Programmed To Please (The Tau Cetus Chronicles) (8 page)

And then there was that luscious kiss they’d shared afterwards…

Jai ran her fingers along her lips.

The kiss had obviously started out as reconnaissance on Marque’s part, but ended up as a mutual give-and-take, a wild tangling of tongues. He’d dominated her mouth at first, then willingly submitted and let her take control. It had turned into a real kiss. A full-on, intimate, and very…
human…
kiss. 

She hadn’t been kissed that passionately in a long time.

Her gaze drifted back to the clock on the wall. 12:30. He should be here any minute.

A shiver of anticipation ran up her spine.

Jai sat up straight.
Anticipation?
What the hell was she thinking? If Callex
did
return today, the clock was ticking on their time together. This was already Day Three; after today, there were just two more sessions in his free week at Beautiful Dolls. If Rainey’s plan had any chance at all of succeeding, Jai had to get to work on making Marque Callex comfortable enough today to spill his secrets.

It was the anticipated pressure of
work
she was feeling, certainly not the anticipation of
want.
She had a job to do.

But who says I can’t enjoy my job? Sex is one of the ‘perks,’ as Titus Veraine so aptly pointed out. I want sex with Marque.

Stop it, Jai!

Okay, even if her shiver was really one of anticipation at seeing Marque again, surely it was just a function of her year of celibacy. Twelve months without sex would make
anyone
react like a kid in a candy store when let loose with a gorgeous guy like Marque and a decadent place like Beautiful Dolls. Or maybe her body’s heightened awareness and sensitivity was really just a product of Carron’s damned sex pill.

Or maybe it’s the allure of Marque Callex himself.

Don’t say that, don’t even think that! He’s responsible for Joran Breaux’s death.

An odd sensation settled in Jai’s stomach. Did she want Marque Callex to come back today because her job demanded it, or because she personally desired it?

No, no, no. She was
not
falling for Marque Callex. It was only the extraordinary circumstances of this particular case that was upsetting her equilibrium and making her doubt her allegiance.

The familiar commotion in the reception area interrupted her thoughts.
He was here. He’d come back!
Jai sat up straighter on the hard wooden chair and closed her eyes.

The door to her room opened, and then shut. But whereas yesterday Marque had quickly crossed the room to her, today she heard his footsteps on the wooden floor as they slowly and deliberately made their way toward her. When his footsteps stopped, it took even longer before he spoke.

The suspense was killing her. What was he waiting for?

“Hello, J.”

Finally taking her cue, she slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him. His expression was wary. Uncertain. Tentative. That permanent frown was etched deeply between his brows today.

Oh, dear. Not a promising sign.

“Hello, Marque.”

He stared at her for a long moment, and then tilted his head. “Are you all right?”

Jai relaxed a little.
He was concerned about her
. But not knowing whether he was asking because he felt guilty at having abused her yesterday or because of her desperate plea for him to return, she gave him her best smile and answered with a simple, “Yes.”

The smile seemed to surprise him. He took a small step back, then turned abruptly and began to pace the room. He walked from her chair to the bed and then back to her chair again. Then back to the bed. He paused there with his back to her, and shoved a hand through his perfectly-coiffed black hair.

Jai waited, until she started to worry that she might lose the advantage of his return. With only three days left, she couldn’t afford to blow this opportunity. “You seem to have a lot on your mind, Marque. Would you like to talk about it?”

He let out a strangled, choked sort of sound, and then glanced at the ceiling, as if sending up a silent prayer or looking for guidance. Obviously not getting an answer there, he sighed loudly, and turned. His grey eyes were piercing, but unreadable.

Jai’s brain registered the fact that even in this disheveled and agitated state, Marque Callex was one gorgeous man.
Heaven help me, I
am
falling for him!

He crossed his arms over his chest, and looked at her intently. “I thought you were here to fulfill my sexual needs.”

“I’m here to fulfill
all
your needs, Marque. Even if you just need to talk.”

He seemed to consider, then shook his head. “No talking.”

Damn.
Jai tried to keep her face impassive.

