On one of the tables were these small, Pops-sized stuffed animals.
“Those are your cozy robots?” I asked, and she nodded, digging into the bags I’d set on the table. She arranged the food and then made herself a plate.
“Yep. I’ve been trying to get as many done as I can. Our competitor company has promised ones like mine, but they wanna charge people a lot of money for them. I don’t want that. So, I have to get mine out first. Phillip wanted a trial, so I needed them at the hospitals as soon as possible.” She sounded determined, but also tired. I wished there was some way I could help, but I didn’t know shit about building robots.
“Thank you for bringing me food. I was hungry.” She took a bite of food, and from the look on her face, it tasted amazing.
We ate in silence, something that was comforting, in a way, with her.
The women I used to date had to constantly fill a quiet room with chatter. It was exhausting to keep up with the small talk. Images of Gwendolyn popped into my head like a daydream: us curled on the couch together watching a movie, comfortably silent, just enjoying being near one another and spending quality time together.
“Do you like movies?” The question flew out of my mouth before I thought it through. Maybe her bluntness for saying what she thought was rubbing off on me.
“I do. It helps me relax my mind sometimes.”
“Like the music you have going on here?” The music playing in the room wasn’t classical or something calming. It was like techno, or club music.
“I know it sounds crazy, but the crazier the music, the calmer and more focused I am. It distracts that part of my brain that’s constantly seeking stimulation, so in a way it levels me back to normalcy.” She finished her food and sat back to look around the room, then back at me, observing me in her space.
“Makes sense. Kind of like how Ritalin works for ADHD patients. The drug chemically gives the brain what it wants so you can focus elsewhere.” My cousin had ADHD too; the drug helped him until he figured out a way to handle himself. Yoga helped and drawing. He loved to draw.
She nodded and stood, our lunch date clearly over for now.
“I’ve got to get back to work. Thanks again for stopping by. You’ve helped improve my rep by showing up out there.” She was biting back a grin, and I was so stupid happy that I came. She was teasing me again.
“Might amp up your cool points if you kiss me by the door.” I helped put the trash back into the bag and stood up to see her looking at me.
“Do you wanna come over and watch a movie tomorrow night? I should be done by then, and I would like to hang out with you more. Maybe try exploring things a bit too.” She looked like she’d thought of this before now.
“Explore all you want.” My voice didn’t sound as confident as I wanted it to. In fact, it came out almost like a groan. I wanted her to touch any part of me she wanted. At her pace.
“Sounds good.”
Just as I was about to leave, both of our communicators went off for the Hero Society. Pops and Cora came running out from wherever they’d been and were on her shoulders immediately.
“What’s going on?” I spoke to my cool watch and waited to see where we were needed.
Chapter Eighteen
Arthur
There wasn’t someone in danger, per se, but there had been something going on by the bay, and Phillip wanted me and Gwendolyn to check it out. More people were showing up at the hospital with bad coughs. The only common denominator was they were either at the festival or near that side of the bay in the past twenty-four hours.
Neither of us dressed in our hero gear, since there wasn’t any technical saving to do. Phillip just thought my expertise in water would be helpful, and Gwendolyn’s power for metal, too. Maybe there was something around covered up by the dirt, or in the water itself. Either way, we’d see what we could find.
I drove us in my large SUV to the bay, and we got out to walk around. Everything had been cleaned up from the festival, no signs it had ever happened beyond the churned dirt from the equipment they moved in and out.
Gwendolyn told Cora and Pops to scout the area, too, looking for anything abnormal. Cora would also test the water quality. Neat trick.
“I do smell something off.” Gwendolyn’s nose scrunched up, making me take a big sniff to confirm I smelled it too.
“Yeah, what is that?” The stench was rotten. Together we walked over to the water’s edge and saw a few small, dead fish floating around. Well, that wasn’t good.
“Pops! Cora!” Gwendolyn yelled for her robot friends, and they both came zooming over.
Before she could get a word out, Pops was already on top of the situation.
“Cora found high traces of nitrogen, phosphates, and potassium. Common ingredients found in fertilizer. There also appears to be an algae bloom of Pseudo‐nitzchia. Very harmful to sea life, ecosystems, and people, if not kept in check. The database on the algae shows this happens about once a year in our area, but never enough to cause problems. Much like the red algae blooms in the Gulf of Mexico.”
“So, this is not normal, then,” I commented, looking around for any obvious signs of why this was happening. Of course, life wasn’t easy that way. There was no big red sign that said, “Hey, we are causing the problem over here.”
“I’ll call headquarters and tell them what we found; they can let the authorities know, and they can investigate it from there.” Gwendolyn grabbed her phone and started doing as she said. But there had to be a reason why we were chosen for this. Having a gut feeling, I walked over to the water’s edge and stuck my finger in the water. Not sure why—I didn’t need to control it in any way. But the water called me to it. Like a siren’s song, I just had to touch it.
Instantly, I felt sick, and pulled my finger as far away from the water as I could get. Unexpectedly, Cora walked over to me and snuggled up against my side. I didn’t trust her for one damn minute, but I reached over to pet her head nonetheless. Maybe she thought I needed comforting. My stomach was rolling, and I felt lightheaded from touching the water.
