The Virtual Man [The Virtual Reality 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (23 page)

“Derek, it’s beautiful. What is it made of?”

“Bone. There was a time back on Earth when all combs were made of bone.”

“How can that be? It doesn’t look like any bone I’ve ever seen.”

“It took a little patience and work,” he said, grinning at her as he continued to run the comb through her red locks, “but I figured that if we had a comb I could do your hair for you.”

“How can a girl say no to that kind of logic?”

“She can’t,” he stated with confident arrogance.

Tiana’s body trembled as she felt his fingers and the comb make their way through her hair, establishing a pattern like the flow of waves in the ocean, that, of course, reminded her of …

“Okay, all done. Now let’s move on to the rest of your body.”

“You’re going to give me a sponge bath?!” She jumped up, regretting it instantly as she felt her head spin.

“Whoa there. Lay down on your back and relax.”

“Oh, you mean keep doing what I’ve been doing since we got here?” she responded pertly.

“Exactly. You’re quite good at it, and you look great doing it, particularly naked,” he added with a smile and a wink. “Besides, it’s technically not a sponge bath unless I use a sponge and we don’t have one.”

Taking what was left of his shirt, Derek folded it up and dipped it into the new wash basin allowing it to absorb as much water as the thin material possibly could. He then pulled it out, and began washing her.

Tiana felt the coolness of the water as it hit her skin. The slow circling motions and the patience he took in the process felt divine on her ignored for way too long skin. The man had an incredible way with his hands.

“You know,” she said in a hoarse whisper as she stretched out her quaking body, “I’m not sure I can handle you doing that to me.”

“What am I doing to you? I’m just washing you.”

“No, that’s not what you’re doing. What you’re really doing is rubbing cool, refreshing water with those expert hands all over my hot, naked flesh. There’s a huge difference between that and just washing me.”

“My mother always told me to enjoy my work.”

“You enjoying your work is not the problem. The problem is that I’m enjoying your work even more than you are. Perhaps instead of cleaning me you ought to dirty me up some more first.”

Derek sobered. “Tiana, as I said before, there are few things I’d rather do than to make love with you right now. You are as naked as the day you were born and I am washing every part of your incredible sexy body. Rest assured that right now, this very second, I want you madly and passionately. For now, however, our carnal desires for each other need to be set aside and we need to give your beautiful body time to heal.”

“You really think my body is beautiful?” she asked, glancing at the faded stretch marks on her stomach and the slight sag in her breasts, not understanding how he could possibly think so.

“My sweetest, your soul and your body both are so beautiful that it pains me deeply to hear you doubt the fact,” he said, not seeming to understand how she could possibly not know so. “See how my hands fit perfectly over your breasts? Have you noticed how your tummy and hips perfectly accommodate my hips? While I’ve seen you weep for what has been lost, your indomitable courage since we crash-landed has been nothing short of inspiring. Your compassion and trust put me to shame. Tiana, you are truly exquisite.”

Closing her eyes, Tiana said nothing more, allowing Derek to wash her. He continued to deny himself, even though she was begging him not to, for her health, for her.
That’s character
, she thought. He might not love her, but he would do whatever it took to protect her and take care of her.

A few days later, Derek saw the old fiery Tiana return with a vengeance.

“Damn it, Derek! Get me down from here! The infection has cleared up, the wound has closed, I’m feeling fine and I stink. I want to go to the lake and get cleaned up.”

“Tiana, please give yourself another day.”

“That’s what you said yesterday. Look, I’ve been good and I’ve humored you for the past few days, not that I know how many of them have come and gone, and I’m going stir crazy on this stupid platform. While I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, I am getting down and I’m getting down right now. You can either lower me down with the rope or I’ll climb down on my own.”

Tiana stood with her hands on her hips, fire lighting her emerald eyes and sparks seeming to shoot from her wavy red hair.

“Tiana, please be careful.”

