Communicating from a Distance

Science and love. I had to really think about how this affects us in our daily lives and how that translates into my science fiction romance and erotic romance.

Last year at this time, my son, a Marine, was deployed to Afghanistan. My daughter-in law had just had a baby a few months before he left. She stayed with us, for company and sanity. Many a night I'd hear her laughing as she Skyped with my son, and it brought me back to a time when I was in her position and my Skype, had been a letter home or phone call. I remember the overwhelming joy of hearing my husband's voice, or reading his words as he told me how much he missed me.

How does science affect our daily lives? Well, as you can see from my example above, It gives deployed soldiers a chance to look into their lover's faces, gaze into their eyes and engage them visually, as well as verbally, even though they're on the other side of the planet. Something I longed for twenty-two years ago.

And how wonderful that is. Our faces truly can convey so much meaning, from longing to love, anger, sadness. Even though I relied on letters and phone calls, truly advanced communication compared to someone one hundred years ago, who had to wait for the ship to come in, and perhaps then they'd hear news of their lover, it's nothing as advanced as what my daughter-in-law used to talk to my son.

It's been twenty-two years since I was the woman, on the other end of the letter of phone, longing for the day I could hold my husband and see his smiling face. I wonder, if we've advanced at the rate we have in that short span to the way it is now, how will lovers, those separated by miles, sometimes light years, communicate with one another in the future?

Will they have a three dimensional holo to dance the night away, sit with at the table while they eat, or play a virtual board game? Will they be able to whisper sweet words in their lover's mind as they sleep? Could they put on a body suit and visor, feel their lover's touch through sensors and holographic images, taking phone sex to a whole different level?

Here are two short excerpts with lovers of the future, communicating:

Rebel Souls: 

As she stared into his eyes and pressed her hand against the screen, she knew without a doubt, this was it. No going back. Her lips opened, but her throat tightened and everything she’d wanted to say, stuck on her tongue and refused to come out.

“Ava.” He raised his palm and placed it over hers. His gaze beseeched her to stop. “Don’t do…”

A punch of a button and she cut the link. No. Come and get me—tell me in person. That wedge of metal had forced a more than a rift between them. No, she couldn’t hear his rejection, his order to go home, nor would she give him the chance to say it. All or nothing. No more denial, no more crying at night and sharing a bed with a man she didn’t love beyond friendship. No more.

Collateral Lives: 

"Knock it off.”

The voice shocked her out of her dirty play, and for a second she stopped. Then she realized why it irritated him. The corner of her mouth curled into a wicked smile.  “Make me.” She went back to work, pleasuring herself.

“I’m in a tactical meeting. I don’t need to come in my pants.”

Trouble threw her head back and laughed. “And that’s incentive to make me stop?” She closed her eyes and stroked herself again. “Suck it up, princess and focus,” she threw his words back at him, knowing they’d get right under his hide.

“Persist and find out what happens.”

“You’re not that bad. I’ll take my chances.” She started to laugh again. Oh, that felt good. The bastard deserved a little of the same shit he dished out. “How does it feel?” She worked her fingers on her g-spot. “You like that?”

Silence filled her thoughts—the first she’d had since she’d woken up on the station. She stopped laughing and opened her eyes. “Avery?” Trouble screwed up her face and looked toward the latrine door and the trail of clothes that led to her... Shit. She scrambled out of the shower, slipped and slammed to the metal decking. “Fuck.” That would leave a bruise. Never mind—it would blend with the others. Trouble rolled to knees and pushed to her feet, her knee now bleeding. She snagged a towel and rushed across the decking for the door, slipped again and landed on her ass. She climbed to her feet a second time and darted for the entrance with a mild limp, hoping she’d reach it before Avery. How far away was his meeting? Certainly he wouldn’t beat her… As she skidded to a stop in front of the door and reached for the lock, the steel panel slid open.

“Crap.”

There he stood in all his glory, his chest rising and falling from hauling ass to her front door. His eyes traveled down her naked body. Trouble lifted the towel in front of her, covering her nudity. Avery reached out, grabbed the tail and yanked, leaving her completely exposed. “Next time you find the balls to challenge me—remember to lock the door. Better yet—remember to keep your door locked. There are a multitude of reasons people are on this level—none of them good.” He dropped her towel and did one more head-to-toe sweep of her body. “I need a drink.”

So, two examples. One with the ability to cut the link, the other without. Both heroines communicate from a distance, sometimes sharing not just words but touch. Thanks for stopping by our bash. Be sure to leave a comment under each of the posts to maximize your chance to win some of the great prizes.

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