Cyborg Nation by Kaitlyn O'Connor (english readers TXT) 📗

but you must see this campaign is not going at all well,” Jerico said irritably.

“You do not tip your hand to the … uh … opposition,” Gideon pointed out, “only because you see that you are fighting a losing battle! There is no more certain way to assure defeat!”

“Jerico and I both feel that we should discuss a contract,” Gabriel pointed out.

“This is not a democracy, soldier!” Gideon growled.

“This is also not a military engagement!” Jerico snapped heatedly.

Realizing their voices had been steadily rising, all three turned to look at Bronte.

Bronte tried to look as if she hadn’t heard a word they’d said, but she was fairly certain she wasn’t very successful.

They moved their discussion to the ship’s midsection, closing the door behind them.

Bronte chewed her lip indecisively for a moment and finally moved to the door. Easing up to it cautiously before she placed her ear against the panel, she carefully braced a hand on either side of the door to make certain she didn’t fall through the doorway if it opened unexpectedly.

“You are thinking with your cock, not your brain,” Gideon said coldly, “because she has not allowed you to touch her. If you were thinking clearly you would realize that she is not likely to consider a contract with you if she will not allow you to touch her.”

“You do not want to ask because you are afraid she will not consider contracting with you,” Gabriel said angrily. “Because you know that Jerico gave her far more pleasure than you did.”

There was no warning snarl of rage, only the meaty smack of flesh to flesh and then stumbling footsteps that told its own tale. The scrape of some object across the floor and several more stomping footsteps preceded another blow as Gabriel retaliated.

“You two are not weary yet?” Jerico demanded.

He let out a grunt as two fists hit him in rapid succession, both Gabriel and Gideon, she suspected. Either they were tired, or they had already worked off most of their repressed aggression. Contrary to what Bronte feared, it did not escalate into another full-fledged battle. After trading a few more blows, she heard nothing but heavy breathing.

“We have wrecked the ship,” Gideon finally observed, almost mildly. “If we are done here, I think we should clean up and put things back together.”

“We are not done!” Gabriel said in a muffled voice, as if he was holding a hand to his mouth. “I still say we should ask her.”

“Fine!” Gideon snapped. “Ask her. She will only look at you as if you are insane!”

An uncomfortable silence followed. “We thought you meant to ask her,” Jerico said finally. “It was your plan to start with.”

“It was my plan to court her and bring her around to the idea,” Gideon pointed out angrily. “She has done nothing but look at me like I am a beast since I seduced her. I am not going to ask her when I know she will only tell me to go to hell!”

“As you said before, though, at this rate we will have killed one another before much longer—whether she is willfully pitting us against one another or not. You have been worse since you were with her, not better—which I understand now because we were no sooner done than I wanted to begin again. I will be as insane as you are if she refuses to have anything more to do with me, and I will kill both of you with my bare hands if she decides to choose either of you and refuses me!” Jerico ground out.

“And the ship will not take many more battles,” Gabriel added. “It will fall apart on us if we are not careful or we will end up breaking something that can not be repaired.”

There was silence for several moments. “We could clear a place in the hold,” Gideon finally suggested thoughtfully. “There is nothing of any consequence that can be damaged down there. We will do that,” he added decisively. “We must all agree that, if we have issues to work out, we will go below and ‘discuss’ them. That way, she will not know we are at each other’s throats over this and we can convince her we are not the mindless brutes she thinks we are.

“Then, since it is clear we are not worth a fuck at courting, we will petition her to consider it as a sound defense move. You are right, Gabriel. She is very reasonable and intelligent. If we have done nothing else, we have certainly convinced her that we are capable warriors and willing to fight. She is bound to see it as an advantage to have the protection of three good soldiers.

“Gabriel—if you do not make your move soon, I do not mind telling you that I will not wait upon it much longer. I have endured just about all I can stand and it is not to my advantage to wait until I am mindless and do something unforgivably stupid … like I almost did a few minutes ago.”

“Can we discuss this in the hold?” Gabriel growled.

“Certainly!” Gideon responded. “After you!”

Bronte flattened her ear more tightly against the door, straining to hear in the silence that followed that exchange. There was a scraping sound and then the sound of flesh smacking into flesh followed by a loud crash … as of someone falling down a ladder, because she heard dull clangs preceding the loud crash like a foot striking several rungs.

“That was … a dishonorable blow, Gideon!” Jerico ground out. “You might at least have allowed him to get down the ladder before you kicked him in the face!”

“This is not a contest of skills for points,” Gideon retorted. “It is war, and there is no honor in war, only winners and losers.” Another thud followed that retort and Bronte assumed it was the sound of Gideon dropping to the floor below.

Realizing she had heard all she was likely to hear, Bronte retreated to the bed and