Ugh.
Vee squeezed her eyes shut and scrunched her face. Cypher wouldn’t want someone like her when there were probably thousands of beautiful—experienced—women willing to do anything for a night with him.
The door zipped opened. She started.
A growl sounded. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
Cypher stood directly in front of her.
“I—Nothing is wrong,” she said quickly, trying not to cower. “Nothing that hasn’t already been wrong.”
Vee took a step back. He was way too big, way too tall for her to meet directly two feet away. And way too intimidating. The awkward, grumpy Viking from the last few days was well and gone.
She blushed and fluffed her hair forward to hide it.
But his uncanny eyes fell from her face. A beige glow erupted from his pupils as they landed on her red dress, and she brought her arms up to cover her chest. He scanned her over slowly. And not subtly.
He doesn’t have those kinds of eyes that can see through clothing, right?
Right?
Oh, god.She tightened her arms around herself.
“Why are you wearing that?” he asked.
She straightened. “I don’t have many choices. Most of my clothes were ruined.”
He grumped, and his gaze met hers, darkening. He ran his fingers through his long hair, pulling it away from his face. It was then she realized how odd he appeared this morning.
Scruffy, tired, and—dare she think it?—worn out.
Had he gotten enough electricity in his systems last night? Oil?she mused. What did Cyborgs need to sustain themselves anyway?
Bears need meat.Vee pursed her lips.Oil? Gasoline? Ice cream and fairy dust?Or was it just meat?
Still, his hair was a mess, his face sunken—as if he was only a human male who hadn’t slept in days. Cypher looked how she felt. Had he looked like this the whole time?
“You okay?” she asked, brow furrowing.
Another grumble, even lower this time. His eyes dove back down to her body for a split second, and she stiffened.
“Come, we have a lot to do today.” He turned on his heel and strode down the ship’s passageway.
Bees slipped from the room and followed closely behind.
With a sigh, she lowered her arms and did the same.
She glanced around the ship as she followed Cypher to the room he entered, stopping on the threshold. She hadn’t given the ship much thought before now…
It was small but not cramped, and nothing like she imagined a spaceship would look like inside. The walls were a smooth, dark, dull gray. A sad, bleak color. There were grates on the sides that she avoided with her socked feet. Above, there were streaks of light, more grates, and some external piping.
There was a faint smell of rust in the air.
She could see straight into the bridge, down the hall, toward where her room was. There were several closed doors between her and the room, and she could only imagine that storage, medical equipment, and whatnot laid within them. Perhaps a secondary quarters for a crew member? At the other end was one more door and the hatch she climbed through last night. Still, though small, the ship was at least four times bigger than her apartment. At least she guessed it was about that big.
There was no one else on the ship but her and Cypher. She knew that without investigating.
He screamed loner, and the ship was quiet, lifeless.
