Page 34 of Codi
“I came home early.” I speak quietly so as not to wake up Lucas. “I wanted to see you.” I set my purse down on the kitchen counter and skirt around it, closing the distance between us about halfway before stopping and resting my hands on the back of the sofa. “We should talk.”
Codi slowly walks toward me. “All right. What’s on your mind?”
I take a deep breath and steady myself, not about to look away from his eyes. “I was out of line before I left. All that talk about you being jealous. I was a total brat. It’s wrong for me to treat you that way, and I’m sorry.”
Codi stares right back at me, through me, his expression morphing from confusion and caution to surprise. “You’re... apologizing to me?”
“Yeah, that’s what you do when you make mistakes.” I smile at him. “And it was a mistake, behaving that way. I hope you can forgive me.”
The shutters in his irises shift. I’ve noticed he does that whenever he’s thinking, searching for a response. “There is nothing to forgive.”
“No, there is.” I take another step forward as I muster what courage I have. “I was acting like a fool because I care about you, Codi. I went on this date, and Nicholas’s a great guy. He really is. We might even become friends, who knows, but... he’s not the one I want.”
There’s no stopping the truth now. It’s already halfway out, so I drive recklessly forward. “I know I’ve only known you for a couple of weeks, but ever since I found you and you woke up right here in my living room you’ve turned my world upside down. I can’t sleep sometimes. I can’t think straight.” God, I really suck at this.
Codi looks at me quizzically. “Do you require a doctor?”
I groan. “No, Codi Goddammit.” I’m about to turn away and just forget the whole thing, but now is the time to be stubborn, and I dig my heels in.
Get it out, Denise. You always speak your mind. Why is this different?
“I want you. I’ve wanted you ever since you told Lucas that silly little bedtime story—no, even before that!—and you asked me to dance. I’ve tried pretending like I don’t, but I—”
Codi moves faster than I thought possible, closing the remaining distance between us. Our bodies collide. He wraps an arm around my waist and his other hand rests behind my head as his lips crash against mine in a heated kiss that nearly knocks me off my feet. I’m silenced as he plunders my mouth with his tongue.
I always wondered what kissing him would taste like, if he would taste metallic or plastic or somewhere in between. I’m pleasantly surprised. It’s almost like drinking water. There’s no tangible flavor. It just is.
When he pulls away, the outlines of his white irises look like they’re actually glowing, something I’ve never noticed before. I’m panting, breathless. “Codi... ”
“Is that what you wanted, Denise?” His voice rumbles in my ear, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end and sending shivers of delight down my spine.
“Y-yes,” I murmur, leaning into him. I’m helpless to stop wherever this leads now.
“Is one kiss enough?” Codi asks me softly. He brushes his nose against my jawline.
“No.” One kiss isn’t enough. A hundred kisses, a thousand kisses wouldn’t satiate me. Heat pools between my legs. “Don’t stop kissing me, Codi.”
I no longer want him; I need him. He searches my eyes, studying me, measuring me as though I’m the one made of numbers, codes, and wires. I’m impatient. I need this.
Now.
“Please.”
6
Codi
Her words echo through me. When she opens her kissable cherry lips and speaks to me, all uncertainty and control ebbs from me. In this moment, Denise becomes more than a woman to me. She’s not my owner, my mistress.
She is liberation.
Always, she has treated me as though I’m not an android but a man, her equal in every way. She gives me kindness, a sense of belonging, and purpose. Clothes of my own to keep. When she took me to be repaired, she didn’t take me to BioNex. She took me to independent engineers, ones who respected me too. Through them, she removed my inhibitor, a thing meant to keep me quiet, submissive.
Even now, when she expresses her desire for me, she doesn’t command me. She implores me. Begs me. As though I am the master of my own body. I can make up my own mind. I can say no, if I choose. And she will listen to me, because she respects me.
I want you. Don’t stop kissing me, Codi.
Please.
