Lying listlessly on her stomach, Andrea opened her eyes and stared at the black sheets of her bed. It took a moment for feeling to return to her limbs. Her eyes focused on Tanner's grim frown.

"Hey," Andrea whispered.

The E opened and closed his mouth without responding. Finally, he said, "Are you hurt?"

Andrea wasn't sure. She stretched and concluded that she wasn't. She couldn't remember much, other than the fact that she just had the shortest sex known to man. It was a letdown. Rather than risk betraying that fact, she closed her eyes and said, "No. I'm all right."

And then it came, the awkward silence. Andrea wasn't quite sure what she should say. After her first actual sexual encounter, an experience that had been so awful she'd cried for days, she had simply waited for Victor to leave the room. Now, here with Tanner, she felt equally as disgusted with herself.

"What is wrong with me?" Andrea wondered.

Her own voice sounded foreign to her ears, but it wasn't as troubling as Tanner's quivering tone.

"What is this emotion you have?" the E asked. "Have I caused that?"

"No." Andrea hid her face in the covers and let out a muffled breath as she exhaled. "No, you haven't."

"You're hurt—I've hurt you."

"No." Andrea tried to assure him, but the upset that raced through her was doing little to make her words convincing. "I'm just—" She sucked in a deep breath and shook her head.

"May—may I touch you? I mean...may I check?" Tanner asked.

The sheets felt wet against Andrea's face, and she cursed herself. Are you crying? Andrea, you fucking idiot. Are you fucking crying? What the hell's wrong with you?

A warm, tentative hand on her back drew her focus. Tanner insisted, "Please. If I've hurt you—"

"You haven't. I'm fine." Andrea turned her face away. "Please don't worry about it."

The hand left her, and a silence lulled over them. A feeling of dread and guilt came with it. Andrea wasn't sure why she should feel guilty, but with each second that passed, the emotion spread through her body until she feared she might suffocate.

I'm sorry. "Es tut mir Leid," Tanner whispered. "It was—if I've done it wrong."

Andrea turned to the E finally to find him sitting back on his haunches, his hands in his lap, watching her. Andrea realized that the emotions overwhelming her weren't her own. Tanner was the source. The guilt and regret the E felt reached Andrea so strongly that her stomach ached. And for what? For something that had nothing to do with Tanner whatsoever.

"It's not you. It's me," Andrea confessed. "I just have a tendency to disgust people. That's all."

"I don't find you disgusting."

"No. It's..." Andrea sighed. "I..."

When Tanner's brow narrowed, Andrea realized that the expression on her own face must have been an uninviting one.

"I just don't like being naked." Andrea expected a response, and when none came, she focused on the E again. "I don't...a person with a body like yours, seeing mine—"

"I love seeing yours." The E made a sound in the back of his throat, and his eyes flickered white for a moment. "I won't touch you inappropriately, I just want to make certain. So is that all right?"

Andrea meant to answer faster, but she wasn't sure why it took so long for her to find her voice. "Fine. But just for a minute. And you've got to promise not to laugh at me."

"Laugh?" Tanner seemed ready to inquire about her meaning, but he stopped himself and nodded. Wordlessly, he pulled the sheets back. Andrea was sure she was going to regret it, but she pressed her face down against the bed and raised her hips.

Nothing happened for some time, and she heard another guttural cough.

"All right?" Andrea waited. "Can I cover up now?"

When another minute passed without a sound, she risked looking back to Tanner and saw a pair of white eyes devoid of pupils.

Andrea wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but she slowly turned with the intention of sitting. Tanner held her ass firmly to keep her steady, but otherwise he didn't move.

The grip wasn't strong, so Andrea stared at the white eyes, curious about their meaning.

"You look like you're on autopilot. Are you okay?"

Tanner gave her a slow and deliberate nod.

His behavior was strange, but Andrea liked the blank expression on her E's face. Tanner's careful digit caressing her crack made her gasp.

The very cheek of it worried her until Tanner released his hold and then eased away. The E didn't speak, and the thought occurred to Andrea to ask herself if the man could speak at all.

In that instant, the sudden emotion to wash over her was warm and inviting. Tanner was aroused, and it was so strong that Andrea could sense it.

