Artificial Mates - Chapter 26

The hot water ran on my sore muscles it did help me relax, a little. When I came back to the room, I could hear loud male voices on the other side of the door. I quickly got dressed in a pair of jeans and an extra-large brown shirt. I couldn’t do anything about the wet hair. The voices rose and fell, pulling me towards it. I couldn’t clearly identify Demos’ bass one. I yanked the door open and the three men standing in the middle of the living room turned to stare at me.

“There she is,” called Mr. Ramdin standing next to the evaluator, Benedict Dims. Demos gave me a tight smile. I quickly crossed the room to join him, he wrapped his arm around my waist. The two men gave us a curious look before averting their eyes to my modest living room decoration.

“Wh-what are you two doing here?” Mr. Ramdin cleared his throat his eyes darted from me to Benedict Dims.

“You see, we were alerted of Jay Dawson’s arrest. When I heard that you were involved, I kind of dragged Dims along with me,” the evaluator stood rigidly next to him, face blank of all emotion. “You were sick and now this. I’m really sorry. I thought I would come to pay you a visit,” I nodded at him.

“Thanks,” I muttered a bit harshly.

“I’m here to check if you’re ok,” added Dims with a business smile on. “We bought you some collation,” he tipped his head to the basket of exotic fruits laying on the low coffee table. I frowned at him.

“A man just tried to kill me and one of my companion is damaged. How should I feel?” his professional smile faded.

“I can offer my assistance,” he reached to his inner vest pocket and pulled out a golden card that he extended to me. I just stared at the VIP letters printed over it.

“I can’t afford your services,” both Mr. Ramdin and Dims shifted on their feet. Demos reached out and took the card. He slipped it in his pocket.

“Thanks, we’ll think about it,” he turned to face me. “Your boss was saying that you have a week off and you need to rest,” I frowned at Demos. What was that all about? Since when did he decide on my behalf?

“I don’t think I need one week. Sognare will come to pick Grant tomorrow, plus I need to drop by the police—” I turned to Demos for confirmation. “Don’t we need to fill in my testimony or something?” he shook his head in agreement.

“The inspector told me you can take your time. However, you’ll need to fill a proper report,” added Demos. I pressed against him for support. He stroked his fingers over the fabric on my shirt. I had to take a deep breath to focus on other things than his hand. Unlike Grant, his touch made my knees weak. Now was no time to get turned on.

“I’ll go back to work as soon as possible. I need to get back to my routine,” I said out of breath. Demos gave me a side-glance. Was he doing it on purpose or was he completely clueless of the effects he had on me?

“Are you sure?” Mr. Ramdine twisted his fingers together, concern written all over his face.

“Yes,” I said in a dry voice. I focused on my anger to push away that sweet sensation wiggling it’s way up my spine.

“Ok, then” Mr. Ramdin gave the evaluator a knowing nod. “We should be on our way. Sorry for the disturbance. I hope to see you soon at work, Miss Kerry,” he extended his hand to Demos who gave it a firm shake. “Happy meeting you, Demos,” Mr. Ramdin gave a playful smile to us then moved to the entrance. Dims tipped his head at us without a word and followed Mr. Ramdin out. Demos let go of me to make sure the door was closed. I let out a soft sigh both because Demos wasn’t in contact with me and them being gone.

“What did they really wanted?” Demos tilted his head.

“They seem to care about your well-being,” I frowned at him, was he joking or something?

“He’s my boss and that other one, a high-class shrink. Why would they care?” one corner of his lip curled up.

“Not everyone is against you, Liliane,” I rolled my eyes at him. Like I would believe that, just hours ago, some psycho wanted to butcher me with some crazy knife out of hell.

“Right!” I marched to the fridge and pulled it open. Somehow, that little conversation got me hungry. There were eggs, frozen veggies, leftover cheese. I turned to the cupboard and found rice, noodles and two tomato cans hiding in the shadow, only items that needed to be cooked. I groaned in frustration. Grant, I miss you terribly, I thought.

“Where is instant food when you need them?” I slammed the door shut. I turned around and spotted the basket of fruits. It must have cost a fortune.

“You want me to cook you something?” I crossed the room and grabbed a palm-size red apple in which I eagerly sunk my teeth in. I groaned at the delicious taste. It’s been a while since I have eaten one. I waved at him then noticed the stains on the front of his t-shirt. He followed my gaze.

