Taunting Krell (8 page)

“It sucks if that’s your idea of humor.” She kept her voice low. “I don’t enjoy being touched and that creep put his hand on me.”

He swallowed, his Adam’s apple sliding along his scarred throat. “You’re touching me now.”

“I kind of like you but if you do that again it can change really quick.” She paused, feeling his six-pack abs tense more in response to her words. “That wasn’t all kinds of fun for you either. I’d strongly suggest getting new ones if those are your friends. They were total assholes.”

“They are work associates. I have few friends.”

“I’m shocked,” she stated sarcastically. “You’re so talkative, after all.”

His eyes narrowed and his lips pressed firmly together as they stared at each other. “Why are you touching me?”

“Why are you allowing it? That’s the real question.”

“You’re small and I don’t want to push you away. You could fall.”

“Your reflexes are fast enough to catch me before I hit the floor.” She inched her hand a little lower on his stomach. “What were those guys talking about? Why won’t cyborg women date you?”

His expression hardened and an angry glint made his eyes appear downright chilly. “It’s obvious.”

His scars
. Her hand left the back of his and she released his stomach. She reached up slowly, always careful not to move too fast around him to make certain he didn’t mistake her actions for an attack, and cupped his face. Her thumb softly traced the worst scar along his cheek.

“I guess cyborgs aren’t as smart as they think. These don’t distract from how handsome you are and they only prove the strength it took to survive.” She glanced at the ones on his neck, the ones peeking out from the top of his shirt, before she met his gaze again. “You’re lucky you didn’t die from what those asshole guards did to you. I’m so sorry you suffered so much inside that cell. It never should have happened.”

He reached up and gripped her wrists, lowered his head to peer deeply into her eyes, and seemed to be looking into her soul. The coldness of his stare seemed to soften. They didn’t talk, just stood there watching each other until she became aware of something hard pressing against her stomach. She broke eye contact with him to glance down.

“Damn.”

She stared at the bulge of his cock that tented out his pants. The guy was really hung and it was currently touching her through their clothes since she had to notice once more that he obviously wasn’t wearing underwear to contain his arousal and the material didn’t hold his straining cock too tightly against his body.

He released her wrists and gripped her hips suddenly. He shoved her back, released her as quickly as he’d touched her, and stomped into the living room.

“Unbelievable,” he snarled.

“I agree,” she muttered.

She stood there watching him throw his big frame back into the black chair and met the angry glare he directed her way. He reached over, grabbed a pillow from another chair and dropped it over his lap. It didn’t do much but make it more obvious he was trying to shield something from her view. She already knew she affected him.

“We’re not done talking.” With a wave of his hand, he motioned for her to sit.

Cyan forced her legs to move. She sat across from him, tried not to glance at the pillow, and instead focused on his face. It obviously pissed him off to be attracted to her. She felt more confused than angry at feeling the same way about him. He wasn’t her type, was too tall, too gruff, and obviously didn’t welcome the thought of any type of attachment to her.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“It was your bet and you won it. You wanted five hours of my time.”

Five hours seemed like a really long time now and talking wasn’t first on her list of things she wanted to do with him anymore. Her body responded to his. She hadn’t dated in a long time, could chalk it up to that, but wouldn’t allow herself off the hook that easily on a flimsy excuse. She inwardly winced at that assessment. Krell was hot, damaged, a cyborg, and nearly irresistible to her. The fact that he had an amazing body and sported the most impressive cock size she’d ever seen only added to his magnetism.

“We were discussing your implants.” He shifted his leg to spread his thighs a little in the chair.

She wondered if his hard-on was making sitting uncomfortable for him. “Right.” She cleared her throat. “We were.”
Ignore the elephant in the room, or in Krell’s case, the massive wood mast he’s sporting.
She smiled at the thought. “What do you want to know?”

“You said it can’t kill you if you trigger the conditioning but it causes pain and can cause unconsciousness.”

“That’s right.” She shifted in her seat, aware that she had her own discomforts to deal with now that her lower region seemed to ache. Krell’s physical reaction to her made it worse because she knew he wanted her too. “This body is basically human…for the most part. They did an amazing job.”

“Can you safely discuss what was done?”

She hesitated. “I don’t know the details but they transferred ‘me’ into this body.” She met his gaze, held it and couldn’t resist running her hands over her thighs. He lowered his gaze, watching her movements with keen concentration. Being aroused seemed to distract her enough to avoid the usual pain while discussing her past.

“Go on. I’m interested in hearing this.” His voice came out low and husky.

