Part 19 (2/2)
At her deliberate emphasis on the word person, his fingers captured hers and held them tightly. He closed his eyes and lay silent for a long moment. At last he said huskily, ”I was wrong, Annie. You are nothing like the other humans I've known. Nothing at all.”
He reached up, curved his hand around the back of her neck, beneath the cascade of long auburn hair, and pulled her down to him. His lips met hers with a fierce intensity that surprised her, and his tongue delved eagerly, fervently into her mouth, finding hers and caressing it with a desperate need that contained not a trace of his usual diffidence.
His fingers plunged into the depths of her hair, pulling her against him more tightly, and she wrapped her arms around her neck, reveling in his pa.s.sion as his kiss deepened, demanding everything she had to give. She gave it to him without reservation, without hesitation.
Her hands roamed over his chest, exploring the planes and curves of it, the light dusting of golden hair that sprinkled it, admiring his bulging, solid muscles. Or whatever it was that pa.s.sed for muscles. Artificial muscles, although they felt real enough to her.
He felt real to her.
She levered herself up on her hands, just enough to yank off her T-s.h.i.+rt, and fumbled at her back, trying to get her bra unfastened. James reached around behind her. ”I can do it,” he said.
”They have bras in the future'” She'd figured maybe everyone wore a personal antigravity field or something.
”Not precisely like this, no. But I believe I can work out the mechanism involved.”
He figured it out in five seconds flat, and tossed her bra onto the floor without ceremony. He cupped her b.r.e.a.s.t.s in his hands and looked at them so intently Annie felt herself blush. ”These are beautiful,” he said in a voice that was so soft it was almost reverent.
”Thank you,” she whispered. His thumbs began to brush over the tips of her nipples, very gently, and her b.r.e.a.s.t.s instantly tightened. A throbbing ache began in her nipples, pooled in her belly, and spread rapidly to points south.
”Uh, James,” she said awkwardly, ”do you really ... you know....”
He stopped the motion of his thumbs, somewhat to her dismay, and looked up into her face seriously. ”Do I really what, Annie'”
Annie hesitated, then blurted out, ”Do you really find women attractive'”
He looked at her solemnly a moment longer, then abruptly flashed his lady-killer grin. ”I thought I made that rather clear yesterday.”
”I just thought ... well ... maybe you were programmed to pretend or something.”
”That is a perfectly valid question,” James said. His hands resumed caressing her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and her eyes drifted closed. ”I understand your concern. In fact, I have you at something of a disadvantage. I know how your physiology works, but you do not know how mine operates. For example, I know if I do this'” He squeezed her nipple gently between thumb and forefinger, and she moaned. ”'you will like it. And I am designed to be able to discern whether or not your reactions are genuine.”
”Really'”
James chuckled, a low, s.e.xy sound. ”I will know if you try to pretend, Annie. Trust me.”
She opened her eyes and looked at him. ”So how can I tell if you're pretending'”
”You are a.s.suming that because I am a machine'”
”A humanoid,” Annie corrected. For some reason she didn't like the term machine being applied to him any more. Maybe it was accurate, strictly speaking, but it no longer seemed appropriate.
”A humanoid, then. You are a.s.suming that I have the ability to control my physical responses, in a way that humans cannot. I a.s.sure you, I do not have that ability. I cannot prevent myself from becoming aroused, any more than a human male can.”
She rubbed against him, feeling the powerful bulge of his erection nestled between her thighs. ”So this is genuine.”
James sighed with what appeared to be pleasure. ”Absolutely. And so were my responses yesterday, and the night before. My arousal is not entirely dependent on the sense of touch, either; I am programmed as a heteros.e.xual male, and I find the sight of a nude female ... appealing. I cannot prevent myself from reaching o.r.g.a.s.m if certain stimulation is applied, either.”
Annie frowned, and he sat up, bracing himself with his arms, and began to stroke her nipple with his tongue. ”What is it, Annie'” he whispered, his warm breath brus.h.i.+ng over the tip of her breast like a spring breeze.
She s.h.i.+vered, and every logical thought in her head puffed into smoke. She had to concentrate hard to recover her train of thought. ”It just seems to me that if I was going to design a humanoid that could be used as a s.e.x slave, I'd make him ... well ... inexhaustible.”
James drew her nipple between his lips and sucked on it for a long moment, until she felt dampness trickling between her thighs. Then he leaned back against the pillow and closed his eyes.
”You might think that. But you would rapidly discover that such a design bored you. Humans prefer an involved partner, one that genuinely experiences pleasure, to a tireless machine that feels nothing. At any rate, many humans found us amusing because we could be made to feel arousal and pleasure despite ourselves. Many of them enjoyed tormenting us s.e.xually in various ways. For example....”
He paused a long moment, opening his eyes and shooting a hesitant glance at her, then went on in a brittle voice. ”My mistress enjoyed forcing me to control myself. She liked to set a specific amount of time I had to engage in actual intercourse with her. If I failed, if I reached o.r.g.a.s.m too quickly, then she punished me.”
”With the whip'” Annie whispered.
James nodded, his eyes turning to ice, as they always did at any mention of the whip. ”I believe she received s.e.xual pleasure from using the whip on me as well, although I could never understand why.”
”Sadism,” Annie said faintly. ”It's a'a failing some humans have.”
He reached up to cup her b.r.e.a.s.t.s again. ”Until I met you, I never really understood the appeal of s.e.x. Although I do have a s.e.x drive, I would never have sought it out. Not until now.” He stared at her gravely. ”Now I understand.”
She closed her eyes, feeling the p.r.i.c.kling of tears behind her eyelids. ”Oh, James,” she whispered.
His hands, incredibly soft and gentle, roamed over her body, exploring her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, her belly, the shallow indentation of her navel. Fire ignited everywhere his fingers touched, until she was quivering all over.
”James,” she whispered. ”Kiss me again.”
He pulled her to the mattress and rolled over abruptly, pinning her beneath him, and pressed his lips against hers with uncharacteristic ferocity. His unique, citrusy scent surrounded her, making her light-headed with desire, and his tongue drove into her mouth in a slow, steady rhythm. She parted her legs slightly, and he slid on top of her, so that the heavy, hot thrust of his erection pressed between her thighs. Even through their clothing she could feel the shape and heat of him, demanding and insistent and eager.
She shoved frantically at the waistband of his jeans and heard his amused chuckle, smothered against her mouth. He lifted his head slightly. ”Are you in a hurry, Annie'”
”Oh, G.o.d, yes,” she whispered.
He regarded her for a moment with amus.e.m.e.nt, something sensual flaring in his eyes along with the humor. ”Perhaps you need something to make you a bit more patient,” he murmured, and began to unb.u.t.ton her shorts. He shoved them off, along with her lacy dark green panties, and slid his hand between her legs.
She moaned, arching against his hand, as his fingers traced delicately through her moisture, circling gently, exploring her swollen, scorching flesh in a leisurely fas.h.i.+on. He found the point of greatest sensitivity and began to caress her with deliberate slowness, rubbing his moistened forefinger over her, again and again, in long, slow strokes, until her breath came in short, hard pants, until she thought she would die of frustrated need.
”James,” she gasped.
He kept up the slow, insistent movements of his hand, bent, and took her rigidly erect nipple between his lips, suckling on it until her b.r.e.a.s.t.s grew heavy and hot. The fiery ache deep within her grew until it was utterly intolerable. ”Please,” she whispered.
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