“No. We’ve had this discussion. I am not tying you to the bed. I’ve got special wrist coms for both of us. Your anti-security capabilities can’t shut yours off and it will knock you unconscious if you get too far away from its mate. Mine sets off an ear-shattering alarm if you try to remove it or you wander away from me. Marcus guarantees me they will work. He and Kyra made them.”
Lucy separated their bodies, even though she did not want to. She could feel Eric’s nervousness and sense some general discomfort. The presence of the others was a disruption for him. “You are not like any contract I ever had,” she whispered.
Eric lifted one hand to her face as he gripped her other hand in his. He pushed back her still unruly hair. Maybe they could get someone to come and cut it. The woman needed some pampering. “I’m ready when you are.”
His face actually flushed when Lucy’s eyebrow raised. He chuckled and put a finger over her lips. “Don’t say it. Don’t say it. The statement was not innuendo.”
“Should I take it literally then?” she asked when he pulled his finger away.
Eric released a frustrated breath. Everyone in the room was hiding their smiles behind hands. His face flushed again. He looked at Lucy’s innocent gaze and shook his head. The woman dismantled his cool. None of his experience with other females even came into play around her.
He didn’t bother saying goodbye when they left. But he did damn his new hearing for tuning in to all the laughter and teasing that went on the moment the door shut behind him. When Lucy chuckled beside him, he knew she had heard as well.
“Laughter is a sign of friendship, isn’t it?” she asked.
Eric sighed and laughed himself. “Yes. Damn it. Yes, it is.”
“Can we have sex now that you are well? I wish to service your needs.” Lucy asked.
Eric laughed hard and tugged on her hand. “Fine. You’ve worn down my good intentions until they’re invisible. But you better amend your files on it to make sure the story of our sex life gets recorded as being more your idea than mine.”
“You wish me to make a recording?” Lucy asked.
“No,” Eric said. “A note. Just a note. And only a note.”
“May I take a picture of your pleasing face if I wish to do so?”
“God Lucy. What am I going to do with you? What am I going to do if you change again?” Eric exclaimed.
Lucy tightened her grip on his arm. She actually understood his concern. She was aware of her internal evolution and disintegration. Even the New World Companion code was starting to fail. And from her discussion with Peyton, she was aware of what might need to be done to extend her life, if they chose to do so. She might not come out of her restoration remembering Eric. It was simply a fact. It was also the reason today was so important to her.
She wanted a memory of them to save and she would see to it Eric got a copy. It would perhaps make up a little for the loss if she ceased to exist as his personal companion.
“I can give you directions about what to do with me if you truly need them, Eric. But I cannot promise never to change. I can only promise to write a good story about us for my reference files. I will not forget you or your kindness to me, or that you are the only contract I have actually wanted to please.”
Eric snorted. He returned her innocent gaze with a wicked one. It was the only warning she was going to get. “Lucy, I think you’re going to be pleasantly surprised by everything I know about pleasing a woman in bed. Kyra let me keep all my programming. There are good reasons I had a Cyber Husband rating that rivaled Peyton’s.”
“Yes. When I scanned Peyton’s code, I saw he has kept extensive logs of what Dr. Winters likes in bed. I thought that was a very good idea.”
Eric laughed as they climbed into Nero’s airjet. He really needed to get his own. When they were seated, he turned to look at Lucy. “See anything in there you particularly liked?” he asked, teasing to see what she would admit.
Lucy smiled as she shrugged. “He is proficient but his lovemaking was not imaginative. Plus, he goes too fast. Though I did see he was attempting to amend his speed.”
Eric laughed at her summary. So Peyton rushed things in Lucy’s opinion. No problem. He could take a hint. Plus, he liked things slow anyway. Half the pleasure was the anticipation. Her body thrilled him enough to spend time exploring.
“Eric? You stopped responding,” Lucy said. “Did I share something I shouldn’t have?”
Eric grinned as he shot the airjet toward their destination at top speed. “No. I was just thinking about us. And I was definitely using my imagination. I’m already hard.”
He watched Lucy’s gaze drop to his lap. He got harder as she stared. His face flushed with arousal. All he wanted was to get her to a bed as soon as he could.
“You are eighty-nine point seven percent ready to indulge in intercourse with me,” she informed him softly.
“Well, I’m now one hundred percent willing which is why I’m risking an air traffic ticket to get us home as quickly as possible,” Eric retorted.
Lucy nodded. “I agree with your actions. Would you like me to scramble all air traffic scanners we pass so they will not be able to read our true rate of speed?”
Eric laughed with joy. “Holy shit, lady. You can do that?” he exclaimed.
“Of course. It is my pleasure to service you, Eric 754.”
