Programmed To Please (The Tau Cetus Chronicles) (5 page)

He buried his head in her shoulder and plunged deeper, faster, harder. Jai’s hands clutched the bed cover and she clamped her mouth closed against any stray sounds.  Dear God, his cock was perfect, and the hot friction he was building inside her was driving her crazy. He’d better come soon, or
she
would, and ruin the whole robotic illusion. Hadn’t Carron’s staff considered this before they gave her that damned pill?

In desperation, she wrapped her legs around Marque’s waist to pull him deeper inside her. With a rough shout, his body tensed, and then jerked convulsively. His hot seed flooded her, and then his full body weight collapsed on top of her.

His hot breath tickled her shoulder for a long minute before he managed to speak.
“That… was… fucking… amazing.”

Good for him, maybe, but she could barely breathe with all 180 pounds of him crushing her.  “Mustn’t…damage…the merchandise.”

Marque’s head lifted from her shoulder, and he stared curiously into her eyes. She pointed desperately to his body atop hers, and he seemed to get the message, because he let out another one of those rough laughs, then pulled out of her and rolled onto his back on the mattress. Throwing an arm over his eyes, he struggled to catch his breath while Jai inconspicuously tried to do the same.

What happened now? Was Jai expected to speak, or just lie here silently waiting for Marque to say something?

Close your eyes. Don’t talk.

Jai considered what to do.

Frankly, she was still amazed that he’d fucked her missionary-style. Plain vanilla. Why did he need to come to Beautiful Dolls just to get laid in some non-kinky way? There must be a million women who’d jump into his bed at the drop of a hat. Women were drawn to powerful men, even if those men had questionable business practices.

But if Marque simply wanted to get laid in a generic way, this assignment might be bearable after all.

“Is it possible to turn you off?”

Jai turned her head on the mattress to look at Marque. The expression in his eyes was unreadable. “Turn me off?”

“Yes. Can I shut you down?”

“Why? Our hour is not yet up, Marque.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m done with you.”

Jai struggled to keep her face neutral. Hadn’t she done her job? Hadn’t he just said the sex was
fucking amazing
?

Was this assignment in jeopardy?

“Didn’t I please you, Marque?”

“Just answer the question.” His voice was rough now, and that frown was back between his brows. “Can I turn you off?”

Jai thought fast. No one on her team had considered this possibility. “I…can put myself into hibernation mode, but only Mr. Carron can turn me off.”

“Fine.” Marque sat up on the bed. “Put yourself in hibernation mode, then. I don’t want to look at you.”

Jai sat up, too. She reminded herself that she was a Beautiful Doll, programmed to follow instructions. She gave Marque a confused look, then scooted down the bed, picked her sarong up off the floor, stood, and wrapped the garment around herself. Without a backward look, she went to sit in the hard-backed chair next to the bed, and then slowly closed her eyes.

It was the closest thing to
hibernation
she could think of.

She heard Marque climb out of the bed and slowly dress himself. The click of his shoes on the wood floor as he crossed the room echoed loudly in her ears. The sound of the door being flung open and hitting the wall behind it made her flinch.

Jai held her breath, waiting, straining to hear what he might say to Carron, but Marque Callex apparently left Beautiful Dolls without a single word.

Chapter Three

Imbecile. Idiot.

Marque paced in his concrete-reinforced office, cursing himself for a fool. It had been nearly twenty-four hours since his session at Beautiful Dolls. He’d barely slept last night, and he couldn’t seem to concentrate on work this morning. In fact, yesterday’s encounter was all he could think about.

What a clever trap they’d laid for him!

How do I feel?
the Doll, J, had asked after he’d buried himself deep inside her. Not how does
it
feel or how does
that
feel, but how do
I
feel.

She’d made things…personal.

