Captured by the Dark Lord (21 page)

            As she stood
contemplating the matter, not budging, ‘bright eyes’ smile dimmed to headlights
in her eyes.  “Your companion android, Ms. Shue?”

            She was still too
absorbed in trying to remember what she might have ordered to really pay him
any attention--until he mentioned android.  Her eyes focused on him for several
moments as the key word jogged something in her memory and then she slapped her
forehead with her palm.  She’d forgotten all about Gramma’s early birthday present. 
Or it could have been late?  She wasn’t entirely sure what day of the week it
was.

            Emily opened the
door and pressed her thumb to the delivery confirmation pad, affirming her
receipt of the delivery.  “What are you doing making deliveries so late?  I
thought they were only doing automated deliveries now.”

            “It is automated,
Ms. Shue.  I’m an android, as well.”  He smiled brighter.

            That would
explain the peachy keen disposition, she thought and wondered what she was
getting in to now ... or rather what Gramma had gotten her in to.

            “I’ll be right
back with your package, Ms. Shue.”

            “Hope he comes
fully assembled,” she murmured, chuckling as she left the door open and
wandered into the living room to have a seat while she waited.  She was still
more than a little groggy from being awakened so abruptly.  Or maybe it was
just that she hadn’t slept nearly long enough? 

            Before she could
rest her cheeks on the cushions of the couch, a deep male voice called her name
from the foyer.

            It arrested her,
mid sit, her jaw going slack.

            The ‘man’ caught
sight of her and strode into the living room, his hand extended.  “I’m Sabin. 
I will be your new companion android,” he said with a smile that turned her
knees to water so that she collapsed abruptly onto the couch.  She gaped at
him, at his sensual, utterly kissable lips, the smoky bedroom eyes that met her
own stunned gaze with a gleam that banish all thought from her brain.  He
towered above her.  She came upright as if the couch had ejected her, and realized
he still towered over her.

She ran a disbelieving stare
up and down his body.  He had the lean look of an athlete, muscles well defined
and bulging on his bared arms, and she wondered idly if the rest of him was so
... detailed.  A strand of dark hair curled over his forehead.  It looked so
natural, it made her palms itch to run her fingers through the thick mass.

            Her brain kicked
into gear as her physical reaction ran it’s course, and still she stared at
him, unblinking, marveling at the advances in technology that never ceased to
amaze her--to create a perfect simulation of a human being ... and a damned
sexy one at that.  Was he supposed to be so ... so sexy? 

What in the world was she
going to
do
with him?

            The frightening
thought provided resuscitation to the steaming pile of mush her brain had been
reduced to.  Or, perhaps it was only an animal reaction to fear that finally
gave her a kick in the ass.  Whatever the case, the moment it occurred to her
that she was going to be trapped in her home with him, she dashed past him and
out the front door. 

The delivery boy, she saw
when she ran out of the house, had loaded up and was backing down the drive.

            “Wait!” she
called, hailing him down before he could escape.  He stopped and she caught up
to him breathlessly.

            “Yes, Ms. Shue?” 
He regarded her questioningly.

            “Are you sure
he’s supposed to ... um ... be this way?  Did you deliver the right one to
me?”  She hadn’t expected something like this.  What had Gramma been thinking?

            “Of course,
ma’am.  He comes with award winning technical support and a manual built in to
his memory capacitor.  Have a nice day.”  The boy waved and drove off, leaving
Emily staring after him in the gathering dark.

            With a feeling
not unlike dread, she trudged slowly back up her overgrown walkway to her new
“live in.”

            What was she to
do now?

            She kept
repeating the question in her mind numbly until she reached the door. 
Uneasiness assailed her at the thought of facing her ‘companion’ once more. 
She stepped quietly into the house, closing the door with the barest whisper of
sound, then crept across the foyer and peered cautiously around the door frame
of the living room. 

            It was empty.

            Where had he gone
off to? 

She looked around the room
blankly for several moments before she moved inside.  She’d checked under all
of the tables in the room before it occurred to her that he wasn’t an animal,
scampering about, exploring his new territory.  Even if he could’ve managed to
fit himself under her tables, there was no reason why he would.  She got up and
went to check the closet, wondering if it would be best just to ignore the
droid and go about her routine as usual.  It wasn’t like he was a living thing
and would keel over dead if she forgot to feed him, or water him.   In general,
she worked all day on her equations, occasionally remembering to feed herself
and her pets—when she had them--snatching sleep when she could.

            She frowned
thoughtfully and realized that wasn’t going to work.  She had a ... person
wandering around the house.  She was bound to bump into him and that would be
downright unnerving since she wasn’t used to having another person around.  She
was accustomed to living alone.  Even her independent minded pets avoided her most
of the time.

            “Hello?” she
called softly as she left the living room and continued her search through the
house, examining every room.  It wasn’t a very large house.  There were only so
many places he could be.  He was a droid, she reminded herself.  What interest
would he have in exploring anyway?  But as she searched each room with no sign
of him, she soon found the choices of hiding places had dried up to only one
remaining room.

            Her bedroom.

            The door was
closed.  She never closed her bedroom door unless she was sleeping in there—and
she fell asleep at her desk more often than not. 
Please, please don’t let
him be in there
.  Emily had never had a man in her room--ever.

            Reaching out, she
turned the handle and let the door slowly open on its own.

            She gasped as her
bed came in to view, covering her eyes with her hands before it occurred to her
how absurd it was to ‘hide’ from an android. Peeling her fingers loose, she
looked at her bed again.

            The android was
in it.

            And he was naked.