Sad, thought Shayla, they’d not even named her. “What else... but don’t show me.”
“I suck their magnificent penises—”
So not sexy. The false adoration came across as puerile.
“They use ropes, so that I swing from the ceiling, my wrists and ankles bound together and they enter—”
And horrible, too. “Okay, that’s enough.”
“I do not please them?” The droid glanced from side to side with an apparent air of uncertainty. “Do I require an upgrade?” She blinked. “I have not been activated for—”
“It’s fine. You’re fine.” Shayla waved her hand in front of the droid’s face. She actually felt sorry for the creature with semi-realistic skin and hair. But, the droid had been left behind a panel while all the time she and Jago and Kriss... They’d fucked with her right there, barricaded in a cupboard. The sexdroid wasn’t an it. She might not have feelings, but she certainly had a use and her programming ensured that she knew her purpose was to please. Now, unlocked and finding her masters absent, she seemed on the verge of some programming malfunction. Her eyes flitted from side to side, her mouth opening and shutting.
“I serve my masters,” she repeated mechanically.
Shayla reached out and touched her arm. The skin was warm, the flesh soft. “Poor thing. They quite forgot you, didn’t they? How rude of them. Why not go back to sleep.”
“Sleep. Yes. I sleep until required.” The droid—Tina, Shayla decided to call her in a flash—stepped backwards and slotted herself into the compartment in the wall.
“Sleep tight,” Shayla said.
The eyes closed. The lips pressed together. The skin turned whiter. The panel slid back into place. Only then, did Shayla realize that not once had the creature breathed air.
It shouldn’t be there, stuck in the wall. If Shayla meant anything to her nestors, she shouldn’t be sharing a house with their ex. It didn’t matter that the ex wasn’t a real living woman. It was still an ex-girlfriend, of sorts.
Soon, they’d be home. She straightened her skirt. Usually, she’d undress and kneel in the bed of cushions, ready for them to saunter over and claim her. Well, not tonight. First they had some explaining to do.
She’d thought things had progressed. Obviously not. Those moments of near romance, the last when they walked around the lake with each of her hands held by Jago and Kriss, were for her benefit, and not theirs. If they really wanted to develop a meaningful relationship with her, they could evict the droid.
They were due back any minute.
She stood with her back to the glass wall, away from the cushions, and with her clothes on. She folded her arms, slouched a hip to one side, and glared at the door.
If for one second she’d remembered her place, her duty to serve and please her nestors, she might have reconsidered her stance. It really wasn’t the best choice.
Chapter Fifteen
“Shall we tell her?” Kriss asked. For weeks, he and Jago waited for the opportunity to approach the queen, and for the duration, Kriss had attempted to keep Shayla’s request at the back of his mind. He couldn’t help noticing, though, that his curiosity had been stoked by Shayla’s. He wanted to know the answers to her questions, too.
Jago’s strides lengthened. The habitat was in sight. “No. Not yet. Don’t want to get her hopes up. The queen said she’d think about it. We can’t expect anything more than that.”
“True. She was intrigued, though, wasn’t she? She asked quite a few questions about Shayla.”
“Definitely got her attention, but, she’s not likely to make a quick decision. The queen has no need to meet Shayla.”
Kriss slowed. “What if she speaks to the judge, finds out that Shayla broke the rules with the oracle?”
“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.” Jago turned the corner and the door of their house slid aside. The interior was dimly lit and cool. “Can’t wait to—”
Shayla wasn’t in her usual waiting place in the cushions. She was in the middle of the floor space, with a puckered mouth and her chin jutted forward. As Kriss crossed the threshold of the doorway, she tossed her hair to one side with a flick of her hand. Clothes on or not, she was pure sexiness. The pout she wore was unexpectedly attractive, almost wicked. Mischievous, too. However, his amusement wasn’t appropriate. He planted his hands on his hips and stood side by side with Jago, presenting a unified front.
“Shayla,” Jago said with raised eyebrows. “What’s wrong? Did you forget the time?”
“Nope,” she said, popping her lips on the last syllable.
Kriss flexed his fingers. His palm felt strangely itchy. Was she after a spanking? Weeks had gone by since the arena incident, and he believed that was the last time he would lay his hand across her ass and give it a good hard smack. Maybe not, which seemed to please his cock—it jerked and stretched his pants. But, was this posture of hers part of a game, or was she being disobedient for a reason?
He opted to test her resolve. “Strip and kneel, Shayla. The Hunger is two days away. Did you think we’d skip it this time?”