“Quit telling me what to do!” she responded, her temper ratcheting up another notch. “I’m not promising you a thing! I am getting down. You keep letting this me strong husband protector, you weak wife need my help crap get to your head. Look, I married you as a favor …”

Nooooo. I’ve done it again.
Why did her mouth always have to get ahead of her brain? She knew she should apologize, but she was too angry and proud to.

“All right, you win. I’ll lower you.”

To her surprise, Derek did not get angry. He didn’t even look upset.

This could be worse than if he had gotten mad at her. The lack of emotion proved that he really didn’t love her.

“You know the drill. Slip the harness around you and I’ll lower you,” he said without a hint of emotion one way or the other.

Tiana got into the rope’s noose and Derek, muscles bulging, slowly lowered her to the ground, then quickly joined her.

“I have a surprise for you. Please come with me,” he requested coolly.

“Can I get cleaned up at the lake first?” she asked. She really did feel sticky and uncomfortable.

“Please trust me. You’ll regret it later if you go to the lake first,” he said with a smile, stretching his hand out for hers.

After having just run her mouth at him, Tiana decided to humor him. Placing her hand in his, she allowed him to lead her.

They walked maybe a half mile before she heard the sound of falling water. As they cleared a large boulder of granite, they came upon a scene similar to the holographic representations she had seen before of what parts of Earth had once looked like. A mountain of rock stretched out of the ground with trees growing up one of its sides and all around the top. The leaves ran the whole spectrum from shades of green to brown, orange, yellow and red. Directly in front of the rock wall was a pool of crystal-clear spring water fed by a small cascade that made its way down from the tall mountain of rock through a winding channel of smooth rock it had carved and polished through the years.

“Derek, it’s beautiful. The water is so clear!”

“Now, aren’t you glad you didn’t go to that dirty old lake?”

Shamed by her earlier outburst, Tiana felt humbled by his graciousness.

“Yes, I suppose I am, but not half as glad as you’re going to be,” she replied, with a mischievous grin and a wicked sparkle reaching her emerald eyes.

* * * *

Derek watched as his sexy wife, her curvaceous bottom swaying, strode towards the waterfall.

“Do not come in the water,” she told him.

“You’ve been ordering me around for days. Now it’s my turn. Do not follow me into the water,” she stated firmly in a no-nonsense tone.

As she walked away from him, Derek watched her pale-pink blouse come off and be tossed aside. She only stopped moving long enough to kick off her sandals. Her skirt and panties came down next in one fell swoop, leaving her as naked as the day she came into the world.

Stepping into the water she murmured, “It’s nice and cool. Very refreshing. Too bad you’re in time out.”

She continued through the refreshingly cool water until she found herself underneath the waterfall, knee deep in the water. Derek couldn’t take his eyes off her. Tiana had a natural way of moving, an unawareness of her beauty that drove him to the edge of insanity. He wasn’t prepared for what she did next. With clear intent, she leaned back on the smooth rocks and let the water splash down on her. Rubbing her body with a soft soap-like rock Derek had found for her, she washed herself casually, keeping her eyes trained on him, as if she were measuring his reaction to her every move and every touch. He did not disappoint her. He stood less than twenty feet away, watching her.

* * * *

Holding her rock-soap with one hand, she allowed the water to rinse her, as she rubbed the soap off her heated skin with the other. While he may not want to stay married she knew she had a deep sexual connection to him giving her back some power and control.

Time to step up the action for you, my sweet thing.

As she rinsed, Tiana allowed her hands to gently glide along the curves of her body, helping the water do its job. She saw the lust in his eyes as her slender fingers slowed and touched the tips of her swollen breasts. She was doing this for his benefit, she tried to convince herself, but when she flicked her erect nipples she gasped at her own touch. She’d never done this before. Not for Tom, not even for herself, yet somehow it felt right to be doing this for a man who made her feel so desired. He was her husband, it was okay. If she had to use sex to make him think long and hard about what he would be missing if he left her, so be it.

Derek had removed his clothes as he watched Tiana’s performance. The hardness between his legs was clear evidence that he was wondrously bewitched. She knew that she had caused that desire and that it was just for her!

