Page 11 of A Mate for Vasek
Another softly muttered curse drew her attention to Vasek. He was sitting at the table, head bent, concentrating on something. He had something on his face that reminded her of those glasses jewelers use to look at gems, but not quite. This one wrapped around his face at the sides.
And he wasn’t looking at the gems; those were in two neat little piles in the corner of the table. So what was he doing?
Curious, Dawn got up for a better look, almost expecting the Tallean to turn around and catch her snooping, but he was completely engrossed in his work. He didn’t even notice her taking the few steps to the table.
Dawn’s jaw dropped at what she saw. Instead of skin and flesh, there was metal and composite where Vasek’s forearm should be. She recalled the robotic arms in his cabinet and was suddenly reminded of Morad and his bionically enhanced eye. Vasek must be the doctor who’d installed that for him! It made sense now that he’d agree to follow some rule about not attacking someone while they were in Vasek’s care. Morad rarely followed rules unless they were beneficial to him.
There was a crumpled mess of artificial skin in a tray next to him. He was struggling to get a new sheet in place because one corner kept popping up. He swore again. And it was only now that Dawn realized the word was muffled because he was holding a tool in his mouth. It must be difficult to operate with only one hand.
Vasek suddenly froze, still as a statue. When he finally moved, it was to look at Dawn. Did he look embarrassed? Awkward?
He released the artificial skin and tapped something on the side of the goggles before saying, “I lost it years ago.”
“Would you like me to help you?” she asked. Then, not wanting him to think that she thought him incapable, she added, “I’m sure you can do it yourself, but—”
“It’s easier with another hand,” he finished for her. He tilted his chin to the bottle of sanitizing liquid. Dawn recognized it because she’d had to use that before and hated the stuff, but it was probably a mainstay when it came to his profession. “Clean your hands,” he said. “You can hold it in place while I make the first few attachments.”
Dawn wasn’t sure how she’d feel if this was a flesh-and-bone arm, but the way it was now, mostly robotic with just the slight hint of flesh showing, she found she didn’t feel queasy at all. She was also surprised when she realized how warm the arm was. But she guessed it made sense since it was still attached to his upper arm and would be warmed by his body heat.
Not to mention, when he touched her earlier, it had felt extremely alive. She would never have guessed it was robotic at all. Following his instructions, she held the skin-like sheet over the exposed hardware. It was already cut to shape, and one side was slightly thicker than the other. No wonder he had to get it to just the right position.
The tool he had been holding in his mouth was some sort of tiny, tiny stapler. Instead of staples, it used something skin-toned and flexible. Dawn watched as he attached a single point of the new skin to his arm, making several stitches in one place before moving to the next area. The process was laborious and intimate. She was acutely aware of how close they were.
Eventually, he’d stitched the entire sheet in place at regular intervals, but there were still gaps in between the stitches, and the adhesions at the stitches themselves weren’t particularlysmooth. He brought out a handheld device and ran it over the area.
Dawn gasped as the artificial skin seemed to soften up, molding itself to his arm. Vasek then used his other hand to smooth it down, using so much pressure that Dawn worried he’d break the whole thing. He repeated the procedure several more times until he was satisfied. Then he held his arm up and wiggled all his fingers.
Still in awe, Dawn reached for his arm. It looked nearly identical to the other arm, and moved very realistically too. If she hadn’t just seen what was behind the skin, she’d never have guessed Vasek had a robotic arm. Did that make him a cyborg alien? How many bioenhancements were required for that classification? How many more did Vasek have?
As if he read her mind, the big Tallean cleared his throat, the action so human-like it was uncanny. “It’s the only part of me that is… uh, enhanced. Everything else is real. All the parts that matter anyway.”
Dawn’s brain immediately went were it shouldn’t, remembering how hard he’d felt under her ass when they’d been trapped together on takeoff. She’d reacted to their nearness, and he’d reacted to her. But then when he’d nuzzled her neck, it had confused her. Nuzzling was strictly forbidden. It was the Tallean version of kissing, and it wasn’t done with someone like her.
Of course, that didn’t mean it was never done with slaves. But none of the long line of owners had done it to her, not even Kotch, who had her for much longer than any of the others. It was rumored that nuzzling could trigger mate bonds between Talleans and humans, and no one wanted to be mate-bonded to a slave, much less a human one.
Dawn had known some women who actively tried to get a Tallean to bond with them. It usually led to a much better life. A mate was like a wife, and some Tallean males almost acted like they loved the females they bonded to.
But that wasn’t something Dawn was interested in. She didn’t want a pampered life out here. She wanted to go home to Earth.
So when Vasek had nuzzled her, it had thrown her for a loop. And she couldn’t forget the confusing way her body had reacted to him either. That was totally unacceptable.
And then he’d practically dumped her on the shuttle floor. You’d think she was poison from how fast he’d gotten them out of that harness. She didn’t understand why she was so disappointed. She shouldn’t be lusting after him anyway. He was a Tallean.
Maybe for a moment Vasek forgot that she was human, just like she’d forgotten that he was the enemy.
Enemy or not, most Tallean bodies were easy on the eyes, the men and women alike. Tall, thin, and lithe, Tallean women would be right at home on the runway. The men tended to put on muscle easily, and just a little work was enough to give them bodybuilder physiques. Still, Dawn had seen several less-than-ideal Talleans, and she’d wondered whether it had been cases of unfortunate genetics or extreme neglect.
Vasek wasn’t super built like Morad, who was the poster boy for ‘roids gone wrong. Nor was he a little overweight like Kotch. Instead, the medic was lean and toned, with the perfect amount of muscle definition. Considering his less physically demanding profession, Dawn wondered if he took time to work out to maintain his physique.
That had the image of Vasek, muscles flexed and sweating at the gym, skating unbidden across her mind. And she already knew he was big everywhere.
She squeezed her legs together surreptitiously, hoping Vasek couldn’t smell her arousal this time, but she was standing so close and she knew better. But if he did notice her interest, he hid it well this time.
Did he not detect her scent? Maybe he had a stuffy nose.
“Thank you,” he said in his warm, deep baritone. “That made it easier.”
“It is my pleasure to serve.” And for once, the well-rehearsed words spilling from her lips weren’t completely bollocks.