"Does that eye thing happen to you when you get...interested?" Andrea asked.

Tanner blinked several times, and his brown irises finally returned. "It's nothing. It only happens when I get amped up." He sat back on his heels and nodded. "You seem to be all right."

His behavior emboldened Andrea considerably. "So you weren't interested?" Andrea teased. "Because your cock seems interested."

The E pulled the sheet over his lap. "I just..." Tanner cleared his throat. "Your opening's so small. I'm surprised I could fit."

One glance at the quizzical look on his face made Andrea laugh. "My opening? You can't say pussy? You call it my opening? Did you like my opening?" She chuckled again and raised herself headfirst, her body supported on her shoulder as she tugged at Tanner's sheet. "It was a nice fit. So you look at my ass and your eyes go white?"

"Stop."

The stern tone caught Andrea off guard and she sat up, genuinely worried. "If you don't want to stay here—"

"Why do you say that? Do you want me to leave?"

"No, of course not." Andrea saw it, the man's insecurity. She didn't know much about E's intimately—and couldn't say much for Tanner on that front—but the thought of how insecure she had felt when she'd awoken came back. Now Andrea wondered if they were the E's emotions entirely or if she had shared them with Tanner in some way. Some of them were her own; of that she was sure.

When she saw the somber expression, she turned to sit with her legs parted.

"Do you want to talk?"

Tanner shook his head, his gaze low. "No."

The posture was guarded, and Andrea decided that if they were sharing emotions, her own must have influenced Tanner's as much as Tanner's had influenced hers.

She took a chance and reached out to tug at Tanner's sheet again. "Give me this. You're the one with the gladiator's body. You don't get to cover up. Besides, I love seeing you."

Tanner's grip was strong at first, but as Andrea continued to tease, it loosened until she could yank the sheets away.

"There we go." Andrea got on all fours and crawled closer. "Your cock really likes me." Their eyes met, and she smiled. "Just admit it. And I'll admit that I liked it, too."

At the sight of the reluctant nod, Andrea chuckled and leaned in to lick Tanner's left nipple before traveling downward.

Tanner was quite vocal in his reaction...and then it stopped. He caught Andrea by the hair and pushed her back.

"No."

Andrea, her lips still close to the head of Tanner's cock, froze. "What?"

"No. Absolutely not."

No oral? Is that what he's saying? Andrea asked herself.

That's what he's saying, Tanner answered definitively. "That's what I'm saying. I don't...I don't want that."

"Oh." Andrea sat back. "Then what do you like? What can we do together?"

Tanner looked back at the door, and Andrea followed suit.

"You're worried about the guards?"

"No. They won't come in; their job is to keep us from leaving."

The E still watched the door, and Andrea realized why. The man was trying to divert attention from himself. Her brow furrowed, Andrea ran her hands between Tanner's legs and cupped the heavy nutsack.

She smiled. "You do want me then? You do like me?"

Tanner's Adam's apple bobbed as he cleared his throat. "You need to let me go. I'm not used to this power yet. I won't be able to talk—"

"Did you like me?" At the slight nod, Andrea smiled. "Yeah?" She took hold of Tanner's silky shaft, bringing herself closer. "How about this?"

She took the man's heavy breathing as a good sign as she eased up on her knees. Tanner still looked away, so Andrea guided the man's chin until she saw the white eyes once more.

"So it does work like that?" Tanner only watched her, panting, and Andrea grinned. "If I want to suck you off, I don't think you'll stop me."

But Tanner did just that. He caught Andrea by the right arm before he could sink lower.

"Okay, I guess you can," Andrea said to herself.

Tanner gasped suddenly, and Andrea looked down to her own stomach to see the cum pelt her from the E's erupting cock. The speed surprised her, but not as much as how fast the penis hardened again. In a matter of seconds, it was erect once more, and Tanner arched his body back.

"Fast but frequent, huh?" Andrea mused. A thought occurred, and she took Tanner's hand and guided to where their groins met. Tanner gripped himself with Andrea's guidance. Leaving the E handling himself, she moved back. "I want to see you do it. Rub that big cock and let me see it."

