Programmed To Protect (The Tau Cetus Chronicles)

by Jenna Ives

  He got right to the point.

  “I’ve brought you all here this morning because our planet is facing a grave threat. The High Council’s defense contractor Anson Carron plans to use his newly-designed robot soldiers to assassinate our five Council members and grab control of Tau Cetus for himself.”

  “What?” The group of ten men seemed to start speaking all at once, but Theus held up a hand to silence them.

  “Mr. Carron has demanded a meeting tomorrow of the entire Council, ostensibly to demonstrate the ability of his robot soldiers to protect us. In reality, he intends to kill us. The High Council needs your help. Your protection.” Theus waved his hand toward Wyatt. “This is police agent Leith Wyatt. He’ll be training you in how to defeat Carron’s soldiers. There is a way. Each one of you men will either be paired with a robot or with a Council member. Agent Wyatt has brought a Beautiful Doll for us to practice on, to learn how to defeat the machines. Agent?”

  Ten sets of eyes – no, make that twelve, including Theus and Ginger – turned toward Wyatt. He cleared his throat. “I’ll be honest. There’s no way we can defeat these robots in one-on-one combat. They’re too strong.”

  The group of ten men shifted uneasily on their feet.

  “The only way to defeat them is to neutralize them by the element of surprise.” Wyatt stepped toward Ginger, and put a hand on her waist. “There’s an off switch located here, on the left side of their bodies near their waist. Carron doesn’t know that we know about it. He won’t be expecting us to target that switch. That gives us the advantage in this fight. The difficulty will be in finding it through the robots’ standard-issue camouflage jumpsuits – like this one Ginger is wearing – and activating it before they get their hands on you.”

  “You?” one of the men repeated, arching an eyebrow. “Not us? You won’t be part of this operation?”

  Wyatt grimaced. “Carron has threatened me. He thinks by his threat that he’s manipulated me into helping him, while in reality I’ve reported all the details of his overthrow plans to Theus. Carron wants me at his side during the demo, which will actually help me take him into custody as soon as the robots are neutralized.” Wyatt paused, and gave Theus’ men a hard look. “But know this. I’ll be right here to offer my back-up to you men if needed.”

  That last part of his answer seemed to satisfy them.

  Wyatt nodded. “Now. Let me demonstrate how this works.” He gave Ginger a tiny wink of reassurance, then depressed her switch. She went completely still. He turned back to the men. “Easy as that. And today you’re all going to learn how to do it.”

  Wyatt conducted the training session in two waves. The first was to have each man methodically practice isolating the switch on Ginger, and then shutting her down. When Wyatt felt comfortable that the men had mastered locating the switch, he asked Ginger to feign attacking the men, just short of hurting them. That second wave of training was much more difficult, because the men had to defend themselves from Ginger’s attack, while trying to find a way to get to her switch. Despite Ginger holding back, she inflicted a lot of bruises.

  Wyatt watched the action, gauging, assessing. After two hours of practice, he called a time-out. The men fell into chairs along the circular front row, exhausted.

  Wyatt tapped a finger to his lips. “Okay, our initial assessment was correct. If the robots get a clear shot at you, our chances of winning this fight are zero. So we have to act first.” He started to pace in front of the men. “When they arrive, I’ll try to guide Carron’s robots to line up in front of the Council table for the demo. If I can do that, make sure you stand on your robot partner’s left side. That will give you easier – and closer – access to its off switch.” He turned quickly, strode over to Ginger, and shut her down. Then he turned back to the men. “The other idea, which I didn’t want the machine to hear, is this: If I can’t get the robots to line up – in other words, if you wind up facing your opponent for this demo, try moving a lot, confusing it, faking it out. That might make it easier for you to have an opportunity to go in for the kill.”

  He moved to switch Ginger back on. It was only because Wyatt knew her so well that he noticed the way her head tilted slightly toward the side in question when she revived. He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but turned quickly back to the men.

  “Now. Who wants to try?”

