Aeron saw to it that Brad’s body was left untouched, praying the slight period of death—one hour—wouldn’t make what she had planned to do impossible. As she glanced from her bed to the droid, she knew she’d made the right decision. Even if he were only a certain percent of the man she’d fallen for all those years ago, he still meant the world to her. A piece of him lived on, even if it could never understand or know the truth.
Thoughts of droid Brad being in the field, under fire, filled Aeron’s head. No part of her wanted to see the warrior before her harmed, even though it was part of the deal. Brad had ended up brain dead because of the Vanos. Losing the second version of him wouldn’t be easy.
Black hair and chocolate brown eyes made the already alluring droid before her downright irresistible. In addition to being sexy and modeled after the man she’d once been close to confessing she was in love with, Brad was also the only person, for lack of a better term, she confided in anymore. It wasn’t as if he actually talked back. At least not yet, but he was still someone she confided in. Talking out loud had become a rather bad habit she’d developed over the course of creating Brad.
“You know,” she said as she stared at him. “I wasn’t always quite as pathetic as I am now. I used to have a life. A good one. Before the Vanos killed my father and my best friend.” She took a deep breath, needing to focus on anything other than the topic at hand. “I’m excited about seeing Conell. It’s been a long time. Of course, he can’t see you. Not yet, anyway. He wouldn’t understand.”
For a split second Aeron thought Brad blinked. That was foolish so she dismissed it with a wave of her hand. “Brad, I’m on the verge of losing my mind. I need human contact. I can’t wait to see Conell in the morning, but I’m a little concerned about my willpower or lack thereof. It was hard enough to resist the temptation of Conell when we attended the University together.” She waggled her brows. “I think we both know I buckled under the pressure. I can only imagine how hard it will be to keep my hands to myself now that I haven’t had sex in years.”
Aeron continued on, talking to Brad as if he could really hear her. “There was a point in my life that I thought I’d be Mrs. Conell Ballou. I’m still not entirely sure what went wrong in our relationship, or even if what we had qualified as one, but I do know that a piece of my heart stayed with him.”
She stepped closer to Brad and went to her tiptoes. She was tall for a human female, but nowhere near Brad’s height. Force of habit dictated she kiss his cheek lightly and give him a hug. As she wrapped her arms around his body, she fought back tears. “Swear to me you’ll be careful. Promise me that you won’t go off half-cocked and get yourself killed. I won’t know if I programmed you correctly until you’re in the field and then it could be too late. I know I can’t keep you…that your natural instincts will demand you do your duty and bring down the enemy, but I don’t want to let you go.”
She sighed, still clinging to him. “As sad as this sounds, you’re my everything, Brad. I think Conell and the others will grow to like you too. Not as much as I do, of course, but they’ll know how important you are to us all. I’m sure of it.”
Chapter Two
Brad waited until he was sure Aeron was asleep before moving. The beautiful blonde woman had been the last thing he remembered seeing after the blast from the Vanos weapon took out his chest, and the first thing he ever registered when she began the process of rebuilding him. He’d longed to tell her how much she’d meant to him. It had been one of his primary reasons for disobeying their sworn pact and coming for her the minute he learned they’d discovered her location. Brad held no regrets. Her life had been worth his.
He’d first met Aeron when they were in their last year of private intermediate schooling. They’d hit it off almost instantly, even though he thought for sure he’d loathe her when he spotted the bookworm, should–have-been cheerleader, sitting in the atrium, studying.
He and his friends had stolen someone’s lunch chip and were playing keep-away with it, tossing it just out of the guy’s reach when Aeron had looked up, saw what they were doing and charged him. Never had Brad expected the tiny slip of a girl to speak to him, let alone come at him. Sure, he’d hoped. A guy would have to be blind to miss the fact Aeron was gorgeous. She’d not only charged him, but she’d hit him with her reading tablet, cracking it over his head, leaving him love struck.