Tanner could only comply for a short moment before he stopped altogether. At the sudden feeling of displeasure, Andrea went to Tanner's rescue and kissed the parted lips as she took over stroking her dud E once more.

"Sorry," she whispered. "I wasn't trying to put you on display." She spoke between smooches. "Are you sure you don't want my mouth on you? I'm very good at it. And I do like it. I love to suck cock, and yours is so nice."

Mouth agape, Tanner breathed out, "No. Not that."

Andrea took another kiss and muttered, "Will you fuck me at least?" The deep moan made her laugh, and she turned on all fours eagerly. She waited and looked back at Tanner's stern expression with a sigh. "Don't tell me you're against this too?" The E didn't budge, and Andrea eased back, rubbing her ass against Tanner's stomach. "Come on. You said you liked it. And I believe you."

Nothing.

The pessimistic Andrea would have over-thought it, but she was optimistic as she wiggled her backside.

"But I miss your dick. And you've got such a nice dick. I'd do any dirty little thing you want to get your meat again," she coaxed. "Don't you see that? I don't even care if you think I'm a dirty bitch for wanting it." She moaned and stretched her body out, offering her ass up for view. "And I want it so much. Don't you wanna stick that big dick of yours in my opening?"

The speed with which she was impaled shocked her, but she took satisfaction in knowing she'd gotten Tanner to go against his inhibitions.

After twisting his hips to position himself, Tanner bucked up into her. Negative emotions transmitting back and forth between herself and Tanner were one thing, but the new emotion Andrea felt was beyond words. The sensation came twofold with each slow lunge. She shuddered.

Tanner dragged Andrea down with him to lie on her side, and Andrea laughed at the trick.

"I got you to take me on my knees for a little while at least—" The next buck made her gasp. "Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Fuck me. I'm your dirty bitch, so fuck me like you mean it. Fuck me like a dirty bitch."

***

The lights were out when they awoke.

Tanner had been mostly silent, expressing himself only with actual motion rather than asking for anything. Andrea loved it. She loved the hands-on surety. They'd tried every position possible, and she loved the feel of the firm body covering her each time.

She was more vocal in what she wanted, and due to Tanner's inexperience, was forced to talk them through most of it. Hearing her own voice lined with such raw need and lust was uncomfortable at first, but Tanner's strong response to it stole the last of her inhibitions.

Andrea discovered a lot about her E that day. She'd found that Tanner was ticklish, but being tickled also got him aroused. She discovered that Tanner liked kissing. He wasn't very good at it, but he enjoyed it quite a bit. She also found out that Tanner loved holding onto her ass, but he wasn't as interested in lovemaking with Andrea on all fours.

By morning Andrea had lost count of how often they'd done it. Andrea's muscles cried out from fatigue. When she opened her eyes to see Tanner's restful face, she studied the E, her heart soaring. She ignored her own aching body and instead reached out to stroke the cheek of the man who caused her entire being to throb with excitement.

Tanner's eyes shot open, and Andrea flinched in surprise because the once brown eyes were white from the beginning. Usually they would start off brown and change with Tanner's mood. This was the first time he'd awoken amped up.

The E's thoughts came to Andrea like reluctant whispers. You're lovely. I wish to have you again.

Although Andrea knew Tanner was looking at her, the void of those white eyes was a constant now. For a split-second, a shiver of fear rushed through her. She felt it when Tanner lost arousal.

"No." Andrea held her E's warm face and whispered, sincere, "No. I'm not afraid. Don't stop. You're surreal. Of course you can have me again. You can have me forever."

Andrea forced herself to look at those eyes until she started to find them sweet. For a split-second Andrea saw those brown irises, but they faded again. She thought about what Tanner had said about losing himself, being beyond reason. She thought about all that and the fact that she was the cause. As soon as that thought crossed Andrea's mind, she gave off a moan. Tanner's cock harden.

The last few times they'd had intercourse had been missionary but Tanner achieved a lot with his strength. He was able to hold Andrea's body up, even so far as pulling her to sit on him as he thrust up into her. It seemed to be his preferred way of ending their lovemaking, and each time they collapsed on each other, exhausted, Tanner would wrap Andrea's body around his own, lie face-to-face with her, and reach down to hold Andrea's ass with both hands before sleeping.

