Adam 483: Man or Machine? (2 page)

Samou had insisted he confide in Tyree about his true identity, but he wasn’t convinced and asked the Ambassador to keep his identity a secret for a while longer. She didn’t want him here. He needed to prove his worth first.

Unknown even to the Ambassador, he’d hacked into her private text records before coming on board, so he knew her secrets. His specialized training gave him the advantage of offering her a variety of services she would find hard to refuse.

When she’d studied his mouth, his hands, his package, and then touched his face, he’d seen her interest in him beyond that of a mere robot. The softness of her skin against his almost spurred him into an action worthy of an arrest for sexual excess and time in a detention cell. He wanted between her legs badly. He allowed a rare smile to grace his face.

Tyree’s brother said his sister needed to feel safe and happy. Perfect. He intended to see to those needs—
all
her needs.

Tyree barely glanced at Adam as she stepped from the bath. He stood in front of the main door as appropriate to her order.

She pulled her robe tighter, then silently chastised herself. If she walked around naked, it wouldn’t have an impact on the bot. She actually wondered what his response, if any, to such an action would be, and almost laughed at the thought of testing it out.

She sat on her bunk and towel dried her hair. One of these days, she was going to hack off the long strands, which were more trouble than they were worth most of the time. But the soft waves reminded her of her feminine side, and she hesitated to rid herself of that small bit of vanity.

The porthole next to her bunk drew her attention to the vast loneliness of space. Even after a three-day layover on Jenway, she still felt tired and every muscle in her body was clenched tighter than an iron vise. She tossed the towel aside and rolled her shoulders, trying to ease the tension.

What she needed was…what? She didn’t know. Something out of the norm, for sure, to relax her.

Strong hands settled on either side of her neck.

She jumped up and spun around, breaking the touch. Adam stood close, too close—an impassive expression on his face. “What are you doing?” she demanded, backing away a step, and almost stumbling over her service boots on the floor.

He reached out and steadied her. “You looked tense.”

“So?” She shrugged off his hand. Not the best retort, but the most manageable at the moment.

“I have been trained in relaxation massage.”

Tyree laughed. “You? Why would a security bot receive relaxation training?” She dragged a hand through her tangled hair and retreated another step, feeling penned in by him.

His gaze momentarily focused on her hair, then eased back to her eyes. “On Jenway, I received full personal pleasure training, in addition to security and communication training, to serve you better.”

“Pleasure training?” She took advantage of eroti-bots from time to time. Impersonal robots seemed easier than dating—no emotional entanglements after the sex. Though she barely remembered the last time she’d indulged in bot sex. Robots weren’t overly satisfying, so she’d sworn off. Maybe this one’s programming included spontaneous touching coded in as a prelude to something more physical if he met with no resistance.

“No offense,” as if a bot ever took offense, she thought, “but robots don’t do it for me when it comes to sex.” She wondered if her brother ordered Adam’s training and flushed in embarrassment at the thought.

She grabbed a comb off the corner chest and pulled it through her hair. With the strands hanging loose, she felt less like an officer, the commander of this vessel, and more like a vulnerable woman fighting her attraction to some new man. She glanced at Adam, feeling his eyes on her. “What?”

“No sexual programs were pending, Captain. Do you wish to choose an erotic fantasy for me to fulfill?”

“Didn’t you hear me? I’m not interested in having sex with you.” Okay, she lied, but better not to make the attempt. He must have faulty programming to have misunderstood. Just what she needed, an erotic bot.

Erratic!
She meant erratic.
Geez!

Her hand shook. Because of a mechanical? She tossed down the comb. She had to quit responding to him as a human male. She needed a drink.

She turned and fixed herself a StarGin from her personal bar. As a perk of her rank, her quarters contained a private bath that utilized filtered and recycled water, a fully-stocked bar, and even a cooler for snacks. She took a sip of the sour liquid, and grimaced. She set aside the glass with a plunk.

A drink wasn’t what she really needed. She’d been in space too long. That was the truth of the matter, and short layovers weren’t helping. She wanted a real vacation on a green planet with white, fluffy clouds and lots of water and open land. She closed her eyes, imagining how stress-free that would feel.

A muscled arm slipped around her waist from behind, and Adam’s hand, warm and strong, squeezed her shoulder.

Tyree’s eyes popped open. Her body froze, but her voice came out without hesitation. “Why are you touching me again?”

The bot’s programs needed tweaking or shutting down. His actions were too unpredictable and unsettling.

Tense moments passed as she waited for his answer. Or his next move. He should explain without hesitation.

Too much time ticked by.

A frisson of alarm raced through her. She tried to pull away, but he held tight, drawing her close against his frame. Why did his body feel so good? Steady and all male.

A bot going against his programming was unusual. Suddenly, she wondered what exactly his programming consisted of.

As if reading her mind, he responded, “My programming indicates a bodily need, despite your words and actions. So I have chosen an erotic fantasy at random for you.” He nuzzled her ear. “Relax, Captain. Do not fight me.” Boldly, he glided his tongue down the side of her neck, then back up again.

“Ahh.” Her uneasiness faded next to the thrill that skittered down her spine. His tongue felt wet and warm, not like a scratchy, damp washcloth, as was her experience with other eroti-bots.

He sucked at the sensitive skin below her earlobe.

“Um…” Geez, he had great lips.

His voice rumbled low and sexy in her ear. “I can lick and suck other places that will please you more.”

Her heart pounded against her ribs. They’d definitely improved bot programming since she had last indulged, at least in the sensual stimulation area. She admitted she was intrigued by what he could do. But Adam was still just a machine.

