Chapter One
“She’ll be waiting for us,” Jago said to Kriss as they hurried along the path. Jago’s strides easily outpaced the slightly shorter Kriss; however, Kriss was used to keeping up. The pair were rarely apart.
Kriss smiled in response and they strode to the entrance of their home, a spacious habitat by the Endless Lake. Jago reached the door first. It opened with a whoosh, the familiar breeze of conditioned air so unlike the heavy humidity outside.
She was waiting exactly where he hoped she’d be—opposite the door and naked. Painted toenails; he’d never seen such a thing. Her feet were planted neatly together, her chin was lowered and her hands were behind her back. Loops of hair licked around her oval face and although her eyes weren’t visible, she had a straight nose with a slightly raised tip. She tapered at the waist, then out again; she wasn’t lacking in fullness around the hips and was most pleasing to the eye. What delighted him the most was the rise and fall of her breasts. She was breathing, and fast, too.
When the door closed behind them, she spoke.
“Masters. I welcome you home.” She had a high voice, but not shrill or squeaky. It had a melodic edge to it, rather than metallic or artificial—such a contrast to their customary greeting.
Jago beamed at Kriss. “She’s real, isn’t she?”
“Unbelievable. I never thought this day would come when we’d have a real girl in our home.”
Jago waved her over to them and she walked on tiptoes until she halted an arms’ length away.
“Shayla, isn’t it?” Jago asked. “Your given name.”
She nodded. “Yes, sir. The name given at birth.”
“She was born. Amazing,” Kriss exclaimed. “Not hatched.”
Her cheeks blushed. “I was birthed by my mother.”
Jago reached out and lifted her chin with his fingertip. “You know that we are incubated in nests, don’t you? They taught you that on Earth?”
“Yes, sir. I listened carefully during the lectures. I studied the scrolls of Hezara.” She spoke so softly, Jago had to tilt his head to hear. She was timid. A natural behavior, not programmed, unlike the sexdroids whom they usually fucked.
“Then you understand that Kriss and I came from the same nest. We hatched on the same day and consequently, we are heart twins—nestors. What one loves, so does the other.” He and Kriss had been raised and trained together, never separated at any time for more than a few days.
“Yes, sir,” she whispered. “Heart twins.”
Jago slid his finger along her neckline, down past her proud collarbone and across the warmth of her breast. Her nipple stiffened and turned damson. The rise and fall of her breasts intensified as she snatched a breath. He lifted the nipple with the knuckle of his forefinger.
“Smooth skin,” he commented to Kriss. “Touch her.”
Kriss followed the same path from neck to nipple with his own finger. “These are natural breasts.”
Jago cupped one, spanning his fingers around the roundness and gave it a gentle squeeze. Shayla released a tiny moan. Kriss followed his lead. He, too, circled a breast and embraced it in his palm.
“The sexdroids just don’t feel like this,” Kriss remarked.
Jago agreed. The manufactured droids—artificial constructs sheathed in cloned skin and flesh—were a poor substitute for a real woman, especially an Earthling. The men of Hezara sought out many lifeforms to satisfy their urges, but until they discovered Earth, few had managed to fulfill their wishes. To cope with their demands, the Junta, the ruling body of Hezaran men, had ordered an army of sexdroids to be built and those so-called women provided some relief while scouts hunted for new females on other worlds.