“It seems that I’m not affected by the aging process. At least I don’t think so. I haven’t gone senile yet. As far as sensations go, this body feels totally human.” She licked her lips, knew she was playing with fire, and traced her hands upward to her waist, along the sides of her breasts, and paused there. “It can feel everything, every touch, even a breeze.”

She paused when he tensed, his hands gripping the edges of the arms of the chair enough to see his fingers dig into the material. He looked ready to lunge at her and she wondered what she’d do if he did. She doubted she’d say no if he wanted to touch her. She couldn’t ever remember wanting to know what it would be like to have a man make love to her as much as she wanted Krell. She wasn’t sure if he’d be tender or not. He was a mystery and obviously, from what his friends said, a little sex starved. She could relate. He didn’t leave his chair though. She felt disappointment.

“And pleasure. It feels everything, like any human body.”
Oh hell. What are you doing? You’re taunting him.
She couldn’t resist doing it. She’d always lived on the edge after she’d woken up inside the lab to discover she’d cheated death. An experience of that magnitude changed a person, made them take more risks since no one knew how short life could be until they’d had it taken away. She wanted him and she hated regrets.
The worst that could happen
, she reasoned
, is he could be a shitty lover in the sack.

“Ours is the same. I am not aware of any loss of sensation but I’ve never actually had a human body so can’t compare the two.”

The deepness of his voice, the raspy tone, turned her on more. She licked her lips and his intense gaze watched. His knuckles whitened, something she noticed since she was aware of every breath he took, and how quickly the pace of it had increased.

“I always wondered something about cyborgs,” she admitted. “Are we talking total honesty here between us? I’m willing to answer any of your questions if you answer mine.”

His gaze jerked up to hers and he tensed. “What information would you like to know? You seem to be an expert on my kind if you truly are who you claim to be. You should know everything about us.”

“I know about your implants and how you’re able to shut down your body’s responses unless someone overrode those functions.” She paused, hating how once some jerk could do that to them to prevent them from muting any pain inflicted on them if they were being punished. “Since your escape from Earth, have cyborgs allowed emotions and physical responses to exist?”

His jaw clenched. “You mean my physical reaction to you?”

“You could shut it down but you haven’t.”

Anger darkened his eyes. “I actually did.”

That surprised her. “It didn’t look that way to me.”

“Perhaps my implants are malfunctioning.”

She let that slide despite the questions it created. “Did cyborgs in general stop using their implants to control their body functions?”

“Most did. They wanted to experience true life without deadening any natural responses.”

It made Cyan happy to hear it. “Do you masturbate?”

Shock parted his lips as he gaped at her.

“Do you?”

Anger came next, an emotion easy to read on his features. “Do you?” It also sounded in his gruff voice.

“Yes. It feels the same as before. I was really happy I didn’t lose that sensation. I’m still as sensitive in that area. As a matter of fact, it had been a really long time since I was able to do it. I think I kind of went overboard for the first few years.” She smiled, not embarrassed in the least. “I was finally able to have sex with someone else. A frail, unhealthy body can’t engage in sex with a partner. Most men wouldn’t want to do someone with limited physical mobility unless it was out of pity. That’s not what any woman wants, for a man to feel that while touching them. Physical defects were so rare on Earth that it made others uncomfortable. It was a rare, incurable, genetic alteration caused by an experimental drug some women took before they got pregnant.”

His toes drew her attention when they curled slightly. “Have you enjoyed engaging in sexual interaction with a male?”

“It was okay. It depended on the guy. Some of them can talk a good game but when it comes to play time, they couldn’t back it up. You still haven’t answered my question. Do you masturbate, Krell?”

He glared at her. “Occasionally I give in to my physical needs. It’s irritating to keep ignoring the urge.”

The image of Krell stroking his cock made her hotter. Her nipples tightened and her belly quivered. Her panties were growing damp. Some things had changed with her new body and she was aware of every reaction she had to Krell. An ache began at her clit and quickly escalated to an empty feeling inside her pussy, a longing to be filled. She took some deep breaths, watched him, and hoped he’d come at her now. She really wanted him to. She decided to press him further in an attempt to snap his control.

“When is the last time you did it? Maybe that’s the reason you’re reacting to me despite trying to shut it down. Maybe your body has overridden the implant you tried to trigger. You want me, Krell. Sometimes a desire is stronger than any programming. It proves you’re alive if you have strong desires you want to follow through on.”

“That isn’t an issue I wish to discuss unless you are willing to inform me when you engaged in the activity of seeking self-gratification.”

