  “Is that carpet and stone?”

  Megan nodded. “Yeah.”

  “It’s a shuttle. It’s illogical.”

  “I know. Check out the paintings too.”

  Ice uttered a curse. “Humans have no common sense.”

  She couldn’t argue that point. Ice turned left. “Let’s go find the cou