Chapter 24

“Hey, baby, how are you feeling? I brought you a present.”

Remy sat up in her bed and threw off her sheets. “Oo, present? Does that mean you’ve finally come to sweep me off my feet and carry me away into the sunset?”

“I thought you wanted leather and lace,” Mikel said, gently placing the brown paper bag on the rolling table by her bed.

“Leather chaps and maybe a whip, baby,” Remy said with a smile before she raised her eyebrows and ran her tongue over her lips. “Lace is for the naughty bits, and I’ve got ‘em, the naughty bits that is.”

Mikel took her hand and squeezed it. “I thought you would still be in pain from the surgery.”

“I am,” she said. “The surface skin and membranes are no longer swollen and angry looking, but it still hurts a touch to wipe after I pee. I pee sitting down, don’t you know, straight into the pot. Where’s my kiss?”

“Where can I touch you?” he asked.

“Anywhere above the waist, but don’t tweak the titties,” Remy replied.

“Tweaking wasn’t really on my agenda,” Remy said as he stepped forward and encircled her with his arms.

“It was on mine,” she whispered in his ear, “along with all sorts of other naughty thoughts.”

“Shush, and kiss me; you’ve got me all hard,” Remy whispered back. She laid a liplock on him that shut out the rest of the world, narrowing his focus to two pairs of lips and their tongues. When she finally released him, he rocked back on his heels with a look of astonishment on his face. “Good lord, I needed that,” he said, trying to adjust his erection to a less painful position.

“You and me both,” she said, flicking an imaginary piece of lint off her collarbone. “The mojo is strong in this one. Are you ready for the big reveal now that you’ve been properly greeted?”

He nodded and she directed him to sit in the chair in the corner with a quick waggle of her finger. “What is my gift you brought?”

“Sweet for the sweetest,” Mikel said.

She peeked in the bag and her eyes went wide. “Oo, you brought me a peach. This must’ve cost you a month’s salary; you shouldn’t have.”

“Compliments of the Zandt family and my sponsor too,” Mikel said. “They insisted. Now, where is this big reveal you keep stalling? I’m sitting with unyielding anticipation.”

“Undo the ties on the back of this medieval contraption, please,” she said, backing up to his knees. He pulled each of the four ties, letting the strings hang down. He was sorely tempted to stroke her butt but thought twice about making her jerk and start when she was still healing.

She stepped into the middle of the small room, posing with her arms crossed and her hands on her shoulders, holding up the gown. She gave him a little smile with a blush all the way to her eyes. “Sorry if the dress and the stage are a bit dreary, but have I got something to show you.”

She dropped her gown, letting it fall to the floor.

Mikel gasped before leaping to his feet. “You look, you look astounding, fantastic, provocative, saucy, voluptuous, and dear god, tantalizing. What have we wrought but the tool to strike me dead by seizing all my senses and overwhelming them? Remy, this is the real you and it is far, far more than my meager imagination could conjure.”

The staff in the hallway broke out in applause, with several riffs of laughter. “Oo, he can dish out the pretty words, can’t he now?” Someone in authority began ordering the gathered to return to their duties. A hand reached out, grabbing the door handle, and pulling the door shut firmly.

“This is the me I knew was there underneath,” Remy said, wiping a tear from her eye. “You believed me and loved me before most of this was even possible. Some believed but you took my hand, Mikel, and you took my heart.” She tossed her hair. “And as soon as I’m healed, we are taking this body for a test run and for endurance trials. Good?”

Mikel laughed and he came forward and hugged her tightly. “We are good,” he whispered.

He stepped back to examine her body more closely. “Your breasts don’t look like implants.”

“They’re real even if they are smaller than I wanted. Feel their heft.” As Mikel gently cupped them from underneath. “Because they’re freshly generated, they don’t have the sag from gravity yet and because they are small, we have many years to enjoy their uplift.”

Mikel let go and cupped her face, kissing her gently on her cheeks, her nose, and finally her lips. “How many meds will you be dependent upon to keep this body?”

“None,” she said. “They implanted bio-hormone engines where my ovaries would be and an enzyme regulator where my uterus should be. Dr. Shinobi says they’re organs derived from sea anemones.”

“Where did this ass come from, the shape, the definition, the enticing curves?”

“My butt curves came with me when I walked through the door,” she said, taking his hand. “My butt belongs to you now, and in case you forgot, I do enjoy taking it up the ass.”

Mikel laughed, rolling his eyes, and looking up at the ceiling.

“Too soon?” she said, giving him a jab in the shoulder.

“When can I take you home?” Mikel said.

“Home? You’ve already attached the collar and leash. Are you dragging me away from my family and friends, and all that I knew? You are a cruel and heartless master.” She paused. “As little as five days if everything heals as expected and the inflammation continues to dissipate.”

“I’m thinking we are buying a house later today or tomorrow,” Mikel said.

“We can’t afford a house in the city or the suburbs,” she said with confusion squinching her brows. “I’m out of a job and you don’t make that much.”

“We’re leaving the metro area,” Mikel said. “I stumbled upon a small town where houses can be had for back taxes. We had to take the train from the station there when I left Tannersville. I can work remotely, and you need to heal. Nicola is there now, choosing a place to live for herself.”

“Nicola,” Remy said, raising an eyebrow. “I like your plan to buy a house for us. How we make it work will be a project in process, I guess. As long as we are together, I don’t care if we live in a doghouse at the back of the Zandt property. But, Nicola.”

Mikel felt the anxiety rise in the room. “What about her?”

“Do you trust her?”

Mikel thought about her question for a minute. Remy bent down and picked up her gown, putting her arms through the sleeves. Mikel retied the strings in the back. She sat back down on the bed and scooted back.

“Trust has been a process with Nicola,” Mikel said. “I guess having been through two assassination attempts together builds a unique relationship. She has a fucked-up family and is working hard by herself to un-fuck herself. She has a strong sense of independence, a good gun stance, and despite it all, her education stuck. Yes, I trust her when all is said and done.”