Kissing Steel (19 page)

productive to achieve success.” Their gazes locked. Steel let his emotionless mask slip a

little as he frowned and his expression was a bit sad. “Otherwise I would ask you to stay

with me.”

Nodding, she looked down. “I understand,” she said softly. Part of her did but

another part of her wanted to tell him it wasn’t fair that his people had put that kind of

pressure on him—forced to get married and forced to have children.

“I made inquiries about joining a family unit with you.”

Jerking her chin up, she stared at him in surprise.

He sighed, looking away from her. “I contacted Garden this morning to talk to our

leading scientist about what would happen if I tried to impregnate you instead of one of

our females. He told me with utmost clarity that it would be disastrous, our child would

be born with many defects, most of which even our technology couldn’t fix, and that

child would suffer a painfully short lifespan.”

It hurt, hearing all of her hopes dashed. There would be no last-minute declaration

that he couldn’t let her go or that she could stay with him if she wanted to. He was going

to have to let her go because his honor and his sense of duty wouldn’t allow him to keep

her.

“Thank you for considering it at least and going to the trouble you must have gone to

contacting your scientists to ask those questions.”

“Rena?”

“Yes?”

“Look at me.”

She hesitated but then lifted her gaze to his. “Yes?”

81

Kissing Steel – Laurann Dohner

“I wish that I could keep you but it wasn’t meant to be that way.”

Oh, it hurts so much
, she thought.
I’ve let myself fall in love with him, damn it. It was

so damn stupid to let my guard down and just asking for heartbreak to let him get so

close to me.
“I understand.”

“I don’t.” Frustration made his face grim. “It irritates me because I was hoping that

was the easy solution to our problem. I have thought of all the variables and scenarios.

The only one that was close to being viable would be to take Fusion up on her offer since

she said I could keep you if I formed a family unit with her.”

Fear and revulsion tore through Rena. “She’s a sick bitch.”

“That’s why I discarded that idea. I would be afraid that she would kill you or make

you suffer at the very least. When I contract to a woman my property becomes hers as

well, which would mean that you would belong to her, giving her leeway to do anything

she could imagine to you.”

Rena didn’t want to ponder all the sick and twisted ways that Fusion could make her

life a living hell. Fusion could make her years with Chuck a fond memory and that was

saying a lot—if the woman didn’t kill her outright.

“I do appreciate you trying to figure out a way though, Steel.”

He sighed loudly. “It was just not meant to be.”

It wasn’t comforting to Rena at all, hearing those words, but she knew what he said

was true. She’d been raised by a father who hated cyborgs, obsessed with wanting all of

them hunted down and destroyed. The irony wasn’t lost on her. She never thought she’d

run into them when she’d signed on to recover the
Star
. She’d honestly thought that the

cyborgs had probably either traveled so far out into space that they’d never be heard from

again or that they had died out. It had been her belief after her mother had stopped

contacting her sister on Earth that her mother had died and probably the male cyborgs

she’d rescued along with her.

“May I ask you something?”

“Anything, Rena.”

“When you return to Garden can you look up what happened to my mother, if it’s

possible, and maybe send me word through a third party? I don’t think she’s alive still but

I was sure cyborgs weren’t around anymore either. She stopped contacting her sister so

we believed she died. I just want to know how and when did she pass.”

He hesitated. “I would do that for you. What was her name?”

“Rora Marie Gates.”

Cocking his head to the side, Steel studied her. “Your name is Gates. You told me

you were married on Earth and you had a husband.”

“I never took his last name. I work at the company his father owns, and while the

man is aware that we’re married, they didn’t think it would be a good idea to let the other

employees know about it. I believed that when we married and Chuck asked me to retain

my last name instead of taking his. Of course later I realized he just didn’t think I was

good enough to carry the last name of Demco.”

Anger tightened Steel’s mouth and it showed in his intense look. “If I kept you I’d

have my name branded on your body, clearly stating you are mine.” He reached up to

82

Kissing Steel – Laurann Dohner

touch the tattoos that ran over the top of his shoulders, strange black lines that were damn

attractive. “This is the cyborg language that we created and it is my name. I would brand

you with my name so everyone who looked at you would know how much I value you.”

He was breaking her heart. “Thank you for saying that and I know you mean it.”

Steel slowly rose to his feet, dropping his napkin to the table, his gaze locked on her.

“I want to take you to my bed and enjoy the hours we have left together so I may

memorize every minute we share.”

Rena stood and dropped her napkin, turning to walk to the bed as she discarded her

shirt. When she reached the bed she turned to watch Steel remove his pants. Watching

him strip was a sight she would also miss, one that would haunt her as well. Everything

about Steel was going to stay with her long after he was a part of her past.

He closed the distance between them when he was naked, his hands going for her

face instantly, cupping her head in his hands and lifting her chin. She met his kiss

eagerly, opening her mouth as soon as their lips sealed together.

“You’re addictive,” he muttered, breaking the kiss. His mouth moved to nibble down

the column of her throat.

“So are you,” Rena groaned, gripping his shoulders as his hands cupped her ass,

lifting her off her feet then pressing her against the bed.

“Open your thighs for me.” He released her hips.

Lying back on the bed, Rena stared up at the fierce but sexy cyborg with his

gorgeous eyes and that beautiful silvery mane. “I want you to know how amazingly sexy

I think you are.”

Full lips curved upward into a smile. “I look at you and I’ve never wanted a woman

more.”

