Programmed To Protect (The Tau Cetus Chronicles) (27 page)

Theus didn’t seem to have registered Wyatt’s stunning admission because the premier’s expression didn’t change at all. “I have one condition, though.”

Wyatt’s grin faltered. “Condition? What condition?”

“I’m a bit of a negotiator myself, agent Wyatt. I will let Ginger live if you agree to take Anson Carron’s place. If we’re going to keep that robot army, I need a man in charge whom I can trust implicitly. And right now, I trust no man more than you.”

Wyatt felt his heart fall to his stomach. What Theus was suggesting was a huge responsibility. He swallowed hard. “I’m a simple police agent, sir. My job is to keep the peace.”

The premier actually smiled, and folded his hands in front of him on the High Council’s desk. “Exactly. I heard what you said, agent Wyatt. If you love this machine, what better place for you than overseeing her fellows, insuring the continued peace on Tau Cetus?”

Wyatt knew he’d been cleverly trapped. But it was a future he wanted, after all. One with Ginger.

He glanced at her perfect face, and nodded.

“All right, sir. I accept.”

#

Wyatt decided that being in bed with Ginger was his favorite place in the whole world.

They lay together in Wyatt’s apartment, naked, with Wyatt still marveling over the events of the day.

“You saved my life, Ginger. And that of the premier. Do you realize you are
personally
responsible for preserving our way of life on Tau Cetus? Hell, you’re a hero.”

“I know, Leith.”

Wyatt laughed. Ginger had no idea how egotistical that simply speaking the truth could make a person sound. He’d have to give her a human lesson on humility. Or, at least, tactfulness.

“But Leith, what you said about me proving my loyalty to Theus by allowing his men to practice on me, and by shutting down Mr. Carron’s robot before he terminated Theus was not exactly true.”

Wyatt pulled back to look into her beautiful green starburst eyes. “It wasn’t?”

“No. As much as I understand that Theus is a good man,
you
were the reason I did what I did. I was not about to let anyone or anything harm you. It was mere coincidence that I was able to save the premier as well.”

Wyatt’s laugh returned, deeper this time. “Don’t let Theus hear that.”

“All right, Leith,” she agreed. “I won’t.”

The laughter settled deep in his chest. “I love you, Ginger.”

“I love you, too, Leith.”

He didn’t think he’d ever get tired of hearing those words come out of her full, kissable, unpredictable lips. Even now, the three tiny words set off a warm tingling in his heart. With a contented sigh, Wyatt let his right hand skim along the length of her graceful, swan-like neck, down her chest, to gently cup one perfect breast.

He rubbed his thumb back and forth across her always-erect nipple, her full flesh spilling over the confines of his fingers. “I’m such a lucky man.”

“I’m glad I please you, Leith.”

“You do, Ginger. Physically and intellectually both.” His hand skimmed down her side to settle on her waist. “I’m going to make love to you, now.”

“I’m getting used to that, Leith.”

Her reaction gave him pause. “What? Am I boring you already? After only two weeks of sex?”

Her expression never changed. “No, Leith. I meant that I’m getting used to you referring to sex as ‘making love.’ In fact, I think I’m starting to prefer it.”

Wyatt let out a breath. “Oh. Well, good. That’s good. Because I think of sex as much more than just a physical act with you, Ginger. It’s an expression of my love.”

“Then let’s have love, Leith.”

“Make
love, Ginger. We
make
love.”

“Why do we
have
sex but
make
love? I don’t understand the distinction. Can you— ”

Wyatt groaned. “Hold that thought, Ginger.” He moved on top of her.

“Very well, Leith.”

He spread her legs and gently entered her. Damn, how was it that he constantly forgot how wet and ready she always was for him? Sinking into her willing body felt like coming home. He pushed himself in to the hilt.

