Loving Deviant (Cyborg Seduction Book 9) by Laurann Dohner Page A

eat first.”
    “We can share.” She smiled again, her gaze holding his. “Do you want me to feed you?”
    He wasn’t sure what that meant and admitted as much.
    She glanced down, took hold of a utensil, and stabbed a cut piece of meat protein. He tensed when she lifted it toward his face, wondering if she’d attack. She could be working for Earth Government after all.
    The fork paused in front of his lips. “Open up.”
    No deceit registered in her eyes to him. He parted his mouth and was stunned when she gently eased the bite inside. He took it as she withdrew the potential weapon. He chewed, watching her closely as she took her own bite. She stabbed another protein and offered it to him again.
    “See? It’s kind of nice, isn’t it?”
    He gave a nod, chewing while studying her features. They were delicate, and he couldn’t detect any scars. Curiosity became stronger as he allowed her to feed him the meal, Venice taking bites between the ones she gave him. All the questions he had about her waited until the food was gone. She set the tray aside and sipped from the same cup as him.
    Sharing was a nice thing, he decided, having never experienced it on such a personal level before.
    “What kind of accident did you have on Earth that damaged you?”
    She passed over the cup to him. “The car’s computer experienced some kind of failure or glitch while I was traveling home from work. It happened so fast, I didn’t have time to override the system before the vehicle careened to the left. I struck the divider wall and it flipped over.” Her expression flashed sadness, if he read her right. “It’s kind of a blur after that point. I was in a lot of pain and trapped in the wreckage. It caught fire, and I remember thinking it was over for me, you know? That’s how I got burned. Emergency drones arrived to put it out thankfully, cut me from the wreckage, and then a medical transport took me away. I knew I was pretty messed up. I kept passing out…and there was so much blood.”
    “You said they took your blood? Why? They can manufacture it on Earth. It would normally be a higher-quality product than the real thing.”
    “Rich people like the best, and to them, it seems that means the real stuff.”
    Her mouth firmed into a tight line as she paused speaking. That was anger. He liked that he could identify her emotions, and that she didn’t hide them from him.
    “I kept hoping I’d wake to see my sister at my bedside, but they kept me drugged most of the time. I’d come around sometimes, and then an android nurse would enter the cubical, refuse to answer my questions, and drug me again. It was shocking to find out just how long they’d had me there after I was freed.”
    “You were unconscious most of the time?”
    “Yes. I’d probably be insane otherwise. I can’t image being strapped to a bed for those years, fully conscious but unable to get free, knowing they were keeping me alive just to take my blood.”
    “Was it painful when the drugs wore off?”
    “I was able to lift my head a few times.” Tears gathered in her eyes but she blinked rapidly to be rid of them. “I saw how messed up I was. It’s kind of hard to miss it when you try to brush your hair back from your face and only one arm responds. The other one was gone. It felt like my legs were still there, but they wouldn’t move when I tried to struggle out of the straps they had across my body. It was another big shock when I first realized they were gone too.”
    The urge to pull her into his arms overcame Deviant, and he only hesitated for a moment before he reached out and took her hand. It was the artificial one. He wouldn’t have known by touch if she hadn’t told him. She clung to him, seeming to welcome the gesture.
    “It must have been traumatic.” He couldn’t imagine what she’d endured. To be helpless was a fear of his. He didn’t verbally express it.
    “I was sure I’d die in there…but then I woke to see two people