LustAfterDeath Read online

  Bane didn’t look back as he walked the pathway toward the dock. Josie followed behind, careful with her bare feet on the twig-strewn ground. The bay was beautiful. Gray-green water met gray-blue sky. In the distance, black islands hovered in welcome.

  The single boat swayed in the water alongside the dock. “Hurry up, babe. They may have brought backup.”

  Josie turned to study the forest. “Who were they?” A hand closed around hers and Bane led her again, onto the rotting-plank dock.

  “They work for Synaviv. A company that manufactures steins like you.” He stepped down into the back of the boat and grabbed her other hand to help her in. Their eyes met. “Like me.” He looked away and Josie wondered whether the moment happened.

  Josie followed Bane into the boat’s cabin. The interior space stretched only about six feet by eight and was filled with cabinets, a kitchenette and a small table. Bane’s nearness beat a warm, living pulse against her consciousness. “But you’re not like me, you’re like Adam.” She bit at her bottom lip.

  He stood by the steering wheel and started the engine, not looking her direction. “I had a maker, just like you. But Frank saved me and he’ll fix you up as well.” Bane turned and strode past her out the door of the cabin. She watched him jump onto the dock and untie the ropes attaching the boat. He came back a moment later, picked up a fleece sweater and tossed it to her. “Put it on before you freeze.”

  The boat rumbled below her feet and pulled away from the dock. Josie stumbled and grabbed the back of the dinette for support. Pulling herself forward, she angled her hip around to sit on the bench and pulled the fuzzy material over her head. It smelled like salt and musk and felt warm and cuddly on her flesh. Her eyes traveled to the back of the man motoring out of the bay into open water. His pale-gold skin, marked at odd intervals with scars, was naked from the point where his olive-colored pants hung low on his hips. Josie wondered if he was cold, but lingering anger clouded her concern. ”You shouldn’t have done that to me.”

  Shots rang toward them from the shore. Josie ducked her head below the table, and Bane pressed a lever forward and the boat sped faster.

  “I am not talking to you until I get some miles between us and that island.” He didn’t look at her as he spoke, but she noted the tensing muscles at his shoulders, and that he released the black steering wheel to clench and unclench his fist.

  “I liked you before.” Josie hoped he didn’t hear the longing in her voice. She peered out the window at the island retreating. The tall, darkened trees thinned at the tip of the island, showing only rocks. Black waves lapped at beachy shores. She spotted Adam’s house jutting around the other side. From this distance it looked blank, like the eye of a machine staring out.

  “And now?” Bane’s voice was steady, measured.

  She watched her home disappear out the window. “Now I don't like you very much.”

  Bane lowered his hand to a small machine sitting atop his console. He clicked it a few times. “I didn’t think you would.”

  Sound exploded in the cabin, a driving beat that assaulted her ears. The pummeling rhythm overwhelmed her senses and Josie’s vision darkened. Arms swept under her shoulders and legs and jostled her from the bench. She felt a soft surface under her back, though her eyes refused to open. The music faded to a drum. “G’Night, babe.”

  * * * * *

  Light. A slow beam of it speared his optic nerve and 402’s brain reactivated. His GPS reported his location to headquarters even before his proprioceptors registered that he was lying down. The concrete floor bit into his twisted leg.

  With a hand on his hip, 402 wrenched his leg back into place. He surveyed the hallway. Three other Synaviv operatives lay fallen. He relayed the information, making sure their numbers got deleted or reassigned. They didn’t have the upgrades he did and wouldn’t survive their wounds.

  He mentally scanned his team throughout the island. One soldier had found and shot at Connor’s boat before dying. Calculations showed the bullets likely connected with the boat’s motor. Perhaps they’d gotten lucky.

  402 forced himself to stand and limped to the lab to find some A-positive and an IV kit. In the meantime, headquarters spoke in his mind. “Is the doctor still available?”

  He tugged open the door to a small refrigerator and pulled out a bag of blood, then winced as he tied a tourniquet around his arm and pierced his vein. Taping the tube in place, 402 lifted the bag over his head and walked upstairs. The doctor’s lifeless body lay on the table. His eyes stretched wide and glassy.

