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I’m feeling…a lot of things. The dominant one is desire. My hands curl into fists to keep me from reaching for Emma. It’s all I want to do. She’s brilliant, talented, hard-working, generous, and so physically stunning I find her hard to look at sometimes, especially now.

My gaze has been lingering on her as of late. I thought it was a need to assure myself she’s safe after those fools tried to abduct her, but now I think it might be something more, given where my gaze has been landing. Her legs are so tantalizingly thick, I find it hard to shift my focus anywhere else when she’s walking. There’s a hypnotizing movement to them, the way they shake and jiggle, and the way her behind moves in its own unique rhythm with each step.

On more than one occasion, I’ve found myself trying to count the mouthwatering dimples along the soft globes of her rump and where they meet her thighs. When she wears her printed suits it’s harder to see them, which is why I’ve been rearranging the suits in her closet so that she’s more likely to reach for the solid colors.

There’s also the sound of her laughter. If only I could crawl inside that sound. It’s mellifluous like honey but also loud, and it goes from the smooth tinkling of a bell to a dry rattle near the end, and when it’s over, I long for its return.

I’ve been paying close attention to the explicit sex scenes in the audiobooks saved on her phone. Even though I was originally programmed as a pleasure bot, and the settings were updated to perform as a guard bot, the original settings were merely buried under new directives. They weren’t erased. I know the technical steps to pleasing a human partner regardless of gender identity, but the audiobooks are teaching me how to spot the more subtle signals of a woman’s body when she’s in the throes of physical pleasure.

I wish to try these techniques out on Emma. How do I make her aware it’s not only my honor to keep her safe, but would be equally so to give her pleasure as well? I want nothing more than to see her lovely brown skin bared for me as I send her head-first into an orgasm so rigorous and overwhelming she needs a map back to her own sanity.

The question remains: Will she let me?

Chapter 11

Emma

Chairman Yates and Vice Chairwoman Martinez call on a Saturday to say they’ve officially ruled out the Nut brothers as suspects. “At present, we’re running out of possible suspects, and that includes Mapletown residents,” Chairman Yates says.

Abe is fuming beside me. He drops into a crouch so his mouth is closer to the phone. “You need to look into Vladimir, the elder vampire, and, Emma, who else was being difficult at the town meeting? That woman…”

“Louise Ketner,” I say with a sigh. “She wasn’t being difficult. She was just asking about the broom race. I highly doubt either one of them could be capable of dropping a bomb inside the portal.”

I hear the rustling of papers, then Vice Chairwoman Martinez says, “We’ll question them a second time.”

Abe runs a rough hand through his floppy brown hair, making it stick up on the sides. “Are you taking this investigation seriously? Because it’s been weeks since the initial attack, Ezra is still in a coma, and Emma fears for her life each moment she’s awake.” He slams his hand on the coffee table. “We need to catch this person before someone gets killed.” Then he ends the call, and I sit there, too stunned and confused to form words.

Mostly, I’m terrified that he potentially sabotaged my chances to someday become a committee member, and that’s what gets me to my feet. “Did you just hang up on the committee?”

He’s pacing the living room, fingers anxiously tapping his thighs as he goes. Such a human thing for him to do. Maybe I’m rubbing off on him. “So what? They’re useless.”

I come around to face him, stomping as I do. “They’re doing everything they can. What more do you want?”

“I want fucking answers!” he shouts.

“You think I don’t? You think I like looking over my shoulder whenever we leave the house? It sucks, but being on the committee is my dream job, and you just chewed out my future bosses.”

He rolls his eyes. “Forgive me for expecting the oversight committee to do their jobs. You are far too valuable an asset to this town to be in danger for this long. They should see that too, and I find it abhorrent that they don’t.”

Oh.

That’s nice of him to say. I appreciate how dedicated he is to defending my honor.

“Without your brilliance and dedication to your constituents, this town would be in shambles,” he continues, resuming his angry pace across the rug. “These people are lucky to have you, Emma. To have your full attention at all times. Do they realize what a gift it is? What an honor it is to receive even a passing glance from you? If they don’t, there’s something seriously wr––”

I launch myself at him the moment he turns around, and I press my lips to his. I don’t wait for him to finish speaking. He’s showering me with the kind of praise I’ve never received in any scenario, professional or personal––besides from my moms––and he’s doing so with a passion I didn’t think he contained.

It’s a hard press of mouths, and when I realize his aren’t moving with mine, I pull back. His eyes are wide as he stares down at me, and I wonder if I’ve made a terrible mistake.

“Oh, I’m sor––”

Abe shuts me up by taking my lips with a roughness that turns my knees to jelly. His hands are gentle as they cup my face, fingers tracing the line of my jaw, as his mouth is hard and hungry. A desperate groan rattles up his throat as I run the tip of my tongue along the seam of his lips. He grants me entry by sucking on the tip of my tongue, making my inner walls clench around nothing.

I’m amazed by how human-like his mouth and tongue are and with whatever is supposed to mimic his saliva. The shapes and textures are a perfect match to a human, and no part of this feels like I’m kissing a machine.

When he rolls his tongue against mine and I feel a slight vibration, I pull back with a gasp. “What was that? Because I liked it.”

He smiles shyly as he brushes a lock of hair behind my ear. “I was originally designed as a pleasure bot, remember? Before my system was updated to be your guard.” He plants quick kisses on the corner of my mouth, my chin, my cheeks, and my eyelids. “I was made for this too. Hidden and attachable parts exclusively for pleasure. All for you, Emma.”