“I hit her,” she said in a stunned tone. When she looked up at him with baleful eyes, they held none of the violence he’d seen moments ago.
“You did.” He leaned down and kissed her. “It was glorious.”
She huffed at him disapprovingly, but she swayed into his arms anyway, pressing her cheek against his bare chest and winding her arms around his waist. “I can’t believe we just did that.”
“Mmm. I recorded the whole thing to my data bank.”
She tugged back to stare up at him in abject horror. “You?—”
“I backed it up twice, too.”
She shoved at him, but she only managed to make herself unsteady on her legs.
He caught her around the waist, chuckling under his breath. “Don’t worry. It’s for my own personal enjoyment. I’ve no intention of blackmailing you, beautiful.” He contemplated it for a moment. “Well, actually?—”
She hit him again, and this time he extended her the grace of pretending to be wounded by it. “You’re not funny.”
That made him frown. “Why would you say that? I have an excellent grasp on humor.”
She pulled away from him, replacing her mask with a surly look before storming away.
He trailed after her, whispering in her wake. “Ophelia? Take it back. I am very amusing. Admit it. Ophelia?—”
He drew up short when she reached the door to the ladies’ room. A woman walked out just as she went in, frowning at him as she straightened her Automata lab coat.
“What are you doing here?” she asked him in a voice meant for a child. “You should be back in line with the others. You’re Thirty-One, aren’t you? Yes, I remember.”
Ophelia stopped in the bathroom just behind the woman, who was busily fussing over his barcode. Her face lit with a wicked grin, and she flashed him a single finger before the automatic door sealed shut between them.
Oh, she…
“What are you smiling about?” the annoying woman asked, glancing over her shoulder at the sealed door. “Oh, whatever. Who knows how those glorified tweens are programming you guys these days? Come on, then.”
Thrumming with annoyance, he followed the employee back to the stage, where he stood in line and stared at the seat where Ophelia had first emerged. He couldn’t see more than the vague outline of her figure when she finally returned from the restroom, but it was enough for him. He didn’t look away for the rest of the hour.
CHAPTER 42
Ophelia hadto sit through another hour of ‘demonstrations,’ most of which were many degrees tamer than the paces Sam had put her through. It might have been titillating to her if she hadn’t gone first, but Sam hand-wrung every last ounce of arousal from her; all that was left was a bone-deep weariness and the desperate longing to get him alone so she could sleep it off in his arms.
His gaze hadn’t wandered from her the entire time. She didn’t think he’d even blinked. Nibbling her lip, she glanced at him again.
Yep, still staring.
It was an unsettling sort of focus, like a hunter’s gaze tracking prey.
The last android rose from the bed, drops of blue cum still dripping from his dick as he crossed to stand beside the others again. The man he’d been pleasuring lingered a moment longer before rolling from the bed with a heavy groan and limping toward the backstage area. Androids dressed in white bustled out to wheel the bed away.
“Alright!” the emcee called, clapping his hands together. “That concludes the demonstration portion of the evening. It’stime to move on to the auction. Everyone, please get your paddles ready.”
Ophelia sat up straighter, clutching her paddle to her chest. This was it. All she had to do was win this bidding war, and it was all over. She’d have the paperwork to prove she ‘owned’ him, and they could leave without anyone ever being the wiser to the peculiarities of his operating system.
“We’re going to start the bidding with Thirty-One. Here’s a little recap in case you need a refresher after all those performances.”
He swept an arm toward the screen behind him, and to her mortification, it began to play back their demonstration. The camera was focused on him, at least—on the feral, victorious expression on his face as he fucked her from behind.
“Say it. In front of all of them.”
Was that what he’d looked like when he’d demanded that of her? Like the whole world hinged on whether or not she said it?
