Lathim sat in the captain’s chair and stared out into space. It had been ten years since they’d gained their freedom, such as it was. He thought about that long-ago day and knew they wouldn’t have done anything differently, even if it had meant being exiled by their people. The Zelranians had been intolerant and wouldn’t listen to reason, so Lathim and many others had taken a stand. It had meant an end to the Cy-Con program, which in his opinion wasn’t a bad thing.

“You look deep in thought,” Tenz said. “You aren’t still upset about that whore screaming her head off when she saw us, are you? We knew it was bound to happen.”

“I’m tired of sex bots,” Lathim said. “No matter how realistic they make them look, they don’t feel the same as a living female.”

“If Zelran hadn’t labeled us renegades and used the terms ‘unstable’ and ‘dangerous’, I’m sure we wouldn’t have quite so much trouble. As it is, males want to challenge us and females fear us. If I could kick the Zelranian parliament’s collective ass, I would.” Tenz snorted. “Not like any of them have been in battle before anyway.”

“We’re closing in on the ship Titanium from Earth,” Rorwick reported. “It’s been marked as stolen by pirates, with enough goods on board we should be able to do a hefty trade and be set for a few months.”

“Shields or other defenses?” Lathim asked.

“It has shields and blasters, but I’ve locked onto their ship and it seems their shields have been damaged by asteroids. If we hit them just right, we can take out the blasters and damage their engines,” Rorwick said. “Hit about two meters from the docking port. It will take out the blasters and the heat should kill the engines.”

Lathim maneuvered the ship for the best possibly outcome. “Let me know when you’ve gained control of their systems.”

“Done,” Rorwick said, having linked with the Titanium using his neural transmitters.

Lathim fired three shots at the Titanium and waited for the ship to stop. He continued course until they pulled alongside. Blasting open the docking port, they connected to the battered ship and prepared to board. Lathim checked his weapons and waited for his crew to meet at the port. When they were ready, he sent the command for the doors to open, and he and his fellow cyborgs boarded.

They’d expected a crowd of pirates to attack, but the ship was eerily silent. Moving through the cargo hold, they fanned out with two remaining to guard the docking port, and scoured the ship for signs of life. As they neared the crew quarters, they saw what had happened to the original crew. The damn pirates had killed every last one and hadn’t bothered to even jettison them out of the airlock. The stench was horrendous as they moved through the ship and drew closer to the captain’s quarters.

The captain lay dead on the floor, his chest cavity opened and his heart removed, but the shredded clothing of a female drew Lathim’s attention. He knelt and picked it up, noticing it was free of blood. Whoever had worn it might very well still be alive, if she’d fought back and managed to break free. And if there was a human female on board, there might be a chance to save her. And if they saved her, maybe she’d show some gratitude in pleasurable ways. He’d of course seen human females before, but he’d never bedded one that wasn’t synthetic and looked forward to the experience.

“Find the woman,” Lathim said quietly. “But don’t scare her.”

Tenz snorted. “She’ll take one look at us and scream. The only Zelranians with white hair are those of us from the Cy-Con program. We’re hard to mistake for anyone else.”

“Just do it,” Lathim said tersely.

His men left and he scoured the chamber for any sign that the woman might still be nearby. After he cleared the captain’s quarters, he turned to leave, but as he neared the door, a sound stopped him. A slight whimper had come from somewhere in the room. His gaze scanned the area again, stopping on the cabinet across from him. Moving slowly, he eased the doors open, but it was empty. He heard movement behind him and spun, just in time to see a swatch of dark hair and a flash of pink skin disappear around the doorway and down the corridor.

Lathim took off after her, not wanting to scare her, but wanting to make sure she came to no harm in the event pirates were still on board. Whoever she was, she was damn fast, because she’d vanished by the time he entered the corridor. Opening communications with his shipmates, he notified them of the female’s presence and continued the search. He backtracked to the cargo hold and examined every corner, looking behind every crate.

The same small whimper drew him again. One of the crates was partially open, containing half a dozen sex bots and one very terrified human female. He lifted his hands to show her he wouldn’t hurt her and approached slowly. The female cowered and tried to make herself disappear into a corner of the crate.

“I mean you no harm,” Lathim said. “Do you know what I am?”

She nodded slowly.

“I’m not here to hurt you. I want to help.”

Her wide eyes said she didn’t believe him, and he couldn’t blame her, not with the lies Zelran was spreading about his kind. He moved a little closer and watched as she trembled. He noted her lack of clothing, and cursed his body’s reaction to her. It had been a long time since he’d had a living female and not a bot, and she was damned tempting with all her sweet curves.

Booted steps came up behind him.

“I see you found her,” Rorwick said.

“I’m trying to convince her that she’s safe with us,” Lathim said.

“We found the pirates,” Rorwick said. “They’d locked themselves behind a metal door on the captain’s deck. There were only a handful of them, but we handled it. Damn cowards took one look at us and screamed like little girls.”

Lathim continued to gaze steadily at the female. “Did you hear that? The pirates are gone and you’re safe. My crew won’t harm you.”

“Not pirates?” she asked, her lips trembling.

“We’re cyborgs,” Rorwick said with pride. “And the captain is right, we’d never hurt you.”

She eased out of the corner.

