Part 5 (1/2)

Another time. With his nerves raw, he fully needed to be the one in command.

Clothing?

None. What was the point? He was here to satisfy his l.u.s.t.

Skill level?

Expert. No hesitation there. He preferred a partner who knew exactly what she was doing. Teaching isn't for him, and he moved on, swiftly choosing music, something with a beat.

Scent?

Orangeflower.

Wall color?

Golden. No. He needed no reminder of the golden cone of light that had caused his aroused condition. Scarlet. Yes. To match his pa.s.sion.

Lighting?

Bright starlight wh an ebbing moon across a black velvet sky.

35.

He chose humidity and temperature. Although furniture was totally unnecessary, since the null grav in his suit could float him, he liked the ambience of a large bed.

Finally, he punched in his last decision and let the sophisticated machine do its work. If he'd preferred, he could save his choices in the system for his next visit. But each time he came here he vowed it would be the last, telling himself he should find a real woman. But he never had the time... Besides, as a man who'd become accustomed to guarding his privacy from a certain inquisitive computer, he didn't like leaving clues to his activities behind.

He helped himself to a shot of rare Maldebaran whiskey. Tossing back the expensive liquor only whetted his appet.i.te to release his tension. Hoping physical satisfaction would banish the fantasies he couldn't expel from his mind, with one psi thought he altered his suit to transparent, removed the artificial s.h.i.+eld on his tavis, and immediately rose to full arousal. Muscles strung taut, he closed his eyes, gritted he teeth, tried not to recall Dora's s.e.xy tone. And waited.

The subtle scent of orangeflower struck first, letting him know Xentos had arrived.

He opened his eyes to the sight of bronze skin glistening in starlight. Her features were flawless and her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were larger than his last visit, making her slender waist seem more narrow. If her perfection spoiled him for other women, he cared not. If she wasn't real, he cared not. If she was nothing life impertinent, saucy, sa.s.sy Dora all the better.

Xentos looked real, felt real, smelled real. Her skin was as warm as mola.s.ses on just-baked bread. So what if she had no personality? She welcomed him with no hesitation, no judgment, no awkwardness.

She wasn't real.

But Zical didn't want real. He wanted release, plain and simple, with no complications.

He'd already had one unsatisfying relations.h.i.+p with Summar and he wasn't about to start another with the wrong woman. Next time, his wife would be of his choosing.

Next time, his wife would be a partner, a woman who measured up emotionally, a woman who matched his pa.s.sion with her own. So a night with Xentos might not be as intellectually stimulating as talking to a real woman or a sentient computer like Dora, and nowhere near as emotionally satisfying as the true bond Kahn shared with his life mate. However, a few hours with Xentos, Zical would once again be thinking with a clear head.

He closed his mouth over her welcoming lips. Lips that parted and applied the exact amount of pressure to satisfy, compel, tease. Mmm ”Kiss me, again,” she murmured and he needed no urging. Her arms around him were so close to the real thing that he could lose himself in her sensuality. While he found it ironic that he was using a machine to sate the desire that another machine had initiated, the situation only made him more determined to return to normal.

As Zentos's b.r.e.a.s.t.s brushed against his bare chest, Zical thought of Dora. Her personality placed in a body was scary, intriguing, fascinating idea. Dregen h.e.l.l she'd

36.

be a handful for some lucky man. Zical wished he'd asked more questions, wondered how far along she was in be process.

As his hands closed over Xentos's delicious b.r.e.a.s.t.s be realized Dora was correct. He liked b.r.e.a.s.t.s that overflowed his hands. With a happy sigh, he dipped his head for a taste and fantasized that be heard Dora's voice cooing a response, felt Dora's nipples hardening beneath his lips, held Dora's body in his arms.

The golden cone of light might have encouraged his fantasy. Or perhaps the idea of Dora's experiment to merge with a body was suggestively responsible. Zical only knew the combination of Xentos's still and his erotic visions of Dora, were more than enough to set him on fire.

In his mind, the holosim's body and Dora's personality merged into one, a definite turn-on. It was Dora's cheek he cradled in his palm. Dora's body he swept weightlessly into his arms. Dora's full curves molding to his hard muscles. Dora who buried her face in his throat, who nipped his neck, who slowly and seductively welcomed him into her synthari.

Dora worked at fall capacity. Zical's find had her circuitry busy examining, identifying, cataloguing, and comparing the images she'd scanned with data on every ancient race. In addition, she carried on her normal subroutines, routing communications, monitoring satellites, and collecting details on everything from their trade routes, to economic conditions on Zenon, to a new volcano forming on Mystique's primary moon.

She also oversaw the growth of her body, reminded Miri to give Kirek his vitamins, and transferred Tessa's growing credits to yet another bank, following standard orders to diversify. Meanwhile, she continued to seek out new high growth opportunities where Tessa could invest the family's wealth.

She spared a tiny iota of her faculties for personal use. It was so like Zical to omit sharing the important data about how the golden light beam had s.e.xually aroused him.

However, humans tended to be irrational about their s.e.xuality. Although Dora respected their feelings, she had newer really understood The human concept of privacy, shyness, or embarra.s.sment when it came to mating. When Zical had chosen to keep his erection a private matter, she'd remained silent practicing discretion.

She'd learned time and again that while the urge for humans to mate was almost as basic as breathing and eating, her friends tended to be touchy about their s.e.xual requirements. Although Dora thought it perfectly normal for an unconscious Zical to lose control of his psi, his suit, and his body's natural urges, he'd clearly wanted to keep the information to himself.

Under normal circ.u.mstances, she wouldn't have devoted another nanosecond of thought to the matter, except that after Zical regained consciousness, he'd seemed on edge, quietly determined, with a maddening edge of secrecy about him.

37.

When he abandoned his portable unit at home, he'd aroused her curiosity. Without much difficulty, Dora tracked him from his apartment as he flew a skimmer into the city. After he landed and exited the skimmer, she caught him on security monitors, until he turned down a street that had none. Her inquisitiveness piqued she aimed a satellite scanner on him, but once he entered a building, she lost him.

She tried to tap an outside communication line, but there were none. Most commercial establishments took a thumbprint and debited a bank account after people made purchases. But again, she found no outside connections. Interesting.

Under ordinary circ.u.mstances, Dora enjoyed nothing more than a good puzzle.

What was Zical up to? What kind of establishment had he entered? Dora checked her city maps against the licensing board and came up with nothing. Odd. She checked the owner of the property and found out the land was part of the public domain, like a road. Stranger still.

Most likely illegal activities went on there.