Touching Ice Read online

  “You must enjoy your job.” He still grinned, looking really handsome.

  “If I were into girls, hell yes, but I’m not. I’m kind of uncomfortable with that aspect of my job, actually. I had her shut down because it was just too weird having her blinking at me and asking me questions while I messed with her girls.”

  A deep, wonderful chuckle poured from Ice’s mouth. His eyes lit up with amusement as he stared at her. He got the slightest little laugh lines on his temples. It amazed her and before she gave it a thought, she leaned over, inches from him, and her hand reached for his face. His eyes widened with shock and he stopped laughing as his hand shot out, wrapping around her wrist to halt her from touching him.

  “What are you doing?”

  She backed away immediately. “I’m sorry.”

  He stood quickly, frowning down at her, still gripping her. “What were you doing? Answer me.”

  “You get laugh lines. This is the first time I’ve ever seen you really laugh.”

  “That surprises you?” His voice deepened.

  “A little, yeah. I don’t know much about cyborgs but I thought you’d have a lot in common with the bots. They have certain limitations on their expressions and I assumed you would too.”

  “I’m made of flesh and blood.”

  “Oh. I wasn’t sure if you had real skin. I thought you might have synthetic because of the color of it. It feels the same as mine does but they’ve come so far with technology.” She glanced at his hand gripping her wrist, studying the gray color. “Do you know why they didn’t make you human-flesh toned?” She looked up at him.

  “They didn’t want us to be mistaken for human.” He paused and then slowly sat back down. His fingers unwrapped from her wrist as he locked gazes with her. “Proceed. You may touch me.”

  Now that she thought about what to do, she hesitated before lifting her hand. She barely brushed her fingertips along his cheekbone. His skin was soft, smooth, and warm, just the way she remembered from exploring him while he slept. Now he was aware of her touching him and she told him what she thought.

  “You’re so warm, more so than I am.”

  “I’m not a bot.” He took a deep breath. “Cyborgs were cloned and genes were altered. All hereditary diseases were filtered out, only the strongest genes were used, and they added in some artificial ones to help us heal faster and live longer. I have implants and stronger bones than you do. I also run slightly higher in temperature but only by a few degrees.”

  “I noticed that you have tattoos. I’ve never seen anything similar to them. Do they have meaning?”

  He hesitated. “It’s the cyborg language we created. All cyborgs have them but I didn’t like the idea of being branded. It’s our way of identifying each other so it was necessary to have it done. I just had them put my information on one arm and in smaller writing so it wasn’t as irritating to me.”

  “Oh.” Megan nodded. “What do they say?”

  “My name and what I do. When we first started to build our city on our new home world, the work was very harsh. Some of our people died and since there were many of us, it was hard to keep track of names. It’s why they decided to brand us this way. They could identify those who were injured or dead.”

  Her gaze flickered down his leather-clad body. “What kind of implants do you have?”

  He tilted his head, moving away from her touch so she let her hand drop, then he straightened his head again. “There are some inside my head to help me communicate with technology. Emotions were not expected when we were created so they installed chips to shut off sections of our brains in an attempt to block them. I also have a heart monitor in my chest so, in case of failure, it will shock it back into functioning.”

  Her gaze flicked down to his broad chest and then back up again. “Why the backup system? Do cyborgs have weak hearts?”

  “I’m designated to be a mechanic and work with electronics. If a strong current is ever introduced into my body during an accident, it could stop my heart.”

  “Hence the backup system,” she guessed aloud. “Well, I guess that’s handy.”

  “Yes.”

  “So your emotions are blocked? That’s weird. I figured you had them since you have a need for…” Her voice trailed off and her mouth slammed closed.

  His eyebrow lifted. “Sex?”

  She gave a sharp nod. “Yes. The bots don’t have a sex drive. They just do what they are programmed for. They recharge when they aren’t in use and just stay at their docking stations inside the rooms. They couldn’t care less if they are activated or if they stay dormant for months.”

  He stared into her eyes. “I have a very active sex drive but I do have the ability to shut it down if I wish. I don’t. I enjoy having access to everything that I am.”

  “Oh. I would too.”

  “You have had sex with me and you still believed me to be more bot than humanoid?”

  She hesitated. “You taste really sweet.”

  Astonishment widened his stare. “Sweet?”

  Megan knew her cheeks were warming from the blush spreading there. “When you come, it tastes sweet, which made me think that perhaps they made you flavored that way and that got me to thinking that maybe you were more artificial than not.”

  An uncomfortable silence stretched as they watched each other. She’d obviously been a little too blunt and had stunned the cyborg speechless. Megan started when a loud buzz sounded in the room. Ice stood.

  “It’s the food Blackie ordered.”

  Megan didn’t recognize the cyborg who brought her meal. She wondered how many of them were on the ship in all but didn’t ask. Ice nodded at the other man and accepted the tray. The male at the door hesitated.

  “Why feed her?”

  “Silence,” Ice ordered him.

  The man looked down at the tray of food, paled, and then nodded. “I see.”

  The man glanced at Megan, a look of pity on his features, and then spun on his heel to walk away. The door closed and Ice faced her with tray in hand.

  “Here is your meal.” He hesitated, looking uncertain, and took a step back, the movement opposite of his words. It was almost as if he didn’t want to feed her.

  No one had ever accused Megan of being dimwitted. Why feed her? That cyborg had given her a look that reflected pity. She studied Ice and saw his grim expression.

  “You are supposed to eat this.” Anger clearly sounded in his tone.

  She wiggled back on the mattress until she ended up in the corner of the bed with her body pressed tightly to both walls. Panic welled inside her. “I’m not hungry,” she lied.

  He looked away from her, stared instead at the floor for long seconds, and then his gaze lifted. Regret was an easy expression to read on his handsome face.

  “Oh God.” Tears welled in her eyes as she stared into his beautiful ones. “I swore I wouldn’t tell anyone about you. I could have done that months ago but I didn’t. All I would have had to do was open up a communication with Earth to turn you in. I know you aren’t sure if you can trust me but if I’d tried to collect a reward for you, they would have been waiting to attack you the second you docked with Folion or even before you reached it.”

  He watched her silently, holding the tray, his expression carefully cleared of emotion now.

  “Please believe me. I’m no threat to you or your other cyborg people, Ice. I’d never hurt you in any way.”

  “I tend to believe you. I gave you an opportunity to harm me yet you didn’t do it.”

  The tray in his hands said otherwise. She could feel it in her gut, and also knew something had been done to the food. She stared into his shuttered gaze again, seeing the remote look.

  “Is it poisoned?”

  His mouth tensed, the only reaction he allowed to show. “No.”

  “You’re lying.”

  The big cyborg took a deep breath before he expelled it slowly. “It’s not poisoned but it is drugged with a strong sedative that will