Peyton 313 (15 page)

“I see.” Well, he didn’t yet. . .but he sure as hell intended to find out. “Too bad you lack the ability to completely erase a sight like that from your memory. I guess that’s one positive about being a cyborg.”

Responding calmly to her explanation was very challenging when he wanted to have one of those outbursts she kept warning him about. He didn’t allow himself to do so because he was afraid she would put him back into the cage if he did.

Kyra sighed and nodded. “Yes. I’ve often thought it would be nice to forget the whole thing completely. It’s okay though. The woman managed to get over it by moving into this bedroom. A month later her husband moved out of the house and never bothered her again. That was years ago. Now she’s mostly over it.”

“The ghost—are you saying the frightened woman tied to the bedposts was you?”

“Yes, Captain Elliot. And I’m also saying I can’t go back to that room to sleep. Any more questions before I get clean? I’m nearly too tired to bathe.”

Peyton heard a clicking in his head and realized he was snapping his teeth together. “No. I have no more questions. I’ll be here waiting for your return. I promise I will be wearing clothing of some sort.”

Nodding at his agreement, Kyra slipped down the hall.

Peyton felt his anger rising. He looked around for something to bend in half, but there was nothing. He paced the width of the small room several more times until the feeling of wanting to kill someone receded to a manageable level. Finally he headed to the master bedroom in search of clothing. She had given him no other choice.

He glanced at the bed in the room, imagined Kyra tied to it for real, and vowed to destroy it first chance he got. Any decent man, cyborg or not, would have done the same. After directing his time management program to make a note about doing so, he went to the closet.

On one side were beautiful dresses and an assortment of feminine footwear. He slid a red high-heeled shoe from its storage space and held it in his hands. He couldn’t imagine Kyra Winters—flat sandal wearing cyber scientist—walking around in such a thing. Putting it back, he moved his attention to the other side.

As Kyra had indicated, there was a variety of male clothing. Hoping to use some of the previous cyborg’s clothes, instead of anything belonging to the dead man who had obviously abused Kyra, he ordered his cybernetic eyes to scan the cloth in a way he could determine which threads looked newest. Several pair of jogging shorts made the list. He held a pair up to his lower half and saw the fit would be a bit tight but manageable.

Peyton carried them into the master bathroom. His shower time was calculated for maximum efficiency because he wanted to be in bed and settled in before Kyra got there. He also wanted time to set his mood to a more calming level that would foster her trust and let her rest.

He was adjusting his pillow when Kyra finally returned. Reaching over, he flipped the covers back so she could climb in beside him. She did so hesitantly, sighing as she stretched out. Her stretching froze when he scooted next to her and pulled her tense body against his.

“I am wearing the clothing you requested. Please allow this minimal contact for warmth and relaxation. It will help you rest,” he whispered, sweeping her damp hair back. “Now close your eyes, Doc. You are completely safe with me tonight. I won’t exceed the boundary you’ve set.”

His hands traveled over her shoulder and down her arm to her elbow, kneading the tension away. He saw the controller on her wrist and briefly thought about removing it. He’d cracked the code on his restraints about two hours ago. But he knew if she woke without it, his tired mad scientist would be greatly alarmed.

Kyra grunted her resistance to Peyton’s strokes even as she spoke, but his hand rubbing her hip soon had sighs shuddering out of her. “Your massage may just be the best thing that’s happened to me in years. I can see why all those women bought you, Peyton.”

Peyton used one finger to gently tap her lips. “Flattery will only cause you problems you don’t want. Sleep tonight, Dr. Winters. We’ll resume our sarcasm swap in the morning.”

Two minutes and seven seconds later, Kyra’s even breathing told him she had indeed fallen asleep. He took it as a compliment after what she had revealed to him earlier. Tucking her body tighter against his, Peyton relaxed. He felt oddly content despite the hardness between his legs that would find no relief. He lay awake for another hour, cataloging his contentment, and trying to analyze why it felt so good. Finally he put his processor into quiet mode while his physical body followed Kyra’s into sleep.

