CHAPTER 5

Kalli’s frustrationhad not abated by mid-afternoon. In fact, it had simmered into indignation and outrage. Dariux had gone out again. Ostensibly to arrange for their transportation for tomorrow, and to settle the bills, but she guessed his real reason for going out was to put some space between them, so she stayed behind in their room.

The tension between them was uncomfortable. How dare he deceive her like that? He had pretended to care about her research just to get himself selected for the mission. Granted, as the principal developer of the time-travel technology, he wielded a significant influence over its use. He could have invited himself on the mission, regardless of her preferences.

Which somehow made his deception all the worse. She had believed him to be an ally in the fight to save humankind from extinction by the machines. And instead, he was on the machine’s side. That sounded somewhat dramatic even in her own head, but damnation, that’s exactly what was happening. It might not be a full-on frontal assault by the bots, as they were depicted in the VR theater. But it was something more pervasive and stealthier. And all the more dangerous because of it. Most people, Dariux included, wouldn’t understand the danger until it was too late to take action.

She had thought he cared about her studies. It was so humiliating. Here she was gushing about love and emotions when his only interest was to test his shiny new toy.

When would she learn men would always choose machines over real women? Especially over her. It’s not as if she was a great beauty. She certainly could not compare to the perfect bots designed to tempt men. She didn’t even try to resemble them. It was more desirable to be respected for her academic achievements. But sometimes, in a very private part of her brain, she recognized she wanted to feel desired. By a real man.

She had this fantasy that her inner qualities and personality would win over a high-minded, discerning man who would see past the artificial instant gratification offered by the parbots. For once, she wanted to be preferred to a piece of machine.

How disappointing. She had believed him to be smarter than that. A kindred spirit. Instead, he was just like every other male of her species. Interested only in sex and machines. And there lay the crux of her frustration. She had built him up into someone he was not.

Maybe she was not being fair. He was a brilliant scientist. Just look at how he had headed the development of this breakthrough technology that allowed them to travel here and advance her studies so much more. Maybe she should be content with that and not expect anything more from him. Or maybe...

An idea wormed itself into her mind and took hold, regardless of how unethical it appeared at first.

He had refused to become her lover for the purpose of the research, but he was attracted to her. The memory of that earth-shattering kiss washed over her. He had practically devoured her. She had felt his desire radiating from him and melding with an answering passion in her. What if she seduced him into intimacy? Trick him the way he had tricked her?

It was insane. Highly controversial. If he ever discerned her real motives, he would be enraged. But it was also the best chance to study if the way to rekindle humanity’s capacity for love was to love each other. In a physical way.

They had already ascertained that the elusive love hormone was well and present in individuals of this time and also the twenty-first, where Olivia was from. Dariux may not see it that way, but the fact they had people from two different time periods interacting and reacting in a similar fashion was a bit of good fortune for the study.

However, people in those time periods were not in the situation they were in their time. They had never lost the love hormone. Her generation had. That made Dariux and her the perfect candidates. They had already been tested, scanned, and their numbers measured in preparation for this mission. They had the baseline data. If, after becoming intimate, they started producing the love hormone, they would know for certain.

Determined, she made a plan. Tonight was the best chance she was going to get, as it was the last night they were going to spend in this inn, where they shared a bedchamber. Tomorrow they will travel on to London, where they could find more adequate accommodations. But that also meant more distance between them and less opportunity for seduction.

Tonight. The thought filled her with trepidation and a strange sort of anticipation.

But how to go about seducing Dariux? She hadn’t the faintest idea how to arouse a man. parbots didn’t require seduction. One only needed to display some visual cues or speak the trigger words, and they would spring into action. Kalli smiled at the double entendre of her words; ‘spring into action’ was right.

She pondered the question. What aroused her? She thought of his body. Oh yes, the image of his naked body was an undeniable trigger. What else? His voice, low and sensual, was like a velvet caress. Yes! Definitely his voice. The touch of his fingers on her nape as he buttoned her blouse made her shiver. The smell of his skin, so fresh and clean, but also with a deeper note that was all his. She went to his luggage and retrieved a shirt. His essence still clung to it. She brought it to her face and inhaled, closing her eyes as desire escalated. And the taste of his mouth when they kissed? Ambrosia. It didn’t take a genius to realize that seduction started with the senses. The more of them she could involve, the greater the web of desire she could weave.

Smiling with her newfound realization, she made preparations for when he returned.