“Can I borrow your shower?” I rose my eyebrows at him. I finished the fruit and left the apple core on the table. Licked my fingers one by one under Demos’ stare.

“You can shower?” his eyes widened like I grew out a second head.

“I’m guessing you didn’t bother reading any of the quick guide or the agreement from Sognare,” I flashed him an innocent grin. He sighed and leaned against the counter. “Ok, I’ll explain. Since we do every day chores like cooking or jogging and going out. We get stains and the outfits get dirty. We take weekly baths, it depends on the activities we do. We do our own maintenance like charging,” I came closer to him.

“Do you use any soap or a special one? Are you waterproof? Can you swim?” he chuckled at my many questions. His eyes were back to its copper color. I like that Demos.

“You should have asked all those on the first day,” I pouted making him laughed louder. “Ok, I’ll tell you. I can swim with the necessary floating equipment. However, I’ll sink like a rock. I weight like one hundred and fifty-eight kilos, remember. I’m sure Grant can but not on a long distance. I am waterproof when I shut my mouth. And no, I don’t need a special soap,” he tilted his head in a playful manner. “What more do you want to know,” I tapped my index on my chin.

“Mm, you don’t eat or drink,” I walked towards him.

“Nope,” he smiled as his eyes followed my every movement.

“Then how can you kiss me—I mean the saliva—” I immediately covered my eyes realizing I was thinking aloud. He pulled me closer to him by the waist. I giggled and struggled to get free.

“You mean, how I taste,” I couldn’t tear my gaze from his lips. My breath came out labored. “Do I taste strange?” he was dangerously close. Demos inclined his head to the side his lips brushing against mine. My lips parted to greet him. He caressed my neck with his long fingers as I leaned against him. The moment our lips linked my mind melted. I couldn’t care about taste or what was hiding underneath his skin. I m.o.a.ned as his tongue expertly explored my mouth. I found myself pressed against the counter with both his hands glided over my jeans to my butt. I mouth open for protest but I yapped when he suddenly lifted me up pulling my legs up around him to sit me on the counter. He smiled against my lips.

“Liliane,” he whispered my name in the s.e.xiest way I ever heard—making me proud of that old name from another era. He was mine. He hungrily crushed his lips over my mouth pulling me against him. My legs wrapped around his waist. Shit! I was on fire. I found myself kissing his neck and biting his shoulder. He m.o.a.ned in his low s.e.xy voice. His hand went under my large brown shirt setting the places he touched ablaze.

“Liliane—I love you,” he whispered against my lips. I blinked and pulled back breathless. He opened his eyes, they were a beautiful golden taint. I wasn’t expecting that, he leaned closer, I averted my eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he frowned. I yanked at the front of my shirt and lifted my legs away from his waist.

“Grant!” I said, he lowered his eyes and got away from me.

“Sorry I got a little carried away,” he chuckled. He scratched the back of his head.

“Shower! You wanted to shower,” I pointed out when an awkward silence settled between us. He gave me a quick glance then nodded.

“Yeah, right—shower,” he turned to his pod and peeked at Grant sleeping. He frowned then touched the glass of Grant’s lid.

“Sorry,” he muttered under his breath. “Mm, Liliane can I borrow a towel?” he pulled the hem of this t-shirt then slid it off. Ok, he was one hot sin of a guy. I felt my cheeks flushed and the heat I experienced minutes ago rushing back. I hopped off the counter and turned to my room to get the towel. I wasn’t in my right mind, I desperately needed to stay away from him. I went to the cabinet by the bathroom’s door to retrieve a large white fluffy towel. When I turned around, I found Demos wearing only his boxer standing in the doorway.

“Damn it!” I gasped shoving the towel at him as I look away. “What is wrong with you? Wh-where are your stuff?” I felt faint from overheating. He chuckled at my reaction.

“In the washing machine. I’ll have to clean Grant too. He won’t be happy if I leave him in his dirty clothes. He is a little of a clean freak,” I looked up at him focusing on his face cause everything else will make my knee melt.

“You really care about Grant, don’t you?” his eyebrows arched on his forehead.

“Don’t you?” his question shoved me in that corner I didn’t want to be. I gave him a tight smile then quickly got out.

“If you need more towels, it’s in there,” I pointed in the direction of the cabinet then I closed the door behind me.