by Sara Daniel
He lifted his mouth from hers far enough for her to look into his glistening eyes.
“I made a horrible mistake,” she whispered.
“We both made mistakes,” he said. “I love you. I don’t want a divorce. I never did, but I wanted you to be happy. The three surgeons tell me you’re not happy. That’s my fault, and I want to fix it.”
“It’s only your fault because I love you so much.” Tears spilled down her cheeks, but she laughed as she spoke. Had he really confessed his love for her? “I want to be with you, Ian. You’re more important to me than having a baby and starting a family.”
“I was hoping we could come up with a package deal. You know, like we could be together and I could help you make the baby.”
Her breath caught. “Are you sure? I know how you feel about having kids.”
“I’ve gotten over my fear of being like my old man. I’ll be a much better father than him, and I’ll do everything in my power to be a better husband this time, too.”
She hugged him tighter. “I’ll be more understanding, as your wife. We’ll communicate better, regardless of how busy we are. But, Ian, there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to have kids no matter how much we want them.”
“I’m all for trying.” His eyes sparkled.
“Please.” She squeezed his shoulders, needing to make him understand that her medical condition didn’t come with guarantees. “I don’t want to get your hopes up and then let you down.”
He cupped her cheeks in his warm hands. “Then we can adopt, or we can volunteer with at-risk kids, or we can build our family around the three surgeons. I’m open to anything, as long as we’re together.”
He might have spoken the words, but it was as if he’d taken them straight from her heart. She had everything she wanted right in front of her…and one thing she didn’t want anymore. She pulled the divorce papers out of her shoulder bag. “What should we do with these?”
Ian took them and ripped the paper straight down the middle. She took half and ripped the pages into smaller and smaller scraps, while he did the same with the other half.
Wind began to whip around the corner of the office building, stronger than the usual Windy City gusts, blowing Armina’s hair into her eyes. She tucked it behind her ear as the crowd around Nicodemus murmured and zipped their jackets higher. She held Ian’s gaze as she lifted her hands in the air. Together they opened their fists. Confetti swirled and fell over the crowd.
Laughing, she spun and wrapped her arms around him, kissing him with all the love that swelled within her. “I love you, my husband.”
“My wife forever,” he assured her.
“Forever,” she agreed. Smiling in complete contentment, she rested her head on his shoulder.
Through the crowd, her gaze met Nicodemus’s twinkling eyes. He winked at her then stood and lifted his hat to the crowd, proclaiming with a gusto that carried in the wind for all to hear, “And they lived happily ever after.”
Epilogue
One year later
“Well, you see, this here is my fake eye. I call it my cat eye,” Lenny said, leaning over the cradle as the baby gurgled and cooed up at him.
“And this is my prosthetic hand, not as good as the real thing, but it’s not too bad.” Frank flexed his fingers, sending a mobile of barnyard animals spinning.
“And I might have a pig’s heart, but it has just as much love in it as I could ever have for you, my precious Lilliana,” Uncle Ned said.
Armina leaned against Ian’s chest as they stood in the doorway to the nursery, watching the three surgeons fuss over their three-month-old daughter. Over the past year, with the blessing of the surgeons, she’d moved the headquarters of Three Surgeon’s Prosthetics from Chicago to just outside St. Louis, a few blocks from the Inn, allowing her to continue running the company while living at the Inn with Ian. Both of them had hired extra help and delegated duties, ensuring that no matter what else happened in their lives, they always put their marriage and their love first.
“Do you think we should tell the surgeons that our little girl is going to be a big sister?” She had been so blessed, not only with the love of her life but with doctors who were able to keep her endometriosis at bay long enough for her to have the family she’d longed for with the man she loved. Sometimes she had to pinch herself to believe the fairy tale was real.
“Lilliana can keep the center stage for a while longer. While she has them wrapped around her little finger, I have some plans for you.” Ian led her out of the doorway and down the hall to their bedroom.
Armina looped her arms around his neck. “I am completely on board with your plans as long as they involve a lot of kissing and lovemaking.”
Instead of answering, he covered her mouth with his and set to work unbuttoning her shirt, letting his actions speak louder than words, their love reverberating in every heartbeat.
~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~
Sara Daniel writes what she loves to read—irresistible romance, from sweet to erotic and everything in between. She battles a serious NASCAR addiction and was once a landlord of two uninvited squirrels. She has her own happily-ever-after romance with her hero husband.
You can visit Sara at:
www.saradaniel.com
A Riddle for Love by Lara Nance
Coming Soon!
Chapter One
Once upon a time in outer space....
Avar glanced up from his computer screen, his gaze traveling to the lovely female form supine on a shiny metal table. FC-ZM120 or Female Companion-Zeta Model 120. She represented the absolute pinnacle of android biogenetic engineering.
He sighed and rolled his shoulders. After years of hard work, the time had come to test his theory on her. The need for success bunched his muscles in stress. A silver metallic sheet covered his subject from throat to knees. Electrode patches dotted her from head to toe. He’d seen every inch of that glorious body over the past six months. As head biological engineer, he was the prime developer of this latest attempt by the Genetacept Corporation to produce a human-like female android suitable to perform as a companion, or even a spouse, if so desired. As far as he was concerned—mission accomplished.
Still, he couldn’t help thinking of his personal research project... Lily. He worked on perfecting her persona every night, every spare minute. Then, when he could afford a high-level body like the one on his table, he’d have the woman of his dreams, both mentally and physically. He needed that woman badly—a partner and lover to share his life.
“These last bio markers are right on target,” his assistant, Boron, said as he punched in data on the wall information unit. Despite the controlled diet of inhabitants in the Mars Community Habitat, his belly seemed to always be on the verge of popping out of his gray jumpsuit. “At first glance, even a doctor would have trouble detecting she’s not human.”
