Touching Ice (11 page)

the bruising he suffered from her smacks. Now I have to go over what they’ve learned

from clients and delete some of it so that doesn’t happen again.”

A muscle in his jaw jumped. “You have reviewed everything my men and I have

done with your bots?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Not exactly. The bots are programmed to ask questions

if a client does something outside of their programming parameters and I answer their

questions. Now they would question if it were acceptable to spank a client. I tell them

no and they delete that information.”

“Have you ever had to review anything I’ve done?”

She shifted her weight on the bed, fidgeted, and her gaze lowered to his chest.

“Um…” Heat flushed her cheeks.

“What did you review?” His voice deepened.

She glanced up at him, seeing his tense expression, and she found his black boots

suddenly very interesting. “It was just once and you didn’t teach her anything I had to

have her erase from her programming.”

49

Laurann Dohner

“What did I do?” He took a step closer.

Wow, is it hot in here? No, it’s just me
, she thought. She forced herself to meet his gaze

and just open her mouth. “You have a preference that the bots weren’t programmed

for.”

“What did I do?”

“You examined her vaginal area very closely when you had her pose with her

lower region exposed to your view. Clients don’t do that normally. It had her

questioning if she should use that with other clients to turn them on or if it should be

deleted.”

Megan could have sworn the man blushed as he glanced away, the color in his

cheeks darkened just slightly. He moved slowly to his bed and he sat down on the edge

of it hard, making it creak under his heavy weight, just a few feet from her. He didn’t

look at her.

“I’m curious by nature.”

“No need to explain. I find them fascinating myself.” She shrugged when he met

her gaze again. “I’ve had to repair a few of them. They are very lifelike.”

“You’re a programmer and you do hardware repairs as well?”

“Minor ones. We have a maintenance bot onboard
Folion
that does it but she goes

offline for upgrades from time to time so I handle repairing units for that day when it

happens. I’ve actually only had to repair two of them. They don’t get damaged often.”

“What happened to them?”

“One had skin damage from a client who scratched her and the other one a breast

problem when one of the gel packs under her artificial skin ruptured. I had to replace

it.”

Ice smiled. “That’s what is under there?”

She nodded. “They feel pretty close to the real thing.” A grin split her lips again. “I

never thought I’d have to grope breasts but I had to so I could get them just right. They

have to be perfectly aligned with each other.” She paused. “There I was, hand on each

breast, squeezing to make sure they felt and looked the same. I had to adjust the gel a

few times.”

“You must enjoy your job.” He still grinned, looking really handsome.

“If I were into girls, hell yes, but I’m not. I’m kind of uncomfortable with that aspect

of my job, actually. I had her shut down because it was just too weird having her

blinking at me and asking me questions while I messed with her girls.”

A deep, wonderful chuckle poured from Ice’s mouth. His eyes lit up with

amusement as he stared at her. He got the slightest little laugh lines on his temples. It

amazed her and before she gave it a thought, she leaned over, inches from him, and her

hand reached for his face. His eyes widened with shock and he stopped laughing as his

hand shot out, wrapping around her wrist to halt her from touching him.

“What are you doing?”

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Touching Ice

She backed away immediately. “I’m sorry.”

He stood quickly, frowning down at her, still gripping her. “What were you doing?

Answer me.”

“You get laugh lines. This is the first time I’ve ever seen you really laugh.”

“That surprises you?” His voice deepened.

“A little, yeah. I don’t know much about cyborgs but I thought you’d have a lot in

common with the bots. They have certain limitations on their expressions and I

assumed you would too.”

“I’m made of flesh and blood.”

“Oh. I wasn’t sure if you had real skin. I thought you might have synthetic because

of the color of it. It feels the same as mine does but they’ve come so far with

technology.” She glanced at his hand gripping her wrist, studying the gray color. “Do

you know why they didn’t make you human-flesh toned?” She looked up at him.

“They didn’t want us to be mistaken for human.” He paused and then slowly sat

back down. His fingers unwrapped from her wrist as he locked gazes with her.

“Proceed. You may touch me.”

Now that she thought about what to do, she hesitated before lifting her hand. She

barely brushed her fingertips along his cheekbone. His skin was soft, smooth, and

warm, just the way she remembered from exploring him while he slept. Now he was

aware of her touching him and she told him what she thought.

“You’re so warm, more so than I am.”

“I’m not a bot.” He took a deep breath. “Cyborgs were cloned and genes were

altered. All hereditary diseases were filtered out, only the strongest genes were used,

and they added in some artificial ones to help us heal faster and live longer. I have

implants and stronger bones than you do. I also run slightly higher in temperature but

only by a few degrees.”

“I noticed that you have tattoos. I’ve never seen anything similar to them. Do they

have meaning?”

He hesitated. “It’s the cyborg language we created. All cyborgs have them but I

didn’t like the idea of being branded. It’s our way of identifying each other so it was

necessary to have it done. I just had them put my information on one arm and in

smaller writing so it wasn’t as irritating to me.”

“Oh.” Megan nodded. “What do they say?”

“My name and what I do. When we first started to build our city on our new home

world, the work was very harsh. Some of our people died and since there were many of

us, it was hard to keep track of names. It’s why they decided to brand us this way. They

could identify those who were injured or dead.”

Her gaze flickered down his leather-clad body. “What kind of implants do you

have?”

51

Laurann Dohner

He tilted his head, moving away from her touch so she let her hand drop, then he

straightened his head again. “There are some inside my head to help me communicate

with technology. Emotions were not expected when we were created so they installed

chips to shut off sections of our brains in an attempt to block them. I also have a heart

monitor in my chest so, in case of failure, it will shock it back into functioning.”