Eric smiled. “I love you Lucy. And not just because you’re full of more tricks than a whole cyber circus. I love your logic, your approach to life, and your grace. You’re the best companion a man could ever dream of finding. And I mean that in the real sense, not just how your program defines a companion.”
“I do not understand the concept of love as that term has been branded obsolete by my code. But I do sincerely wish to please you. It is a motivation that pleases me in return. Is mutual reciprocity enough to match you in your declaration?”
Eric nodded, the fragile reality of their connection hitting him once again. He pushed his concerns away. If it ended up being just temporary, he’d still take what time he could. “We’ll make it enough for now. We deserve all the happiness we can find together.”
Lucy nodded. “I think that is the best logic I have heard today.”
Chapter 18
Eric undressed her slowly, celebrating each bit of unmarred skin he revealed with his lips. True to her word, she had coerced her cybernetics into removing all evidence of her wounds. He hoped someone like Kyra or Nero could help her remove the scars that didn’t show.
When the woman he wanted was finally naked in his arms, her whispered praise of his kisses sent chills of anticipation racing down his spine. His excitement to be with her threatened his control over his sexual urges. He’d known any control was going to be a bloody hard challenge when the opportunity to finally be with Lucy arrived. Her nipples rose to attention as she stared at him. A significant part of him rose to attention right back.
“Is it my turn to undress you now?” she asked softly.
Emotion clogged his throat at how she always sought permission for every action. He cursed her New World Companion programming and appreciated it at the same time. All he could do was blissfully nod in agreement as Lucy’s sure and confident hands moved swiftly to unfasten his clothing and sweep it away.
Her scent increased with her arousal and rose around him as they worked to get skin-to-skin. He was bathing his senses in Lucy pheromones and didn’t care what they were doing to him. His need for her became more painful with each stroke of her hand against any part of him. When it hovered lower and hesitated, he was completely enthralled.
“May I be more assertive with you?”
Temporary madness took hold of him. Her whispered query had him dragging her tightly into his arms instead of answering yes. Too aroused to speak, for once he hoped Lucy was reading all his physical signs. He was hard against her, hard everywhere, impossibly hard. He felt her gently use her strength to wiggle her arms free of his possessive hold. He wan
ted to restrain her, keep her where she was, but caught himself just in time. The last thing he wanted was for their first time to be anything like any sex she’d had before him. He wanted every moment to feel like her idea.
Her hands sought his face, framing it lovingly. One hand slid up into his scalp and clenched firmly, but not to the point of causing any real pain, though he knew she was quite capable of doing so. The slight tug on his hair was merely a sexual siren call asking him to answer her force with some force of his own. It was exactly the sign he’d been waiting to get.
He lifted Lucy by the hips until she had to wrap her legs around him to hang on. He stood holding her, enjoying her, happy to have this woman making love with him. Trusting him to support both their weights, Lucy ran both her hands over his shoulders, his face, into his hair again.
When her mouth fused joyously with his, Eric walked the short distance to the bed and lowered them down on it. Ducking his head to her shoulder, he melded their bodies in one smooth glide. Lucy felt more right to him than any woman ever had before.
“Eric?”
He froze mid-stroke. “Yes,” he whispered roughly, lifting his face to look into hers.
“I know I told you I wouldn’t, but I can’t help reading your mind. Your concerns about us make it hard for me to concentrate on our pleasure.”
He swallowed hard, nodded. “So you know how much this means to me. I don’t really mind.”
“No. I sense only your concern. The frequency it creates is like static on a com channel not broadcasting clearly.”
Eric nodded again. He moved deeply into her, wanting to stay where he was, wanting to leave and come back to her over and over. Would she understand if he told her how he felt? Would she record that in her files?
In the middle of his musings, he felt her confident hand come to his face and trace his jaw.
“I will never allow myself to forget this or you,” Lucy vowed. “Your lovemaking is just as wonderful as all your other traits. I have created a file just for you, Eric Anderson. Please help me fill it with memories. This is how you can help me service you best.”
Eric nodded. “Okay,” he said hoarsely, hoping she did not misinterpret the burning redness of his eyes. He was not in physical pain, but emotionally he was a wreck.
He knew too much about her, wanted too much for both of them. But if she asked him to stop right now, or to leave her body, he’d probably die.
Or worse, he’d refuse.
Then he’d be just like all the other men she’d known. He pushed in deeper still, wanting to own a woman for the first time in his life. It was just as painful and just as phenomenal as he’d always feared it would be.
Moments later, Lucy’s fierce grip on his head made him forget anything but pleasuring the woman in his arms. Her thrusting tongue kiss drove all thoughts of anything else from his mind.
***
They woke a dozen times, showered, and ate. At one point, they had started watching a vid, but had gotten distracted by each other. She had woken earlier than him and brought breakfast to him in bed the next morning. They had enjoyed it together, talked a little about what they liked to eat, and then ended up diving into each other again when the meal was over.
