Melting Iron by Laurann Dohner Read Free Book Online

be, and it kept her from making the same mistake twice. No men meant there was no one to fall in love with.
    The times she’d hooked up with guys on leave had left her unsatisfied. She’d used men for sex and had climbed out of their beds the second the panting was over. It had been decent sex sometimes but nothing close to the quickie she’d shared with Iron the night before. She took a deep breath. Maybe it was the bondage thing. Maybe I’m twisted that way and that’s why I got so turned-on. Those thoughts comforted her because the sex with the big cyborg had been the best she’d ever had.
    The door suddenly opened and Iron stepped in carrying a tray of food. Her stomach grumbled loudly at the smell. She lunged forward and just tore it from his hands. She saw surprise raise his eyebrows but she didn’t care. She turned to present her back to him as she stormed for the bed.
    “If you’re going to own a person, you should remember to feed her. I’ve been starving, damn it.” She set down the tray and collapsed on the bed next to it and scanned the food. “Thank God you bastards eat meat. I was afraid I’d get more bread like you brought me this morning.”
    “You are welcome,” Iron growled. “Hello to you. My work shift was fine. Thank you for asking.”
    Popping a piece of stripped meat into her mouth, Dawn turned her head. Iron stood leaning against the door with his arms crossed over his chest. The annoyed expression on his face amused her a little. She knew she was being rude but damn, the man should feed her if he was going to lock her up. She chewed, savoring the good steak flavor and then swallowed.
    “Feed me more often if you want me polite.”
    “I express my regret. I didn’t mean to be gone for so long.”
    She was surprised he’d apologize. She hesitated. “Have you ever owned someone before?”
    “No. You are the first.”
    “I see.” She really didn’t. “So I take it humans are possessions to your kind?”
    “We were possessions on Earth so it is fitting, now that we are free, that we apply your laws to you.”
    “Ah.” She nodded. “I’m a revenge slave. Great. I wasn’t responsible for that shit. It’s damn hard to find out much about that part of our history but I know you were mistreated. I didn’t do it though.”
    “Mistreated?” His tone lowered in anger. “We were used, ordered around like robots and when we said no to their demands, they slated us for execution.”
    Dawn swallowed another bite, eating quickly. “That was fucked up. Don’t take it out on me though, okay?” She shifted her gaze to his hair, fascinated with how red and bright it was. “Take your hair out of the braid.”
    “Why?”
    “I want to see it. Are you part Irish or Scottish?” She touched her hair. “I get my red hair and green eyes from my father. He’s pure Irish, one of the remaining last few whose bloodlines weren’t mixed. He met my mother though and fell in love so his family disowned him. They were purists who believed you should stick to your own kind and she wasn’t a hundred-percent Irish. Her mother was French.”
    “I have no idea what kind of heritage my donors were who gave up their DNA for my creation.” He paused. “Nor do I care. I rarely unbind my hair other than to free it every day when I get clean. I then braid it again. I like to keep it under control.”
    “Well, take it down and show me before you get clean. You just got off work and you didn’t use the foam cleansing unit this morning when you brought me breakfast so do it now.”
    “I did cleanse but not here. I keep another room down the hall.” He paused. “Stop giving me orders.”
    “Why do you have another room? I thought this one was yours.”
    “It is but I decided to take one of the empty quarters for sleeping and cleansing.”
    “I thought you were working last night and then again today.” Her mind went into overdrive. “You didn’t just pull two full shifts, did you?”
    “I