"No." He stood next to her door. "This is my vehicle. I'm the commanding officer on this trip. I order you to get your fanny out of the seat, move it over and buckle up, understand?"
Adam would treat her like another officer, like one of the guys. Too bad the rest of the guys didn't have perfect tits and a sweet ass like Eve. It would have made the comparison a lot easier.
She tilted forward and in a low whisper said, "Your zipper is down."
So much for being like one of the guys. Adam resisted the urge to look down and held his head high. His hands supported his body as he held onto the frame around the driver's side. When she flashed a self-satisfied and smug smile, he wanted to erase it from her face by kissing her so hard that it would make her tremble again.
Instead, he cursed under his breath and ambled around the back of the truck to the other side. At the tail end, he brought his hands down to his pants without looking and fastened his zipper. Hopping carefully into the passenger side, Adam folded his arms and kept his gaze from hers.
"As you said, buckle up." She revved up his engine.
When she took off, he nearly rolled out of his seat and onto the hard dirt ground. If he hadn't grabbed for the roll bar overhead, Eve would have succeeded in tossing him from his own vehicle.
With every bump and dip she hit on the way to the head office, the pain in his foot became more acute, until it throbbed. But he didn't want to show her that. He gritted his teeth and held his head high to give her the semblance that he, too, could be as unaffected as she.
The plan would have worked if every time a breeze drifted through the cab of the truck he didn't smell her scent—a dangerous combination of her sex mixed with his scent and a hint of roses. Petal-soft skin and a rosy scent. Yep, a dangerous combination.
Maybe he was overanalyzing the whole situation. She was just a robot, right?
No. She was more than that. He'd proven it. And in front of the High Commander, he would blow Eve's cool countenance.
Sure she was an expert marksman. And she knew hand-to-hand combat better than most of his squad. But she could not replace his troops. With the population dwindling, someone had to stand up for real people, for unaltered humans.
But then again, who stood up for Eve? Who defended her rights, her existence, her skills, her talents? No one.
He gazed at her. The woman knocked his boots off just in her military skills alone. And even though there were other female soldiers, there was only one Emergency Violator Equalizer. Only one Eve.
"Good eye." Eve split her attention between the road and Adam.
"What?" Adam ignored the pulsating pain in his foot and straining hard not to show his emotions on his face.
"You recognized how to take down the Cerillion robot. I was too busy trying to beat it with brute force." She glanced at him again. A genuine smile brightened her face. "If it hadn't been for your persuasion, we would be fighting a losing battle. Great job."
Adam nodded, too stunned to actually verbalize his acceptance of her appreciation.
Eve smoothed her hand up and down her arm. "My body still tingles. Is that normal?"
Suddenly a tingling sensation crept up his spine. "I don't know."
"Why wouldn't you know?"
"I'm not a woman. I don't know how a woman would feel after sex."
"How do you feel now…as a man?"
Adam thought about his feelings then contemplated how he should verbalize his thoughts. "Calm."
"Even with the gun shot?"
Adam caught Eve laughing a little. Bit by bit, she was becoming more and more human in front of him. It was as though sex broke that final barrier.
"From what I've heard from other women, the tingling sensation is a—"
"How many?" Eve cut a corner hard.
"How many what?"
"Women."
So Eve had a jealous streak. Or was that curiosity?
He didn't satisfy her interest. "From what I understand, some women do feel the way you do. It's normal."
Eve nodded. "Normal. Good."
Although he balked at having her partner with him, Adam felt safe with her watching his back. A lot of his openness to having her on his side revealed itself not in the way she could shoot the eye out of a fly from a hundred yards away or the way she could spout detailed clauses in the Federation Handbook. It was in the little things…like the way she'd stopped walking whenever he'd stopped to take a break when the pain in his foot could not be tolerated.
