MaleAndroidCompanion

by Mackenzie McKade

  The pain welling in her eyes tugged at his heartstrings.

  The world saw Gia Easton as a woman who had it all, beauty, fame and money. What she really wanted was friendship—companionship—someone to love her.

  For a moment she was quiet. Then she cupped his face, guiding him toward her mouth. Her kiss was tender, almost reverent. “Why can’t you be real?” Her whisper was so soft he barely heard her.

  Marc’s heart stuttered. He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat.

  “Kiss me like I’m yours,” she choked.

  This time when her mouth touched his something inside him burst wide open. She wanted him. Could it be possible that she, a renowned celebrity, would even consider this geeky scientist?

  Sliding his tongue along the seam of her lips, he thrust inside. Gia was all fiery heat. Her feminine taste was a drug making his senses spin out of control. He kissed her over and over again. She whimpered against his mouth and he drank the sound. When they parted both were breathless. Her pebble-hard nipples rasped against his chest.

  Eyes slumberous and sexy, she rubbed her silky body up and down his. “If you were real, I’d marry you in a heartbeat.”

  Marry? Him?

  Blood rushed to his cock, making him impossibly firmer as his chest squeezed. Fear and excitement played tug-of-war with his emotions. He was a man—real. Before, commitment had always been the enemy. Yet the thought of devoting his life to Gia—no, Gina—had a beautiful ring to it.

  Through feathered lashes, she scanned his face. “You and I would make beautiful babies together.” The weariness in her eyes wrapped around him.

  “How many children?” Marc found himself asking—and really wanting to know.

  Leaning into him, she brushed her lips across his. “Two. A boy and a girl. And a Cairn Terrier.” She chuckled, the girlish sound softening his heart. “I’ve always wanted a dog since I moved away from home, but it seemed ridiculous and cruel with the schedule I keep to get one.”

  Absentmindedly, he nibbled on her neck before raising his head. “Where would you want to live after we were married?” Damn. He was falling into this fantasy as well.

  “Oregon,” she replied with no hesitation. “I love the trees, the mountains and water. In an hour or so we could be at the ocean clamming or we could run or hike for miles undisturbed. At times I just silently sit and watch the wildlife. It truly is a beautiful place. Do you like to fish?”

  A nature lover?

  From watching her slink across the silver screen and listening to her interviews, no one would guess that her privacy meant so much to her. He liked that and so much more about her. She was intelligent and easy to talk to. Marc couldn’t remember the last time he felt like sharing parts of his family with a woman. And this woman made him laugh, smile and want so much more than a couple of weeks with her.

  “Yes. I enjoy fishing, but I haven’t had the opportunity in a long while. The last time I fished I had Brandon and Nathan fly out and we took a trip to Alaska.” But the vision in his head at the moment was one of Gina sitting between his thighs, sitting on a grassy bank, both of them with fishing poles in their hands.

  “Alaska?” Unexpected sarcasm rose in her tone. She shook her head, disbelief rimming her eyes. “You’re good. You almost made me buy into your story.” She glanced up at him. “I guess since we’re pretending, what about you? Where would you live?”

  “Wherever you want to live would be home for me.” His answer shocked him, as well as Gina judging by the drop of her jaw. God help him. He was falling for her. Hell. What was he saying? Since the first time he’d seen her on the silver screen he had wanted her. Of course that was just a fantasy—this was reality. Even if he had a chance with her he’d blown it. Once she discovered his deception, there would be no chance of him ever making her his.

  “Really?” There was a dreamy texture to her voice. “I think that is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

  Marc doubted that, but if she promised to be his, he would build her a mansion in the green forests of Oregon or a beach house on the ocean, anything her heart desired. And she could fill it up with all the children and dogs she wanted. The thought remained unspoken.

  A huff of air left her lungs. “I’m doing it again. How pathetic am I?” Moisture filled her eyes once more. As one large tear rolled down her cheek, she swiped at it angrily. “I—” She choked back the words. “You know… I just forget sometimes.” She spun around, her back to him. “I think we have enough to convince my family we’re legitimate.”

