“No. I’m just frustrated.” She pressed her finger to the glass. “I want to be there, on that beach instead, of out here. No offense.”
He tapped on the wall and the keypad returned. Big punched in something. She startled when the faint sound of waves came from all directions. They crashed onto the beach as balmy air blew across her skin. The temperature inside the room even seemed to grow warmer.
“This is the best I can do. Welcome to the comforts of modern technology.”
She inhaled and swore the smell of the ocean filled her nose. “That’s cool. Finally, something awesome.”
Chapter Four
Big dropped his hand and the control pad disappeared, merging with the ocean view. “I’m not leaving you alone at any time, until I make certain you adjust to your new life in a positive way.”
Gemma was amazed by the things happening in her dream. “How is that your problem?” She faced him.
He put his hands on his hips. “I don’t want to lose you, Gemma. I’ve been alone for far too long, and…I need you. I’m going to change my clothing. Just look at your beach while I get into something more comfortable to wear.”
She glanced down at his black outfit. It hugged every muscled, big-bodied inch of him. “It does look a little tight.”
“It’s protective gear.” He spread his hand on his broad chest. “Grade ten. It can withstand laser blasts without them penetrating, but the material feels scratchy. Some of those transports have automated defenses that activate when they’re being boarded without a security code. I apologize for carrying a weapon when we first met, but it was possible that I’d run into a security android, trained to kill. They occasionally have one onboard. It’s rare but it happens.”
“Sherlock wasn’t a security android?”
“No. It was a repair model without weapons.”
He began to strip. Gemma didn’t turn her back on him, instead watching his every move.
He removed the shirt from his body, wiggling quite a bit since the material wanted to cling to every muscle. His taut, ripped stomach and firm skin looked spectacular. He was damn near perfect.
The shirt was momentarily stuck over his head as he struggled to pull it over his huge biceps. Gemma appreciated the sight of those, too, as his arms were exposed. He finally got it off and tossed it to the floor. He reached for his pants—then stilled, his gaze fixing on her.
“Go right ahead,” she urged. “I’m not missing out if you feel the need to get naked.”
He arched both of his black eyebrows.
“Are you shy?”
He hooked two fingers into the front seam, and it parted slightly. He walked to the end of the bed and sat, bending down to grip his boots. They came off quickly and he threw them toward the far wall. He stood again, then took a few steps closer to her.
“Not at all. You may watch me.” A wicked smile curved his lips, making him appear even more handsome.
Big was definitely hot, she decided. Her sons would be horrified if they knew where her dream had traveled. Then again, she’d told them before that she was old, not dead. Just because she was in her fifties didn’t mean she didn’t have a sex drive. As a matter of fact, in the years since the divorce, she’d missed sex a lot. She just hadn’t done much about it, since it had been her job to raise her boys and get them through college. The occasional hook-up was about the extent of the sex she’d had throughout the long years. And those had been few and very far in-between.
It hadn’t helped that her sons were very protective of her, always chasing off men who asked her out. On the bright side, she’d gotten to spend a lot of time with them both. She’d picked up all their kid slang, which made her friends laugh. She was also more aware of the bands they played in her car than the ones she’d grown up with.
She’d been a cool mom, or tried her best to be. Their father had basically abandoned them after starting his second family. It meant she’d worked twice as hard to make up for his inattention.
Sadness tugged at Gemma, thinking about her boys and what they’d face once she died…but Big quickly distracted her from her thoughts.
He dug his fingers into the seam of his pants again and they parted completely at the top, revealing a line of skin and black material under the pants. He gripped both sides of the waist, wiggling his hips as he worked the clingy material downward, revealing a pair of tight briefs. He bent, stripping out of each leg, and left the pants on the floor when he stepped back.
Finally, he straightened…and hooked his thumbs into the waist of his briefs.
“I’m taking it all off. These are protective wear, also.”
She leaned back against the glass. He had an almost perfect body, and she was glad to focus all her attention on him. Only a few scars marred his skin. One on his chest near his left nipple. It was a jagged mark about two inches in length. There was also a rounded scar on his left thigh, a few inches above his knee. She liked the fact that he wasn’t overly hairy, but there was some on his chest. He was man candy all the way.
“Go right ahead,” she encouraged.
He pulled the shorts down a few inches, and she realized she was holding her breath. He paused, and she looked up at his face to find him watching her with narrowed eyes.
“What?”
“Your interest is making me hard. Fair warning.”
She glanced down, not seeing a bulge. With her luck, her space pirate from the future would have a tiny dick. So far the drug-induced dream she’d been subjected to hadn’t been very fun. It figures.
When she said nothing, merely waited, he shrugged and shoved the briefs down to his thighs.
Gemma’s mouth parted in surprise when his cock sprang free. Where was he hiding that? It didn’t seem possible, since those shorts were small—but he sure wasn’t.
Her gaze lowed to the tight shorts as he removed them, seeing a cup-like thing inside them. It was formed in a way that would have curved over his groin. Dream. Right. The impossible is possible. He goes from no bulge, to oh my goodness, that thing is huge.
He bent forward, stepping out of the shorts, then straightened. Gemma was focused on the part of him that was pointing at her. He stepped closer, and she finally tore her gaze away from his cock. A small tattoo on the side of his hip caught her attention.
“Of course. What kind of pirate wouldn’t have one?”
He cleared his throat. “What?”
“The tattoo. What is it?” It looked round, but she was too far away to see what filled the inked space.
“All clones have them. It’s the equivalent of a belly button for a birthed person. They stamp us with the company logo to hide the scar of where we were attached to the artificial womb we were grown inside.”
Her gaze darted to his stomach. “You have a belly button. So do I.”
“It’s for appearances only. All clones have tattoos on our hips. Look. You’ll have one.”
She frowned, looking down her body, then tugged on the left side of her strange underwear. She didn’t see anything.
The right hip, though, had a round stamp.
She fingered it, feeling light scars under the surface. Her gaze lifted to Big’s.
Maybe she’d watched too many science fiction movies.