RedeemingZorus (17 page)

“No. She rescued me and makes me happy.”

Darius just gaped at him.

“I never believed I could care for a human either.” Zorus
paused to construct his thoughts into words that would allow his son to
understand. “She was a grunt on Earth, irrelevant to Earth Government. Do you
understand? She is similar to us in the way she has been treated by them all of
her life. She has as much value to humans as we have on Earth. She’s part of
their disposable workforce. She risked her life to save mine numerous times.”

“It’s a trick you fell for.” Darius spat the words
contemptuously. “You have been deceived by the human. I understand the physical
appeal. It must bring you much pleasure to have her under your control. I
enjoyed her terror and the feel of her soft flesh. Give her to me and I’ll kill
her for you after I’m done using her.”

Zorus would never have believed that he’d actually hit his
son but that’s exactly what he did in a blinding moment of rage. He watched as
his son hit the carpet on his ass, his fist throbbed from the impact it had
made with Darius’ face. Zorus cursed under his breath.

“Don’t ever touch her again. I realize this is my fault. I
conditioned you to hate all humans but Charlie is different. You had better never
speak of her in that regard again.”

Blood trickled down Darius’ chin from his busted lip. He
defiantly stared up at his father. “You hate humans.”

“I hate most humans but not Charlie.”

“They abused you. Humans did horrendous things to you when
they held you prisoner on Earth.”

“You are correct.” Zorus paused. “She didn’t harm me in any
way. She doesn’t deserve your disgust or your need to seek vengeance on my
behalf for what other humans once did to me.”

“They are animals.”

“Most of them are but not Charlie.”

“You’ve been deceived. She will kill you while you sleep or
she is a spy Earth Government sent to obtain information to exterminate us.”
Darius slowly rose to his feet, wiped away the blood from his lower face, and
nodded at his father. “I will prove it to you. I’ll make her confess the truth
if you only allow me to interrogate her.”

“You will not go anywhere near Charlie ever again. I have
changed the codes that gave you access to my home. You are no longer welcome
there. If you wish to see me, I will come here or we shall meet somewhere we
both agree on.” Zorus watched his son, his body tense. “You will never touch
her again, son. I will do anything to defend her, even if that means protecting
her from you.”

Darius was clearly outraged. “You―”

“I mean it.” Zorus hoped his son saw the sincerity in his
serious gaze. His chest hurt over the fact that he’d had to take this strong
position but he’d never allow anyone to hurt the woman he’d come to love. Not
even his only child. “You go near her and I will consider you a threat to her
life. I will defend her against an attack. I plan to form a family unit with
her. Have I made myself clear on this matter? I didn’t come here to debate the
issue with you but to inform you of the serious nature of my relationship ties
to the human.”

Darius straightened to his full height, his body tensing.
“I’m going to call a council meeting immediately. You have been compromised,
your logic is no longer sound, and you are a traitor to all cyborgs if you
choose a human over your own son.”

Sadness crept inside Zorus to the point that he actually had
to blink back tears. “You’ve never loved a woman, have you? You’ve never
experienced true emotion or allowed anyone to mean so much to you that you will
do anything to protect them.”

“I had those emotions for my father but he must have died
when he was taken to Earth.” Disgust twisted his son’s features. “Get out of my
home. I will not stop until you are stripped of your position and your human is
killed. I will save you from whatever she has done to you.”

Zorus would not argue with someone who obviously refused to
hear reason. He strode out of the apartment and tried to get control of his
emotions. Ever since Charlie had come into his life it had spiraled out of
control. He didn’t regret it though. For once in his life he had something to
live for. Charlie gave him contentment.

When he returned home, he placed calls to a few of the
supportive council members who had either taken a human into their family units
or backed the right to be with one. He hated to admit that his own son planned
to bring charges against him but he knew Darius wouldn’t make empty threats.
When he finished the last notification, he walked quietly into the bedroom.
Charlie had left the bathroom light on to keep the bedroom from total darkness.

