Clanker’s inhumanly deep groan of pleasure and the burst of rainbow light from his core replayed in my memory. I knew at once what it was when it happened, and it made me feel shocked but proud at first.I made him feel that. My touch did it. All those online women can suck it.
Common sense and my conscience rained on my parade about a second later. It was wrong on every possible level to give my bodyguard orgasms. First, he was still technically employed by me. Second, his free will was brand new and he was trying to find himself. Not to mention the fact he was a clanker! My entire career was built on trying to eradicate his kind.
Last but not least, this wasn’t the right time to start any kind of relationship. I was going to end up dead or arrested, that was certain. It wasn’t right to drag him into all that.
I sat on the toilet, burying my face in my hands. Oh my God, I was right, wasn’t I? Death and jail time were my only possible outcomes. And for Clanker—just death, since he would go down with me.
I couldn’t do that to him. I couldn’t let Dean die.
I grabbed a bathrobe, tying it up jerkily, and burst out of the bathroom.
“You’re fired. Leave right now.”
Clanker didn’t move, watching me steadily, his arms folded on his chest. I waited a moment, then said it again.
“I’ve just fired you. You’re no longer my bodyguard. Go away!”
“I heard you. I’m fired. Excellent.”
He stayed right there, his face impassive, his eyes glowing with steady purple light. My lower lip wobbled, and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep it together.
“I don’t want you here,” I enunciated clearly. “Shoo! Go—find someone else to follow. I don’t need you.”
“But I need you, and since you’ve just fired me, I’m no longer obligated to obey your commands. I’ve allowed myself to order breakfast. I’ll charge while you eat.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “How can you be so dim? Dean, don’t you get it? I’m a dead woman walking! I won’t give up, and since Zenkyoza is much better resourced and more murderous than me, I won’t get out of this alive. You’ll go down with me if you stay. So leave. Please, for my sake. I don’t want to have you on my conscience, too.”
He shrugged. Actually shrugged. It looked fake as hell, and I pursed my lips, folding my arms stubbornly as I threatened, “I’ll run away again.”
“And I’ll find you again.”
“I’ll call Charlie and snitch on you.”
“I’ll race you.Dialing Charlie…”
I huffed, stomping my foot in anger. Charlie must have picked up, because Dean spoke to him at once.
“I’m calling to report I was fired and remain by Sera’s side voluntarily to protect her. Is there anything we should sign to make this official?” He was silent for a moment, then took my phone from where I left it on a dresser. “Thanks, Charlie. Sera, there’s a mutual termination agreement in your inbox.”
I snatched the phone out of his hand and signed the document with my fingerprint, sending it back.
“Will you leave now?”
“No. I’m a free clanker, and I’ll stay right where I am. Or rather, where you are.”
“I’ll report you,” I growled, thwarting the urge to throw my stupid phone at his stupid head. Didn’t he get it? I needed him to be safe!
“No, you won’t. They’d melt me, and you don’t want to have me on your conscience. You said so yourself.”
I threw my hands in helpless fury, and Clanker had the audacity to grin. “Be honest, you only fired me so we can ethically give each other orgasms. I want one. I tried to rub my core just now but it doesn’t work when I do it myself.”
I let my head fall back against the wall, but of course, he was faster than me. His large palm cushioned the back of my headthe same way it did at the MSA base. I stared up at his smiling face, his glowing eyes crinkling perfectly. I could probably kiss him.
The nineteen-year-old Sera who loved robots cheered in my head. So she wasn’t dead, after all.
“I don’t want you to get hurt,” I whispered, staring into his eyes. “And you will if you stay. So please. Leave. I beg you.”
His smile softened, his fingers massaging my scalp. “I go where you go. You’re in my core code.”
