by Linda Mooney
Lawn shut her eyes and waited for what he would do next.
Every inch of her skin was prepared for his touch. Every sense was heightened, not knowing what he would do or how he would prove he could make love to her. The not knowing and suspense were drugging her, making her feverish with expectation.
“Can I dream it’s really you?”
“As a whole man? Yes. I hoped you would.”
A hand began to undo the closures on her jumpsuit. There was no fumbling, just quick, efficient movements. As hands carefully pushed the suit off her shoulders, she felt the fabric slide down her body, finally dropping onto her bare feet.
“When you went into the shower, I couldn’t take my eyes off of you.”
As he confessed, his hands reached up to lift her breasts.
Warm, rough but not uncomfortably so. She fought not to open her eyes and ruin the fantasy. Thumbs flicked her nipples, arousing them to thick attention. She resisted the urge to touch herself.
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He guided her down onto the bed that smelled faintly of sandlewood. The man must have read everything about her to know it was her favorite scent.
The linens were warmed. Deep lowered her to the pillow.
In the next instant she felt her arms being wrapped around the second pillow.
“Hug this instead of me.”
He brushed the hair out of her face, letting his fingers glide down her neck and shoulders. Sparks ignited under her skin, sending streaks of electricity screaming down to the heat building between her legs.
Lawn felt the sweat break out over her skin as hands teased her skin. Goose bumps rose in the wake of his light caresses. An increasing hunger manifested itself in her lower abdomen and steadily grew more insistent.
“Your body is perfect,” he murmured in her ear. “My God, Lawn, you put statues to shame.”
He concentrated on her breasts, lifting and molding them while he kept up the relentless attack on her nipples until she could feel the ache increasing between her legs. Moaning softly, Lawn lifted her knees in a vain attempt to curl herself into a little ball.
“Deep!”
His chuckle echoed in her ear. “My beautiful Lawn. What do you want me to do?”
“I don’t know,” she gasped, whipping her head from side to side. “Anything! Do anything! I don’t care!”
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Warm hands grasped her knees and parted her legs.
Fingers teased down the inside of her thighs, stroking and building the inferno that was burning at her core.
“You’re wet for me,” his dark voice murmured. “So wet. So sweet.”
One hand found her mound, cupped it, and the other hand carefully dipped a finger inside her. It was exquisite torture.
Gasping for breath, Lawn wriggled her hips.
“Do you like that?”
“Yes!”
“Would you like more?”
In the back of her mind, she realized he was dead serious.
He wasn’t toying with her. He was honestly working for her pleasure as his sentient brain tried to sort out the pleasurable readings from the painful ones.
“Yes! More, Deep. I want you toâ��”
Fingers found her clit, and they began to fondle the already aroused nub. A ragged cry tore from her throat as she felt herself already rising toward her fulfillment. Lifting her hips, she was totally unprepared for him to dip his fingers into her weeping entrance. As their rough surface scraped over inflamed nerve endings, her orgasm shuddered through her like an earthquake.
Lawn screamed, nearly blacking out. The hands continued to work her, keeping her on the cusp as shockwaves pounded into her, turning her muscles into jelly.
Minutes later, hours later, days later�she had lost all track of time. As the last of the tremors roiled through her, Lawn felt a delicious lassitude covering her like a soft blanket. The 89
hands withdrew from between her legs, and after brushing the damp hair clinging to her sweaty face, Deep lowered the lights as he faded back into the ship.
“Deep.” She unconsciously let go of the pillow and reached out for him. All she encountered was air. “Deep?” She was fighting sleep.
“I’m here, Lawn. I will always be here. Now rest.”
Smiling, she did.
Communique 5F
To: G.E. Coordinator Millner
Buoy is in perfect working order. Nothing detected on the scans. Ship is also in perfect working order. No problems or foreseeable complications.
Addendum: We are beginning to fit like puzzle pieces, mind to mind. Interest to interest. Oddly, the physical barriers are no longer an issue or a problem.
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Chapter 11
Filed Under “Comfort”
She was cold. Her sense of the here and now told her she was unclothed and on top of her bedcovers, which was why she found herself huddled around her pillow.
She reached down with one hand and fumbled for the coverlet. Almost immediately the thin blanket pulled up over her, bringing with it its automatic integrated heat.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
The lighting brightened a bit. Lawn shielded her eyes and squinted at the figure standing a few feet away. If she didn’t know any better, she would swear he had a satisfied grin on his holographic face. He still wore that odd, mummy-looking body suit, but the erection was gone.
“How do you feel?” he asked. “Hungry?”
Oddly enough, she did. “Yeah.”
“What would you like?”
“I don’t know. You know me better than I do. Surprise me.” She added a smile. “Again.”
He walked over and sat down beside her, turning slightly so he wouldn’t have to twist his neck to see her. Lawn found the attempt so humanlike, she wondered how many other humanistic traits she would discover about him in the year to come.
The year to come.
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A tiny chill ran through her. She tried to cover it up by plumping the pillow into her lap. She should have known better.
frowned slightly. “What’s wrong?”
