Burning Up Flint Read online

  “What about the ones I was wearing?”

  “I got rid of them.”

  She frowned as her gaze went to the clothes and then nodded. “Thank you.”

  “You are still agitated. Your heart rate is accelerated and you are flushed, implying you are angry and distressed. I thought you would have learned to control yourself while I was gone.”

  She looked down at his boots. “What happens if one of your damn cyborg buddies swears he won’t damage me? Are you going to barter with my body then?” Her gaze shot up to his and she glared at him.

  He blinked. “I hadn’t considered it.”

  “Consider this,” she ground out. “You have to sleep sometime, Flint. If you let someone else touch me I’ll kill you.”

  He frowned. “I said I would not share you. You’re being totally irrational. You got angry and unbalanced over the topic of me having sex with other women. I don’t follow the jump from that conversation to you threatening me harm if I let someone touch you.”

  “It wasn’t a jump. I thought you wouldn’t let another cyborg touch me because you felt possessive of me in a caring way that implied you would be bothered emotionally at the thought of another man touching me. That’s how I felt about you and the thought of you with other women. I thought you had the capacity to have those kinds of feelings. You put me in my place and set me straight now so I am perfectly aware that I’m just property.” She took a deep breath. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be? I think leaving me alone so I can find some control would be nice. I need a lot more time though.”

  Dark blue eyes regarded her, but he masked any emotions he had. “Do not ever threaten to kill me again, Mira. I don’t take threats well.”

  Pain stabbed at her. That was all he had to say on the matter? No denials of what she’d said, no clarifications that he had emotions for her. She’d secretly hoped he’d tell her that he did have some feelings for her. He didn’t.

  He watched her closely.

  “I have a raid to plan. We’re going to go after the Piera shuttle.”

  “What is that?”

  He sighed. “Are you always so full of questions?”

  “Yes.”

  He shifted his weight. “The Piera is a large shuttle that travels from the Vonder Station to Earth and back.”

  “Vonder is the scientific station that is in orbit over Arian Nine, right? I read something about them trying to plant the planet with enough vegetation to create adequate oxygen on the surface to sustain human life.”

  “That’s the one. From our reports, they are almost successful. They have a high volume of human females who work on Vonder and they rotate the crew monthly. Our reports state that Earth Government hires mainly human women for the station.”

  “Why?”

  Irritation flashed in his eyes. “I’m not certain. My best guess is that females are smaller and use fewer supplies than their male counterparts. I don’t work for Earth Government and I do not know their reasons. I just know that when we have scanned their shuttles they are mostly carrying women. In fourteen hours we will intercept the shuttle. It’s a fast transport but it’s not heavily armed. I believe if we order them to let us board with the clear intention of not killing them or stealing the ship that they will not try to fight. The Rally is faster than the Star and maneuvers better so we’re taking it. It would be suicide for them to fight since the Rally is faster and is heavily armed.”

  Mira almost snorted. “You think that will work? The pilots on my shuttle thought you were pirates. That general tried to kill me, thinking he was saving me from pirates and that I’d be sold into the sex trade. Most women would want to die before they faced that kind of life.”

  “You didn’t die. You locked yourself away, to safety.”

  “If pirates had taken me I’d have earned them more money by returning me to Earth than they would have made selling me for my body in the sex trade.”

  “I will go to Control and be back in a few hours. One of the men will bring you food but don’t let him in the room. He’ll just open the door and hand you a tray. Are my instructions clear?”

  “Perfectly clear.”

  He nodded and left. Mira sat down, chewing on her lip as she thought. She could try to escape when her food arrived but it would be hard to fight her way past a cyborg. All the cyborg men were big and really strong, designed to be fighting machines. She shut her eyes. No. Her best bet would be to try to escape when some of the men weren’t on the ship as when Flint and his men went after the Piera shuttle. Flint had said they were going to use the Rally to capture the shuttle so that meant it would be away from the Star, giving her pod a real shot at escape.

  She nodded. That was the plan. When Flint and his cyborgs went after the Piera shuttle she’d go for one of the pods. It was the best shot at escaping and winning her freedom.

  Chapter Seven

  Later that night when Flint returned to his quarters, he nudged her but Mira pretended to be asleep. She heard Flint enter the room, heard the rustle of his clothing as he stripped to bare skin to climb into bed behind her. She almost jumped when his hot body curled against her back. Now he was trying to wake her and she had a really good guess as to what he wanted.

  “I know you are awake.” He sighed. “I want you.”

  She tensed. She knew he was always aware of her heart rate and breathing patterns. He knew she was awake. She scooted away from him until she was against the wall.

  “I don’t want you. Go find a pleasure worker since any woman will do.”

  He took a deep breath. “You are still angry. I have thought about our conversations and I understand why you are upset.”

  She carefully turned over in the small bed. The room was dark and she couldn’t see him but she knew he was inches from her. “Really? It doesn’t matter to you that I’m just property but it does to me, Flint. I’m not just something you own.”

  “I do own you though, Mira. You belong to me. You carry my brand on your body. You might not like that fact right now but it doesn’t make it any less true. Does it really matter to you why I won’t let another male touch you? I won’t barter your body. Isn’t that the important issue? The reason doesn’t really matter as long as you are content with the result.” He paused. “Lights, dim.”

  The lights in the room flickered on to a dim setting. Mira stared at Flint. He was lying on his side facing her with his hand propping up his head, his dark gaze locked on her, and he wasn’t covered by the blanket. He’d pushed it down on his side of the bed so there was no missing the sight of his erection straining toward her as she glanced down his muscled body. Seeing Flint naked always affected her and she hated it. A woman would have to be blind or not have a sexual hormone in her body to not feel turned-on at the sight of his wonderful body, she justified, trying to explain her instant attraction to him and her body’s immediate response.

  Her gaze lifted upward and she stared into his eyes. She could get lost in his dark blue eyes that reminded her of a stormy sky over the ocean. She’d seen that color once while on vacation in Florida Province when a hurricane had gathered before the weather buster shuttles had arrived to disperse the growing winds.

  “I want to be more than property to you. I want—”

  He cut her off. “I want you and you are my property. Stop dwelling on the title of things. Stop annoying me with your unfounded fears. I told you that I won’t let other males touch you and I told you that I am attached to you. It has to be enough. Roll on your back now, Mira. I want you. If you don’t want me any longer then tell me now but think before you say the words. I’m going to be picking up more women from that shuttle in nine hours. You said you don’t want me touching other women. If you don’t want my attention then I’ll have to seek out one of them to fill my needs. I won’t sleep next to you every sleep cycle while my body aches with need that you won’t fulfill. I will have to release myself on one of those women.”

  Shock hit her again. “You’re threaten