She also made him apologize to the guy he’d spent the greater part of his life teasing—Conell Ballou. From that moment on, Brad found every excuse he could to be near her. He stopped slacking in his classes and signed up for courses that would keep him near Aeron. It was for the best. He ended up following her to the University to study science. He was recruited straight from there into the military and served the Star Union proudly, always turning down promotions that would leave him having to go far from Aeron.
Right before his accident, Brad declined yet another promotion, opting instead to remain nothing more than a captain of an outer quadrant base because Aeron had set up a small research lab there with Conell and others like them. He’d of course lied to her, making her believe he’d left the planet. She’d found out what Brad had truly done after his accident. She couldn’t be upset with him. Not with the price he paid to keep her safe. He was dedicated. All the pact members were. They were determined to stop the conditions the Vanos were forcing the humans on the outskirts to live in. For a while, they were successful. Once their names were leaked to the Vanos, it became too dangerous for them to remain together. The pact had given each of them walking orders, assuring them a safe haven while Brad remained behind with Aeron. The two had grown close. For some reason, Aeron had always been convinced Brad saw her only as a friend. It wasn’t true. He’d loved her from the moment she cracked him over the head with her tablet.
He’d also been an idiot from that day forth, always holding back the truth, always playing the role of best friend instead of lover. When he’d learned the Vanos had found her, he wasted no time getting to her. The moment he’d burst into her research facility, he’d found her on her knees, potting plants necessary for their healing qualities. His entrance had startled her. Not nearly as much as when he kissed her, seconds before the Vanos burst through, opening fire on them. It was actually humane compared to some of the ways the Vanos were known to take lives. Brad had felt pain, but only for a moment. The second he heard Aeron’s horrified screams, saw her frantic eyes and sensed her touch, he knew then that she cared. When she pressed her lips to his cheek and whispered “I love you”, he made a silent vow to come back to her, in some form or other, right before the darkness fully consumed him.
The darkness had clung to him for what felt like forever, only being broken during the times he heard Aeron’s voice, felt her touch. When she’d rebuilt his damaged body and brought him back in a form she often referred to as a droid, the darkness had been chased away. Only to be replaced by the face of the woman he loved.
If anything, Brad loved her more now than he had. Not that he even believed that to be possible. There was something about the way her blue eyes sparkled when she smiled, or how candidly she spoke when she assumed he could not hear, that had made things deep within his body tighten.
Dr. Aeron Braxton had done her job, all right. She’d created the perfect droid, more perfect than even she imagined. Brad had been only days into his rebirth when his neural senses kicked on automatically, tapping directly into his memories. From that moment, he’d watched the entire procedure—how she’d painstakingly labored over every tiny detail of rebuilding him to the way he’d been prior to the attack. Her dedication and determination made the transition into what he was slowly becoming easier.
He’d always been reluctant to admit there was Vanos blood in his family line. It was distant but there. Aeron discovered all about it after the attack. From the endless hours she spent talking softly to him, as if she somehow knew he was still able to hear, he learned that the doctors had wanted to wipe their hands of h
im the moment they found traces of Vanos DNA. Aeron refused to let them. She even found a way to take him with her.
Gods, I love this woman.
His chest tightened at the thought of holding Aeron the way he’d always dreamed of. Getting to know everything about her over the last few years left his already intense feelings for her bordering on uncontrollable. Her tiny quirks even made him clench his fists after she walked away, fighting the urge to take her then and there. Whenever Aeron was deep in thought, her tongue skated over her bottom lip. Brad longed to run his thumb over the very track her tongue took before claiming her mouth with his own.
The cock which she had repaired in accordance with her deepest fantasy sprang to life—surprisingly enough, her fantasy was exactly what he’d already been packing prior to the attack.
She’s always wanted me too.
The thought warmed him.
