by Jenna Ives
The only question was, for how long?
Chapter Nine
“Wake up, Wyatt.”
The familiar, dulcet tones of Wyatt’s automated alarm clock drifted lazily into his sleepy subconscious. He turned over in bed, intentionally ignoring the voice, but a very unfamiliar movement next to him startled him awake.
He automatically tensed. What the –
Oh, right. Ginger.
He relaxed into his pillow, a slow smile turning up the corners of his mouth.
Mmm. Perfect Ginger with her amazing body and her incredible sexual expertise. How long into the night had they tried out positions that he’d previously only dared fantasize about? Wyatt’s cock stirred at the memory, making him inhale sharply. Damn, he was sore.
But what a wonderful kind of soreness it was.
His eyes drifted shut and his smile broadened.
Wyatt was no virgin, but he didn’t exactly consider himself a stud, either. His position as a Tau Cetus police agent demanded a dedication that rarely left time for a social life. Still, he’d never regretted or resented his choice of profession. He was helping to keep the planet safe. It was important work he did.
And yet, at this moment, he couldn’t remember ever feeling happier. Or more content. And it was all because of the woman beside him.
“Where is she?”
Wyatt forced his eyes back open, and turned his head on the pillow. Ginger – her red hair gloriously tousled after their amazing night of sex – was sitting up in bed, her perfect breasts exposed, her gaze furiously scanning the room. A frown was etched into her perfect brow.
Wyatt reached out to trail his fingertips down the side of her forearm. Her alien polymer skin was now as familiar to him as his own. The intimate realization sent a little thrill zinging through him. “Where is who?”
“That woman,” Ginger answered, clenching her hands into fists. “The woman who dares enter your bedroom uninvited. Where is she?”
Wyatt frowned. What the hell? What woman?
The auto-alert. Ginger was talking about his alarm clock.
Ginger’s protective reaction sent another little thrill through Wyatt. Not only did she look prepared to defend him from any potential intruder, her words also conveyed a certain jealousy over the fact another woman might be in his room.
Jealousy! Imagine that. Ginger was jealous of a potential rival.
So very human-like.
“It’s not a person,” Wyatt assured her, directing his smile her way. “It’s my alarm clock. Now that it’s recorded our movement in the bed, you won’t hear her voice again. Don’t worry. She’s just a machine.”
No sooner were the words out of his mouth than Wyatt cursed himself.
As he’d feared, Ginger’s face fell. “I’m also just a machine, Leith.”
Damn. Given her newfound sentience, the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her or make her feel insecure. He laid his hand over one of her clenched fists. “No. You’re much more than a machine. You’re almost human, remember? You’re sentient.”
The look of hopefulness she gave him touched something deep inside Wyatt, and left him a little breathless. Damn, she was beautiful. And sweet. And trusting. Everything she did made him fall for her just a little harder. Deeper.
Shaking away the serious thought, he gave her a teasing grin. “You know, you wore me out last night.”
At the Doll’s immediate look of concern, Wyatt quickly added, “No, no. It’s a good thing, believe me. A man loves nothing better than to be worn out during sex. Hell, the last thing I remember was that incredible position you called The Pair Of Tongs.”
The memory of Ginger on top – and the way she’d squeezed yet another orgasm out of him – made Wyatt’s cock twitch again. His body was signaling that it was ready and willing, despite its current soreness.
Ginger blinked, as if considering his words. “You also seemed to enjoy it when we Split The Bamboo, Leith.”
Wyatt actually felt himself blush. “Hell, that one was…amazing.” He cleared his throat. “But …what did you do while I slept?”
“Slept?”
“Um… hibernated. Slept. Humans sleep”
“Oh. Do you recharge yourself that way?”
Wyatt smiled. “You could say that, yes. What did you do all night?”
“I watched you. You’re very… animated… when you sleep, Leith. Not like my hibernation mode at all. You turn this way and that, and make odd little noises.”
“The noises were probably me snoring.”