Her gaze flicked down to his broad chest and then back up again. “Why the backup

system? Do cyborgs have weak hearts?”

“I’m designated to be a mechanic and work with electronics. If a strong current is

ever introduced into my body during an accident, it could stop my heart.”

“Hence the backup system,” she guessed aloud. “Well, I guess that’s handy.”

“Yes.”

“So your emotions are blocked? That’s weird. I figured you had them since you

have a need for…” Her voice trailed off and her mouth slammed closed.

His eyebrow lifted. “Sex?”

She gave a sharp nod. “Yes. The bots don’t have a sex drive. They just do what they

are programmed for. They recharge when they aren’t in use and just stay at their

docking stations inside the rooms. They couldn’t care less if they are activated or if they

stay dormant for months.”

He stared into her eyes. “I have a very active sex drive but I do have the ability to

shut it down if I wish. I don’t. I enjoy having access to everything that I am.”

“Oh. I would too.”

“You have had sex with me and you still believed me to be more bot than

humanoid?”

She hesitated. “You taste really sweet.”

Astonishment widened his stare. “Sweet?”

Megan knew her cheeks were warming from the blush spreading there. “When you

come, it tastes sweet, which made me think that perhaps they made you flavored that

way and that got me to thinking that maybe you were more artificial than not.”

An uncomfortable silence stretched as they watched each other. She’d obviously

been a little too blunt and had stunned the cyborg speechless. Megan started when a

loud buzz sounded in the room. Ice stood.

“It’s the food Blackie ordered.”

Megan didn’t recognize the cyborg who brought her meal. She wondered how

many of them were on the ship in all but didn’t ask. Ice nodded at the other man and

accepted the tray. The male at the door hesitated.

“Why feed her?”

“Silence,” Ice ordered him.

The man looked down at the tray of food, paled, and then nodded. “I see.”

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Touching Ice

The man glanced at Megan, a look of pity on his features, and then spun on his heel

to walk away. The door closed and Ice faced her with tray in hand.

“Here is your meal.” He hesitated, looking uncertain, and took a step back, the

movement opposite of his words. It was almost as if he didn’t want to feed her.

No one had ever accused Megan of being dimwitted.
Why feed her?
That cyborg had

given her a look that reflected pity. She studied Ice and saw his grim expression.

“You are supposed to eat this.” Anger clearly sounded in his tone.

She wiggled back on the mattress until she ended up in the corner of the bed with

her body pressed tightly to both walls. Panic welled inside her. “I’m not hungry,” she

lied.

He looked away from her, stared instead at the floor for long seconds, and then his

gaze lifted. Regret was an easy expression to read on his handsome face.

“Oh God.” Tears welled in her eyes as she stared into his beautiful ones. “I swore I

wouldn’t tell anyone about you. I could have done that months ago but I didn’t. All I

would have had to do was open up a communication with Earth to turn you in. I know

you aren’t sure if you can trust me but if I’d tried to collect a reward for you, they

would have been waiting to attack you the second you docked with
Folion
or even

before you reached it.”

He watched her silently, holding the tray, his expression carefully cleared of

emotion now.

“Please believe me. I’m no threat to you or your other cyborg people, Ice. I’d never

hurt you in any way.”

“I tend to believe you. I gave you an opportunity to harm me yet you didn’t do it.”

The tray in his hands said otherwise. She could feel it in her gut, and also knew

something had been done to the food. She stared into his shuttered gaze again, seeing

the remote look.

“Is it poisoned?”

His mouth tensed, the only reaction he allowed to show. “No.”

“You’re lying.”

The big cyborg took a deep breath before he expelled it slowly. “It’s not poisoned

but it is drugged with a strong sedative that will put you to sleep.”

“Why?” It hurt that he’d be a part of anything that would harm her. They’d shared

so much in the time they’d spent together. Disbelief and shock tore at her. “Ice? Are you

going to hurt me?” She fought back tears.

He looked away and then met her gaze. “I don’t want to cause you any harm.” His

jaw clenched. “Believe that if nothing else.”

Megan watched as he seemed to struggle with whatever thoughts he had and then

his face cleared of emotion.

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Laurann Dohner

“You are aware of us. We have a council and they have deemed it too risky to allow

you to return to Earth with the knowledge you possess. We are close to our home world

and your Earth Government may realize that if you were to talk to them. They could

start searching this area, hunting for our planet and they would find it. While we have a

defense system, we don’t want to test it. We enjoy the freedom to travel and do not

want a war with Earth. We left your planet to avoid just that.”

“I’d never tell the government about you. I don’t know much about cyborgs but I

heard every word you said about getting a real raw deal in the past when they made

you and then tried to wipe you out.” She paused. “I’m not a fan of mass murder.”

“The council has determined that you are too much of a risk. They believe you are

either a spy for Earth Government or that you are a bounty hunter searching for a large

group of cyborgs to collect a reward.”

“That’s not true. I’m just a programmer who got offered a lot of money to live out in

deep space on the
Folion
and my existence was deemed classified so some jackasses

didn’t try to find me to attempt to use me to get control of Clara so they could steal it.”

He studied her. “I tend to believe you, if that matters, but orders have to be

followed. It’s not my call to make.”

“So you’re going to drug me and then what?” Megan feared asking and suspected

the answer already. The idea that he’d do that to her had her fighting tears again. She

had believed she could trust him to never hurt her but she’d been wrong, obviously.

“Are you going to kill me?” Her voice broke.

Ice physically flinched. He took another slow, long breath. “It’s a method Earth