His Virtual Bride Read online

  "Oh."

  "Go to sleep, Keely."

  "I still want to pleasure you."

  "Sleep."

  * * * *

  Sighing, she forced herself to relax in his arms. They soon slipped away and the rhythm of his breathing told her he'd fallen asleep.

  Good. This way she could look at him as much as she wanted. Even in sleep he had a guarded look about him--as if he would waken at the slightest noise or touch. So for a long time, she simply gazed at him. At the easy rise and fall of his chest. At the sculpted perfection of his wide shoulders and rock-hard stomach. At his long and powerful thighs and calves. At his flaccid cock where it rested on his thigh.

  Her palms itched, she wanted so badly to touch him. To feel him grow in her hand. To taste him on her tongue as he'd tasted her. To feel him--his cock--inside her, buried to his balls.

  As if it sensed her scrutiny, his shaft twitched. Hoping he dreamed of her touching him, she slid her hand down his chest to the thick nest of curls surrounding his sex. Palm flat, she lightly rubbed his cock. He gave a startled snort, then sighed, sounding pleased. She risked closing her fingers around that warm flesh. It pulsed. Grew in length and rigidity until it curved against his stomach. A milky bead formed in its slitted tip. Unable to resist, she touched that bead with her tongue. He tasted salty. He smelled like sex--a little like the lavender they'd bathed in, a little musky, a little…uniquely Geoff.

  He groaned--again a sound of pleasure. Emboldened, she licked around his cock head, then took it completely into her mouth. His fingers fastened in her hair, pressed her closer. Cupping his heavy balls, she gently squeezed them as she licked and sucked him.

  "Good," he muttered, his hips rising and falling more rapidly.

  She felt his climax near. His testicles tightened in her hand, mere seconds before his cum squirted into her mouth and he shouted her name.

  "So good," he repeated, gathering her to his chest and pillowing her head over his heart.

  She listened while its rapid tattoo slowed to a steady thump. Licking her lips to savor the last tangy taste of his cum, she snuggled against him and went to sleep. But as she slid into Morpheus's welcoming arms, she made a promise to herself.

  The next time she had him that hard, she'd have him deep inside her pussy. Buried to his balls.

  Chapter Seven

  When she awoke, morning sunlight filtered between a gap in the heavy drapes around the bed. Her left leg rested between Geoff's splayed legs, her left hand gripping his morning erection.

  He made a little humming sound as he eased her hand to his chest. "As good as that feels, we need to get up."

  "Why?"

  "Time to go to work. We need to plan our attack. On how to tour Sedna's asteroid belt," he clarified when she snuggled closer and licked his nipple. "Keely." His voice sounded tight.

  "Well hell." She sat up, surprisingly unembarrassed by her nakedness, then glanced at his still rigid cock. "Besides, I think your friend has a better idea."

  "So do I, but…" He shrugged. Getting to his feet, he added, "Duty calls." He scratched his belly and the curls around his cock. Shooting her a puzzled glance, he wandered into the bathroom.

  She hoped he was wondering what she had done to him last night. Had he dreamed that she'd sucked him to climax or had she truly done it? Remembering his taste, she licked her lips and believed she still carried his cum on them and deep in her throat. She jutted her chin and followed him into the bathroom. There, she joined him in the shower, determined to show him last night was more than a dream.

  She knew he hadn't heard her. He was standing under the showerhead, alternately whistling and singing about Clementine, his darling. So, he loves somebody other than his Jove-blasted spaceship! Swallowing a vicious stab of jealousy, she knelt between his legs.

  At the touch of her tongue to his limp cock, he gulped, obviously inhaling a lot of water.

  "Jove, Keely! What the hell do you think you're doing?" He bent at the waist and reached for her hands. Instead, his fingers tangled in her hair and he thrust his hips forward.

  His cock swelled, filling her mouth with pulsing heat. She sucked him deeper and swirled her tongue over and around his shaft. He smelled and tasted like cream. Squeezing his balls, she felt as well as heard his groans.

  "Come for me, Geoff. Come for me like you did last night."

  "Jonathan Jacob Jones!" he swore as he shuddered to completion. Collapsing against the shower wall, swiping water and hair from his forehead, he stared down at her for a long moment. His hazel eyes seemed glazed and sated as he pulled her to her feet.

  "You may be a virgin, but you have a courtesan's mouth."

  The comment sounded more like praise than criticism and brought a flush to her skin--over every inch. "Thanks."

  "My pleasure." He quirked a grin. "Believe me, it's my pleasure. Again." Eyeing her speculatively, he touched her nipples.

  She bit back a moan as she eased away from his hands. "We don't have time," she reminded him. At least now he knew for sure what she'd done last night.

  He waggled his eyebrows. "Wanna bet? Bet I can make you howl in under five minutes."

