Page 10 of The Cyborg Way
Despite the early hour, the lights were already on in her habitat when he arrived.At least I won’t be disturbing her in her bed.
Instead, it was worse—or better, depending on how he wanted to look at it. When he knocked on the inner door of the airlock, she opened it dressed in a heavy silk brocade robe in a shade of blue that brought out the color of her eyes. The light brown hair that was usually confined in a tight braid was piled loosely on top of her head, damp tendrils curling around her fragile neck, and her skin flushed and glowing. All of the efforts he’d made on the ride here to control his erection were in vain. He was once again achingly hard and ready.
“I’m glad you’re back,” she said breathlessly. “What did you decide?”
He forced his attention away from the open neck of her robe and sighed.
“I have decided that reporting Henry to GenCon may not be the best solution.”
“Thank you so much.” She stepped closer, putting her hands on his arm as she smiled up at him. “I really appreciate that.”
Does she appreciate it enough to kiss me again?He pushed the errant thought aside.
“But I do have one condition,” he added, and held out the scanner. “I want to scan him and confirm that he’s not dangerous.”
“Of course he’s not dangerous,” she said indignantly, her pretty face turning pink.
“Then you have nothing to worry about. This will only confirm that.”
“It’s not going to hurt him, is it?”
“No, it’s just like the scan you had during your medical exam for the voyage.”
To his surprise she bit her lip, an uncertain look on her face, and his heart raced, despite the attempts of his nanites to calm it.
“What is it, Ellie? Was there something wrong with your scan?”
CHAPTER SIX
“There wasn’t anything wrong,” Ellie said quickly. “I just didn’t have a scan.”
“Why not? It’s a standard procedure.”
Damn.She’d been braced for the question when she first arrived on Mars, but no one had ever asked, and she was no longer prepared.
“No special reason—I just didn’t have one. Would you, umm, like some tea?” she asked nervously, trying to take a step back.
He prevented her from moving away by taking her hand in his much larger one, rough fingers curling gently but inescapably around hers.
“What’s wrong? Tell me,” he ordered.
She tried to think of the convenient stories she’d developed, but all of them escaped her and besides, she didn’t want to lie to him.
“I didn’t have a medical exam,” she burst out. “My passage was arranged for me.”
“Arranged? Who arranged it?”
This was the worst part. She dropped her eyes, unable to look at him as she answered.
“Apparently he was my father.”
She hadn’t even known he existed until a week after her mother’s funeral. She’d been sitting alone in their apartment, still in a state of shock from her mother’s unexpected death. A key suddenly turned in the lock and a distinguished-looking man entered. He gave her a quick, assessing glance from cold blue eyes.
“Do not be alarmed,” he said calmly, but she’d been too sad and numb to be frightened. She simply stared at him.
“You are Eleanor, are you not?” he asked.
“My name is Ellie.”