Marque crossed back to her chair and held out his right hand, palm up. Jai stared at his long, calloused fingers for a moment, and then slipped her hand into his. With a gentle tug, he pulled her to her feet and guided her to the bed.

Without a word, he reached behind her neck with both his hands, and worked the knot of her sarong free.

The silk garment slid to the floor, leaving her exposed.

He paused, and then the back of his index finger came up to slowly trace the outside curve of her naked breast. “Beautiful,” he breathed, then jerked his head. “On the bed.”

Jai hesitated. Marque didn’t want to talk, but sex itself was a form of communication, right? The most basic kind. This could also work to start building their relationship. That is, unless he planned to take out his anger on her again today.

But he obviously didn’t intend that. She climbed onto the mattress and lay on her back without a word of protest from Marque. In fact, as he stripped off his own clothes, he never broke eye contact with her. To Jai, his intense gaze seemed even more intimate than if he’d been exploring every inch her naked body. Selfishly, she wanted to look at
his
body, but didn’t feel she could break their tenuous visual bond, especially if it meant that this signaled a change in Marque’s attitude.

He’d never looked at her quite this way before.

Wait a minute… was
that what Marque had been silently struggling with a minute ago?

Jai’s breath caught in her throat. If Marque had decided to stop fighting his attraction for her Beautiful Doll persona, things would be so much easier.

Please let that be it. I haven’t much time…

When Marque was finally naked, he crawled onto the mattress and spread himself out alongside her. He reached out a hand, and his fingertips slid across the thin coating of her synthetic skin, sketching a lazy pattern on her chest.

As usual, the sensation was dulled a little by the layer of silicone, but it felt good enough to make Jai imagine the feel of his touch on her own skin.

“You’re so perfect,” he said, letting his fingers leisurely glide over to the base of one breast. “This artificial membrane of yours is almost like real skin. Hell, if I ignore the slight glow this stuff produces, you could almost be human.”

Jai tried to ignore the sensual tease of Marque’s heavy fingers as they rhythmically circled her breast, around and around. She forced her mind to the job at hand. “I’m glad I please you, Marque. I’m Beautiful Dolls’ most life-like model.”

His low chuckle this time was an easy sound. Relaxed. No longer choked. “You certainly are that, J,” he agreed. His rough thumb moved to stroke back and forth across her nipple, teasing it to a hard little peak. He smiled at her. “See? Perfect.”

The expression on his face was amazing to Jai. Gone completely was his earlier agitation, replaced by a look of simple pleasure. Marque Callex – by reputation one of the world’s most powerful, ruthless, and invulnerable men – seemed happy just stroking her breast.
A sexbot’s breast, Jai, not
yours
specifically.
Still, the dichotomy was profound. How could Marque possibly have killed Joran Breaux? How could his illicit arms dealings threaten the world?

He didn’t seem like a megalomaniac. He seemed like just a man.

His smiled widened, and he bent his head to lick across her hard bud with his tongue, then settled his mouth on her nipple and gently began to suck.

Dear God. Jai squeezed her eyes shut against the pleasure. Was it too soon to start reacting?

“Bleah,”
Marque said, raising his head quickly, with a sour look on his face. “You’re
almost
perfect. I don’t like the taste of you at all. What the hell is this stuff?”

Jai’s brain scrambled for an answer. “It’s—”

“I know, I know,” Marque interrupted. “Synthetic something-or-other. Never mind. I like
this
much better.”

His thumb moved over to her other nipple, where his back-and-forth stroking quickly produced the same erect result. 

With a satisfied sigh, he cupped his warm palm over her breast. “You’re so incredibly responsive, J. And you’re the perfect size for my hand.”

It was true. Her breast fit perfectly into the cup formed by his palm and fingers. She arched her back for more contact, and to prove his point. It felt amazing. It felt… complete.

One of Marque’s black eyebrows rose in apparent surprise. “Do you like that, J? Do you like my hand on you?”

“Oh yes, Marque,” she answered truthfully.

