3rd World Products, Book 16 (42 page)

I held up a hand and said, “
Now
I’ll interrupt. It’s time to call certain things finished, Tanya. Not forgotten. Just finished. Keep him in your heart and let him go at the same time. People who
really
love you want you to be happy. Seems likely that’s how Martin was or you couldn’t have loved him.”
 

Tanya got a bit teary and reached for the paper towel rack. While she blew her nose and steadied up at the sink, I used the towel that had been under her glass to quickly wipe the damp spot where she’d been sitting.
 

Apparently she’d noticed me doing it. She said, “Thangs,” without turning around, then blew her nose again and rinsed her face. After a couple of sighs, she straightened and dried her face and hands, then sat down. I started to get her drink from the sink counter, but she put a hand on my thigh to keep me seated and said, “I’ll get it when I’m ready.”
 

Hm. Something serious coming, or just a break? I sipped and waited. She rested her elbows on her thighs and clasped her hands as she stared at them for a time. I let my eyes rove over her, which made my dick rise again. Tanya took the towel I’d used on her chair and blotted some lubricant that leaked out of me.
 

Sitting back, she met my gaze and said, “I’ve had an idea. My car’s worth about fifteen if I sell it quick. I could buy the board, pay my rent for a few months, and make some trips to North Carolina. Will the board go that far, or will I have to fly?”
 

“The board runs on field energy. It’ll go wherever you want if you’re willing to do it at about four-fifty miles per hour.”
 

She nodded firmly. “Then that’s what I’ll do. I’ll make some contacts and by the time the no-sell month is up, I’ll be able to start my own business.”
 

Tipping my glass to her, I said, “Sounds good.”
 

Maybe Tanya thought I’d intended a mutual toast. She leaned gracefully to retrieve her drink and clinked her glass to mine, then we sipped.
 

Eyeing my dick, she reached for my hand and said, “I’ve been teasing that poor thing long enough. Let’s go to bed.”
 

Hm. Bed, instead of just settling into my lap again? I sensed some extra meaning ahead.
 

Chapter Twenty-six
 

Tanya wasn’t just her usual lusty self. Something was different on some subtle level that added an intensity to her lovemaking. After some cuddling and preliminaries, she got on top and lowered herself onto me, then put her hands on my shoulders and sat rocking gently as I stroked her legs and breasts.
 

A few minutes later, something in her eyes and demeanor changed suddenly and she froze. Posting very slowly a few times seemed to trigger something that took her breath away and she returned to rocking as she came hard. Only moments later she rather jarringly came again and haltingly lowered herself to kiss me and rest on my chest.
 

When she continued a few minutes later, she seemed to contain an unending reservoir of orgasms, a few so strong they left her lying dazed and gasping for breath.
 

During one such orgasm, she looked down at me with a ‘
what are you doing to me?!
‘ expression just before she came hard, collapsed onto me, and just lay there making soft little grunts as the aftershocks rolled through her.
 

It wasn’t me doing anything to her. Really. By tongue or hand or dick, I wasn’t doing anything I hadn’t done before. Orgasms are self-generated. They only come from within the woman and they’re either accessible to her or they aren’t. When they are, they can be pleasant little rollergasms or they can really rock her world, but quality and quantity aren’t up to anyone but her.
 

As Tanya lay gasping after a short series of hard-hitters, she seemed almost stunned for a time. Her sweaty breasts heaved as she gulped in air and lifted a trembling hand to stare at it in mild amazement. Looking to her left, she froze.
 

“My God… it’s not even nine-thirty yet.” Propping herself on an elbow, she shakily took a drink, then sat up with her empty glass and sighed. Turning to me, she looked at my upright dick and asked, “You haven’t come yet?”
 

I shook my head. “Nope. Got too caught up in helping you reach for the next one. Forgot about everything else. Hell, I didn’t even
care
about anything else.”
 

She snickered and said softly, “Martin was like that, too.”
 

Moving to sit behind her with my legs around hers, I rubbed Tanya’s back and shoulders as I kissed them, then let my hands wander around front to caress her breasts as I tasted the sweat on the nape of her neck. The feel and scent of her made my dick almost painfully hard against the small of her back.
 

My fingers trailed down to her bush and Tanya caught her breath. A few moments later I saw her jaw tense as she hissed, then let forth a low, “Huuuhhhh.”
 

Her head lolled back to rest on my shoulder and she tasted a spot behind my ear as she groaned again. I could feel her belly buck gently with every little orgasm I tickled out of her. She had half a dozen or so before her hands stilled mine and lifted my slickly damp fingers out of her lap.
 

“Bathroom,” she gasped, “Drink. Thirsty.”
 

Tanya stood up and turned around to stare at my jutting dick for a few moments, then stated, “When we start in again, I’m going to
make
you come.”
 

“How’s that, ma’am?”
 

Heading for the bathroom, she called back, “Never you mind. You’ll find out.”
 

I said, “Better not be a blowjob,” and she stopped cold at the bathroom door. Looking back, she asked, “Why not?”
 

Grinning at her, I said, “Because you’ll have to get up and go brush your teeth before I’ll kiss you again.”
 

Coming back to the bedroom door, she leaned a shoulder on the frame and asked, “You’re serious?”
 

“Oh, yeah. The smell alone is bad enough.”
 

“It doesn’t smell bad to me. It’s strong, but I wouldn’t actually call it bad.”
 

“No surprise. Men and women have chemical differences.”
 

“But you said one of them loved to have you… Did you make
her
go brush her teeth, too?”
 

“Yup. You bet.”
 

Tanya grinned. “Then it must have been Selena. Toni would have just held you down and kissed you anyway.”
 