“And several times, I was able to study your body when the cover pulled away. You’re… you’re built as well as any machine, Leith.”
Ginger’s adorable hesitation while giving him the compliment made Wyatt’s chest expand a little. Hell, the fact that someone as perfect as Ginger could find him equally attractive made Wyatt a very happy man.
“Would you like me to wear you out again this morning, Leith?” Ginger asked sweetly.
Wyatt laughed into his pillow, a laugh that turned into a groan as his tender cock struggled to rise, determined to take her up on the offer. “No, no.”
Next to him, Ginger’s face went from her cautiously hopefully look of a moment ago back to a crestfallen one. “Are you tired of me, Leith Wyatt?”
“What?” The thought was idiotic. He couldn’t envision a day when he’d ever be tired of her. Aside from the sex, she was practically a newborn. There was so much he wanted to teach her. “No, no, absolutely not. I—”
His mouth fell open. Dear God, he’d almost said he loved her.
Idiotic.
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t love, but in the few short days he’d known her, she’d come to mean a lot to him. The realization made him want to laugh with the absurdity of it, but also with a certain happiness.
“Ginger, I am definitely not tired of you. It’s just that a human male needs a little time to recover after… after being worn out,” Wyatt explained.
The Doll seemed to accept his explanation at face value, with none of the emotional doubts or resentments a real woman might harbor. How refreshing it was not to have to worry about any relationship games with her!
Ginger nodded. “How much time does it take for you to recover?”
“We can discuss it later.”
“When is later?”
“When I get home from work.”
“What time is that?”
“I don’t know exactly… just later.”
“Being almost human is very confusing, Leith.”
“Believe me, Ginger, being fully human is even more confusing.”
“Oh, dear.”
Wyatt grinned. He’d been teasing her. Ginger had a lot to learn about the difference between literal and figurative speaking, but Wyatt looked forward to her instruction. In fact, Wyatt looked forward to teaching her about a lot of things. Hell, he couldn’t seem to wipe the silly grin from his face. He hadn’t been this happy in a long, long time.
Because his Beautiful Doll was sentient.
Good God, Ginger was sentient.
Wyatt abruptly sat up in bed, his eyes going wide.
Last night, his primary concern had been spiriting her safely away from the former Beautiful Dolls factory before Titus Veraine realized his experiments on her had succeeded. But today, Wyatt was faced with a much bigger problem – the ramifications of her evolution.
By rights, Wyatt had a duty to tell Theus that Ginger was sentient, and that Carron’s robots had the potential to achieve sentience. Theus would definitely view it as a threat, and one that would need to be dealt with immediately. Since the High Council effectively owned Carron’s artificial army, Theus might order all the robots destroyed preemptively.
Would that include Ginger? Hell, it might especially include Ginger, since she was the forerunner of this robot evolution. She didn’t technically belong to the Council, but by being in Wyatt’s possession, it left her open to Theus’ reach.
The thought put a
sick taste in Wyatt’s mouth. He could not – he would not – let his Beautiful Doll be harmed.
But what could he do to stop it?
Think… think…
Wyatt didn’t trust Anson Carron as far as he could throw him. If Carron had Titus Veraine testing programs to make his robot soldiers sentient, Wyatt had no doubt Carron wanted to use those soldiers as a force against Theus. Carron was power-hungry. Hell, just yesterday in Terra Acer, Carron had tried to insist that regulator Jaqan owed him for the protection of his robot army, not Tau Cetus’ High Council.
But, seen logically, Carron didn’t actually need the robots to be sentient in order to use them to overthrow Theus. Robots were powerful. Robots simply took orders.
So that led to another possibility… What if Carron didn’t know Veraine was working to make the machines sentient? What if the testing on Ginger was something Veraine was doing in private, hoping to use their sentience for his own mysterious ends? After all, Veraine was the one who had arranged for Wyatt to take Ginger home, in part to ensure Wyatt’s help in usurping Carron’s position with the Council, claiming that he was the true brains behind the robots.