She hugged his pillow, her body curled into a fetal position
on her side in the middle of his bed, and his anger abated over the
embarrassing situation his son had forced him to deal with. He quickly stripped
and climbed onto the bed with Charlie. The moment he touched her, she jerked
awake, gasped, and her terrified gaze flashed to his.

“It’s just me, Charlie. I’m home. You’re safe.” He inched
closer to her under the covers and rolled onto his back. He hated the fear she
now had to deal with over what his son had done to her. “I didn’t mean to
startle you.”

She curled toward his side, pressed her body tightly against
his, and a protective urge gripped him so strongly it made breathing difficult.
His arms encircled her to hold her closer to him.

“Are you okay? I know you went to see Darius. I woke and you
were gone.”

Her concern made him feel even more certain that he’d made
the correct decision. “It did not go as I’d hoped. He doesn’t agree with my
choice to be with you. He refuses to accept my feelings and isn’t capable of
understanding why I am so protective of you.”

She lifted her chin to gaze up at him, sadness reflected in
her beautiful eyes. He also saw tears fill them and one slid down her cheek. He
shifted his hold to gently brush it away with his thumb.

“Don’t cry. No one will ever harm you again. I’m taking some
time away from the council to stay at home for a while. I won’t leave you alone
to give him a second opportunity to harm you. Don’t be afraid, Charlie.”

“It’s not that.” She sniffed. “I’m so sorry that I’m the
reason you and your son are fighting. He’s an asshole for what he did to me but
he’s still your kid. I know you have to be really messed up over this. Are you
okay? I know how it hurts when family does something totally screwed up.
Remember my brother? He always could hurt me the most when he did stupid
things.”

“He sold you.” A new sense of understanding of family
betrayal became clear to Zorus in that moment. “How do you deal with loving
someone who goes against you?”

“Eventually they hurt you enough that you stop allowing them
to do it. At least you tell yourself that until the next time they do something
else you never thought they were capable of.” Charlie snuggled more firmly
against him and rested her cheek on his chest. “It still hurts but you can’t
control the people you love. You just try to harden your heart as much as you
can.”

Zorus lifted his gaze to study the bedroom ceiling. “Will
you hurt me, Charlie?”

She shook her head. “No. I know how it feels to open
yourself up to someone and have them tear you apart. I’d never do that to you.
I can just hope you won’t ever do that to me either.”

“I fear you will hurt me in some way. Emotions are new to me
yet I’ve allowed you to matter too much in such a short time. But I would never
intentionally hurt you.”

“Welcome to my world,” she suddenly chuckled. “Falling in
love is never easy but here we are.”

He tensed and looked down at the top of her head. Charlie
tilted her face to gaze at him.

“What? You think I’d agree to come to your planet, leave
everything behind, just because the sex is awesome?” She smiled.

“Say it.”

“I love you, Zorus.”

He couldn’t stop the grin that curved his lips or the sheer
joy that filled him to the point that he wasn’t sure he could survive it.

“This is where you’re supposed to either say it back or roll
away.”

“I attacked and threatened my own son to defend you. I made
it clear I would kill him if he ever touches you again.”

Charlie lifted up a little and rested her chin on the back
of her hands on his chest. “Say it, Zorus. Please? I want to hear the words
from you. I know you probably won’t understand this but it means a lot to me.”

“I love you, Charlie.”

“That wasn’t so hard, was it? Thank you.”

“No but a part of me is definitely hard now.”

She turned her head and grinned down his body where she
couldn’t miss the tented covers. She met his gaze again. “I see.”

“I won’t act upon it. I realize you are still traumatized.”

That killed her happy mood. “Yeah.”

“Time will help you get past this.”

She didn’t miss the haunted tone of his voice. “You know
that for sure, don’t you?”

His body under hers stiffened but then relaxed again. “Yes.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He drew in a ragged breath. “I told you about some of the
abuse I suffered. They didn’t consider me a living being. They believed me to
be a thing without thought or feeling. I had both.” He took a few more breaths.
“I know my son attacked you in some misguided sense of vengeance for what I
suffered back in the days when Earth Government controlled us. I never told him
of what I endured but he saw the reports about nine years ago. We all had to
file reports on our experiences while in captivity. He’s a doctor and has
access to them. He read every page of my reports.”

