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  “Gemma,” he whispered, the sound of my name like music on his tongue.

  I gave in to the pleasure, let it take me, sweep me away. The pace quickened and his breath grew harsh in his throat. He shuddered as his climax burst from him, and I joined him in the trance of sensuality overtaking us.

  I slept beside him in that soft bed, and woke to find myself alone in the dark. Beside me on the pillow lay a red rose. A real flower, not hologram. I lifted it to my nose and inhaled the true and beautiful scent of it, and I touched the pillow where his head had rested.

  He’d also left a note.

  Tonight.

  Chapter Six

  I moved through the next morning as though I’d been wrapped in plaz film. Colors and sounds seemed muted and hazy. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling at inappropriate times.

  I had another date. We were going to an outdoor show at one of the larger city parks. He’d asked to see me again, and while the thought of it made my stomach clench, it also made my heart pound so fiercely I imagined the world could see my blood pumping through my body beneath my clothes.

  “Hey, Gemma.” Eddie snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Wake up.”

  “Sorry.” I focused my gaze on his face. “What did you say?”

  “I asked which District you wanted to patrol today.” Eddie peered at me closely. “You all right?”

  I nodded. “Sure.”

  He touched a spot on my neck, exposed by my regulation upswept hairstyle. One of Declan’s love bites, still sensitive even today. “What’s this?”

  “I saw him again.”

  “Who?”

  Eddie’s a great partner and a helluva sexy man, but he is, after all, a man. Sometimes you have to lead them a little bit.

  “Declan.”

  He frowned, still not getting it. “Who’s he?”

  I sighed, but couldn’t get too frustrated with him, even if I was going to have to spell it out for him. “IIP.”

  “Shit, G! What were you thinking?” He looked so stunned, I almost laughed.

  “I wasn’t on duty. It’s okay.”

  We were currently the only passengers on this stretch of the pedtread. Eddie still looked around surreptitiously, like someone could overhear us. An unlikely event, in any case, since the Newcity motto is “to thine own business attend”.

  “You didn’t file that report.”

  I shook my head.

  “G!” Eddie grimaced. “If Rando finds out…”

  “She’s not going to find out.” I gave him a stern glare. “Is she?”

  He held up his hands. “Not from me.”

  I hesitated before telling Eddie the rest of the story. Eddie’s been my best friend for four years. But he is a guy. Guys do not always understand the importance of things like flowers—or at least their ideas of why symbols like that are important are a whole lot different than women’s. Still, he is my best friend, and with Britney still gallivanting around Offworld, I had to tell someone.

  “He asked me out. I have another date with him tonight.”

  Eddie didn’t say anything for a long couple of minutes. He only stared. The silence between us had almost become uncomfortable when he spoke.

  “Good for you, Gemma,” he said quietly. “It’s about time.”

  We were on duty, so he couldn’t hug me, but his gaze wrapped me in the warmth of his friendship. Tears stung my eyes for a moment before I blinked them away. “Thanks, Eddie.”

  He tapped my shoulder and gave me one of his patented grins. “See what a mind-blowing orgasm can do to a person?”

  I gave him a punch on the arm, a lot harder than the one he’d given me. “Let’s get to work.”

  Because we were working in pairs, our patrol area was twice as large. We’d been assigned Sector 1, which included Districts 26-32, 51-56 and 76-100. Newcity is divided into four Sectors and one hundred Districts, all arranged in a series of concentric rings. We’d have to cover a lot of ground before tonight. Eddie grumbled as we headed toward the first Lovehut, but without much heat. I’m good at my job, but Eddie loves his.

  “Let’s start with the huts and move to the clubs,” Eddie said. “Get through the registered bots before we go after the unregged ones.”

  That sounded fine to me. Even this early in the afternoon, the Lovehut was packed. They all have state-of-the-art beverage and food service, all the sports channels on the viddy and even reading material. They’ve become the most popular recreation facilities in the Newcity, even if you’re not looking for sex.

  Of course, most people in the huts are looking for sex. Even if they come for any other reason, like to watch the latest Entron-8 versus Halitopa intergalactic Donball match on the viddy, it’s likely that before the night is through they’ll be engaged in some sort of sexual congress. STDs were eradicated about seventy-five years ago, and all citizens are provided with completely effective birth control that has to be surgically reversed in order to procreate. Without the fear of disease or inadvertent pregnancy, citizens have made sex the number one favorite recreational activity. It even beats viddy watching.

  Eddie and I both spotted a likely subject at the same time. She was a tall, statuesque brunette. She didn’t really look much different from the statuesque redhead or blonde standing beside her, but what gave her away was the quiver. Ops learn to spot it from a mile away. A Pleasurebot with a faulty ignition shivers when she smiles. It’s a subtle gesture, but one that can’t be hidden, since it’s programmed into them to smile almost all the time.

  It can be nearly impossible to tell if a bot’s about to malfunction, but with this one there could be no doubt. She was so far gone even a citizen should have been able to tell she was ready to explode.

  Not the guy chatting her up, apparently. Or maybe he was one of those people who get off on the danger of it. More likely, he thought he could handle it. He had that over-muscled, macho look about him: bulging arms in a too-tight shirt, thighs like pillars. His neck was so thickly corded you could’ve played a tune by plucking his tendons.

  The brunette looked like a PSSN-F-03 to me, but after my recent mix-up I felt myself second guessing. Eddie had no problem. He gave the couple a nod, and said in an aside: “Passion Model, looks like an 02. Definite quiver. You want to take it, or should I?”

  I prefer het pairings, though of course I’ll do whatever the job requires. Since I had the choice, though, I was more than happy to give this one to Eddie. Watching and standing backup would be fine with me.

  We walked over to the brunette and her partner. The man instantly blanched and looked from us to her and back again.

  “Shit,” he said.

  “Sir, step aside, please.” Eddie took a little too much pleasure in usurping muscle-boy’s date. It was that testosterone thing, I guess. I could practically smell it on both of them.

  The guy knew better than to protest, though, as I’m sure he would’ve had Eddie been a civilian. The uniform gets a lot of respect, especially since the penalty for assaulting an Op became instant Offworld jail time. Offworld prison isn’t pretty.

  “R.I. Op EDDE 08111977.” Eddie lifted the sleeve of his shirt to show off the tatbadge. “Registration, please.”

  The brunette gave him a wide-eyed stare. Her lips trembled. She was trying desperately not to smile. After a second, though, her internal programming won out over free will, and she flashed her pearly whites. The instant her lips curved, her cheeks and eyes began a minute series of tremors that lasted for about two seconds. The quiver.

  “I have my regs right here, officer.” She unzipped the top of her one-piece jumpsuit and exposed a set of firm, full breasts topped with cherry nipples. She lifted out a small pouch and handed it to Eddie.

  He remained unmoved by the sight of her bare chest. Off duty Eddie can be hornier than a moose, but on the job he’s purely professional. It would take a little more than bare boobs to get him worked up.

  Eddie glanced at the small self-contained viddy unit,