His hands traveled over her shoulder and down her arm to her elbow, kneading the tension away. He saw the controller on her wrist and briefly thought about removing it. He’d cracked the code on his restraints about two hours ago. But he knew if she woke without it, his tired mad scientist would be greatly alarmed.
Kyra grunted her resistance to Peyton’s strokes even as she spoke, but his hand rubbing her hip soon had sighs shuddering out of her. “Your massage may just be the best thing that’s happened to me in years. I can see why all those women bought you, Peyton.”
Peyton used one finger to gently tap her lips. “Flattery will only cause you problems you don’t want. Sleep tonight, Dr. Winters. We’ll resume our sarcasm swap in the morning.”
Two minutes and seven seconds later, Kyra’s even breathing told him she had indeed fallen asleep. He took it as a compliment after what she had revealed to him earlier. Tucking her body tighter against his, Peyton relaxed. He felt oddly content despite the hardness between his legs that would find no relief. He lay awake for another hour, cataloging his contentment, and trying to analyze why it felt so good. Finally he put his processor into quiet mode while his physical body followed Kyra’s into sleep.
Chapter 10
Kyra woke abruptly when a large hand clamped itself tightly over her mouth. She reached up to grab at the restraining fingers only to hear Peyton making shushing sounds in her ear. Alarm skittered through her, but not about the potential intruders. Peyton’s husky whispers were making her nipples pebble and chill bumps dance along her arms.
“There are two men in the house,” Peyton reported. “One has a faint accent. They are actively looking for you because you weren’t answering your handheld. I believe you now about being investigated.”
Kyra relaxed and nodded, glad when Peyton’s fingers finally left her mouth. “It’s okay, Peyton. It’s just my assistant, Nero. He’s the only one with the house entry code. When he’s stressed or excited, his New Delhi accent returns. Let me up and I’ll go talk to him.”
“I’m not sure it’s safe. Their adrenalin levels are spiked and they reek of fear. It’s so strong I’m not smelling you any longer,” Peyton said, pulling her tighter.
“Captain Elliott—listen to me. I am safer with Nero than I am with you. Now let go of me so I can get out of bed,” Kyra ordered.
When he finally did as she’d requested, Kyra rolled to the edge of the mattress and away from over six feet of warm, hard male. Regret had her huffing in mild protest as her feet hit the cold floor. Her aroused body was rebelling every way possible, but there was no going back to the warmth of Peyton curled around her, especially not with Nero prowling the house in concern.
Stomping to the bedroom door, Kyra yanked it open and stuck her head out. “Hey Nero—I just got up. Give me a minute and I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”
At Nero’s mumbled okay, Kyra closed the door and headed to the chair where she had tossed her robe the night before. Belting it on over her t-shirt and sleep shorts, she turned to Peyton who was still watching her with a narrowed gaze.
“Some of your circuits must be malfunctioning this morning. I promise you there’s no danger. It’s Nero and probably his friend Brad. They must have stopped by on their way to work.”
Peyton snorted. How had he ever thought this woman was evil? It must have been the lab coat. The naïve doctor obviously had no abilities to discern between friends and foes.
“Unless you want to admit you cyber scientists screwed up royally with me, my senses are shouting there damn well is cause for concern in this situation. Now I repeat—both men have elevated heart rates and I’m smelling high levels of adrenalin on them. That always means something is wrong, Dr. Winters.”
Kyra shook her head and frowned. “No. You’re still calibrating. Your sensory data is just now being understood by your human side. Stop trying to convince yourself there’s a reason for unease.” At his huffing and whispered swearing, she sighed. “Think of it this way—people under thirty-five have a way of turning everything in their life into something worthy of high drama. Have you seen what they consider entertainment? Violent vid games. Movies that have no redeeming purpose. Nero probably had some minor crisis at home this morning—something he dramatically decided couldn’t wait until a reasonable hour to contact me.”
