Stealing Coal by Laurann Dohner Page A

resting on his belly.
    “Do you have metal parts inside?” She looked at his face, hoping the question wouldn’t
    insult him.
    “I have implants and some of my bones have been reinforced for hard labor.”
    A shiver went down her spine at the idea of what must have been done to him. “I’m
    sorry. Did it hurt?”
    He shrugged. “We were created in laboratories and I was fully grown to adult male
    size by the time they allowed us to become conscious. They had finished producing me
    by that stage.”
    It sounded so cold and sterile to Jill. Sympathy for the big cyborg had her rubbing
    his skin again over his taut belly, this time in hopes of soothing the sad look that
    sparked in his beautiful eyes.
    “I’m sorry. Earth Government does a lot of horrible things since the wars ended and
    the countries became united. I think they let all that power get to the bureaucrats until
    they really do have a God complex.”
    “You aren’t old enough to have been a part of what was done to me and I’m
    grateful to be alive.” His face tensed, his lips pressing tightly together into a grim line.
    “My people are capable of hoarding power over the weaker class as well.”
    Jill hesitated to pry but she really wanted to know. Coal watched her too and then
    took a deep breath. His grim look made her wonder what had put that angry expression
    there.
    “More male cyborgs were made than female ones. They had problems early on that
    made them halt production of our females.”
    “May I ask what that was?”
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    Stealing Coal
    “Your males tried to use them for sex and when cyborg women fought back, they
    were killed. It wasn’t cost effective to spend money to create something that wouldn’t
    survive long enough to turn a profit.”
    Jill pulled her hand away from him and sat back on the bed, horrified. “Oh God.”
    Coal slowly sat up, careful not to startle her. “Cyborg females had difficult lives.
    There were very few of them compared to all the males and when we fled Earth their
    survival became our first priority.”
    “Did a lot of you escape?”
    “I won’t give you a number. I gave my word I’d free you and what you already
    know is far too much for Earth Government to learn.”
    “I wouldn’t turn you in.” It hurt a little that Coal thought she would but then, she
    reminded herself, they didn’t know each other. “I swear.”
    “I refuse to give you numbers.”
    “Okay. It’s not important but I hope a lot of you did.” She meant it.
    He watched her, studying her. His body relaxed after a few deep breaths. “I believe
    you.”
    “Good. I know we’re different but you can trust me.”
    Coal slowly reached out to her. She tensed up but his hand just covered hers.
    Warm, gentle fingers curved around the back of her hand. She noticed how much
    bigger his were compared to hers, dwarfing hers in his hold.
    “Jill?”
    Her gaze lifted. “Yes?”
    He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “We’re not so different and we have
    something in common.”
    She couldn’t see it. They had drastically dissimilar pasts. She’d come from her
    mother’s womb—he’d come from a laboratory. She had pink skin and he had gray. She
    didn’t have reinforced bones, whatever that meant, but he did. They weren’t similar in
    size by a long shot.
    “We have both been used for sex against our will. I was forced to be a breeder to
    our females. At first I agreed to the tests and to attempt intercourse with a few females
    to discover if we were able to breed. I enjoyed the sex at first but when two of the
    females were impregnated I realized the gravity of the consequences.”
    “You have two kids?” For some reason she didn’t like hearing that.
    “I only willingly helped create two. The rest were a result of forced donations from
    my body.”
    Jill looked him over with a quick sweep. “You’re telling me some of your own
    women really forced you to have sex?” She couldn’t even imagine that. He had to be