Programmed To Protect (The Tau Cetus Chronicles)

by Jenna Ives

  The words surprised Wyatt so much it gave Veraine time to exit the lab, pulling the door closed firmly behind him.

  Would I have told you about the diamonds if we were being recorded?

  How the hell did Veraine know that was exactly what Wyatt had believed? That Veraine and Carron hoped to record any interaction with Ginger and hold it over his head? The diamond story could easily be a ploy to lull Wyatt into a false sense of being able to trust Veraine.

  Forcing himself to ignore the naked woman standing six feet away from him, Wyatt visually checked the standard spots for hidden cameras: the overhead light fixtures, the corners of the room where the walls met the ceiling, Veraine’s computer screen itself. There were no telltale red lights or black lens holes anywhere.

  Which proved nothing.

  And certainly not that Veraine was telling the truth.

  The best strategy was always the safest one. Trust no one.

  “Leith?”

  Wyatt sucked in a breath. As he watched, Ginger turned her back to him, bent over at the waist until her hands touched the floor, and presented him with her perfect ass. Wyatt swallowed hard. What the hell was congress of a cow, anyway?

  Stop it! You are not going to do this!

  As if to mock him, his cock hardened even more.

  Think! Think!

  She’s programmed to follow commands…

  “Ginger? Stand up.”

  The Doll threw him an uncertain glance over her shoulder. “Leith, congress of a cow—”

  “Stop!” Damn it, if she described the actual sex act to him, he might not be able to stick to his resolve. “I’m asking you, no, I’m ordering you to stand up.”

  The Doll paused again, obviously considering his command, but then straightened and turned to face him.

  Wyatt let out an audible sigh of relief. The danger had passed. He took a step closer to her. “Thank you. Now, I order you to step back into your utility closet.”

  He gave her what he hoped was a smile of encouragement, along with a nod of his head.

  She was just a foot away. All she had to do was back up and he could close the door on the temptation she presented. Hell, he even circled the inside door handle with his fingers in anticipation.

  Instead, Ginger reached out a hand, grabbed his belt, and stepped back, pulling him into the closet with her. The movement was so fast and so unexpected that the door – with Wyatt’s left hand still on the knob – banged shut behind them.

  “You are right. There are cameras in the room.”

  Leith Wyatt screwed his eyes closed, intensely aware of Ginger’s naked body now pressed up hard against him. Dear God, her breasts were crushed against his tunic, and felt just as soft and lush as human female breasts would. Her hips were pressed tightly against his erection, which was reveling in the contact by becoming even harder. Her skin felt warm and silky soft where his right hand had landed on her backside to steady himself.

  There’s a naked and willing sexbot practically in my arms…

  Hell, he was so physically overwhelmed by the sheer reality of her incredible body that his brain almost skipped right over what she’d said.

  There are cameras in the room.

  Wyatt’s eyes flew open. “What?”

  “There are recording devices in Titus Veraine’s lab. They were installed yesterday.”

  Wyatt’s eyes felt like they were going to pop right out of his head. Calm down, calm down. She’s not telling you this because she wants to, necessarily, but because she can’t lie. Simple as that.

  She’s not real. She’s just a machine.

  But she was clever enough to pull you into the closet before giving you this information. Can an A.I. program do that?

  “Take a step back, Ginger.”

  The Doll tilted her head as if in question, but Wyatt was desperate to put some physical distance between them. He couldn’t think straight with her naked body pressed against him.

  “Back up three feet,” he said again.

  The closet was small, but there was enough space for her to give him a bit of breathing room. Ginger took a giant step back. As she did, Wyatt’s hand slid off her perfect ass.

  He struggled to get his heart rate under control. “Why did you tell me about the cameras?”

  “A Beautiful Doll cannot lie, Leith.”

  “But isn’t Veraine your… creator? Why would you tell me something like this about your maker?”

  Ginger paused, and Wyatt could almost swear he saw the synapses – or whatever would be the programming equivalent – firing in her artificial brain. “Titus and Mr. Carron want to trap you. I heard them talking yesterday. It’s not…right.”

