“Thank you for your help in finding my contract, Peyton.” Lucy turned to the Marine captain who had walked with her and took a step toward him. She was a little surprised when he took a step backwards and held up his hand.
“Eric, address this,” Peyton ordered, grinning at the jealous blooming on the boy’s face.
“Not so funny now, is it?” Marcus taunted, snickering when he got a middle finger salute as Eric walked by.
He stopped in front of Lucy who was almost glaring at him. His mouth twitched. Was she a little jealous? Was he actually thrilled over the idea?
“No. It’s not customary, Lucy. Rachel is a good friend as well as a cybernetic repair technician. Mostly I was trying to piss off Marcus by kissing his woman… his Rachel. Their arrangement is similar to ours.”
“Agreed. Rachel 235 is a New World Companion which means Marcus 582 is her contract. I think I understand,” Lucy said, turning to look between Marcus and Rachel.
Eric sighed softly as he saw Rachel’s smile dim to a near frown, but she calmly picked up the thread anyway. Her gaze on Lucy was compassionate, but challenging too.
“Yes. According to New World Companion protocol, Marcus is my contract,” Rachel admitted. “But I chose him—voluntarily. Have you chosen Eric?”
Lucy tilted her head, turned back to look in Eric’s blue eyes. “Eric 754 initialized me. Following protocol, I consider him my contract. The nature of our arrangement is not yet clear to me because I continue to have many programming malfunctions. However, I find his face very appealing. From my records, I know I have not had such a feeling about a contract before. Eric is one of my many anomalies.”
Rachel nodded. “That’s a better word for it. Marcus is my anomaly too.”
To everyone’s surprise, Lucy laughed. Eric fell a little more in love as her gaze swept the room.
“What’s so funny?” Eric asked as Lucy’s gaze came back to him.
“Everything I have experienced since I met you has been an anomaly. Since direct access to my Evelyn 489 programming is still not functional, I have no barriers to enjoying things. I am starting to find amusement in many situations. Can we return to our residence now? I wish to be alone with you.”
Eric nodded, unable to take his gaze from her smiling face. “Yes. Let’s go home. The power should be restored by now, but they won’t be able to replace the electrified gate until tomorrow.”
“I do not wish to escape. You may restrain me to our bed if you want to be sure I do not…”
Eric shut her up the only way he could think. He stepped into Lucy and put his mouth over hers. He kept it there when her arms came around him. He kept it there until his desire grew obvious. He pulled away, put his forehead against hers, and closed his eyes.
“No. We’ve had this discussion. I am not tying you to the bed. I’ve got special wrist coms for both of us. Your anti-security capabilities can’t shut yours off and it will knock you unconscious if you get too far away from its mate. Mine sets off an ear-shattering alarm if you try to remove it or you wander away from me. Marcus guarantees me they will work. He and Kyra made them.”
Lucy separated their bodies, even though she did not want to. She could feel Eric’s nervousness and sense some general discomfort. The presence of the others was a disruption for him. “You are not like any contract I ever had,” she whispered.
Eric lifted one hand to her face as he gripped her other hand in his. He pushed back her still unruly hair. Maybe they could get someone to come and cut it. The woman needed some pampering. “I’m ready when you are.”
His face actually flushed when Lucy’s eyebrow raised. He chuckled and put a finger over her lips. “Don’t say it. Don’t say it. The statement was not innuendo.”
“Should I take it literally then?” she asked when he pulled his finger away.
Eric released a frustrated breath. Everyone in the room was hiding their smiles behind hands. His face flushed again. He looked at Lucy’s innocent gaze and shook his head. The woman dismantled his cool. None of his experience with other females even came into play around her.
He didn’t bother saying goodbye when they left. But he did damn his new hearing for tuning in to all the laughter and teasing that went on the moment the door shut behind him. When Lucy chuckled beside him, he knew she had heard as well.
“Laughter is a sign of friendship, isn’t it?” she asked.
Eric sighed and laughed himself. “Yes. Damn it. Yes, it is.”
“Can we have sex now that you are well? I wish to service your needs.” Lucy asked.
Eric laughed hard and tugged on her hand. “Fine. You’ve worn down my good intentions until they’re invisible. But you better amend your files on it to make sure the story of our sex life gets recorded as being more your idea than mine.”
“You wish me to make a recording?” Lucy asked.
“No,” Eric said. “A note. Just a note. And only a note.”
“May I take a picture of your pleasing face if I wish to do so?”
“God Lucy. What am I going to do with you? What am I going to do if you change again?” Eric exclaimed.
Lucy tightened her grip on his arm. She actually understood his concern. She was aware of her internal evolution and disintegration. Even the New World Companion code was starting to fail. And from her discussion with Peyton, she was aware of what might need to be done to extend her life, if they chose to do so. She might not come out of her restoration remembering Eric. It was simply a fact. It was also the reason today was so important to her.
She wanted a memory of them to save and she would see to it Eric got a copy. It would perhaps make up a little for the loss if she ceased to exist as his personal companion.
“I can give you directions about what to do with me if you truly need them, Eric. But I cannot promise never to change. I can only promise to write a good story about us for my reference files. I will not forget you or your kindness to me, or that you are the only contract I have actually wanted to please.”
Eric snorted. He returned her innocent gaze with a wicked one. It was the only warning she was going to get. “Lucy, I think you’re going to be pleasantly surprised by everything I know about pleasing a woman in bed. Kyra let me keep all my programming. There are good reasons I had a Cyber Husband rating that rivaled Peyton’s.”
“Yes. When I scanned Peyton’s code, I saw he has kept extensive logs of what Dr. Winters likes in bed. I thought that was a very good idea.”
