Never Love A Stranger Part 20

"Soon, Annie."

Soon wasn't soon enough as far as she was concerned. She clutched his golden hair in her fists, her body taut with mingled antic.i.p.ation and pleasure, as he slowly slid a finger into her.

"Yes," she murmured. "Yes, James."

His finger slipped inside her wet, hot body, filling her the way she desperately longed to be filled, and she cried out, her hips arching right off the mattress. He let his finger slide into her as far as it would go, then slowly withdrew it, and she sobbed with the loss.

His thumb brushed across her sensitive flesh again, and electricity crackled through her body as he thrust his forefinger inside her again, harder this time. Moisture gathered inside her, making his finger slick, and he slid it easily in and out in a slow, insistent rhythm that drove her inexorably toward heights she'd never imagined. And then he slipped a second finger inside her. And a third.

Her aroused body stretched easily to accommodate his broad, solid fingers. As he drove them deeply into her, faster and faster, a surge of incredible pleasure exploded within the depths of her body, rippling through her womb in wave after wave, making her shudder and tremble under the relentless onslaught of ecstasy. A strangled scream was ripped from her throat as scalding heat burst within her, as the violent convulsions of her wet sheath gripped his fingers over and over again.

At last he withdrew his fingers, stretched out next to her, and gathered her tenderly against his chest. She nestled against him, utterly spent. For a long moment there was only the sound of her harsh breathing in the room. Then she lifted her head and smiled wanly.

"You're wonderful, James."

Warmth flickered in his eyes. "I am glad you think so."

She let her hands trail slowly over the warm, smooth contours of his chest again, then slid her fingers across the taut muscles of his abdomen and began to unb.u.t.ton the fly of his jeans. James leaned his head back, closing his eyes, and a lazily contented smile tipped up the corners of his mouth.

"You do like to be touched," she said, pleased by his reaction.

"Yes," he murmured, sighing. "I never really realized it before I met you."

She unb.u.t.toned his jeans and tossed them and his briefs to the floor, freeing his swelling erection. Slowly she swung a leg over him and straddled him, cradling his hot, engorged flesh in the warm, wet valley between her thighs. For a long while they remained utterly motionless, and Annie felt him growing harder beneath her, felt her own body respond with a surge of renewed heat and dampness.

At last, unable to be still any longer, she began to move against him in a slow, provocative rhythm, until his shaft grew slick and hot with her moisture, until his breath began to hiss between his teeth. He captured her hips with his splayed hands, digging his fingers into her b.u.t.tocks in a gesture that was gentle but demanding. "Annie," he rasped.

She continued to move, slowly, tantalizing him with the promise of more to come but never quite letting him have it. She watched as he tilted back his head, listened as guttural groans were torn from his throat. She felt him throbbing against her in a relentless, ever-increasing tempo, and she knew he was about to lose control.

And so was she.

At last he rolled her over and pinned her beneath his weight. "Please," he muttered harshly, his eyes glittering.

She reached down, encircling his ma.s.sive, powerful erection in her hand, and guided him into her body. She heard his wordless moan as he slipped into her, inch by hot inch, and her arms slid around his waist, pulling him closer. She wrapped her legs around him, and he plunged into her incredibly deeply, thrusting to the hilt. A constricted knot of pleasure twisted inside her, tight and agonizing. He withdrew, then thrust again, and she exploded, crying out as she was flooded with white-hot sensation.

He paused and pressed his face against her shoulder, shuddering, and as she became aware of his responses again she realized he was trying to regain control of himself. For the first time she could fully appreciate how dangerous s.e.x must seem to him. To him, losing control didn't mean the joyful sharing of pleasure, but rather pain and torment. He'd been mistreated and hurt so badly that it was nothing short of amazing he'd trusted her enough to become intimate with her.

She drew his head down and brushed his lips with her own, and he lost the battle, his body pulsing helplessly inside her. He groaned an inarticulate sound of ecstasy against her mouth as he shivered and trembled with the force of his climax.

Afterward he lay on top of her a few moments, running his fingers through her hair. Finally he brushed his lips against hers drowsily, then rolled to the side. Within moments his eyes drifted shut, and he appeared contentedly asleep.

Annie watched him for a long time. At last she leaned over and kissed him tenderly on his cheek, then turned off the light.

Chapter 16.

The hotel phone rang at precisely eight a.m., waking Annie out of a sound sleep. She groped blindly for the phone and finally found it, five rings later. "h.e.l.lo'"

"h.e.l.lo. Annie Simpson, isn't it' This is Susan Takahashi."

The name woke Annie up in a heartbeat, much more effectively than four cups of coffee could have. d.a.m.n. She'd hoped James' polite refusal to do an interview last night had been sufficient to get rid of Susan, but obviously it hadn't been. Susan Takahashi on the trail of a story was more persistent than a bloodhound on steroids.