  Ferren – one of the men at the end of the row of chairs – rose and came to stand face-to-face with Ginger. Ginger gave Wyatt a look, but he waved a hand, indicating that they should proceed. Ginger frowned, but turned to face her opponent, who immediately – and quite startlingly – threw his hands into the air, waved them around, danced on his feet, dodged left and right, and made loud, animalistic grunting noises. Wyatt saw Ginger try to follow his movements even as he ducked, spun, lunged toward her, and reached her off switch.

  As she froze in that confused position, Wyatt heard Theus bark a laugh from his seat on the dais, and clap his hands twice. “Well done, agent Wyatt. Brilliant. We’ll defeat Anson Carron’s sophisticated machines by acting like a bunch of primitive idiots. The ignominy of it will serve him right.”

  Wyatt nodded grimly. “I’ll let him know the demonstration will go ahead tomorrow.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Wyatt hadn’t slept at all last night. How could he? The fate of Tau Cetus would be decided today.

  As if the pressure of the upcoming confrontation with Anson Carron weren’t enough to keep him awake, Wyatt had been too exhausted to sleep. Damned how that sometimes happened. After yesterday’s grueling morning session with Theus’ ten men, he and Ginger had spent the entire afternoon training the four surrogate council members in how to neutralize a robot, and then even privately practiced with Theus himself – something that shouldn’t have surprised Wyatt, but had.

  Hell, Theus was strong enough to control almost the entire planet, so why wouldn’t he want to control his own fate? It was only to be expected.

  After everyone was as physically and mentally prepared as they could be for the confrontation with Carron’s soldiers, Wyatt had insisted that he and Ginger train together at home. He might be relegated to sticking by Carron’s side during the robot demo, but he wanted to be absolutely certain that he could help out during the fight, if needed.

  This operation would not fail because of him.

  His personal training session had lasted well into the evening, and he’d instructed Ginger not to hold back. She’d learned her lesson after Ferren’s fake-out earlier in the day – as Carron’s robots surely would learn that lesson today, especially if not every one of Theus’ men could get to the off switch of their assigned robot immediately – so Wyatt had ended up bruised and aching after his session with Ginger. After that, it was all he could manage just to pop an evening nutrition pill before falling desperately into bed.

  But sleep would not come.

  No matter. His lack of sleep was nothing compared to what they faced today. The fate of the planet would be decided within hours. Hell, adrenaline would keep him awake if nothing else.

  Now, if only he could do something about the knot in his stomach.

  He ran a hand through his hair as he stood, naked, staring out the window of his bedroom.

  “What are you looking at, Leith?”

  Ginger’s question reached him from the bed, where they’d both been until a few minutes ago, when Wyatt’s nervous energy had finally forced him to get up and get moving.

  “I’m looking at all those people down there,” he explained, his gaze trained out the pane of glass at the tiny figures below. “The citizens of Tau Cetus are going about their business, blissfully unaware that their lives might change dramatically this afternoon.”

  “Or not,” Ginger pointed out logically.

  “Or not,” Wyatt agreed, turning back to her with a small smile. “Let’s hope not.”

  Wyatt walked back to the bed and sat on the edge. He took Ginger’s hand in his and looked into her star
burst eyes. “Listen, I’ve been thinking. Hell, that’s all I’ve been doing all night.” He blew out a breath. “I once told you that, as a police agent, I’m programmed to protect my people. Well, as a man, it’s also ingrained in me to protect my woman. I want you to stay home today, where you’ll be safe.”

  Ginger’s eyes widened in surprise, and she sat up in bed. “No, Leith. I wish to come with you. I can help you.”

  “You’ve already helped us tremendously by letting us practice on you yesterday. Besides, I can’t risk you coming. In the chaos of today’s confrontation, I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to protect you there. I’ll need all my concentration to focus on the fight.”

  “You don’t have to protect me. I can defend myself, Leith.”

  “You probably can. But I’d still be worried about you. I’d be distracted.”

