“Good idea. Go ahead and get in.”
The big Cyborg climbed into her bed, which creaked alarmingly. It was a good thing its metal frame was sturdy, she thought. She waited until he turned on his side, facing the wall, and then she climbed in beside him and called,
“Lights off!”
The lights dimmed—all except the dim glow from the bathing chamber which she kept lit in case she needed to pee in the middle of the night. And then there was nothing but the sound of deep, quiet breathing.
10
CORINNE
It felt strange, at first, to share a bed. She’d been sleeping on her own since Artie left, three years ago and she’d gotten used to sprawling out in the middle. But K-lx was sleeping on his side and was being relatively quiet—he wasn’t a snorer, which was good. Also, his big body radiated heat which Corinne was glad to have.
She settled herself on her side with her back to him and just about an inch of space between them. This close, she could smell him—but not in a bad way. In fact, he had a warm, spicy, masculine scent that put any synthetic men’s cologne to shame. It was so good that she wished she could smell more of it—more of him.
She had the urge to turn and put an arm around his waist and press her nose to his skin, but she suppressed it firmly. It was bad enough that she was letting her new Cyborg sleep in the bed with her—she didn’t need to snuggle with him too, she told herself.
At last her eyelids drifted closed and she allowed sleep to take her…only to be woken about an hour later by thrashing and a growling cry for help.
11
K-LX
K-lx wanted desperately to turn and hold his new Mistress. He knew that they hadn’t known each other for long—hell, not even a whole Solar day yet. But he just felt drawn to her—felt connected in a way he couldn’t explain.
It was probably the Linking stars they were wearing, he thought. They allowed the constant exchange of emotions, which made him feel close to Corinne. Also the way she had touched him in the shower—the way she had handled his body and taken care of him—not to mention the way she had made him come so fucking hard, had made him want her.
She’s your Mistress—your Handler—not your lover or your mate, he told himself as he kept his face to the wall and refused to let himself turn over to face her. She’s allowed to touch you, but you can’t touch her—not unless she rescinds her order.
This was one area where he was unable to override his programming. If his Mistress told him not to lay hands on her, he couldn’t do it. No matter how much he longed to touch her sweet, curvy body and return some of the pleasure she’d given to him so freely in the shower. No matter how he craved to suck her full breasts and lick her soft little pussy until she moaned and tugged his hair and begged him to make her come…
He was exhausted but the arousal these thoughts caused made it difficult to go to sleep—especially once Corinne climbed into bed beside him. They were lying there, back-to-back, and he could tell that she thought he was asleep. Instead, he was lying there with a raging hard-on, wishing he could turn and take her in his arms.
But since that was impossible, he concentrated on shutting down his functions and powering down his internal sensors. At last, when everything was dark, he was finally able to drift off to sleep…and that was when the dream came.
K-lx saw a woman…a beautiful, curvy Elite with black hair. She was speaking to him, but he couldn’t hear what she was saying. She was talking and laughing but for some reason, he had a feeling of dread.
Be careful! he tried to tell her, but the words wouldn’t come out of his mouth. And the more she talked and laughed so carelessly, the more the feeling of impending doom grew inside him.
Then suddenly, she disappeared. K-lx looked everywhere for her, but she was gone—vanished. But somehow he knew she wasn’t just gone…she was dead. She’d been killed and he hadn’t done anything to stop it—he hadn’t protected her as he should have. Why hadn’t he stopped it? Why couldn’t he save her?
Why—
“Hey…hey, K-lx. Come on, wake up. Wake up—it’s a bad dream. Wake up.”
Someone was shaking his shoulder. K-lx’s eyes popped open and he stared up to see a beautiful female face hovering over his in the dark.
At first he thought it was the woman in his dream…but no, the features were different. Her hair was longer too. Who was she?
“K-lx, it’s me—your new Handler. It’s Corinne,” she said urgently, answering his question.
At first the name didn’t register. But then his memory circuits booted up fully and things came into focus. He was now aboard a space station located on an asteroid orbiting inside the rings of Saturn. And the lovely Elite woman leaning over him was his new Mistress.
“For…forgive me,” he rasped. Gods, why was his throat so dry? “Had…a bad dream, I think,” he added.
“You definitely did.” She still looked worried about him. “Do you remember if this has happened before? I’ve never worked with a Cyborg who could dream—it’s very concerning.”
K-lx shook his head.