His moan of satisfaction shifted into a groan of need as he started to move inside her. He shifted his hips to start an age-old rhythm, and Ginger’s mechanical insides narrowed familiarly to hold him tight, to grip him snugly, to drive him wild with the erotic sensations that only she seemed to impart along the entire length of his cock.

The pleasure made him move faster. Harder. Ginger arched beneath him, taking him deeper, making little mewling noises herself. As Wyatt’s groans intensified, so did Ginger’s gasps and whimpers. Christ, he was close!

Ginger’s hands grasped Wyatt at his waist, and she flipped them both over, bringing herself on top of him. Wyatt paused, momentarily thrown off his rhythm, the beginnings of his climax fading, but Ginger took the opportunity to sit up, keeping Wyatt’s cock deeply inside her body as she began to rock.

Fuck. She was riding him like a horse.

She rolled her hips, gripping his cock in her glove of a body, stroking his shaft seemingly everywhere. When Wyatt gasped at the concentrated pleasure, she took his hands and guided them to her breasts. As he kneaded her lush flesh beneath his eager palms, she threw her head back to moan loudly, and to slip a hand down behind his tight balls.

Dear God
. Wyatt felt her clever fingers applying pressure to that secret spot at the base of his shaft a moment before his world exploded. His cock shot his pleasure deep into her body, his fingers sank into the abundant flesh of her breasts, and his ears registered Ginger’s shout of delight before she went completely still above him.

Wyatt struggled to catch his breath after that amazing climax, but Ginger didn’t move. At all. Not by an inch. It was if she’d suddenly gone into hibernation mode. She was still as a statue on top of him.

Had she malfunctioned? As soon as his pulse slowed and his heart settled, Wyatt worriedly reached for her hand.

“Ginger?”

She blinked, and looked down at him. “I’m sorry, Leith.”

Wyatt frowned in confusion. “Why are you sorry? That was fucking incredible.”

“But… you wanted to make love the other way. With you on top. You’ve said that’s

your favorite position. I… I don’t know what happened. It just felt right for me to turn us over. It felt… good… for me.”

Now it was Wyatt’s turn to blink in surprise. “Ginger. If it felt good for you to be on top, that’s fine with me. I only want sex to be pleasurable for us both.”

Ginger’s mouth fell open a little. “It
was,
Leith. That’s it! It was
pleasurable
for me. But I’m programmed to please, not programmed to receive pleasure. This has never happened to me before.”

Wyatt’s eyebrows reached his hairline. Holy shit. She was saying she’d just been sexually satisfied. Was this another step in her journey of sentience?

A huge grin split his face. “Well then, I’d say you’re one step beyond ‘almost-human’ to ‘very nearly human.’ Congratulations, Ginger.”

“You’re happy about what happened?”

“Very happy.”

“And you wouldn’t mind if it happened again?”

Spoken like a real woman. A woman interested in her own pleasure. Wyatt couldn’t smother his laughter. “No, Ginger, it would please me greatly if it happened again. In fact, I look forward to trying until it
does
happen again.”

Ginger returned his smile shyly. “Well… We have the rest of the night, Leith.”

Wyatt felt his heart expand in his chest. “Exactly. So we should start trying right now, sweetheart.”

THE END

About the Author

Jenna Ives has the typical problem that affects a lot of modern-day romance authors — multiple personality disorder. She writes for several different publishers under a variety of names, but mostly the reason is to keep her poor sainted mother (who used to read sweet romances by Barbara Cartland) from having a heart attack over how sexy modern romances have become!

And Jenna certainly DOES write sexy…

To learn more about Jenna, please visit her website at
www.jennaives.com
or e-mail her at
[email protected]
.

Don’t miss the first installment of The Tau Cetus Chronicles…

Programmed To Please:

Tau Cetus police agent Jai Turner is being sent undercover as a Beautiful Dolls sex robot in order to bring down the planet’s most notorious arms dealer, Marque Callex. The police have never been able to get close to Callex, and Jai’s assignment is to use the famous Beautiful Dolls sex techniques to satisfy Marque, and to coax information out of him on his illicit weapons dealings – information that will lead to his conviction.