Then a sharp pain started at my thumb then shot up my arm.
“What the fuck?” The robot dragon bit me!
Gwendolyn hung up the phone and ran over.
“Oh my God! Cora!” She sounded horrified, while grabbing my hand to look at my thumb. It was still there, and truthfully only had one spot that was bleeding.
I think it was the shock that she bit me, more than anything, that made me curse. Pops walked over on his short legs and touched Cora’s back. She tilted her little head at him and started vibrating. Maybe that was how they communicated together? Through signals or Morse code?
“She was checking his blood. Small traces of the toxins in the water are now in your bloodstream. It appears you acted like a filter or sponge of sorts to the water.” He looked at me, and I stared back, shocked. All right, then. This was new information to me.
“You should talk to Draco about this; he knows all the powers in existence and will know what just happened.” Gwendolyn stood up, and I with her. There was a lot I didn’t understand about my powers, so she made a good point. I needed to see the man who knew it all when it came to these gifts of ours.
“Are you feeling okay?” She reached out a hand to touch my face, feeling for fever. But the sickness had drained out of me, I guess, since I felt fine now.
“Yeah, I’m good. You can keep touching me, though,” I joked, trying to lighten the air around us a bit. It was beginning to feel too ominous. Her facial features softened from worry to something else I couldn’t read right.
Her hand gently moved up my cheek, then fingers caressed my features with a featherlight touch, around the glasses, down the nose, along the angle of my jaw, then finally touching my lips, as if to make sure they were real. Her eyes were on everything she touched, like she was studying a sculpture instead of the human.
“Your lips are so soft, but yet they felt hard when you kissed me.”
Her voice sounded of wonder and awe, and that feeling of being close to her was back with a force, overwhelming me with need.
When her finger rimmed the edge of my bottom lip, I had no choice but to part my lips and suck it into my mouth. Her eyes widened, exhilaration beaming from her gaze in response to what I was doing to her thumb. Slowly she pulled it free, and I gave it a gentle peck before it was back against her body.
She kept looking around then back to me, like she was nervous.
“What are you thinking?” I inquired. Normally she just blurted out what she was thinking, but now she seemed to be trying to reel it in. That was something I didn’t want from her.
Her blue eyes finally settled on mine, and then she spoke in a very confident manner.
“I wanna have sex with you.”
Dead. I was dead, right there by the bay.
I swear, this woman knocked me off my feet constantly with her actions and words. That primal need inside me to drag her back to my SUV and give her exactly what she wanted drew a groan out from my chest. My hands dragged over my face, praying for the strength to do what she really needed instead of giving in. Gwendolyn, from what I’d read between the lines, was a virgin. She needed to be wooed and taken care of. Not fucked in the back seat in a moment of need. Hard as steel, and my whole body ached for sweet heat surrounding me, I only leaned over and kissed her lips. Gently and quick.
“I’d love nothing more than to take you into my SUV and fuck you into oblivion.” I took a breath and looked up to the sky quickly, trying to find that godly strength within myself to say the next words. Of course, when I looked back at her face she was practically nodding in agreement.
“But how about we start with holding hands and move up from there? Maybe a movie date tomorrow at your place?”
My inner male was shaking his head, demanding I hand over my man card at the door.
“That’s probably a smarter idea. I don’t know what I’m doing, wouldn’t wanna be bad at it.” She didn’t seem upset, but just logically thinking it over. She needed the baby steps to work up to running full steam.
“There is no way you could be bad at it; I’m already close to coming in my jeans from just the thought of you wrapped around me. Trust me. You’ll be beyond perfect.”
I leaned in to kiss her again then walked back to the car. I wasn’t lying at all—this girl had me primed and ready to shoot. A little separation right now would be good for me; that and maybe a cold shower.
Chapter Nineteen
Gwendolyn
I was grateful that Arthur wanted to take a step back from jumping straight into sex, but only because I needed to get back to my robots so they’d be finished for the hospital trial. I had just dropped them off and helped the nurses get them situated with the patients who had signed the proper paperwork to have them in their room.
It had been another day since I told him I wanted to have sex and I was eager to get home.
Now I was on my way to my apartment to make sure it was clean and meet Lynn for a late lunch. I needed some advice, and she was my advice person.
Pops and Cora were going to be turned off on their charging stations tonight, and I was going to try to seduce Arthur. I wanted him, and that was it. I didn’t want to do it with them watching the whole time—I don’t think I could handle that at all.
I had just finished making sandwiches when Lynn showed up.
“I’m so hungry,” she groaned dramatically and walked through the door, straight to the kitchen table.
She started eating, and I joined her. We ate quietly, and once we were done she sat back into the chair, fully sated. Those brown eyes of hers looked me over, knowing something was up.
“What is going on?”
I sucked in a breath and let the words flow out of me with my exhale.
“I wanna have sex with Arthur, and I’m nervous, but wanna touch and take it to that level. But I don’t know what I’m doing, and even though he says I could never be bad at it, I still think I might, and I just need advice.”
