Loving Deviant (Cyborg Seduction Book 9) (7 page)

“My father is waiting in the hallway and he wishes to meet you.”

She stopped the spray and began to dry. “Okay.”

“He’ll help us smooth over my bringing you to our home world.”

“What’s the worst that could happen?”

He detected worry in her expression. “You need to tell anyone who asks that you’ve verbally contracted to belong to me.” He reached out and brushed his thumb along her cheek. “You’re more than that to me, but we have laws in place that would allow me to keep you safe if you were considered indentured.”

“Would they kill me or something otherwise?”

“No but you wouldn’t be trusted. We are very suspicious of anyone from Earth, because the fate of our world rests on them not being able to locate our planet. Your government would attempt to destroy us again.”

“They aren’t mine anymore. So…my being your property makes me less of a threat to other cyborgs?”

“Belonging to me protects you from being interrogated or held as a prisoner. With my protection extended to you, I would take full responsibility for all of your actions.”

She peered at him with a frown. “You mean
you’d
be punished if I did something wrong? That doesn’t sound fair.”

“They couldn’t detain you without my permission, which I would never give.”

That answer didn’t seem to put her at ease but she nodded. “Okay. I got it.”

He turned away and walked to the wall, opening a panel. He withdrew one of his shirts and some sleeping pants. He sliced a foot of material off the bottom of the legs before handing the outfit to her. “Put this on.”

She dressed quickly and Deviant resisted smiling. His clothing was far too large for her, even with the shortened pants.

She brushed her hands down the material and held his gaze. “How do I look?”

“Very attractive.”

“I wish I had something better to wear to meet your dad. He’s going to think I’m a refugee…which I guess I am. I had to leave all my belongings on the station.”

“We’ll get you suitable clothing once we reach Garden.”

“That’s the name of your planet?”

“Yes. My father waits. Are you ready? His name is Mavo.”

She gave a sharp nod but he glimpsed a little fear in her expression.

“No one would dare do you harm, Venice. I’d defend you against anyone—and that includes my father. You’re mine to protect.”

Venice felt a little stunned at the vehemence of Deviant’s promise. It did alleviate some of her nervousness though. He touched the pad for seconds and it opened. A tall black-haired cyborg entered. His green eyes were piercing as they studied her from head to foot. The door closed behind him and he paused just inside.

“Father, this is Venice.” Deviant stepped to her side and gently curved his arm around her waist. “This is my father, Mavo.”

She smiled. “Hello. It’s nice to meet you.” She held out her hand, hoping the gesture wouldn’t offend him.

He stepped forward and took her offered palm, grasping it gently and shaking it twice. He didn’t release it though. Instead, he looked down and frowned. “Real or artificial?”

She remembered his voice from the brothel. Now he just wasn’t dressed like a pirate. “Real. My left one is artificial, and both of my legs.”

“May I?” He released her hand.

She offered him the left one. He took it, studying her fingers. “Amazing. Earth has really advanced medically since we left. It feels genuine.”

“It does. I can’t tell a difference from my right or left unless I get cut. It hurts but I don’t bleed on the left side. It heals really fast too.”

Venice studied Mavo. He looked too young to be Deviant’s father. She could see a resemblance though with his facial features. They had the same chin, lips, and nose. The eye colors were different and so were their skin tones. Mavo was a much lighter shade of gray. His green eyes were pretty but she preferred Deviant’s brilliant blue ones. The cyborg released her hand.

“Convince me you don’t work for Earth Government.”

Deviant answered before she could. “We discussed this, Father. Scan her body and check Earth laws. I believe her.”

Mavo frowned, switching his attention to his son. “You’re motivated to believe her. I’m worried about your safety, and that of our people.”

“I will take responsibility for her.”

“And if she is a spy?” Mavo sighed. “It could cost you your life, along with risking our entire planet. We don’t want to go to war with Earth.”

“Earth Government will kill me or put me back into the facility where they were stealing and selling my blood, if they ever get their hands on me,” Venice informed him. “They kept me there for four years, drugged up, and under the care of androids. Do you think I ever want to go back there? One full scan and they’ll know who I am and what was done to me. All this body work is illegal. I’m not a person anymore, according to Earth laws. They can order me destroyed like I’m some kind of outdated piece of machinery someone patched together out of spare parts.

“I can’t ever go back, nor do I want to. I’m also terrified of what they’ll do to my sister. She was the one who kept searching for me, despite being told I’d died. They’ll kill her if EG is ever given evidence that I’m alive, because it will be proof against her that she helped me escape. That would be considered a terminal crime.”

“Won’t she be blamed anyway?”

“No. They’re probably suspicious of her but as long as I don’t turn up alive, the blame could shift to rebels who attack those kinds of facilities to make them lose profits. Rebels would have killed me and disposed of my body, just so my blood couldn’t be sold any longer. Only a family member would bother paying for extensive surgery to get me back on my feet.”

He continued to stare at her with a frown.

“She paid an organization called Angels to help retrieve me. They’re on government hit lists, considered a terrorist group, like the rebels are. The difference is, most of their members are medical professionals who are tired of seeing people like me killed or used until death. They patched me up this great because my sister donated a lot of money to them. That would be seen as her funding a terrorist group. Do you understand? It’s a death sentence for her.”

Mavo studied her and finally relaxed. “I want to believe you. Right now, I need to contact the council and inform them, along with the commander of this vessel, that someone from Earth is aboard.”

