“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.”