  Gina’s sadness overwhelmed him. The urge to take her into his arms and comfort her was strong, but before he could reach for her she stepped away. “I need to pack.” Moving across the room, she pushed a button on the wall unit that opened the partitions to a large walk-in closet. Exquisite gowns hung on one side, casual wear on the other. A Ferris wheel of shoes rotated and in between them were drawers. When she moved her hand in front of one of the drawers it opened.

  Sensor activated.

  Marc stepped into the closet, easing up behind her and pressing his naked chest to her back. “Packing can wait, sweetheart.” Brushing her hair aside, he bared her shoulder for his mouth, kissing a path up the length of her neck. “Come to bed. I want to be inside you.”

  For a moment silence lingered between them.

  “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” Blindly, she stared at the open drawer that held lingerie. “One minute I’m okay. The next…” She drifted off, releasing a ragged breath. “It’s true that the best way to forget a man is to lose yourself to someone else, but—” A tremor raced through her and he folded his arms around her to quiet it. Turning in his arms, she snaked her hands around his waist. “You’re not real.”

  A surge of guilt rushed through Marc’s veins. His lies were the reason for the confusion tugging at her brows. If only he had introduced himself, maybe he might have had a chance with her.

  “You do things to me—” Sucking her bottom lip into her mouth, she bit down. “I let my guard down when I’m with you. Tell you things I’ve never admitted to a single soul.” Once again, tears swam in her eyes. “And you make me feel things I’ve never felt with another man. You make me forget Doug, but you also reveal the emptiness in my life and what I’m missing in a man, a real relationship.”

  What a sorry-ass bastard he was. “Gina, what if I was human? Would I really stand a chance with you?” Because he wanted to be her man. He wanted to go to bed each night and wake up each morning in her arms. He wanted to make her dreams come true.

  “It’s a moot point, Marc.” Releasing him, she jerked a clean robe off a hanger and walked past him, straight toward the intercom in her bedroom. “Leda, could you please come up and help me pack?”

  “Right away, Miss Easton.” The housekeeper’s distinctive voice burst from the small white box against the wall.

  Gina pushed her arms through the sleeves of the satiny white robe. Her silence was as good as a dismissal. On leaden feet, she returned to the closet and started to yank clothes off hangers and out of the open drawer.

  Slowly Marc backed away. Somewhere in the scheme of things he had fucked everything up, including his chance with Gina. Yet confessing his sin now would ruin her visit with her family. He disappeared into the adjoining bedroom and quietly shut the door.

  The only choice he had was to continue the charade. After the weekend, he would tell her the truth and hope that she could forgive him.

  He needed to contact Toil and make arrangements for their trip to Oregon. Although Marc had met her security detail, he would prefer his own. What ruse could he and Toil come up with to get Gina to accept the Institute’s jet and protection?

  Chapter Eight

  Gia woke to a warm body pressed against hers, one arm slung around her waist and a knee wedged between her legs. A slight tug of her hair and she turned to find Marc wide awake and running his fingers through her hair.

  “What are you doing?” />
  The intensity in his eyes sent a shiver through her. “Watching you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on.”

  She eased upon her back.

  Splaying his fingers wide across her flat stomach, he smoothed a palm up her rib cage to brush the underside of a breast before he cupped her fullness.

  Gia’s belly clenched. “Now what are you doing?”

  “Seducing you.” With his thumb and index finger, he rolled her nipple into a hard peak.

  Fingers of desire danced between her thighs.

  “Is it working?”

  She opened her mouth to respond just as she caught sight of the clock in the corner of the large television screen that took up most of the wall across from the bed. In bright neon green, it announced nine o’clock.

  “Oh my god. We’ll miss our plane.” She tossed back the comforter, knocking away his hand as she started to rise. Marc wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back down upon the bed. “Stop it,” she said. As she made another attempt to rise, he pinned her arms above her head, a muscled thigh across her hips. “Dammit, Marc. Let me go.”

