Eric 754 (10 page)

Lucy rose without answering, disappeared into the bathroom, and returned with a pile of freshly cleaned and folded clothes. It would have taken at least four hours to sanitize what he’d been wearing. He must have been knocked out for quite some time.

“How long was I unconscious?” Eric asked.

He sat on the edge of the bed and slipped on his pants, trying to cover his inevitable reaction to her being so close. When Lucy put her attention on her wrist com, he stood with his back to her and yanked his pants up, shoving his painful, Lucy-deprived dick hastily out of sight. He turned back to face her just as she recited her calculation.

“Five hours, ten minutes, and thirty-one point five seconds,” she reported.

Eric sighed and nodded. “We’ve both had nice long naps since yesterday, haven’t we?”

Lucy was looking at his half clothed body and frowning. “Do you not find me pleasing? You keep denying your aroused state. If there is a problem with something about me, please give me some indication of what I need to do to fix myself. I have been created to fill all your needs.”

Dropping his hands, Eric marched around the bed and straight up to her. He leaned in, pulled her close, and kissed her soundly, his tongue dancing once again with hers. Then he pulled away and backed up before he threw her on the bed and did a whole lot more.

“Yes. I find you pleasing and still desire you. And I want you as badly as the first time you offered. But I need to know you’re completely okay… and that we’re okay as a couple… before I act on those feelings.”

“But I don’t understand. I am here and willing. Denying yourself is illogical.” Her complaint shamed her, but she felt it had to be offered. Lights were going off in her head.

Eric sighed. “Call it a hero thing. Kyra and Peyton should be here in less than twelve hours. Once we get started, I won’t be able to stop for a while. There… now you know. Does my explanation satisfy your programming?”

Lucy dropped her head and nodded. “No. And it does not satisfy me… or you physically which is my designated purpose. You continually hide your arousal from me pretending it does not exist. It makes me feel like a defective companion. I have protocols for other problem situations, but cannot locate a solution for what to do when a man sporting a near constant erection continually refuses to let you help him use it.”

Eric lifted her chin and made her meet his gaze. “Stop. My willpower has a damn limit and nobility is not my default setting when it comes to sex. Now record this so your protocol will be met. You are the most perfect companion ever made. I think I could probably watch you open beers for me the rest of my life, even though feeling that scares the shit out me in ways I can’t describe. Now take me to see your prisoners, Lucy Hellcat. That’s how you can best meet my needs this evening.”

He felt her sigh and nod against his hand. She walked to the door and impatiently waited while he pulled on his shirt.

Chapter 7

The first thing Eric saw in the cage room were two swords, two illegal leather scabbards, and two cross-chest weapon belts lying on Kyra’s workbench. Lucy had completely disarmed the attackers which didn’t surprise him. He’d bet money the companion protection protocol she was running was just a redefined copy of her military programming.

In two of Nero’s five holding cells, figures covered all in black lay motionless on cots. Both looked like ancient Japanese warriors in their dark clothing. What were they called? He was not as good at military history as Peyton was. Oh, yes… now he remembered.
Ninjas.
The attackers were dressed like ninjas. The dark, head-to-toe, full coverage clothing was meant to completely hide their real identities, and in their case, probably also their gender.

For whatever reasons, Lucy had taken the time to make sure no stray limbs were dangling over the edges of each narrow sleep platform. Yet she had not bothered to remove their face coverings. Either Lucy knew who they were or she didn’t care. At times like this, her New World Companion reasoning eluded him. It was obvious to him that Lucy’s personality was mercurial even under the companion code influence no matter how polished her subservience act seemed.

He turned to Lucy and smiled genuinely. “Nice work, Lucy Hellcat. Are the cages locked?”

Lucy nodded. “Yes, I thought it best even though I knew they could not leave until someone releases them from hibernation.”

“You were right to take precautions,” Eric praised, holding Lucy’s gaze, “but can you open the cages for me? I want to see who they are. Later we might need to wake them up and ask some questions. Who knows? There might be more of them coming. If so, we need to be prepared.”

Lucy sighed and shook her head. “Of course. I am sorry to say that never occurred to me.”

The cage doors clicked behind him and opened instantly. Eric held Lucy’s gaze a moment, then left her to walk inside the first one. That whole cage opening trick of hers needed researching. Once Kyra figured it out, maybe he’d ask for an upgrade to get that ability.

Up close now to one of the attackers Eric could immediately tell two things—the body he viewed was female… and it was cyborg. Electrical pulses were keeping her in stasis with a strange code even his distracted receptors could detect. He pulled the face covering off the woman completely. It revealed a silken-haired, dark mocha-skinned female who could have passed for Nero’s sister, if his parents had bothered to have a second child.

He turned to Lucy, who was watching closely through the bars. “Do you know this woman?” he asked.

Lucy’s eyebrows scrunched together as she frowned and shook her head. “No. I do not recall having known her identity before today—if that is your question. She and I share some common code, but that is the case with all New World Companions. I cannot explain how I knew precisely how to deal with her when she attacked. Both she and the other female kept having heated discussions, but their commentary concerning me did not make any sense. I’m sorry that I did not bother to record it for your review.”

“No problem. I see you did the best you could,” Eric said, and maybe he was starting to. He left the woman’s face cover off and moved to the other cell.

Repeating the process, he pulled off the dark material to reveal a dark strawberry blonde with a milky white face this time. She was of Irish descent, most likely. Some cosmetic work had been done to enhance her face. Here and there were a smattering of freckles across her skin, which looked like they’d been deliberately left. What struck him most was that she looked young… very young… even younger than him. He wondered if he was possibly looking at the youngest Cyber Soldier ever created.

