Loneliest Man Who Ever Lived

[Note: This is a romance story with some erotic scenes. It is

not

a story with erotic scenes in every chapter. Some chapters have incredible sex scenes, but many others have none.]

Chapter 14: Greg

"Goldie?"

"Yes, my love?"

Lately she had been calling him that more and more. In some ways, it irritated him, because he knew at some point it all would come crashing down when she was deprogrammed. But in other ways, he found it so endearing. "Yes, Goldie?"

"What have you found?"

Harry had been working on deciphering more of the portion of the database he had downloaded from The Foundation. Each section was encrypted using a different method, but Harry had cracked one of the codes, and found references to a facility of some sort, in Kansas City. He told Goldie as much.

"Any reference to what they're doing there?"

Harry shook his head. "It's just mentioned as a shipment point. It might be nothing more than a warehouse."

"Or it might not. Let's go and take a look."

********

Their destination actually turned out to be a small office building. But when they got there, they found the perimeter guarded by the police. And the FBI.

The agent in charge asked what they wanted. Harry told them that they were trying to track down Goldie's sister, who had apparently been kidnapped by The Foundation. The agent asked to see their identification. When he saw Goldie's, his eyebrows went up. "You're Goldie MacPherson?"

"Yes," said Goldie.

"Wait here. Don't go away," said the agent. He left in a hurry.

Harry looked at Goldie. "Do you have any idea what this is about?"

"No," said Goldie, shrugging.

But then a very unexpected sight came into view. A dark haired man wearing a business suit in front and an open FBI jacket on his back.

It was her boyfriend, Greg.

"Goldie!" he cried, embracing her in a bear hug. He kissed her passionately. "I thought I had lost you!" He kissed her a second time.

"Greg," said Goldie, in a surprised voice.

"I've been trying to contact you for weeks," said Greg.

"I had to ditch my comm. I've been on the run," said Goldie.

"Why didn't you come to me, Goldie? Why didn't you contact me?" Greg asked. His gaze slowly turned to Harry. "Who are you?"

"Greg, this is Harry Crater. Harry helped expose what The Foundation was doing in Boston."

They found an empty conference room in the building to talk. The entire building had been emptied out, just like the facility in Newton.

Greg explained that there had been a number of missing person reports nationwide connected to The Foundation. Most were scientists, but some were athletes and other professionals. When they had raided the Newton facility, they found nothing. Then they had gotten a tip on the Kansas City location, but also didn't arrive in time.

"They're very nimble," said Harry grimly.

"You're Harry Crater," said Greg. "I read about you in the initial report. What else can you tell us about The Foundation?"

"Only that we're trying to track them down."

"We?" said Greg.

"Greg, Harry is helping me find Claire," said Goldie quietly.

Greg looked from Goldie to Harry back to Goldie again. Realization started to dawn in his eyes. "Goldie... this is a job for professionals. Why didn't you come to me?"

"I... I...." Suddenly, Goldie didn't know how to answer. At the time it made perfect sense for her to go to Harry, and not Greg, but she found now that she couldn't explain it in words.

It was Harry who filled the gap. "Greg? Would you do me a favor? Would you give me a moment to talk to Goldie? In private?"

Greg looked warily at Harry.

"It's all right, Greg, really," said Goldie.

"All right," he said reluctantly. "I'll be just down the hallway. There's no other way out of this building, Harry."

"Thanks for the tip, Greg."

They watched him leave.

"He loves me," Goldie said immediately.

"And do you love him?" Harry asked.

"I...."

"Goldie?"

"I don't know," Goldie said, putting her hands to her head.

"Think, Goldie, think," said Harry. "You told me you were seeing him for eight months. What I heard is that you were considering marrying him. Were you?"

"I... I don't know," said Goldie.

"How can you not know if you were thinking of marrying him?" Harry asked.

"Of course the thought occurred to me," said Goldie, her eyes flaring beautifully. "I just don't know how serious I was about it."

"Goldie, why did you stop seeing Greg shortly before you met me?"

"I don't know!"

"Do you love him?"

"I don't know!"

"Do you have feelings for him?"

Goldie wordlessly nodded.

"Strong ones?"

Goldie nodded again.

"It's clear what happened," said Harry. "When you were programmed to love me, you were also programmed to stop loving Greg. Your love for him simply... got in the way."