  “Transportation hasn’t arrived. We have time for this.” With his free hand he plucked at one of her nipples. “And this.” Adjusting his hips, he draped them over hers, climbing atop her. “All you have to do is lie perfectly still, I’ll do the rest.”

  Marc’s morning hard-on pressed against her pelvic bone. For a moment the bulge drew her attention, but then the fact that they would be leaving soon pulled at her. “I need to—”

  His lips stole the words from her mouth with a long, slow kiss that screwed with her resistance. Nibbling on the corner of her mouth, he eased her legs apart with a knee before laying his firm erection against her damp folds.

  “Nice.” Trying to dislodge her wrists from his hold, she squirmed, sliding along the hard ridge between her thighs.

  His chuckle was a deep blend of amusement and lust. “Hold still.” Dipping his head, he circled a nipple in his hot mouth and suckled for a moment before he broke the suction with a pop. The warm air he breathed over the moist skin made both peaks draw up taut.

  Breasts heavy with need, she inhaled his earthy aftershave, which told her he’d already risen and prepared for the day and then returned to her. The knowledge and the rich scent of him warmed her blood and stirred her arousal. Rays of electricity burst through her core. A flood of moisture anointed her thighs, her need building into a slow burn.

  Angling his hips, he positioned his cock at her pussy, allowing only the broad head to enter and tempt her. Then he eased inside her with a slow, hard stroke. The full, tight sensation of him buried deep inside her was amazing. Each of his thrusts was met with one of her own.

  Gia found herself smiling. This is how a woman should wake each morning. In the arms of a man who couldn’t keep his hands off her.

  M.A.C.’s marketing strategy had been clever. Give a woman a taste of the good life and she’ll pay any price to keep their product. But Gia had stepped beyond the boundaries and fallen for Marc.

  He found a sensitive spot and she gasped, arching beneath him.

  If her family knew or the press found out she’d be completely and totally humiliated. Once again she had to push her thoughts away and focus on the man who held her and dropped over the top of her so that their bodies came together before he took her mouth with his.

  Mimicking the slow steady pace of his hips with his tongue, he fucked her mouth with a tenderness that squeezed her chest. When the caress ended, he worked his way down her throat, nuzzling her neck before kissing a path across the hollow of one shoulder and finally to the swell of a breast.

  He cupped her. “I love your breasts. Soft. Warm. Made for me like your body is—you are.” He licked her nipple and then bit the tip, sending shards of fire through the peak. Then he drew the nub into his mouth and sucked with long pulls.

  Gia closed her eyes and savored the moment, but it was over way too soon.

  Releasing his hold, he licked and caressed his way back up her body to find her mouth once more. Without hesitation, she parted her lips and invited him in to taste her. Their tongues slid provocatively along each other as they sipped from each other’s mouths, the intensity between them growing like a slow, imminent wave that strengthened with each thrust of their hips and their passionate kiss.

  A contraction bore down on her womb, alerting her to the first signs of her rising orgasm. She wiggled beneath him, trying to find that special area that would carry her to heaven.

  “Please, Marc,” she gasped, jerking her hands. He let her go. As soon as she touched him, muscles rippled beneath her palms. She clawed her fingernails across his back, flexing them as another spasm erupted.

  “Fuck. That’s hot,” he cried out, bowing his back against her raking talons. “Mark me, baby.”

  God. He was right. It was hot and his reaction even hotter.

  Gia knew there would be red, angry stripes down his back and she didn’t care as she dragged her hands across him again. She wanted to mark him. As silly as it sounded, she wanted him to be hers.

  Liquid heat pooled inside her along with a desperate need to appease the ache between her thighs, which was building with alarming speed. Keening sounds slipped from her taut lips. Her inner muscles bunched, released and then tightened again. Panting, her body undulated beneath his.

  He laid his forehead against hers. His fiery stare met hers. “Damn. It feels as if your pussy is sucking me deeper.”