His other eyebrow rose, and he pulled his hand away. “How is that possible? How can you ‘like’ it? You’re a machine.”

And you’re an idiot, Jai. Your feelings are getting in the way of your focus here!

Her brain raced for an explanation. What sort of robotic mumbo-jumbo would Marque believe? She had to give him an answer this time.
Think, Jai!

“My… neural pathways… have grown used to your actions these last two days, Marque. I…
recognize
… your hand on my breast. It’s familiar to me now.”

He looked down at her dubiously, but Jai couldn’t give him time to question her explanation. She reached out to grab his hand and replace it gently on her breast. “Please, Marque… Don’t stop. I
like
it.”

He looked down at his hand, and then glanced across the room toward her chair. “That must be why you smiled at me when I arrived,” he mused out loud.  “You said yesterday that you respond to visual cues, but I didn’t smile when I first saw you today. So it must have been—”

“Yes,” she interrupted, immensely relieved he was taking her explanation seriously. “I recognize you now.”

“Hmm. So would you…
recognize
…this, too, then?”  He bent his head and kissed her, his lips pressing tentatively against hers, but his tongue pushing for entrance to her mouth. She opened for him eagerly.

The tip of his tongue sought out hers, but as soon as it made contact, the sensual battle of yesterday began anew. His tongue stroked deep inside her mouth, once, twice, asserting its dominance and then pulling back, waiting for her to dictate the next step in their play.

Jai didn’t hesitate.

She loved this luscious give-and-take. She loved the fact that a powerful man like Marque Callex had no qualms about giving equal power to her, whether it was ceding control of their kiss, or, like yesterday, giving his cock over to the power of her mouth. In fact, she loved his kiss so much that she buried her hand in his thick black hair to pull him closer, her tongue probing, exploring every inch of his mouth, tangling deliciously with the rough velvet of his tongue.

He liked it, too. She knew because his cock hardened against the side of her thigh and he moaned low in his throat in obvious masculine approval. The hand covering her breast shifted so that he could squeeze her nipple tightly between his thumb and forefinger.

Jai inhaled sharply, never breaking their kiss. Pleasure shot straight from her breast down to her groin. A rush of wetness settled between her thighs.

She wanted him. She needed him.
Now
.

Sensing her readiness, Marque broke off the kiss, and rolled on top of her. He parted her thighs with his knees and guided himself to the entrance of her body. Staring into her eyes, he watched her intently as he slowly penetrated her with his cock, inch by powerful inch. Slowly. Deliberately. He was determined, calculated, and much, much too controlled.

“Ahh… Marque…”

The pleasure was a thousand times more intense than if he’d just blindly thrust himself inside her and started moving like he had on Monday. Jai’s head ground back into the mattress, breaking their visual bond, her fingers desperately clutching the bed sheet.  She couldn’t help it. The exquisite torture of being slowly impaled by Marque’s amazing cock made her writhe and jerk beneath him, desperate for him to finally bury himself deep inside her.

“Look at me,” he ordered.

She forced her gaze back to his. His grey eyes glittered like diamonds and there was a thin sheen of sweat on his brow. His tight control was obviously costing him.

He pushed inside her another inch.

Her eyes rolled back in her head.
“Ahh… Marque…please…”

“Look at me.”
He gave her one more deliberate inch.

“Marque…”
She tilted her hips to take him deeper, in desperate invitation.

He finally took pity on her. Or maybe his own control finally broke. With a throaty groan and a determined push, he buried himself to the hilt, grinding his groin against hers to make sure every bit of him was inside her.

She gasped out loud. She could feel him all the way to her stomach.

“Bloody hell,”
he swore. The wild, glittering look was still in his eyes. He was as affected by this as she was.

And they hadn’t even truly started yet.

“Fuck me, Marque,” she begged.

Without hesitation, he began to move.

Thank God.
Jai thought she’d come when he eased his long cock out of her and again when he pushed back in, but just when he’d set a rhythm she was sure would finally send her into a shattering climax, he abruptly anchored his hands on her hips and rolled her over so that she was on top of him.