RedeemingZorus (7 page)

“What do I look like? Your employee?”

Zorus hesitated. “You are until your job is over.” He backed
up and the doors slid closed. He turned to stare at Charlie, meeting her
confused gaze. “I’ll fix what you did. Rest.”

Charlie gaped at him. “But―”

“I have it.” Zorus closed his eyes and seconds passed. He
frowned but then slowly smiled. “Very intelligent. You short-circuited the
identity scanner, pulled up the stored imprinted identifications, and recoded
it to deceive the computer into believing you were Varel.” Dark eyes snapped
open. “I reset the system to ten minutes before you broke into the program to
delete the changes you made. They will have to repair the physical damage to
the panel you accessed but that is their problem.”

“You can do that?” Charlie pushed up on wobbly arms. “How?
You didn’t even go near the access panel.”

“I have remote abilities.”

She bit her lip and then stared at him suspiciously. “Then
why did I have to break you out of the medical facility? If you can hack at
will, you easily could have freed yourself.”

“They created me and were aware of my abilities. They kept
me heavily drugged until they secured me inside a room with signal jammers. If
you’ll remember, they also kept me contained with chains. They weren’t willing
to risk electronic locks in case I was able to transmit shortwave signals
strong enough to bypass the jamming.”

“You should have told me that. If you had, I would have just
escaped knowing you could take care of yourself if you wanted off this
shuttle.”

Broad shoulders shrugged. “You didn’t tell me you could hack
their systems either. We have that in common now as well.”

Charlie gaped at him, astonished. “What is it with you and
mentioning that?”

“I just find it fascinating that we share similar traits.”

She took a deep breath and tried to ignore how her muscles
quivered just from the struggle to hold her back above the mattress. She hated
how weak she remained from the drugs. “Yeah,” she said sarcastically. “It’s
like we’re twins.”

Zorus shook his head and folded his arms over his chest.
“Your attempt at humor is definitely not a characteristic we share.”

“That’s true. I have a sense of humor and you don’t.”

Chapter Four

“True.” Zorus admitted.

He couldn’t stop studying the small human female reclined on
his bed. Logic dictated that Charlie should have fled the shuttle when given
the opportunity but instead she’d wasted her chance to escape with an attempt
to rescue him as well. It greatly surprised him that a female would do that but
the fact that she was human left him deeply disturbed.

His gaze landed on her shoulder where her shirt had been
torn open by the human male on the docks. Dried blood caked her pale skin. He
moved toward the cleansing unit. In a few steps he retrieved a small mobile
unit and returned to the bed.

“I’m going to clean you.”

Charlie watched him silently until she sank back onto the
bed flat when her arms gave out. “Why aren’t those guys dragging me out of
here?”

“You’re still a captive on their ship. I doubt it matters to
them which room you remain inside as long as they know where you are.”

That seemed to set her mind at ease when she nodded. “They
sure can’t take me back to the holding room they had me secured in. They know I
could just get out again.”

“True,” he lied, not stating they could just drug her again.
He eased down onto his knees next to the bed and hesitated. “Remove your
shirt.”

Uncertainty crossed her delicate features. “Why?”

“You’re human and prone to infection. I wish to clean your
injuries.”

She still hesitated but then struggled to do as he’d
instructed. Her body still fought the effects of the drug, which slowed her
down, and sweat beaded her brow before she managed to wiggle enough to ease the
shirt off. The black bra appeared stark compared to her very pale, creamy,
white skin. Zorus tried to conceal his interest in the generous, soft mounds of
flesh barely contained inside the thin material. He’d never seen a female with
such large breasts before.

“What?”

He realized he’d failed to hide where his gaze kept straying
when her hands lifted to cup her breasts in a sad attempt to shield them from
his view. He watched with fascination until her cheeks bloomed pink from a
blush. He leaned closer, intrigued by her show of modesty.

“I don’t understand your question.” He dropped the kit onto
the bed, opened it, and removed a small can of foam spray. He lifted a cloth
hand towel.

“You were staring at my boobs.”

