Interlocking Hearts (25 page)

Jon stopped stroking his cock and pushed his comrade’s shoulder toward the mattress. “Ben. Lie down. Now.”

Ben pulled from her and her body grasped at the air. Paisley didn’t even have time to try and figure out how to move. They took care of that for her.

Ben was flat on the bed in seconds, and Jon picked up Paisley by her thighs. She stared into his eyes as he set her down slowly over Ben’s ready cock. She was so wet she slid down until her hips met Ben’s. One more of those tender kisses and Jon pressed her forward until her breasts were against Ben’s chest.

Ben’s hands went to her hair and he tilted her head up until her chin rested on his chest. “Do you need us, Paisley?”

“I need you so bad. I’m aching. Please.”

His angle must have been uncomfortable, but Ben didn’t complain as he let his lips tangle with hers. Paisley felt the pressure of Jon’s cock against her ass, and she tried to relax to let him in, but she was wound too tight. Jon must have sensed it too, because he started to back off.

Then his hand snaked between Ben and Paisley’s bodies to press against her swollen clit. Paisley was expecting him to rub or stroke her. He didn’t. Jon pinched her poor clit, and as Paisley groaned into Ben’s mouth, he pressed forward and used the ample lubricant to force his way deep inside, just how she needed him to be.

The three of them held still as Paisley’s body adjusted. She didn’t breathe, but she could feel her heartbeat and Ben’s beating against each other. Jon’s system whooshed in a steady rhythm behind her, and she felt like she was exactly where she should be. It didn’t matter where she was on the planet as long as these two men were around her. The feeling of contentment had her lost and then Jon turned on the vibrations. Paisley clamped down and all three moaned at the pleasure.

“The vibrations feel even better from this end,” Ben said. He leaned his head back, but kept massaging Paisley’s scalp.

“I’ve definitely got the pleasure spot win going on here.” Paisley grunted as the vibrations increased. “Please move. I can’t take this much longer.”

“I’m in agreement with that.” Ben began to thrust.

It wasn’t gentle anymore, and Paisley had never been more grateful. She was building up an orgasm to obliterate her body, and it needed to happen soon. Jon had her pinned in place already, but he leaned over and pressed against her to make sure she was staying where he wanted her as he forced her to listen.

He let the blood return to her clit and he slid his finger up and down on either side of the swollen nerve bundle. He kissed up her shoulder and neck until he made his way to her ear. He pulled the skin between his teeth and bit down as he began to mimic Ben’s moves, alternating times between thrusts.

Paisley knew she couldn’t hold on much longer. It was all too perfect. Jon’s finger finally hit home and he turned on the oscillating tip to stroke her at supersonic speed. Both men held on with a punishing grip and pounded into her until she didn’t have room for anything but the orgasm that blasted through her.

Her body bowed at the pleasure and everything in her seized. The men inside her powered forward for one or two more strokes before they let themselves erupt. Although their grip lessened, they didn’t let go of each other.

Paisley didn’t know what to say. Usually she’d crack a joke, or tell her partner that she had to get up early in the morning and needed to head home. None of that would work here. She couldn’t run from this, and for the first time she didn’t want to. She wanted to hold on.

She wrapped one hand behind her back, and let herself enjoy the feel of the toned skin and sprinkling of hair across Jon’s legs. The other hand mimicked the same motion over Ben’s shoulder. She let her head fall to the side and snuggled between their pecs.

“Can we stay like this for a minute?” she found herself asking.

Instead of them shifting, or trying to go clean up, both men’s muscles relaxed. Jon pulled his arm from between her and Ben and she felt all four hands stroking whatever spot on her skin they could reach.

Ben kissed the top of her head. “I need far longer than a minute.”

Jon kissed her shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere until your body expels me.”

Paisley smiled. She hoped her body could hang on to these men. She didn’t want to leave this moment.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Paisley slapped her leg as she made her way back into the kitchen. It was 4:00 a.m., and the pastry chef would be on shift in the next thirty or forty-five minutes, but she needed something to tide her over because she was going to miss breakfast. At least she hoped she would.

She wasn’t the only one up.

Matilda cleaned off one last fork, setting it into a dish-drying rack. “You had cake and then got sex too. That’s cheating. I get your cake next time.”

“Don’t try and get between a woman and her cake, Miss Matilda.” Paisley grabbed a cheese stick out of the fridge and a bottle of beer. Probably not the best things to put in her system to recharge, but she didn’t want to dirty any more dishes for Matilda when it was obvious she’d stayed up cleaning the mess from earlier.

“Are you leaving with them?”

Paisley inhaled the cheese.

“Don’t choke. You’ll vomit and it makes a mess.” Matilda pounded on Paisley’s back to dislodge the dairy from her lungs.

“Why does a person have to make life decisions at four in the morning?” Paisley grumbled into her beer.

Matilda flipped a switch and the coffeemaker whirred to life, grinding up a fresh batch of beans for the morning brew. Looked like someone was pulling an all-nighter.

“They leave in the morning, you know.”

“I know.”

“You have no job here.”

“Thanks for reminding me.”