  “We can acquire him. You have the information from the lab, correct?”

  “Affirmative.”

  If 402 didn’t know better, he’d say the voice from headquarters sounded relieved. “Do what you can to preserve the body until we arrive.”

  402 walked over to the doctor and ran his hand over his back. He patted the corpse for reassurance. “I’ll make sure our brother pulls through just fine.”

  Chapter Four

  The first rays of morning sun shone under the cloud cover as Bane motored into the bay at Sucia Island. The boat bucked and rolled, the tiny backup engine fighting a losing battle against the late-fall chop. Synaviv’s guy must have hit the main one, because it had stuttered and konked out about ten minutes from Patos.

  Bane pulled his sleeping bag more tightly around his shoulders, cursing his bad luck. Sucia was beautiful, sure, but isolated and too exposed should Synaviv arrive with reinforcements. He surveyed potential hiding spots among the pines and cedars rising from one end of the island. To the other side, a long spit of a beach curved—a great spot to keep watch. A seagull streamed alongside the boat, visible through his window, seeming to mock his predicament.

  Three boats clung to buoys in the center of the bay, but the dock itself was empty. Bane breathed a sigh of relief at the first break he’d gotten this trip. Frank hadn’t sprung for a dinghy to get to shore, and he didn’t think her highness sleeping soundly in the V-berth would take kindly to being told she had to swim to reach the can.

  He shifted to neutral as he reached the dock, the vibration slowing under his feet. “Wake up, babe! I need your help.”

  Her eyelashes fluttered over the pink spots high on her cheeks. She stretched her arms over her head, causing his t-shirt to ride high on her hips. Bane craned his neck to peek under the hem before dragging his gaze up to the approaching dock. “Up, princess!” He nudged her naked leg with the toe of his boot. When she rolled to her stomach instead of responding, he tapped his foot on the swell of her rear.

  She squealed and pulled the material down over her ass and glared at him. “What do you want?” Black hair streaked her face like tar on sand. When she rose to standing, the stein peered around the cabin, looking confused.

  “Help me dock.” Bane grabbed her hand and hauled her to the wheel, ignoring her yelp when she tripped over her feet. “Put your hands here and here.”

  He pulled Josie in front of him and positioned her hands on the black plastic wheel. Bane kept precious inches between his front and her back. “You feel the boat pulling?”

  The girl nodded, her fingers sliding along the ridges of the steering wheel, the move oddly provocative.

  “Is driving anywhere in your program?” The rosemary and lavender scent of her hair filled his nose. She shook her head and some of her mane brushed against his chest. Bane felt it through the worn material of his t-shirt.

  “I don’t know what you want me to do.” Her voice rose and fell, plaintive with a touch of self-doubt. One of her wandering hands feathered to the dashboard to touch the edging on each of the controls.

  Bane snatched her hand back to the wheel. The dock approached on the right, but Bane clasped his fingers over hers, turning the column to the left. “Let’s circle the bay first. Get you used to her.”

  Josie leaned over the wheel, going on tiptoe as she caressed the boat into a turn. “Can we go faster?”

  Bane blinked in surprise. All tensi
on had left the stein’s shoulders and she craned her head to study the boat’s controls. “Sure, babe. Just grab hold of this.” He loosened her hold on the wheel and placed it on the “T” of the shift. “And press forward like this.” He eased her hand, adding a little gas at a time so as not to scare her.

  She stiffened at the feel of the motor speeding up, then shoved forward on the gas. The boat jumped beneath them and her laughter pealed through the cabin. Bane stumbled as the kicker engine groaned up the side of one wave, then lurched over the other. “You’re going to wake the other boats!”

  Josie pivoted her neck and gave him a huge smile, then reached to her right and drew back on the gas. They slowed and Bane came up behind her, but Josie placed her small, white hand at the center of his chest. Her fingers dug in, but then she smiled and gave him a little push. “I can do it.”

