Part 19 (1/2)

thinking'”

James sighed. ”I believe I should permit Dekka to destroy me,” he said in a low voice. ”Then no one else would be hurt.”

”No one except me, Annie, and Clark,” Kay said tartly. ”Don't forget, she's already announced her intention of killing us, too.”

James slanted a look at her. ”Perhaps I could bargain for your safety.”

”Forget it,” Kay said. ”That woman is psychotic. She's not going to bargain. Anyway--” She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. ”We aren't going to let you sacrifice yourself for us. Are we, Annie'”

”Of course not,” Annie said.

James turned his head and stared at Kay for a long moment, as if he couldn't believe his ears. ”Why would you risk your life for me'” he said at last, obviously bewildered.

Kay shrugged. ”Maybe you haven't noticed, but Annie likes you, you idiot. That makes you my responsibility.” She hesitated, then shot him a grin. ”And my friend.”

Chapter 15.

James stepped into the empty hotel room, flipped the switch that turned the lamps over the beds on, and looked around cautiously. At last he stepped into the room and gestured for Annie to follow him. While she dead bolted the door, he checked the closet and bathroom with careful thoroughness.

”James,” she said, half-jokingly, ”you're scaring me.”

James emerged from the bathroom, his face set in grim lines. ”It is probably entirely sensible of you to be scared,” he said. ”I do not think Dekka is going to give up.”

”We probably shouldn't stay here. What if psycho lady sets another fire or something' Someone could get hurt.”

”We have to sleep, Annie. This is safer than the alternative, which is sleeping in the car. In the morning we will formulate a new plan.”

”Okay,” Annie said. It was two-thirty in the morning, and at the moment she was simply too d.a.m.ned tired to care if Dekka hunted them down. Since sleep was a requirement for James, he was probably close to exhaustion too. She let her knees buckle and sat down on the nearest of the double beds. James stood at the entrance to the bathroom, clearly ill at ease, and looked at her.

”It was nice of Kay to insist on taking a separate room,” she said at last into the awkward silence. ”Clark still wakes up during the night sometimes.”

”Yes,” James responded. ”That is entirely normal at his age.”

Annie swallowed at his matter-of-fact answer. She knew Kay well enough to be certain that wasn't the real reason Kay had insisted on them taking two rooms. If Kay still felt the need to protect her, she would have demanded that James take a room of his own.

Clearly Kay had decided James was an okay guy, even if he was a machine.

James disappeared into the bathroom for a moment, and she heard water running. When he emerged, she saw he'd peeled off his s.h.i.+rt and washed off the soot. Bare-chested, he paused at the entrance to the bathroom and watched her warily for a moment longer, then crossed to the other bed and pulled down the covers. He glanced at her, then bent to remove his shoes. Still wearing jeans, he stretched out full-length on the bed.

The pool of lamplight lit his hair with a tawny glow and threw the heavy muscles beneath his amber-gold skin into relief. He looked so gorgeous lying there, like a lion basking regally in a patch of sunlight, that she felt her mouth go dry. Confused and a little afraid, she turned away and sat on the edge of her bed, staring indecisively at the carpet. Earlier in the evening she had been willing to kiss him ... but was she willing to go any farther than that'

She had accepted him as a person, yet the knowledge of what he really was, beneath the entirely human appearance of his skin and hair and eyes, bothered her in a visceral, instinctive way. She couldn't say she was repulsed by him, because no woman in her right mind could be repulsed by a man who looked that good, and yet the idea of being intimate with him ... disturbed her somehow.

”Annie,” he said, his deep voice rumbling in the quiet room. ”It's late. Go to bed.”

She twisted around and saw his vivid azure eyes watching her. On his face she saw comprehension ...

and resignation. He understood her reservations. And, she realized slowly, he had fully expected them.

He expected her to reject him.

He expected her to treat him as he had always been treated.

James, she recognized, deserved better. Spurred by the thought, she rose to her feet and walked

purposefully toward him. ”It's not that late,” she answered. ”Move over.”

James rolled to his back, making room for her in the bed, and his forehead wrinkled. ”I thought'”

”You really thought I wanted to sleep'”

She sat down on the edge of the bed and looked down at him. James returned her gaze, obviously doing

his best to look impa.s.sive, but deep in his eyes lurked a childlike vulnerability that tore at her heart. ”If

you need s.e.xual release,” he said at last, slowly, ”I will be pleased to do whatever you ... require.” Looking down into his sapphire eyes, so expressive they reflected his every thought with perfect clarity, she felt the utmost loathing for the women of his society who had selfishly, callously used him, convincing him in the process that he was nothing more than a s.e.x toy. She rested her fingers lightly on his big hand.

”I don't require anything,” she said gently. ”I simply thought you might like to make love.”

”Do you really believe a machine can make love'”

There was a jagged, defensive edge to his voice, and Annie softly brushed her fingers over his. ”You

made love to me yesterday, James. You're still the same person you were then. So am I. Nothing has changed.”

”Everything has changed.”

The bleak tone of his voice cut at her heart. ”No. I know more than I did yesterday, that's all.”

”I understand that you no longer think of me as a human.”

”You're right. I don't.”

She saw the flash of pain in his eyes, the expression that said clearly, That's precisely what I expected of you. She continued to caress his hand. ”You're not a human,” she said. ”I accept that. As far as I can tell, you're different, but not inferior in any way. You're smarter than anyone I've ever met, you learn faster,

and you're braver. And you're the kindest person I've ever known.”