“I haven’t seen them that size before.” He didn’t care how
she took that statement.

“I thought you said you used to have to sleep with women.”
She frowned. “You lied?”

“No. I never slept with a human. I was forced to have sexual
contact with them.” He paused to control the anger those memories caused him to
feel. “The humans never removed their shirts during those sessions.” His focus
drifted to the soft mounds cupped within her small hands, barely hiding any of
the soft-looking flesh, still fascinated by the sight. “Cyborg females are more
muscular and contain less fatty tissues.”

“Nice description to use.” She rolled her eyes. “I don’t
even want to hear what you have to say about my tummy. If your women are built
the way you are, it’s all muscle there, right?”

He lowered his attention to her waist and realized his hand
moved of its own accord, his palm settling on top of her bare stomach between
her bellybutton and the waist of her pants. His fingers gently dug into the
soft skin there to discover the kind of pliability he’d never touched before.
He enjoyed the sensation.

“Hey,” her fingers curled around his wrist, a feeble attempt
to dislodge his hold. “That tickles.” She laughed.

Zorus jerked his head up to gape at her. She grinned at him.
The transformation of her features did something strange to him. An unfamiliar
emotion struck him and he pulled his hand away from her quickly. He did glance
at her uncovered bra, which she’d had to release to grab his wrist. He savored
the sight.

“I apologize. That wasn’t my intention.”

“I know I could lose a few pounds.”

He refused to admit to her that she looked attractive to
him. That paralyzed him for long seconds while he evaluated the sentiment. He
dragged air into his lungs, noticed her feminine scent for the first time, and
found it oddly pleasant. Worse, his body responded when his cock stiffened.

“This can’t be happening.”

“What?” Her smile faded and she peered up at him with
curiosity.

“Nothing.” He ignored his physical response and leaned over
her to draw in more of her scent. He identified a mixture of vanilla and
peaches that mingled with her natural chemistry. “Just relax while I wash away
the blood.”

“Okay. Thanks.” She gave him another hesitant smile. “I
appreciate it.”

It’s highly unlikely she’d appreciate it if I strip her
naked to see if her thighs are as softly textured as her stomach.
That
thought made him close his eyes for a few heartbeats while he endured his cock
hardening even more, until it dug into the unforgiving seam of the front
closure of his pants. Anger instantly surfaced when he opened his eyes.

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Smile at me.”

Charlie’s mouth parted but the smile faded. “Are you okay?
Your face looks a little darker gray than normal.”

“It’s anger.”

“What did I do to piss you off? Try to make light of the
situation of me being half naked? I’m trying real hard not to feel
uncomfortable and if you were a regular guy I’d be a little afraid.”

“Regular guy? Explain that context to me.”

“You know. A human guy. I know you’re not interested in me
as a woman, especially since you’ve made it no secret that you detest us. If I
thought you had a sex drive geared toward women such as myself, well, this
would be a real sticky situation.”

He made sure to keep his lower body concealed to be certain
she didn’t notice the state of his very stimulated erection. “I understand.”

Zorus took extra care to be gentle when he cleaned her
shoulder to remove the dried blood and examined the scratches for signs of
infection. Anger surfaced again at the sight of the angry marks marring her
delicate skin. He regretted killing the dock worker so quickly. Now his
preference would have been to make him suffer first.

“How bad is it? It stings a little.”

“It’s minimal. You’ll heal within a week. I do not see any
sign of infection but I’m going to obtain a med kit to be certain. Are you
allergic to antibiotics?”

“No. At least I don’t think so.”

That drew alarm from him as he inched closer until his face
hovered over hers. “You aren’t certain what medications you may have adverse
effects to?”

“I’ve never had them. I’m a grunt, remember? The government
doesn’t give out medicine to us. I may have worked in the better part of the
city but it didn’t raise my status any. They only allow us to move so we’re
able to get to work easier. They also hate to replace us and since murder rates
are high in the slums, they put up with us living on the outer edge of the safe
zones.”