Andrea made a mental note of everything that she had discovered about Tanner. Now that she had a boyfriend...now that she had a boyfriend—she'd have to keep it all in mind.

Andrea's head was spinning by the time she felt her E's soft breaths by her neck, a clear sign that the man was asleep. Her head was swimming, her heart was pounding, and she was smiling. She didn't understand why she was smiling, but then it hit her, and she rubbed her face against her E's taut skin. She was happy. For the first time in a long, long while, Andrea was happy.

So hours later when she woke up alone, her bed empty, she was confused. She didn't think too much of it until several minutes passed and Tanner's warm presence still hadn't reached her. She sat up, and her jaw dropped. Her room was bare of everything except the furniture. Devastated, she surveyed her surroundings.

Everything's...gone. Gone, everything's...gone. I don't understand. Andrea needed a moment for the shock to fade enough for her to get to her feet. As soon as she did, her body went into overdrive as she tapped along the wall, an action that prompted most of the hidden panels to slide open.

Gone.

Everything was gone, even her new clothes. She felt numb from the shock. Tanner had also taken his own clothing.

He had left nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not even the duffel bag. He was gone.

All that Andrea possessed had vanished without a trace. When she saw that the diskettes containing codes to money she had saved were missing as well, she flopped back down on the bed.

"I don't understand. Had...they hadn't come to rob us." Staring at the bare wall before her, she scrambled to find a more plausible explanation. But everything was gone. "Had they? Was this really just for a robbery?"

All through the night, everything was a dream. Her stinging eyes surveyed the room again. She felt fractured. She felt her world shatter and fall.

"No. No, this isn't happening." She'd taken all her shields down, all her guards. She'd even admitted to embarrassing things that she normally wouldn't have.

She thought about herself, the way she had been touched shyly when they'd awoken the first time. How Tanner had asked if she was all right, even going so far as to urge her to let him check. And like an idiot, she had. She'd done just that, feeling like someone was checking on her well-being and that it was a good thing. She thought about how she'd then gotten on all fours, without prompting, and eased back into the E's embrace. When she thought about the words she'd said to encourage Tanner to take her like that, she wanted to vomit.

"Idiot." Andrea gathered the sheets and pulled them to her chest. "Andrea, you gaw-ro idiot."

Tanner had been so careful with her then, and after it had been over, almost in the same instant, the E had even politely asked to try it a new way instead.

"Stupid. Stupid!"

Now everything was gone.

Every damn thing is gone.

She tried to breathe, tried to pull it together, but even the knock at the door couldn't draw her from her distress. When she looked at the door and saw the poster of the opera singer was still there, she gasped in shock and let out a sharp wail of anguish.

The door opened, and she stared at it, praying to see Tanner. It wasn't the dud E, however, it was Gara who rushed in, several guards trailing behind her.

Gara slowed and said, "Andrea?"

"He's gone!" Clenching the sheets tight, Andrea fought to breathe. "He's gone. He's gaw-ro gone! He's taken everything. He's taken every part of me. He's gone."

Gara traded a glance with the men.

One shrugged and said, "No one's left this room. We've been guarding it all night."

"Someone must have been in here, though," another guard mused. "But it's hard to say because this room's been pretty lively all night. Hard to believe it was just two people. But that door hasn't opened. Nobody has left."

Andrea didn't see when Gara walked around to check the room. She only listened.

Gara sat down on the floor before her. Due to Andrea's hunched posture, it was difficult for Gara to meet her gaze.

"Andrea, please calm down. We'll get through this. If...if anyone's hurt you—"

Andrea let out a cry, although she hadn't shed a tear. She only rubbed her face, the reality of things cutting through her. "Why? Why does this have to happen? What payback am I giving? Why?"

Gara sat back on her heels as she took hold of Andrea's shaking hands and whispered, "It will get better."

"No." Andrea became rigid, and after one tear fell, another soon followed. "No. That was the best it was ever going to get. He made me feel special, and even that was a lie. If he didn't want me, why...why make me believe it?" She pulled her hands away and ran them over her head. The smooth texture of her scalp made her stomach drop, and she had to rub her head again to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. She was bald. Completely bare.