Notoriously reclusive arms dealer Marque Callex only accepted an invitation from Beautiful Dolls because with his deadly line of work – and the dangerous secrets he’s keeping – he can’t afford to let a real woman into his life.

But neither Jai nor Marque are what they seem, and their week together has consequences neither expect.

Excerpt from “Programmed To Please: Book One of the Tau Cetus Chronicles” by Jenna Ives…

Chapter One

“Turner, I’m sending you undercover as a Beautiful Dolls sex toy.”

Jai Turner stared at her boss, Commander Talis Rainey, convinced she couldn’t possibly

have heard him right. She and her partner, Leith Wyatt, had been called into his office at the end of their duty shift. It had been a long day, as they all were on Tau Cetus in this post-apocalyptic era, and she was in no mood for a joke.

She shifted tiredly on her feet in front of his desk. “Sir?” She noticed that even Leith, who was standing beside her, had raised his eyebrow in question.

For an answer, Rainey leaned forward in his chair and pushed a button on the console on his desk. “Send in Mr. Carron.”

A minute later, a short man stood in the doorway. His eyes darted nervously as he checked out the spartan office before taking an apparently reluctant step into the room. He was such a stereotype that Jai felt herself stiffen. Thick glasses… hair askew… frankly, all he needed was a lab coat with a pocket protector to complete the picture.
Savant. Adept. Carbon-copier.

Fuck. Maybe her boss
hadn’t
been making a joke.

Rainey cleared his throat. “This is Anson Carron. The creator of Beautiful Dolls.”

If the abrupt and impersonal introduction annoyed their guest, he didn’t show it. His eyes had locked on Jai, and were scanning her up and down in a way that felt decidedly intimate despite the generic, navy blue one-piece uniform that she and everyone else on the Tau Cetus force wore.

“Yes,” he murmured. “I suppose I can work with this.”

“This,”
Rainey said hotly, “is Jai Turner, one of my best agents. She’s
human.”

The little man seemed lost in his own train of thought. “She meets his prime criteria. Of course, it would be better if I could see her without her clothes on before I make a final assessment.”

What the hell?
Jai stiffened even more. “Commander!”

Rainey let out a loud sigh, then glanced at Jai and the two men. “Sit. All of you.”

Instead, Carron took a step closer. “Can I touch her, at least?”

“Lay one finger on me, asshole,” Jai growled, “and it’ll be the last thing your hand ever does.” Wyatt stepped closer to her to drive the point home.

Behind his desk, Rainey blew out a breath. “I said
sit!”

The three of them held their adversarial positions for a moment, then took the hard chairs arrayed around Rainey’s desk. Jai crossed her arms and legs defensively, and even Wyatt turned his chair around to straddle it. It was obvious neither one of them anticipated liking whatever the Commander might be about to say.

Rainey ran a hand through his grey-black hair and looked at the partners. “Before I start, I have just one thing to say to you two.
Marque Callex
.”

Jai gasped.
“What?”

That changed everything. The infamous name had both her and Wyatt leaning forward in their chairs, now eagerly waiting for Rainey’s next words.

“You know how long we’ve been trying to get close to this guy. We may now have a chance, albeit by a very unconventional route.” Rainey nodded toward their guest. “A month ago, Mr. Carron here ran afoul of the law. No need to get into the specifics, but in an effort to save his neck – and his very lucrative business – he suggested a unique proposal in return for us not pursuing charges against him.”

“What kind of proposal?” Wyatt asked.

“A clever one, as it turns out.” Rainey smirked. “Mr. Carron agreed to send out an…
invitation
… to Marque Callex, in the guise of offering ‘a select number of high-powered businessmen’ the chance to sample the latest model of Beautiful Doll for free, in exchange for their feedback on the product. In reality, Callex was the only person to get this invitation.”