The reality was, though, horny or not, he was still horribly groggy. When he went to stand, he almost fell over. In fact if Leita hadn’t grabbed him and pulled him upright, he would have gone down for sure—and not in the way he had been picturing it either.
“Whoa! Are you feeling all right?” She looked at him anxiously. “Your manual says you may be a little groggy for a while until the sedation wears off.”
Pierce frowned at her. “My manual? What are you talking about?”
A look of puzzlement crossed her pretty face. “Your owner’s manual, of course.” She waved a vid-clip at him. “The manual for the Companion 2000.”
“Companion 2000?” He frowned at her—where had he heard that before? Suddenly, it all came rushing back to him—the shootout outside the man-whore factory, the weird walking, talking man-thing that had insisted it wanted to service him, the knockout gas he’d been given when he tried to get out of the box… The box—ugh! If he hadn’t been claustrophobic before, he surely was now. He stepped quickly out of the box, nearly stumbling in his haste to get away from it.
“Is something wrong, Companion 2000?” Leita was still looking at him anxiously.
“Look,” Pierce said in some exasperation. “I’m only gonna say this once—I’m not a damn Companion 2000.”
“You’re…you’re not?” She stepped away from him almost as quickly as Pierce had stepped away from the long silver sarcophagus. “If you’re not the Companion 2000 I ordered then…then who or what are you?” she asked, her big brown eyes large with fear.
“Hey now, honey, I’m not gonna hurt you.” Pierce took a step toward her but she jumped back again.
“Stay back,” she said in a shaking voice. “Don’t come near me until you tell me who you are.”
Great! Pierce stared at her, his mind working a million miles a minute. When she’d thought he was a sex robot, she had been warm and open and ready to jump his bones. She’d trusted him at once, probably because the man-whore-cyborgs were programmed to be trustworthy. And the moment he told her he wasn’t one of them, she started freaking out. Which would probably lead to her throwing him out and notifying the authorities. Which would in turn lead to Shie-lu finding him and turning him in for the bounty on his head.
On the other hand, if he went along with what she believed, Pierce reasoned, not only would he have the perfect place to hide out until the heat on the street cooled down a little, he would also have the trust and sexual attention of a very pretty girl who was dying for him to screw her brains out. He didn’t like to lie to her but what else could he do?
“What are you if you’re not a Companion 2000?” she demanded again.
“I’m a…” Pierce thought fast. “I’m a Companion 3000,” he said, smiling broadly. “Because you’ve been selected to receive the very latest in the Companion series through…through a random drawing.”
“A Companion 3000?” She frowned at him and crossed her arms over her breasts. “I didn’t see any mention of that on their website.”
“Of course not because I’m a…a prototype,” he said, trying not to sound desperate. “I have all kinds of extra-special bonus features the Companion 2000 series doesn’t have.”
“Really?” She arched an eyebrow at him, clearly skeptical. “Name them.”
“Name them?” He looked at her uncertainly.
“That’s right—name them. I want to know all the ‘extra-special bonuses’ I get with you.”
“Oh, uh…” Pierce racked his brain. What had the weird man-whore-cyborg thing said to him before Shie-lu and his gang busted into the factory? “I’m, um, extra sensitive,” he said weakly. “So if you wanna cry all over me I don’t mind.”
“Thanks,” she said dryly. “But that wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when I ordered you from the For Her Pleasure catalog. What else?”
“I, uh, I’ll never try to solve your problems,” Pierce offered, still trying to recall what the man-whore-thing had said in the factory. “I’ll listen to you bitch just as much as you want about your crappy day at work or your two-faced girlfriends and never offer a word of advice. Unless you ask for it, of course.”
“That’s comforting to know since I work right here and don’t have any girlfriends, two-faced or otherwise.” Clearly she still wasn’t convinced. Suddenly, Pierce thought of the main selling point the man-thing had kept harping on.
“Leita,” he said softly, taking a step toward her. “I’m here to fulfill all your darkest sexual fantasies. No matter how kinky or extreme.”
“Oh…” She sighed softly and he saw some of the skepticism melt from her eyes.
“And you don’t have to be ashamed to tell me anything,” he continued, still speaking in a soft, coaxing tone. “Because I’m a machine—I’m your machine. I’ll do anything you want me to. Kiss you, hold you, taste you…” He stepped closer to her, close enough to cup her cheek in his palm and look down into her eyes. He was pleased to see she didn’t run away.