She was bald.

Gara looked fearful when their eyes met; she had planned on withholding the news.

That betrayal was the last straw for Andrea; she howled. "Stupid, stupid, stupid. I was so gaw-ro stupid!" She covered her eyes as her body shook. "And I asked for it. He made me ask him for it. I did this to myself, and...."

She choked, and Gara, still with brow wrinkled in empathy, held Andrea's face in her hands and tried to soothe her.

"It'll be okay. It'll be okay. You'll be okay. Everything's going to be all right."

Their foreheads met, and Andrea took some comfort in feeling another person's skin on her own.

The guardsman by Gara's side held Andrea's hands and said, "Ma'am, I'll take a report and we'll take care of this."

"It's for nothing." Andrea sniffed, and she was grateful when the guard didn't pull away from the brief kiss. "Am I so awful?" The next kiss she gave the stunned man was longer but ended with another sob. "Am I really so awful?"

From the guard, no words came, but Gara let out a small gasp. "Andrea...."

When the door slid open again, Andrea ignored her and took yet another kiss—and the man kissed back.

Gara eased the guardsman away, separating them. "Guard, please leave us."

The man stood but paused at the threshold.

"And whoever you are, please give us some privacy as well," Gara said, turning her attention to the door finally. She froze. "Tan?"

Andrea sat up like a shot, but by the time she looked at the door, the threshold was empty.

Two boxes lay on the floor, and Gara looked between them and Andrea, stunned.

"You were with Tan?" Andrea's mute response made Gara gasp. "You were with Tan?"

Andrea flinched.

Gara opened her mouth again, but another voice called out, "Gara?"

"Here. I'm in here." At the sight of Midge pushing his way past the guards, the small woman rushed to him.

One look at Gara and Midge paused in his stride, asking, "What's wrong?"

"I...I did something stupid." Gara hesitated. Finally, she looked back to Andrea, and hung her head and lied. "I kissed a guardsman." When Midge flinched, she sighed in defeat. "And Tan saw." She waited for her E to say something, but stillness was all that greeted her. "Like I said, I did something stupid."

"No. De stupid ting wasn't kissin' 'm. De stupid ting was telling mi dat you did."

Gara used both hands to hold Midge close before he walked away. "Midge, please. It was an accident."

"Accident?"

"I mean it." The small woman insisted, "Tan misunderstood its significance—or lack thereof. He took it to heart. I...I'm sorry. It was nothing serious. It was just a kiss."

Midge wouldn't look at her. "Where's Tan now?"

"I don't know. He took off. Something was different about him; he even had...he had hair. He had blond hair."

Midge noticed Andrea for the first time and nodded.

"It's jus' the initial residue of da link. It'll fade in a week." Midge met Gara's gaze finally. "Remember how yu 'ad blue hair for a while afta we were first together?"

"Oh," Gara said, nodding.

"Yeah. Just let mi go find Tan. We need to resolve dis."

After he was gone, Gara hurried to the boxes, and Andrea studied the floor. The smaller woman gasped, and within seconds, Andrea was greeted by a smile so wide she thought maybe Gara's face would crack.

"Look. Andrea, look at this," Gara gushed.

Andrea was still lost within her own mind and pain, so when the black fabric was put into her hands, she didn't take hold. She didn't even focus on it at first.

"Andrea. He went to buy you clothes. Look. It's the right size, isn't it?" Gara waited, and Andrea finally gripped the black fabric, desperate to believe her. Gara brought the second box close. "And chocolates. He's not a gaw-ro bandit; he's just a shit romantic."

Having cried so bitterly that her body still shook with the aftershocks, Andrea nodded and wept again.

"Did he see me and the guard?"

"'Fraid so," Gara confessed. "But...it'll be okay now. You just have to trust him."

Trust me. That's the last thing Tanner had thought before they blacked out. Trust me. Just trust me. None of their lovemaking had hurt, just as Tanner had said. He wasn't aggressive or selfish, and, by the Colony, Andrea had been quite eager. Trust me.