“The night before I hit the station.” She smiled. “On my bunk.”

He shifted again in the chair. His teeth sank into his bottom lip when his mouth parted and his breathing increased. She wondered if he imagined her stretched out naked on a small mattress, touching her own body. She moved her hands, sliding them over her breasts, and he leaned forward, his gaze riveted.

“These feel real too.” She squeezed them gently. “As if they were my own. I was sure they’d have some weird artificial filling but they are amazingly sensitive. It’s not cloned skin but real tissue.” She leaned forward. “Want to feel them?” Her hands opened to drop away as she arched her back.

He stood abruptly, the pillow hit the floor, and his cock strained harder against his pants. He snarled at her. “I don’t find this amusing.” He turned, storming away down the hallway.

Cyan sagged in her chair and closed her eyes. She flinched when a bedroom door slammed loud enough to reverberate through his living quarters. He thought she was purposely screwing with his head instead of offering to have sex with him.

Her chin lowered to her chest as her head hung. Her body ached and she knew she was in definite need of changing her panties. They were really wet. Her nipples were as achy as the area between her thighs. So much for seducing the too-tall, sexy cyborg.

“Damn! Good going, Cyan. Total strike-out.”

Chapter Six

Cyan finally stood, feeling guilty that Krell thought she’d purposely tried to torment him. He obviously didn’t understand that the offer had been real. She guessed he figured it was payback for the stunt he’d pulled by allowing the two cyborg jerks to hit on her. She walked down the hallway softly, paused at her door before taking a few more steps to his closed one. She obviously needed to be more aggressive and blunt with the guy.

The door jerked open before she could touch it with her fist. Krell grabbed her. He hauled her off her feet by her arms, twisted her in the air, and her back hit the wall where he spun them into the hallway.

“What do you want now? I heard you coming. You can’t move stealthily enough for me not to hear your approach.” He snarled the words in her face since they were level, with her lifted off her feet. “Do you wish to see if I’m seeing to my own needs now that you’ve gotten a sexual response from me? Would you enjoy knowing you won our verbal sparring as well the physical one we engaged in?”

“I came to tell you that I wasn’t messing with you.”

He jerked her higher, staring deeply into her eyes. “I can’t tell if you’re lying. You’re hard to read.”

“Sorry. I’m not screwing with you. I was honestly interested.”

“Was?” His hold on her arms loosened as he adjusted his grip on her. He did it easily, with his strength. He leaned forward, used his chest to pin her against the wall and released her arms entirely. He grabbed her hips instead, leaned back, and one arm slid around her waist. “Do you want to engage in sexual intercourse with me? That’s what is going to happen if you keep playing games.”

She winced. “Sexual intercourse? Really? You use that term? It’s so clinical. I’m going to have to deem you totally unsexy if you say penis.”

His gaze flashed anger at her. “Would you prefer a human term? Unless you want me to fuck you with my dick buried deep into your vag—womb, you will stop coming after me now.”

She smiled. “You almost said vagina, didn’t you?”

He snarled and suddenly dropped her to her feet, backing away. “Go to your room now.” He tried to storm back into his.

She grabbed his arm and used her strength to spin him this time. His back hit the door and she followed him into his bedroom. He nearly fell when the door moved behind him in its partially open state. Her gaze swept his room as she followed him in, refusing to release her hold on him.

He had a big bed, a full entertainment package on his wall and a big dresser beneath the viewing screen. His bedroom also had a large window with a view of the cyborg city. She tore her attention from it to stare up at him.

“I like your room better.”

“I’m not switching sleeping quarters with you.” He jerked out of her hold and glared.

“I didn’t think you would.” She hesitated. “We have a problem.”

“We actually have several.”

She grinned, really liking him. “I’m attracted to you and you feel the same toward me. We’re living together, you said you are stuck babysitting me, and I’m not allowed to leave. We could ignore this whole sexual tension thing or just give in to it. I don’t know about you but I hate being miserable. You don’t like to talk but I hate being bored. We’re either going to kill each other inside of a week or we’re going to end up tangled together in the sheets of one of our beds.” She glanced at his. “Yours is bigger.” She met his shocked gaze. “So let’s be realistic. I want you and you obviously want me.” She looked down to see his cock still strained to break free of his pants before she smiled up at him. “I’m a little intimidated by your size but I’ve never backed away from a challenge.”

“You’re serious?” He paled.

“Ouch. Most guys would be thrilled if I wanted to strip them naked. Don’t look so overjoyed there, Krell.”

