Ex Vivo (#2 EX TRILOGY)

Chapter 7

Suzy smiled in her sleep as she felt her Boo's soft lips brush against hers. She opened her eyes and turned to look into those mesmerizing green eyes of his. She was lying in his arms in bed after spending the rest of the day with him indoors. The last episode had ended with her in tears because her strength could not take her through one more bout with him. When the Boo had noticed her drowsiness, he had simply cuddled her and put her to sleep. Suzy looked up at the wall clock and realized they had been going at it for the past six hours and had probably slept two hours afterwards. She smiled at him and kissed him too before curling in his bosom under the sheets. She could not think of anything else but this mysterious handsome gentleman who had been delivered to her in a box. Everything about him felt angelic and perfect, even his breath had this minty flavour that made Suzy want to taste his lips every now and then. Suzy turned over and lay on top of him to take closer look at his eyes. They glistened, and sometimes Suzy swore she saw them flash the way that of cats, dogs and some creatures did when they reflected light in the dark.

She stroked his chest with her fingers and smiled. His body did not feel cold anymore. Suzy itched to ask him a number of questions to satisfy her curiosity. "Are your eyes real?"

Her Boo stared at her without blinking for some seconds, and he nodded slowly. Interestingly, he had not spoken a word since he arrived. Suzy found that strange and asked, "Do you speak English? I don't know how your voice sounds. Can you say anything?" The Boo simply smirked, reached for Suzy's phone and showed her something in the Ex Vivo app. Suzy realized that there was no input for language in the vocals tab. She blinked at it and glanced at him, and then to the app. "Wait. Are you - ?" She struggled to let out the words because of the fear of offending him. Why would she have to choose a language for a human in a phone app before he could say anything? She sighed and selected 'British English' as well as 'Welsh English accent'.

As soon as she saved and applied the settings, her Boo grinned and said in a clear booming voice, "Thank you, Suzy." Suzy felt a chill run down her body upon hearing it. Her eyes widened and she grinned excitedly.

"You know my name?" she asked, but she shook her head and smacked her forehead. "Silly me. Of course you know - I am a - the registered User who chose you. That's what they call it, right?"

"Yes." The Boo cocked his head and stroked Suzy's face gently. "You are pretty. I think I have fallen in love with you."

Suzy rolled her eyes. "Gosh. That's an understatement. After those rounds, I doubt you'd say anything different. I think I like you."

"You like me?" he asked slowly, putting emphasis on 'like' in a displeased tone. Suzy stared into his eyes and wondered why they felt piercing at that instant. She felt he was offended by the use of that word and decided to say more, but her Boo shook his head. "Don't be compelled to say what you don't feel. I totally understand. You seem to have many questions on your mind. I am prepared to answer them all. But mind you - curiosity not only kills the cat. It scares love away." He chuckled and leaned forward to peck Suzy's lips.

Suzy frowned and snorted. "OK. My Boo - mmm. I can't keep calling you Boo. What do I call you?"

"Anything."

"Don't you have a name? Like a given name?"

"My default name is Boo because I am male. It's up to the User to determine what they'd like to address me as. It's just a feature in the app that makes us appear as people who submit entirely to our Users."

Suzy bit her lip. "I wonder why I find the use of the word 'User' so unsettling. I really don't like it. Please address me as your girlfriend, or lover, or Suzy. I am not your user. It makes it feel like you are a toy or something."