Aeron continued to torture him, night after night, by undressing in front of him before crawling into the shower or bed. Some nights, she’d lie in bed, put her hand between her legs and work her clit until she kicked and cried out. He’d wanted to go to her, slide his body over hers and sink into her silken depths. He wanted to be the one bringing her pleasure. That was easier said than done.
Each night was harder and harder. The endless waiting, the yearning, the need to bury himself within her and make her his own, but he hadn’t been able to. No, Brad needed to work on himself while she slept each night. He’d tweaked her already remarkable settings and enhanced himself far beyond what she’d hoped for, thankful he’d followed her into the area of science all those years ago.
His enhancements were almost complete. He had one small thing to do and then he would claim Aeron as his lifemate—his wife.
Brad walked over to the information download unit and aligned his wireless sensors with it by spreading his hand wide. He mentally commanded the computer to begin the process of downloading any remaining data on human mating rituals by pushing the signal into the unit’s central processing unit. He had all the points the good doctor wanted covered, like weapons, hand-to-hand combat, the most effective ways to kill another, basic humanoid interactions, military operations and so on, but she hadn’t thought to give him any other information in regards to sex and love. Brad had been a skilled lover of women prior to the accident, but his memories were a bit hazy at times. Only the ones of Aeron were strong. He was confident, but only to a point. The idea of trying to seduce Aeron, only to find himself nervous or a born-again virgin, did not appeal to him.
Brad had stumbled upon the information by accident and had soaked up every morsel of it that he could. It was during the downloading periods he’d learned what a family meant to Aeron and how much he wanted to give her one. She didn’t seem to believe he could be both a solider for the cause and a companion, but Brad knew better. He knew without a doubt he could be both a warrior and a lover to her. It was now a matter of proving his case. But first, he needed to insure he could give her everything he could have when he was a human male.
Stepping into the examination chamber, Brad waited for the door to slide shut before doing his final test. He took a petri dish and held it in one hand. Accessing his stored erotic images of Aeron pleasuring herself, Brad took hold of his cock and began working it. Slowly, he slid his hand over the long shaft while visions of Aeron moving her fingers in and out of her sweet core flashed before him. Seeing her touch herself was too much. He stroked himself harder, faster, until his balls tightened and his body jerked. He set the tip of his dick against the dish and ejaculated over it. Granted, it wasn’t the ideal testing situation, but it would do all the same and it felt good to find release, even though he wanted it to be within Aeron.
Gripping the dish carefully, he took a deep breath before he slid it into the chamber. “Ahh, computer, initiate a spectral analysis on semen…now.”
The examination chamber beeped twice before ejecting the dish. Brad glanced at the monitor and waited with bated breath. A smile crept over his face and he had to fight to keep from shouting out with joy. It had worked. His final test was not only complete, but a success. After months of tweaking, his semen once again carried live sperm. He could make love to Aeron and hopefully create a family with her.
Chapter Three
Aeron sat up and rubbed her eyes. Two hours of sleep wasn’t enough. If she wasn’t so excited to meet with Conell, she’d have just slept in. The thrill of seeing Conell again after all these years was too tempting to resist. He’d been handsome in school, though a bit on the skinny side. That, along with his tendency to be just as big of a bookworm as her, had a way of leaving him a target for bullies. He was the reason she’d met Brad. Conell was also one of the smartest men she’d ever met. They’d bonded first as friends and then as something more than friends.
Even if her pending visitor wasn’t Conell, Aeron would have still been excited. She had to admit that she missed interacting with other humanoids. So far, she’d only had the company of a droid who was non-responsive. Sure, Brad was great to look at, but he wasn’t much of a conversationalist. Talking to thin air, while therapeutic, wasn’t as rewarding as interacting with another human. Besides, Brad was a killing machine, nothing more. It wasn’t as if he’d ever want to sit down and have a heart-to-heart with her like the real Brad used to. No. He was created to be a heartless assassin. Not a best friend.
Stop viewing him as your best friend then, Aeron. He’s not that man anymore.
