Lying back on his bed, he laced his fingers behind his head. As long as no one entered her quarters, the AI was safe. But it also meant he couldn’t simply return to the Consort Chamber and take it from her. He’d have to send her back to her quarters to get it.
Problem was, he knew Attie. She was a dedicated citizen and an even more dedicated trooper. She trusted Syndicorp to do the right thing, and he wouldn’t put it past her to take the entire mess to the admiral. Then not only would the AI lead bounty hunters straight to his sister, his own position would be compromised. Dollard would do a full reset on all his systems at the very least. Or worse, terminate him.
But the AI should be secure for the time being. And he’d buried Attie’s files so deep, no one would miss her for a long while. He’d rigged the admin pool to think she was on shore leave, and her so-called friends had abandoned her, afraid of being demoted along with her. Her father and brother rarely called, and her sister—well, it wasn’t like Marlis was going to come looking for her anytime soon. Attie was alone.
Like me.
Pushing the thought aside, he brought up the ship’s video feeds and rewound the footage in her room to the moment she’d received the AI. He watched her stare down at the wristband, her delicate eyebrows furrowed. There was something about her, something more than her beauty, and he couldn’t put his finger on it. An intelligence, perhaps, or maybe it was her dedication to family, so like his own.
His gaze dipped down to the curve of her breasts showing at the scooped neck of the shirt she liked to wear when she wasn’t in uniform. He’d seen her disrobed a few times since promising to keep an eye on her, but had seldom allowed himself to linger on her private moments.
Now, remembering how softly she’d been pressed against him in the hallway, he slipped his human hand down his stomach to his crotch where his erection had grown more noticeable.
It felt like a lifetime ago since he’d experienced desire. He’d been in a dive bar on Whylon Station, still human, flirting with a stranger he could no longer picture. They’d sneaked into a service corridor for a quickie. Hot and fast. If he’d known it would be his last time, he would’ve savored it.
He slid his hand under his waistband, grasping his shaft. What would Attie’s hand feel like stroking him there? He remembered her smell and the feel of her lips. The way she’d opened her mouth to him and tangled her tongue with his. So sweet. So wet. Nebulas, he’d love to feel those plump lips around his cock. He pumped up and down, the rising pressure a spark of life inside a body that had felt dead for a long time.
Imagining her soft moans, he licked his lips and stroked faster, flexing upward to meet his own rhythm until his heartbeat thudded in his ears and his balls felt like they were about to burst. Release hovered just out of reach, teasing him, and he pictured her sex, the wet and glistening folds waiting for his penetration.
Just as he approached oblivion, a transmission entered his thoughts. Hello?
He froze, wondering if his hormone-addled mind had imagined it; no one should be able to communicate through the lab’s dampening fields.
But then it came again. Doug, can you hear me?
Chapter 6
Attie slumped onto a nearby cushion, staring at the doorway where the cyborgs had retreated. Her temples throbbed and her lips felt swollen. Whatever drug she’d been given was making it difficult to concentrate. She shifted uncomfortably. She knew little about cyborgs except that once a person had over fifty percent of their body replaced by machinery, they lost their citizenship because they were no longer autonomous—they could be controlled by someone else.
But none of that mattered right now. She needed to talk to whoever was in charge and tell them there’d been a mistake.
A gentle hand settled between Attie’s shoulder blades and she startled.
Claudia knelt next to her. “You okay, hon?”
Attie swallowed and nodded. Rising unsteadily, she went to the first doorway she’d entered. There didn’t appear to be a way to open it from this side. The cyborg door was the same, nothing but a panel on the wall. She dug her fingers into the crack, feeling around for any sort of latch. “How do we get out of here?”
“We don’t, hon. Just relax. Jinson will bring us food soon.” Claudia slid the panel of a small cubby aside and removed two water pouches. She handed one to Attie and popped open the other.
Attie set the pouch down and examined the cubby where the water had been. It was about twenty centimeters square—too small to squeeze through—but looked like it had another access panel on the other side. She knocked on it. “Hey! Open up! I’m not supposed to be here!”
“That won’t do any good. I’ve been here for months, and the only person I’ve seen besides the cyborgs is Jinson when he brings food or meds.”
Attie turned and frowned at her. “Meds? You mean the shot? You know they drugged us, right?”
“Sure.” Claudia shrugged one shoulder and took another drink of water. “It’s a lot better than the crap I used to get at Madame Miliano’s. That stuff would leave me with a headache for days.”
Madame Miliano’s sounded an awful lot like a brothel. Had Claudia been undercover? “What’s your rank and regiment? How did you end up here?”
“Regiment? I’m not a trooper. Hell no. One of my former clients recommended me.” Claudia reclined against a pile of cushions. “He was really nice. I might look him up when I get out.”
Claudia isn’t even a trooper.
