Stealing Coal (12 page)

impervious to pain if our captors attempted to torture company secrets from us. Of

course we wouldn’t have been as useful for some of the tasks they’d assigned us if

they’d just stripped us of all our nerve endings. It also became a way to punish us. They

could remotely activate and deactivate the chips as needed by our supervisors. They

would shut off the chips to beat us as punishment and make us suffer the resulting pain

for days until we healed.”

Tears filled Jill’s eyes, momentarily blinding her. “What the hell did they do to

you?”

“The females or Earth Government?”

She’d always thought she’d gotten a raw deal in life with losing her mother so

young, having to be raised by an aunt who kept her in seclusion from other people for

her protection, and then learning what kind of man her father had been. Of course her

years with her ex-husband had been a nightmare but he’d fed her, kept her clothed, and

hadn’t dared inflict much bodily harm except for the times he’d forced sex on her. Even

then, while it hadn’t been enjoyable in the least, he hadn’t purposely caused her

physical pain. He’d been more about terrifying her with threats to keep her under his

control.

“Jill?”

“I’m just sorry you’ve had such a hard life.”

He studied her. “It has made me stronger and more determined to survive.”

She could relate to that. “The women…” She paused. “Did they really hurt you and

humiliate you?”

He took a deep breath and then leaned in closer but didn’t touch her. “It depended

on which female had use of me. The worst thing they did to me was damage my

implants and force the donation of my sperm. I am happy good came out of it from the

flourish of children produced to advance our race but it saddens me that I wasn’t

permitted to know them. The females deemed me a slave and kept the children away

from me at all times for fear that I might harm them. They feared I was capable of that

since I didn’t want to be used in that manner but I never would have done that. They

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are a part of me physically and therefore I would have done anything to protect the

children from harm.”

Questions filled her mind—so many she didn’t know where to start. Coal spoke

before she could ask any of them.

“I had to be secured flat on my back on a bed for them to torture as needed. They

realized quickly that great bodily harm would make my body tense and cause

adrenaline spikes that gave me erections. Earth Government had taught us how to

inflict great pain while leaving no lasting physical damage. Once the pain became too

much and they got the physical reaction they wanted, they would mount me until they

got my seed. Every time they would come inside the room where they kept me I’d

know hopelessness and dread of what would happen. Occasionally they had to allow

me up to avoid sores forming where my skin never left the bed they kept me chained to.

If I was lucky, occasionally they believed I had become less threatening and too weak to

attack. I managed to escape a few times when they grew lax on the number of guards

assigned to take me to the river.”

He paused, watching Jill. She couldn’t speak. The horror of what he said sank in.

“There were months when I’d be free until their hunting parties would find me

again. When my brother cyborgs rescued us from the planet we’d crashed on and

realized my circumstances, they freed me from the females. The females no longer have

control over my body but they of course retained the children who were created by my

sperm.”

Jill didn’t think, just reacted. She reached up and cupped his cheek, stared into his

beautiful eyes, and blinked back tears that threatened to blind her. “I’m so sorry that

happened to you.”

His eyes widened in surprise and his hand lifted to her cheek to gently brush away

a tear that slid down her face. When he spoke, he whispered, “You shed tears for me?”

She nodded. “Don’t you ever cry?”

He pulled away from her touch and dropped his hand on the bed near her thigh.

“A physical expression does not change the circumstances in my life or wash away the

memories I must live with.”

“Aren’t you bitter?”

He shifted on the bed and looked away from her, shaking his head. “It would be a

useless emotion that would only allow me to dwell on the wrongs committed against

me. I wish to one day get past it and obtain a fulfilling life.” He cleared his throat. “I

must make the best of what has been done to me since there’s no way to repair the

damage to my implants.”

His strength impressed her and it went far beyond his muscled body. “You’re

amazing.”

He frowned and met her gaze again. “How so?”

She wasn’t sure how to explain it to him. “You just are.”

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He gave her a perplexed look and she knew he didn’t understand. She tried to find

a way to express it to him. “When I got free of my ex-husband, I flat-out hated all men

and swore them off. You’ve dealt with so much more and yet you haven’t hurt or taken

it out on me for what was done to you. You could. You have me at your mercy.”

“You never harmed me, Jill. I’m in your debt and I’m willing to do this to repay

you.”

A horrible thought struck as her gaze flew down to his naked body. His erection

had softened, his body reflecting his loss of interest in sex, and her mouth dropped

open.

“Oh my God. I’m so sorry.” She scrambled off the bed and grabbed a pillow as she

got to her feet. She turned and pitched it at Coal, aiming for his lap.

His reflexes were lightning fast as he caught it and his body tensed. “You’re

attacking me with a pillow and apologizing for it?”

“No. Cover up. You did this for me, to pay me back, and you must hate me for

putting you in this situation. You don’t have to force yourself to touch me as a way to

thank me.” She spun, giving him her back. “I thought you were trying to get me to have

sex with you but now I’m sure it’s just traumatizing you. I’m so, so sorry!”

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Coal slowly rose to his feet and dropped the pillow on the bed. Jill stood in front of

him, keeping her body turned away to give him privacy. The human had shocked him

deeply with her perception of the situation they were in. She truly believed what she’d

said, though she had come to the wrong conclusion.

“I don’t hate you and I chose to fix you.”

“You don’t have to.” She spoke so softly he barely caught her words. “Just put your

pants on and don’t do this to yourself. You’ve had enough women use your body for

their own purposes and that’s not why I saved you. I didn’t expect anything for doing

it. I just couldn’t leave you there knowing what lay in store for you.”

