“I was attracted to you the moment I saw you,” Melody divulged.
“What?” Lynx blurted, amazed.
“Yes. There’s a quality about you, something I can’t put my finger on. I find you almost irresistible.”
Lynx’s eyes widened. “Me?”
Melody sighed. “I don’t know how it is where you live, but in Androxia the Superiors create one pair, and one pair only, of each mutant type. If we pass all of their tests, and if we aren’t neutered or spayed because we’re inferior, we’re expected to breed.” She stopped speaking, her mouth twisting downward. “I have postponed breeding for as long as I possibly can. The Superiors created a male like me. We were reared together, and we’re expected to mate and have children.” She paused, and when she resumed talking her tone conveyed a sense of sorrow and desperation.
“But I can’t stand him. Lynx! He’s a monster! Oh, not physically. He looks a lot like you. But inside, where it really counts, he’s wicked. Rotten to the core. He… he hurts me!”
Lynx saw tears forming in the corners of her eyes. A peculiar constriction developed in his throat as he opened his mouth. “He hurts you?” he asked huskily.
Melody nodded, gazing at her lap. “He’s a brute. He can’t understand why I won’t go to bed with him. He’s been pressuring me to sleep with him. He’s even hit me a few times.”
Lynx was feeling dizzy. “Hit you?”
“He’s threatening to report me if I don’t cooperate,” Melody said. “If I don’t give in to him.” She looked up at Lynx, her eyes rimmed with tears.
“But I can’t! I won’t! I refuse to share myself with someone I don’t love! I don’t care if the Superiors do spay me!”
“They’ll spay you?”
Melody nodded. “If I don’t breed, as required.” She took a deep breath.
“I feel so helpless at times.”
Lynx tried to speak, but he experienced an unusual difficulty in forming the words. There was an odd congestion in his throat. “I won’t let him hurt you again,” he finally managed to say. “I’d never let anyone hurt you. Ever.”
Melody nodded. “I know that. I sense it, somehow. Maybe it’s intuition. Maybe I’m just crazy. But I believe I can trust you.”
“You can,” Lynx assured her, and squeezed her hand.
Melody used her left forearm to dab at her eyes. “I shouldn’t be troubling you with my problems,” she said nervously.
Lynx leaned toward her. “From now on, your troubles are my troubles.”
Melody mustered a feeble smile. “You sure move fast, don’t you?”
Lynx glanced at the cell door, then at her. “I don’t have any choice. I want you to listen to me, to think over what I’m gonna tell you. Give me your answer as soon as you can.”
“My answer?”
Lynx nodded. “As you’ve guessed, I’m not from Androxia, and I don’t intend to spend the rest of my life here. I’m going to find my buddies, rescue a couple of human dummies I know, and get the hell out of here. And I want you to come with us.”
Melody went to respond, but he held up his right hand, stopping her.
“I ain’t finished,” Lynx said. “I want to get it all out before I start trippin’ over my own tongue. I’ve never felt this way about a woman before. I’ve just met you, yet I feel like I’ve known you forever. And I want to go on knowin’ you. I want you to come with me. I’m asking you to come with me. I’ll take you to a place where you’ll never have to worry about the lousy Superiors. You’ll be free. You can do what you want once we’re there.
But I’m warnin’ you here and now. If you come with us, I’m gonna do my best to sweep you off your feet with my sexy looks and natural charm, and I won’t stop tryin’ until you say you’ll be my mate. There. I’ve said it.”
Melody was grinning. “And quite well said, too.”
“If you leave now,” Lynx declared, “I won’t hold it against you.”
“Why on earth would I want to leave?” Melody responded.
“Because you’re a lady,” Lynx stated. “And ladies don’t usually mix with savages.”
“Are you hard of hearing?” Melody queried.
“No. Why?”
“Didn’t you hear a word I said to you?” Melody questioned. “I like you, idiot! I’m not about to walk out on you.”
“Does this mean what I think it does?” Lynx asked hopefully.
Melody nodded. “I’d like to see this place where you live. Where I’ll never need to worry about the Superiors,” she added, quoting him.
Lynx beamed like a lunatic. “You mean it? You really mean it?”
“Lynx,” Melody said earnestly. “You may be the only true chance I’ll ever have at genuine happiness.”
Lynx leaped off the cot and spun in a circle. He smiled at her, joy pervading his being. “Damn!” he exclaimed. “Damn! Damn! Damn!”
“Are you always this articulate?” Melody inquired sarcastically, grinning.
“I don’t know what else to say!” Lynx declared happily. “I’m walkin’ on the clouds.”
A hard pounding on the cell door abruptly brought Lynx down to earth.
“Oh, no!” Melody cried.
“Melody!” barked a stern voice. “Are you in there?”
“Who is that?” Lynx whispered.
Melody hesitated before replying. “The floor supervisor.”
Lynx dashed to the rear of the door, flattening against the wall.
“Melody!”
The cell door flung open, forcing Lynx to stop its inward sweep with the palms of his hands.
“What the hell are you doing in here, bitch?” demanded the floor supervisor in a harsh tone.
Melody, her face downcast, stood.
Lynx bristled. What right did the floor supervisor have to address Melody that way? Who did the son of a bitch think he was?
“I asked you a question!” the floor supervisor snapped.
Lynx scowled, hoping the bastard would enter the cell all the way.
“I’m on break,” Melody said defensively.
“You’re on break when I say you’re on break!” the floor supervisor bellowed.
Lynx resisted an urge to spring from concealment. He wanted to tear the sucker into teensy-weensy pieces! What had Melody said his name was?
“But you said I could take an extra five minutes, Tom,” Melody mentioned.
“I’ve changed my mind. I want you out on the floor. I thought you were going to take your break in the break room, and I went there looking for you. But you weren’t there! I had to search the whole floor to find you!” he stated angrily. “And you still haven’t answered my question! What the hell are you doing in here, Little Ms. Prim!”
Little Ms. Prim? Lynx wondered if he’d heard correctly.
“There’s no need to bring our personal life into our professional relationship,” Melody said.
Personal life? Lynx listened intently.
“What personal life?” Tom retorted, and laughed bitterly. “You have to be close to have a personal life, and baby, you’re too cold to touch!”
“Don’t start,” Melody said.
“Or what?” Tom rejoined. “Are you going to run to the Superiors and complain?”
Melody didn’t comment.
“No, you won’t!” Tom continued. “And do you want me to tell you why?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll do it!” Tom mocked her. “You won’t say a word, Ice Lady, because you know they’d ask questions, and you don’t want them to know you’re still a virgin!”
“Tom! Don’t! Please!” Melody begged.
“Cut the crap, bitch!” Tom declared. “Do you think I give a shit about how you feel? After what you’ve done to me?”
“What have I done to you?”
Lynx heard Tom move further into the room.
“Don’t play innocent with me!” Tom hissed. “How long have I been after you to do the right thing? To do what you were created for? And how many times have you said no? Even when I twisted your arm?” Tom paused. “You’re not a woman!” he said resentfully. “I don’t even think you have a cunt!”