Artificial Mates - Chapter 119

I winched when the blade sliced into his skin, I couldn’t take it and averted my eyes. Grant’s hand find mine and held on tight. It was more for himself than to reassure me. I searched his face but met his neutral smile. He was hiding the tension behind his pretty facade. I hate that about him.

“You sound like you’re having fun,” said the voice from the box, it made me jumped just like how Atlas always find a way to surprise me. I frowned at that habit. I didn’t want to feel uncomfortable around Demos. I took a deep breath as Olga plugged the cable in the tiny hole at the base of Grant’s neck. A droplet of white fluid streamed down his collar. Grant gave me a weak smile. He didn’t seem that confident after all. I gave him a light squeeze of the hand.

“Demos,” called Olga holding the red cable, ready to put the other end into the box.

“Yes,” he answered in a bored voice. Lately, he either sounds bored or tired. It squeezes my soul and tears my heart that he sounds so different. I can’t—take it. Grant’s hand tightened bringing my attention back to what Olga was doing.

“It will be a little confusing at first, just hang in there. It’s not the normal way of syncing, I’m forcing it—it will feel different,” she turned to Grant with a nod. “It might hurt,” she then shoved the red cable in the box. Grant let go of me so abruptly I jumped away. He tensed with his eyes shut. His hands clenched in fists, they shook.

“Hurts!” said the box without the proper tone. Grant’s arms felt limply on both sides of his body and he slipped from his chair. I reached out to hold him.

“Don’t touch him!” snapped Olga. I stopped with my hand halfway. He leaned, his forehead pressing against the surface of the box.

“Admin—force Sync protocol,” said Olga. Grant stirred but didn’t go up. He was half-sitting half-kneeling.

“Syncing in progress,” said both of them. Grant let out a sigh, almost a painful m.o.a.n. I felt an urge to touch him. It was terrible to stand there and be this useless. Olga gave me a peek to warn me. I crossed my arms over my chest to prevent me from the temptation of reaching out to him.

“It’s ok, it will only take a couple of minutes. The last time I checked, Demos was in a bad shape and slowing losing grip. Since those two were made to be one, the longer they are separated the worst they get,” I frowned at the box. To me, this wasn’t Demos. This was a machine. But the thought that he wasn’t ok, was nerve-racking.

“Why don’t we move him home,” I suggested. She arched your eyebrow at me.

“If something happens when he is all alone, who would take care of it? Here we have the equipment and the engineers,” I fidgeted while playing with my fingers.

“I mean, he needs us,” she just stood there staring at me in silence. There were a lot of things I didn’t get about Olga. Her attitude, for example, is shuddered in mystery. I guess, she has her own shit to deal with.

“Syncing 100%,” Grant straightened in his seat and pushed away from the box. He smiled then peeked over this shoulder at me. “Come closer,” he extended his hand. I turned to Olga for approval, she nodded at me to go on. My hand shook as I touched his palm. He gave me a tight smile.

“I felt it,” said the box. I squeezed his hand harder while laughing. “So warm and sweaty. Are you nervous?” asked Demos.

“I am,” tears welled up. “Hi, Demos. I missed you!” silence filled the room. For a moment, I thought he didn’t hear me. I opened my mouth to repeat myself when he replied.

“Words can’t convey this—lack,” I felt something stirred in the link between me and Grant. Pulsing pain. I gripped the front of my shirt and gasped.

“Pain,” I whispered. Grant lifted his head and our eyes met. “I want to take Demos home. I don’t want to leave him here. It’s too lonely,” Grant sighed.

“We’ll find a way,” he pulled on my hand to get me to his level and kissed my forehead. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

“I miss kissing you,” said the box. My eyes flipped open. I’ve forgotten they were still plugged in and could feel what the other was feeling. I was desperate to kiss Grant to make Demos feel better. But that was wrong towards Grant. I didn’t want to use him as a substitute. And the fact that Olga was standing in the room towering over us kind of killed the mood.

“I going to grab the molecular glue from the lab,” she said as if reading my mind. She walked to the door, making her high heels clicked on the concrete floor. Grant gave me a curious look. When the door closed quietly on us he smiled.

“Did you think she read the mood?” he whispered.

“I’m glad she understood we needed some space,” said Demos. If his voice wasn’t that flat I would presume he was being sarcastic. Grant drew little circles on my palm to get my attention. I couldn’t give him what he wanted, not under Atlas’s watchful eyes. Damn, how could it face him later? Atlas was already playing games with us. Having our intimate moment with this voyeur around makes me anxiety level rise to the roof.

“No way, I’m doing this,” I tried to retrieve my hand but he kept my hand in an iron grip. I some times forget that even though Grant may look frail with a pretty face, he was still stronger than a normal human being.

“Please,” they both said in unison. Grant lifted his head and gave me his cutest puppy gaze. Damn it! I quickly averted my eyes and hid my embarrassment behind my hand.

“Ok, ok,” I glared at Grant with open hostility. I can’t believe he’s making me do this. “You were the one who told me not so long ago, that we need to respect our workplace. That we can’t do that kind of thing here,” I pressed on to make him feel guilty. However, it had the opposite effect. His smile widened. He flashed his perfectly pearly teeth. My shoulders sagged. What was he doing to me?

“Can you come closer, the cable is too short for me to get up,” it was obvious he was abusing the situation. I sunk to my knees in front of him turning my back to the black box. “Closer,” Grant whispered. He cupped my face and I closed my eyes when our lips met. I was planning to give him a quick and mild peck then move away. But once our lips came into contact, the hunger that crushed my mouth was so surprised that I couldn’t pull away. I leaned on Grant’s thighs to no fall over as his lips explored my mouth. Grant has never kissed me like that. My back arched, pushing my body against his open legs. He groaned into my mouth arms wrapping around me drawing me closer into him. If I didn’t know I was holding Grant I would have sworn I was kissing Demos. That thought made me panic.

“Wait,” I struggled to get free. Grant blinked, his eyes hazy and confused.

“What’s wrong?” he gave me some space to breathe. My heart was about to explode in my chest. I was scared—I frowned at him.

“So it’s true, Liliane,” said Demos. “Atlas was right. You were only interested in the sparkling abs,” his words hit like a slap across the face. I pushed Grant away and turned to face the box.

“Wait! It’s not—,” I fought to keep my chaotic thoughts at bay. “When did you speak to Atlas?” I snapped.

“We enough talk,” a voice came booming from the ceiling. Shit! Speak about the devil. “Demos is an interesting character, unlike Grant. He is more emotionally driven,” my hands clenched into fists.

“What the hell did you tell him? What do you know about feelings, you piece of shit!” the words burst out before I could stop myself. Grant’s eyes widened. It was done, I couldn’t take it away. I was so pissed. How dare him to play mind games with Demos. “You have no right to toy with my mates,” I glared at the ceiling.

“Don’t I?” answered Atlas in his toneless voice. It pissed me even more that he didn’t convey emotion. Grant grabbed on my arm but I ignored him. This piece of scrap with a bad case of god complex really needed some ass whopping.

“You think you know it all, but you’re wrong! And I frankly have nothing to prove. I don’t care about your little experiments. I’m not a lab rat. I’m not going to play. I’ll not fall for your tricks and certainly, Demos won’t either. He knows me enough to understand that this situation is confusing and it has nothing to do with how I feel for him. So shut up and stay away from us,” I was panting when I finished. Grant just stared at me his lips slightly parted. I couldn’t read his face. This neutral smile, gone.

“Very well, Liliane,” said Atlas.

This is bad. Very bad. I’ve pissed him.