  She thrust out her chin. "What'll you give me if you can't?"

  "The information about Le Roi you claim I stole from you. What'll you give me if I can?"

  "I won't accuse you of stealing anymore." She poked his chest. "Not unless you steal from me again." She took the soap from him, slathered her body and then rinsed off. "That is, if I intended to let you touch me right now, I'd bet. Since we're in a hurry, I won't bet anything.

  "Shower off." Stepping out, she wrapped a towel around her, slanting him a speculative look. "Besides, I still owe you at least three more climaxes before we call ourselves even."

  "E-even?"

  "Even," she repeated. "Like partners--equal partners--who share information and pleasures equally." Winking, she left him standing in the shower.

  As they ate breakfast they talked about The Dream. Speculating as to why it felt as if they were in Versailles and why they were costumed like characters from some seventeenth century ribald tale.

  "At least I didn't have to wear a corset or panniers," Keely said, laughing. Remembering how easily Geoff had removed her clothes, she blushed.

  "One nice thing about dreams like that… If I'd had to get out of that costume in real time, I'd still be undressing."

  The communications console chirped.

  "The mayor will see you in half an hour."

  "Great!"

  "How do we get to his office?" Keely asked. Whispering to Geoff, she reminded him they couldn't get out of their suite. They'd tried last night, intending to explore before they ate dinner. Room service could get in, but they couldn't get out.

  "Step outside in twenty-nine minutes and you'll be taken to him."

  "Thanks. I guess."

  After checking to make sure the console was off, Keely turned to Geoff. "This place gives me the creeps. We don't even know what floor our room is on. Or how we can get out of the building if it catches fire."

  Herma-Frodie materialized as if on cue.

  "All visitors are…" Herma looked to Frodie to finish.

  "Confined to quarters until the mayor sees them."

  "Afterward, you may go wherever you wish."

  "Almost wherever," Frodie corrected.

  "Is that what you wanted to tell us last night?" Geoff asked.

  "You need to step outside."

  "We have--" Keely protested. Looking at the console clock changed her mind. "No time to wait."

  "Time runs differently here," Herma told them just before they entered the mayor's office. His reception area anyway.

  "No shit," Geoff mumbled.

  Keely poked his ribs. "E-tay uklay."

  "Why are you talking like that?"

  "Look at the girl," Keely whispered without moving her lips

  He looked. Shrugged his shoulders. "So what?"

  "She's green."


  At that the girl looked up. Smiling, she battered her dark green eyelashes at Geoff. "I'm Marsian."

  "No shit," Keely sniped sotto voce.

  "I think I smell a rat," Geoff grumbled as they followed the girl across the reception area toward a pair of etched brass doors. They were burnished with reds and greens and royal blue. "Pretty."

  "Thanks," the girl said, "They were made locally." She battered her eyelashes again. "The artist's a friend. I can introduce you to her over drinks. Just the three of us."

  Keely did her sotto voce routine. "Queen Paris would just love your propositioning her man." She took a chance that even on this remote object Paris' name had importance.

  "I'm not--" Geoff began to protest.

  By the time Keely had pinched his ass the Marsienne had the doors opened and was heading back to her desk. If she were a cat, Keely thought, grateful her ploy had worked, her tail would be twitching.

  "Come in, come in," a cheerful voice called out.

  "Son of a bitch," Geoff swore. "I should have expected this."

  "Who is he?" Keely whispered, hearing fear in her voice.

  "I am Mayor Le Roi. Formerly of Mars via Pluto and, most recently, Sedna."

  "Keely, what's wrong?"

  "I think your little friend recognizes me," Le Roi announced, sounding amused.

  "You do remind me of someone," Keely admitted, willing her knees to support her long enough to get to a chair. Geoff cupped her elbow, but she flinched away. For some reason she knew she had to show nothing but strength to the man standing behind his massive desk.

  Geoff slanted her a look that combined puzzlement and concern. Puzzlement she could deal with. Concern weakened her, made her want to burrow into his arms as she had last night. Cry her heart out as she had last night.

  "I have cafftea from Saturn if you'd like some."

  "Still living in luxury, Your Majesty," Geoff said, standing, hovering at Keely's side until she sat.

  "Do you want it or not?" Mayor Le Roi snapped.

  "Yes," Geoff growled.

  "Thanks," Keely added. If this man were the former king of Mars--and Geoff had as much as named him such--he would view courtesy as his due. She would give him that much. For now anyway. Once she figured out why he made her feel afraid was a different matter. Taking the cup of cafftea from Geoff, she inhaled its fragrant steam and then sipped.

  "Do you trade a lot with Saturn?" she asked. Geoff still stood at her side. Protecting her, she supposed, doubting he'd give Le Roi an ounce of courtesy. Surprising her, after Le Roi sat, Geoff sat as well. His military training served him well--at this moment.