Lathim broke into a few crates until he found some clothing, and pulled out a long shirt. He helped her into it as she drew near enough to touch. She peered up at him and something about the blue of her eyes and her petite stature pulled at him. He’d not been around many human females and this one seemed smaller than most, barely reaching his shoulder.

“My name is Lathim and this is Rorwick,” he told her. “What’s your name?”

“Maggie.”

Lathim glanced at Rorwick, knowing he was still able to access the Titanium’s records through the mental link.

“Magnolia Baker,” Rorwick said. “Captain Garret Baker’s daughter. Her father stole this ship twelve years ago and ran it until the pirates boarded.”

Maggie gaped at them. “How do you know that?”

Rorwick winked at her. “Cyborg, remember? I can access the ship’s logs, among other things, just by using my mind.”

“Will you board our ship with us?” Lathim asked.

“You’ll return me to Earth?”

He shared a look with Rorwick before gazing back at Maggie. “We can’t go to Earth, Maggie, but we can keep you safe.”

“You could come to our world with us,” Rorwick said. “We took over an abandoned military base, but it’s really nice and we’ve expanded on it. We have farmland and we’ve traded for livestock. We even have some of your Earth chickens and get fresh eggs every day.”

“Why can’t I go home?” she asked.

“It’s a little far and too dangerous,” Lathim said. “Do you know where you are right now?”

She shook her head.

“In the Galim galaxy, near Ryel. If we were to travel to Earth from here, it would take weeks to reach there, even if we found wormholes and folded space.” Lathim reached for her, but she shied away.

“How long have you been on this ship?” Rorwick asked.

“Since I was a child,” she answered.

“She doesn’t appear much bigger than one now,” Rorwick said softly.

Maggie frowned at him and Lathim tried to get close to her again.

“Maggie, I promise that you will be taken care of,” Lathim said. “I give you my word.”

Rorwick looked her over. “You know, if we took her home with us, maybe she’d mate with someone.”

Lathim felt a burning in his chest at the thought of the scared female pairing off with anyone. Well, anyone but him. He didn’t know a damn thing about her, but just looking at her made him want to hold her close and comfort her. He’d never really held a female before. His sexual encounters had been brief when they were with living females and not bots, and even he didn’t feel like holding a bot after sex. They were toys to be used and put away.

The female looked frightened at the prospect. “I’m not a whore.”

Lathim tried to ease a little closer to her. “No one said you were. A mating is… it’s like your marriage on Earth. I think that’s the term you use. It’s a promise to be together forever. You would only be with one male and he would only be with you.”

Some of the fear dimmed in her eyes. “Marriage?”

“Have you been married before?” Lathim asked, the thought of another touching her making intense feelings swell inside of him. Was that what jealousy felt like? “Was your mate on board?”

She shook her head.

He was relieved she hadn’t belonged to anyone. He wanted her, but she was so damn scared he couldn’t even reach out and touch her. Lathim had no experience with human females and didn’t know how to calm her. He wanted her trust, wanted her to hand herself over to his care, but didn’t have the first idea how to go about doing that. He’d treat her well if she agreed to mate with him.

“Everything you’ve heard about cyborgs is a lie,” he told her. “We aren’t dangerous and we would never harm you.”

“You chased me,” she said softly.

“I didn’t want the pirates to get you. Did they harm you? I saw your clothes were shredded on the floor. Did they…” He couldn’t even finish the sentence.

“No. I managed to get away and hide. I’ve been hiding ever since.”

Her stomach rumbled from hunger and she swayed on her feet. Before she collapsed, Lathim lunged forward and wrapped an arm around her waist, hauling her tight against his body. She clung to him and he lifted her into his arms, loving the feel of her pressed against him. Much better than sex bots.

Booted steps could be heard drawing near and his brothers came into the cargo hold. They stared, mouths agape, at the female in his arms and Tenz came forward, inching closer and reaching a hand toward her. Lathim stepped back.

“Mine,” he said with a growl to his voice. He’d never experienced such possessiveness before and it momentarily stunned him. His grip tightened on the female in his arms and he took another step back.

Tenz dropped his hand and froze. “We had to put down half a dozen pirates and you get a female?”

“Yours?” Maggie asked softly.

“You’re the only female amongst a crew of ten males, going to a world with hundreds more.”

Her eyes widened and she clung to him tighter, burrowing her face against him. He growled again, wanting to own her in every way possible, even though it was completely irrational. Yes, he’d craved a female for a while, one who would accept him, but he’d known this one a matter of minutes and already he was willing to fight his brothers for her. He assessed his systems and noted his higher heart rate, but everything seemed to be functioning properly. It didn’t appear that he needed a medic.

“Someone find her belongings and take them to our ship,” Lathim said. “I’m placing her in my quarters.”

Zorlok snorted. “Of course you are.”

Lathim ignored the remark. “Clear out this cargo hold and load everything onto the Mystic7. The sex bots alone should fetch a nice price. Until they’re sold, they can entertain the crew.”

Lathim walked past his brothers and carried Maggie to the safety of his ship. Her grip on him didn’t ease until they reached the captain’s quarters and the doors had slid shut behind them. He leaned down to gently place her on the bed and thought she looked damn sexy there. The only thing that would have made it perfect was if she were wearing one of his shirts.

Fucking hell. He was so screwed.