  Gia heard his sharp intake of air. Hooking his arms beneath her knees, he spread her wider, slamming into her with a force she swore struck the very core of her being before he ground his hips into her. His cock enlarged, swelled, stretching her even more.

  “Come for me, Gina.”

  To hear her real name on his lips undid her. Moaning and writhing, her arousal soared with the exquisite burn surging through her veins. He thrust again and the pulsing ache inside her reached a crescendo before splintering in all directions.

  Gia screamed.

  Stars burst behind her eyelids.

  No air remained in her lungs. She was drowning in ecstasy and clinging to Marc as if he were an anchor.

  Exerting more pressure against her inner thighs, he slammed home once again. His body quivered and then he stilled. A throaty groan echoed in her ear as he climaxed, joining her. The warmth of his seed filled her, setting off another series of spasms that almost stopped her heart. It was too much and not enough. She would never tire of this man.

  Loosening his tight grip on her legs, he collapsed and rolled, taking her with him as pleasure continued to curl through her. He buried his face into her hair. His breathing was broken pants, matching hers.

  Gia sighed.

  Lying in his arms, she felt cherished, wanted and for once in her life, content.

  The sudden rattling of the French doors to her bedroom jerked her upright and out of Marc’s arms. Her gaze flew to the doors as her heart started to pound.

  Marc smoothed his palm up her thigh. “Relax, honey. That’s just our ride.”

  Relief filtered through her. That’s right. Talk about timing. Mr. Roberts from the Institute had called last night to inquire whether she would be leaving the state with their android. When she informed him she did have plans to go to Oregon this weekend, he insisted that the Institute’s security and jet be used. Since Marc was legally the property of the Institute, if she wanted him to accompany her, she had no other alternative but to agree.

  “Get dressed.” He sat up, throwing his legs over the side of the bed. “The sooner we leave the more likely we won’t be followed. You can shower in the sphere before breakfast.”

  Gia watched his powerful, naked body move across the room.

  Gorgeous. And all hers.

  In reality who needed a man?

  Gia rose quickly, heading toward the bathroom. After she dressed in jeans, a li
ght cotton pullover T-shirt and walking boots, she exited the manor to find Marc speaking with Antares.

  A strange aircraft she had never seen before other than in pictures hovered two feet above the ground. The long, sleek, silver disc-shaped helio-sphere had no wings or rotor or even doors that she could detect. As her gaze skimmed across the shiny surface, midway up the craft something began to vacillate, reshape. A small portion of the ship began to melt. Like liquid mercury it flowed to the ground, morphing into a solid ramp. As soon as the entrance was revealed, one of their bodyguards began to load their luggage.

  Stunned, she stood speechless when Marc turned and smiled. He opened his arms and she walked into them as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do.

  Antares pinned his dark gaze on Gia. “Miss Easton, do Mr. Charleston’s plans meet with your approval?”

  “Yes, Antares. The Institute has provided everything we will need.”

  The frown on Antares’ hard mouth revealed his stance. “You need to know the press activity has picked up since last night’s headlines.”

  “What headlines?” she asked.

  Marc tightened his hold on her. “Apparently the media has gotten wind that there is a new man in your life.”

  “Crap.” The happiness she had felt only moments ago vanished. No matter how one tried, secrets got out. It would only be a matter of time before the truth of Marc was discovered and then her life would be raked across the coals. And it was too late to turn back now.

  Marc dropped his arm around Gina’s shoulder. “Honey, we should leave now.” With a palm in the small of her back, he assisted her up the gangplank. Once she was seated and buckled in, he sat next to her.

  “Oh. My. God,” she said in awe as she looked around the plush sphere.

  The craft was bigger than it appeared from the outside. There were no pilots. The ship had only to be programmed, their flight pattern was already logged into memory. A couple of their bodyguards sat in a separate room along with their luggage. But her expression of wonder was due to the fact that the walls of the helio-sphere appeared almost invisible in places, like windows, so that it felt as if she had only to stretch her arm to touch the sky, buildings and the world itself.