He went to his knees, gripping her ankles to place them on the top of his shoulders as

he leaned in, her knees bending and spreading her thighs open for his inspection where

his gaze locked, taking in the view of her. He released her ankles and his fingers spread

her labia, exposing all of her.

“So delicate and pink,” he said softly. His thumb lightly brushed along her mound,

tracing downward to the delicate skin between her clit and her vagina, exploring every

crease back up to her sensitive bud. “So soft.”

“Steel…” She breathed his name, her body responding to him in every way. Her

breasts started to feel heavy and an ache began to make its presence known as her vaginal

walls fluttered.

He leaned forward, his thumb leaving her to be replaced by the tip of his hot, wet

tongue. A moan broke from Rena as she realized he was kissing her sex the way he

kissed her mouth, swirling his tongue in circles as his lips rubbed the tender tissue around

it. Then he was applying more pressure, sucking and licking on her clit, which he had

captured with that wonderful mouth of his.

The pleasure was powerful, building and spreading throughout her body. The dull

ache inside turned into full-blown, painful need to feel Steel inside her. His cock, his

fingers, she didn’t care as she arched her back, pressing her pussy tighter against his face,

83

Kissing Steel – Laurann Dohner

her moans growing louder as what he was doing to her became more intense, more

passionate, and then Steel groaned, vibrating against her swelling nub.

“Fuck me. Please. I need you inside me.”

His hold on her changed and two fingers pressed against her entrance, the wetness

there easing his entry as both digits slid deep inside her, stretching and filling her aching

pussy. Ecstasy was instant and Rena clawed the bed, her hips bucking under his hungry

mouth and driving fingers as he moved them inside her fast and hard, creating havoc with

her senses.

She was going to come. She tensed, her muscles clenching in eagerness right before

her climax burst, exhilaration radiating throughout her body. Steel slowly eased his

fingers out and released her with his mouth, his large body climbing up over hers. Rena

opened her eyes to stare into his passion-filled gaze right as the crown of his cock pushed

against her opening, stretching her to take all of his shaft as he eased down on her and

deeply into her.

Her hands gripped his shoulders, clawing his skin. “Yes!”

Steel’s eyelids lowered and he hissed out a groan. “You’re so damn tight, so damn

wet and hot. Sheer heaven, my little siren.”

He wasn’t moving inside her so Rena wrapped her legs around his waist, bending her

knees up high near her shoulders, and used her hold on him to move. The sensation of

him moving even that little bit increased her pleasure, her vaginal walls still twitching

from her release. Steel’s eyes closed, his tongue darted out to lick his bottom lip. Rena

went for it, lifting up enough to press her mouth over his, gently nipping where he’d

licked before she met his kiss.

He started to move his hips in a teasing, shallow movement that rubbed Rena in all

the right ways. He kept the pace steady, drawing up her passion again, ignoring her

urging to move faster when she tried to use her heels against his ass. He broke the kiss,

chuckling.

“I’m not a horse you can kick into a gallop. I’m enjoying you, memorizing how you

feel around me and under me. I want to take my time savoring you.”

“We have all night.”

He stopped moving on her, something in his eyes darkening and growing a little

cold. “I wish we did but the hours are passing too quickly, Rena.”

He moved then, nearly withdrawing completely from her body before he thrust

forward quickly, driving into her hard and fast, the way she loved. He was strong as he

moved over her, the pace increasing and the sensation of it drawing Rena into a haze of

sexual euphoria. He was hitting those amazing spots that only he had ever found, rubbing

her in all the right ways, and the pleasure built again, renewing that wonderful

anticipation that she knew would lead to mind-blowing orgasms.

Steel rasped her name, twisting his hips, his shaft rubbing over her clit as he lifted up

a little to take her at a slightly different angle. He was powering in and out of her, the bed

slamming into the wall, the sound barely audible to her over both of them panting and

moaning. His strength turned her on more, drove up the excitement level for her. Though

he was being a bit rough, he wasn’t hurting her. Throwing her head back, Rena arched

her hips, tensed, her body shaking with desire, and then cried out Steel’s name as she

84

Kissing Steel – Laurann Dohner

came. Steel roared out her name as he followed her to that tranquil place she found once

the spasms in her pussy stopped.

Rena gasped when Steel used one hand to unlock her limp legs around his hips,

rolling them both over, his arm locking around her waist to haul her on top of his body

where she sprawled on his chest. Lifting her head, she opened her eyes to gaze into his

smiling face.

“Amazing.”

“Not the word I’d use but it will do.”

“What word would you use?” She grinned.

“Home.”

“I don’t understand.” Her grin faltered.

He reached up to push back a thick lock of hair from her face, his hand cupping her

jaw and part of her cheek. She pressed her face against his hand a little tighter, loving

him touching her and enjoying the warmth on the side of her face.

“You feel like home to me, a place where I feel most relaxed and at ease. I don’t

know how to explain it any better but that is what I am experiencing and the word that

came to mind to describe you.”

Don’t cry
, she ordered herself, blinking back tears.

“Did I upset you? You try to hide your emotions from me but you are bad at it.” He

released her face to rub her bare back, his hand massaging her skin from butt to shoulder

blade. “Did I make you experience sadness? You have very expressive eyes and you

tense your mouth, making tiny lines.”

“I’m just going to miss you and I’ve never felt this way about someone before, Steel.