The room was average sized, very sparse on furnishings, and besides the bed it only contained a nightstand. No entertainment unit adorned the wall. She closed the door and leaned against it.

The guy was hung. She doubted she’d ever get the image out of her head of the grim cyborg sporting wood. More like a mast, she amended, and shook her head in disgust at her sense of humor. Up note, he’s not as robotic as he seems. She grinned. And tough women turn him on.

Krell turned and punched the bag when he heard Cyan’s door close. He glared down at his wayward c**k and clenched his teeth. He hadn’t had sex with a woman in years. Cyborg females found him boring, unattractive or emotionally undesirable. He rarely left Garden despite Mavo asking him to go on a few off-world assignments on some of the ships they’d acquired. He’d mentioned sexbots and a space station where the artificial females wouldn’t notice the scars or be intimidated by his size.

Krell had felt insulted at the time when his friend had made that suggestion. He’d be better off seeing to his own needs than playing with an animated sex doll. Cyan’s body flashed in his mind. She was too short, too small, but perfect otherwise. She believed she’d been modeled after a sexbot. He might have been too hasty to assume one wouldn’t be appealing.

He stared down at his c**k again, grateful that it had softened since she’d fled the room, and closed his eyes. He accessed his implants and reconfigured his physical responses, shutting down the connection between his thoughts and his dick. Next time he wouldn’t get an erection in front of the spy.

Her heaving br**sts, which had nearly spilled from the top of her shirt, wouldn’t get a response from his body in that manner again. He might notice their soft swell, imagine what it would be like to tear open her shirt to touch them, but he wouldn’t embarrass himself by allowing her to know the direction his thoughts had traveled.

A bell chimed and he opened his eyes, spun and walked to the wall. He touched the pad to open mental communications as he lowered his mental shielding to allow his projected thoughts to be picked up. “What?”

“Has she arrived?”

“Yes. She’s inside the guestroom.”

“You need to get to know her, learn how to read her correctly and discover if she’s telling the truth. You can’t do that if she’s in another room.”

“Don’t tell me how to do my job, Zorus. Where is Charlie? Isn’t your female demanding your attention?”

“She’s taking a shower while I prepare our food. I just wanted to check in with you.”

“Stop bothering me. You already forced me to deal with this female. Isn’t that enough for you?”

Zorus laughed, sure to amplify the sound in the connection, and Krell growled in response, sending that clearly too.

“Talk to her. Watch her features and do what you do best. You will learn how to detect her lies. I heard you showed up at Medical. The paperwork was received at the council building. They believe you activated your sperm. Thank you.”

“You’re lucky I didn’t have to actually take the shots. I’d have borrowed an extra one to jam into your nuts just for the pleasure of it.”

Zorus laughed again. “I see having company doesn’t improve your disposition. I almost feel sorry for that female. The faster you can prove who she is, the faster you can get her out of your home.”

“Save your pity for your own female. It amazes me that she doesn’t kill you while you sleep. End transmission.” He jerked his hand away from the pad, cut the link with his mind as well, and spun. “Bastard.”

He stormed through his home to the guestroom. Zorus had made a good point. The faster he learned how to read the female, the quicker she’d be sent away. It didn’t matter to him if that would be to a detention center for being their enemy or if they gave her a home of her own. He just wanted her out of his. He knocked.

Get to know her, learn her facial expressions, her weaknesses, and pay attention to her pulse rate. Read her and get her out of my home. He blew out air. Quickly.

Chapter Five

Cyan opened the door carefully, wondering if he’d forgotten to give her some new order. He’d already told her not to leave his home. Krell towered in the hallway, his head nearly touched the ceiling, and a frown firmly curved his lips.

“You won the bet and I’ll talk to you.”

Don’t look down at his crotch. It’s tempting, but don’t. She managed to keep her gaze from dropping and took a deep breath. He was trying to make an effort and she was bored.

“All right. That would be great. I have a million questions.”

He backed up, giving her room to follow him to the living area. That statement earned her a suspicious glare before he spun around to stalk away, leaving her to trail behind, admiring his firm ass. He dropped into a big black chair, pointed to one opposite him, and she remembered he was supposed to be good at interrogating prisoners. She bet that was his real reason for wanting to have a conversation.

She sat, crossed her arms under her br**sts, and the staring contest began. She lost, blinked first, and it annoyed her enough to speak. “What do you do for fun on this planet besides work out?”

“I analyze data and evaluate threat assessments to my people.”

She swallowed. “Okay. And that’s fun?”

“I enjoy working and I don’t have to spend time with others except for designated meetings to update the other analysts and compare our information.”

“You work from home?”

“Yes.”

Silence stretched. “Do you date? Have friends? Have some kind of weird ritual you do?”

That drew a frown. “Weird ritual?”

“Perhaps go jogging in the morning?”

“You consider jogging a weird ritual?”

