The smell of her arousal hit him like a jackhammer and all thoughts of Gunner fell away. Washed away with her perfume. He had scented it before with utter confusion and curiosity and with the wind at his back, drifting the musk away from him. Now he didn’t have the breeze and the snowdrifts to escape too. He only had his control.

“Do you like them?” he asked her, his lips flattening. He would ensure her disgust replaced the dew between her thighs. The truth often did that.

“Does anyone like them?” Kat made a face. “They carry disease and they infest. They’re resilient against most methods of pesticides.” She tugged the long sleeves of his jacket up her arms. “And they are impossible to get rid of. Why? Does this have something to do with the man on the console?”

“It has nothing to do with him,” he shot out. Why bring him up? Was her arousal brought on by his guns? “Hope, Katalina, you never encounter him again. He would have you on your knees and no other way.”

“But he said he was a co-worker. Who is he and how did he freeze your systems?” She tried his patience with her questions. Ones she shouldn’t be asking. But they helped restrain his ardor. Dommik walked to the door, knowing Kat would follow him. He kept his pace slow.

If she wants to know about the roaches, I’ll show her the roaches.

They ended up at one of the many sealed doors around the large room. Each door held its own secret and those secrets now slept during the work shifts and only got air time at night.

He looked back at Kat. “He has nothing to do with you but if you’re so desperate to learn more about him, I’ll invite him over for dinner,” he snarled.

Her lips twitched. “Let me guess? I’ll be the food?” She let out a soft laugh. “Boy, would he regret eating me.” Something shifted in her voice and her brief mirth was replaced with sadness. “Invite him over for dinner, we’ll see who has the last laugh. Do Cyborgs eat?”

Dommik typed in a code and the door shot open. He stood in the doorway and challenged her to go through.

“We do eat.”

The light turned on and thousands of creatures scurried about in bright-white confusion.

Her reaction was exactly what he anticipated, down to the parted lips and hushed inhale of breath. She glanced at him then looked back at the white room. Sterile and utilitarian with smaller glass enclosures throughout. Smaller cages. They did the same thing as the large ones but for an entirely different purpose. The girl walked past him, her arm brushed against his stomach and entered his ‘hobby’ room.