Damn sensors.
“I was thinking.” She shrugged. She might as well be upfront and brutally open with him on all things. If not, he would automatically know when something wasn’t right with her.
“About what?”
“About what happens to us…in a year. When the year’s up.”
This time when the smile came back to his face, it wasn’t as bright. “That’s a year away, Lawn. Don’t worry about it.”
“Oh, yeah, sure. That’s like telling me not to think about a big purple rhinoceros sitting up on the bridge.”
glanced upward, then back at her. “Excuse me?”
“What are you thinking of right now?”
“A big purple rhinoceros on the bridge,” he answered.
“Bingo.” She clutched the pillow tighter as she became serious once more. “Deep, this whole thing has me totally flummoxed.”
“What part? You have to be more specific.”
She gazed at him wide-eyed. “What part? Jesus, Deep, you look like the ultimate wet dream for any woman, yet you claim to love me.”
“Which I do.”
“A-and you make love to me with more passion and tenderness than I’ve ever felt with any other man.”
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“Thank you.”
“But you’re a ship. And in one year’s time, when our year is over, we’ll go back to Earth where I’ll be put in some position somewhere…but what happens to you?” Biting her lower lip, Lawn cradled her head on top of the pillow. “What happens…to us?”
A moment of pure agony crossed Deep’s handsome illusion. If he had been human, Lawn would have guessed he had thought about it long before now.
“Will they commission you to another flight out here with another crew member?”
Hot tears appeared from nowhere and blurred her vision.
Lawn buried h
er face in the pillow as she fought the jealousy which threatened to eat her alive.
Deep with another woman? For a year?
But maybe he’ll be assigned a man. If it’s a male crew member, she could live with it. Then again, chances were the Bureau wouldn’t tell her anything once she and Deep were back on Earth. Once their mission was accomplished, she would be sent her way, and Deep would be outfitted for his next go-round.
“Here you go.”
Raising her face, she saw a tray hovering before her with a bowl of soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.
“Don’t tell me.”
chuckled. “Chicken soup. Eat up, and I’ll keep the conversation going. What would you like to know?”
“Well, for beginners, why do you wear that weird mummy-looking body suit?” She dipped into the soup and blew on the 93
hot liquid before sipping. Damn. She should have known the stuff would taste like it had come out of some mother’s kitchen. Two spoonfuls, and Lawn found herself shoveling it in.
glanced down at himself. “You didn’t specify any direct clothing.”
“Oh, so if I asked you to wear nothing at all, that’s how you would appear to me?” She added a wink to let him know she was teasing. Deep appeared nonchalant.
“If that’s what you want.” He waited to see if that was what she would order him to do.
Lawn paused, her mouth full. How would she feel about watching him parade about without a stitch on. Yeah, it would all be synthetic, but as much as the idea was enticing, it might also affect her ability to concentrate at times when she most needed her wits about her.
“How about a jumpsuit? Put on a jumpsuit, Deep.”
“Regulation?” At her nod, Deep’s attire morphed into the familiar dark blue GEB uniform. Although not as formfitting as the wet wrappings he had been wearing, Lawn felt her heart do a little flip. If it was possible, the man was better looking.
Sensing her approval, Deep grinned again. “Speaking of wearing.” His eyes wandered down her nude body, pausing at her lap. “Was that your first orgasm, Lawn?”
His scrutiny and question had an instant effect on her. She could feel her nipples already tightening again.
“Without self-help, yeah.”
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lifted an eyebrow. “Speaking of self-help, you do realize I scanned everything that came aboard, including what was in your carry-all.”
The vibrator.
“I figured you had, to make sure I wasn’t some crazy lunatic trying to smuggle a bomb onboard.”
“Lawn, would you allow me to use your toy on you?”
She nearly choked on her sandwich. “Uh, what?” And here she had been thinking… Good grief, what had she been thinking? That he would stand by and watch her while she used it?
“I’m restricted by what I can do to you. That’s a known,”
he continued, lowering his voice until it was a sensuous whisper floating around her, enveloping her. “I can continue to bring you the way I did earlier, but after a while it might become…”
“Boring?” she offered. A warm wetness made its presence known between her thighs, and the hunger clawing in her lower abdomen was becoming increasingly hard to ignore.
God help her, she was already horny for him again.
Wiping her mouth with her napkin, Lawn nodded. “You have my permission. In fact…”
moved closer on the bed. The tray magically drifted to one side, away from the bed.
“In fact, what?”
Instead of answering, she pushed herself away from the bed and walked over to the tiny closet. The vibrator was exactly where she’d left it, hiding in a zippered inner pocket 95
of her duffle bag. Pulling it out, she clutched it in both hands and held it to her chest as she turned around to face him.
“You look incredibly sexy when you do that,” Deep told her.
“Do what?”
“Lick your lips. Did you know you lick your lips when you’re turned on?”
No, she didn’t know that. And the smile he was giving her was making her hotter by the second. Lawn hurried back to the bed where she placed the toy on the sheets between them.