Chapter 10

Kyra woke abruptly when a large hand clamped itself tightly over her mouth. She reached up to grab at the restraining fingers only to hear Peyton making shushing sounds in her ear. Alarm skittered through her, but not about the potential intruders. Peyton’s husky whispers were making her nipples pebble and chill bumps dance along her arms.

“There are two men in the house,” Peyton reported. “One has a faint accent. They are actively looking for you because you weren’t answering your handheld. I believe you now about being investigated.”

Kyra relaxed and nodded, glad when Peyton’s fingers finally left her mouth. “It’s okay, Peyton. It’s just my assistant, Nero. He’s the only one with the house entry code. When he’s stressed or excited, his New Delhi accent returns. Let me up and I’ll go talk to him.”

“I’m not sure it’s safe. Their adrenalin levels are spiked and they reek of fear. It’s so strong I’m not smelling you any longer,” Peyton said, pulling her tighter.

“Captain Elliott—listen to me. I am safer with Nero than I am with you. Now let go of me so I can get out of bed,” Kyra ordered.

When he finally did as she’d requested, Kyra rolled to the edge of the mattress and away from over six feet of warm, hard male. Regret had her huffing in mild protest as her feet hit the cold floor. Her aroused body was rebelling every way possible, but there was no going back to the warmth of Peyton curled around her, especially not with Nero prowling the house in concern.

Stomping to the bedroom door, Kyra yanked it open and stuck her head out. “Hey Nero—I just got up. Give me a minute and I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

At Nero’s mumbled okay, Kyra closed the door and headed to the chair where she had tossed her robe the night before. Belting it on over her t-shirt and sleep shorts, she turned to Peyton who was still watching her with a narrowed gaze.

“Some of your circuits must be malfunctioning this morning. I promise you there’s no danger. It’s Nero and probably his friend Brad. They must have stopped by on their way to work.”

Peyton snorted. How had he ever thought this woman was evil? It must have been the lab coat. The naïve doctor obviously had no abilities to discern between friends and foes.

“Unless you want to admit you cyber scientists screwed up royally with me, my senses are shouting there damn well is cause for concern in this situation. Now I repeat—both men have elevated heart rates and I’m smelling high levels of adrenalin on them. That always means something is wrong, Dr. Winters.”

Kyra shook her head and frowned. “No. You’re still calibrating. Your sensory data is just now being understood by your human side. Stop trying to convince yourself there’s a reason for unease.” At his huffing and whispered swearing, she sighed. “Think of it this way—people under thirty-five have a way of turning everything in their life into something worthy of high drama. Have you seen what they consider entertainment? Violent vid games. Movies that have no redeeming purpose. Nero probably had some minor crisis at home this morning—something he dramatically decided couldn’t wait until a reasonable hour to contact me.”

“Since I see no matching signs of stress in you at the moment, I will defer to your judgment about those two men. However, my Cyber Husband programming is nagging me to enter full protection mode because the intruders are both anxious and unknown males to me.”

Kyra stopped and pondered what Peyton might do if left alone, but she had to risk it. She needed to privately find out what had Nero in such a tizzy that he would use his key code to her house. He had done that exactly twice in twenty years and this was a third time.

“Look Captain Elliot—I can’t have you going all full-blown cyborg on me in front of those men. Stay in this room until I see what they want. Run diagnostics again. Accessing the Cyber Husband chip should be completely voluntary by now so there’s no reason for you to feel the need to follow any warnings it makes concerning me.
Now
what’s wrong, Peyton? You’re making a horrible face.”

“I am?” Genuinely surprised, Peyton reached up and stroked his lightly bristled chin. His facial hair grew slower since he got the cybernetics installed, but he still had to shave a couple times a week. He felt the edges of his mouth forming a frown that matched Kyra’s. “Something is off with those men. I don’t know what it is, but I’ll occupy myself with running diagnostics while you’re gone. I’m also going to slip quietly across the hall to utilize the facilities.”

“Fine. Do whatever you need to for yourself. Just don’t come charging out to my kitchen, acting like a some jealous lover in front of Nero and Brad. I know that’s the first suggestion in your husband programming to intimidate males you consider a threat. I swear to you those men out there are like younger brothers to me. Plus I don’t want Nero more worried. He’s already concerned you’re going to hurt me and I don’t know why he feels that way. He never worried about me being alone with Marshall or Alex.”

