House of Dolls 2

by Harmon Cooper

  Nadine never really believed this anyway, figuring it was just something non-exemplars said to pat themselves on the back. No, it was probably something someone made up, and as Nadine scanned the room, she wondered how many people at the social were exemplars.

  The ones who were into advanced tech were easy to pick out, as they usually wore interesting gadgets they had created for themselves—that, and they generally hung out together in groups.

  She had already spotted several of them and was planning to make her approach soon, after they’d all had a little bit of wine.

  If only the average person knew how often wine helped spies…

  Nadine smiled over at Roman as she approached him, extending her gloved hand to her “husband” and allowing him to lead her toward the hors d’oeuvres. He was a better actor than she’d expected, and had she been scanning the room, she would have thought nothing of Roman and the woman he was leading to the food.

  Which was good, because Nadine generally got a pretty good read on people.

  “Are you enjoying yourself?” she asked him, bringing her hand to his chest.

  In the far corner of the room, before a grand window that looked out onto an orchard with yellow and orange trees, a trio of musicians played popular Centralian songs. There was a pianist and two singers, one of whose fingers occasionally picked up a zither and fingerpicked along with the pianist.

  “This is not at all what I expected,” said Roman as Celia approached him.

  “Do you mind if I dance?” she whispered. He nodded, offering a smile to a young man who stood across the room—a smile that told him not to get frisky with his “daughter.”

  Celia made her way over to the young man, lifting her dress as she practically floated across the dance floor. He took her hands and joined the small group that had started dancing before the musicians, leaving Coma waiting on the sidelines.

  If Coma was bothered by this, she didn’t show it, and Nadine figured that as Roman’s muscle (which was a weird way to think of an animated sex doll), Coma would likely avoid dances if she could, just in case things got out of hand.

  Of course, things wouldn’t get out of hand here, not with this many wealthy individuals around. While there was always the possibility of an attack, the guards out front and the ones she could see patrolling the grounds outside looked like they meant business.

  “I’ve spotted the techs,” Nadine said. “I’m waiting for the right time to make my move.”

  “Aren’t we all?” Roman said, his eyes on the only other Centralian man in the room.

  Nadine knew the man in question was a general of sorts, some high-ranking military official, which made her think the operation going on just a mile or so from here most definitely reached into the higher ranks of Eastern society.

  This was troublesome, but it wasn’t the first time the spy agency had needed to do things against its own people. She was glad her agency operated above and beyond the law, and she wasn’t stupid enough to think this fact didn’t allow them to be corrupted as well. But from the leadership she’d seen so far, this hadn’t been the case.

  “What are you thinking?” Nadine set her wineglass down. She moved closer to Roman, one of her hands in his, the other now on his shoulder. They started dancing, close enough that they could speak to each other in hushed voices.

  “I think I finally found a use for Casper,” Roman said.

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  “I don’t know, dear,” Roman said with a hint of sarcasm to his voice.

  Nadine laughed, a fake laugh meant for a subtle sexual remark between a husband and a wife.

  “I think it’s a good idea,” she finally said. “As long as you don’t think she’ll be seen.”

  “Well, she is pretty small,” Roman said as he moved his hand from Nadine’s waist to his pocket.

  “Now?” she asked.

  “No, but soon,” he said, returning his hand to her waist.

  Nadine would never have admitted it to anyone, but there was something nice about being this close to Roman. His chiseled features, the powerful look behind his semi-sad orange eyes, his muscled arms, the nice scent to him she hadn’t noticed before.

  Nadine decided in that moment to just go with this for a while, play this role as best she could. The details could be sorted out later, as they always were. This wasn’t her favorite way to deal with life, but sometimes it was the most practical.

  “Our daughter is quite the dancer,” she purred.

  “Is she?” Roman asked as he looked over her shoulder.

  She leaned in and whispered in his ear, “Are you getting jealous?”

  Now it was Roman’s turn to laugh. “Hardly. She’s playing a role, just as you and I are.”

  “You’re pretty good at this role.”

  Roman bit his lip, just a slight amount of color fading from his cheeks.

  “Was it something I said?” Nadine asked. Roman let her move away from him, still holding her hand, and twirled her once before bringing her back into his arms.

  “No, just a thought,” he said as they drew close again. “Is the Centralian general still near the exit?”

  “He is,” Nadine said, her eyes darting over to the man.

  “He may be leaving soon, which means I should position Casper in the entry hall.”

  “Are you sure it’s a good idea to let her go after him?”

  “I won’t let her get too far. I’m guessing he’s not ready to leave yet, but he may have some information he’d like to speak privately about to one of the men in this room. If that’s the case, Casper can listen in, but she doesn’t have to leave the premises.”

  “Do you trust her? Of your three dolls, she seems to be the one with the potential to be the biggest pain in the ass.”

  Roman chuckled as he swept Nadine closer to the main dancing area, gracefully joining her. “They are all part of me in some way, so calling her an ass would be like calling myself an ass. I’ll refrain from commenting for now,” he said with a thin smile on his face.

