Melting Iron by Laurann Dohner Page A

medic nodded. “Okay. Let’s get this show on the road, folks.”
    Fear hit Dawn as she watched Doc point a small camera at Iron who turned his body and bowed down a little so every angle of his tattoos were recorded. She wasn’t into pain and never had been. She was tempted to ask Doc to give her something for it in case it did hurt but then she looked at Iron’s shoulders. She bet he hadn’t asked for painkillers when he’d had those put there.
    It was a matter of principle, she decided. She was tough, she could take it and she would. When Doc moved toward her to put the big, heavy wrap around her shoulders, she didn’t protest but she did tense. He was careful to cover her from neck to lower ribs before he asked for her shirt.
    “Why?”
    “You’re covered and it will scan your ribs to help map bone placement to exactly mark you the way Iron is.”
    She eased the shirt from beneath the wrap and released it from the death grip she’d had on it. It reminded her of when she was a small child and had a favorite blanket she’d slept with. Wherever Dawn had gone, her blankie had been with her until she was about five years old. She turned her head and locked gazes with Iron. God, I hope this doesn’t hurt , she silently prayed, not looking away from Iron’s watchful gaze.
    The wrap tightened even more, hugging her in a stronger embrace. She kept her breathing to a minimum, only taking shallow breaths.
    “Hold still,” Doc warned. “You don’t want to mess this up.”
    “I won’t move,” she promised softly.
    Doc hooked the camera into a port on the wrap with a small cord. He hit a button, his gaze lifting. “Here we go. Just hold real steady.”
    The needles went into her skin. Small pricks of pain but it was tolerable. The wrap vibrated slightly and something cold injected into her and she realized it had to be the magnetic ink. So far, so good , she thought. In seconds an uncomfortable sensation tingled as if something wiggled in her skin. It didn’t hurt or tickle but it was noticeable. The wrap vibrated more, the smell of something burning filled the air but she didn’t panic, expecting it since Doc had told her that it wasn’t her skin frying.
    In minutes it was over. The wrap had to be gently pried from her skin. Iron moved forward instantly to pick up her shirt. He held it up to hide her breasts as she was freed from the device. She looked down, staring at identical tattoos to Iron’s in black ink over the curve of her shoulders. The skin was slightly red.
    Doc sighed. “Now it’s your turn, Iron. Lower your pants.”

Chapter Seven
     
    Dawn ate her food, watching Iron closely. He had come into the room in a foul mood. She swallowed her bite of steak and sipped her juice. “What is going on? Rough day at work?”
    Iron hesitated before he answered. “It is this latest mission that we are on. There is so much to do and it’s proven more difficult than I first estimated.”
    He never talked about work. She had tried to pull details from him but he always brushed off her questions. She sighed and decided to try again. She’d discuss paint colors with the guy if he’d just talk to her. Usually he’d bring her food, they’d spend a few hours getting close and personal, something she looked forward to, and the second she nodded off to sleep afterward he’d leave the room to return to his quarters down the hall. She knew that because she had faked sleep once—that had taken practice since he could read her so well—just to see how long he’d stay. He’d left immediately.
    “What is the mission?”
    To her shock, he answered her. “We are rescuing cyborgs off a planet surface. Their ship was thought lost to us when we originally fled Earth. We had to separate and they never arrived to rejoin us.”
    “I’m not real familiar with all that happened. I dropped out of school and history wasn’t my thing. I know that you were created for some deep space missions nobody else wanted to