She managed to infuse her voice with a degree of courtesy. "h.e.l.lo, Susan. How can I help you'"

"I was wondering if I could speak with James."

Annie glanced over at James. He was sprawled next to her, his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling in what appeared to be a very human way. "He's not here right now," she lied smoothly. "He's in the shower. Is there anything I can help you with'"

Susan sounded a little annoyed at this confirmation that they were sleeping together. "I just wanted to find out a little more about him," she said tartly. "That segment I taped last night ran on the early news this morning, and since then we've been getting a lot of calls about him."

"How'd you find us, anyway'"

"There are only so many hotels in the area," Susan said. "Would you have him call me back, please'"

"I don't think he's interested," Annie said.

"He's very modest, isn't he'"

"He likes his privacy."

"I can understand that. Nevertheless, I'd be grateful if you'd have him call me back."

Annie realized she wasn't going to get rid of Susan so easily. She managed to stifle an irritated sigh as she grabbed the pencil and paper that sat next to the phone. "Fine. I will."

She wrote down the number Susan gave her and hung up the phone, then propped herself up on an elbow and looked at James. Susan was just interested in the human-interest angle of the story, she told herself firmly. The l.u.s.t she thought she'd seen in the reporter's eyes had to be a product of her own jealous imagination.

Or maybe not. She stared at James a long moment, seeing the smooth contours of his chest, the incredibly high cheekbones, the generous curves of his mouth. There was definitely a lot there to make a woman feel l.u.s.t.

l.u.s.t, she thought, had to be what she felt for him. He was a strong, admirable man, a man who had begun to fill her every waking thought, but she wasn't ready to fall in love again. Not only a year after she'd lost Steve. The mere idea was enough to fill her with oppressive guilt.

And she still wasn't sure she could give her heart to James, anyway. He looked and acted like a human, but she couldn't help but remember that beneath it all, he was a machine.

She reached out and ran a finger along the strong line of his square jaw. His eyelids flickered open almost instantly. "Good morning."

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It is all right. I have had sufficient rest."

He did not stir, only regarded her as if she were the only thing in the room. The intensity of his gaze made her vaguely uncomfortable. "Well," she said at last. "Maybe we'd better get up and have breakfast."

James sat up slowly and looked at her. "Annie," he said gently, "are you feeling awkward about what happened last night'"

"No."

"Are you certain' I understand your ambivalence about what I am. It was not my intention to cause you distress."

If she was uncomfortable, it was more because of the bewildering array of feelings that had gripped her than because of the knowledge of what he really was, but she forbore to say so. The last thing she wanted to do was get involved in a dialogue about her out-of-control emotions.

"I'm positive," she said. "I'm fine."

James placed a hand under her chin and tilted her face up to his. "Did you enjoy last night'" he asked, very seriously.

Enjoy was not a word she would have used to describe the astonishing magic of their lovemaking. It was far too prosaic a term to describe the startling ecstasy that had flooded every molecule of her body, the deep, aching need that had seized her. Enjoy was very white bread, and what they had done together last night was about as far from bland as you could get. But she couldn't very well tell him that without exposing more of her emotions than she cared to at this point.

"Yes," she said. "I enjoyed it."

Something about her deliberately neutral tone must have baffled him, for James looked as though he didn't quite believe her. At last he said cautiously, "I am pleased to hear it."

"But right now I think I'd enjoy breakfast."

She tried for a light, easy tone. James looked at her a moment longer, then nodded. "Perhaps breakfast would be welcome. But I do not think we should leave this room."

"James--" She hesitated. "I really think we need to get out of public places. I mean, I don't think we should stay in a hotel any longer than we have to. People could get hurt."

"The more public we are, the less likely the Bureau is to hurt us. Their policy is not to cause any noticeable interference with the past."

"Maybe that's their policy," Annie said, "but it's obvious Dekka isn't playing by the rules. Look at what she did last night. I mean, what's next' She might bomb this hotel."

James sighed. "I am concerned about that myself. That is why I suggested I should let myself be captured. As long as I am here, innocent people are at risk."

"Isn't there any way to stop Dekka'"

"None short of killing her."

Annie frowned. "Maybe we should have killed her when we captured her, then. I mean, in a choice between her and hundreds of innocent people, I'm inclined to take her."

James nodded. "Logically, that is what we should have done." He sighed again. "But you are not a murderer, Annie, and neither am I. I cannot bring myself to kill someone in cold blood, even if it is the right thing to do. At any rate, let me remind you that those innocent people would not now be at risk had I not traveled to this time period."

"Don't blame yourself. You wanted to escape. I can't blame you for that."

"I came here knowing they would probably track me. I do blame myself for that, Annie. It was my decision."

"You were forced into it by the humans of your time," she said fiercely.