Veraine’s efforts to make robots sentient couldn’t be allowed to succeed. Theus would undoubtedly believe it was safest for everyone if the robots were destroyed. There were just too many potentially dangerous variables.
But Ginger?
No, no. Wyatt shoved a hand through his hair. He cared for Ginger. She was sweet, smart, good. She was not an evil machine, and he couldn’t conceive of her ever becoming so. She deserved to live.
There must be another solution…
Breathe. Just breathe, and think.
Carron’s robot army was in Terra Acer, far from the reach of Titus Veraine testing his sentience programs on them. Wyatt had some time to try and figure out an alternative. He just needed to give this some thought.
The personal communication device on his bedside table chirped loudly three times, the screen lighting up. Wyatt frowned. Who the hell would be sending him a message at this hour of the morning? It could only be Theus. With a sense of trepidation, he reached for the device.
But the message wasn’t from Theus. It was from Callex Industries’ Zan Talesin. Wyatt raised an eyebrow as he glanced at the screen.
Regulator Egidia surrendered at 0700. Terra Radix now part of Terra Acer.
Wyatt blinked, but before his brain could even digest the surprising information, his screen beeped again with a new message, this one from Anson Carron.
Come to my factory immediately.
Wyatt swallowed hard.
Dear God. Five-thousand robot soldiers with the potential for sentience would soon be coming home.
#
Anson Carron rocked back on the legs of his desk chair and stared at the screen of his personal communication device. He’d lost count of how many times he’d read the message already.
Regulator Egidia surrendered at 0700. Terra Radix now part of Terra Acer.
The announcement had been sent jointly to him, Theus, and Leith Wyatt.
Carron scowled. His minion Loris Rhean should have been the first one to alert him of this monumental news, the idiot. Granted, Rhean’s own message came just minutes later, but hell, that was the primary reason Carron had sent Rhean to Terra Acer with the robot army. To be his spy and conduit. Still, with amazing news like this, Carron was far from upset. He let out a bark of laughter, read the message on his screen again and ran a hand through his thinning black hair.
“I’ll be damned.”
No one had expected this. The High Council had arrayed Carron’s robot soldiers along the border of Terra Acer in order to establish a defensive shield against the threat of aggression by regulator Egidia. The army was meant to be there indefinitely, used either as a deterrent or to engage in fighting as needed. Instead, without so much as a single word or shot fired, Egidia had surrendered his lands and power less than twelve hours after the soldiers had been deployed. Which was surprising, considering that the ruthless, ambitious Egidia had forcibly conquered Terra Domus by killing its regulator, Florens Hericus, with one of the wasp missiles Carron had stolen from Callex Industries and covertly sold him.
“What a disappointment. I would have enjoyed a fight.”
He might still get one. After all, he’d also sold off wo stinger missiles he’d stolen from Callex Industries. But not to Egidia.
So why should he be surprised at Egidia’s move? The regulator had simply bowed under the pressure of superior weaponry. There was no chance he’d win a confrontation with an indestructible army.
Carron scratched his chin thoughtfully. To be honest, even he was amazed at the apparent power of his robot army. But as part of the big picture, this new development would fit well into his carefully crafted plans.
Yes, his plans…
Carron had obviously passed his first test with Theus by producing the robot soldiers on time and at cost. Today’s capitulation by Egidia was testament to his army’s enormous value. Regulator Jaqan was now undeniably in Carron’s back pocket after Carron’s soldiers had protected him from Egidia’s aggression, and soon, other regulators would follow Jaqan’s lead or be destroyed by Carron’s soldiers instead.
There was just one little obstacle standing in the way of Carron’s master plan.
Tau Cetus’ High Council.
He leaned forward in his chair, and punched a button on his communication device. “Veraine? Get your ass in here.”
