by Elin Peer
“I can’t believe you remember that.”
Her tone was dry. “I have a good memory.”
“Right. Well, some of the kids were playing too close and we couldn’t go all the way.”
Shelly’s face was growing red and it was a boost to my male pride that the subject of me having sex with someone else seemed to upset her.
“I know that I was your first,” I said.
She averted her eyes. “I already apologized for that.”
“Don’t apologize. It was just a shock, that’s all. I mean, what if you’re pregnant?” The question had been on my mind ever since I found out the truth.
She shook her head. “I’m not.”
“You can’t know that.”
“It would be very unlikely. Did you know that a woman only ovulates once a month and that the sperm cell only has about twenty-four hours to find and penetrate the egg? Sperm can survive approximately five days, so in theory the sperm cells that are already inside her have a better chance.”
“No, I didn’t know that. Do you know when you’re ovumating?”
“It’s called ovulating,” she corrected me and shook her head a little. “And the answer is that I don’t know. I never worried about that sort of thing.”
“Well I worry about it. I know you said that you’d never marry me, but if you’re pregnant, Shelly, that would change things, right?”
Shelly turned her head away from me. “Marriage is only done here in the Northlands. The rest of the world ended that tradition hundreds of years ago.”
“I don’t care. If you’re having my child, you’ll marry me.”
“I’m not pregnant and I’m not marrying you.”
“For all I know, I might have super sperm and gotten you pregnant already.” I felt a rush just saying the words, but Shelly didn’t look like she believed it for one second.
“Statistically, getting pregnant the first time you have sex is unlikely. I’ve heard that in the olden days they had pills for men and women to prevent pregnancies.” Shelly wrinkled her forehead. “It’s sad how so many important inventions have been lost. Christina once told me that in the twenty-second century they had some kind of technology to stop women from having their menstruation. That was before the world went mad in that awful wave of the post-war naturalism that ruined it for all of us.”
“What naturalism?”
“Oh, you don’t know about it? Well, Modern Naturalism is believed to have started somewhere in the 2080s. There was a purge of all things artificial for your body. No hair coloring, body brandings, implants, or other beauty enhancements. Having your period was seen as something natural that shouldn’t be tampered with.” She sighed. “Those women were fools.”
“Why?”
“Trust me, Marco. If you were a woman, you’d understand how unpleasant it is to have your period. Anyway, Modern Naturalism lasted almost a century and it wasn’t until around 2170s that it became fashionable to color your hair and nails again. Sadly, by then it had been generations since women had known a life without menstruation and no effort was made to bring back the technology. To this day we still pay the price for Modern Naturalism to ruin it for all of us.”
“How bad can it be to have your period?”
“It’s different for every woman, but in general it hurts, and sometimes I get sad and emotional for no reason. I would give up my period in a heartbeat.”
“Even if it meant you could never have children?”
Shelly played with a lock of her hair. “I’m not planning on having children anyway, so yes I would.”
I widened my eyes. “Why the hell not?” It seemed like a colossal waste to have a woman not reproduce.
Shelly’s only answer was a small shrug.
“No, seriously, why wouldn’t you want to be a mother?”
“It would take time from my work.”
“You wouldn’t have to give up your work. Most of my friends are married and their wives still work while having children.”
Shelly chewed on her lip. “It’s not in the cards for me, I think. I’m not a family unit person and I would never sign up for the Matching Program.”
“Me neither.”
“Even if you don’t win a tournament?”
“Most of the Motlander women who sign up to be married do it for the wrong reasons. I mean, there are happy couples, but I’ve seen too many failed marriages to be interested.”
“And yet you were quick to offer to marry me.”
I swung my hand in the air. “That’s different.”
“Why.”
“Because I know you and you’re nothing like the other women who sign up for the Matching Program.”
“Interesting. If I’m not like them, then what am I?”
“You’re different.”
“In what way? Less woman?”
“No, you’re more like the rational kind of woman, aren’t you? And smart. I can see you winning the Nobel Prize and shit.”
“I don’t know about that, but you’re right about one thing: I’m hoping to set my mark on the world and improve the quality of life for millions of people, Nmen included.”
“By building better sex-bots?”
“And other things. I’ve got so many ideas that my head sometimes feels like it’s exploding.”
I lifted my arms in a yawn. “All I’m saying is that my friends’ wives are working and having children at the same time. It’s possible.”
She raised her eyes to look straight at me. “I’m getting the feeling that you’re hoping that I’m pregnant.”
“No, of course not.” It flew out of me a bit too loud, but after her repeated refusal to marry me, having a child with Shelly would be a recipe for disaster.
Shelly’s face tightened. “Afraid your child would be a freak like me?”
“A freak? What are you talking about.”
“Brainy, remember?” She was referring to my old nick name for her.
I gave a small eye roll. “Ah, come on, being a genius isn’t the worst that can happen to a person.”
“How would you know?”
“Hey, are you insinuating that I’m stupid?”
