Virtually His. Gennita Low

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СКАЧАТЬ before the internal conversation became “normal” enough where she wouldn’t be aware of the need not to talk out loud.

      “Yoohoo!” she called, in her head. “Yoohoo, naked guy, wherever you are!”

      Silence.

      Helen made a face. “Dammit, I know that you can hear me!”

      “Thought you wanted to see me.”

      Great. She hated smart-asses.

      “Thought you liked my ass. You requested nice and tight, buns of steel, if I remember correctly.”

      Helen sat there, stunned for a second. Whoa. Wait a minute. He could read her thoughts. She had thought…

      “You had thought to have a conversation with me, which is how it’ll seem to be once they get all those electrodes to work correctly….”

      “Can you read every thought?” she asked fiercely, realization rapidly dawning on her. Damn. The brain wave synchronization. Of course he would be reading her thoughts. She was thinking this reality. The talking was virtual.

      “I’m your monitor, so in virtual reality land, I monitor your thoughts. I’m sure I’ll get to know you better as we continue this.”

      “Wait a minute!” A sudden burst of light caused Helen to blink, her eyes trying to focus. There was a strange humming in the back of her head, or maybe not, because it went away as soon as she tried to concentrate on it. Movement to her right. She turned.

      Oh, my. Naked guy at three o’clock. He was exactly as she’d told Derek she wanted her trainer to look. She found that she could walk toward him as he stood there in all his glory. She gulped as she circled the magnificent man, checking out the details. He looked so real! This virtual reality program they were using was simply amazing.

      Facing her trainer, she gave him her trademark devilish grin. “Oh, yeah!” she whooped.

      “I gather you like me naked.”

      His voice had a sexy Southern drawl, just as she’d requested. Helen grinned again. “This is too cool for words,” she told him, smirking wickedly. “It’s good to finally see you. Don’t you like being naked?”

      He looked down at himself and a glimmer of a smile touched his beautiful lips. “It’s your program for now.”

      “Yeah, yeah, I know. Once they get it all ready, I’m supposed to get all serious. But right now, you’re mine, mine, mine!” Helen badly wanted to touch him, but something stopped her from reaching out. She liked the idea of finally having him at a disadvantage. Cocking her head, she drawled, “But they didn’t say I couldn’t have you naked all the time, even if you’re training me.”

      “Won’t it be boring? Looking at this body all the time?” There was unmistakable laughter in that voice.

      “Hey, I made you, so how could I get bored of you so soon?” crooned Helen. She was getting more intrigued by the real man behind this. What other things could he teach her, besides the stuff they’d been doing in the CAVE? And what was his role?

      “More than you think.”

      She blinked in surprise again. She had to learn how to control her thoughts in here.

      “You’re quick. See, the first lesson’s almost over.”

      He reached out and touched her face. She felt his fingers caress the spot just below her earlobe. It felt real, just like in the CAVE.

      Which reminded her—she smacked his hand away. “I want to know something. I—” Looking at him, she found she couldn’t talk seriously to a man standing so nonchalantly naked in front of her. She swallowed, trying to recapture her irritation. “I want to know something about that first night.”

      “What would you like to know?” He didn’t seem puzzled about which night.

      “What if I hadn’t guessed that it was some kind of virtual reality program? Would you have…continued?”

      “Taking your clothes off, you mean? Touching you?”

      He was blunt. Helen hadn’t wanted to say those words. She shrugged. She still hadn’t reconciled with the knowledge that she’d been turned on by that phantom kiss. “Yes,” she said.

      “Yes.”

      She glared at him. “Even if I’d said no?”

      “You hadn’t,” he pointed out. “If you remember, you said you’d kill me, but not once did you say ‘stop’ or ‘no.’ So yes, I’d have continued.”

      He was right. She’d been furious—both at her response to his kiss and then at his intimate touching. “Would you if I had?” she insisted.

      “Yes. It was a test, Elena. Either you pass or fail it.”

      He lifted his hand and caressed the side of her face again. A shiver ran down her spine.

      “What name should I call you?” Could one sound breathless in one’s mind? His fingers tickled sensuously. She could feel a frisson of awareness sliding like silk against her skin. She’d gotten used to him touching her. She should be mad as hell at what he’d put her through, but now wasn’t the time to challenge his way of introducing himself. After all, Dr. Kirkland was trying to get the goggles to work right. She was sure she’d foul up their equipment testing if she started kicking Naked Guy’s ass.

      “You choose.” There was mockery now in that voice, too, as if he’d read her mind again.

      “No, you choose.” She wanted to see how clever he was.

      He leaned closer and she swore she could smell cologne on the man. This was freaking unbelievable. His breath even tickled her ear. “Hades,” he whispered. “And you’ll come when I call.”

      He snapped his fingers. There was that humming again and the lighting in the room dimmed.

      “Miss Roston? We’re done for now. Please stand by while we take each sensor off.”

      Hey, wait a minute! Where did he go? It was over? Helen looked around as the place returned to darkness. She hadn’t even checked him out thoroughly yet! “Hey, you!”

      Of course he didn’t answer. It was strange as she sat there, seeing nothing, trying to grasp the memory of what just happened. Damn. It left her feeling bereft. Hades. Hell and Hades. Damn smart-ass.

      The goggles came off and she blinked again, her eyesight focusing back on Derek the programmer. He looked extremely pleased, as if something grand had happened. Oh yeah, of course. They had managed to sync brain waves today. Yippeedo.

      “How was the avatar, Miss Roston? Everything like you ordered?” he asked.

      Helen sniffed. She didn’t like the way it had ended. She was the one in charge still, wasn’t she? He was still her naked guy.

      She shook her head as they freed her from the straps and sensors and whatnots. She swerved the seat toward the computer. Mr. Hades was going to get a СКАЧАТЬ