Peyton snorted again, but louder this time. The woman wouldn’t recognize an actual alpha male if she saw one. Her time had been spent with too many cerebral men. “Fine. I will remain here, but I will continue to listen for danger. If you have not returned by the time my diagnostics have finished, I will have no choice but to come looking for you. I will try to behave in an appropriate manner based on your directions instead of my inclinations.”

“Thank you,” Kyra said, relieved as she nodded and hurried out the door.

Peyton thought of how warm Kyra had been in his arms and how much he resented the men appearing when they did. This situation was not how he’d planned to wake her up this morning. He lay back down and closed his eyes to direct all his energy away from missing Kyra to his mental tasks.

***

When Kyra walked into the kitchen, both men let out audible gasps as they looked her up and down in her pajamas and robe.

“Did you two stop for java triple shots on your way here? Damn it, Nero. Peyton is aware of your stress and curious as hell about it. So calm down before we have a cyborg meltdown incident right here in the kitchen.”

She watched them look at each other in stunned surprise. Before either spoke, they took several calming breaths. Sighing, Nero reached a hand out and gave her a porta-disk. He lowered his speech to a mere whisper.

“Here’s the work you asked me to review, Kyra. Some of the findings are in a separate file. It’s privacy level seven coded because I felt it was necessary. When you see what we discovered, you’ll understand the precautions I took. I hate to say this, but you need to leave your house today. And you need to pack lightly—very, very lightly. Leave everything behind that you can stand to leave behind—and I mean
everything
.”

Kyra closed her hand around the disk as her stomach sank with Nero’s unspoken implications.

“Why? Do you think he. . .that. . .” She stopped the stammering question just before she said his name. She drew in a breath to rephrase her query, but Nero interrupted before she could speak again.

“We don’t think, Kyra.
We know
.”

Kyra squeezed the disk even tighter. She knew if she freaked out about Nero’s suspicions and got herself into a physical uproar, Peyton would for sure come running down the hall to pseudo-rescue her. As her brain searched frantically for a way to make sense of the situation, Alex and the shame he had never been able to shed popped into her head. Peyton had shown no signs of shame or remorse or any emotion resembling regret over his life at all. She had thought his constant anger was a more positive sign, but something could be suppressing those softer human emotions.

She had been willing—maybe even wanting—to excuse any lack of them as just being the type of male Peyton was. But now? Well now, she didn’t know what to think. Nero was insinuating she’d slept snuggled up with a bad guy last night. Given more time, she might have figured out on her own whether or not Peyton was a walking, talking UCN spy. Evidently she didn’t have the luxury of time anymore.

“Kyra? Are you okay?” Nero watched the play of emotions run across Kyra’s face. He was suddenly sorry he’d had to share such bad news so soon. “To be fair, we’ve not had a chance to fully examine what information is being collected. We also don’t know if the information is merely being stored or transmitted daily.”

“If information is being collected, you can be sure it is for a purpose detrimental to me,” Kyra said flatly. She spoke as calmly as she could, considering she wanted to scream.

Nero nodded once to confirm his similar understanding. “We will need access to your lab to find out for sure.”

Conceding the wisdom of his request, Kyra nodded. Stepping back from Nero, she raised her voice and strove to sound as irritated with Nero as she could.

“Okay. Fine, Nero. You can use my lab for your gaming, but Peyton is showing signs of multiple malfunctions this morning. If his blips continue, I may need the lab back quickly. You can have an hour in there—
but
just one
.”

Kyra watched Nero nod, then they both looked at Brad who was now the color of chalk. His gaze bounced warily to the kitchen doorway every few seconds. She rubbed Brad’s arm briefly as she walked ahead of them down the hall. A very talented cyber scientist, Brad had been in the last group of young techs she’d trained before she left Norton. He’d been pulled away from her area after a few weeks and sent to work on one of Jackson’s older projects. She didn’t know Brad well, but he and Nero had become almost instant friends. It helped that Brad was a sympathizer for their cause so he well knew what was at stake with Peyton’s restoration.