Tiana allowed her hand to leave her aching breasts, move across her belly and down to the juncture between her legs. As her fingers caressed her swollen and sensitive nubbin, she felt desire shoot up her body, forcing a moan from within her.

With her eyes Tiana told Derek it was time. Receiving her silent command, he waded into the water straight for her, never breaking the connection of her gaze. Not a word was uttered by either one of them. Tiana experienced a variety of thrills stemming from her actions. The physical aspect was thrilling, the power exhilarating, the danger enticing and the safety freeing. She enjoyed the influence she had over this man. She was in control. He had walked over because she had wanted him to. He was utterly unable to deny her anything.

Reaching the waterfall, Derek gazed deeply into her green eyes. Never breaking eye contact, she arched her back and moved one leg off to the side, sending him another direct but silent order, one he was only too happy to obey.

Derek cupped his strong hands around her bottom and lifted her off the ground. In one swift move he impaled her on his aching manhood. She was wet for him and not because of the waterfall either. Tiana felt him fill her as she wrapped her legs around his back and her arms around his neck. This was the very definition of two becoming one.

As he thrust into her, Tiana looked down and watched Derek’s mouth latch onto one of her succulent nipples. When he gently bit it, she rewarded him with a little scream that begged for mercy, the mercy to do keep nipping at it.

“Oh, my. Derek! You take me to paradise.”

Tiana was surrounded by his essence. The intensity she was feeling at this moment was breathtaking, time was suspended, her nerves inflamed, her desire feverish.

“Harder,” she heard herself say.
Had she really said that?
“Show me, show me how much you want me.”

Saying nothing, Derek continued to let his actions speak for him. Slowly pulling out just enough to make her want him more, he then forcefully thrust himself back in, winding her up tighter … and tighter … and tighter each time.

She couldn’t take it anymore. She needed release. With unparalleled desperation she felt herself crossing the point of no return.

“Ohhh fuck!” she screamed as she felt an orgasm ravage and rage through her body, providing the release she craved. Wave after wave overcame her as Derek followed, filling her with his seed as he too was lifted up and carried into oblivion.

As Derek’s knees gave out, they both slipped into the water, clasping each other tightly, overcome by the passion they had just shared. It was all they could do to reach the side of the pool, where they lay on their backs enveloped in the powerful and magical afterglow of their lovemaking, allowing the hot sun to wash over their naked and sated bodies.

* * * *

At first Tiana thought she was dreaming. She could hear a deep growling sound mixed with whimpers, like those of a hurt child, coming from the woods on the other side of the pool. Lifting up into a sitting position she listened carefully. Derek, sensing her distraction, sat up as well.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Sometimes it sounds like an animal and sometimes it sounds like a child crying.”

Without thinking about it, her protective instincts driving her, Tiana got up, and without bothering to dress and Derek following closely behind her, made for the other side of the pool.

Could it be a child in trouble?
Her motherly instincts surged within her at the very thought.

After progressing through thick foliage for what felt like it might have been a hundred yards or more, the couple came upon a small clearing where they saw something struggling to get out from under a downed tree.

Cautiously they approached and walked around the tree. Its foliage made it hard to see what was struggling for survival underneath. Whatever it was, it stopped moving, aware of their presence. Silence fell upon the clearing as Tiana and Derek cautiously and quietly tried to get a look at the trapped creature.

“Derek,” Tiana whispered. “There it is. It’s not a person, it’s an animal of some kind.”

Picking up a large stick for protection, Derek approached the gray creature. About the size and looks of a large Earth dog, it quietly whimpered as it watched the man come closer.

“It looks a lot like what they used to call a grey wolf back on Earth, except grey wolves didn’t have fangs and teeth that big, or outside their mouths, for that matter.”

“A grey what? How do you know so much about extinct Earth animals?”

“Tiana, you really should have paid more attention in paleontology class in high school.”

“Derek, I’m an engineer. If it wasn’t math-related I tried to avoid it in high school. By the same token, now that we know it’s an animal and not a person, why are we still walking to it?”