STORY EXCERPT

Blake watched as Jonquil walked among the men and engaged in light conversation as she served them drinks. She laughed softly at their boring jokes and flirtatious manner. He lingered close, listening, his eyes cutting through the hazy cigarette smoke to see the interest in their eyes when they looked at her. Jonquil was the only woman present, and the eyes of every male there followed her everywhere she went.

It was working, he thought smugly until he noticed a friend gathering up his belongings to leave.

“Jack,” Blake called out, “where are you going? It’s too early to leave.” Blake knew that Jack’s early departure might mean disaster for his project since the others looked up to him and respected his opinion.

The man turned toward the voice, a tiny spark of righteous indignation burning in his eyes. “I’ll not be a party to this, Blake. Hearing you talk about making a human being out of computer parts is mad! It’s insane! I’m getting out before someone calls me crazy!”

“That’s putting it rather crudely, don’t you think? The word is robots, Jack. You’ve heard of robots, haven’t you?”

“Of course I’ve heard of robots. They’re big clumsy machines full of nuts and bolts. What you are describing is hardly a robot. My God, who could create such a being?”

“I can.”

“Blake, listen to me. You’re entering into a forbidden zone here. Sure, maybe someday in the distant future, perhaps, but not now. It’s just not possible. If you continue with this, they’ll be calling you a…a madman, a modern-day Dr. Frankenstein!”

“They? You mean you, don’t you, Jack? Look, I’m not some crazy fictional doctor, for God’s sake, and I don’t harvest my parts from dead bodies!” His words rushed out as his excitement grew. “Jack, my dolls will be the streamlined version of a robot that defies imagination. It will be a breakthrough such as—”

“No!” Jack interrupted vehemently. “My God, Blake, what in hell did they teach you at that quack of a robotics school? To make an ass of yourself?”

“They taught me to dream big, Jack, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

“Have it your own way, but I, for one, am not interested in investing my hard-earned money into this…this…harebrained scheme of yours.”

“Harebrained?” Blake repeated angrily. “I’ll make you eat those words.”

“Maybe, but not tonight. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I—”

“Jack,” Blake interrupted, his eyes gleaming, his anger pushing him to shock the old man with old ideas. “Before you go, do one thing for me. Tell me what you think of Jonquil.”

Jack’s eyes shifted toward her. “She’s lovely. Did you meet her in London?”

“As a matter of fact I did.” Blake hesitated a moment, taking a perverse pleasure in his next words. “She was a street slut.”

Jack looked at him, shock etched on his face. “A what?”

“A street slut. A prostitute. A hooker.”

“My God. What’s she doing here?”

“I brought her back with me.”

“You did what? Why would you do a fool thing like that?”

Blake shrugged. “She fascinated me. Besides, she’s no longer a hooker. In fact, she has no interest in it at all.”

“I don’t care! Doesn’t it matter to you that she’s led that kind of life?”

“Not at all. Besides, I didn’t bring the actual woman back with me. I brought the idea of her back with me. I created her from memory.”

“Created her?” Jack glared at him, a glimmer of fear in his eyes. “What in hell are you talking about?”

Blake smiled. Now for the kill. “I mean, she’s a robot, Jack.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Blake smiled, amused, and then finally said, “The food was delicious, the conversation engaging, and now good night, Ms. Danner.”

“Lisette,” she said and then seemed to realize he probably didn’t want to know her that well, and added softly, “or not.”

Blake said nothing, only stood at the door in awkward silence waiting for her to say good-night. He cut his eyes toward her as she continued to stand there, until he finally swept her into his arms and covered her lips with his own.

She struggled in his arms until at last he released her. “What in hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Isn’t that what you were waiting for?”

“Go back to your robots, you miserable pervert!”

“Gladly! And you can go back to your men’s clothes and chopped-up hair! For your information, kissing you is like kissing an iceberg!”

She lifted her hand to slap him, but he caught it and looked down at her nails. He dug a few bills out of his pocket, slapped it in her hands, and pushed it back in her face. “For God’s sake, get a manicure!”

She threw the money back in his face. “When I find a man I want to impress, maybe I will.”

He looked down at her, insulted at her words. He quickly stepped all the way into the room, slammed the door behind him, reached out and grabbed her arm, and pulled her against him. “So I don’t impress you, huh?”

“You’re a—”

“If you call me a pervert again I’ll—”

Before he finished his sentence, his lips crushed hers, betraying his desperation to have her. But the kiss that started out rough and brutal became increasingly gentle and passionate, until the fight melted into desire, and he knew she had at last surrendered. That realization brought with it a flurry of hands pulling and tearing at their clothes while he pushed her down on the bed, and their two bodies came together.

In the darkness of night, as they lay there in each other’s arms, he sought to fill the emptiness of his soul with a touch of her skin, a sniff of her fragrance, and the nearness of her presence. His passion led him to begin rubbing her thighs, and then her hips, and then upward to the flare of her hips. As his cock rubbed her pussy, he thrilled at the sensitive touch, but before he entered her he wanted to lick her breasts, and the small roundness of her abdomen. With each touch she arched her back, her moan blending with the night, her writhing body making his desire catch fire and begin to climb.

Now, as he opened her legs, he thrust his hard cock inside, feeling the hot, moist wall of her cunt squeezing and rubbing him. It had been so long since he’d had a real woman, it was almost a new experience for him. As he thrust in and out, every time he touched her the sensations seemed to come alive, and burst like live wires. He wanted to shout, to cry out as he continued to thrust in and out. He wanted her touch, her being to consume him. She was an ember at first that burst into flame, a flame that grew and surrounded him. He wanted to know possession like he’d never known it before. Every stroke of her tongue against his lips held him in place. He was afraid of her kisses, afraid they would capture him and refuse to let him go. Like a fly, he felt trapped in her arms. Their tongues waged a war as the urgency of their kiss grew greater and greater. And then when she pulled away, she found his ear and bit down gently. Her erotic nibble thrilled him, causing his in-and-out slide to take on new hues. Before he knew it she was licking a trail down his neck until she found his chest. With a sucking tongue, and her warm breath, she scoured him lustfully, at last taking a nipple into her mouth and sucking.

He felt feverish, hot. He could feel the heat from her skin, but there seemed to be no air, so he breathed in the scent of her skin that seemed to be a mixture of cologne and desire, and he became giddy with excitement, drunk with the rush of his emotions. His heart began to beat faster. He wanted to be on her, under her, inside her, tangled up in her arms and legs with nothing more to hope for except one more night, one more month, one year, or one decade.

In this world of robots, it was their moment.

And suddenly he jerked when the flavor of each sensation burst upon him, one after the other, filling him, and leaving him with the deepest warmth and satisfaction he’d had in a long time. As he closed his eyes in exhaustion, he was reminded of how satisfying it could be to have sex with a real, live woman instead of a doll.

Why in hell did she have to be a man-hater!