“Now lie to me.”

She made a split-second decision. Krell would be angry but lives were at stake. Mavo’s currently, if Markus Models were chasing the ship he traveled on. She monitored her body closely, took control of her pupils, pulse and temperature while never looking away from the dark blue eyes of the cyborg holding her. “I’m a seven-hundred-pound, deranged, mutated space pirate who just ate your dog.”

He chuckled. “So easy to read. Tell me an obvious truth.”

“Krell is really angry at the moment.”

Gene glanced away from her to the cyborg across from them and chuckled. “I’d upgrade that to enraged.” He held her gaze. “Lie to me one more time.”

“I’m currently on the surface of Earth and we’re about to have a tea party.”

The cyborg holding her shifted his gaze to Krell. “You should be ashamed of yourself. When we return to Garden inform the council that you’re not fit for any future interrogating duties. She is so simple to read. I knew you were physically damaged but I didn’t realize it had affected your logic or intelligence. You’d have to be defective not to easily read this female. As a matter of fact I seriously question your judgment now as an analyst. I’ll file with the council as well to make sure you inform them. You need to be immediately removed from your position.”

Cyan’s heart overrode her grip on her body as it hammered at the thought of Krell losing his job and status with cyborgs. She hadn’t meant for that to happen. She’d seriously screwed up. As much as she wanted to help Mavo, she didn’t want to destroy Krell in the process. She jerked her head around to stare at him. He’d paled, the lines of his scars on his features stark, and his eyes flashed pain.

“Understood,” he rasped.

“No!” She jerked her head back to Gene. “Don’t do that. There’s nothing wrong with him.”

“Sweetheart, reading you is so simple it’s sad. Krell has no business being in charge of making any decisions if he is unable to see you’re an open book.”

She clamped down on all emotions and her body functions, angry now. “He’s smart not to trust me and to believe I am hard to read. You’re the one who is easily fooled. Try again, Gene.”

He shook his head. “It’s sweet that you’re trying to protect him but the test is over.”

No, it’s not. She took a breath and kept her gaze locked with his. “I’m a male dinosaur with four tails and a horrible snout.”

Shock paled his features. “What?”

“My pupils didn’t react to a lie. My heart rate didn’t change. I can control them. You’re reading that I’m being honest. I’m a seven-hundred-pound mutated space pirate who just planted a big, wet kiss on your lips.” She paused. “Do you want to read the truth as lies? Watch. I’m a woman with br**sts and I’m sitting on your lap with your arms wrapped around me. You owe Krell an apology and if anyone is incompetent, it’s you. You were the one easily fooled.”

Gene gasped and his arms suddenly jerked away from her. His fingers gripped her upper arms with quick speed, grabbed her roughly and forcefully shoved her off his lap toward the floor between the seats. Two strong hands caught her before she hit the deck. Krell hauled her onto his lap and snarled at the other man.

“You could have harmed her.”

Gene stared at her, horrified. “She’s not human. I mean, no human can do that.”

Krell settled her firmly on his lap, his arm around her, and one hand rubbed the marks caused by the other cyborg’s rough treatment. She turned her head and met his gaze. He was seriously furious.

“Are you harmed?”

“I’m fine. Thanks for the catch. I didn’t expect that.”

“No male enjoys being made a fool.” He paused. “Please put on your shirt. No more games, Cyan.” He lifted her to settle her back onto her seat next to him.

“I wanted someone to trust me,” she admitted softly. “You don’t when you should but I didn’t like him insulting you.” She didn’t know why she bothered to tell him the truth, he wouldn’t believe it, but she felt better saying it. “I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known your job was on the line or your reputation.”

“Do something like that again and we’re going to come to blows,” Krell threatened the other male. “You don’t use brute strength against her.”

“She’s a freak.” Gene glowered at her. “We can’t even control our pupils to that degree or even our heart rate.”

“I’m special.” She yanked her shirt down her body and leaned a little closer to Krell. He didn’t seem to mind since he allowed it. “And you’re an ass. That’s the truth, by the way.”

Krell fought his rage over what had just happened and battled with confusion at the same time. Seeing Cyan straddle another male had made his body strain to snatch her away. He hadn’t enjoyed it one bit. He was her primary male, no other had his permission to touch her, and while females with only one male had the freedom to test others for compatibility to select more of them into a family unit, it was generally discussed first. The fact that Cyan hadn’t, that she’d done it just to anger him had really made it unbearable, seeing her pressed against Gene.

He had never disliked the other male before but he did at that moment. She could have been harmed by Gene’s rough treatment when she’d shown her skills at being able to fool someone reading her for honesty. She’d wrapped Gene around her little pale finger at first, had the male convinced she was exactly as she appeared. He’d known he would be yanked off duty, his abilities questioned until he could appear before the cyborg council for evaluation, but she’d done the honorable thing by saving his reputation.