  “That’s illogical, Leith.”

  Wyatt shrugged. “I lost my mother and sister in the Great War, Ginger.”

  “Lost them?”

  He squeezed her hand, and stared into her beautiful green eyes. “They’re dead. Terminated.”

  “Oh.”

  Wyatt sighed. “There was nothing I could do to save them. I don’t want to lose you, too. I’d never forgive myself if something were to happen to you today. I love you.”

  Ginger paused, and tilted her head. “Is that what I feel about you? Is this sensation called love?”

  Wyatt smiled. “I sure hope it is. Because I’m utterly and completely in love with you.”

  “Well, then, I love you, too, Leith. I would never want you to be terminated. But I can still be of service to you during the fight.”

  “No.”

  “Yes.”

  Her insistence gave Wyatt pause. Ginger was not like his mother or his sister. She could protect herself. If he could just put aside this fear for her safety, could Ginger actually help their cause, give them an advantage during the fight?

  Of course she could. He was the only one of them who had a problem with it. Ginger knew no fear or anxiety or worry or dread at the upcoming confrontation with Carron. She was confident of her abilities. She was simply…Ginger.

  A sudden wave of hope flooded through his body. Ginger would be another ace up their sleeve. She just might tip the tide in their favor.

  “You are an amazing woman, sweetheart. All right, thank you. You can come. And who knows? You may end up being our secret weapon in today’s confrontation.”

  “I will help you save the planet,” Ginger declared with a beatific smile.

  Wyatt knew it wouldn’t be that easy. But attitude was everything, and he needed to draw on Ginger’s confidence. To banish any of his doubts.

  “Would you think it selfish of me if I said I wanted to make love with you right now?”

  “You want sex, Leith?”

  “Yes. I want us to share a very human moment. Even though you don’t experience sex the same way I do, I want you to know how much I value you and cherish you. Sex is the most intimate activity two humans can share.”

  “But I’m not human, Leith. I’m only almost-human.”

  He smiled and dropped a light kiss on the tip of her nose. “You’re very human to me, Ginger. You’re the woman I love.”

  Ginger looked at him, then started blinking rapidly. If she’d been fully human, Wyatt might almost believe there would be tears of happiness running down her cheeks. She’d had this same reaction when he’d told her in Titus Veraine’s lab that he had come to rescue her.

  Her reaction made him love her all the more.

  He climbed back into bed, easing her down onto the pillows. He spread himself out alongside her, propped on one elbow, his fingertips gliding across the perfect features of her face, memorizing every detail. It was a poignant moment for him, because there was a very real possibility that he might die today. This could be his last time with her.

  With that keen awareness in mind, his reverent fingers skimmed down the side of her long, alabaster neck, across the top of her silken shoulder, and then down her soft arm. Damn, he’d never get over how human she felt!

  Back up her arm he moved, grazing his fingertips along her collarbone, and then trailing a path to her chest, to stop at one perfect breast. His palm settled there, cupping her, loving how her lush flesh overflowed the wide grip of his hand.

  “You’re so perfect, Ginger.”

  “I’m glad you approve, Leith.”

  He leaned down to suck her erect nipple, the slightly rubbery taste of it reminding him of her true nature. He ignored that thought, kissing his way down her stomach, past her hips, to the top of her groin, where the unique inverted vee pattern of her pubic hair was a Beautiful Doll trademark meant to ‘point the way to pleasure.’

  He dropped a light kiss on her curly red hair there. “I’m going to make love to you now.”

  “Yes, please, Leith.”

  She sounded as eager as he felt. With a contented sigh, Wyatt spread her thighs, positioned himself between her legs, and gently eased himself inside her. There would be no violent thrusting this time, no wild copulation. He wanted to feel everything, to remember every nuance of the pleasure her body could give him.

  “Do you want me to move, Leith?”

  He looked down into her beautiful green eyes. “I want you to move with me, Ginger. Not for me – like you sometimes do to enhance my pleasure – but with me. Just react to what I do.”