  “You know, I think I’m starting to get your sense of humor,” said Nadine.

  “Really? I never thought of myself as a funny guy.”

  “There’s something about you that is kind of funny, though,” she said as they continued to dance, “and I’m not just talking about your strange white hair.”

  “I was born with it; I tried dying it when I was a teenager but stopped doing that after a while because it always grew out, which made me look even stranger.”

  Nadine laughed, imagining what a younger Roman would have looked like. A mental message came in from Oscar, and she turned away from him as it played in her head.

  Nadine pressed her back into Roman’s, rubbing her ass into the front of his pants—moving gracefully with him, though. Nothing like the dirty dancing she had seen in clubs in Centralia.

  Nadine, Oscar’s message said, we have arranged for a group to take Roman in the morning. As we discussed, because of what he can do, it’s best if we move quickly, sedating him for this portion. Please be ready in the morning to move into action.

  “Are you okay?” Roman asked as he turned her back to face him.

  “I’m fine.” Nadine moved even closer to Roman, her lips inches away from his. She caught him glancing over at Celia, then turned him so he could no longer see his doll. “I think this is going to be a fun night,” she finally said, not able to make eye contact with him.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight: Love Doll

  Maybe something could’ve happened between Roman and Nadine, he really didn’t know, but as he lay in bed next her, her arm draped over his, Roman couldn’t help but remember the jealousy he’d felt when he saw the young man dancing with Celia.

  It had been hours ago, but he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

  Maybe it was the wine he had consumed, or the fact that he was getting some type of head rush from playing an assumed role for so long.

  Roman really
didn’t know.

  Regardless, going to the social had turned out to be a fruitful experience. Nadine had found a tech who thought he may be able to do something for Lisa, so there was good news there, plus there was the conversation Casper had overheard with the Centralian general, which confirmed they would be moving into the territory of the tribe colloquially known as the reindeer people starting tomorrow—and that a healer may be living with the tribe.

  He still didn’t understand why all the healers had died, or better, what his government had done to them. What was the point of killing healers anyway? Even rich people needed healers.

  He suspected it was something else, but this would require more intelligence, something they would have to gather once they returned home.

  He had briefly entertained the idea of going further to the northeast and possibly meeting with the reindeer people before the Centralian soldiers got to them, but they were severely outnumbered. Even though they had taken out a few soldiers earlier that day, going up against close to fifty would be a lot more difficult.

  Roman felt Nadine’s hand curl into a ball and relax. She was sleeping, possibly dreaming, her sheer negligée only inches away from his body.

  He stayed like this for another thirty minutes, perhaps an hour. It was hard to judge time at night.

  Eventually, he slipped out of the bed and made his way to the hallway.

  When they’d entered the hotel earlier, he’d seen some snacks out on the table, and while he had eaten his fair share of hors d’oeuvres at the social, Roman was hungry. Or rather, he was bored and he couldn’t sleep, and eating seemed like something he could do to pass time.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked Celia, who stood in the hallway wearing only the emerald blouse Nadine had given her.

  “Waiting for you,” she said with a tone of finality Roman had never heard from her before.

  “I am, um, sorry about the sleeping arrangement. It’s for appearances…” he started to say.

  “It’s fine.” The purple-eyed doll took a step closer to him, moving her hand through her red hair, combing it over to the other side.

  “How long have you been out here?”

  “Two hours? Maybe longer.”

  They were inches away from each other now, Roman’s hands coming to her waist as Celia stood on the tips of her toes, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him.

  “I hope this is okay,” she whispered.

  “It’s okay,” he said, and he kissed her again.

  Roman took a quick glance around and found a room at the far end of the hallway. With a simple thought, the door clicked open, creaking as Celia jumped into his arms, her legs tightening around his waist.

  Still kissing her, Roman moved to the door, and once they were inside the empty room, he laid her on the bed, each kiss growing longer, sweeter, more sincere.

  He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of sleeping trousers, and it only took him a moment to find she was completely nude under the blouse she wore, something he noticed as soon as her body touched the bed and the fabric shifted upward.

  “I’ve been waiting for this,” she said in a soft voice, her eyes dilated just a hair more than normal.

  “I have too, but I just thought…”

  “I think it will be fine. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.”

  “You’re right,” he said as he started to kiss her again, moving from her lips to her neck. With a wave of his hand, the door shut, locking.

  “We haven’t done anything like this before,” he said as he pressed off her. “I’m not sure…”

  “I’m real,” she told him as she grabbed his hand and moved it down to the space in between her legs, which he found to be moist, everything intact, clean shaven, her labia slightly swollen.

  “How…?”

  “You’ve made us real. You’ve made me real,” she reminded him as he lightly placed a finger inside her. “It’s why I can do things like this,” she said as she lifted that same hand to her mouth, sucking the finger.

  Roman gulped as Celia led the hand back down, allowing him to massage his wet finger around her clitoris.

  She spread her legs even wider, moaning as Roman continued to touch her, as he gently slipped his finger in again.