Shelly drew in a long breath and hid her face in her hands. “No, that’s not what I meant. Why do we always have to argue?”
“Because you always assume the worst about me.”
“I don’t. With you it just feels like I constantly have to defend myself.”
“That’s bullshit. I always liked you.”
“That’s not true,” she muttered, letting her hands fall down, and looking up at the ceiling. “Most of the time I was invisible to you and when you saw me, you teased me.”
“How else was I going to bring balance between us?”
“What do you mean, balance?”
“My pride was under pressure from the beginning just from the fact that we were both assistant mentors yet you were five years younger and introduced as a genius. Shelly, I was trying to prove myself to Archer and you kept correcting me when I taught a lesson.”
“I only corrected you when you got something wrong.”
“Then I must have gotten a lot of things wrong according to you, because you fucking corrected me daily. It was humiliating.”
Shelly moved on the sofa – showing more of that creamy skin before she tugged the t-shirt down to cover her thighs. “I’m sorry. I guess it’s the empathy thing you talked about. I don’t always sense when it’s the right time to keep quiet.”
I shook my head. “It wasn’t that I didn’t like you, Shelly. It’s just that from the moment you arrived it was clear to everyone that being at the school was a short stop for you on your way to the moon.”
“The moon?”
“Not literally. But you were always unique, and we all knew it.” I held out my hand with the palm down. “There was us.” I smiled at her and raised my hand way up. “And then there was you. I’ve already told you how jealous I was of you.”
She looked like she was processing what I’d just said and finding it hard to believe that anyone would be jealous of her.
Moving closer, I placed my hand on top of hers. It was a bold move and I was nervous she would slap it away. Touching a woman from the Northlands like this would be dangerous, but Shelly was a Motlander and she just looked at my hand with interest. “Shelly, there’s one thing that I still can’t figure out. Why did you have sex with me?”
She sighed. “You can’t let it go, can you?”
“No, it’s a fucking big deal to me, and I don’t understand what happened.”
“I told you I was curious. I work on optimizing sex-bots for Nmen, and for weeks before you came in, I’d been studying Nmen testing out Mindy. Every time I watched them, questions popped into my mind. Some of them stayed in the room and cuddled with her as if they were pretending she was real. That confirmed to me that my idea of Natura had merit. People always say that men only care about the visual, and that’s why the sex-bots have those unrealistic proportions. But I think Nmen long to feel a connection to a real woman.”
“Of course we do.”
Shelly, got up on her knees, her eyes shining with interest. “Be honest. If you could choose between Mindy or Natura, what would you pick?”
I smiled at her sudden enthusiasm and chuckled. “Nice try, but you’re avoiding my question. Why me?”
With a sigh she bit her lower lip. “It wasn’t something that I’d planned, Marco. It just happened.”
“You could have stopped me. Why didn’t you?”
She looked away with a troubled look in her brown eyes. “Maybe I should have, but I wanted to know what sex feels like. When you mistook me for a sex-bot, I just went with it.” She rubbed her nose. “For research.”
“For research?”
“Uh-huh.”
“You had sex with me as research for your work?”
“Something like that.”
“That sounds pretty cold.”
Shelly shrugged. “What do you want me to say?”
“I don’t know. That you felt attracted to me, maybe.”
She looked thoughtful. “I knew you wouldn’t hurt me and that I’d be safe with you.”
I groaned. “At least there’s that.”
“And I always thought you had nice eyes,” she added.
“Did you at least enjoy your research?”
She gave a small shrug. “It was different.”
My jaw hardened. “Is that a no?”
“I liked the feeling of you sliding in and out of me, but I didn’t like how I lost control.” She fixated on her hands again, avoiding my eyes. “Or maybe I did. I’m still analyzing that part. It was a new side of me and I’m not sure I liked it.”
I loved that side of you. My blood pumped a little faster, just from our talk about sex. She was damn right, she’d shown a new side of herself, and I hadn’t been able to get her sweet moans and kisses out of my mind since it happened. Wetting my lips, I asked the big, pressing question. “Do you need to do more research?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Are you planning to sleep with other Nmen than me?”
Shelly blinked her eyes and lifted her hand to twirl a lock of her hair. “I hadn’t thought about that. That’s a good point. A scientist always needs a wide number of samples for comparison.”
The sides of my neck tensed up and heat spread to my face as anger flared up inside of me. “Is that a joke? You’re not going to sleep with a bunch of men for your research, are you?” The thought alone made me want to smash any other Nman who came close to her.
“It wasn’t in my plan. I’ll think about it.”
“Look, if you need to do more research, I’ll help you, okay?”
She arched a brow. “You’ll find more Nmen for me?”
“No, of course not. You know what I meant, Shelly.”
Her head fell to one side and the edge of her mouth lifted. “You said I shouldn’t assume, so why don’t you spell it out for me?”
“If you need to do more research on sex, you can experiment with me.”
She straightened up a little and narrowed her eyes.