  He levered himself up onto his hands, shifting his hips so he could pull out of her, then push back in. Damn, she felt amazing. So slick and tight around him.

  On his next thrust, she tilted her hips to take him deeper inside her. “That’s right, sweetheart. Just react. Doing this together is a different kind of pleasure. It’s not so much about the climax as it is about the sensual journey to get there.”

  He pulled out. Pushed back in. He noticed that Ginger’s eyes had drifted closed and her back arched a little off the mattress. A small sound, like a tiny purr, escaped from between her full lips.

  A very human response.

  Wyatt smiled and thrust again. This time Ginger’s legs came up to wrap around his waist, the heels of her feet sinking into the soft cheeks of his ass, forcing him deeper inside her.

  He groaned. “Damn, that feels so good, Ginger.”

  “I like you inside me, Leith.”

  He angled his hips back. Then forward. Her legs moved with him, allowing him just enough space to maneuver, but not enough to get away. As if he had any intention of getting away! Hell, he wanted to stay right here forever, rocking into her, setting a rhythm that was bound to start him down the road to bliss any minute.

  “May I try something I’ve never done before, Leith?”

  Ginger’s curious statement was enough to make Wyatt pause. There was a position a Beautiful Doll had never tried? He was dying to know what it could be, amazed that his Ginger could be a virgin at anything. “Go right ahead, sweetheart.”

  Ginger moved her left leg, propping it against Wyatt’s chest, her ankle resting on his collar bone, her foot near his right ear. The change in angle tightened her grip on his cock significantly, and Wyatt groaned in pleasure even as his brain acknowledged that this was a common human position. Hell, it was even one he’d tried before.

  But Ginger never had.

  “Is that good for you, Leith?”

  “Damn, yes, it’s more than good,” he swore, turning his head to kiss his way along her calf, thrusting his hips experimentally in this new position. Fuck, she was so damned tight!

  “Should I move my other leg, too?”

  But Wyatt didn’t need any more stimulation. He gritted his teeth and started rocking, thrusting, luxuriating in the snug, slick, singular stimulation along the length of his cock that only Ginger’s body seemed capable of giving him.

  She was perfect. This was paradise. He could easily come this way.

  He shoved his hands under her ass and tilted her up to take him deeper inside her. Just a few more t
hrusts and he’d be lost…

  That was the moment Ginger chose to move her other leg, easing it over his right shoulder. The position managed to capture his cock in a vice-like grip deep inside her body that was too powerful for him to resist.

  “Ah…ahh…fuck…Ginger!” He thrust hard and came in a violent rush, spilling himself inside her, loving the way her body wrung every last bit of pleasure out of his super sensitive cock.

  When he was spent, he gently eased her ankles off his shoulders, and then he fell on top of her in perfect sexual satiation, a handful of thoughts fiercely crowding into his brain.

  He would fight for this. He would fight for her.

  There was no way he’d let Anson Carron defeat them today.

  #

  Anson Carron stood looking at the five inert robot soldiers lined up in Titus Veraine’s lab. His programmer was due to arrive at any moment to activate them, but Carron was savoring this morning calm before today’s chaos.

  I will be the ruler of Tau Cetus before the end of the day.

  The giddy thought had kept him awake most of the night making mental plans for his new reign.

  As soon as the five members of the High Council were dead, he planned to issue a worldwide proclamation declaring himself sole ruler of all Tau Cetus. Then, he would have his five-thousand strong robot army – which fortunately was already deployed in Terra Acer – immediately march to destroy any of the aggressive, unruly factions farther to the south that might balk at the idea of bowing to Carron’s singular rule. He would pound his enemies into submission if he had to; he would show no mercy. Then he would quickly ramp up production of more robot soldiers at his factory, and send units of them to establish military bases in all of Tau Cetus’ major cities. That way, he could secure an iron grip on the planet, and ensure that there would be no doubt he was the most powerful man in the world.