RedeemingZorus

Redeeming Zorus

Laurann Dohner

Book 6 in the Cyborg Seduction
series.

Charlie’s brother has put her in
the no-win situation of having to rescue a cyborg from Earth Government. It’s dangerous,
she’ll become an outlaw on Earth, but it’s the only way to save her brother’s
life. The imprisoned cyborg is rude, conceited and probably the biggest jerk
she’s ever had the misfortune to meet. His
only
redeeming qualities are
his handsome face and sexy, muscular body. Just wow! Still, she can’t wait to
be rid of him.

All cyborgs hate humans, but Zorus
is consumed by it. Chained, enslaved and facing death on Earth once again, he
vows revenge. To his utter astonishment, a human female comes to his rescue.
She’s rude, mouthy and bossy. And very brave. She baffles him almost as much as
she arouses him. Zorus cannot deny that he’s fascinated by her. They are about
to lock wills and ignite a firestorm of desire that defies every rule he lives
by.

Prologue

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Charlie glared at her
brother. “No way in hell.”

“They are willing to pay a fortune if we do this. We’d be
set for life, could leave Earth, and go settle on Saturn. It’s not a shithole
and did I mention how much money these guys offered to rescue this thing?”

“We couldn’t spend a credit of it even if I could pull it
off because dead people don’t buy stuff, Russell. We’d be fugitives and if you
think I could get that thing out of there without tipping them off that I’m the
one who did it, think again. I know the security measures they have since I
installed most of them.”

“That’s why you’re the only person who can do it, Charlie.
Come on, baby sis.” He gave her a pleading look.

“Stop it. That doesn’t work on me.”

An annoyed look twisted his features. “I gave my word we’d
do it.”

“We? You mean me. You were wrong.” She ran her fingers
through her thick, dark hair to push it over her shoulder and then shook her
head. “I worked really hard to get where I am.” She glanced around their small
apartment. “It’s not much but we’re not scraping by inside hovels anymore.
We’re living in a good part of the city where we’re safe from thieves. Nobody
can get past those guards outside.”

Russell bit his lip. “I already took the money. I told them
there would be upfront costs involved. If I don’t deliver the cyborg, they’ll
kill me. I know you’re going to tell me to return the deposit but it’s been
spent. I lost it gambling.”

She had to take deep breaths to control the anger boiling
up. She counted to ten silently. “Damn you,” she hissed. “I worked my butt off
to get us out of the trouble you kept finding when we were kids. I should allow
them kill you.”

“I’m all you’ve got and you love me.” He gave her a knowing
smirk. “There’ll be enough money involved that Earth Government can’t touch us
on Saturn.”

“You’re an idiot. Of course they can. They’ll just hire
assassins to come after us. That’s what they do when you screw with them. They
are really excited about this cyborg they captured. He doesn’t appear to have
aged since he escaped Earth a long time ago. Do you get that? They aren’t going
to shrug this off. He’s pure gold to those scientists. It’s the most animated
I’ve ever seen those jerks since I started to work there.”

“I know I’m not as smart as you.” Bitterness tinged his
voice. “But I gave my word to break him out when I took their money. You have
to do this or you’re killing me.”

She closed her eyes, fighting tears. It had fallen onto her
to take care of her older brother after their parents had been killed when she
was fifteen. Russell had issues with gambling, he always ran his mouth, and it
had been one bad situation after another.

The cyborg was a huge discovery since they were supposed to
be extinct, thanks to Earth Government having killed them all decades before.
Whoever had paid her brother probably valued it as much as the scientists at
the Earth Government-run Gorman Medical Facility. The cyborg might be some kind
of miracle cure for aging if the doctors could just figure it out.

“Charlie? I love you. I know you’ll do the correct thing.”

Her eyes snapped open to glare at him. “If that were true, I
wouldn’t have brought you with me when I landed the job at the facility and
earned the transfer to the safer side of the city. Of course those guys you
owed money would have killed you if I hadn’t. Now you’re causing me more
problems. When is it enough with you? Don’t you ever get tired of ruining my
life? I work hard to give us a better one but you seem just as determined to
screw it up.”

“They’ll kill me and those guards downstairs won’t be able
to stop them. You and I both know they’ll just bribe them to get at me, with
the kind of money they have.”

“Fuck!” She sat hard in a chair and shot him another glare.
“I want you to know, if we survive this, if we manage to get off Earth alive,
I’m done. Do you hear me? We’ll split the money and then you’re on your own. I
love you but I’m not allowing you to take me down with you again. You’ve
obviously got a death wish but I want to keep breathing.”

“It hurts me to hear you say that.”

“It hurts me every time you get us into one of these
messes.”

“You can do anything you set your mind to.” He inched closer
to give her the look she hated most. It was the one that reminded her of when
they’d been kids and he’d still been the brother she loved so deeply. “I knew
you’d do the right thing for me.”

She stood. “Shut up. I have to plan on how to get that thing
out of there.” She paused. “He’s dangerous. For all I know, he’ll kill me the
second I get him free. Did you think of that?”

“Tell him the council paid you for breaking him out and
you’re the one who is going to get him off Earth. They said he’d know you were
friendly then.”

“What council?” An uneasy feeling surfaced inside Charlie.

“I have no idea. That was the message they gave me to relay
so he knows you’re really there to help him.”

“Who are these people?”

Russell shrugged. “I didn’t ask.”

“Maybe they are bullshitting you about the rest of the
money. Did you ever think of that?”

“I’m not totally stupid. I had them put it into a trust.”

“Shit.” She shook her head. “And who is the controller of
it? Some lowlife you used to run with who is going to steal it?”

“It’s Gerald.”

Pain sliced through Charlie at the mere mention of his name.
“Oh.”

“He won’t steal from us. He still feels real bad about what
he did to you.”

Hot tears burned behind her eyes. “How is his rich wife?”

“He hates her.”

“Good.” She decided a little satisfaction had to be better
than none at all. “He doesn’t need to steal. He already gave up his soul for
all the money he could ever spend.”

“He loves you.”

“Shut up. He made his choice when he dumped me for that rich
bitch. Let’s not say his name again. That’s the rule, remember?”

“You asked.”

“I did. My mistake.” She ran her fingers through her hair
again, a habit she hated but couldn’t break, surprised she had any left after
years of her brother making her tear at it. “Let me think. I need to come up
with a plan.”

“They want him out fast, Charlie. I told them you could do
it within twenty-four hours.”

“Are you high?” She yelled but then remembered the walls
weren’t that thick and they had nosy neighbors. Her voice lowered. “There’s no
way―”

“They have a ship waiting and ready to take him off Earth.
We’re supposed to rendezvous with it at seven tomorrow evening. They bribed
officials to allow it to lift off without being searched first. They also
booked us passage on another ship where they won’t check our identities in case
they immediately figure out who took him. This is all going to work out great.
It’s going to be easy money.”

“Great. I’ll just sprout wings while I’m doing the
impossible, fly in and grab him, and we’ll just sail out of there.”

“Smart ass.”

“Dumb ass.”

Russell grinned. “I love you.”

“You’re lucky we’re blood, Russell. That’s all I have to
say. Now shut up and let me think.”