Kissing Steel
Page 25

“I don’t know what is going on either.”
“I demand an explanation,” Zorus ordered the black-haired cyborg. “Tell me now, Coval. What is your claim to the human?”
The door opened behind the council desk and drew Rena’s attention. There was a small woman, a pale-skinned human one with long black hair who walked in front of the blond. As she moved around the tall desks to take steps down to the floor, the blond cyborg remained behind her, gripping her arm. The woman’s head rose and a pair of dark brown eyes fixed on Rena.
A tingle ran along her spine. That woman looked very similar to her Aunt Marge, her mother’s sister. So much so that… Rena’s knees went weak and Steel had to grip her harder to keep her on her feet as the woman drew nearer.
“Rena?” The woman’s voice shook.
Hot tears spilled down Rena’s face. “Mom? Is that who you are? Are you my mother? You look like my Aunt Marge.”
The woman froze and tears ran down her cheeks as well. “It is you. Do you remember me?”
Shock rolled through Rena. “No. I was too young when you left but Aunt Marge told me all about you and showed me your pictures often. You’re alive. I thought you died when you stopped contacting her and sending us messages.”
“It became too risky once we settled here on Garden.” The blond male said softly.
“She grieved heavily for your loss. I am Rais and he is Coval. We are contracted to your mother in a family unit.” He turned his head to glare at Zorus. “She is the biological child of Rora so therefore this human belongs to us.”
Zorus fumed. “This is not the last you will hear of this.” He spun and stormed away, leaving the room quickly in a fit of frustrated rage.
Rora reached out a shaky hand and touched Rena’s face. “You’re so beautiful.”
Rena was still in shock as she gawked at the woman she thought was long dead.
“She’s mine,” Steel said softly. “I won’t let her go. We are together.” He paused.
“We love each other.”
Rena’s head jerked up to stare at Steel. He looked down, his beautiful silvery blue eyes sparkling.
“I love you,” he said softly. “You love me. There is no denying that is what is between us. The more time we spend together the stronger our bond grows.”
Rais frowned. “We’ll work this out later. Right now let’s get out of here. You will both come with us.”
Steel didn’t budge. “You’re council. I have demands and you can fulfill them. You are obviously pro-human and you are in a family unit with one. I refuse to give up Rena.”
Rais’ gaze narrowed on Steel. “What is it you want?”
“Rena belongs to me. Reinstate my property rights to her and I want to be removed from my current breeding pact and put in one with all healthy breeders so there is never a need for me to be called to donate. Rena would be emotionally harmed if I had to breed with other women. I also need a special consideration to be allowed to not breed my own children. I have successfully donated eight times so my DNA is added to the general pool but I don’t wish to contract in a family unit with any female but Rena. She’s human so I realize having children isn’t an option.”
Rora let her hand drop away from Rena as she looked up at Steel. “You can have children with my daughter. We,” She motioned between herself and the two cyborgs beside her, “have had four healthy sons so breeding between human and cyborg is successful.”
Steel frowned. “I was informed this wasn’t possible since the children would be too damaged.”
“They lied. There are many here who do not approve of cyborgs and humans mating and will go to great lengths to keep that secret.” Coval, the dark-haired cyborg had come forward, speaking very softly. “Our sons are very healthy. You could breed with her if she’s willing.” He looked at Rena. “You care for him?”
She didn’t hesitate. “Yes. I love him.”
Rais looked down at his wife. “Rora? It’s your call, our love.”
“Whatever makes her happy. I owe her that.”
“Let’s go somewhere private.” Coval sighed. “We’re being watched.”
Rena turned her head and noticed that the courtroom was still filled with a lot of curious cyborgs. She still reeled from the astonishing fact that her mother was alive, that she had two stepfathers, and she had four half-cyborg brothers if her mother had given birth to them. It left her so stunned that Steel had to guide her up the stairs and through the council doors into a large office.
“I told you it would work out,” Steel said softly. “Your mother is contracted to two of the strongest council members who can make sure we get contracts in place that assure our happiness together. They can take me out of my current breeding pact so I can offer you monogamy, and they are stating our breeding together would work. It is all we could want.”
The other council members had already cleared the room when they entered so they had the privacy they needed to talk. Rena stood across a table facing her mother and both her stepfathers. Steel took a seat and tugged her down on his lap.
“I’m so sorry for leaving you,” Rora said softly. She glanced at Coval and then Rais before she looked back at Rena. “I once loved your father but our marriage wasn’t a happy one. We were too different and I tried to make it work but it didn’t. I believed in my cause to save cyborgs while your father wanted them all destroyed. I always loved you the most over everything, but I had to save their lives. I couldn’t live with doing nothing and watching them die. I wanted to take you with me but it was too dangerous, we didn’t think we’d survive long, and you had a better chance at a happy, long life on Earth. After I helped them escape we were together all the time and we fell in love.”
