Aftermarket Lover (SDS Robots) Read online

  Evernight Publishing ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2014 Jan Suzukawa

  ISBN: 978-1-77130-934-9

  Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

  Editor: JS Cook

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  AFTERMARKET LOVER

  SDS Robots, 1

  Jan Suzukawa

  Copyright © 2014

  Ashton Cheng checked the gauge one more time.

  No gold present.

  He sighed, gazing up at the pale violet skies of Planet X2-4 and smoothing back his short black hair.

  Mining precious metals on the outer rim of the Milky Way galaxy had its advantages. Better than decent pay for one thing, and the freedom to live as you chose to, much of the time.

  On the other hand—being the only human on a planet could get a little lonely.

  Ash shut off the analyzer machine and lifted it into the land skiff. He could check off this area: there was nothing here.

  His brown eyes scanned the light-green flatlands and dark purple hills in the distance. The hills registered as a possible, so he would try there next.

  The skiff flew over the short grasses as Ash reset the machine, cool winds ruffling his workman’s jacket. Earth’s constant need for precious metals, especially gold, meant an odd-jobs man like him could earn enough to buy a used spaceship after a few years working a dreary job like this one. His company had the contract on this sector of this particular solar system and Ash was their only employee on the planet.

  Once gold was spotted by the analyzer machine, Ash used the automatic mining machines to dig it out. It wasn’t difficult, but he would work long hours for days once the process began.

  His commissions on top of his salary made the difference. If he found enough gold in the remaining areas of the planet as he’d already found so far, he’d have enough to buy that ship and start traveling the stars.

  He was in his late twenties now, and had saved diligently for the past two years. A few more months and he’d be there.

  Ash could almost taste it.

  A beep on his U-tab: it was Jake. Jake delivered his supplies once a week and served as his connection to the rest of the universe, bringing him gossip and tidbits that Ash couldn’t get on the U-net.

  The message was intriguing: Bringing the usual plus something extra. Prepare yourself for a good time.

  Ash frowned, but couldn’t keep a little quirk from lifting the corner of his mouth. A good time? Not with Jake, who Ash knew was straight while he was gay.

  Let’s see if you and I have the same concept of what a good time is, he smirked to himself.

  ****

  In the late afternoon he ambled out of the station that served as his home, with Tiny barking in excitement at his heels as he always did when Jake arrived.

  The small silver ship settled into the rust-colored dirt and the ramp unfolded to the ground. In the next minute Jake was coming down the ramp in that rangy way of his, hands in the pockets of his deliveryman’s jumpsuit. “Yo.”

  “Yo,” Ash said agreeably. “So where’s my surprise?”

  “Inside the ship.” Jake wasn’t even trying to hide the salacious smile on his face. “Let’s get the supplies in first.”

  As Ash helped Jake bring the boxes into the station, he eyed the other man narrowly. “I get all the porn I need from the U-net already, so this had better be something else.”

  “Oh, this is something else for sure,” Jake grinned, loading the last box into Ash’s storage room. “I’ll go and get him.”

  Him? Ash stared after Jake as he went outside.

  Tiny panted and barked, looking up at Ash happily. The white and tan terrier mix always got that look on his face when something good was coming.

  Ash’s curiosity got the better of him and he went to stand at the bottom of the ramp with growing expectation. The delivery pilot had procured some useful and interesting novelties for him in the past two years. Maybe this would be something fun.

  He never could have anticipated what he saw next.

  A silver-haired young man appeared in the ship’s hatch and looked down at Ash with a tentative smile on his face. “Hello.”

  Ash stared open-mouthed as he walked down the ramp. A man? Jake brought him a man? Was he a hustler?

  The young man had startling light blue eyes set in a gentle face. His skin was smooth and pale.

  Wait. That matte silver hair—

  Ash blinked as the young man held out his hand, and he shook it automatically. “My name is V-Lin. I’m very pleased to meet you.”

  “Ash.” Tiny began barking at their feet, staring at the new person and trying to jump up his leg. “And this is Tiny.”

  “Tiny,” V-Lin said, crouching down. He petted Tiny’s head and the dog licked his hand. “And Ash,” V-Lin said, looking up at Ash with that hopeful smile again.

  Jake walked up and Ash turned to him. “Can we talk?”

  Tiny scampered into the station and V-Lin followed him inside. Ash touched Jake’s arm and moved them closer to the ship so as not to be overheard. “He’s a robot?”

  “Guess the silver hair’s a giveaway, isn’t it? Yeah. He’s an SDS model.”

  Ash could feel his face flush. “You mean—”

  “Sex and domestic services,” Jake said. “I mean, you don’t have much use for a farming robot out here do you?”

  “Jake—”

  “Listen, just try him out. If he doesn’t work for you, I’ll pick him up next week.”

  “I can’t afford a robot, not even to rent,” Ash said. “You think I’d be doing this for a living if I could?” He was amazed Jake would even think he had the money for this.

  “Well, let’s just say this model has a few… issues,” Jake conceded. “Anyway, I’ve got to get going. See you next week!”