"You know, Lieutenant, um, Adam, after what we just did, I realize that I don't know anything about myself beyond my chip and skeletal system. You're the first person outside of Dr. Tuumlar that has treated me like a human, like a real woman."
Adam swallowed hard. He hadn't intended on losing a great soldier and transforming an officer. The whole prospect seemed too much, way bigger than what he imagined. Now the idea of him trying to bury Eve and her military career felt like a betrayal.
What the hell was he thinking? He needed more soldiers like Eve in his troops. He needed a woman like Eve by his side. But he couldn't turn his back on his fellow man.
"Let's get to headquarters before the High Commander has our heads." Adam pointed ahead.
Maybe the best thing would be for Eve to steer clear of him and for him to keep away from her. As it was, the lines were starting to get blurred on their relationship.
* * * *
E-V-E hopped out of the truck once she parked it at the dome shaped building. She hung back as much as she could to see if Adam would need any help getting around. It pained her to see him struggling to get a good footing as he took a step. His face winced each time he brought his foot up or down.
From the way he kept his distance from her after they had fornicated, she knew something was wrong.
Fornicated. Adam hadn't called it that. He said they had made love. Made love. Sounded like they created the emotion and packaged it for mass production.
He had also wanted to know if she'd loved the sex. She wasn't sure how she felt about the whole thing. It all felt wonderful. His hands, his mouth, his thick cock. She hadn't been taught about a lot of emotions. Satisfaction from victory. Anger from war and incompetence. Never fear and certainly not love.
But thinking about what had occurred just moments ago brought back the fluttering feeling in her abdomen. Too bad Dr. Tuumlar wasn't still overseeing E-V-E's training. E-V-E could ask her about the sensation she felt in her stomach, the way her heart quickened whenever Adam looked at her or how she now started to sweat.
The glass doors to the screening room to communicate to the High Commander swished open when the two of them approached. Standing at attention with her feet wide apart, shoulders back, hands clasped behind her, she was ready to greet their leader.
Slower to assume the same stance, Adam, in his hunched over appearance, rolled his head up as though it weighed a ton and his thick neck couldn't support it. When he brought his hands behind his back, he groaned. And he planted one foot firmly down on the floor while the other rested on his tiptoe.
"I can give a briefing of the battle if you want to go to sickbay for your foot," E-V-E whispered before the screen populated with the High Commander's image.
He stared straight ahead. "No."
Her heart stuttered a bit like it, too, was shocked by his curt and fast response. Adam hadn't been this way in the truck. Humans were too complicated.
She nodded and righted herself back to attention.
The twenty-foot wide and thirty-foot tall screen suddenly lit up and blazed the image of a stately older woman. As always, her hair, jet black with streaks of gray through it, was styled perfectly. Her eyes looked black—but not cold as some might think. Her pecan-colored skin looked ashen from age and the battles she'd fought and won.
With her hands clasped and resting on her desk, she spoke.
"Good evening."
"Good evening, High Commander," E-V-E and Adam said in unison.
"I h
ear congratulations are in order. When that Cerillion robot landed on Earth, I must admit, I didn't see the possibility of us defeating the thing." Her face remained calm, but her eyes sparkled.
By the slight hitch up on the side of her mouth, E-V-E could detect the High Commander's appreciation.
"Anything for our planet," Adam said flatly.
So his actions, the kisses, the caressing, the way he looked at her when he realized he'd taken her virginity, that had been for the good of the planet?
His words felt like a knife in her chest, twisting and turning until it took all of her life force. Why did his words hurt her so much? They were colleagues. They were officers. Damnit! They were soldiers. And she had reasoned the same thing during the battle. For the humans, she'd said. But it had been much more.
"I am curious. How did you bring the Cerillion down?"
Heat singed E-V-E's cheeks. She cleared her throat and swallowed. How in the world would she be able to explain this to the ruler of Earth's last inhabitants? "We—"
"We utilized the robot defense training we learned in the academy," Adam said, cutting off her nearly embarrassing explanation. "We found a sensitive spot." He glanced at E-V-E.