He reached inside her robe and cupped her bare breast.

She squirmed in his embrace. “Hey, what are you doing?” His hand felt warm and even slightly callused. She slapped at his fingers, now caressing her skin. She couldn’t believe he was actually fondling her. He seemed to know just how to touch her body for the best response. Every feminine part of her came alive.

“I’m fulfilling your fantasy, Captain.” He rubbed his thumb back and forth across her hardening nipple, mindless of her swats and protests.

Her knees suddenly felt weak. His touch excited her more than she ever thought possible. “I did
not
—” He pinched the bud. “Oh!” She shuddered, unable to deny the pleasure coursing through her body. Too much time had passed since her last orgasm, and even that hadn’t been overly satisfying—the lack of intensity a definite let-down. She really needed to come long and hard. Her body ached for the release.

But that’s all her reaction was. Built-up sexual tension. Otherwise, she’d be immune to the bot’s touch. He did have great hands though, for a piece of machinery.

He turned her around in his arms and tugged roughly at one shoulder of the robe, fully exposing her breast. She pushed at his chest, but he was immovable. His fingers squeezed the plumpness, and he again pinched the nipple, slightly harder this time.

Tyree bit her bottom lip to keep from crying out at the pleasure.
This is exactly what I need. And he knows it.

His other hand slid into her hair, and he tilted her head back. “Stand still. Look at me.” For several heartbeats, he simply stared into her eyes.

She saw intelligence and emotion in the dark, almost black, depths.
No.
She was mistaken about the emotion part.

He thumbed her nipple and pulled her closer, nudging his knee between her thighs. “Order me to suck your tit, Tyree. I will make you come.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but then snapped it closed. She hadn’t expected such words and actions from a bot. She didn’t know what to say, an odd feeling for her. She wanted to blast him for his audacity, but not, if that made sense.

No way could he make her come simply by sucking her. Bots didn’t have the kind of sucking power required. Their mechanics weren’t that advanced yet. Still… The thought of him trying intrigued her.

Adam wasn’t like the other eroti-bots she’d been with. He knew more, knew how to excite her. His security training made him more aggressive than a regular eroti-bot. Maybe that’s what threw her off balance, and what made her hot, at the same time.

The bots and men whom she had associated with in the past were too accommodating and not very exciting. Men always seemed intimidated by her position of power and relation to the Ambassador. Bots always needed to be told what to do, and how to do it.

Adam didn’t wait for orders, nor was he intimidated by her. In fact,
she
felt intimidated, and aroused, by
him
—a combination she wasn’t used to dealing with.

“Tyree…”

Her name, spoken in his deep, rich voice along with the intimate brush of his knee, caused moisture to gather between her thighs. Her whole body hummed with awareness. She wanted him to toss her on the bed and take her, despite the doubts she still harbored about him.

“Submit to me.” Adam lowered his head and lightly brushed his lips against her mouth.

She jerked back from the tender kiss.

He cocked his head.

She’d surprised and confused him, but didn’t explain. He didn’t need to know how she felt about kissing. That would be too personal for a bot. As far as submitting…

Oh, how tempting to finally allow a man complete control of her body. But then, Adam wasn’t a man. And a bot simply responded to his programming and orders. He didn’t make demands, not in life and certainly not in bed.

His gaze dropped to her exposed breast, then returned to her eyes. “Let me suck, lick, and bite your nipple. I want to pleasure you, Tyree, with my mouth and my cock. Your body needs fucking.”

At his explicit words, she simply gaped. At the same time, she knew what he said was true. She did need fucking. Desperately.

The tone of his voice deepened. “Let me between your thighs, up your…gorgeous ass,” he hesitated as if letting the words sink in, “between your breasts, and deep inside those luscious lips. I want it all, every part of you.”

Her body throbbed at the image of him and his cock working her over. Yes… He said all the right things to make her hot and needy and unable to resist.

The intercom buzzed.

Not now.
She stared into his compelling eyes. She wanted to go for it—all of it.

The intercom buzzed again, its intrusive sound drawing her out of the sensual moment. A denial tempted her, but she knew her duty.

“Damn.” Shrugging her robe up, she pulled away and stalked to the table beside her bunk. He let her go without protest. She clicked a button. “Yes?”

“You’re needed on the command deck, Captain,” a male voice announced.

Well, that put an end to the sexual encounter. For now. Perhaps the interruption was for the best. She needed some think time. “I’ll be right there.”

Without a word, she stalked past Adam and into the bathroom for her uniform. Work was her priority. Her emotions and needs would have to wait until later.

Chapter Two

Tyree studied the military-grade black freighter off their port side. The plasma screen displaying the ship flickered and the transmission turned to fuzz. She punched a vid-button and adjusted the reflector, reestablishing and stabilizing the image.

“No apparent heading—they’re drifting. No appearance of life from the portholes. Everything’s dark over there. The ship looks abandoned. Communications?”

“None,” Corporal John Hanson, the Engineer and Mechanical Specialist, reported.

“High ore concentrates show in their storage tanks,” she observed, the blood thrumming through her veins. She wasn’t sure if the rush was from the possible salvage or from the residual effect of Adam’s words and touch.

“
Sha
ll we board, Captain?” Analyst Mick Ridgeway asked, excitement in his voice.

“Don’t be so eager, Corporal. Any life detected?” She wasn’t boarding a ship without knowing for certain whether the crew still controlled the vessel or not. She only salvaged ore from abandoned freighters, unlike space pirates, who also trolled the area.

“Checking now,” he grumbled. Ridgeway activated the sensor reads. A multicolored bar chart of elements popped up on his panel. “Analyzing.”