Fifteen minutes later, the programmer was still rubbing the sleep from his eyes when he stumbled into Carron’s office. The whine of activity from the factory floor was deafening, but Veraine quickly closed the door behind him, shutting out the squeal of machinery.
Carron jerked his thumb in the direction of the noise. “Is everything up and running out there?”
Veraine looked at his boss blearily. “From what I just saw on the way in, yes. But why? I expected we’d be taking it easy for a while now that the robots for the Terra Acer project were completed. Hell, I didn’t get to sleep until well past two o’clock this morning, after sending agent Wyatt home with Ginger. But I dragged myself out of bed as soon as I got your message. What’s going on?”
For an answer, Carron slid his personal communication device across his desk.
The programmer picked it up, read the screen, and whistled softly.
Carron smiled. He wondered if there was a way to print out that life-altering message and frame it. Maybe mount it on the wall behind Theus’ desk – along with Theus’ severed head – as a memento of the moment the power on Tau Cetus shifted.
Veraine looked up, a question in his eyes.
“Phase two of our plan is about to go into action, Titus,” Carron explained. “I’ve ordered agent Wyatt to come join us.”
“Phase two? Today? But I thought we were going to wait until—”
“There’s no time like the present. Strike while the iron’s hot. Take advantage of your opportunities.”
Veraine took a leery step back as Carron continued to spout clichéd inanities, but hell, Carron couldn’t help himself. He was practically light-headed with excitement. He’d expected his plans to take much longer to come to fruition, but given this morning’s turn of events, he could almost taste victory on his tongue.
Fortune favors the bold.
And Anson Carron was nothing if not bold. “Do you think agent Wyatt is adequately… how shall we say… pliable?”
Veraine hesitated before answering. “Well, he certainly seemed all hot-and-bothered to take Ginger home last night, but I was hoping for a bit more time to get him addicted to her before we tried to subvert him to our plans.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Carron responded with a smile. “Ginger’s good. Damn good. Agent Wyatt sampled her, what, three times while he was here? And now he’s had the entire night to play with her. To fulfill any fantasy he could dream up. I wouldn’t underestimate the influence our most popular model o
f sexbot can have on a man.”
Veraine shifted on his feet. “But that’s just it. Agent Wyatt is not just any man. He’s the High Council’s man. You said it yourself, he holds himself to a higher standard than most. I’d think we’d need to work on him a while.”
“Doubt not, he’ll soon be our man,” Carron said confidently. “There’s more than one way to convince him. Now. How long before five new robot soldiers are complete?”
Veraine glanced at the time readout on the wall behind Carron’s desk. “How long have the machines on the factory floor been running?”
“I called everyone in just over half-an-hour ago.”
“Then it’ll take a little less than five hours.”
“And how long for you to program them with exactly what we want them to do?”
“That will take longer. A couple of days. And then we’ll have to… test them.”
Carron smiled. A slow, twisted, determined grin. “Not a problem. But I want you to be the only programmer working on this phase of our operation, Titus. I’ve waited my whole life for events to align like this. Nothing will stop us now.”
“But… shouldn’t we take things a bit more slowly? Make absolutely sure we’re ready?”
Carron rocked back in his chair. “Titus, by the end of the week, I promise you that you’ll be the second most powerful man on the planet. Trust me.”
The ominous words hung in the air for a moment, until a knock on Carron’s office door signaled Leith Wyatt’s arrival. Veraine moved to stand by Carron’s desk as the police agent entered. Despite the early hour, Wyatt looked awake and alert, not a hair out of place, his day uniform inspection-ready.
Carron really hated men like Leith Wyatt.
“Agent Wyatt,” he cooed. “Come in.”
Wyatt glanced uneasily around the room before stepping into Anson Carron’s office. Only Titus Veraine seemed to be with him, and the programmer looked as sleep-deprived as Wyatt felt.
But hopefully, Wyatt didn’t look quite as bleary-eyed and rumpled as Veraine did.
“Come in and close the door,” Carron ordered. “That god-awful noise is getting on my nerves.”