“Since I see no matching signs of stress in you at the moment, I will defer to your judgment about those two men. However, my Cyber Husband programming is nagging me to enter full protection mode because the intruders are both anxious and unknown males to me.”
Kyra stopped and pondered what Peyton might do if left alone, but she had to risk it. She needed to privately find out what had Nero in such a tizzy that he would use his key code to her house. He had done that exactly twice in twenty years and this was a third time.
“Look Captain Elliot—I can’t have you going all full-blown cyborg on me in front of those men. Stay in this room until I see what they want. Run diagnostics again. Accessing the Cyber Husband chip should be completely voluntary by now so there’s no reason for you to feel the need to follow any warnings it makes concerning me. Now what’s wrong, Peyton? You’re making a horrible face.”
“I am?” Genuinely surprised, Peyton reached up and stroked his lightly bristled chin. His facial hair grew slower since he got the cybernetics installed, but he still had to shave a couple times a week. He felt the edges of his mouth forming a frown that matched Kyra’s. “Something is off with those men. I don’t know what it is, but I’ll occupy myself with running diagnostics while you’re gone. I’m also going to slip quietly across the hall to utilize the facilities.”
“Fine. Do whatever you need to for yourself. Just don’t come charging out to my kitchen, acting like a some jealous lover in front of Nero and Brad. I know that’s the first suggestion in your husband programming to intimidate males you consider a threat. I swear to you those men out there are like younger brothers to me. Plus I don’t want Nero more worried. He’s already concerned you’re going to hurt me and I don’t know why he feels that way. He never worried about me being alone with Marshall or Alex.”
Peyton snorted again, but louder this time. The woman wouldn’t recognize an actual alpha male if she saw one. Her time had been spent with too many cerebral men. “Fine. I will remain here, but I will continue to listen for danger. If you have not returned by the time my diagnostics have finished, I will have no choice but to come looking for you. I will try to behave in an appropriate manner based on your directions instead of my inclinations.”
“Thank you,” Kyra said, relieved as she nodded and hurried out the door.
Peyton thought of how warm Kyra had been in his arms and how much he resented the men appearing when they did. This situation was not how he’d planned to wake her up this morning. He lay back down and closed his eyes to direct all his energy away from missing Kyra to his mental tasks.
***
When Kyra walked into the kitchen, both men let out audible gasps as they looked her up and down in her pajamas and robe.
“Did you two stop for java triple shots on your way here? Damn it, Nero. Peyton is aware of your stress and curious as hell about it. So calm down before we have a cyborg meltdown incident right here in the kitchen.”
She watched them look at each other in stunned surprise. Before either spoke, they took several calming breaths. Sighing, Nero reached a hand out and gave her a porta-disk. He lowered his speech to a mere whisper.
“Here’s the work you asked me to review, Kyra. Some of the findings are in a separate file. It’s privacy level seven coded because I felt it was necessary. When you see what we discovered, you’ll understand the precautions I took. I hate to say this, but you need to leave your house today. And you need to pack lightly—very, very lightly. Leave everything behind that you can stand to leave behind—and I mean everything.”
Kyra closed her hand around the disk as her stomach sank with Nero’s unspoken implications.
“We don’t think, Kyra. We know.”
Kyra squeezed the disk even tighter. She knew if she freaked out about Nero’s suspicions and got herself into a physical uproar, Peyton would for sure come running down the hall to pseudo-rescue her. As her brain searched frantically for a way to make sense of the situation, Alex and the shame he had never been able to shed popped into her head. Peyton had shown no signs of shame or remorse or any emotion resembling regret over his life at all. She had thought his constant anger was a more positive sign, but something could be suppressing those softer human emotions.
She had been willing—maybe even wanting—to excuse any lack of them as just being the type of male Peyton was. But now? Well now, she didn’t know what to think. Nero was insinuating she’d slept snuggled up with a bad guy last night. Given more time, she might have figured out on her own whether or not Peyton was a walking, talking UCN spy. Evidently she didn’t have the luxury of time anymore.