Matilda smiled. “You’d only have to be back occasionally for this lawsuit.”

Paisley guzzled her beer. “Are you trying to get rid of me?” she asked.

Matilda stood next to the barstool Paisley had hopped up on. She still had to look down to look at her former boss.

Paisley had left her suitcases up in the room with two sexually sated men. Even if she wasn’t gone for good, she thought about getting out of the palace for a few hours. The timeout would prevent her from having to make a decision.

“I want you to run the planet, Miss Compton. We would all be much happier if you let everyone know that pleasure is a good thing.”

Paisley laughed and imagined running for office or marrying a prince to get put in charge. She’d end up declaring a national bacon and chocolate day, and follow it up by requiring employers to allow all people an extra break for a midday orgasm. Productivity would triple.

Her majesty entered and didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed as she jumped right into the conversation. “She would have to get in line. If my childless streak continues, it puts Quinn in line to take the throne.”

“Your majesty.” Miss Matilda lost her accent, and Paisley was pretty sure she grew a couple inches as she scrambled off the stool to stand at her full height before bowing.

A second later, there was coffee in front of the queen. Matilda knew what kept her employed. Keeping the queen caffeinated was one of those things. Paisley was pretty sure the queen would have invaded every neighboring country if she didn’t have her brew.

What the queen had said clicked a second later.

“That would make Coral the queen.”

The current queen sipped her coffee, and reached for the cookie Matilda had placed on top of a napkin-covered piece of china. She held her cup to Paisley. “That can only happen if we can get this world changed.”

A robot couldn’t hold office, let alone be a monarch. Quinn wasn’t exactly human anymore either. He had the whole war hero thing on his side, but it would still be a tough pill to swallow for the general public.

The queen drank her coffee deep. “I’m not that old, and I do hope to have children.” She coughed. Paisley hadn’t ever seen the queen be anything but on her game, but it seemed there was a lot of pain she kept inside. “I also want my future children to grow up in a kingdom that is not at war.”

The queen snatched her perfect composure back and focused on Paisley. Paisley realized the queen had always looked over her before. Now she focused on the former maid. From the way Paisley felt the urge to bow at the woman’s feet, the queen had this whole leader thing down pat.

“I saw what you did to stop the riot the magistrate helped to coordinate.”

“I just stopped a few hundred people from killing each other,” Paisley said. Even she had to admit it felt good because she had saved those lives by her words alone. Well…words and a little breaking and entering.

“War begins because people follow the wrong leader. We were here making calls and deliberating what our best move was, and you stepped out and changed the world.”

The queen held out her mug and Matilda dropped in a crest-shaped sugar cube, a teaspoon of cream, and topped it off with the coffee to mix it all together. After a sip, the queen nodded and walked from the room.

Miss Matilda immediately began filling up the silver tray with another carafe of coffee and more biscotti.

“Her majesty just told you thank you.”

“I didn’t hear her say that.” Paisley was still staring at the retreating royal.

“Then you need to listen. Royals hate being wrong, but they hate being dead more. You stepped in when she couldn’t. They are figureheads. They have to represent all the people, even idiots.” Matilda filled two mugs for her and Paisley and then started the coffee system again. Between all the cups they’d filled, they’d already drained the large pot.

“I’m not the type of person to change the world, Matilda. I’m more the type to survive it.”

“You’re wrong. You just need to stop running because you know that if you truly live in this world, you’ll have to take charge and change it.”

After Matilda checked the controls on the coffeemaker, she tucked her e-cig in her pocket and lifted the tray.

Paisley was holding on to her coffee for dear life. “I’m not a leader.”

“Could have fooled me.”

Matilda clinked as she marched out of the kitchen and the pastry chef made his way in. Paisley sat and got in his way until her coffee got cold.

Years ago, she had let someone toss her out. She’d always found a new place to stand tall, but she’d never really stood her ground.

It was a lot to process, but somehow Paisley didn’t even consider leaving the palace. She walked forward instead of turning her back on this reality. She just wanted to see Jon and Ben one more time before they left her. She was ready to not run, even if it hurt.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The sun was up now. The rays decorated her room with rainbows thanks to the stained-glass windows.

Two men were sprawled across the crumpled bedsheets. Both had a hand reaching toward the center of the bed. They didn’t look like they were in a hurry to leave. Paisley put down her coffee. Maybe she could slip back into their dreams for a moment.

Then an alarm blared and both men popped up. Paisley picked up her coffee. She needed something to do with her hands.

Ben looked to the middle of the bed, and then looked a few different directions and rubbed his eyes before he focused on Paisley. Jon turned right to her.

“Did you sleep?” he asked.

“Sleep is for the weak.”

“If you aren’t weak, we didn’t do our job,” Ben said.

No one moved to close the gap between them. The beautiful light through the stained glass turned from a soft rainbow into the blaring light of day. Reality was a bitch.

“When are you planning on leaving?” Paisley asked her coffee.

Ben popped his neck and whirled a few gears in his back before he stood up. The sheet he threw from his flank showed at least part of him was up and at ’em for the day. Morning wood was a wonderful thing.