  Wyatt felt himself go cold, and it had nothing to do with being correct about Veraine and Carron’s deceitfulness. A machine could not…should not be able to… make ethical judgments.

  But Ginger just had. Hadn’t she?

  This was too much. Wyatt needed some distance to figure out this situation. “I have to leave here.”

  “Wait.”

  Wyatt’s hand was already back on the utility room door knob, but he paused at Ginger’s anxious tone.

  “Titus will ask me if we enjoyed congress of a cow. If I tell him you left without the demonstration, he will be… angry… with me.”

  Shit. This was the second time Ginger had expressed fear. Wyatt didn’t want to endanger Ginger in any way, but what could Veraine possibly do to a machine that was ten times stronger than he was?

  Better not to ask?

  “I’m programmed for pleasure, Leith. You will enjoy it.”

  Wyatt’s eyelids briefly closed. He was damned sure he would enjoy it. Hell, his cock was once again hard as a rock just at the memory of Ginger’s revealing position in the lab.

  Congress of a cow…

  You’d be doing this to protect her…

  Wyatt swallowed. “Show me.”

  Ginger gave him a brilliant smile, then turned her back to him, spread her legs hip-width apart, bent over at the waist until her hands touched the floor, and once again presented him with her perfect backside.

  Dear God. Splayed wide open as she was, he could see every… intimate… detail of her. She looked exactly like a human female.

  His breath stopped. If Ginger’s mouth had felt so incredible yesterday, what would it be like to actually sink himself inside her? To anchor his hands on her hips while he stroked himself to blissful orgasm?

  A shudder went through his body as his hand reached out to tentatively caress her beautiful ass.

  Ginger’s glorious waves of red hair cascaded over the floor as she turned her head to throw an inviting glance his way. “You can choose either opening, Leith,” she stated matter-of-factly. “And I can alter the fit to give you the most pleasurable experience possible.”

  Wyatt growled low in his throat. “Ginger, the first lesson of sex is not to talk about it so clinically. It’s a visceral act for a human, not a scientific one.”

  “I apologize, Leith. I’m programmed to please, so I wish to fulfill my function.”

  “And I’m sure you will,” Wyatt assured her, stepping closer and unzipping his pants. He freed his cock and stared down at her, hesitating.

  You can choose either opening…

  Hell, he’d save her glorious ass for another time. He knew what he wanted right now.

  He eased himself inside her slowly. He took his time, not because he was worried he’d hurt her, rather, he was curious about what she’d feel like around him.

  She felt fucking amazing.

  She was wet, slick. Obviously no need of foreplay with a sexbot. And she fit him like a glove. Snug. Soft. Like she was made for his cock. And this new position – well, new to him, anyway – felt like he could sink into her farther than he’d ever done with a human female.

  He eagerly buried himself to the hilt, and she took all of him.

  “Damn, Ginger, that feels incredible.”

  “Thank you, Leith.
I can increase the pleasure if you’d like.”

  He chuckled softly at her matter-of-fact words, then slowly stroked in and out of her. Once. Twice. “Mmm. I doubt that,” he answered honestly. “It already feels fucking amazing.”

  “Let me show you.”

  Wyatt paused, then gasped. Somehow, Ginger had narrowed her inner channel, increasing the friction along the length of his cock. It was like she’d tensed her inner muscles, except that Wyatt knew she had no muscles. Still, the effect was the same. Her tightened grip squeezed his cock and sent ripples of sensation along the entire length of his shaft.

  Or is it that she’s actually rippling on the inside?

  Either way, the stimulation was too much. Too good. Wyatt dug his fingers into Ginger’s hips to anchor himself, and he began to move. In. Out. In. Out. All while that delicious rippling stroked along his cock. Hell, he’d never felt anything like this in his entire life.

  What had started out as long, slow strokes of pure pleasure quickly escalated to frantic thrusts of desperate need. Fast. Faster. Then frenzied.

  Fuck. He was close. So fucking close!