I cleared my throat, my pants feeling tighter, and my eyes noticing the curve of her breasts. “I’m serious, I wouldn’t mind having sex with you again.”
Shelly pulled back a little, like she wasn’t sure I was serious, so I added, “Only if you want, of course. I told you I enjoyed it, and it would be different now that I know you’re not a robot.”
“But you said you would have never done it if you knew it was me.”
“Right.”
“Well, you know it’s me now, so what changed?”
“For one, we already had sex and the fact that you’re not fifteen anymore is finally sinking in. I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I think about that day all the time. You’re beautiful and I’d have to be dead not to want you.”
Shelly took a few seconds before she answered. “In three weeks you’re going to be in a tournament.”
“True. So that gives us time to experiment all you want until then.” I shifted in my seat. “I got the message loud and clear that you don’t want to marry me and you’re going back to the Motherlands soon anyway. In a way the timing is kind of perfect. I could help you with your research and you could…” I trailed off.
“I could help you practice so you’re ready to impress Louisa in bed, is that it?” Shelly’s voice was low and her stare was direct. This had sounded so much better in my head.
“I didn’t mean it like that. Just forget that I asked.” Getting up from the couch, I stood for a second, before I muttered, “You can take my bed tonight and I’ll sleep here on the couch. Just give me a minute to change the sheets.” Without waiting for Shelly’s reply, I walked down the hallway, angry at myself for having brought up sex in the first place. What the hell had I been thinking?
My movements were rough as I made the bed ready for her. I had brought Shelly here to give her a safe space after the traumatizing events she’d been through tonight. So what had possessed me to jump on her with my suggestion for us to have sex again? It was a miracle she had done it the first time. To think she’d do it again was like hoping it could be summer all year round.
“Marco.”
I pivoted around to see Shelly in my doorway. Her pretty features were molded into a serious expression and her hands formed into fists down by her side.
“I have conditions.”
She had my full attention.
“If we have sex, you can’t come inside me.”
My Adam’s apple bobbed in my throat. “Shelly, you don’t have to, really…”
“Promise me,” she said in a firm voice.
Putting down the pillow on the bed, I walked closer to her. “Shelly, I shouldn’t have asked you. It’s a bad idea. After everything that happened to you tonight.”
Shelly lifted her face up toward me, and I was sucked into those brilliant eyes of hers. “If I say stop, you stop, and you can’t hit or spank me.”
I nodded.
“I mean it, Marco. You once said you really wanted to spank me but if you do, it’ll be the last time you touch me.”
Both my palms flew up in the air. “I won’t spank you, I promise.”
“You don’t get to make demands of me or become possessive.”
“Understood.” Every nerve ending was on alert and I was struggling internally. I’d never heard of an Nman only having sex with a woman, but maybe setting ground rules from the beginning would make everything easier.
“No one can know about us.”
I agreed. “Deal.”
She raised an index finger. “And my last condition is that I can add more conditions if something pops up.”
“Fair enough. I have a condition too,” I said.
“What’s that?”
My voice was deep and stern when I spoke. “Don’t lie to me ever again.”
“Are you sure you wa
nt to enforce that rule? Sometimes I lie to spare people’s pride or emotions.”
I raised an eyebrow. “And sometimes you pretend to be a sex-bot when you’re not. Don’t fucking lie to me, Shelly. It’s that simple”
“Okay. I promise that I won’t lie.”
“Good.” I watched her closely. “Were you serious about sleeping with other Nmen?”
“No.” Because she let her eyes fall down she missed the small smile on my face.
“Shelly.” Using my finger, I lifted her face again. “Will you take a shower with me? I’ve always wanted to try that.”
Shelly tugged at the t-shirt, looking a little shy. “Naked?”
I grinned and stepped close enough for our bodies to touch. “Do you Motlanders wear clothes when you shower?”
“No.”
“Then how about we shower naked together? For your research, you know. I can show you what men will want Natura to do in the shower.”
“Okay,” she muttered into my mouth when I bent down and kissed her.
CHAPTER 11
Research
Shelly
Marco’s body seemed enormous in the small shower. He was a head taller than me, his shoulders were broad, and his chest hard and chiseled.
I had heard Motlanders refer to Nmen’s visible muscles as vulgar, but his weren’t too bulgy and they didn’t bother me.
“Can I touch you?” he muttered against my neck.
“You already are.” I smiled when his hands slid from my hips to my breasts.
“I want to wash you all over.” There was such suppressed excitement in his voice that I laughed a little.
“Let me guess, you would like me to wash you all over too?”
He confirmed that with a boyish smile and began applying soap to my body, leaving no spot untouched.
“You’re very thorough,” I praised him when he lifted my arms and spun me around.
“Lean your head back.” Marco was careful when he washed my hair. The intimacy of it was both strange and wonderful at the same time.
“Tell me if the water is too hot,” he said and used his large hand to shield my eyes from the water as he rinsed out the shampoo from my hair.