Ben flipped open a small laptop and tapped a few keys. “They’re on the run. Can’t blame them, but the sooner we leave, the less ground we have to cover, and the less likely we have to hit more stealth mode upgrades than were already installed. I’ve got most of the local dealers tagged to tell us when lubricating items are requested by individuals without owners, but people aren’t exactly confident that we aren’t linked to the magistrate.”

Paisley coughed. “What about if I went with you?”

Paisley didn’t know what she’d expected, but the silence wasn’t it.

“You’re too human,” Jon said.

That got a glare. “Too human for what?”

“To be safe.” Ben had thrown on pants and got up next to her, invading her bubble. “We’re going out to take chips out of these folks and without knowing us personally, many of these mechanics aren’t going to welcome us slicing their arms open.”

“I think I did pretty darn good when I took the lead at the City County Building,” she reminded them.

“Don’t you have to stay here for the paperwork and filing all the lawsuits for the robotic citizens?”

“For a week or so,” she admitted. “But it’s going to be ages before the court systems get into reviewing it.”

“You also are a bit of a celebrity after that stunt,” Jon said. “There are many people who might not have been at the protest, but believe as the picketers do. You should stay at the palace where the royal guard can keep you safe.”

“Are you really suggesting that I stay inside the palace until the court system gets around to looking into the cases I’m helping file?” Paisley got stir crazy when she had to behave for extended periods of time. That long in the palace with formal dinners would make her nuts.

“Jon and I have worked together for years. We know each other’s habits, and we can keep each other safe, but we also know the other is able to take care of themselves if we have to separate.”

Sometimes men really needed to be smacked across the head.

“I’m not a wilting flower. You just want me to not come with you so you can use your sexy mojo on the ladies.”

Jon was the one who stepped forward. “If you came with us, would you only have sex with us?”

“Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?” She wanted to get specifics down, and she ignored Ben’s sputtering a few feet away because he would do the human thing and dance around the topic. Getting this right was important.

“I want you to be safe,” Jon said. “I want you to be nearby, and I want to have sex with you.”

Paisley’s heart pounded as she asked, “Only me?”

“Yes. And I want you to only have sex with me.” Jon turned his head as Ben coughed. “And Ben. We are a package deal. He helps me not get too out of control.”

Paisley realized she’d been having tame sex by Jon’s standards. “What happens when you’re out of control?”

Jon frowned. “I don’t know. I’ve never let myself push beyond the pleasure parameters outlined in my programming. I’ve been adjusting my commands myself, but Ben has helped me pull back when I start to go too far.”

“We’re getting off topic here. Are you saying you want to come with us as we track down these other humanized mechanics? We’ve got the communication channel Winters was using to connect to all the chipped bots. That’s where we plan on going. After them.” Ben tossed Jon a pair of pants. Unfortunately. “What about the law drafting you were talking about?”

Paisley tried to shrug, but with all that was going on, she was vibrating with excitement and maybe some terror. It looked more like a spasm. “The majority can be done remotely, and like you said, with the Anti-Mech protestors obviously in the area, it would be safer for me to do that anyway.”

Ben wouldn’t let it drop. “Coral was acting as an ambassador for mechanical rights. She was almost killed.”

“And she’s my best friend. She won’t stand alone, but I want to do more than file paperwork. And I’m not opposed to doing that while wrapped in your arms at night.” Paisley looked at the floor as she said, “I opened up a part of myself to you that I haven’t opened up in a long time. I’ll survive without you, but I’m happier when you’re with me.”

They didn’t say anything. Paisley looked up when she heard the shuffling. Her red suitcase was on the bed and opened. Jon was folding her clothes neater than she’d ever been able to accomplish and was able to fit her entire wardrobe in with ease. He looked at her and grabbed three of the rolls of clothes he’d made.

Paisley caught the fabric he tossed her.

“This will be easiest to go through the airport in. We need to leave in an hour. Can you be ready?”

Paisley started to unroll the fabric and toss the items on. “We’ll have to be back in a few days for me to sign all of the paperwork I need to.”

Jon tilted his head for a moment and then nodded. “The flights line up just fine for that. Assuming we catch the runner in time.”

“The runner?”

Ben tossed on a shirt and pulled her into his arms. If all her questions got answered with his arms holding her tight, Paisley vowed to ask a lot more questions.

“We’ve figured out most of the programming in the chips. They do have location trackers. One of the more recent applicants has been moving away from the city faster than the others. We still don’t have a lock on the magistrate or what he was using as his scrambler trigger. We’re starting with the outliers and working our way back. Hopefully, if he is far enough out to need an additional hologram portal, his shut-down switch is out of range too. We’re headed in the direction the runner’s going first.”

“Do I know him?”

“His application was processed a week ago, so you might.”

Jon wrapped his arms around both Paisley and Ben.

Jon kissed her forehead and said, “I wish we had more time.”

“Ever hear of the mile high club?” Paisley said with a smile against Ben’s chest. She felt the rumble of approval from both sides of her body. Whoever said relationships were boring obviously had never dated these two.