"No," Goldie whispered. There were tears in her eyes now.

"What else can explain it?"

"I... I have difficulty committing to men. Settling down. I've always been restless. With Greg, I was trying to decide, trying...." her words trailed off.

"I think The Foundation decided for you," said Harry. "I think you should be with Greg."

"How can you say that, Harry?"

"It's the right thing to do. Your love for me is not real."

"But it

feels

real."

"But it's not. You should be with Greg."

Goldie took a deep breath, and raised her voice. "Are you telling me, Harry..." She gulped audibly, "Harry, after choosing me over a gorgeous, genius woman, after choosing me over a gorgeous, genius woman who may be carrying your child... are you simply handing me off to Greg?" She sounded totally disbelieving.

"I'm not handing you off to anyone, Goldie. You are such a precious gift. But I haven't earned you, Goldie. I don't have the right to be with you." He had hoped his words would placate her, but it had the opposite effect.

Goldie's tone suddenly turned bitter and harsh. "You are such a high moral being, Harry! You are the perfect ethicist! You are so perfectly moral that you would give up the woman you love so that you can feel good about yourself! " Her face grew red with rage as a fury erupted from deep within. "Well, fuck you, Harry! Fuck you, and your morals, and your ethics! I want nothing more to do with you, or them!"

She looked at Harry, expecting a strong response; but Harry's face was simply sad.

Greg came into the room at a run. "Goldie?"

"I'm fine," said Goldie, getting up. "Greg, can I stay with you for a few days?"

"Of course," said Greg. He looked at her, and then Harry, and tried to figure out what had happened.

"Then let's go," said Goldie. She gave Harry one last look. "Goodbye, Harry!" and then she left the room.

Greg looked at Harry with confusion and anxiety written all over his face. Harry, by contrast, felt remarkably at peace with himself. But he found he had trouble speaking.

"She's a good woman, Greg. Please take good care of her," he said, and then he had to stop speaking, because a tremor started to work its way into his voice. He got up, with shaky legs, and went to the door.

********

"What happened to you, Goldie?"

It was the third time Greg had asked the question. They were having dinner in an elegant restaurant by the river in Kansas City.

"They... ah.... Greg, it's hard to talk about," said Goldie. She paused. He was as handsome as she remembered. She tried to remember what she felt for him. She definitely felt something. But was it love? Goldie still wasn't sure. "Greg, they did something to me."

"Something?" What did that mean?

"Apparently... they made me attracted to Harry." She looked anxiously at him for his reaction. Would he view her as tainted?

"They made you?"

"Through mental conditioning... through a device called the Chair," said Goldie.

Greg clenched a hand into a fist. "That bastard Harry! He brainwashed you, and then-"

"No, Greg, no," she said, grabbing his fist with her hand. "Harry didn't know. The Foundation did it to me, so I would seduce Harry, and bring him into The Foundation."

"And did you...."

She knew the question he was asking. "Yes, Greg, I did."

He slammed his fist down on the table. The diners at the adjoining table jumped slightly.

"So when you and Harry were arguing, he was telling you to stay with him?" Greg asked.

"No, Greg, you've got it all wrong. Harry was telling me to go back to you."

"Then what were you arguing about?" said Greg. Suddenly, he understood. "You... you didn't want to go back to me. You wanted to stay with Harry."

"I don't know what I want, Greg."

"Do you love him?"

Goldie looked away.

"Do you?"

Goldie nodded. Greg's face grew pained. Then he said, "Do you love me?"

Goldie bit her lip. "I... I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"Things were going so well between us," said Goldie. "I thought... I thought we might settle down together...."

"I thought so too. I was going to ask you to marry me," said Greg.

"Were you?" said Goldie in a surprised, high pitched voice. Her eyes went misty again.

"In January. At the beginning of the New Year."

"Oh, Greg!"

No one spoke for a long moment. "So what are you doing here now, with me?" Greg asked.

"I... I want to see... I want to see if there's still something between us," said Goldie. She looked hesitantly. "Would you like that, Greg?"

"Very much," said Greg, with a calmness he didn't feel.

********

Their hands were all over each other the minute the door to their hotel room slammed shut behind them.