Now he sat up with her astride him, rising to meet her downward driving hips with an upward surge of his own. Sweat glistened off both of them, which was quite a feat for two cyborgs who normally didn’t tire for hours.
The intense stare between their eyes spoke volumes about the straining efforts of their bodies to brand each other. Lucy might not understand the concept of love, but he thought she definitely had the concept of sexual ownership down. After last night and this morning, she was the only woman he could remember ever leaving any mark on his psyche.
Her drugging, sweaty kiss as she sank down on him one last glorious time brought his arms around her in deep contentment. She was no longer constrained from the personal enjoyment of what they shared. That alone was worth what Kyra had done to her.
He let his body follow hers in release, more satisfied physically than he could ever remember being. Her messy hair was positively hellcat looking now after having had his hands in it all night.
Lucy curled her body around his, purring like a cat. He’d never been happier and refused to think they couldn’t just have this forever.
She sighed into his shoulder. “Someone is trying to reach you on your wrist com.”
Eric hugged her tighter. “Neither of ours has gone off yet.” How did she know the call would come on his and not hers? Damn. She was strangely wired.
“Yours will go off soon,” Lucy said, sighing against his shoulder. “I could stay here in bed with you all day… perhaps even for a week or two. Is this what happiness feels like to those that are still fully human?”
Eric took a deep breath and released it slowly. “We’re human too remember, just… redefined. Evil Brad was at least right about that.”
Lucy raised her head and met his gaze. “I read a lot while your ears were being fixed. I don’t think our existence as cyborgs has made things any better for the world. Peyton says we won the war. Perhaps that is a good enough reason for what was done to us.”
Eric said nothing as Lucy slid from his lap. He wanted to call her back, even after spending nearly the whole night inside her. He didn’t because he didn’t want her complying or using her programmed patience to tolerate such a request. He would just have to deal with his emotions. He’d let her have some space. But he wished he could tell how much of what she expressed to him was really her instead of the coded interest from her New World Companion programming.
His wrist com sounded. He looked at it and saw it was Nero. Sighing, he glanced at Lucy, who shrugged about being right. He didn’t answer it because he needed to tell her something first. “Are you up to another surprise? There are a couple more people pretty anxious to see you. I’ve held them off for as long as I can.”
Lucy shrugged again. “Do I already know them?”
Eric lifted his com and swiped to connect. “Give me five, Nero. I’m just now explaining it to her.”
“They are here and driving me insane, Eric. Call back quickly,” Nero ordered.
Eric snickered at the other man’s consternation as he disconnected. He looked at Lucy again. “Remember those two female cyborgs you apprehended in Montana?”
Lucy looked at the wall. She was checking her files. He had come to recognize the signs when she was lost in reading one of her many stories.
“Aja 490 and Meara 491—yes, I have a record of their capture. They tranquilized you,” she said.
“That’s right. Any other recollections of them? Maybe something older?” Eric asked.
Lucy shook her head. “No. Not that I’ve found so far.”
Eric rose from the bed and started dressing. His body was a little stiff. He smiled at the woman who had caused it. Lucy noticed it too, but said nothing in sympathy for once. Her silence over it made him grin.
Every bit of tiredness and muscle ache could be erased by a bit of focused pulsing but he didn’t want to erase proof of his time with Lucy. He wanted to feel tired. He wanted to feel like he’d spent the night making love. He wanted her to be proud of causing him to walk like a hundred year old.
He shook his head ending his wicked, distracting thoughts. “Those two women served with you when…” he stopped. “Did Peyton tell you this?”
Lucy nodded. “I am aware now that I was once an Army captain. I am aware that I was converted into Evelyn 489 as part of my military service. I am aware that my original cybernetics have been damaged beyond repair. We talked about alternatives and consequences.”
Eric nodded. “Okay. Well, those two women were honestly trying to rescue you when they attacked us. They knew you before your conversion and served under your command afterward. I think they are your friends.”
Lucy considered it and then turned to look at Eric. “Like Marcus and Peyton are your friends?”
&n
bsp; “Yes. Exactly like that,” Eric said, walking over to her. He looked down at her naked body and sighed. “You are very beautiful.”
Lucy lifted a hand to his face. “Do you want to take pictures of me and store them in your memory?”
Eric laughed. “Honey, my human side has already memorized everything about you, from your cute toes to your frizzy hair.”
His laughter ended when Lucy’s hand dropped away from his face. She looked appalled. What had he said?
“My hair offends you? I am sorry. I will fix it at once.”
“No. No. God, no,” Eric exclaimed, fighting to not laugh again at the genuine hurt on her face. “Your hair does not offend me, Lucy. I made poor word choices. I just want it to look as beautiful as the rest of you.”
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