“Perhaps we should wait until after we reach Garden.” Deviant lowered his voice. “I don’t want anyone believing they can take her away from me.”

“They won’t.” Mavo held Venice’s gaze. “We used to be able to own Earthers, but now we can’t. We can, however, contract them as workers, taking them under our protection. I have a few friends on the council. I’ll contact them directly first, then let Stag know.”

“He doesn’t like Earthers.” Deviant softened his tone too. “I’d really prefer we wait until we reach Garden. Think about it for a moment.”

Mavo hesitated. “I’ll make certain you’re off duty until we return, so you don’t have to leave her alone. Let me know when you need food. I’ll bring it so you don’t have to risk anyone finding out she’s here. I still need to let a few council members that I trust know what is happening. You won’t be able to get her off this shuttle and into the city otherwise.”

“Understood. Thank you.”

“We are undocking with the station in a few hours. I’ll talk to you in the morning. It will be too late by then to change your mind about taking her home with you.”

“My decision is made,” Deviant stated.

Venice watched Deviant’s father leave before voicing her concerns. “Who is Stag and why does he hate anyone from Earth?”

“He was heavily abused while on Earth. This is his ship we’re aboard.”

She suddenly didn’t feel very safe. “Would this Stag have me tossed out an airlock or something if he finds out I’m aboard? I’ve heard that some captains do that when they discover a stowaway.”

“No. That sounds like something only Earthers would do. I won’t allow anyone to hurt you, Venice. I would fight Stag before I’d let him near you.” He reached out and brushed his hand down her arm. “That’s why I explained how important it is for you to stay here, so no one finds out about you.”

“I thought the scariest part was knowing I was the only woman with seven men on the ship. Now I’m more afraid of the guy with a grudge.”

He smiled. “You’re mine, Venice. I will protect you. We’ll reach Garden and everything will be fine.”

She wanted to trust him. It sure beat still being on the station with Darbis hunting her down, trying to force her to work in a brothel.

She really liked Deviant, and was starting to care about him more than she should. Her heart might get broken in the end if she didn’t rein in her feelings. It was just tough not to be attracted to him on every level. She reminded herself that one day he wanted to join in some family unit thing with a female cyborg.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.” He led her to the bed and sat.

She took the seat next to him. “What’s wrong with cyborg women?”

He arched his eyebrows in question.

“I still can’t understand why you’d have a problem dating them.”

Deviant hesitated and then blew out a deep breath. “My mother had a difficult time conceiving me. I wasn’t her first child, but I was her last. She already had four sons but it was decided I’d be her fifth.”

“That’s a lot of kids.”

“She had one son from each of her other three husbands and two with my father. He was her fourth.”

“She was married four times?”

He reached out and took her hand. “She has four current husbands.”

Venice was stunned. She’d heard of some weird family relationships on Earth. Sometimes the rich would keep a spouse and a known lover, but it was rare for it to become public knowledge.

“The cyborg males vastly outnumbered the females when we fled Earth. It was logical to have them take as many males as possible into a family unit to avoid fighting.”

She was confused, and it must have shown because he shrugged.

“I know it’s not the way it is on Earth. We had to adapt. The males might have started to fight amongst themselves, killing off the competition to win a female’s attention, and we needed to make certain our race survived. Some females have more than four husbands, but four is the standard number.”

“More?”

“Some keep six or seven. I have even met one male who was the eighth. It depends on how fertile the female is and how many males she’s willing to accept. Each of us must produce a child to ensure the future of our race.”

He was a virgin, or had been before they’d met. She refrained from asking him if he had any kids since that seemed highly improbable. “Okay. I guess I can see how that could happen if there are so few women and a lot of men. Don’t the husbands get jealous and still fight?”

“They don’t live together. The females split their time between the males in their family units. The women move between the homes the males keep, taking their children with them. Jealousy isn’t a factor that arises much.”

“That’s hard to believe.” Venice tried to relate by imagining having to share Deviant with another woman or a group of them. She didn’t like the thought one bit.

“It’s difficult to explain.”

That was an understatement. “So in other words, there are so many men that it’s tough to find a woman who doesn’t already have a ton of husbands?”

“We located more cyborg females recently, so the numbers aren’t as uneven as they used to be. My mother had to take experimental drugs to produce me. I told you that she had two children with my father. Dalk was born first, and showed exceptional intelligence at a young age. My mother stripped my father of the right to raise him by giving him to another male as his son.”

“That sounds really messed up! She was allowed to do that?”

He inclined his head. “It was. She has a strong bond to her first husband. Their child was born with flaws. Perfection is desired with cyborg parents, a source of pride, so she allowed him to claim Dalk as his own so he’d have a healthy son. My father was stripped of the right to raise and be a part of Dalk’s life. He protested, but she ignored his wishes. So my father took my mother before the council, and they ordered her to have another child that he could retain established rights to. He had also promised to have a child for his friend Krell, who wasn’t able to meet his requirement to produce a child for our society.”

Venice opened her mouth, found no words since she was so confused, and ended up just sealing her lips. His world sounded pretty complicated.

“Krell is heavily scarred and no female wanted to join in a family unit with him. He and my father are close friends, and have been since they fled Earth together. I’m legally registered to Krell, to fulfill his obligation to our race. But as I stated, my mother had a difficult time getting pregnant. Or perhaps she was angry enough over the council’s ruling that she attempted not to have another child. The experimental drug the council ordered her to take to conceive had unexpected results.” He released her and fisted his hand. “My skin tone is much darker than that of any other cyborg.”