It all felt so right, as Goldie felt Greg kissing her neck, touching her, squeezing her. It was like she had come back from a long vacation into the arms of a very familiar lover. Greg expertly and efficiently disrobed Goldie, and she did the same to him. When they were naked, she eagerly pressed her body against his. She felt her nipples getting hard and a stirring in her groin as she felt his dark rough chest hairs rubbing against her breasts. She ground her pubic hair against his male organ and smiled when she felt his organ beginning to point upwards.

Soon they were on the bed, and Goldie was on her back, with her legs spread, giving Greg the oldest invitation in the world. Greg took it, without hesitation, and inserted himself into her.

"Aaaaaah," said Goldie. "I missed that so much." Did she? She didn't really know. She said it because she desperately wanted it to be true. She looked anxiously at Greg's face, trying desperately to rekindle lost feelings, as Greg pumped smoothly and surely in and out of her.

"I missed you too," said Greg. "I missed coming... inside of you."

"I know you did," Goldie smiled, as she felt his hardness sandwiched deep between her vaginal lips as he moved in and out, in and out. It was good it was good it was so very good, she kept telling herself.

"Was he good?" Greg asked, as he continued to move back and forth.

Goldie looked startled.

Greg persisted. "Was he as good as me?"

"No one is as good as you, darling," said Goldie. She frowned and bit her lip "Oooh... Greg... I need it faster now. Harder, dear."

Greg started to work himself in and out of her faster. Goldie reached down and started to touch her clit, matching the rhythm of the thrusts. "Oh Greg... Oh Greg..."

"Goldie... Goldie... GOLDIE!" Greg became stiff as a board as he cried out one last time, and flooded her with his seed. Goldie, feeling wonderfully impaled, felt an orgasm radiating out from deep within her.

Greg dismounted her, and lay by her side. Goldie enjoyed the wonderful downtime afterwards. It was nice. It was very nice. It was just as nice as she remembered it. And yet... sex with Greg had a

sameness

to it. It wasn't just as she remembered it; it was

exactly

as she remembered it.

With Harry, it was different. Each time with Harry was always a little different. Goldie was never quite sure what Harry was going to do at any given moment. He could be dominant, he could be submissive, he could suddenly growl and kiss the nape of her of her neck, or bite down playfully on one of her tits, or avoid her areolas entirely, teasing the edges of her mammaries with his touch until she begged for more.

Greg didn't have such an exotic toolbox of lovemaking ideas. Lovemaking with Greg was wonderful, constant, steady... and

predictable

.

********

Goldie had reunited with Greg on a Friday, and Greg was given the weekend off, so they were able to spend time together, which Goldie welcomed. They walked around Kansas City, doing window shopping, and talked and laughed and held hands, just like before. Before she had met Harry.

Every time Goldie looked at Greg, every time he touched her, or kissed her, she kept thinking, "Do I love this man? Is he really the right man for me?" She quickly realized she was getting tense, and resolved to stop thinking about it.

That evening, they went to see a holofilm. A romantic comedy. But they arrived at the theater early, and burned off some extra time at a nearby bookstore.

Goldie held up a romance novel featuring one woman and three men with the title

Too Many

. "What do you think of this title, Greg?"

"Not my kind of light reading."

Goldie was a little disappointed. She had expected him to say something amusing about it, like Harry did. She looked around and held up another title. "How about this one?" It was entitled

Marriage for One

, featuring a lone man on the cover. "I think the guy marries himself, heh heh."

"Yeah," said Greg. "I prefer more action thrillers."

"I see," said Goldie. She started looking through those. "

Dark Destiny. Dark Visions

. Why are all these books about darkness, Greg? Why are they never about lightness?"

"It's supposed to set a mood, I guess. Hey, the movie's about to start, we should go."

"Yeah."

The holomovie was about a billionaire who had no trouble attracting women. But he wanted to know if women would still be attracted to him if he pretended to be poor. He got a job as a low level office assistant to an up and coming female boss, and what happened after that was entirely predictable.

When they got back to the hotel, Goldie said, "What did you think of that first love scene, Greg?"

"I don't know. The blonde was kind of hot," said Greg.

"Greg!"

"Well, blondes are always hot," Greg grinned. He started to rub his hands over her body.

"Did you like the way he touched her, Greg? Did you like the way he aroused her?" Goldie asked.

"Yeah," said Greg, giving her a kiss. She groaned as she felt the warmth of his lips against hers.

"Show me, Greg. Show me exactly how he did it."