She expected to see a smirk, but instead he looked pensive, almost mournful.
"We demolished the beast using our weapons," Adam concluded.
The High Commander nodded. "Good. Glad to hear that."
"However," he continued, "I fear that since we have taken this Cerillion weapon down, there will be more coming. We need to act quickly and be prepared."
"Of course, Lieutenant. What do you suggest?"
He glanced at E-V-E again. "We need to find a Dr. Sonjie Tuumlar and bring her here now. Modifications to E-V-E's systems need to be made before the second wave of attack."
"Dr. Tuumlar. She's the woman that created the chip in your head, correct?" The High Commander pointed a finger toward E-V-E as though she was sitting in the same room with them.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Did you feel your fighting methods and techniques were lacking in the field today?"
E-V-E glanced down briefly before answering. "In some respects, High Commander, I do feel I was not one hundred percent." This time it was her turn to gaze at Adam, staring at him until she had to look away. "I made errors in judgment and I questioned my reactions." She shifted in her spot.
"If I may interject, High Commander," Adam began.
E-V-E balled her hands still positioned behind her back into fists. She could only imagine what Adam—superior Adam who'd said he didn't want or need a partner—would say about her in front of their leader.
"The situation with the Cerillion robot was extremely taxing. There was a lot of dangers involved in facing that thing, something I don't want to do again for a while. But if it hadn't been for our Emergency Violator Equalizer, Eve, I wouldn't be standing her right now." He took a deep breath and puffed his chest out. "She's a hell of a soldier," he paused, "and a woman."
E-V-E's mouth dropped open from the compliment. Did Adam really mean that? She suspected when a look of disappointment crossed his face after they'd had sex that perhaps he saw her a little differently. To hear it now and in front of their High Commander, didn't make her happy though. The declaration should have.
Her heart slowed until she thought she would have to shock her system to jumpstart it again. Knowing Adam saw her as not only a great military fighter but also as a wonderful woman surprised her.
E-V-E said, "I fear my enhancements will cause more problems, other attacks. Lieutenant B'Luven is being diplomatic and not saying why Dr. Tuumlar is needed. But I'll say it. Her chip is somehow interacting with the Cerillion's robotics. This goes beyond me predicting how their robotics will respond. For some reason, how I react affects their machinery."
"React? What do you mean?" The leader placed her hands flat on top of her desk.
E-V-E took a deep breath before answering. She'd been thinking about the situation since Adam shot and took down the robot. And there was really only one solution. "The only way to save the remaining humans is for me to leave the bio-dome and get as far away as I can. Perhaps to another planet."
Adam sucked in a breath, but composed himself before E-V-E could catch his stunned reaction.
"The longer I stay, the more of a lure I create for the Cerillions. They want the whole package—me and the humans. So I need to leave, and make it impossible for them to accomplish their mission. With Lieutenant B'Luven remaining here, he is more than capable of defeating anything they try to send your way."
"And what do you think that will solve? I need my best soldiers here." The woman's voice boomed and she pounded her fist on the table.
"What choice do I have? The other alternative is for me to get the chip removed. The only person who can do that is Dr. Tuumlar and she's not here. Besides, I don't know what kind of fighter I'd be after that."
E-V-E held back the entire truth. She wasn't sure she could survive the extraction. She'd heard of cyborgs with malfunctioning chips. But those all died before the chip could be removed.
"You speak as though you have an option. I run this sector. I am the ruler of our armies, including you. In order to leave my sector you need permission from me, and I'm not granting it. You will stay here, Emergency Violator Equalizer, and you will assist Lieutenant B'Luven and our troops against the Cerillions."
E-V-E sighed and hung her head. The High Commander would know what she was thinking, what she had planned, if she looked into E-V-E's eyes.