“Yes. Unless something is running from me that I have to catch or something scary is chasing me, I don’t run. It’s just weird to think it’s fun otherwise.”

His mouth twitched again.

“Another grimace or did you nearly smile?”

“What do you do on Earth for fun?”

“I don’t spend a lot of time there. I’m usually assigned to one of the orbiting ships. In my off-duty hours I try to avoid men. Otherwise I guess my fun consists of hurting them.”

“Why?”

“There aren’t many females who enjoy being assigned off the surface and the males outnumber women seventeen to one on ships. Therefore they do dumb things often.”

“I don’t understand.”

“They either think I’m a source of amusement by putting me down for being a woman or think I’m onboard for them to sexually harass. I don’t take kindly to either endeavor. It’s kind of fun to toss them onto their asses. Sometimes I play holoball with the computer. It doesn’t slam into me on purpose to cop a feel.”

“To what?”

She bit her lip. “Maul me. You know, bump into me to grope my ass or my br**sts.”

He frowned. “Humans are crude. Are you joined in a family unit?”

“No way.” She shook her head.

“You are antisocial?”

“Let’s just say I’ve dated over the years but it never worked out. I learned to just avoid the entire uncomfortable situation.”

Icy blue eyes narrowed. “What was uncomfortable about dating?”

He was talking. It might not be about something she wished to discuss but it beat the silence. “Well, first off I always knew it couldn’t be anything long-term. I don’t age. I think after a decade or so they’d start to notice. There was also the whole faking-my-death thing I have to do after a certain amount of time. I didn’t want to hurt anyone when they believed I’d died. I sure couldn’t tell them the truth. There’s a huge reward on the heads of unauthorized artificial Models. Clones and work drones who appear human fall into that category. It’s illegal to try to pass as totally human and they’d have ordered me destroyed. I don’t believe I’ve ever met anyone who could resist that kind of high payment just to wake up next to me every morning. Call me cynical but love has its limits when cold, hard cash is on the line, considering it means everything to most humans.”

“You never told anyone you are different?”

“No one knew except the small team. There were six people total who were in on the project, all emotionally vested, and any would have died to protect me. My mother died when I was young so the team became the only family I had. This is the first time I’ve allowed anyone to know my secret. It’s not as though I can talk about it freely without it feeling as if my head is going to explode.”

“You’re not in any pain now.” He studied her face. “I’d see it.”

“I am, but if I’m careful about what I say, the headache will fade. The pain is not severe because we’re talking without me going into detailed specifics of how I was made or who did it. And no names. Those are major triggers.”

“Are any of them fatal?”

“You mean would my head really explode? No. It just cripples me with the pain and could make me lose consciousness. It sucks.”

A bell sounded and Krell frowned, rose to his feet and glared at the door. He didn’t spare her a glance as he passed her chair. He paused by the door to touch the panel. His body tensed and the door slid open.

Two cyborg males stood on the other side of the door in red uniforms. They peered past Krell until they spotted her. Both men stared until Krell shifted his stance to block their view.

“Why are you here, Ovis and Naglis? Our meeting isn’t for another five days.”

The one on the right, the blond, cleared his throat. “We were informed of the situation and wanted to meet the female.”

The other one, a brunette with two girlish braids streaming over his shoulders put his hands on his hips. “We get along well with you and decided to approach you about an alliance.”

“Unbelievable,” Krell snarled. “Go away.”

The blond stepped forward. “They showed footage of her. We’re willing to bargain with you. We do get along well.”

The braided one nodded. “You have to acknowledge that you would be difficult for a female to handle on a full-time basis and you enjoy your solitude. We’re willing to take her off your hands whenever you need a break.”

Cyan stood and crept closer, curious what they were talking about. She knew the two guys spoke about her but why would they want to volunteer to help Krell babysit her?

“What is going on?”

Krell turned his head to stare at her, anger tightened his handsome features and his lips parted. Before he could speak though, the braided guy suddenly lunged between the space of Krell’s body and the wall to enter the living area. He grinned at Cyan as his gaze raked down her body, hesitated on her br**sts.

“I’m called Ovis. It is an honor to meet you. I’ve come with my friend for you to consider.”

Krell grabbed the man’s shoulder, jerked him back and planted his big body between her and the guy invading his home. He snarled. “Leave.”

“She should be given a choice.” The blond stepped through the open doorway. “You’re undesirable. She hasn’t met many males since her arrival.” He fixed his green gaze on her. “I’m Naglis. I’m easy on the eyes and well versed in pleasuring a female.”

Cyan knew her jaw dropped. She had to close it firmly. Krell snarled again, threw Ovis backward, and shoved him directly into Naglis. Both of them stumbled into the hallway before they fell in a mass of tangled limbs to the floor. Krell slammed the door before they could struggle to their feet. He turned, glaring at her.

“I knew you’d be trouble.”

The door beeped.

“What did I do?” Cyan stared at him, confused.