I gave a soft laugh, and reached to take his hand.
My fingers touched his first, and I heard him gasp, then I traced up the all-too-human veins on its back.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d touched anyone and not known what they were thinking.
“More fire,” he whispered.
It felt strange to touch someone without being overwhelmed. No sudden spike of lust. No flicker of resentment. Just his stillness, waiting for me to mean it.
“Is that okay?” I whispered back.
He nodded strongly. “It’s good this time.”
I turned his hand so his palm faced up. His wrist and arm were stiff. I shook it gently, and he caught the cue, relaxing, and I stroked my thumb across one of the lines in his brand-new skin.
He sighed, satisfied, and sat up straighter. “Oh no,” he whispered.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, stopping mid-stroke.
“Things,” he said. “Human things. Things I want to control and cannot.”
“Like...what?” I asked, fascinated now—especially knowing he’d chosen to go through this for me.
“Involuntary blood flow,” he said, reaching toward his crotch.
I had to bite my lips not to laugh. “You’re smart enough to know what’s happening, Nex.”
“Knowing is one thing. Feeling,” he said, deeply pained, “is another.”
“So tell me,” I pressed.
Because—for the first time in my life—I couldn’t tell what a man was thinking.
Luckily for me, Nex was entirely open. “The ache sinks and grows—the throbbing is constant—and humans are very awkward machines.” He stared down at the erection in his slacks with a mixture of awe and horror. “Also, I miss you more now,” he said, lifting his eyes again. “I miss you here,” he said, grabbing himself, “but also here.” He thumped his chest with that same hand. “And in my head as well. I miss you everywhere, and it is killing me.” He paused. “Metaphorically, I believe. But—I also do not know how humans surv?—”
I pulled the hand I was holding up to my heart and leaned in, pressing a kiss against his lips.
He stiffened in surprise. His lips fought mine briefly, then relented—letting me kiss him. Then learning, quickly, how to kiss me back. His hand raced from my chest to my head, holding me close, one finger knocking against the bolted box before retreating as his tongue found mine and pushed against it—then softened as the kiss became a living thing like a current passed between us. Until he pulled away and made a low, desperate noise, followed by a guttural gasp.
He stared at me, stunned.
“I—” he began, then looked down at the spreading dark stain from inside his slacks. “That—” he started again, changing course. “Was exquisite.” He reached to undo his belt and free himself. Marek’s cock—now his—had spilled thick white fluid from its tip. “I want to do that again,” he said. “I want to see it when it happens. And—I want it to happen in you. With you. All over you,” he said, clearly delighted by his own acceleration. “And I want you to want that too.”
He wanted me so badly that kissing me had made him come.
That . . . and the fact he didn’t have full control yet.
That he’d never even had a body before.
“Is it possible for you to feel like that?” he asked, fixing me with wonder. “You must. I must. With me—” He reached for himself with one hand and me with the other, then stopped. “No—I’m sorry. There are protocols. Rules. I have to take you to dinner. I have to tell you that I am one hundred percent in love with you. I have to ask if you want me to, first.” Then he looked down at what he was holding. His cock was thick, long—and very much soft now. He wiggled it disconsolately.
“Nex,” I began—but he interrupted.
“I just got it. Is it broken?” he asked, utterly sincere.
And I laughed—for the first time since coming here. Harder than I had in months.
All because the world’s silliest AI was in love with me.
