He knew hers. That was a great sign. His distrust of her remained too. “Oh good. And I thought you might have suffered brain damage. You’re still the same jerk. Woo-hoo.”

“What have you done to me?”

She climbed over him, carefully trying to avoid touching him as best as she could. “I didn’t put those restrains on you. Maze and Hellion did.” She rolled her shoulders and turned, staring down at him. “You were injured. Do you remember what happened?”

His eyes closed then opened. “The decoy worked but debris hit me.”

She wasn’t sure what that meant. “You were outside in a space suit. I didn’t get all the details except you had to be revived. You came back into the ship not breathing.”

He clenched his jaw. “My neck was broken? Was my spine severed?”

It sank in, the reason why he’d ask. Compassion hit fast and hard. “No. It’s just drugs. You’re fine.” She sat on the bed and put her hand on his chest. “See? Feel. It’s just drugs. They’re going to wear off and you can move everything once they do. The paralysis is temporary.”

He arched his head a little, glancing at the restraints. “I thought you did this. Let me go.”

“No ‘I’m sorry for threatening to kill you’, huh?”

He glowered at her.

“That’s what I figured. Did you think I attacked you while you slept and broke your neck?” She snorted. “You really are paranoid. How do you think I’d get access to restraints like these? Do you keep them stashed inside your quarters? Are you kinky, Stag?”

“Take them off right now. That’s an order.”

She twisted a little and got more comfortable on the edge of the bed, amused. “Or what? You’ll yell at me? What’s it like being the one tied down?” She lifted her hand off his chest and then used one finger to press against him. “You’re at the big bad Earther’s mercy. What do you think I’ll do?” She tapped him with her finger. “Kill you with my fingernail?”

“Take the restraints off, Nala.”

She grinned. “You can’t move anyway until those drugs wear off. Maze didn’t say how long they’d last. Are you ticklish?” She trailed her finger over his ribs at his side, using four of them, lightening her touch.

He sucked in a sharp breath and she froze, surprised. Gooseflesh rose along his skin and his nipples beaded into tight nubs. She met his gaze.

He lifted his head, the only thing he could probably do. Fury showed in his eyes.

It amused her. “You are!”

“Don’t touch me.”

“I’m not a droid,” she reminded him, enjoying it way too much that he was helpless. He deserved her torment a little after all he’d put her through. Karma was alive and well. “Ready to negotiate now, Stag? What are you willing to offer me if I don’t tickle the hell out of you until Maze comes to check on his grumpy patient?”

“Stop touching me and remove the restraints. Don’t make things worse for yourself, Nala.”

That killed her good mood. “Oh, you mean like finding out that at some point, when I do get off this ship, it’s only so I can be sold or whatever to some guy who will make me a sex slave? When were you going to drop that info on me?”

“You won’t be a slave. You’ll be assigned to a caretaker.”

“Owner. Caretaker. Whatever you want to call it. Same difference. He’ll still demand sex from me, right?”

He turned his head, seeming to concentrate on the door. She glanced at it, then him. “Are you trying to contact someone?”

He ignored her and closed his eyes. Frustration had him growling under his breath.

“Let me guess. Those electronics inside you can do that? The ones with a power drain right now?”

His eyes flew opened and he stared at her, looking surprised.

“Maze mentioned something about them having to recharge and it could take hours. Not working yet, huh?”

“Let me go, Nala.”

“I’ll take that as a no, they aren’t. It’s just you and me for a while.”

“You’ll pay for this.”

“What am I doing?” She lightly raked her fingernails over his skin, not hurting him. “I’m only touching you.”

“Stop.”

“Is there something wrong with this? I mean, some jerk is going to put his hands on me at some point, and he won’t care if I want him to or not. Why did you even bother to take me off the Pride? Do you get credits when you sell me? How much am I worth?”

“It’s not like that.”

“How is it?”

He pressed his lips together, making it clear he didn’t plan to answer.

It pissed her off, and she sat up. He was probably afraid she’d kill him if he told her how much he was going to gain.

She faced him more fully, openly admiring his body. He had a great one, and his color was back to normal. He seemed fully recovered from what had happened, except for the drugs still in his system. He’d be able to link with his computer and call for help once his implants recharged. At least, she was pretty sure he could.

She reached out and pressed her hand on his chest, caressing him. “Does it bother you to be touched?”

“Stop.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” She leaned in, staring into his eyes. “You wanted to teach me what it’s like if someone treated me like an android.” She suddenly lifted up and straddled his body, bracing her legs on each side of his hips. “How about a little lesson for you?”

“What are you doing?”

She sat down so her ass rested on his pelvis and ran her hands over his chest, stroking from his shoulders down to his stomach. “Some asshole is going to touch me. I hopefully won’t be restrained at the time, so maybe I’ll be able to fight back, but you’re cyborgs. I won’t stand a chance of making him stop, will I? I know you’re at least five times stronger than other guys. Minimum. They made you that way, right? My dad told me that. This is the future I get to deal with—thanks to you.”

She suddenly leaned over and scooted down him a little more. His nipples were still erect. She opened her mouth and ran the tip of her tongue over one, then blew air across the puckered flesh.

It hardened even more, responding. Stag cursed.