He looked at her a long moment, then took her hand. "I am not sorry I came here, Annie. I am not sorry I met you." She met his gaze, seeing the sincerity in his brilliant cobalt eyes. She squeezed his hand, and he lowered his head to kiss her. At that moment there was a knock on the door. James' head came up swiftly. He stood up, rapidly yanking on a pair of jeans. "Who is it'" "It's Kay." He stalked to the door and looked through the peephole to ascertain that Kay was alone, then opened the door. Kay stood in the hall, grinning at them. "Did you two have a nice night'" Annie scowled, a little embarra.s.sed. "Where's Clark'" "He's still sleeping. I figured I'd let him sleep till the last possible second. Ready for breakfast'" James frowned. "Is there some way we can have breakfast delivered to our room'" He looked hopeful.

"What about pizza'" "Forget it," Kay said. "We are not having pizza for breakfast. Anyway, Annie needs her coffee, or she'll be in a lousy mood." "Perhaps we can have coffee delivered here." "Room service costs a bundle, James. Let's just go downstairs to the dining room." "That would be inadvisable." "Oh, come on, James," Annie said. "It's perfectly public, for heaven's sakes." "Let me remind you that Kay was captured in a public place," James said. "That was a parking garage," Kay said impatiently. "Everyone knows parking garages are dangerous. A restaurant in a hotel should be okay, shouldn't it'" James frowned. "What about the baby'" Kay hesitated. "Well ... You have a point. I don't really want to get him up. He was up late last night." "Perhaps you two should go downstairs," James suggested. "I would be happy to stay with Clark."

Kay hesitated, and Annie smiled. "It's okay, Kay. He's really good with the baby. I've watched him."

"Well...." Kay gave James a dubious look, then shrugged. "Okay. I'd really like to get out of the room for a little while. We'll bring you up something, okay, James'" "Make that a large something, please."

Kay grinned as she handed James her card key. "You got it."

Chapter 17.

"I can't believe I left my baby in the care of a robot." Annie gave her friend a quenching look as she took a long sip of coffee. "Be careful what you say." "Don't be so paranoid, Annie. n.o.body's near our table. Besides, if anyone heard me they'd never suspect I was serious. You can't just go out and buy a humanoid at the local electronics superstore, you know." Annie shrugged. "I don't think you have anything to worry about, Kay. He took really good care of Clark the other day. He really likes babies."

"No kidding." Kay shot her an unreadable look. "After what he did last night, I think I'd rather have him for a babysitter than any teenager you could name." "He was pretty brave, wasn't he'" Kay shrugged. "It seemed like it, yeah. But it could be programming." "Don't be silly, Kay. What kind of programming could force a thinking ent.i.ty to risk his own life'" "Haven't you ever heard of the Three Laws of Robotics'"

"The what'" "You really haven't read much science fiction, have you' Isaac Asimov wrote all these great stories about robots, but they were based on the idea that a working robot would have to conform to three laws. The first and most important was that a robot could do nothing, by action or inaction, to harm a human. The second law was that the robot had to be obedient. Self-preservation was only the third law."

"So protecting humans took precedence'" "Yeah. There's no reason to a.s.sume that James' designers would have adhered to three fictional rules, but they seem like pretty good ideas to me. If I were going to design a robot, I'd make it concerned about humans too." Annie thought about it for a moment. "I don't think you can program a conscious being so that it had to do anything. It would have to be able to make its own choices. Otherwise it wouldn't be sentient, would it'"

"Mmm. You could be right."

"Anyway--" Annie hesitated. "I don't think those laws are in effect here. Remember what Dekka said'

He killed a human being outright, and was indirectly responsible for four hundred more deaths."

Kay looked at her a long moment. "I think he must have had a good reason," she said. "He risked his life to save that baby last night. I don't believe he's a murderer."

"No. More like a civil rights leader. He led a revolt against the humans of his time because they treated the humanoids like slaves."

"Hmm," Kay said, stirring her coffee and scowling. "How many of the humanoids were killed in this revolution'"

"All of them except James, he said. Over fifty million."

"Oh, my G.o.d." Kay took a fortifying sip of coffee. "And Dekka is trying to wipe out the last one'"

Annie nodded.

"I don't understand why Dekka is so determined to destroy him," Kay said thoughtfully.

"Simple. He was responsible for the deaths of over four hundred of her people. And her brother."

"Even so--" Kay spread her hands wide. "He's gone now. They should be grateful he left. And he can't go back, can he'" "No. He said there's no way to get back from this side, unless you wear a tracing device. He arrived here stark naked, Kay. He doesn't have any sort of tracer on him."

"Are you sure' It could have been surgically implanted, you know. Or he could have some sort of body cavity where it could be kept, for all we know."

Annie frowned. "I just don't see why he'd want to go back."

"Me neither. It doesn't seem like one lone android is much of a threat to them. So why is Dekka so desperate to get rid of him'"