Studenstein (Love-Bots, Book Two) Read Free Page A

Shani wove her fist into his hair and lifted his head to look in his rolling eyes. “Don’t make me hog-tie you, boy.”

Chapter Two
     
    Royce woke up with his body jostling. A white-cloth ceiling hovered a few feet above his head. He blinked and waited for direction, but his mind was blank. Confused, he searched his circuitry for a backup program. Finding none, he attempted to link to the mainframe at Synadate HQ. Nothing. No reply.
    “Rise and shine, Romeo!”
    He swiveled his head in the direction of the voice, and then realized the weird angle of his legs. His ankles were wedged between the seat and door of a van. The crazy stein from the club was driving him lord knows where. “What in the hell?” He squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated harder on reaching headquarters, but to no avail. “Take me back.” He pushed off his elbows and pried his legs out. Pins and needles shot down his calves, setting his feet on white, electrical fire.
    “Not a chance, lover boy.” The female lifted her chin to peer over the steering wheel. “Where the heck is the turn-off?”
    Royce gritted his teeth. Worrying over possible nerve damage in his legs, he looked out the window. They sped along a dark, two-lane highway. Trees overhung the street on either side. Despite the yellow divider in the middle, the female stein kept to the center. “I fucking hate the country.”
    Barely registering her words, Royce scanned each section of his body, waiting for the pain to kick in. He knew the drill—if they couldn’t locate him for more than three hours, a series of cuffs would activate on his nerve roots, causing a range of unpleasant symptoms he didn’t want to contemplate.
    A twinge of discomfort plucked at his lower back, but otherwise, he still seemed fine. “I doubt we’ve managed to get anywhere rural, baby.” Royce calmed the jumping thrum of his pulse—they couldn’t have gotten far. And any moment, sirens would blare and Synadate would find them and take him home.
    She graced him with a sneer before scanning the road ahead. “I’m no one’s baby. Least of all yours.”
    “Whatever.” Royce let her stew about the pet name. He looked in the rearview mirror, searching for headlights. “Where are we?”
    She neither answered nor looked his way, instead fiddled with an ancient-looking GPS device on the dashboard.
    “Y’know, I’m sorry.” Royce tried to smile, but it probably looked more like a wince. “The downtime must have erased part of my short-term memory. Remind me of your name?”
    “Shani. Shani Brown.” The way she said it—quick and with her forehead creased in reluctance—dared him to ask for more details.
    Royce didn’t know if it was programming or just some part of his genetics they hadn’t been able to erase, but he could never ignore a dare. “Shani. Nice name, is that short for anything?”
    She bit her lip. On some women that move was seductive, but on her it looked like a baring of teeth. “It’s short for Shaniqua.”
    Royce straightened his clothes. He kept talking—too nervous to stop. “Was that your lifer name or did your makers give it to you?”
    She swerved and hit the brakes. The move made his full bladder scream. “Shit, I just missed it.” Shani reached for the stick.
    He put a hand on top of hers. “I gotta pee. Can I jump out a sec?” Royce let the corner of his mouth tilt up in a charming smile. He lowered his eyelids for a sexy, sleepy expression he knew women loved.
    Shani smiled back. Then she put her hand on top of his, grasped his forefinger, and yanked it back until it reached his wrist.
    “Aaahhh, you fu…bbiibibi…” He cradled his hand into his chest, wishing her a thousand deaths with his eyes.
    “Aw, not such a gentleman all of a sudden?” She threw the van into reverse, then swung a three-point turn until they went back the direction they came. “Don’t even think of playing me.” She hummed under her breath, seemingly happy to have nearly