Not one to defy orders, she didn't see an alternative to the situation. She could stay and watch thousands get slaughtered. Or she could go and fix what her creator had started. Plus she would be able to put some distance between herself and Adam. No pesky questions to answer.
"You two are dismissed. Lieutenant, go to sickbay. You'll be relieved of your watch duties starting this evening until you're one hundred percent."
"Yes, ma'am."
"That should take two days if they use the accelerator."
He bowed his head in allegiance. The screen went black in an instant. Before Adam could question her, E-V-E stomped back to her living quarters. She knew what needed to be done. The High Commander would have to learn to forgive E-V-E later.
Chapter Five
"Hot water!" E-V-E demanded again.
"Negative. Rations for two gallons of hot water have been supplied and used this week," E-V-E's in-room responder said in its male monotone voice. "An additional charge can be levied against your account if you would like to override your ration request."
"Fine. Do it." She placed her hands on the shower stall wall under the head and waited. She needed to do something to clear her mind. With an inch of red clay dirt on her body along with some of Adam's blood that spilled on her feet while they were entangled, a shower was more than necessary.
"Purchase has been made. Please prepare form TSW-11 to explain this transaction and give to your commanding supervisor."
"Fuck you," E-V-E said.
"That request does not compute."
As though wanting to shut her up, hot water streamed from the circular head just as she turned her face up to the microphone over the stall to give it another profane directive.
Certainly it wasn't the computer's fault that E-V-E suddenly developed—well, she didn't exactly know what she had developed. Feelings? Love? Lust? It had to be something. Every time she thought about Lieutenant B'Luven, Adam, her body became hot all over.
She closed her eyes under the stream of water. With her hair back, she allowed her hands to slide down her shoulders to her breasts, which Adam had so lovingly suckled. Her nipples stood at attention with just the memory of how he'd used his tongue to toy with them. She brushed her fingertips against the hard tips, attempting to recreate the sensation. But it wasn't the same, although the touch felt good, relieving.
E-V-E squeezed her breasts, feeling the weight of them in her hands. Adam had done the same thing,
except that they'd nearly disappeared in his large hands.
One hand slid down her stomach to her pussy. She smiled, remembering the way Adam had looked at it, admired it, tasted it. Her middle finger slid between her nether lips and brushed against her swollen clit.
She leaned her head back and released a moan that she thought only Adam could extract. Placing one foot on top of the soap dish, she explored her sex for the first time.
Probably from years of being with Doctors Urlean and Tuumlar, she never saw herself as a sexual being. Sex was a human function. All of her life, E-V-E had been told she was not human. She was supposed to be better than humans and therefore not susceptible to wasted emotions like lust and love.
She let her middle finger explore inside of her vagina, just the tip initially, then gradually pressing further, just as Adam had done outside the gate on the hard cold ground. Once deep inside, she sighed heavily, the sound echoing off the walls of the shower stall. Her legs trembled as she squeezed her breast harder.
Sensations. She wanted to feel it all. Her deprived body craved more touching, caressing, kissing. The thick, smooth walls of her cunt constricted against her finger. What a sensation!
Warmth surrounded her digit. Then she felt her body temperature rise. Her pussy felt tight yet forgiving at the same time. She trembled when she thought of how Adam penetrated her.
Feeling a bit sore, her movements started slow. She spread her legs wider for better access. The heel of her hand rubbed against her clit, making her heart pound like the drills used to find water underground. Her skin tingled until she thought her chip would surely malfunction.
She moved her finger in and out of her vagina as her thoughts went to Adam. She couldn't get the sight of his golden skin out of her thoughts. Then she remembered his eyes. And his hands, the way he held her like she belonged to him.
"Adam," she whispered.
The water shut off on its own. Her rations were up but her passion remained. She continued standing in the stall, her finger thrusting in and out of her. Her other hand alternated between one breast and the other. She licked her lips, wanting so much to feel his on hers again.
Original Sin Page 5