  Not entirely trusting her, Bane stalked out of the cabin and grabbed the ropes. Josie approached the dock a hair too fast and he thought about shouting to her to slow down. But then again, maybe a good, hard shock would teach her to wait for his help. He braced for impact on the rubber-lined wood, but Josie threw the engine in reverse, almost tossing his body onto the dock as the Sea Sport tore to a stop.

  “Are you going to jump off?” she called to him out the window.

  With a shake of his head, Bane hopped onto the planks.

  The man named Bane landed like a cat. The sinuous movement held Josie captive as he wrapped one rope, then another around jutting bits of metal. He landed on the back, tilting the boat to the side, and then opened the glass door to the cabin. Bane fastened the knob with a hook on the outside wall.

  The chill breeze wrapped around Josie’s bare legs, caused the tiny hairs to stand on end. She tugged at the shirt’s hem and resisted passing her hands lower to rub her thighs.

  “Hey! Don’t tear my shirt, babe.” Bane sauntered into the cabin, his body filling the tight space. He crouched down to pull something out of the cabinet under the sink and Josie crossed one leg in front of the other to block his view.

  “You need to eat, right?”

  A wave of dizziness overcame her. Josie realized it wasn’t just from the boat. “Yes.”

  “Cool, ’cuz I'm fucking starving.” He tossed a plastic container on the tiny countertop and opened the lid. The scent of meat and blood filled the air.

  Josie moaned aloud. She’d crossed to Bane and pressed into his side before she realized she’d moved.

  “Easy there, babe.” His large hands fell to her shoulders and set her back a half-step. “I’ve gotta cook it. I don’t know what kind of stomach acid you’re packing, but best to assume you don’t have any fancy upgrades in that department.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a square of shiny metal. Josie watched as Bane slipped his thumb over the top and produced a flame, and then used it to light the stove. He dumped the container’s contents into a pan. A sizzling sound filled her ears and the scent grew stronger and more enticing. Josie clamped tight on her muscles, trying not to kick and hit him to get at the food.

  “I can hear you breathing,” Bane spoke with his back to her. “You sure I don’t need to shut you down?”

  With shaking movements, Josie angled her hips between the Formica table and a faded checkered cushion of the dinette. “Don’t do that again.”

  “Don’t give me reason to.” Bane handed her a plate and a fork. His lips curled at one side again, and she wondered what he kept finding so funny.

  She stabbed a piece of meat and demurely placed it in her mouth, closing her eyes so he wouldn’t see them roll back. When she opened them again, Bane’s gaze burned into hers. She found his expression disconcerting. Adam had observed her the same way. “Why do you keep looking at me like that?”

  “I'm not looking at you like anything, babe.” He rolled his shoulders and shoved in another mouthful, chewing loudly.

  Her eyes narrowed. “You’re not telling me the truth.”

  Bane leaned back in the chair. His body unfurled as he stretched his long torso and wrapped his tanned arms around the back of the bench. An odd thought struck her that she wanted to crawl into the crook of his arm.

  “No, babe, I’m not. The truth is you’re hot as shit and I want to fuck your brains out. Is that better?” His smug expression and swaggery grin told her he’d spoken exactly what was on his mind.

  Josie cocked her head to the side and her brows drew together. His words jiggled something in her memories, but only those hidden behind the clouds. None of the images she’d learned to associate with Adam shed any insight. She stared at his sky-blue eyes crouched deep in their sockets, and his short blond hair and chiseled face, searching for meaning. She flicked through all her interactions with him, looking for patterns, and found one. “You say that word a lot. What does it mean?”

  Bane shifted a fraction. His shoulders rolled forward. “I say what a lot?”

  For some reason, Josie felt a blush creep up on her cheeks. “Fuck,” she whispered. The word felt too aggressive and masculine to say aloud.

  Bane raked a hand through his hair, causing the muscles in his shoulder and arm to ripple. He scowled. “Motherfucker!”

  Confusion overtook embarrassment, and Josie pounced. “See. There it is again! You use it in so many ways I can’t tell what you mean.” She paused. When he didn’t answer, instead eyed her like a being he couldn’t understand, she added, “And what’s a mother?”