  He gritted his teeth. “Ginger…please…please…”

  She squeezed a millimeter tighter, and he was there.

  “Ah…ahh…fuck!”

  He exploded inside her with a climax so intense it nearly brought him to his knees. On and on it went, until, drained and gasping for breath, he collapsed against her. Luckily, Ginger was anchored in place, and strong enough to support him.

  His heart felt like it would pound right out of his chest, and he could feel beads of sweat on his brow. How the hell had she done this to him again?

  As his pulse eased and the sound of rushing blood ebbed from his ears, Wyatt had two frantic thoughts. First, how the hell was he going to walk out of this factory without what he’d just done written all over his face, and two, how the hell was he ever going to be able to have sex with a human woman ever again?

  Chapter Five

  “Tell me exactly what happened.”

  Titus Veraine scowled at the Beautiful Doll standing in front of him. He was not a happy man. He’d only been gone for ten minutes, but Leith Wyatt had somehow managed to disappear from the lab by the time Veraine returned from the factory floor. Worse, when Veraine had questioned his programmers in the outside lab, they’d all admitted they’d seen Wyatt pass by, but since they’d been told he’d be a common sight on the premises, none of them had thought to stop him.

  Veraine growled low in his throat. Wyatt had not gone back to the factory floor, because if he had, Veraine would have seen him there.

  Hell, not even Rhean had news of him, and that smarmy suck-up had uncanny radar, with a tendency to stick to a person like glue.

  With a sinking feeling, Veraine had finally checked with the burly security guard out front, only to discover that Wyatt had departed less than three minutes earlier.

  But despite his disappointment that Wyatt had slipped through his fingers, Veraine’s anger hadn’t reached its current level of ire until he’d played back the lab recording of the ten minutes he’d been gone.

  No sex tape.

  Mr. Carron would not be pleased.

  “Tell me again what happened.”

  Ginger repeated the same story she’d told him a minute ago. “You ordered me to perform congress of a cow. Leith ordered me into the utility closet. I took him with me to be able to obey your instructions.”

  Veraine shoved a frustrated hand through his hair. Indeed, Ginger grabbing Wyatt’s belt and pulling him into the closet was the last visual on the lab recording. But damn it all, he needed to get the actual sex act on tape!

  “Agent Wyatt obviously didn’t want sex if he ordered you back into the utility closet.”

  “No, Titus, he did not want sex. Not at first.”

  “And yet you had sex.”

  “Yes, we did. You ordered me to.”

  “Did you force him, or convince him?”

  Ginger blinked slowly. “I am a Beautiful Doll sexbot.”

  As if that answered his question.

  Veraine paused, then allowed himself a small smile. Actually, Ginger’s response made perfect sense. Despite the fact Leith Wyatt had tried to resist the Doll, he apparently hadn’t been able to. She was too tempting. For the second day in a row. And it meant that Veraine would have a good chance to tape Wyatt tomorrow.

  He relaxed slightly.

  “No one can resist a Beautiful Doll, can they?” He reached out his right index finger and brushed it against Ginger’s pert left nipple. “I made you and your fellow sexbots into every man’s fantasy.”

  “Yes, Titus.”

  His hand closed around Ginger’s full breast. Personally, he preferred a lean, athletic woman, not the voluptuous type like Ginger. Hell, he would have loved a chance to fuck that sassy police agent Jai Turner when she’d come here a few months ago to train for her undercover assignment as a Beautiful Doll. He could still remember his first sight of her, how he’d looked her up and down in patent approval. He also remembered her sharp-tongued response.

  “Watch it, asshole,” she’d warned him. “I’m human. Don’t look at me like I’m one of your Dolls.”

  He’d told her that she needed to check her attitude at the door, because Marque Callex would never want sex with a sharp-tongued bitch. But secretly, Veraine would have loved the chance to tame her tart tongue with his own, and then put her mouth to better use.

  Unfortunately, she’d been off limits to him.

  His hand dropped away from Ginger’s breast. “Ginger? Come around and stand by my computer. There’s another simulation I want to try on you.”