As the situation became clearer, Andrea cried again. She allowed herself to be guided to stand and didn't care when Gara helped her dress.

Gara held out the box of chocolates, and Andrea took them with shaking hands. "It's probably laced with something...."

She hadn't meant to say it aloud and was sorry that she had because Gara turned on her.

"He's not like that! Don't you understand what you gaw-ro did? What you made me lie about? Huh? So now instead of Tan being mad at you, I've got to deal with Midge thinking I'm the main dish of the gaw-ro feast."

Andrea only sobbed again as she apologized.

She held the chocolates close to her chest when Midge and Tan finally returned twenty minutes later.

Midge walked in, but Tanner kept close to the entrance even after the door closed. He wouldn't look at them, opting instead to study the floor.

He muttered something, and Midge sighed. "Gara said it was 'er an' it was just a kiss."

"That's what she says. I know what I saw." Tan glanced at Midge but didn't hold his gaze for long. "And I can't believe anything they'd say. Your woman would lie with any warm body, and mine apparently isn't that far off."

"But—"

"Your Assist or mine!" Tanner barked. "I know what I saw. So you are going to take that gaw-ro memory or so help me, we're going to fight until I make you do it."

It might have been less spiteful if Tanner had looked at Andrea, but he wouldn't. He didn't seem capable of standing still, willing himself not to leave. "Please. Just do it," he begged.

Midge sighed and motioned Gara to sit beside Andrea. Gara tried to catch Midge's gaze. "Darling, you know this isn't what it looks like. And I'm so sorry. Just please forgive me this one transgression. It was harmless."

Gara tried to apologize over and over again, but Midge ignored her.

The blue-haired E wore a look of determination as he regarded Andrea as if she were the true victim throughout this whole ordeal. "Listen," Midge said, "Because...because Tan and I are bro...you see...." He rubbed his face as he knelt before them. "I...I've slept wit yu, Gara, an'...Tan's." He glanced back to the man by the door and sighed. "An' Tan's been wit Andrea. I don' know where dis guard comes in, but apparently you two mighta been in contact wit da same one. If...if two Assists share intimacy like dat, dere's residue. Especially since yu've got two E's involved. Tan's new to...to mating, so his fear, and it's a valid one, is dat he might touch dat memory when he and Andrea mate again."

"If." When Tanner corrected him, Andrea stopped herself from letting out a whimper.

"If." Midge still only focused on Andrea. "So...I'm, I'm gonna graze your toughts for a moment and take da memory from ya. I don' wanna do it by force...."

"Do it. It's fine," Gara urged. But Andrea didn't say anything as she was nudged. "Right? It's fine, right?"

After Andrea nodded, Midge closed his eyes. "All right. Just relax."

Rather than focus on Midge or the tingling sensation around her forehead, Andrea watched Tanner, who faced the door while taking deep breaths to calm himself. The process didn't take long.

Midge shot to his feet. Tanner turned to him and asked, "Did you get it?"

"Yeah." Midge swept Gara up into his arms. "But we've gotta huge problem. We have ta leave. Now."

Tanner wrinkled his brow. "What? The audit—"

"Shuck da audit. When I took dat memory I picked up 'nather one by mistake, and wit what I just saw, dis place won't be standing afta de audit. We've gotta go."

"Fine." Tanner paused before turning to the door. "What are you doing with Gara?"

"I can' leave 'er 'ere. And you can't leave Andrea 'ere either."

Tanner didn't respond at first, but whatever chance he had at protesting faded when Midge walked to the wall by the door and leaned back against it.

The stone liquefied on contact, and Midge walked through without any effort.

Andrea watched Tanner, watched him pace as if he wanted to kick something over. When she saw Tanner stop and approach the poster of the opera singer, she had her suspicions about where this was leading.

At least I have clothes. Andrea thought. If she was going to be abandoned, at least she wasn't naked.

Tanner eyed the poster for some time. He took a deep breath. Finally, he walked back to the bed, and scooped Andrea up into his arms.

The thought occurred to Andrea to struggle, but the look of hurt on Tanner's face made her tear up all over again. She said nothing, instead she clenched her box of chocolates close as Tanner carried her to the wall and out of the only home she had ever known.