"It will be my pleasure," said Greg. He started to caress Goldie's body, her arms, her legs, her belly, her breasts, while kissing her all over.

At first, Goldie was aroused, but then she realized something.

Greg wasn't touching her as the man had in the movie.

Greg was touching her exactly the same way he always did.

He kissed her neck. Then he moved on to her forehead. Then he kissed her lips. Then he moved back to her neck. Then he squeezed her breasts. One time, two times, three times, four times. Then he kissed her on the lips again.

Exactly as he had done innumerable times before.

Greg gently undressed Goldie, and she undressed him. Then he made love to her. Goldie made sure to gasp and moan with pleasure. And when Greg climaxed, she cried out with joy, hugging him tightly.

And then she lay silently next to him, until she fell asleep.

********

On Sunday they had a delightful breakfast together, and then explored a duck pond on the outskirts of K.C. They laughed and fed breadcrumbs to the ducks, and for a brief time Goldie felt like she was with Harry.

She stared at Greg. He was handsome, maybe more handsome than Harry. They both had dark hair, and Harry was a little taller, but Greg was... Greg was more well kempt. He didn't have hair sticking out in odd directions, like Harry did. He always looked much better groomed. And he was a much better dresser than Harry. Greg had

style

. As he fed the ducks, Goldie looked at him and desperately tried to feel love for him.

********

That evening Greg took her to a concert. It had been Goldie's idea, but Greg had readily agreed. She was a little startled to find out that they had seats in the general audience section. She realized that Harry had spoiled her.

The orchestra began to play. Goldie smiled as she heard the trumpets blaring. "What do the trumpets remind you of, Greg?" she whispered into his ear.

Greg shrugged. "I don't know. A little like military marches, I suppose."

Goldie looked at Greg, with surprise written all over her face. Harry had compared each instrument in the orchestra to something about her.

But Greg wasn't like that. He didn't have the imagination for that.

Goldie told herself that she should stop comparing Greg to Harry. They were two very different people. Harry was a Fourther, and she couldn't expect Greg... expect him to.....

Goldie was silent for the rest of the concert.

When they got back to the hotel, Greg started to kiss her and fondle her body. She knew what that meant.

"Greg," said Goldie, with a smile. "Three times in three nights?"

"I want to make up for lost time," said Greg. "Come here, woman."

Goldie smiled and obediently came into his arms. Greg made love to her again. He climaxed inside of her, and conscientiously made sure she did the same. Afterwards, as they lay together, he said, "Was that good?"

Goldie patted his hand. "It was wonderful, Greg. Thank you so much."

Greg smiled and hugged her tightly.

********

"You did the right thing," said Carl. His voice came out tinny over Harry's comm unit.

"Did I?"

"She was programmed to love you," said Carl. "But she really loved Greg."

"Do we know that for a fact?"

"From the information you have provided me, it seems very likely," said Carl. "I know it must have been hard for you, but you did the right thing."

"So what do I do now?" Harry asked. "I guess there's no longer a reason to pursue The Foundation. Goldie's boyfriend can take up that job."

"What about Jerri?"

What about Jerri? When Harry had left her, rather abruptly, there had been the possibility that he had impregnated her. They had only been trying for a ten days, but it was certainly possible.

And Harry had liked Jerri. He liked her smile, her face, her body. And she was smart, too. The only reason he had left her... was because of Goldie.

But if he went back to the Island, to the Society, he would have to submit to their rules. They would use him like a stud, forcing him to impregnate large numbers of women.

Would that be so bad?

Right now Harry was totally alone. He had no one in his life. Goldie... Goldie was fantastic. But she was gone now.

If he went back to the Island, he could have women galore. He could have sex with a different woman every night. It would be like a dream.

But the price was too high. He was a man, he told himself, not a lab rat, not an animal to be used in a breeding experiment. To be reduce to a penis, a penis used to fertilize females, was too degrading, even for him.

No, he couldn't go back to Jerri.

All he could do was go home.

********

It was like coming back from a long vacation, or waking up from a dream. For the second time. The first time had been when he had first come back from Boston. He had thought Goldie was gone forever. He had returned to his lonely life, only to have her return to him.

And now he was back again. But he didn't expect to see Goldie again. The first thing he did, after getting a new computer, was to write down every thought and every experience he had with Goldie. He didn't want to forget any of that.