Never Love A Stranger Part 19

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."

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.