Abiogenesis by Kaitlyn O'Connor Read Free Book Online Page B

them?
    Grasping her upper arm, he led her from the cabin and down the narrow passage that bisected the ship. When they reached a stairwell, he pushed her in front of him. Grasping the handrail, she preceded him and found herself in a large room that was obviously intended as a social room. Here comfortably stuffed chairs were arranged in small groupings.
    Four pairs of cyborg eyes turned as she entered, examining her with what she could only describe as--interest, curiosity, even a touch of hostility. There was no cool, emotionless appraisal, not from one. There was no similarity between them beyond a general physical build, height and weight. Two were blond, two dark, but the shades varied drastically, as did their eye color and facial features, but then she hadn’t expected them to look as if they’d come off of an assembly line. They had arisen from a new generation of cyborg, and had been touted as ‘each as uniquely different and natural as a real, live human.’ It was one of the things that had made tracking them down extremely difficult. They had been designed to blend in with humans.
    "We have a hunter among us. She is ... mine. I will expect you to remember that and act accordingly."
    The cyborgs had stiffened at Reuel’s announcement, several of them half rising from their seats. They settled back, their expressions more guarded than before.
    "You’re not taking her to the camp?"
    "Why did you bring her?"
    "Why didn’t you kill her?"
    "For what purpose have you brought her among us?"
    They spoke almost at once, each question spilling over the question of another, tangling so that it was hard to separate them.
    "When I understand myself ... when, and if, I feel the urge to share, I will tell you," Reuel said coldly. "Until then, it is not your right ask."
    "You endanger us all, risk the failure of our plans by bringing her among us. That should give us the right."
    Reuel moved to a chair near the others and sat. Wrapping an arm around Dalia’s waist, he pulled her down onto his lap. She resisted, for all the good it did, sitting stiffly erect. He wouldn’t allow even that much rebellion, however. He pulled her against him and held her until she relaxed, dropping her head back against his shoulder. "You see this tiny morsel of mortal flesh as a threat?" he said, his voice deep, husky.
    "That is the huntress, Dalia. She has killed almost as many as the other hunters together," one of the cyborgs growled.
    Almost casually, Reuel slipped a hand through the arm opening of her tunic and began to pluck at her nipple with his thumb and forefinger. Dalia stiffened, tried to jerk upright, but his grip tightened until she relaxed once more with the realization that she could not free herself, could not move until he allowed it. Swallowing with an effort, she fixed her gaze across the room, trying to ignore his touch, trying to ignore the fact that the other cyborgs had been instantly riveted by his actions. "This delicate little flower?" he insisted, rolling the distended nipple between his finger and thumb. "I’m afraid I find it difficult to perceive her as a threat--at least, not in the way that you mean."
    Dalia was relieved when he finally released her nipple--until he slipped his hand down her belly and cupped her sex. She clamped her legs tightly. Abandoning that goal after only a moment, he slid his hand up her belly and caught her other nipple between his thumb and forefinger, plucking at it until it stood erect and began to throb like an aching tooth.
    "If we were men, now, that might be a different matter altogether," he murmured, his husky voice almost as mesmerizing as the teasing caress of his hand. "She is a wondrous marvel of nature, don’t you think? Even I can understand how a man, who is still slave to his hormonal urges, would find himself distracted and vulnerable because of it."
    Almost casually, he lifted his legs, one at the time, and propped the heels of his boots on the table that separated