EXTRACT FOR
Employee's Handbook
(Fiaine Cluiun)

Lips touched her skin, skimming over the surface of her breasts, hot and heavy until they found a nipple and suckled. She groaned, writhing beneath her lover's caress, reaching for him, wanting to know the feel of his chest, each small mark hidden beneath a covering of dark curls. 

He groaned, the thickness of his erection nudged at her leg and her thighs parted with a will of their own, allowing him access to her sex. It's what they both wanted. Both needed. There was little point in denying it, not when the scorching heat of his hunger matched hers perfectly.

The engorged head of his eager shaft pressed between her swollen labia but held back from the meeting of hips that would see him lodged deep within her sex. All he had to do was slip a little to the left. One small movement and he'd be there. 

He tensed above her and - 

"Wake up. Wake up." 

Her lover frowned and pulled back. She clutched at him, arching her hips. Pleading. Begging. A few moments, it's all they'd need. It had been so long. Too long. Urgency clawed at her even as she tried to wrap her legs around her lover's hips. 

"Wake up." The words repeated, spaced out by a low, incessant buzz.  

Stephanie Owens groaned; the final threads of the dream scattered as she pulled the thin soft blanket up over her head. Not fair. She tried to bury herself deeper into her bed. If she ignored it, the alarm would shut down and let her rest. At worst, she'd suffer few a second reminder but then be able to drift back off. 

Perhaps the dream would return.

Never does. Once something shook her out of whatever delights her mind had conjured, there was no going back for at least a couple of hours. 

"Your shift starts in one hour. Wake up. It's time to get up."

"Shut up." 

"This unit has been programmed to continue until the correct command to cease alerts has been used."

Correct command? Her sleep addled brain refused to make sense of the words. It was an alarm. It was supposed to listen to her when she told it to shut up. Stephanie groaned as she reached out and smacked the alarm. It squawked in protest and hopped away from her. Why had she gone for one of the AI versions again? One hour. She didn't have to jump immediately out of bed. A little longer wouldn't hurt. 

The beeping began. Low, insistent and impossible to ignore. "Alarm. Shut up."

The alarm repeated its previous response as the beeping continued, growing louder with each new alert. With a growl, she reached for the alarm, smacking at it hard enough to send the thing skittering back from her.

"Attempting to damage this unit is inadvisable. Repeated attempts will result in - "

She cracked an eyelid and swiped at the hopping thing again as it danced back and forth across her bedside table. It avoided her attempts. "Stand still. Blasted thing. I want to sleep."

" - your aggressive actions being reported per station behavioral codes. Please see the employee's handbook concerning acceptable behavior and consequences of disregarding or disobeying the agreed upon rules."

Sleep. Was it so wrong to want to steal a little more time for herself. She wasn't really needed, if she remained in the bed then no one would come for her. She didn't have to think about it or wonder what the others were doing. One more hour wouldn't kill her. 

"Employee's handbook be damned."

"Contracted Employee Owens. Please stand up. It's time to get up. You're needed."

She lashed out, her hand connected with the alarm. "Please. I'll give you please." Stephanie threw back the covers.

"Attempting to damage this unit will result in you being reported." The alarm protested from its new place on the floor as it rolled and hopped until it was now upright. "All violent actions not sanctioned by contracts are automatically reported to the supervising agent."

"No," she threw herself off the bed, and reached for the alarm. "Come on, you don't have to do that." Her hands closed on the cube. "I was mostly asleep. You can't report me for what I did in my sleep." The bloody thing was a creep and a sadist. Why else would it be programmed to report her, or anyone, who lashed out at an alarm as annoying as this one.

My own fault. Should have gone for a standard model instead of the upgrade.

"Confirmation of report received." It clicked in her grasp. "Estimated arrival of an Enforcement Officer, ten minutes."