He took a step toward her and then another until he nearly touched her back.

Desire heated his blood when he noticed just how much of her legs were exposed in her

shirt. If she lifted her arms it would rise to expose the bottom of her ass. His cock

hardened and his hands twitched to touch her.

“I want to fix you but that isn’t the only reason I decided to show you pleasure is

possible between males and females.”

Jill turned her head to stare up at him over her shoulder. Their gazes met and held

for long moments. She had an expressive face and he liked that. The more time he spent

with her the better he learned to read her. Right at that moment he knew she didn’t

quite believe him.

“I’m very attracted to you and curious if mutual sexual relations between us would

be pleasurable. I’ve had these thoughts since you cleaned the oatmeal from my body.”

“Really?” The tense lines around her mouth eased.

Coal bit back a groan. If he knew it wouldn’t frighten her, he’d show her how much

he wanted her. He’d never ached to have a woman before without drugs or extreme

forced stimulation. Jill just standing near him had him wishing he could toss her on the

bed and take her. The memory of the taste of her arousal, the sounds she made as he’d

licked her, had blood filling his cock until it hurt—turning steel hard. He would never

forget how soft, wet, and tight she’d been when he’d finger-fucked her.

“Take your shirt off and return to the bed.” He hoped she’d do it.

Jill turned to face him and her shirt brushed his protruding sex. He held still as she

looked down at his cock. She backed away quickly as she gasped in obvious surprise at

what she’d touched. He gripped her arms to keep her from tripping. They both froze.

“We’ll help each other get beyond our past experiences.”

Her hesitation made him regret what he’d told her.

“I―”

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“I made a mistake by sharing too much of my past with you,” he admitted,

stopping her from telling him no. “I believed it would put you at ease but instead I’ve

given you the impression that sex between us would traumatize me. That’s what you

stated. That isn’t factual. I want you.”

Jill took a deep breath and blew it out, not looking away as he watched her so

intently. “I’m glad you told me everything.”

“I’m not, if you refuse to allow me to touch you.”

She couldn’t resist looking down at his hard-on. He definitely had to be interested

in sex. She stared at the proof. The warm hands gently gripping her upper arms let go

and he backed up to the bed. She held still and just watched him sit on the edge of the

mattress, spread his thighs, and then he eased back to rest his weight on his elbows.

“Come to me.”

His commanding tone called to her for some reason as she gawked at his perfect

body stretched out fully, naked on her bed. The picture he made had her body

responding to his strong sexual appeal.

“This is nuts.”

Coal smiled. “You enjoyed what I did to you with my mouth. Allow me to do it

again. I want to. I take pleasure from it as well.”

Her nipples tingled and her belly quivered in response. She took another step and

then another until she paused near his legs. “Okay.”

He turned on his side and patted the bed next to him. “Stretch out here.”

Temptation and a rush of desire enticed Jill. She touched her shirt, considering

taking it off, but then shyness gripped her. She got on the bed, her leg brushing his

when she rolled over onto her back. Coal turned more on his side and she settled flat.

Her heart pounded hard.

“I don’t know what to do,” she admitted to him.

The color of his eyes darkened with desire. “I do. Just relax and allow me to touch

you. Trust me not to hurt you.”

Staring into those incredible eyes of his she wanted desperately to believe him. Her

body relaxed and she gave him a sharp nod. “Okay.”

He lifted up and slid off the bed. She raised her head to watch him when he reached

for something on the floor and didn’t say a word when he removed the vent seal from

the pocket of his discarded pants. Her arms slid on her sheets when she used them to

push her chest up to get a better look at the lower half of Coal’s body. In stunned silence

she watched him stretch the band and put it on.

“Doesn’t that hurt?”

“No. It’s not too tight.”

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She had to take his word for it but she couldn’t see how it wouldn’t. She lay flat

again, thinking it better not to stare at his cock any more or the green band he’d just fit

snugly at the base of his shaft. Instead she tried to relax and not lose her nerve. Coal

wanted to repeat what he’d done to her before, only this time she wasn’t tied down. Her

fingers clutched at the bedding just for something to cling to.

Strong hands gently gripped her knees and Jill jumped slightly at his touch. Coal’s

hold remained loose and he gave her a tense smile.

“Easy. Just relax. Close your eyes if that will help and just allow me to adjust you.”

She nodded, squeezing her eyes closed, and took a deep breath. She relaxed again

and didn’t tense up when Coal’s hold tightened to spread her knees far apart. Her

cheeks warmed, knowing he could see every part of her sex when he pulled her closer

to the edge of the bed, parting her thighs wider.

“You have no idea how beautiful I think you are.”

The deep tone of his voice had her nipples hardening and excitement raced through

her when his warm breath fanned her inner thighs.

“If you knew how eager I am to do this, you’d never question how much I want to

touch and taste you.”

Jill’s breathing increased as her heart beat faster in anticipation. The memory of

what he’d done to her had her feeling a little eager herself. She tensed a bit when his

thumbs spread her sex lips apart and his tongue lightly touched her clit. She made a

small sound in the back of her throat when he hesitated and then licked the small bud.

A moan broke from her parted lips. Pleasure had her nails digging into her mattress

where she clutched the sheets. She spread her thighs wider on her own to give him

better access. Coal groaned against her sensitive flesh and the pace increased along with

the pressure he applied.

“Oh God,” she moaned. “It feels so good it almost hurts.” She wiggled in his hold,

breaking the connection between her body and his mouth.