  Veraine had work to do. But after he’d run this latest program variation, he would make damn sure to have Ginger’s utility closet wired with a camera.

  He would not be denied a sex tape a third time.

  #

  “We were not scheduled to meet, agent Wyatt. I had to rearrange an important appointment to accommodate you. There’d better not be a problem with Anson Carron.”

  Leith Wyatt mentally winced at the reprimand he heard in Theus’ voice as he sank into the chair in front of the premier’s heavy oak desk. He’d known he’d be taking a calculated risk by coming here directly from the former Beautiful Dolls factory, but he needed to cover his ass.

  “I’ve run into a particular situation, and I want to discuss it with you before it blows up in my face,” Wyatt admitted, then quickly added, “sir.”

  Theus, dressed in his usual black from head to toe, raised one eyebrow. “That’s blunt.”

  “Yes, sir. I’m nothing if not honest.”

  Theus leaned back in his chair. “I chose you for this assignment because of that honesty. And the belief I can trust you.”

  “Anson Carron wants to undermine your trust in me.”

  “I have no doubt of that,” Theus agreed, then paused. “Do you know how?”

  “There’s a lot going on over there. I’m trying to sort out the truths from the diversions to the outright lies. But one thing I do know. He’s kept a Beautiful Doll for his own personal use. And he’s…well…he’s been parading her in front of me, hoping to compromise me. To disgrace me in your eyes.”

  Theus digested that, and Wyatt saw one corner of the premier’s mouth turn up. “Disgrace you…” Theus tapped a thoughtful finger against his lips. “By succumbing to the charms of the Doll?”

  “They want to record it, then use it as proof I’m neglecting my duty. They’ve tried twice already.”

  Theus spread his hands. “Well, obviously you’re onto their game. So what’s the problem? Don’t have sex with the Doll. Although… I’ve yet to meet anyone who’s been able to resist one of Anson Carron’s sexbots. You are a singular man, agent Wyatt.”

  Wyatt shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

  The expression on Theus’ face changed slightly. “You didn’t resist.”

  “Um, no. But not for the reason you th
ink.”

  Theus actually laughed. The first honest laugh Wyatt had ever heard from him.

  “What other reason could there be?” Theus questioned. “They’re sex experts. They’re irresistible.”

  Wyatt shifted again. Okay, so obviously Theus had past first-hand experience with the Dolls as well. Was Wyatt the only person on Tau Cetus who hadn’t?

  “It’s not just sex. There’s something… different… about Ginger.” Wyatt shrugged. “I don’t know exactly what it is, but I may have to…see her…again, in order to get to the bottom of it. I just wanted to alert you, in case there’s no way I can avoid Carron’s camera this time.”

  Theus’ smile faded. “Everyone projects their own needs and desires onto a Beautiful Doll, agent Wyatt. We make them what we want them to be. There’s nothing ‘different’ about this particular one, believe me.”

  “Maybe not. But I’m looking for information.”

  Theus frowned. “What sort of information could a sexbot possibly have that would affect your assignment to keep Anson Carron in line while deploying our robot soldiers?”

  “I’m not sure. It’s just a gut feeling. But I need you to trust me on this. Or at least give me enough leeway to pursue something that may turn out to be valuable to us.”

  Theus’ expression turned dark. “There is no law against fucking a Beautiful Doll, agent Wyatt, even though the sexbots no longer exist as a business. But don’t let your cock get in the way of your job. If it does, I promise you it will mean the end of this assignment as well as your career.”

  The premier paused to let his ominous words sink in, but Wyatt didn’t need the threat. He had a job to do and he was determined to complete it successfully. “Yes, sir.”

  “Tell me about the deployment preparations.”

  Wyatt shifted again in his chair. Now was the time to inform Theus about Titus Veraine’s allegation that Anson Carron would be smuggling diamonds inside the robot soldiers. But something held Wyatt back, and he knew what it was. First, he needed to figure out if he was being played.

  After all, Veraine was a liar. He’d lied about the cameras in his lab, and he could be lying about the diamonds as well.