Beautiful Dolls owner Anson Carron didn’t want to addict him to sex. No. This was far more dangerous than that. This was addiction of another kind. A deeper kind. If Marque didn’t look too closely at the Doll, he could almost believe she was real. A real woman, with a perfect body. His
ideal
woman, in fact. Made to his exact specifications. Hell, only two minutes after he’d met her, he’d convinced himself the machine had a personality!

If you cut me, I would leak. Synthetic XP201b.

Marque had been stunned at her wryly humorous comment. But moments later, she’d followed it up with another zinger when he’d observed that her outfit was a tease.

This garment is meant to tease you, Marque
, she’d responded flirtatiously.

What the hell was wrong with him? Her answers had been nothing more than simple statements of fact.
He
was the one who was interpreting them as
wit
.

But the topper had been the incredible sex. No human being could feel that good. That snug around him, gripping him, squeezing him. Hell, his cock was as hard as a rock right now just from the memory of how amazing it had felt. And when her strong robot thighs had urged him even deeper inside her, dear God, he’d lost his control.

Oh yes, this was dangerous indeed.

Could it be that he’d responded to her so forcefully because he’d recently been celibate? How long had it been, anyway, since he’d had sex?

He turned in his pacing, considering the question.

Six months? No, that wasn’t possible. Could it really be half a year since he’d put aside Syretha and her unreasonable demands on his time?

He’d survived just fine since then, thank you very much. But God Almighty, J was infinitely better than any masturbation he’d indulged in.

And her post-coital joke yesterday about his body weight on top of her ‘damaging the merchandise’ was just another example of –

Stop it, Marque! It was not a joke. What the hell is wrong with you?

He shoved a hand through his hair.

Right. Exactly. What the hell was wrong with him that the one image he couldn’t seem to shake was the vulnerable confusion on J’s face when he’d ordered her into hibernation mode?

I’m done with you… I don’t want to look at you.

He’d almost describe the look in her eyes as...
hurt.

Fuck.

He could see how Anson Carron made his money from addicting people to his extraordinary, astonishing machines.

But Marque Callex was no ordinary man. He would not fall into Carron’s trap. He was
not
going back to Beautiful Dolls.

Unless…

He slowed in his pacing, considering.

Unless it was to prove a point.

A firm knock on his door stopped his pacing in its tracks. He looked around, as if momentarily surprised at his surroundings.

Damn. She’s done it again.
He was thinking about the Doll, not about the pile of paperwork needing his urgent attention. The pile which even now leaned dangerously to one side, ready to spill over onto his polished, hand-crafted mahogany desk.

Knock.

Marque glanced at his door and scowled fiercely.

No one was allowed to bother him when his door was closed.
No one.
Not even his long-time, trusted assistant, Talesin. It was Marque’s most sacred, unbreakable rule. A rule known to every one of his employees.

It was the only time Marque could have some peace.

And not even now, with that damned Doll invading my every thought.

The knock sounded again, louder this time, and to Marque’s utter astonishment, the door eased slowly open.

Who in the hell would have the balls to—

 
“Marque? You okay?”

Chavis Smith’s face peeked around the wooden door. He obviously saw the outraged expression on Marque’s face, but nonetheless took a step into the room.

Employees had been fired for far less.

One of Chavis’s blond eyebrows rose in question. “Bad mood?”

The remark was idiotic, but the man was not. He was searching for information. In the decade since he’d founded Callex Industries, Marque had a routine that he’d stuck to like clockwork. Personal gym at 5 a.m.  Breakfast at 7 a.m. Office at 8 a.m. Then work until the work was done, however long it took.

“Where were you yesterday?” Smith asked, not so casually.

Marque scowled. If not for Chavis’s position here and his personal claim on Marque… “I

went out  to lunch.”

“You never go out to lunch.”

“I’m making an exception this week.”

The information seemed to take Chavis aback. “
Every day
this week? Where exactly are

 you going?”

“None of your damned business.”

Chavis eyed him suspiciously, and Marque couldn’t blame him. Security was everything

in their line of work. And for Marque not to give Chavis a straight answer was a definite red flag.