Coval took Rora’s hand. “She’s everything to Rais and me.” Coval’s other hand reached out to brush Rais’ cheek, both men sharing a tender look before he let his hand drop. “The three of us are in love with each other.”
Rais nodded. He turned his attention to Steel. “You must swear to protect and honor her as if she were a cyborg woman, not just property, if you want us to transfer her ownership back to you. We have tried to change the laws of humans being owned, but cyborg memory of Earth is far reaching and long. Rora is still property status but it matters not. She is our equal in every way.”
“I give my word.” Steel agreed.
“Then you have permission to marry my daughter if she’ll have you,” Rora said softly, staring at Rena. “Life is good here.”
Rena turned her head to smile at Steel. “I believe that.”
“My husbands will draw up a family unit contract and Coval will replace you in your breeding pact so you won’t be used to donate your sperm anymore.” Rora smiled at them both.
“Done,” Coval said softly but then laughed. “It’s not like we haven’t done this before. It’s harder to do, but we pulled ourselves out of breeding pacts entirely.” He smiled at Rena. “The pacts are in groups of twelve. We have odd numbers out and those are easier to get displaced. They are considered floaters until we have twelve of them to put into a pact.” He smiled at Steel. “They can’t add you if you aren’t on the waiting list.
You’re about to get lost in the system.”
Joyously, Rena focused on Steel. “So we can get married— Contract a family unit and you don’t have to sleep with other people? Is that what’s he’s saying?”
Steel smiled. “Correct. I told you that it would work out.”
“You didn’t run this scenario, Steel,” she teased, looking away from him to turn her attention on her mother, still amazed over her being alive. “Nobody could have seen this one coming.”
* * * * * Rena listened with half an ear as she watched her mother interact with her two husbands while they laughed and joked with Steel. They used their desk station to draw up the family unit contract and change Steel’s breeding status in the pact. The love was apparent as she watched one of the men reach over to touch her mother’s hand, the soft smile she gave him, and the way the other man leaned in to brush his arm against her shoulder, drawing another smile from Rora.
Two husbands? Rena glanced at Steel, happy she just had one big guy in her heart and in her future. She’d wanted to get away from Chuck, wanted a new life, and that’s why she’d left Earth. She’d never suspected she’d find love, family, and happiness when she’d nervously boarded the Bridden. Tears filled her eyes.
Steel went silent, cutting off what he was saying immediately to cup her face, turning her chin to lift her eyes to his worried gaze. “Are you all right, my little siren?”
“Yes. I was just thinking about how blessed I feel to have met you.”
A warm, wonderful smile adorned his handsome face. “I feel the same. You’ve taught me that I may have fought to have a life of my own but I wasn’t living it until you demanded I be given to you.”
Rena turned her head to smile at her mother. “I am going to love getting to know you but Steel and I have spent days locked up next to each other unable to touch, if you know what I mean. Can we get together later? I really want to be alone with him.”
If she thought she’d upset her mother, Rena was wrong. Rora chuckled.
“Days, huh? What are you still doing here? We’ll have dinner tomorrow.” Dark eyes sparkled with amusement. “He just needs to sign the papers and then you can go with your new husband.”
Rena watched Steel sign the family unit contract. She didn’t have to sign anything as his property, legally unable to disagree with him even if she wanted to, which she didn’t.
It wasn’t a wedding ceremony but she’d had that with Chuck, with their unhappy marriage. She pushed that thought away. He was part of her past—one she didn’t want to revisit. Steel took her hand, nodded at the three other people in the room and then he led Rena out onto the street.
“Wow, this place is incredible. It’s so damn clean.” She ignored the cyborgs who stopped to stare at the small human woman holding the big silver-haired cyborg’s hand.
“Are we going back to the Vontage now?”
“I have a home here at the top of one of these buildings and it contains a big bed.”
Rena chuckled, squeezing his hand. “Walk faster. Take me to your bed.”
“Our bed.” He stopped walking suddenly and grinned as he looked around them.
Rena had to stop when he did. “What?”
“They are all watching us.”
“I was trying to ignore that. I feel like a bug under a microscope.”
Steel peered down at her, still grinning. “Touching in public is frowned upon here but it isn’t a law.” He moved suddenly as he released her hand and swept her into his arms to hold her against him. “Maybe if they see happiness and emotion they will try to experience it as well.” He leaned his head forward.
Rena wrapped her arms around his neck as she lifted her lips to his, aware that many cyborgs watched them. She didn’t give a damn how many people gawked as his mouth took possession of hers.
She’d missed this, missed being so damn close to Steel that she could feel his heartbeat against her chest. He used his tongue to tease and taunt her mouth, sucking on her in the way he tugged on her clit, sending signals down to her sex, making it throb with need. Her body warmed, her ni**les hardened and she started to ache between her thighs, wetness dampening her underwear. She wanted to get into his bed in the worst way as she got lost in that kiss, her hands sliding up into his hair to fist it, pulling his mouth down to hers. They were both breathing hard when Steel broke the kiss.