The list of diseases and infections that could have taken
her life scrolled through his thoughts. It angered him. She wasn’t a big female
or overly robust. She actually looked a little frail to him and her softer,
rounded body meant she didn’t have a healthy exercise routine to gain an
increased physical durability.

“What will you do when you reach Saturn?”

“Find my brother, make him give me half the money, and I’ll
start over. I sure can’t return to Earth. By now they’ve figured out who helped
you escape and they’ll have issued an alert on me.”

“Won’t they send someone after you if you’re living on
Saturn?”

“Maybe, but they don’t scan people as much there. If I live
under the radar I can survive.”

He quickly calculated her odds of avoiding detection. “Why
not travel farther from Earth? Your odds are better.”

“I’m a woman alone.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You don’t know much about what’s going on, do you? Probably
not,” she answered her own question quickly. “Slave traders grab unprotected
women and sell them to space whorehouses. That’s if I’m lucky.”

“You’d enjoy that lifestyle?” Everything he’d learned about
her made him highly doubt that.

“Hell no.” She glared at him. “Learn sarcasm. It’s just the
alternative is ending up captured by space pirates.” Fear etched her features.
“Do you know what those are?”

“Yes. We’ve come across those mutated humans who live in
deep space. They carry diseases, are prone to extreme insanity, and usually
attempt to breed any captured females. Our reports state that they don’t have a
high success rate. The females usually die pretty quickly.”

“Exactly. I’ve also heard they turn cannibal sometimes and
that’s not my idea of a fun feast, considering I’m plump. I’m pretty certain
I’d be on the wrong side of the table when it came time to pass out forks.” Her
gaze shifted to his chest. “Are you done? I’d like to put my shirt back on.”

He had no logical reason to stop her but he shook his head
anyway. “I ordered the captain to bring you a change of clothing. Yours are
damaged.”

“Do you want to back off then? If you get any closer, you’re
going to be on top of me.”

An image flashed through his mind of doing exactly that and
his cock twitched and his balls tightened until he suffered a dull ache. He
softly cursed at such a strong reaction.

“What’s wrong?”

The innocent expression on her face attracted him even more.
For some reason she trusted him. It didn’t make sense. As a female, she should
be aware that no male could be honorable with half of her clothing removed.

“Are you stuck? Did your knees go to sleep? The floor is
pretty unforgiving. I slammed mine into it when I collapsed in the hallway and
it really hurt. If you hadn’t picked me up I doubt I could have stood on my own
immediately.”

He backed up a little while his gaze traveled to her pants.
“Let me check you for damage.”

Her hands reached for her waist but instead of unfastening
her pants, she gripped them tightly. “That’s okay. I’m sure they’re fine.”

“Untreated wounds can cause infection.” He dropped the cloth
and easily pushed her hands out of the way. “Relax and don’t fight me.”

“I really don’t think I’m hurt.” She tried to swat his hands
away but he ignored her feeble attempt, her weakened condition still present.

Zorus jerked her pants open and tugged them down. She
couldn’t put up much of a fight with her sluggish responses. He easily slid
them down to her ankles and jerked off her boots to totally remove the pants.
He also removed her socks. His gaze lingered on the small scrap of red panties
hiding her sex.

“That’s not my knees.” Her hands cupped between her thighs,
covering the silky material. “Do you need to upgrade a program covering human
anatomy?”

“There’s nothing wrong with my memory. Cyborg and human
anatomy is the same.” He tried not to ogle her breasts as they strained the
black, skimpy material but the incredibly tempting curve of her creamy flesh
pressing outward from the tight, small article of clothing, called to him. He
barely remembered that he needed to examine her knees, but as his attention
lowered down her stomach to her pale thighs, her knees were the last thing he
wanted to study. “I’m going to scan you for injury.”

He placed his palms at the top of her thighs. They were as
soft and supple as they appeared, perhaps even more so, and he traced them down
to her knees. A slight redness marked them.

“You may have some bruising. Bend them up.”

Charlie tried to remember to breathe. The cyborg’s hands
were warm and gentle, more of a caress than a touch. If he were human she’d
swear he did it on purpose but he’d been real clear that he held no interest in
her as a woman.