  He sprinted up the ramp, leaving Ash spluttering. As the ramp pulled up, Jake waved cheerily. “Hope he puts a smile on that grumpy face of yours.”

  Ash watched Jake’s ship lift off in disbelief. Was he serious? On the other hand—

  Had he just been given a free trial with a sex robot?

  He walked into the station, his heart beating fast. His mouth felt a little dry. As he shut the door behind him, V-Lin came into the front entry from the kitchen.

  “I’ve put Tiny’s food in his dish,” V-Lin said. He was neatly dressed in a white shirt and dark trousers. Ash had only seen robots from afar. Aside from the uniform silver hair, their facial features and bodies were as unique as humans’ were.

  This one was Caucasian and slender. Ash froze as V-Lin slowly approached him.

  “Your looks are pleasing to me,” V-Lin said in a soft voice. “I hope my looks are pleasing to you, Ash.” He was close now, very close, only a foot from him.

  Ash stared, unable to look away as a hand touched his cheek. The robot was shorter than he was; the top of his head came to his chin.

  He started as V-Lin’s other hand found his cock. V-Lin caressed it through his clothes and Ash felt it grow and harden. “Would you like me to suck you off? I really want to do it.”

  V-Lin sank down to his knees and undid Ash’s fly. His warm mouth was on his tool in the next moment and Ash bit back a cry.

  How long had
it been? He didn’t want to think about it. Fortunately all thoughts left his head as the robot nursed his erection to its full length, covering the head with his mouth and playing his tongue around the tip.

  The robot added his hand, stroking Ash’s cock in his fist as he continued to suck the top few inches. Ash breathed, bracing himself with his hands behind him splayed against the door, trying not to push his hips forward and choke the robot.

  It was over too quickly. Ash gritted his teeth, grunted, then cried out, throwing his head back. V-Lin finished him, swallowing it all to the last spasming spurt, then licking him clean.

  Ash rested his head back against the door and stared up at the ceiling. So this was a sex robot. V-Lin had felt as normal and human as anybody.

  V-Lin zipped Ash’s fly shut and stood up. Ash looked at him. Now what?

  Tiny barked, drawing their attention. The small dog stood in the kitchen doorway, wagging his tail.

  The smaller man smiled brightly. “I’ll fix us some dinner,” he said, and turned and went into the kitchen.

  ****

  Not only could he suck cock like no one else Ash had ever been with, but V-Lin could cook too.

  Ash liked simple meals and V-Lin prepared vegetables, rice and soybean loaf with just the right spices to make it taste wonderful.

  He sat at the counter and eyed V-Lin as he ate his food. Tiny was already in love with him, dancing around V-Lin as he cooked and settling into a sitting position at his feet.

  V-Lin even made dessert, which Ash never bothered to do for himself, a rich cooked pudding using spare ingredients Ash had in his pantry. “You’re very good at this,” he told V-Lin, and V-Lin looked at him with surprise. “Thank you,” he said finally, in a pleased tone.

  Ash lifted his mug and drank his coffee, wondering at the robot’s reaction. One would think he’d never heard praise before.

  Tiny came padding over to Ash and gazed up at him, tail bobbing back and forth. “Oh,” Ash said. “He needs his walk.”

  “Don’t worry about me,” V-Lin said, that smile on his face again. As he spoke, he was already doing the dishes. “I will be fine here.”

  Ash got the leash and went outside with Tiny. He crouched down and fastened the leash to the dog’s collar, then they set off for their evening walk.

  When they returned, Ash found V-Lin busy washing the windows. He’d also set the auto-vacuum unit to high and the unit was zooming around the front room, making a left turn into the hallway as Ash watched bemusedly.

  “It’s okay. You don’t have to do this.”

  The robot turned to him, smiling. “It’s fine. I enjoy it. After the windows, is there anything else you’d like me to clean?”

  “Uh—”

  “I’ve organized the pantry and mopped the kitchen floor. I also made a list of cleaning supplies that you need.”

  “Listen—”

  “Would you like me to draw you a bath? Or perhaps you prefer bathing in the mornings—”

  “Please. It’s okay,” Ash said, holding up his hands. “Relax, all right? I don’t need all this done right now.” He was about to suggest they sit on the couch and talk since they’d only just met, but the expression on the robot’s face stopped him cold.

  V-Lin was frozen in place, those light-blue eyes staring at him wide-eyed. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ve upset you.” He looked scared to death.

  “No,” Ash said. “It’s fine.” He came around the counter and into the kitchen and V-Lin began backing away from him. Ash realized the robot was misunderstanding and he was making things worse.

  He reached out and took hold of V-Lin’s upper arms. “Calm down. Breathe. It’s all right. I’m not angry. I just thought we might sit on the couch and talk. Okay?” Ash gazed into the robot’s eyes with what he hoped was a reassuring look.

  He kept a light hold on V-Lin’s arms and slowly the robot relaxed. V-Lin nodded, and Ash felt himself breathe easier too.

  They sat down on the couch and Ash began by asking if V-Lin was his full name. The robot replied that he’d been named after his prior owner’s favorite astronomer, Erich Von Linneman. “Mind if I just call you Lin?” Ash asked. “V-Lin is a mouthful.” “Yes, that would be fine,” the robot replied.