I shook my head. “None of us ever forced each other to do anything. Never. If it wasn’t fun for both, it didn’t happen.”
 

After regarding me for another moment, she went into the bathroom. I got up and took our glasses to the kitchen, then made two new drinks and stood waiting.
 

Tanya came out a few minutes later. I gave her the new drink and a kiss as I passed her on my way to the bathroom. When I left the bathroom, she was still in the kitchen, leaning against the sink, so I joined her there. As I parked my butt against the edge of the counter and sipped, she looked me up and down once before she spoke.
 

“Martin loved blowjobs. Why don’t you?”
 

“You’re talking about just you going down on me? Not both of us nibbling each other at the same time?”
 

“For now I’m talking about me going down on you.”
 

With a small shrug, I said, “I don’t get enough out of them and they always seem to take forever. They feel good at first, but they get boring as hell fast. I’d rather be exploring you.”
 

She grinned and asked, “What if I like doing that once in a while?”
 

Shrugging again, I replied, “Well, gee, I dunno, ma’am. Find a way to speed things up some and ‘
once in a while
‘ might be survivable, I guess.”
 

Tanya laughed, “I’ll see what I can do when the time comes. I hope mentioning Martin didn’t spoil anything for you.”
 

I shook my head. “Nah. When you said, ‘
Martin was like that, too
‘, I just figured I was doing something right.”
 

Laughing again and leaning to kiss me, Tanya said, “Yes, Ed. You were definitely doing something right.
Very
right.
Just
right.”
 

“Good of you to say so, milady, but
you
were on top in there. I was just your helpless toy, a plaything for your voracious carnal desires. Whatever you achieved, you earned on your own.”
 

Grinning Tanya had been ready to laugh again, thinking I was about to deliver another funny. Her grin faded a bit, then she looked thoughtful and said, “You’re right. Except for some kisses and your hands all over me, I
did
do all the work, didn’t I?”
 

I sighed, “I
tried
to warn you, ma’am. I’m
lazy
.”
 

She chuckled and lightly slapped my thigh, then sipped her drink and looked thoughtful again. After a time, she said, “You’ve been right about
everything
, dammit. All along. Do you know how
annoying
that is?”
 

“Guess not. From my end of things, it seems to work out pretty well. I’d probably even recommend it to others.”
 

“I’m sure you would, but take my word for it, it
can
be annoying.”
 

“Yes, milady. As you say, milady. Annoying even when it’s to your advantage and in your best interests?”
 

She nodded. “Even then. You know why?”
 

“Maybe because in order to appear to be particularly right about something, someone else has to appear to be wrong or uninformed?”
 

Giving me a droll glance, she replied, “Exactly.”
 

“Well, then, my apologies, ma’am. I’d be more than happy to try to make it up to you in bed.”
 

Nodding again, she said, “That might do, I think. Yes. That might be a perfect way to apologize. But not just yet. I still need to rest a bit.”
 

We stood sipping in silence for a few moments, then something occurred to me and I sent a probe to have a look at Marie. The deep dents in her skull and face were now patches of translucent skin stretched over eggshell-white new bone. Her face was now perfectly symmetrical. The gristle of her nose was becoming less visible beneath the new skin. Oh, hell.
 

I said, “Tanya, we gotta get moving, ma’am.
Now.
”
 

“What? What’s wrong, Ed?”
 

“I just had a thought and checked your mom. The ‘bots have made a little more progress than we anticipated. Pack a bag for a few days somewhere else.”
 

Putting up a screen, I showed her Marie’s face from a distance of about two feet. Tanya stared in shock, took a breath through clenched teeth, and hissed, “
Oh, my God! They’ll see that the next time they check on her!
”
 

I checked the time on the screen; nine-forty-three. Ten was one of the times listed on her meds chart. Morning or evening? Both? I split the screen and pulled up her charts. Both.
 

“Yup, in about fifteen minutes. And then they’ll come for us.”
 

Again staring at her mom, Tanya asked, “How the hell have they NOT noticed all that before now?!”
 

To get her moving, I shut down the screen and led her to the bedroom as I said, “Pack while we talk. The ‘bots had to make enough of themselves, then they cleaned and prepped. No more low grade infection. No more toxins in the system. No more tiny bits of bone in the wrong places and stuff like that.”
 

She grabbed her pack and chose some clothes quickly, then packed a smaller pack with her toilet articles. Looping a strap through the smaller bag’s straps, she buckled it and set the bags on the bed.
 

As she packed, I said, “If a car plowed into your living room, they’d haul out the debris, throw tarps over the work areas, and start rebuilding the framework first. Same thing with Marie, but I thought they’d start with brain damage to get her functions back up first. Instead, they started with
everything
first.”
 

Tanya looked at me and laughed, “Then I was
wrong
? You
aren’t
always right?”
 

Shrugging, I sighed, “Guess not. I’ll work on it, ma’am.”
 

I was dressed before she had her two bags packed. She also had a small suitcase in her closet, so I took it to the kitchen. I packed food items and paper towels around her booze bottles, then tossed in a few plastic cups and her coffee mug. Tanya came in buttoning her blouse and studied my choices, then added a few things and some plastic tableware.
 

She closed the case and listened as she shook it lightly, then said, “Good,” and set it on the floor.
 

We gathered all the bags by the front door. I had Galatea park close in front of her door in standard configuration and her nonstandard stealth mode. As we carried our stuff aboard, I saw something flash in one of the cars at the edge of the lot. Sending a probe there, I saw a guy talking animatedly on a cell phone. He lowered the phone, poked buttons, and began talking again as Tea lifted away from Tanya’s apartment.
 

I said, “Wait. If they think we’re in there and won’t open up, they might break in. If they know we aren’t there, they might take time to find a key. We’ll leave on the boards.”