Eric laughed as they climbed into Nero’s airjet. He really needed to get his own. When they were seated, he turned to look at Lucy. “See anything in there you particularly liked?” he asked, teasing to see what she would admit.
Lucy smiled as she shrugged. “He is proficient but his lovemaking was not imaginative. Plus, he goes too fast. Though I did see he was attempting to amend his speed.”
Eric laughed at her summary. So Peyton rushed things in Lucy’s opinion. No problem. He could take a hint. Plus, he liked things slow anyway. Half the pleasure was the anticipation. Her body thrilled him enough to spend time exploring.
“Eric? You stopped responding,” Lucy said. “Did I share something I shouldn’t have?”
Eric grinned as he shot the airjet toward their destination at top speed. “No. I was just thinking about us. And I was definitely using my imagination. I’m already hard.”
He watched Lucy’s gaze drop to his lap. He got harder as she stared. His face flushed with arousal. All he wanted was to get her to a bed as soon as he could.
“You are eighty-nine point seven percent ready to indulge in intercourse with me,” she informed him softly.
“Well, I’m now one hundred percent willing which is why I’m risking an air traffic ticket to get us home as quickly as possible,” Eric retorted.
Lucy nodded. “I agree with your actions. Would you like me to scramble all air traffic scanners we pass so they will not be able to read our true rate of speed?”
Eric laughed with joy. “Holy shit, lady. You can do that?” he exclaimed.
“Of course. It is my pleasure to service you, Eric 754.”
Eric smiled. “I love you Lucy. And not just because you’re full of more tricks than a whole cyber circus. I love your logic, your approach to life, and your grace. You’re the best companion a man could ever dream of finding. And I mean that in the real sense, not just how your program defines a companion.”
“I do not understand the concept of love as that term has been branded obsolete by my code. But I do sincerely wish to please you. It is a motivation that pleases me in return. Is mutual reciprocity enough to match you in your declaration?”
Eric nodded, the fragile reality of their connection hitting him once again. He pushed his concerns away. If it ended up being just temporary, he’d still take what time he could. “We’ll make it enough for now. We deserve all the happiness we can find together.”
Lucy nodded. “I think that is the best logic I have heard today.”
Chapter 18
Eric undressed her slowly, celebrating each bit of unmarred skin he revealed with his lips. True to her word, she had coerced her cybernetics into removing all evidence of her wounds. He hoped someone like Kyra or Nero could help her remove the scars that didn’t show.
When the woman he wanted was finally naked in his arms, her whispered praise of his kisses sent chills of anticipation racing down his spine. His excitement to be with her threatened his control over his sexual urges. He’d known any control was going to be a bloody hard challenge when the opportunity to finally be with Lucy arrived. Her nipples rose to attention as she stared at him. A significant part of him rose to attention right back.
“Is it my turn to undress you now?” she asked softly.
Emotion clogged his throat at how she always sought permission for every action. He cursed her New World Companion programming and appreciated it at the same time. All he could do was blissfully nod in agreement as Lucy’s sure and confident hands moved swiftly to unfasten his clothing and sweep it away.
Her scent increased with her arousal and rose around him as they worked to get skin-to-skin. He was bathing his senses in Lucy pheromones and didn’t care what they were doing to him. His need for her became more painful with each stroke of her hand against any part of him. When it hovered lower and hesitated, he was completely enthralled.
“May I be more assertive with you?”
Temporary madness took hold of him. Her whispered query had him dragging her tightly into his arms instead of answering yes. Too aroused to speak, for once he hoped Lucy was reading all his physical signs. He was hard against her, hard everywhere, impossibly hard. He felt her gently use her strength to wiggle her arms free of his possessive hold. He wanted to restrain her, keep her where she was, but caught himself just in time. The last thing he wanted was for their first time to be anything like any sex she’d had before him. He wanted every moment to feel like her idea.
Her hands sought his face, framing it lovingly. One hand slid up into his scalp and clenched firmly, but not to the point of causing any real pain, though he knew she was quite capable of doing so. The slight tug on his hair was merely a sexual siren call asking him to answer her force with some force of his own. It was exactly the sign he’d been waiting to get.
He lifted Lucy by the hips until she had to wrap her legs around him to hang on. He stood holding her, enjoying her, happy to have this woman making love with him. Trusting him to support both their weights, Lucy ran both her hands over his shoulders, his face, into his hair again.
When her mouth fused joyously with his, Eric walked the short distance to the bed and lowered them down on it. Ducking his head to her shoulder, he melded their bodies in one smooth glide. Lucy felt more right to him than any woman ever had before.
“Eric?”
He froze mid-stroke. “Yes,” he whispered roughly, lifting his face to look into hers.
“I know I told you I wouldn’t, but I can’t help reading your mind. Your concerns about us make it hard for me to concentrate on our pleasure.”
He swallowed hard, nodded. “So you know how much this means to me. I don’t really mind.”
“No. I sense only your concern. The frequency it creates is like static on a com channel not broadcasting clearly.”
Eric nodded again. He moved deeply into her, wanting to stay where he was, wanting to leave and come back to her over and over. Would she understand if he told her how he felt? Would she record that in her files?
In the middle of his musings, he felt her confident hand come to his face and trace his jaw.
“I will never allow myself to forget this or you,” Lucy vowed. “Your lovemaking is just as wonderful as all your other traits. I have created a file just for you, Eric Anderson. Please help me fill it with memories. This is how you can help me service you best.”
Eric nodded. “Okay,” he said hoarsely, hoping she did not misinterpret the burning redness of his eyes. He was not in physical pain, but emotionally he was a wreck.