  “I want you,” she whispered to him, at his ear now, biting it softly as she whispered again, “I want you.”

  “Same here.”

  Celia came alive, her hands reaching for his shoulders and pulling him in closer, the head of his penis now rubbing against her vagina, testing its wetness.

  It was still shocking to Roman just how wet she had become, and rather than contemplate how this was even possible, he continued to rub the head of his cock against her as they kissed, until it became inevitable that he would slip in. Once he was in, he thrust his hips forward lightly, working into the motion, not pressing too hard, feeling the skin on the side of his shaft stretch a bit as he moved in deeper.

  Celia moaned, her hands coming to her swaying breasts. As Roman started to pick up his speed, she pinched her nipples, licking her lips as she watched him through half-closed eyes.

  Once the bed started creaking, Roman pressed away from her and lay on the floor, his body cushioned by a runner carpet next to the bed. Celia climbed on top, her hands pressing into his stomach as he entered her again and she grew used to the solid mass filling the space between her legs.

  “We have to be quiet,” Roman told her as she moved up and down, the smell of their sex reaching him, a sweet odor—again, something he hadn’t expected.

  “I’ll try,” she said. Her red hair had fallen in her face, her nipples pointed, her body picking up speed.

  For someone who hadn’t done this before with a living being, she was excellent. Roman didn’t stop to think if it felt like sex with a human.

  It was more than that; there was no comparison. This was something else entirely.

  And maybe it was the novelty. It was what she had been created to do before she’d been animated.

  But that didn’t matter to Roman. This was different. Something about what they were doing was entirely unique to him, foreign, perfect.

  “Is this okay?” she asked as she shifted onto her feet, crouching over his erection, her lips lubricated as she moved her hips up and down.

  Roman nodded as he placed his hands on her ass, helping her get back into the rhythm as she fucked him in a crouched position.

  Not an easy position to go in for a long time, but Celia had stamina, and as she continued to crouch-fuck him, Roman glanced to his power dial, which he pretty much wore all the time now. Sometimes he’d take it off before bed, but he had been drunk when he’d gone to bed earlier, so it was still on.

  Nothing out of the ordinary, just a little more activity in the green and red bars.

  No, this wasn’t going to end anytime soon, and the way Celia was going at it, Roman was sure at least one of them was going to be sore after they finished.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine: Suicide Mission

  Scarlett had said she would deliver, and Kevin had no reason to doubt her. Since being paid, the brunette teleporter had come through with the assault on the immigration offices, and she had stuck with Obsidian and Kevin ever since. Turquoise too, who still wheezed with every inhale, her face and the left side of her body bruised, her bones likely broken.

  Kevin had actually done some medical training, back when he was in college, so he knew how to tend to wounds. He’d already devised a makeshift splint for her leg, but that was the extent of it.

  And even as Kevin, Obsidian, and Scarlett waited for Scarlett’s acquaintances to arrive, Kevin couldn’t help but wonder for the millionth time who had done such a terrible thing to Turquoise.

  Maybe it had been a new guard at the immigration offices, but he knew most the guards there, guards like the woman named Coco, and they tended to avoid property destruction unless necessary. Whoever had attacked Turquoise had slammed her up through a few
floors, no small feat.

  Obsidian had said it was a man, his face covered by a mask, his eyes pink—or had she said they were orange? Scarlett had said they were pink, and Obsidian had said they were orange. Either way, Kevin got the gist.

  Whoever this guy was, he had probably been sent by Paris.

  Kevin didn’t know why he felt this, but it was the best lead he had. It was something he should have confirmed with her before he’d killed her.

  For now, they needed more recruits. If they planned to assault Prison South and make it out alive, they would need more than a teleporter, a cat girl, and a guy with a special ring.

  Convincing them wouldn’t be easy, but Kevin had a few angles he hoped to try, and there was always the promise of money. He had some of this too, but likely not enough to pay what they would ask.

  Still, there may be some bartering involved, and Kevin was ready to neutralize everyone’s power in the room if that was what it came down to.

  He had to be sly about it as well, not wanting whoever joined them to know the secret, that he wasn’t some non-exemplar who had miraculously been granted a power, that he was no different than the Kevin he’d been a week ago, aside from the fact that he now had a special ring.

  “They’re outside,” Scarlett said, vanishing in a flash.

  She reappeared with two men and a woman, all three of them wearing dark clothing. The first man had a beanie on, ash colored, which accented his light blue eyes.

  The woman’s head was shaved, her ears pierced, and she was in a shapely top with slits open at the sides.

  The final man was a large, broad-shouldered guy, muscled and thick as a barricade with tanned skin and a few random tattoos.

  Kevin cleared his throat. “Do you know why you’re here?” he asked, his mind already classifying them based on their appearances.

  Now, this did not always work with exemplars, but Kevin was pretty good at guessing these traits. He couldn’t always get their classifications, but he could look at an exemplar and make a guess about where they would be in terms of dangerousness.