Page 23 of The Brotherhood

Confusion brought her brows together. “A bath?”

AL’s low chuckle traipsed through the air before Big G said, “I will be serving as your teacher in this, Cat. AL will serve as my assistant. Your first lesson is to learn how to surrender your trust to me.”

“Which is also called obedience,” AL added silkily.

CHAPTER 6

Don’t Let Me Go

Poppy sat on the edge of the medical chair inside the containment room, hands folded in her lap to keep them from fidgeting. Her gaze again wandered to the pod at the far side of the room. He was in it. With a brand-new body. And shereallywanted to see it.

She glanced at Mr. Harlow and Mr. Quantum beyond the thick plate of glass in earnest conversation with Mr. Skul as they monitored Handy’s recovery. Just Skul. It was sweet that he’d insisted on coming to keep an eye on things. She’d been asked to sit alone in the containment room for thirty minutes before they woke him for the imprint. Her scent would play a role along with her voice and the sight of her.

She smoothed her hands over the deep blue dress with delicate embroidery along the hem. She’d chosen it carefully. Something soft but strong. A quiet, private celebration. She wanted something pretty for his first time seeing with his very own eyes. Something that made him feel anchored. After being trapped in a body that wasn’t fully his, forced to share his existence in a way she couldn’t fathom, this washismoment.Hisbeginning. And she wanted to honor it and make it as spectacular as she could.

She looked at the pod again then the men beyond the glass. “Am I allowed to see him before he wakes?” she finally dared.

Harlow and Quantum exchanged a brief look before Quantum nodded. “Yes. You can step forward now. Just remember, he’s still in full stasis.”

Full stasis. Poppy rose, exhaling carefully as she approached the pod, going over the term. Fully unconscious, is what she remembered that to mean. Every step forward brought an energy humming along her skin from the machine. Like a beast at rest, waiting to stir.

Her breath caught in her throat as she stopped before the metal shell, taking him in. Wow. Her gaze moved over the carefully structured body. Every line of his frame blended seamlessly between synthetic mastery and raw human essence. Her gaze moved over his left arm, the jagged sleek black mechanics sending her pulse racing. The contrast between his inhuman arm and the perfection of his smooth, cream-colored flesh sent a strange thrill through her.

The organic parts of him looked impossibly real. She had half-expected something unnatural, something off—but his skin looked warm, touchable, so convincingly human that her fingers twitched at her sides, wanting to test. Starting at the hard ridges of his abdomen. Her gaze traced the silver threads of integration along his chest in wonder. Would he feel like a man? Or something else entirely? What would his metal feel like on her skin? Would it be unforgiving? Or gentle?

Her breath released shakily as she stepped closer, locking her eyes on his face. The sight of it put knots in her stomach. He was so very beautiful. Harshly so. And… she was his. Even if he’d said she would be his prisoner. Even if he’d sworn he wouldn’t be a husband to her. She had decided that whatever he needed, she’d be. His prisoner. His friend. His quiet anchor. Maybe, in time, something more.

Her gaze lingered on the sharp angles of his cheekbones then moved to the smooth, unmarred line of his jaw. Her pulseraced at the fullness of his lips. Full but firm. Not delicate. Maybe commanding. She remembered the kiss she had loaned him. He’d return it with those lips. How would he kiss her? She’d imagined it a thousand times. Would he do it the way a man kisses a woman? Would he know how? Would he hold back?

She hoped not.

New hungers drew her gaze back down his body, pausing at the sharp cut of his abdomen. The glass of the pod only reached his hips, leaving the rest of him obscured in shadow. She leaned slightly, suddenly very curious just how complete his new body was.

Heat crawled up her neck as she realized what she was doing. Her heart raced in her chest with a mix of excitement and mortification. Was it really so wrong to know? He would be hers to stabilize, to anchor.

“Poppy.”

She jerked toward the glass at Harlow’s sharp voice through the intercom.

“You ready?” he asked.

She swallowed hard and nodded. “Yes. I’m ready.”

“We’re waking him now,” Quantum said next, sending panic through her blood stream. “Stand right where you are. Let him see you first. Speak to him. Make eye contact. He needs to hear your voice.”

Poppy nodded. “Understood,” she said, turning to the pod, latching her gaze onto his face while fears of the unknown doubled down on her.

Quantum keyed in a final command. “Initiating now.”

The containment field flickered, casting erratic shadows along the walls as a faint hum pulsed through the floor beneath her feet. Her heart pounded as she watched his motionless body.

She gasped when a finger twitched in her peripheral, holding her gaze tightly to his face, not wanting to miss whenhis eyes opened. Another light strobe through the containment forced her lips to part for more air.

His eyes slowly opened, and she sucked in a sharp breath when their gazes collided. Flecks of crimson red seemed to burn in the nearly black irises, slitted right on her. Her pulse thundered as she stood her ground, willing herself not to look away.

Speak!

“Handy,” she whispered, voice steady, careful. “It’s me. Poppy.”

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