Free Deep by Linda Mooney

murmured.
    He continued to touch her face, outlining the whole area encompassing the ravages of that side of her face. Tucking a length of hair behind her ear. Brushing the edge of her mouth. Tickling the corner of her eye.
    "What I wouldn't give to kiss you. To be able to feel your lips. Feel their warmth and soft texture. Their taste. What do you taste like, Lawn? Are you sweet like the juice you just drank?"
    He was seducing her. Loving her in the only way he could.
    In the back of her mind, Lawn knew it was those mechanical arms with their finger extensions that were touching her. But he was right. By closing her eyes, she could dream. Imagine.
    Believe.
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    "Can you really feel me?" she whispered. A finger glided across her lips with the softest of swipes. She resisted the urge to kiss it.
    "Yes. I can really feel you, although not in the way you can feel me."
    The imaginary hand traveled down her neck, pushing aside the collar of her jumpsuit. He stroked her, heightening every nerve running under her skin. Leaving gooseflesh in his wake.
    It was like having little lines of electricity shooting through her. She gasped and pressed her bunched fists together in front of her chest.
    "I wish..." She paused as another hand slowly made its way down her side, barely touching the side of her breast, over her waist, until it rested on her hip. Her body was alive and waiting.
    "You wish what?"
    The hand on her throat went down to her breast where it gently cupped her.
    "Do you want me to make love to you, Lawn?"
    This time she had to open her eyes. She had to see the raw hunger in his eyes. A glance down confirmed what she already knew. A metal arm extending from behind her was gloved within his transparent hand, but she could visibly see his hand touching her breast. Touching it, gently molding it, cupping it. While she watched, he squeezed her nipple just enough to make her shiver. A little further below, his holo erection disappeared into her abdomen.
    "Can you?"
    "Let me show you. Come to bed."
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    Lawn opened her mouth to answer when Deep disappeared. The metal arms retracted back into the wall an instant later. Dazed, she hurried to take the ladder down to the bedroom.
    Communique 5D
    To: G.E. Coordinator Millner
    All is a go. Buoy is in perfect running order. We are set for the coming year's tour of duty.
    Addendum: Building trust and acceptance. Despite the fact that we are compatible, one cannot automatically assume an immediate and trusting friendship.
    * * * *
     
     
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Chapter 10

Filed Under "Experience"
    The lights were dimmed in the bedroom. Lawn hesitated briefly in the doorway before walking slowly toward the bed and the figure standing behind it. Everything felt surreal.
    "Let me make love to you, Lawn. Trust me."
    "I do trust you. It's just the fact that..."
    "That I'm not a real man?" Deep moved to the side of the bed. "Close your eyes, Lawn. Give me a chance. If I can't make you happy, I promise to delete all references from my memory and never broach the subject again."
    His memory?
    "Deep, are you recording this?"
    "No."
    "But it'll be on the databanks."
    "No," he repeated. "I decide what will be imprinted on the memory coils."
    "But if you experience it..."
    "I decide what will be imprinted on the memory coils," he reiterated.
    She frowned. "There are programs that can rebuild deleted or overwritten files."
    smiled. "True. But how can the Bureau find what's never appeared in the first place? I am the ship, Lawn. I make the rules, not follow them."
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    She'd reached the edge of her bed. "Do you also keep your promises?"
    He nodded slowly, never taking his eyes off of her. "Yes."
    The lights dimmed all the way into darkness, and another light softly glowed directly in front of her. Lawn looked down to see the bed bathed in a pale luminescence. She glanced back up at Deep, but he had vanished.
    "Close your eyes."
    He was behind her, whispering so as not to alarm her.
    "Close your