Burning Up Flint Read online

  Flint’s mouth tightened. “She is branded now so there is no question of ownership.” He turned to glare at the room. His voice rose, deepened, as he addressed his crew. “I do not share my personal possessions and she is completely mine.”

  Iron uttered a foul curse. “I guess that means you won’t trade something for her body for an hour then.”

  Flint’s jaw clenched. “No.”

  Doc walked over to Mira. “I gave you a shot to counteract the paralyzing agent so you should be able to move now. Come with me, young lady. I have to take your measurements. You can keep the shirt on. I just have to wrap a measurer around you in some awkward places.”

  Flint moved away to face off with Iron. The two men glared at each other. Mira was relieved as sensation rushed back and she was able to climb off the bed easily when she could move again. Doc led Mira to a corner by a desk where he opened a drawer and removed an electronic measurer. He leaned forward, eyeing her, as he moved the device around her body so it could scan her.

  “Are you all right?”

  Mira eyed the man who whispered so Flint couldn’t hear him. She nodded. Doc moved the scanner lower, circling without touching her breasts and back to take her measurements there.

  “Do what he says. He’s a good guy. You got lucky. Some of the crew would barter your body out. Flint doesn’t share shit. He won’t hurt you and he’ll protect you. Just pray he doesn’t die.”

  She swallowed. “What happens if he does?” She whispered the words.

  Doc went to his knees, running the device around her lower body as he lowered it. He glanced down then looked up at her and shook his head. “You will be left to his family and if he doesn’t have any then you’ll be auctioned to the highest bidder. If you’re in deep space his things are divided amongst his men equally so it’s fair to all.”

  They were in deep space. Horror hit Mira as that sank in. She’d be divided between his men? She was only one person. As if Doc read her mind, his expression was grim.

  “You’d belong to all of them. They would all get to use you.”

  Terror hit her at that thought, so strongly her knees went weak and she had to lock her legs to keep upright. She jerked her attention to Flint, seeing he was just feet from Iron. The two men were still glaring at each other like guard dogs trying to stare the other down. A horrible thought struck her.

  “Do they assassinate each other?”

  Doc shook his head. “Luckily no. Cyborgs will not kill other cyborgs. I meant if he died in an accident or if we run into pirates. Those crazy pirates love going after large ships. This used to be their flagship until it was taken from them by the cyborgs. Sometimes they attack just to piss us off. We lost two of the crew the last time we had a skirmish with them. I doubt they’d attack the Star right now though because we have the Rally with us this trip but you can never tell with pirates. The Rally is a heavily fortified large jumper shuttle so it might make them think twice before attacking two ships.”

  Doc got to his feet and nodded at her. “All done,” he called out to Flint. “I’ll feed her information in and have her clothing manufactured within a few hours.”

  Flint turned. “I won’t forget your two bottles. They will be delivered to you when we dock on Garden. I’ll dispatch the order today so it’s automatically done.”

  “I know you won’t forget.” Doc smiled.

  Flint held out his hand to Mira. She ran to his side to grip his hand, not needing any real encouragement than that. She was too close to Iron for comfort. She refused to even look at as they passed him. She heard him sniff as they did though and she stiffened. Why had he sniffed her? Did she still smell like cooked meat?

  Flint led her through the throng of men who had decided to spend their free time watching Mira. She refused to look up at them, keeping her eyes on the floor, and brushed against Flint with every step. If she could she would have crawled up him into his arms so he could hold her. She knew he could carry her like that, that he was strong enough to do it if need be, but she just didn’t think he’d appreciate her wrapped around him.

  “That wasn’t bad, was it?”

  They walked into the lift. Instead of putting her hand on the wall, she faced Flint and walked right into his body. He released her hand and she put her face on his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. She knew she’d shocked him when his body tensed but he relaxed and wrapped his arms around her.

  “Are you all right?”

  “No. I was scared.”

  His hands were open on her back. He patted her with one hand. It was a light tap and she got the feeling he wasn’t used to comforting anyone. It was an awkward gesture but she appreciated it.

  “I told you that I want no harm to come to you, Mira. I will protect you. The men won’t harm you and I won’t trade you away. You belong to me.”

  She looked up into his beautiful blue eyes and then shut hers. She burrowed tighter into his body, seeking the comfort he gave her. He held her even after the lift had stopped. He finally pulled away.

  “We will finish this in my quarters. Someone will call the lift at some point and I do not want to be still in it, holding each other.”

  She smiled, relaxing at the humorous situation and the horror in his voice at the thought of just that. She took his offered hand and he led her back to his small room and opened the door. Once inside she asked, “Do you have a mirror?”

  “No. Why do you want one?”

  “I want to see what these look like. The markings, brandings, tattoos—whatever you want to call them.”

  Flint didn’t hesitate to remove his shirt and drop it on the floor, smiling. “They look like this.” His fingers brushed the marks on his shoulder. “Only on your white skin and you have some red marks that will fade in days.”

  Laughing, she shook her head at him. “Very funny.”

  “You calm when you laugh and I want you calm. I feel…” he paused.

  “You feel what?”

  He hesitated. “Protective. I never had a desire to own a woman before, Mira. When I met you and you took my hand I didn’t want to release it. You smiled at me and you made me laugh. Humans who first see us always react in three ways. They are terrified that we exist still, they are disgusted by us, or they are confused about what we are. You are the first to be glad to see us alive.”

  “I am glad you’re alive. I hated reading about what was done to your people. Earth has a longstanding history of doing messed-up things to people—like slavery and killing off indigenous people to take their land. People have been killed over religious differences, and for the differences in their skin colors. You would think they would learn but history just repeats itself. They killed your people and it was wrong. Humans created cyborgs, which makes us the same in my mind.”

  “Remove your shirt.” Flint stepped closer to her. “I want you, Mira.”

  Chapter Six

  Mira stripped while watching Flint remove his boots and the rest of his clothing. She went to crawl onto his bed but he stopped her by gripping her wrist. He turned her so they faced each other.

  “You can’t rub your branded skin for at least an hour.” He released her wrist and clasped her hips instead. “Grip my arms.”

  She reached up to curl her fingers around his muscular biceps. He lifted her so she could wrap her legs around his hips. Flint walked forward and braced the side of his shoulder against a thick support column. He hesitated a second before he went for her mouth with his.

  She met his hungry kiss. He shared enough passion with her to send her body into flames. She’d always thought cyborgs would be walking computers and she was glad she had been so wrong. Flint was a man who just happened to have inner, hidden electronics.

  His large hands gripped her ass, cupping her, pulling her tighter against his hips. She was wet and he was hard. His cock rubbed against her clit, his hips slowly moving so the tip and shaft caressed the length of her slit, teasing her. Moisture soaked them both where Mira sh