“Kyra? Are you okay?” Nero watched the play of emotions run across Kyra’s face. He was suddenly sorry he’d had to share such bad news so soon. “To be fair, we’ve not had a chance to fully examine what information is being collected. We also don’t know if the information is merely being stored or transmitted daily.”
“If information is being collected, you can be sure it is for a purpose detrimental to me,” Kyra said flatly. She spoke as calmly as she could, considering she wanted to scream.
Nero nodded once to confirm his similar understanding. “We will need access to your lab to find out for sure.”
Conceding the wisdom of his request, Kyra nodded. Stepping back from Nero, she raised her voice and strove to sound as irritated with Nero as she could.
“Okay. Fine, Nero. You can use my lab for your gaming, but Peyton is showing signs of multiple malfunctions this morning. If his blips continue, I may need the lab back quickly. You can have an hour in there—but just one.”
Kyra watched Nero nod, then they both looked at Brad who was now the color of chalk. His gaze bounced warily to the kitchen doorway every few seconds. She rubbed Brad’s arm briefly as she walked ahead of them down the hall. A very talented cyber scientist, Brad had been in the last group of young techs she’d trained before she left Norton. He’d been pulled away from her area after a few weeks and sent to work on one of Jackson’s older projects. She didn’t know Brad well, but he and Nero had become almost instant friends. It helped that Brad was a sympathizer for their cause so he well knew what was at stake with Peyton’s restoration.
At the lab door, she coded it open and stepped aside to let both men enter. “You won’t be able to get out without me. I’ll check back in an hour.”
Nero nodded. “Don’t let us keep you from enjoying your morning with your new husband. I know you made the lab sound proof. I’m sure we won’t hear you in the act of consummating.”
Kyra knew Nero was teasing to create a cover for the sake of Peyton’s enhanced hearing, but his words stung because sex with Peyton was never going to happen.
“Shut-up smartass. You know I haven’t been able to bypass his violence settings yet. Thanks to Jackson I outgrew vanilla bedroom companions long ago. So until I fix Peyton 313, my new Cyber Husband and I are abstaining. Instead of sex, I’ll be making us breakfast while you two are dorking around in my lab.”
Nero gave Kyra a mildly chastising look as Brad ducked his head and scurried into the lab. He wasn’t keen on embarrassing his reluctantly helpful friend who idolized Kyra, but to give her credit, the ruse was perfect for any recording that might be happening. He’d just have to fill Brad in later about why Kyra talked that way about Jackson.
Nero leaned into her and hugged. “Thanks for letting us use the lab. We won’t need more than a hour—I promise.”
***
Kyra waited until the door slid shut behind them before sighing loudly. She ordered the security to start its random cycle again. When she turned, Peyton was watching her intently with those golden eyes of his that softly glowed with his cycling cybernetic power. At first the unusual implants had disturbed her. Now she acknowledged they suited the rest of his intensely curious nature.
“Kids and their damn video games,” she said sharply. “More power. It’s always a search for more power. Were you ever a gamer, Peyton?”
He nodded while studying her face, not liking the rapid eye movements that kept Kyra’s gaze from locking naturally to his. What had made her suddenly nervous about revealing her true thoughts to him? Had he done something to offend her?
“If I’m recalling my childhood correctly, I played military games until I was able to enter the actual service. Outside of that I preferred sports.”
“Figures you would go into the Marines then,” Kyra replied, walking past him. “Come to the kitchen. I’ll make us some breakfast. They’re allowed one hour in there and then I’m booting them out.”
Peyton turned to follow her. “I noticed you lied to Nero about your sexual preferences. Do you do that with everyone in your life?”
Kyra glared at his question. “You don’t know me well enough to draw that conclusion. But yes—what I said just now was meant to create a diversion. I prefer the men in my life to stay out of my business, even those I give a key code to my house for emergency use.”