Mentally scolding herself did little to shake the feeling that Brad was the closest person in the universe to her. Rolling out of bed, she stretched her arms above her head and smiled at Brad, who remained silent, as he always did, in the corner of her lab. Why she slept there every night instead of in her actual bedroom was beyond her. At first, it seemed to make more sense. She worked until the wee hours of the morning on him, and putting a bed nearby was logical. After a while, she found she couldn’t sleep unless Brad was near her. His presence made her feel safe and less alone in the vast space around her.
“I’m going to miss you when you go, big guy,” she said, scratching her breast as she yawned. “The rebellion has such a need for you that I’ll never get time to see you. Not that you’ll notice or care, but it would be nice if you could stop by and visit me sometime. Hey, if you work out, I could maybe make you a brother or, umm, a female like you.”
Aeron nearly choked on her words. The very idea of making a woman for Brad, even though he would lack sexual desires, sickened her. In some weird, twisted way Brad was hers and hers alone. Sharing him wasn’t an option.
The computer chimed, indicating someone was attempting to dock on her ship. She glanced at the wall-time unit and cursed. “He’s early!”
Naked and barely awake, Aeron ran and grabbed her dirty clothes off the floor. A pair of tan pants and a pink shirt wasn’t exactly what she wanted to greet Conell in but they would have to do. The clothing replicator would take at least five minutes, and running up to her bedroom would take longer. Leaving Conell’s ship sitting out in space, waiting for her to answer, wasn’t an option. The man was a legend in the field of science and wasn’t to be kept waiting. Not only that, but she missed him too much to wait another second.
“Brad, this is it. Conell’s here.” She smoothed her shirt down and raked her gaze over Brad. “It’s moments like this I realize how much I need some girlfriends. I almost asked you if I looked all right.”
She snickered. “I really need to get laid.”
Crossing her fingers, Aeron winked. “Maybe, if I’m lucky, that will happen today. Who knows, Conell might still be single and I’m guessing he’s only gotten better with age.”
She froze as what sounded like a growl came from Brad’s direction. Dismissing the noise, tiredness winning out over better sense, Aeron searched the lab for her boots, but came up empty. Going barefoot was less than professional, but in her defense, he was early. It also didn’t hurt that she and Conell had once seen more than t
he other’s bare feet.
She activated the hidden door to her lab and headed out into the control room. “Computer, identify vessel requesting permission to dock.”
“It is a personal transport vessel, registered to a Dr. Conell Ballou.”
“Permission granted.”
Aeron entered the receiving room and waited for the dock bay doors to open. When they did, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Conell, her lab partner, friend and lover from ten years ago, had grown into a striking man. His sandy blond hair flopped down over wire glasses and the faintest hint of a beard appeared on his face. He’d bulked up a good deal since she had last seen him and it did wonders for his physique. He’d been handsome back then. Now he was simply gorgeous.
His gaze met hers and his green eyes widened. “Aeron? Is that really you? You haven’t changed one bit in ten years.”
“Yeah…umm…hi, I mean, welcome,” she stammered, slightly embarrassed. The need to run and hug him was great. She held back.
Conell smiled and took his jacket off. He glanced around her receiving room and nodded towards the direction of her massive white sofa. Designed in a circular shape to fit the living space’s dimension, it was said to seat over twenty, but since she’d never actually had twenty guests aboard her vessel, she wasn’t sure.
“Nice.”
“Thanks,” she said, blushing slightly, although she wasn’t sure why. “So, tell me, Conell, what in the universe made you look me up after all these years.”
He took a step towards her wet bar. “May I?”
“Help yourself, just please don’t make any Cosmic Magic Punch or I’ll be sick on the spot.” She laughed, remembering how sick she’d been after a night of partying. She and Conell had decided to celebrate the fact they’d passed finals. It sounded good at the time. The three days they spent recovering from their alcohol-induced stupor weren’t so great.
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