“I don’t want to join a family unit.”

“That’s marriage on this planet, right? Long-term commitment? Is it like a law that if we go to bed together we have to make it official?”

“No. Yes. No.” He backed away.

“Decisive. I like that in a man,” she chuckled, teasing him. “Which is it?”

“Joining a family unit is the equivalent of marriage on Earth. We test our compatibility, usually before joining a family unit, by engaging in sexual activity.” He paused. “I’m not fit to be in a family unit.”

“Because of your scars?”

“I’m undesirable for many reasons but that is one of them.”

“I think they are sexy, I’m not looking to get married, and I have an implant that prevents me from getting pregnant. I control my ovaries.” She tapped her head. “That’s confidential by the way. Tell that to your council and I swear I’ll remove your left nut, assuming you have both of them. I haven’t seen you naked yet. I’m not going to be a cyborg breeding machine and I don’t want them screwing with my head, trying to kill that function.”

“Stop advancing on me.” He didn’t sound too convinced that he really wanted her to by the raspy softness of his voice.

She stepped closer to the retreating cyborg until she backed him into a corner. It was cute how big he was yet he seemed almost fearful of her. “We have two choices here. We can act on our attraction to each other or try to ignore it.” She openly stared down at his erection. “Which is really hard to do. You’re kind of big and that’s impossible to ignore.”

“Get out.”

She met his gaze, saw anger there. “Fine. We’ll ignore it. I still have at least four and a half hours left of our talk time. Want to tell me why you don’t want to do me?”

He glared at her.

“This is what I’m talking about. I wouldn’t be annoying you if we were having sex and if you’re doing it right, we wouldn’t be doing too much talking either since you obviously aren’t really into long conversations. Is it because I’m not a cyborg?” Her hands gripped her hips as she smiled up at him. “Is that the problem? Have you ever done a human? I look like one and although I’m not technically totally human anymore, I sure feel real.”

His gaze zoned in on her breasts. “You said that.”

“I meant I feel real as in ‘emotionally’ but it goes both ways. You’d know that if your hands were on me.” She was enjoying their conversation even if he wasn’t. “Is it my size? You aren’t going to break me. I’m really tough. I’ve got really strong bones, the ability to heal quickly, and I don’t even catch colds.”

His dark gaze lifted to stare into hers. “You don’t really want me. This is a deception on your part. You’re trying to keep me off guard. I heard about how you enjoy doing that to males.”

Her eyebrows arched.

“You offered the team who captured you a puppy and said Earth surrendered to them.”

“That stupid puppy again,” she muttered. “I thought they were crazy space pirates. Is anyone ever going to allow me forget that? They also didn’t capture me. I was the one with the knife and in control of the situation. I surrendered to them.”

“They underestimated you.”

“Everyone always does.”

“I refuse to allow you to play mental games with me. Leave my room.”

She stepped closer, invading his personal space, and peered up at him. “Are you sure it’s a game? Do you really believe that I would only want to touch you for some nefarious reason?”

“Yes. I’m undesirable.”

“Bullshit.” She backed up though. “Cyborg women are just idiots if they don’t find you smoking hot.” Cyan turned and strolled toward his door. “I’ll be in my room taking care of my needs if you change your mind, since you refuse to. You can owe me the talk time. I always keep track when someone is indebted to me.”

Krell fisted his hands at his sides. The urge to go after Cyan was so strong his entire body tensed. He closed his eyes. She was a spy, a good one, who wanted to distract him from his mission of uncovering her deception. She was willing to use her body to do it and he wished he were a weaker male. He really wanted to see how far she’d go to convince him he could trust her.

He accessed his implants and tried to cease the responses to his groin area. He opened his eyes and glanced down. His dick remained hard, aching from the need to bury itself in the soft, tempting body of a woman who’d probably slit his throat the first opportunity she had.

It pissed him off. He turned his head slightly, staring at the scars on his chest, a constant reminder of the cruelty of Earth Government. He walked to his door, closed it and decided to ignore his lower half. For some reason the female affected his physical responses too strongly for his implants to override. He hadn’t touched a female in a really long time. That had to be it. He’d grown weak without realizing it.

He approached the entertainment package and pressed his hand to the screen, activating it. He’d rerouted a lot of the computer functions to his room. In seconds he reached out to connect to Zorus. He grew impatient while waiting for the male to answer.

“Is something wrong?”

“Yes,” Krell snarled inside his head. “Assign someone else to interrogate the human.”