  Ash then asked if he’d lived offworld before. Most robots were still employed on Earth, though it wasn’t unusual for them to work offplanet.

  “I’ve never been to Earth,” Lin said. He looked wistful, which surprised Ash. Were robots supposed to have emotions like this? “Perhaps someday I will visit there.”

  After a moment, the robot recalled himself. “What is your background? You’re working on this planet by yourself. You must be an important person to do this job on your own.”

  Ash laughed dryly. “Nah, I’m nothing special.” He told Lin about how he’d left his Chinese-American neighborhood in a small town, joined the Space Job Corps and gotten offplanet as soon as he could, wanting to see the stars. He eventually found out the fastest way to get a pile of money was to work for a mining company and mine for precious metals on one of the newly-discovered planets.

  “What do you want the money for?”

  “Get my own ship. Then I’ll go beyond the galaxy and explore those new worlds they’ve been talking about on the U-net.” Ash watched all the programs on space discoveries and had bought learning modules for piloting ships. He wanted to join one of the new communities that were being established beyond the Milky Way, where humans were forging new ties with alien beings.

  It was the most exciting thing he could imagine. And pretty soon he’d be able to do it.

  Lin smiled. “It’s something that makes you happy to think about, isn’t it?”

  Ash glanced at him. Lin’s smile looked real this time, like a human being’s smile.

  The robot caught his glance, and quickly looked down. “Hey,” Ash said. This robot sure changed moods a lot. “By the way, what’s your background? Where have you lived?”

  As soon as the words left his mouth Ash regretted it. Lin was probably put together in a factory, and as for where he’d lived—that was likely a long history of assignments providing sex and domestic services for people. Not exactly a topic for light conversation. “Uh, never mind.”

  They watched the U-net for a few hours. After the galaxy news there was a documentary on robots and how they were often targets of abuse by their owners. Ash snuck a glance at Lin out of the corner of his eye. Lin sat with a perfectly emotionless face until the program was over.

  Tiny sat happily between them, an unknowing third wheel. Ash felt like pushing him off the couch so he could sit closer to Lin, but didn’t want to come off like a jerk.

  Did robots even have opinions about their owners? Ash tried to remember what he’d heard about robots’ mental capacities. He knew they could be programmed to react with certain emotions to specific stimuli. He couldn’t imagine what that would be like.

  Ash switched the U-net off with the remote. He looked at Lin, who turned one of those bright smiles on him. “I’m a little tired after my long journey. Is there a spare bedroom where I might sleep tonight?”

  Ash blinked. “Uh, sure.”

  He led Lin down the hallway. The station had been constructed by Earth’s early explorers. Finding no gold or other precious metals, they’d abandoned the building and the planet. When technology advanced and made deep exploration and auto-mining profitable, Ash’s company rehabilitated the building. Though Ash was the only one who lived there, the building originally housed six explorers.

  So Ash had his pick of rooms. He put Lin in the bedroom next to his own. Lin wished him good night and Ash went into his own room, shutting the door.

  It was only later, when he was nodding off to sleep, that Ash remembered that robots never got tired.

  ****

  Ash would have asked Lin about it the next morning, but the blow job he got when he woke up put it right out of his mind.

  He’d hit the alarm and turned on
his side, thinking about going back to sleep when the covers were suddenly pulled down. Before he could react Lin was on him, his mouth swallowing cock like there was no tomorrow.

  Ash reacted like anyone else would. He put his hands on Lin’s head and held on for the ride.

  When it was over, Lin smiled at him, announced he would make breakfast and left the room as quickly and unexpectedly as he’d entered, leaving Ash blinking, lying on his back with his heartbeat slowly returning to normal, and wondering if this was how all SDS robots operated.

  As he did when it happened again after dinner. And before lunch the next day.

  That night, while he and Lin sat watching the U-net news, Ash realized something was off. He didn’t like thinking of himself as an owner, but that’s what he was—and owners were the ones who decided when to have sex. Not the robots.

  It had been three days since Lin arrived. Time to make a few changes in how things were going.

  When the news was over, Ash turned to Lin and cleared his throat, then said: “I’d like you to sleep in my room tonight. Uh, if that’s all right with you.”

  Lin stared at him, his light blue eyes blinking, then smiled. “Of course.”

  Ash breathed an inner sigh of relief. Good.

  “Would you like a drink first?” Lin asked, getting up. He went to the bar on the counter between the front room and the kitchen and brought Ash back his favorite, a whiskey and tonic.

  It was the stiffest whiskey and tonic Ash ever had, and the next one was even stiffer. He wondered if Lin was doing it deliberately.

  The next thing he knew, Lin was telling him he would be waiting in Ash’s bed. Ash walked around the station shutting off lights and setting the security alarms, drunk and happy, anticipating his first fuck in a long, long time.

  He finally finished his routine and eagerly made his way to the bedroom. Lin had left just the bedside lamp on and the darkened room felt intimate and inviting. The robot was lying on his stomach under the covers, his silver-haired head on the pillow, with his smiling face turned to Ash.