Why did she just do that? It wasn’t to her advantage to show how skillfully she could lie if she was a spy. She could have easily been taken from his care, left him discredited, shamed, and with Gene backing her, would have been cleared of all doubt of her origins. It had hurt her standing in his society to discredit Gene’s abilities and would have harmed her physically as well if he hadn’t stopped her body from hitting the floor. It didn’t make sense.

He glanced at her and wanted to be alone with her in the worst way. They needed to talk privately. She confused him and stunned him. Her actions made no sense. It wasn’t the time to confront her but he refused to wait. He’d never be able to concentrate on anything else until he could talk to her, get answers, and he wanted them immediately. His body tensed.

Krell suddenly stood. “Get up, Cyan. We’re going to talk.”

Cyan stood and followed Krell. She realized she was about to probably be yelled at but still moved when Krell indicated she should walk to the back of the shuttle. It seemed she was about to get a look at the storage room after all. Wrong cyborg and certainly not to make out.

The room housed mostly storage items with long panels that controlled a vast majority of the shuttle’s nonessential functions. He closed the door behind them and frowned at her.

“Are you well?”

It surprised her that he wasn’t laying into her about the stunt she’d pulled. “I’m fine. He caught me off guard. I was paying more attention to my body than his. It’s a flaw of mine when I’m focused too intently on something. I probably shouldn’t admit that but it’s the truth. My reflexes were slowed since I was controlling other functions. Thank you for grabbing me before I hit the deck.”

“Please present your arms to me for inspection.”

She lifted them up, saw red marks from Gene’s hands, but she doubted they would bruise. She glanced up at Krell. He studied her skin grimly and shocked her when he slowly gripped her h*ps and pulled her against his body. She didn’t resist as her face buried in the black material of the tank top. He’d only put on boots before they’d left his apartment though he’d packed uniforms that matched the other cyborgs on the shuttle.

“Don’t play games with cyborgs, Cyan. Some of them have no sense of humor.” His hand slid from her hip to rub up and down her lower back. “You could have been harmed.”

She reached up, flattened her palms over his chest and peered up at him. He was so tall that she felt short standing in his arms. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

“You could have continued your deception. He completely believed you and thought I was in grave error in my assessments of you. You had no logical reason to correct him.” His other hand left her hip and cupped her face. “It wasn’t to your advantage to show him up and prove my worthiness in making keen observations. I can only assume you did it out of pity for me. That tells me that you may be a lot of things but you have a conscience.”

The guy tugged at her heartstrings in a big way…and her libido. “Pity isn’t what I feel for you.”

She felt his c**k harden against her belly where she leaned against him and resisted the urge to smile. She wasn’t the only one affected by the strong appeal between them. His fingers along her back gripped her braid and held onto it while his head lowered. Her heart raced and she licked her lips, hoping he’d kiss her.

“You’re very dangerous, Cyan Eous.”

“Not to you. If there’s one thing you can depend on, it’s that, Krell whatever your last name is.”

He smiled. “I don’t have one.”

He could share my last name. That thought stunned her. Her teeth sank into her lower lip, refused to say that out loud, and they just stared deeply into each other’s eyes. His c**k became more rigid and her hands slowly rose upward, feeling his muscular chest through the thin material until they curled around the top of his broad shoulders.

“I want you,” he admitted in a soft, raspy tone.

“I wouldn’t say no.”

“Is that the truth? Would you agree to my touch to gain my trust or because you are sincerely attracted to me? Will you swear an honest answer?”

“Touch me. I can’t fake that.”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Being this close to you makes me wet, Krell.”

“All cyborgs can activate their sex drives.”

That surprised her. “I didn’t know that.”

“You know more about cyborgs than anyone if you’re truly that woman from Earth.”

“True, but some things didn’t get brought up. You mean you can get hard on demand? Just think it and you’re sporting wood?”

“Yes. The same goes for females.”

She couldn’t resist teasing him. “They get erections? I was pretty certain the women were made anatomically correct in every way, with only girl parts.”

His smile transformed him into a breathtakingly handsome guy. “They can turn on their sex drive responses and be fully receptive to intercourse on demand.”

“I can’t do that. Can they orgasm at will too? If so, I feel ripped off being given this body. I have to want someone for my body to get into it and I need to actually have sex or physical stimulation to get off.”

He released her and nudged her with his hip. She backed off a few inches to put a little space between them but didn’t release her hold on him. It surprised her in a good way when he reached for the front of her pants, opened them and slid his large palm against her belly. His fingertip found her cl*t wet from wanting him and he slowly rubbed against it.

Cyan softly moaned from the pleasure. It felt really good and her knees weakened until she had to grip him harder to keep upright. His mouth came down on hers, sealed their lips together, and his tongue delved inside. She moaned again, kissing him back, and had to lock her legs to keep from sliding to the floor. He pulled away from her mouth.