Part 7 (1/2)

46.

”Yum.” Dora sniffed and the aromatic fragrance would have had her placing the entire piece into her mouth at once until she remembered how good coffee smelled and how bitter it tasted.

”Go an. Try.”

Dora bit into the chocolate. As the sugary confection melted on her tongue, she squealed in delight. ”Chocolate alone is almost worth giving up my immortality for”

”I'm glad you're enjoying yourself.”

”I didn't expect food to be this wonderful. I can hardly wait to make love.

In the middle of sucking fudge from her fingertip. Tessa stopped and sighed.

”Whoa. First of am humans usually ease into subjects like making love.”

”Sorry.” Dora tended to forget that human s.e.xuality was such a sensitive subject and wondered if she'd ever understand why even Tessa was so touchy about discussing it.

But then in her typical straight-ahead fas.h.i.+on. Tessa plunged into the subject anyway. ”Eating and making love are two very different kinds of sensual experiences.”

”Exactly. That's why, as soon as possible, I want to be with a man.”

”Making love is emotional. If you want the experience be good, and I know you do, you need to slow down.”

”Not everyone agrees that waiting is better.”

Tessa's cheeks flushed with color. ”I'm not talking about technique.'' When Tessa had first met Kahn, he'd needed to teach her to use her psi by inducing high levels of frustration. Kahn had used the s.e.xual kind. The two of them had battled and wed and eventuality fallen in love. Dora thought their tale romantic. Although she hadn't been privy to their lovemaking, she'd seen how s.e.xual intercourse had brought them closer together. Tessa might be uncomfortable with the subject, but she could also be blunt.

”I'm saying you've only been human a few hours. Give yourself time to establish a friends.h.i.+p first-”

”You and I are friends. We've been friends for years.”

Tessa sighed over her coffee cup. Friends.h.i.+p between a women is different than between a woman and a man.”

”Zical likes me.” Dora had few secrets from Tessa and appreciated her take on men, even if she often didn't agree with her conclusions.

”Zical isn't accustomed to thinking of you as human.”

”But once he sees me-”

”It still may take him a while to change. Rystani men are stubborn.”

Dora's goal had always been to attract Zical's interest and she understood the need for long-term planning. Convincing him to notice her the way she wanted might take time. But her impatience mounted. She couldn't wait for him to see her.

47.

”You believe he'll reject this body?” Dora stood and with a psi thought made her gown transparent. She loved looking at her body and had kept her flesh covered long enough.

Tessa rolled her eyes at the ceiling. ”Dora, when you created yourself, you forgot to include modesty.”

”Fine.” Dora reclothed herself and fought down her resentment. Just because Tessa was uptight about nudity didn't mean she had to be. She was an individual. Yet, she also needed to remember to have patience and consideration, traits that seemed more difficult now that she was in her body. ”I'm sorry. I've waited so long to be human. I want to try everything. Do everything. Do you think Zical will mind if I kiss him when we meet?”

While she'd been eating, Dora had noted how incredibly sensitive her lips were.

And lips were a known erotic zone. To press them against Zical's... ok, that would be a fine sensation.

”Why don't you at least plan to have a conversation first, then you ask him if it's okay before you kiss him,” Tessa suggested.

”If I ask, he may say no. As for the conversation... I don't know. Can't I just kiss him h.e.l.lo?”

”That is not Rystani custom. A bug would be more appropriate and you know it.”

”Are you going to turn into my mother?” Dora asked with a twitch of her lip that she hadn't intended.

”Of course not.” Tessa took her hand. ”But I've been human all my life. I don't want to see you hurt. Or Zical hurt. Human relations.h.i.+ps are trickier than they appear.”

Dora could see that Tessa was fairly bursting to give her advice. ”And?”

”And if I were your mother”-Tessa laughed, but her eyes were serious-”I'd tell you to start a conversation with Zical asking about his work.”

”I've been there with him every moment. There's nothing he can tell me about the lack of progress on Mount Shachauri that I don't already know.”

”Except his feelings.”

”He's obviously frustrated. Won't s.e.x relax him?”

Tessa threw her hands into the air, clearly unhappy. But Dora's question was logical, wasn't it? She'd spent yeas studying humans, and yet she trusted Tessa's judgment. As a computer, Dora, made decisions based on her ethical program, her data stream, and her personality. Now that she was in a human body she didn't have the same ma.s.sive amount input, but the process to make a decision should have been the same.

Yet it wasn't.

Zical was the unknown factor and for her to consider all her possible actions to create the reaction she wanted seemed impossible. If she'd wanted only an o.r.g.a.s.m, not emotional connection, she could m.a.s.t.u.r.b.a.t.e, but the idea of experiencing her initial

48.