“Good,” Avar murmured, returning his attention to the numerical values flashing across his screen. A quiver of excitement left his hands shaking. “She’s almost ready for the persona insert.”
“I can’t believe it,” Boron said, grinning. “After all this time, we’ll finally be able to test your theory of Innate Personality Insertion.”
He nodded. IPI—his chance for a huge contribution to the advancement of artificial intelligence science following a lifetime of work. If his theory proved correct, this lovely android would have the personality and interaction ability of a typical woman. The theory and technology could be applied in any setting, including the military. He hoped it could eventually save lives by keeping human soldiers out of wars or putting androids in other dangerous jobs in order to avoid devastating accidents for humans—work like terraforming or exploring hostile environments. Of course, he worried about his invention being used for criminal activities or worse, but fortunately the Galactic League of Android Exploitation kept a firm hand on deviant use. They weren’t perfect, but no one was. His fingers itched to complete the sequence of commands that would
initiate the insertion.
“We should name her.” Staring at the silver-draped form, Boron crossed his arms. “We’ve been together a long time. Seems like we should be friends or something.”
“She’s the first of the three prototypes to reach this stage.” He jerked his chin toward two identical androids stacked on metal shelves behind a locked glass door. “We could call her Una.”
“Una.” His assistant nodded, brushing unruly, black curls from his forehead. “I like it.”
Avar rose and strode to stand beside his creation. It would have been more interesting to build units with different physical traits, but for some reason, the customer wanted three totally identical units. Fortunately, he could stare at this beauty forever, so three only made his environment that much better.
Una’s alabaster skin shone under the bright lab lights and her full lips begged to be kissed. Honey-gold hair spread across the table and draped over the edges. He cleared his throat and glanced at his assistant. “It’s so odd looking at my idea of the perfect woman. I’ve dreamed about her for so many years.”
“Once your theory proves successful, you’ll make enough money to have one of her for yourself.” Boron adjusted the wireless generator’s controls to prepare for the transmission of data.
“I don’t know. I can’t imagine I’ll have that much money for a long time.”
The lab door slid open with a swish. A tall, thin woman with high cheekbones and a piercing gaze breezed in.
Avar stepped away from the table, irritation burning in his gut. Great. Kava Atmer, CEO and head bitch in charge. He couldn’t help thinking of her as a wicked witch. He didn’t need this right now.
“How’s it going?” A tiny frown between her brows, she glanced at the prone form.
“According to schedule,” Avar said, moving to block her view of his computer screen.
“Excellent. The client is most eager to pick up the trio, and our board of directors is even more eager to finally be in the black on this project. Make it happen.” She tugged the silver sheet a little higher on Una’s chest. “What’s the next step?’
“We’re actually ready for the persona insertion,” Boron said, rubbing his hands together.
Avar cleared his throat and gave his assistant a sharp glance.
“Interesting.” She used her hip to push past him and stared at his screen. “What’s this? University English Professor? No, no, no. We’ve discussed this, Avar. Insert Sexy Girlfriend. I don’t want the client disappointed. He won’t appreciate discussing literature.”
Avar gritted his teeth. “We can always upload another personality later. I just wanted to see what she’d do with a higher level interaction mode.”
Kava tapped her foot. “We don’t have time for you to live out your fantasies. Once we have this order complete, we’ll have more time to experiment with different models.”
He directed his gaze at the floor, unwilling to argue the point, but disappointed nonetheless.
She took a step toward him. “Come on, Avar, it’s not like she’s going to be your girlfriend.”
“Right. Whatever.” He moved to the table and pretended to adjust the wireless data port hidden behind one ear.
“Good. That’s settled. Make it happen, gentlemen. I have a meeting to attend or I’d stay for the show.” She turned on her heel, her black, bobbed hair fanning out in her abrupt swirl.
“Sorry, boss,” Boron said, averting his gaze. “I thought she’d be impressed we were that far along.”
He shook his head. “It’s all right. As she said, we’ll have opportunities for more sophisticated models once the money for this project is in the bank.”
Boron rolled his eyes. “I think she’s jealous.”
“What do you mean?’ He rechecked the brain electrodes.
“She’d like to look like Una.”
“You may be right.”
“Maybe she’d like to be your girlfriend, too.” Boron gave him a sly smile.
He grimaced, imagining hugging Kava to be like embracing an icicle. “You’d better not be right about that.”
His assistant chuckled. “Okay, boss, ready for the upload.”
With a last glance at the beautiful android, Avar returned to the seat at his computer screen and checked transmission levels one more time. With a twinge of regret, he switched the program to Sexy Girlfriend. His finger shook a little as he pressed the screen then swiped to the next screen. Two more entries and he reached the insertion activation screen.
“Here we go,” he said.
Boron crossed his fingers and stepped aside.
The gigabytes in the transmission sequence increased as the flow of data began. Avar’s heart thudded. Years of work and the finale took place as silently as a feather dropping to the floor. It seemed anticlimactic in a way.
He caught himself holding his breath and let out a puff of air. The data stream slowed then ended. He and Boron shared a glance. Operation complete.
“Ready for initiation of animation,” his assistant said, checking the wall info panel, which blinked with green, white, and yellow lights.
“Commencement of animation activation.” Avar tapped the screen.
Both men stared at the inert body with rapt attention. When her arms twitched, they jumped. Avar finally found the strength to stand. He took two steps toward the table, nerves on edge. Three more steps and he stood looking down at her.
Her eyes popped open, deep-green, sparkling pools, and her lush lips broke into a dazzling smile. “Hi, sweetie, I’m Unit One. How are you?”