Page 14 of Cyber
“I said, not tonight.” Angrily, I moved away. What was the girl's problem? If I wanted her naked, she would have been naked already. Sometimes a man just wanted to enjoy his beer in peace.
“Is it because of the girl you brought back, the one in your room? She can't be keeping you that happy if she's in there and you are out here.”
I curled my fingers around her throat without thinking, forcing her head back against the worn sofa cushions. “Iris.” I spat. “Her name is fucking Iris, and you don’t talk about her like that.”
Butterscotch hair fell over my fingers, but it was the wide, defiant eyes that held my attention. This wasn't just any woman; it was the woman from earlier. The one I had been with when I was meant to be doing my job.
And I still didn’t know her name.
Her name didn’t matter.
“Why is she important?”
“Because Iris is the only girl that ever got close to being special to Cyber,” someone answered from behind me in a deep, lilting voice. Turning my head, I grinned at the newcomer.
His chiselled face was more tanned than I had ever seen it, and his eyes crinkled at the edges as my oldest friend grinned back at me.
“What are you doing back?” Reluctantly, I let my hands slip from the girl's throat.
“Fang called me. Said you might need my help.” Blue eyes searched my face. “Is Iris really back? Your Iris?”
“Yeah, she's back.” I tried to brush it off, shrugging nonchalantly, but he saw straight through it. Throwing his head back, he bellowed out a laugh. “You best fill me in then.” Tilting his chin to the woman next to me, he gave her his signature flashy white grin. “Go and get some beers, there's a love. Me and Cyber have some things we need to discuss.”
Monster was home.
7
Iris
It was barelylight when I finally gave up trying to fall into a deep sleep and swung my legs from the bed. Sitting there, with my toes brushing against the carpet, I tried to gather my thoughts. I had expected Cyber to come back. Maybe drunk and horny. Part of me even wanted that.
If only because it would have given me a chance to yell at him.
I wanted to hate him; I even had every right to hate him. But being around him was hard. My own reaction to him was hard. Because though I hated him, the little spark of the old me was attracted to him still.
It was tough being at war with myself over the man who had killed my father.
What I couldn't do was sit in that room a moment longer. Maggie had been right about that. When I was alone and had nothing to do, my thoughts took over. And they were never nice unicorn-filled thoughts. I needed to keep busy.
Without thinking, I reached for my bag. I didn't have any of my own clothes there, but I did have some that Darcie had given me. They were much too big, but at the same time I kind of liked the way they swamped my frame. Once upon a time I had a figure most girls would be envious of. But not now.
After pulling a pair of jeans up my legs, I started fumbling through the bag for a top. The bigger the better. I hate my breasts. My fake breasts that had been forced on me. I hated them even more than my fake blonde hair.
I hated everything about myself. But maybe in part that was my own fault. I had been free a month or so, but I hadn't done a damn thing to change my appearance. Maggie had given me ample opportunity. Maybe when I was back home at Maggie’s, I would do something about that.
Healing. That's what Maggie would say I was doing. She would say that seeing Cyber again had started me on the path of healing, and, God, I hoped that was right.
With a groan, I stood. None of the shirts Darcie had packed would do. They weren’t exactly sexy, but with my oversized chest they would still cling to parts of me that I didn't want to draw attention to.
What I needed was a man's t-shirt or shirt. Something big and boxy.
With a grin, I padded over to Cyber’s closet and yanked it open. Surveying the contents, I pulled out the one that looked the softest of the bunch.
It would be perfect. Wearing something of a man Cyber’s size would hide my figure from even the most prying of eyes.
There wasn’t a single soul awake in the common room when I stepped into it five minutes later. There was, however, a ton of empty beer bottles and glasses.
I hadn’t heard much in the way of a party during the night, but whoever had been there, had drunk hard. And left the mess for the morning, although I doubted any of the men would be doing the clean-up. It would be left to the club girls, just like it had been left to the women in the brothels. Or more specifically me.