Why did he feel loath to tell Chavis about Beautiful Dolls? Was he embarrassed? Did he think Chavis might want to join him? Did he irrationally want to keep J all for himself? Or was there something else…

This dance of distrust between them went both ways, after all.

Marque’s mouth set into a hard line. “Just for the record, don’t believe for one minute that being married to my sister gives you the right to come into this office without an invitation. Is that clear?”

Chavis held up his hands defensively. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You missed the daily production meeting this morning.”

Fuck. Marque glanced at his antique watch. 11:30 a.m. He’d
never
missed a production meeting. Ever.

The Doll had done it again.

He felt his face flush with anger. “Leave me.”

This time, Chavis took the hint. With one last, assessing look, he turned on his heel and left the room.

Marque strode to the open doorway. Sitting at the desk in Marque’s outer office, his assistant Talesin looked scared shitless, and rightfully so. He deserved Marque’s wrath for having let Chavis pass.

But disciplining Talesin was at the bottom of Marque’s list of priorities right now. He had a situation he had to take care of. He scowled at his assistant. “Have Bursus bring the car around.
Immediately.”

#

Would Marque Callex be back today?

After Callex had left yesterday, Carron’s staff had stripped Jai of her silicone skin and contact lenses. What a relief it had been to shower away the telltale signs of her robot persona after that intense session!

Less easy to get rid of, however, were her troubling reactions to the man.

She’d found Marque Callex attractive. Gentle in his handling of her. Exciting as a lover, almost making her come. He’d even laughed at the things she’d said – laughter that had erased the deep frown etched between his eyebrows and transformed his entire face.

He was definitely not the hardened sociopath she’d expected.

Stop it, Jai! He’s not just any man, he’s the enemy!

Right. Exactly. He was a potential threat to the world. The killer of Joran Breaux.

She’d toweled herself dry with more force than was necessary.

Once dressed, she and Wyatt and Carron had gone back to Commander Rainey’s office to report on Marque Callex’s first session. They tried to analyze and theorize and strategize, but none of them could come up with a reasonable explanation for why Callex had left early, or predict what the arms dealer would do today. Carron informed them that in the two-decade existence of Beautiful Dolls, no one had ever left a session early. No one. It was unheard of.

Rainey had demanded to see the digital disc of the session, but Wyatt calmly informed him that he’d destroyed it, since Callex hadn’t mentioned anything about his arms dealings.

Rainey had exploded at the news, but Wyatt had sent Jai a look that said
I’ve got your back, partner
. Wyatt was a good man.

Carron had even called Marque’s office, but there’d been no response to the message he’d left about a possible return visit.

So, to be safe, Carron’s staff had primped and prepped Jai again today in case Callex
did
decide to return. And like yesterday, the worst part of the ordeal was the enema lubricant they’d given her on the chance Callex demanded anal sex. Like yesterday, Marque was highly unlikely to indulge in foreplay with a machine, so Jai had to be ready for anything.

But after hours at the hands of Carron’s minions this morning, the question still remained: would Marque Callex come?

So now Jai sat in the hard wooden chair in her Beautiful Dolls boudoir room, dressed in her sheer sarong and starbust contact lenses, and stared at the readout on the wall.

12:27. Three minutes until the appointed time.

If Marque Callex failed to show, she would be rid of this onerous assignment. The fate of the world would no longer rest on her shoulders. That would be a relief, right? She should be praying he
wouldn’t
come.

After all, there was only the merest chance this plan could succeed. Why on earth would one of the planet’s most powerful men confide his secrets to a machine, anyway?

This may be our best chance of getting to Callex,
Rainey had insisted.
Build a relationship with him, gain his trust.

Damn. Jai had purposely held back during sex with Marque yesterday, wanting to keep her moans of pleasure to use as a trump card once they’d gotten to know each other a bit. To convince Callex he was so skilled a lover he could make even a
machine
feel pleasure. Now
that
would certainly create a powerful bond between them!