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

this … or that she has considered that someone else would have been sent in our place.”

Gabriel shrugged. “It was our decision to take her when we discovered the man was dead,” he pointed out.

Gideon glared at him. “Tell her that! I am sure she will be more willing to forgive us for it then!”

“I hesitate to point this out, but it occurs to me that she might be holding a grudge because she has already thought of that.”

Gideon sent Jerico a look of disgust. “It is very likely,” he said tightly. “But I still do not want to point that out to her. I think that we must accept that she will not begin to feel any affection for any of us, but I would rather she did not continue to hate us. If she knows that we took one look at her and instantly decided to take her instead—because we were thinking with our cocks instead of our brains—she will know the advantage it gives her. She will torment us endlessly if she realizes she has the power to do so.

“I would prefer battle wounds! Painful as those are, at least they heal and do not continue to ache and make me feel sick! She has the tongue and eyes of a laser rifle and unerring accuracy to deploy her ammunition. She made me afraid when I thought I had hurt her. I have never known fear before in my memory! And she was only pretending to be hurt. I was so blinded by rage when I realized that that I thought for several moments that I would lose control, and then I thought that I would throw up my dinner when I realized that I had considered choking her, however fleetingly it went through my mind!

“I am convinced it was a mistake when it was decided to allow the development of emotions instead of removing the portions of the brain which encourage such illogical and uncontrollable urges! One can not go insane if there are no emotions to twist the guts into knots and make one think all sorts of irrational things!”

“I thought it was only me,” Gabriel said after a prolonged silence. “I almost feel better to know that I am no more irrational than you.”

Gideon rolled his eyes. “I can not imagine why that would make you feel better! And if it was only you, then we would not all be spending more time in the hold pounding on each other than doing our work. I have sustained less damage in entire campaigns than I have had since we took that female! I have begun to think my nanos will wear out repairing the damage.”

“I have wondered the same,” Jerico agreed tiredly. “We can not continue as we have. We must find a way to get her to agree to contract or give up on the notion altogether.”

Gideon and Gabriel both turned around to stare at him in disgust. “You give up the notion,” Gabriel ground out. “I am not ready to do so.”

“Nor I,” Gideon agreed.

“I did not say that I was ready to concede defeat!” Jerico snapped angrily. “I said we must resolve this … somehow.”

Gideon sagged lower in his seat, scrubbing his hands over his face. “I can not think!”

“It is your rest period,” Gabriel pointed out. “You should rest and then you will be able to consider this more clearly.”

“I do not trust Bronte enough to sleep near her at the moment,” Gideon ground out. “Nor trust myself near her at the moment after what I had to do to get answers from her. And I am not about to allow her to know by ordering her out of the cabin.”

Jerico and Gabriel exchanged a curious glance. “She was that angry?”

“You have not seen her angry before,” Gideon said. “You only believe that you have because you did not see her when I left.”

“You do not think she learned her lesson?” Gabriel asked.

“I believe she taught me one,” Gideon said wryly, absently massaging the ache in his genitals. “I do not know why she was so furious. She could not have failed to know that it affected me just as much, probably more. She does not have these to swell up and ache like hell.”

He fell to drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair, thinking. “She was angry because I did not finish,” he said pensively.

“That was the point,” Jerico said.

Gideon shot a look at him but it was clear his mind was elsewhere. “She does not like that anymore than we do,” he decided. “We can use the same tactic against her that she has used to such effect upon us.”

“I do not think I like the direction this is going,” Gabriel said uneasily.

Gideon frowned. “We can not gain her affection. We can not offer contracts as a tactical advantage. Pleasuring her has not convinced her that she wants us. Mayhap withholding it will do what nothing else has done … Or at least withholding culmination? We will make her suffer as we have been and then we will have something of value to offer to encourage her to contract with us.”

“I think your fluids have backed up into your brain!” Jerico growled. “Exactly how do you think that will convince her?”

“We can not wait until I have had her to do this?” Gabriel demanded furiously.

“I am sick of hearing you complain!” Jerico snarled. “If you can not find the balls to approach her, shut up!”

Gabriel was out of his seat and had pinned Jerico to the wall, his hands around the other man’s throat before he had even finished speaking.

Gideon ignored them. “The hold,” he reminded them absently.

When they emerged some thirty minutes later, he looked them over and calmly proceeded to outline the new plan.

“I still do not like this,” Jerico said gustily, still struggling to catch his breath.

“I do not like it either,” Gabriel announced, glaring at Jerico and daring him to say more. “I