She simply smiled, like she’d been waiting for me to verbally vomit those words out for forever.
“I’m so proud of you,” she gushed, and I felt a bit of pride in myself. I was definitely coloring outside my normal lines.
“Thanks. So, like, what do I do? I mean I know the basics, but I want us both to enjoy it.” It was hard to convey what I was feeling. I knew how sex worked. But connecting with people was hard for me, and I didn’t read emotions well. So, he could be totally not enjoying it, and I wouldn’t read it that way.
“Well, for starters, it should make you feel more comfortable because you are premeditating touching him. Your mind is already there and getting used to the idea of being physical. We both know how you feel about spontaneity. I would give him a call before he comes over, hear his voice that way it’s fresh in your mind. Feel connected to him before he gets here. Now, were you wanting to jump on him as soon as he gets here or are you guys having dinner before?” She was all professional right now, but I still felt as if I was talking to an aunt. If I had one. We were very at ease with each other.
“He’s coming over to watch a movie. Not sure about dinner. Maybe I should invite him over for that too?” I hadn’t thought about feeding him. Feelings of guilt started to crawl into my stomach that I had completely disregarded his needs.
“I think that’s a great idea. That way you can feel close. Sex for women in general can be very pleasurable, but having a connection makes it even better. Especially for Aspies like you.”
I felt very connected to him. I mean, I really liked him a lot.
“If I were you, I’d start slow. Give your mind time to adjust to all the senses that are going to be running through you. His presence in your space, his smell, his touch, the feel of him against you. It’s going to be a lot for you. Let your mind and body adjust. There’s no rush. From what you’ve told me about him, he is okay to wait until you’re ready. The biggest key is communication. If you wanna say something, say it. If you wanna know what he is thinking or feeling, ask. There has to be a completely open dialog between you too.”
Communication. Go slow. Adjust to sensations. I could do this.
“How are you feeling right now?” she asked. I gave her a grin and my honesty.
“I’m excited. I’ve been dreaming about us touching, and when we do, I feel so consumed by him. It’s like a warm blanket, fresh out of the dryer, being wrapped around me. At times my senses go wild and almost obsessive. Like how I get when I’m working on a robot. I want to ride out those feelings until I remember the need to eat and sleep.”
She was nodding her head like she understood.
“Being with someone you have a connection with is very powerful. Just remember to communicate, and I think you’ll do fine.”
It was like a seal of approval. I felt strong and confident that I wasn’t going to mess this up. He said he wanted me, and I did too. But I didn’t want to wait a month before having sex, as sweet as it was that he was trying to hold off for my benefit. I was ready for more.
With that out of the way, Lynn helped me pick out an outfit that was comfortable but looked attractive on me. I wanted Arthur to really look at me and see beautiful.
Lynn had left, and I was feeling positive about my upcoming adventure with Arthur when I got an email from one of the nurses from the hospital.
One of the young girls had her third round of chemo today and normally she struggled with calming down before getting the treatment. The robot kept her distracted with funny stories, and she made it through the process without too much trouble. I felt so happy after reading that email. My robots were doing what I wanted them to do, helping people who needed someone or something to focus on, helping make them happy. Everyone needs to feel loved, safe, and cared for.
I was giving them that.
Twenty minutes later, I called Arthur to invite him over for dinner before the movie. He agreed, under one condition: he cook
ed our meal. Of course I had to know what, and he told me in detail what he would do. I felt so much better that he was okay with no surprises and being open between us.
I showered, shaved my legs, and primped myself up as best as I could according to a magazine article about getting sexy before date night.
I was feeling excited and nervous and so many more emotions I had trouble deciphering. I knew I needed to get some of my energy out. So, I began playing with a metal cube in my living room that was my end table. I took the coasters and lamp off, then began shifting the metal into different shapes, melting it down then pulling it back to me like a magnet. I was both testing my ability and draining my power a little. Didn’t want to crush Arthur’s glasses or anything around us if I felt too much.
There was a knock on the door right when Arthur said he would be there, and I put everything back the way it was before.
Showtime.
My feet moved quickly to the door and I opened up with a smile on my face, hoping he would like that greeting. But it wasn’t Arthur at the door.
Chapter Twenty
Arthur
The woman at the counter of the grocery store was training, which was great for her, but she was taking an obscene amount of time checking out my items. I was going to be like five minutes late meeting with Gwendolyn. I wasn’t sure if that was going to be a big deal or not. She was very routine. Hopefully it wasn’t going to throw her off.
As soon as the bags were full and everything was paid for, I ran out the door and hopped in the car, wishing my power was teleporting instead of water manipulation.
Just as predicted, I was exiting the elevator to her floor five minutes late.
But when I looked at her door, I saw someone else standing in front of her. A male someone.
Her eyes caught mine and there was a look of discomfort in them. Whoever this man was, he wasn’t reading her body language, which was broadcasting that she didn’t want him there.
“Hey, baby. Sorry I was running late. The cashier at the store was a mess today.” I walked right past the man like I lived there, and his eyes started moving from me to her, obviously confused there was a man here. That was what I was going for—it was time to bring old Arthur out and make my woman feel safe.
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