  Bane’s laugh started as a deep rumble. Then his guffaws grew loud enough to scare her. He swiped the back of his hand at one weeping eye, then the other. A slow burn of embarrassment crept up her spine. “I don’t see what’s so funny.”

  Bane dabbed at his face with a napkin. “Oh babe. That dick who built you really did a half-assed job. And he didn’t try to…?”

  She didn’t understand all the words, but could tell his meaning—all except the last part. Tears stung her eyes. Josie stood from the table. “Thank you for the food. I need to use the restroom now.” It was true, but not entirely the reason she wanted to get away.

  Bane sobered. “Um, yeah. It’s up the hill.” He pointed out the window to a trail leading up from the dock. At the top of the hill, a brown shack peeked out between the trees. “Do you need help?”

  She could tell it humiliated him to ask, and was glad.

  “No. My maker made sure I knew that much.” Josie snatched up the blanket she'd used to sleep and wrapped it around herself. She marched out into the cool fall air and positioned her leg to climb onto the dock.

  In the still morning, she heard Bane mutter to himself. “Fuck, I’m an idiot.”

  Josie knew enough to know she agreed.

  * * * * *

  Bane threw the dishes in the sink and scrubbed them hard enough to scrape off the outer layer of plastic. He wrung out the sponge like a scientist’s neck and reached for his phone. To his surprise, Frank picked up instead of Q.

  “Where’ve you been, kid? I’ve been worried sick!”

  Bane ran his hand over his stubbly face, feeling his exhaustion catching up with him. “Synaviv took out our main engine. I drove all night and only made it as far as Sucia.” He looked out the window at the graying skies and the choppy water beyond the bay. “I must have iced them all, otherwise they would have followed, but I need to wait out some weather before going any farther.”

  On the other end of the line, Frank cussed and growled. “We’ll see about getting another boat out there to pick you up.”

  Bane shrugged. “It’s not much farther to Orcas. I just need calmer water.” He craned his head out the window to see whether Josie was done in the can. “I need you to send me everything you’ve learned about the girl so far. I don’t normally deal with the new recruits this long.”

  “You didn’t just put her on voice command?”

  Bane was getting sick of Frank and Q-ter acting so surprised. “Well, yeah, for a minute. But she fought it.” He rifled through the cabinets for spare clothes, but f
ound only an ancient pair of boots.

  “Good! That means she’ll do okay after we reprogram her.”

  Bane nodded to himself. She could be a whole new person once Frank was done. “Sure, but I need to know how she’s programmed now. Words she does and doesn’t know…and, um…other stuff. I may be stuck with her a few days.”

  “All right, all right. Lemme put Q on the line.” Bane listened as Frank cussed about the Underground’s phone system. He still hadn’t figured out how to transfer a call. Bane rubbed his temple when he heard the old stein give up and walk across the office to hand the phone to Q-ter.

  At the top of the hill, the shack’s door opened. Josie stood in front of it, looking back and forth between the dock and the trail leading the other direction. She rubbed her arms, looking for a moment like she was in pain. Bane wondered what was wrong before she turned and walked away. “Give me the rundown, Q.” Josie disappeared behind the tree line. “Fast.”

  “I'll send you attachments about her vocab, but it seems pretty straightforward. She’s got a basic ESL-type dictionary, but he only attached pictures to the stuff she’d see in his house. No slang or curse words. No current events or history.”

  Josie’s dark mane disappeared behind a tree.

  “So most words will sound familiar, but she won’t know what they mean? Fantastic.” He couldn’t chalk up the scientist’s lousy program to an oversight. Complete visual dictionaries were available all over the internet. Heck, the guy could have uplinked her to a fucking search engine.

  “Hey, just be happy he didn’t block much. She can learn just about anything.”

  Bane walked out the door and up to the dock, testing the limits of his phone’s range from the mobile receiver on the boat. Static filled the line and he took one step back. “I gotta run. Normal food, water requirement and the rest?”

  “Yeah.” Heavy clicking carried over the line.

  His muscles tensed. He needed to catch up to her. On the one hand, Josie couldn’t escape the little island by water. On the other, she might not realize it.