This time he spoke to his attentive audience of one without looking at her. “How about this one, Lucy? Do you know her?”

“No. But I had the same ideas as I did about the other one. The dark-haired one attacked first. This one tried to dissuade her from doing so. After I neutralized the dark-haired attacker, this one attempted to run away from our fight. Since I feared she would return, I neutralized her as well. The Other helped me.”

“The Other?” That term got his attention and Eric’s gaze instantly swung to Lucy. “What exactly did the Other help you do to them?”

Lucy looked nervous about sharing what happened. He heard her take a breath.

“It’s okay, Lucy. Whatever you have to say, I want to hear it. Nothing will make me displeased with you. I am very happy you protected me so well.”

Sighing with relief, Lucy finally nodded. “The Other provided me with a code that put them into the hibernation state. I think she might know who these women are because they called me by her name.”

Eric walked back to where Lucy stood chewing her lip and looking thoughtful. This was getting more and more interesting. “What name did they use?”

“They called me—
Captain
,” Lucy whispered. “Both attackers called me that. It was highly disturbing and all I could think about while you slept. But it is not a name. I looked it up to be certain. In all instances, it is a rank title of some sort. Do you think I inherited military cyborg chips instead of getting new ones during some upgrade?”

Eric put his arms around Lucy and hugged. He now had a pretty good idea who the women were. He pulled away. “Even if you share chips and sentience with someone like that, it doesn’t have to take away from you being the perfect companion. It would just be another aspect of you which I would find interesting and want to get to know.”

She looked so hopeful that Eric squeezed her arms to avoid not kissing her again.

“Look—I want to call my friends about this strange occurrence. When they get here, they’ll know what do, but they may need to bring a few other people up here with them. Can you handle a crowd arriving tomorrow? I’ll sleep in your room with you if you’re worried. No one is going to separate us for long. You took care of me and I will take care of you. Promise.”

Lucy nodded, staring into the cages. She hoped he would not put her into one. “I know I will be fine if you are near. When I said I did not know them, it was a true statement. However, I have partial identity information. The dark-haired is Aja 490. The red-haired one is Meara 491. They were not respectful in their speech to each other. Something about my actions surprised them, but I never understood what it was. I felt no nervousness in their presence. I knew I could… do what I did… to them.”

Eric lifted a hand to her face. “It’s alright. Don’t think too hard about it right now. You’ll just get another big-ass headache. Everything is going to work out, Lucy. Lock the cages back and we’ll go get another beer. There is nothing more we can do tonight.”

Lucy nodded and touched her arm. The cages closed with a decisive snick just before they left the room.

***

At Lucy’s insistence, Eric followed her to her room. He stalled their inevitable discussion about sleeping arrangements for the night by heading to the shower. But moments later he heard Lucy come into the bathroom. Suds streaked down his muscles, traveling ridges and valleys. All he could think was how nice it would be to have Lucy enjoying the shower with him.

“Eric 754? May I join you? Joint showers are encouraged by my protocol as a way to create physical connection and…”

He stopped scrubbing when he heard her pause. Lucy sounded more unsure and hesitant than usual. Her vulnerability stripped him of his resolve. “It’s okay, Lucy. You can join me if you want.”

Yes, it was unethical, unconscionable, and definitely unpardonable to take advantage of a woman who didn’t have much access to her free will. But what if he only granted them both a little release from their traumatic situation? What if he could set a limit on their activities, one Lucy’s programming would accept?

Before he could rationalize any further, a naked Lucy stepped into the shower dissolving his internal debate into white noise in his mind. Her body filled up the remaining space in the enclosure. They were eye-to-eye and practically nose-to-nose. Eric smiled to ease the concern on her face. Her hesitant smile back touched his heart.

He took her by the shoulders and guided her around him until the water cascaded over her hair. Grabbing shampoo, he poured some in his hands and set about working it through her scalp. After rinsing it thoroughly, he added a healthy dose of conditioner, far more than she probably was used to using if she followed directions. He’d once heard Seetha telling Rachel that she had stopped using every product except conditioner on her wild, curly hair. Seetha’s mega-conditioned mane now looked as sleek as any oiled African Queen’s.

He massaged the conditioner deeply into Lucy’s tresses, enjoying her moans of gratitude. The sharp points of her perfect sized breasts pressed into his chest. One hand stayed in her hair when he finished, holding her steady while he rinsed the other and promptly sent it to tease one beaded nipple. Her eyes clouded with pleasure as he thumbed and stroked. Her hips moved restlessly and pressed his arousal between their slick, wet bodies.

“I hope you find something in this worthy of making a manual note in your memory storage,” Eric teased. Either getting the sarcasm in the comment or recognizing it as a joke, Lucy laughed softly.

“I will make a note of this, Eric 754. We can review it later if you wish to be reminded of your prowess.”

“No need. I’m not going to forget this any time soon. Trust me,” Eric said, covering the breast he’d been teasing with his hand. Yes, she was perfect. Absolutely perfect. And her perfect breasts felt just as perfect as he’d imagined.

He pulled her head back gently by her hair until both her breasts were offered up like a banquet. Closing his mouth around one straining tip, he tugged and stroked it with his tongue, finally sucking it in a satisfying rhythm for both of them. When she shook in reaction and thrust her hips hard against his, he moved his attention to the other breast to keep himself in check.

When Lucy shook even harder and squirmed in his grip, his resolve not to slide into her threatened to crumble. The woman was as strong as he was and one lift behind her hips could have her body wrapped around his in a nanosecond. But doing that would be worse… far worse than what he’d already decided there was no choice but to do with her. He couldn’t… wouldn’t… do that without her express permission.