“Did you ever talk to him about it?”

He nodded. “He came to me immediately and we discussed it at
length. I taught him to hate humans before he knew exactly what had been done
to me but it became worse after he read the accounts. When the bounty hunters
were captured, he helped me lure them into a sense of friendship to get them to
be truthful. He also helped me kill them.”

Charlie pressed tighter to Zorus to feel his warmth when a
chill crept up her spine. “You enjoyed killing them, didn’t you?”

“They weren’t the types of humans who were decent.”

She remembered some of the guys she’d grown up with. A good
percentage of them had grown up to be rapists, murderers, or thugs. Some fell
into all three of those categories. The idea of them dying didn’t choke her up
in the least. “I know some humans are evil.”

“They wanted to destroy us. It’s my job to protect my
people.”

“Those scientists planned to autopsy you.”

“They think nothing of our right to life. We are things to
them. Experiments or objects to use for whatever purpose they desire.”

She nodded against his chest. “I get it. I’m not the enemy
though.”

“I know that. You are unique.”

“Not all humans are bad.”

“To me you are the exception to the rule.”

She smiled. “I’m glad. I’d hate to be on your bad side.”

“That could never happen, Charlie. I chose you over my son.
This stuns me but it is the truth. I swore to always be honest with you. I
won’t allow him near you again. I would kill one of my own people to protect
you from any harm. You matter to me that much. I may not easily say words of
love but that is what I feel for you. I have never allowed emotions to control
me yet I have had no wish to suppress them since we met. You are more than
worth the risk of pain I face by trusting you.”

“I’m glad.”

“You agreed to come home with me. I do understand and
acknowledge how difficult a decision that had to be for you to make. You’ve
been very brave.” He paused. “It is yet another trait about you I find
appealing.”

“Love is a crazy thing, isn’t it? It hits when you least
expect it, grabs you by the shorthairs, and tugs you in whatever direction it
decides to go.”

Zorus chuckled. “Your words amuse me.”

Her hand slid down his chest, over his flat belly, and lower
until her fingertips stopped at the base of his cock. He’d softened slightly
but not by much. She wrapped her hand around him to stroke him under the
covers. He tensed.

“What are you doing?”

“What does it feel like?”

“You don’t need to alleviate my desire for sexual release. I
don’t expect it, Charlie. You have been through a trauma. I’m capable of
controlling my body. I do not suffer as a human male would.”

“And do you know what I think is the best way to heal?” She
lifted her head to stare into his beautiful gaze. “Make love to me. Erase the
bad memories with good ones. You kiss me and I can’t think. You burn me up with
your touch to take away the coldness.”

He didn’t argue with her. She feared he would but instead he
slowly turned onto his side, used his body to ease her onto hers, and then slid
down until she had to release her hold on his cock. He flattened his hand on
her stomach to nudge her all the way onto her back. She smiled when he moved to
his knees and put one between her legs. She spread her thighs wide apart to
make more room for him.

“I know how to make you hot.” His head dipped to brush a
kiss on her hip.

Charlie smiled. “I love your mouth.”

“I know.”

She laughed at his smug comment. “You definitely are
talented with it.”

His hands tapped her thighs and she parted them more, lifted
her knees a little, and gave him full access to her sex. He slid his palms
under her ass to lift her closer to his parted lips. She gasped a little from a
dull stab of pain when he did it but she bit her lip to refrain from mentioning
the bruise there. He froze.

“Do you want to stop?”

“No.”

He released her ass carefully. “I forgot. I’m sorry.”

“Grip my hips.”

He adjusted his body and got a new hold on her. She knew she
wiggled a lot when he went down on her and he preferred to pin her immobile.
She relaxed, waited, and then his tongue teased her clit. The hesitancy when he
licked her saddened her. She knew he probably worried she’d become frightened.