Zorus paused. “Are you all right?”

“No.”

“What is wrong? Did she attack you?”

“You could say that. She came on to me in an attempt to gain her trust.”

Krell clenched his teeth when the other man allowed his amusement to cross the connection. He didn’t even have the audacity to hide it.

“She tried to initiate sex with you?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you talking to me? That’s a good way to learn her body’s reaction.”

“I hate you,” Krell grumbled aloud and through the link. “I won’t touch her.”

“Perhaps you’d be in a better mood. I’m busy. You’re a tough cyborg and she’s a small female. I’m confident you can handle her. Charlie is waiting for me. We’re going to bed. Good evening, Krell. Don’t call me again until you have proof either way of who she really is and her intentions.” Zorus cut the connection.

Krell jerked his hand away and paced his room. He glared at the common wall the bedroom shared. She couldn’t really be in the other room naked and touching her own body. It would be too cruel.

He growled, his fists clenched, and decided that had to be exactly what she did. She wanted to make him suffer. He glanced down at his dick, still hard and uncomfortable, and resisted the urge to punch something. He wouldn’t allow her to win this mental war. Two could play games. He just needed to outthink her and keep her off guard.

As he paced, his mind worked and suddenly he decided to change the game around. She believed she could use her body to lure him into a sense of trust. He could do the same. She’d admitted to being very human despite her engineered enhancements. He moved swiftly to his door, jerked it open and stepped into the hallway. In seconds his hand gripped her door and he didn’t bother to knock. She’d given him an invitation already.

The sight of her on the bed jerked him to a halt before he even got the chance to step into her room. She’d removed everything except small red panties that barely contained the slit of her pussy—a hairless one. He could see that through the sheer scrap of material covering it. Her bare breasts were firm, rounded mounds with rosy, hardened peaks.

His dick turned stone hard and his balls tightened to the point of pain. He forced air into his lungs as he allowed his gaze to slowly drift over her pale skin, no imperfections showing at all, even where she’d injured her thigh. He made note that not even a scar marred the site of the wound. He finally took a step forward as their gazes met.

Cyan remembered to breathe as Krell stared into her eyes. He closed her door softly at his back, sealing them inside the small guestroom, and her heart raced. He’d followed her and she knew what that meant. She highly doubted he’d come inside to argue with her. One glance away from his eyes to his straining cock was clue enough that he wanted her bad. His eyes darkened as she stared into them.

“I haven’t started yet. I was hoping you’d join me.” Her thumbs hooked her panties at her hips. “Please tell me that’s why you’re here.”

He stalked forward slowly, almost predatory, watching her with an intensity that made her swallow hard. She suddenly remembered that cyborgs could be dangerous to their enemies. She could be in a world of serious trouble if Krell viewed her as one. She lifted her ass off the bed, wiggled her hips, and lifted her legs to drop the panties off the side of the bed. Krell stopped just feet away from her, his gaze leaving her eyes to stare at the last little bit of her body she’d revealed.

“You—” He cleared his throat. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”

Cyan bit her lip and spread her thighs apart, keeping her knees bent, and exposed her pussy to him. “You’re not going to hurt me, are you?”

His intense gaze snapped back to hers.

“That would totally suck if that’s your intention,” she said, keeping her voice soft. “I’m offering both of us a lot of pleasure. It’s not a game. Those are for kids. Do I look like a child to you?”

His hands moved, grabbed his pants and tore at the front of them. “You pushed too far and you’re going to get me now.”

“Good.” She licked her lips. “Just take it slow.” Her attention fixed on him, opening his pants. He shoved them down, stepped out of them quickly, and she knew her eyes widened at the sight of his thick, hard cock. He was definitely toting a mast. “Real slow. That’s going to take some adjusting to.”

He glanced down his body before meeting her gaze. “You’re small.”

“
Nothing
on you is.” She smiled. “Size proportionate is absolutely fitting in your case. Big hands, big feet and a big…” Her gaze lingered on his rigid shaft. “Everything.”

“It’s been awhile for me.”

“Me too.” She pushed up to a sitting position and turned in his direction. Her face was now level with his hips. “Want to lower down some, Too Tall?”

He dropped to his knees. Cyan scooted closer, spread her thighs and lifted a hand. She wiggled her finger at him to come closer before pointing down between her spread feet.

“You think you’re going to control this?” He didn’t move at first but one black eyebrow arched.

“One of us needs to start.”

He stared into her eyes, seeming to study her. “You’re living in my home and you need to learn a few things about me.”