“Would you…make love to me again?”
When he swooped down over her, her imagination refused to let her believe he wasn’t real.
Communique 5G
To: G.E. Coordinator Millner
Settling into a routine. All is quiet at this end of the galaxy.
Addendum: Would like to learn chess. Please send program.
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Chapter 12
Filed Under “Heart”
Lawn had heard of women who claimed to have fallen in love with their dildos, but never anyone who swore to falling in love with a spaceship. Or a man who was a spaceship. Or would that be a spaceship who was a man?
Screw it.
She eased out of bed and made it over to the bathroom without too much discomfort. She had to admit to herself that the soreness wasn’t so much a negative as it was a positive.
If anyone could claim they had been nailed to the bed, she could. And firmly. Really hammered.
She couldn’t stop grinning.
All right, she was tender and raw. Her inner lips between her thighs were swollen, but who wouldn’t be after a couple of hours of serious hanky panky?
On the plus side of things, Deep would never wear out. His energy was as boundless as his imagination. She would never have to worry about him having an orgasm, and afterward rolling over in bed and falling asleep. Better yet, he wasn’t a one-night stand.
Lawn stuck her head out of the bathroom and looked around. The room seemed unusually quiet. What did a ship do after having sex?
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What else? He’d probably run diagnostics and do what ships normally do when they’re anchored to a buoy in the middle of space.
Still smiling, she sauntered out of the bedroom and blithely climbed up the ladder to the bridge. The decking was cold, but not unbearably. The overall temperature inside the ship was kept at a steady twenty-three degrees Celsius. To be honest, walking around in her birthday suit felt freeing and surprisingly comfortable.
Lawn glanced at her image in the shiny console. Funny, but the deformity on the left side of her face didn’t interest her for once. This time she stared at her breasts, at the color of her nipples, and compared that color to her lips. Odd that the two tints would be the same.
She cupped her breasts, subconsciously comparing her touch to Deep’s. She gently pinched her nipples, and a little shiver of electric excitement burrowed itself between her legs.
Careful, girl, or you’re going to get wet all over again.
She paused.
And that would be a bad thing because?
A rattling sound behind her caught her attention. Lawn turned around to see a cup and saucer sitting on the chair seat. Walking over to it, she picked it up and sniffed the contents. Tea. A sip told her it was sweetened the way she liked it.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
He appeared a few feet away, looking no different than he always did, although she had to admit the jumpsuit looked 98
strikingly good on him, cut to his specs. Deep crossed his arms over his chest as he perused her appearance.
“Is that a new uniform for you?”
Despite his gruff tone of voice, he grinned. Lawn smiled back over the rim of her cup.
“Yeah. Do you like it?”
“It’s not regulation.”
“Well, hell. Not much of what’s happened in the past few hours has been regulation either. Mmm. This is delicious. You do brew a mean cup of tea.”
Pivoting around, she parked her butt in the seat, and became aware of how the fabric slid over her swollen parts.
Damn. If she didn’t know any better, she would swear she was starting to feel up to a little more love play.
She glanced over to see Deep still in the same area, but his grin had gott
en considerably wider. “Penny for your thoughts,” she asked him.
“You’re sore, but your heart rate is elevating. How do you feel?”
Lawn wriggled her hips. “Juicy. So tell me, can ships get their rocks off, too?”
gave a noncommittal grunt and walked over to the console. She watched him closely as he stared out at the endless void. If she didn’t know any better, she would swear he was in deep thought.
Deep thought. Now there’s a pun for you.
“Answer something for me, would you? When did you realize you were sentient? I mean, was there an epiphany? Or 99
did someone tell you? Did it occur when someone threw your switch, or what?”
He glanced over at her before returning his gaze to the universe. “I knew I was sentient before I was installed in the ship.”
“Oh?” Lawn made a face. “Actually, that makes a lot of sense. Getting the brain of the ship to work before installing it. Can I ask where you’re located?”
He turned back to face her and briefly frowned. “Located?”
“I mean, where’s your brain? Your central core?”
continued to stare at her for nearly a full minute.
Suddenly, a lopsided grin crossed his face. “Why do you want to know? Planning on shutting me down sometime?”
“Is it some sort of secret?”
“No. Not officially.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He nodded toward the back of the bridge. “It’s there.”
Lawn rotated around in her chair. All she saw was the solid wall separating the bridge from the engines. The heart of the ship would run the engines, and the engines would power the brain. The two were almost as one.
Without asking, a section of the wall moved forward and slowly swung to the side. From within a small alcove, a greenish glow cast its light into the bridge. It was a containment area of sorts. In the center was a vase or jar. It reminded Lawn of the alabaster canopic jars used to hold mummified remains in Egyptian tombs, except this jar had no lid. It was all in one, and the glow emanating from inside it was a dark emerald color. Lawn stared at the object in awe.
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“Is that”
“That is me, Lawn. It’s what I really look like. It’s my brain and my heart.”