Peyton grinned. “Does that include me? When we were kissing, you seemed pretty interested in letting me into your business.”
Kyra shrugged at Peyton’s flirting, but smiled at his cleverness. “I see you’ve learned to use innuendo since yesterday. Maybe my fabrications with men and my kissing you were both just momentary lapses in good judgment prompted by my irrational human side.”
Peyton grinned at her accelerated heartbeat as Kyra nervously attempted to divert his speculation. It didn’t work, but he gave her a few points for trying. “You know Doc, for a scientist you sure use the word maybe a lot, especially when it comes to talking about yourself.”
Kyra opened her mouth, then shut it again. It suddenly occurred to her that Peyton’s keen observation of her habits and preferences might be part of the information he was collecting. “You have a good point, Captain Elliot. I’ll try to be more precise in my descriptions going forward. Let’s go to the kitchen. I can’t think well when I’m hungry.”
***
Later in her room Kyra collected a hundred-year-old titanium wrist portable from a dresser drawer. Upgrading the artifact to function with modern porta-disks had given her a hobby that filled the lonely hours after her divorce was final. Sure—by the time Jackson had left for real, she had been glad to see him gone. It was just the sudden silence in her once lively house that had taken considerable adjustment time. She had eventually learned to use it for something other than feeling sorry for herself.
The upgraded artifact had once been only a time keeping device. The expensive fusion crystal now running in it had been a crazy extravagance, but one she was glad she had made. The wrist unit provided a very discreet way for her to view Nero’s research.
After checking that it worked, she slipped the wrist unit into the same pocket of her robe containing the disk, then gathered up the rest of her clothes. Having once again sent Peyton to the master bedroom and bath, she trekked into the guest bath across the hall. She turned on the exhaust fan and the shower to create cover noise. Sliding the disk Nero had given her into the wrist unit’s reader, she muted the sound completely. Then she watched in disbelief as Peyton easily overrode her security to exit the electrically charged cage.
Quickly removing the disk from the unit, she put both into the pocket of the jeans she had hastily pulled on. Now she knew what Nero and Brad were doing in her lab. They were trying to alter the data Peyton’s planted device might have already picked up. She was suddenly very grateful that her admiration
of Tesla’s Faraday cage shielding had prompted her to add similar shielding to the lab. If she was lucky, the shielding had prevented any broadcasting. If not, soon Norton would for sure know that she’d managed restoration on Peyton. Or at least she’d managed it to the degree she’d been aware of based on Peyton’s standard cybernetics.
Obviously Nero’s data extraction had raised other questions about his programming. For starters, how did Peyton crack her security codes? She had done that coding by herself. No one had those codes but her. But more importantly—was Peyton aware of what he’d done? Or was the secondary programming somehow running outside the knowledge of his primary processor?
Her suspicions went immediately to Nero who could be working against her while pretending to support her intentions of liberating the Cyber Soldiers. Thoughts that he might be the one betraying her threatened to explode her heart with more hurt than she could bear. If she ruled out Nero, the only other person who had even half the creator knowledge, then who other than him had the level of talent needed to wire in a secondary processor in a way that kept the primary one unaware? And if it had been successfully done to Peyton, what the hell had they done to the other cyborgs?
She believed Nero and Brad’s theory. Peyton had to be double wired. That was the only explanation for his capabilities. But knowing who was responsible wasn’t going to change anything. Even though the process was outlawed and illegal, she knew double-wiring had been done on several cyborgs as a test. The problem was that in all of the experiments, it had led to dueling processors, which led to mental meltdowns of the worst kind. One cyborg had gone uncontrollably berserk and destroyed a lab before they could shut him down. Mental instability combined with enhanced strength was just not a good combination.
Kyra chewed her lip. Should she do what Nero suggested and just disappear without taking Peyton along? Dressed in a tank top covered by an oversized sweater, she left the bathroom and headed down the hall, determined to figure it out in the next hour or two.
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