  "I trade--Sedna, that is, trades throughout the galaxy, Ms. Ketchum. With a few notable exceptions of course."

  "Mars being one of them," Geoff observed, his tone neutral.

  "By necessity, yes."

  While she sipped her drink, Keely took a moment to study the former Marsian king. Standing, she'd gauged him about five feet nine or so. Tall for Marsian. A little portly like his brother Pushin. His complexion was greener than either Pushin's or Paris', but atmospheric differences between Mars and Sedna might account for that. What kind of man he was under the polite veneer he now presented, she didn't know. Her jumpy nerves made her want to get away from him--as fast and as far as No-Name could take her. Since he might know how to find The Honey… She sighed, resigned to staying as long as it took to get the information they needed.

  "I don't know how to address you," Geoff admitted, drawing her attention to him. Geoff never admitted not knowing something. What was going on here? Or was it just a ruse to get Le Roi talking?

  "Mayor will do," Le Roi replied, a touch of…irony perhaps, in his voice.

  "How did you become mayor?" Keely asked. "You died--that is--"

  "Died will do as well," Le Roi drawled.

  "You abdicated only a couple of years ago." She shrugged. "I'm nosy."

  "Curiosity is admirable--up to a point."

  Geoff growled. Keely flashed him a grin, repeating to Le Roi, "How did you become mayor?"

  "Sedna's council requested I take on the duties. The planet was in chaos. The former mayor had absconded with the treasury, leaving them bankrupt. They'd had an outbreak of some venereal disease so tourism credits had dwindled to nothing--or as close to nothing as one can get."

  "Why you, Mayor?" Geoff asked, demand in his voice.

  "Other than experience--forty years of it--as king?" Le Roi steepled his fingers in front of his face. "I offered them an infusion of credits to get them through the rough patches."

  Even to Keely, who had grown accustomed to Geoff's spurts of rudeness, his derisive snort came as a surprise. She wanted to throttle him, but held her tongue and her hands in check.

  "I guess, when the rough patches lasted longer than expected, they offered you complete control."

  "Begged me to take it in fact."

  "Is it true you greet every visitor? Isn't that risky? I mean, suppose someone recognizes you? Tells Paris… She knows, doesn't she?"

  "Of course she knows." Le Roi stood to show them his belt buckle. "Part of my successful advertising for the Sednan Tourism Bureau includes a personal greeting from Marsian Queen Paris." He pressed the buckle and Paris stood before them. "Naturally, Marsian citizens know nothing about this."

  "Jove–blasted Marsienne, I'm gonna kill her!"

  Keely couldn't stop her grin. "Please tell me, Mayor Le Roi, how you did that. How you acquired Queen Paris' face."

  "Geoff can tell you the details, Ms. Ketchum. I filched the idea from him. As for killing my great–niece, you won't," he said to Geoff.

  "Wanna bet? Or maybe I should just kill you. Then Ki--Paris wouldn't have to worry about you popping up unexpectedly."

  "But she'd feel compelled to hunt you down. And if you kill her…"

  The dramatic pause had Geoff surging to his feet, jutting his chin and clenching his fists. Keely might've found his palpable fury funny. If what Le Roi said next were less important than what she expected, she might even laugh. Instead, placing her cup on Le Roi's desk, she went to Geoff and put her hand over his fist.

  She felt his rage as if it were her own. She fought it even as she took it into her. His fingers uncurled to entwine with hers. He still looked murderous, but she knew he'd at least listen.

  "Go on," she commanded the man with Queen Paris's face and body.

  "You'll never find your precious Honey." Le Roi reappeared and sat.

  * * * *

  "Jove–blasted bitch!" Geoff said, his voice low and menacing even to him. Feeling Keely tug on his hand, he looked down. And found self-control shining from her eyes into his, willing it in to his body and heart. "You --you're an emp--"

  "Please sit down, Geoff. Maybe Le Roi can explain it to you."

  "Explain why that bitch sent me all over the galaxy looking for her demented great-uncle? Sent me on a wild goose chase when she knew where he was?"

  "Breathe," Keely murmured.

  He did, but clung to her hand as if it were his lifeline. His single hope to retain his sanity.

  "Sit."

  He one-handed her chair next to his and sat, keeping hold of her hand. When she placed her other hand over their joined ones, more of this rage seeped out of him.

  Le Roi's heavy sigh drew his gaze from Keely face to the former king. He looked… sad. Which would have sparked Geoff's rage had Keely not been holding on to him.

  "Not that it's any consolation," Le Roi confessed, shaking his head. "I believe Paris has fancied herself in love with you since you met."

  "Sure. At the same time she was in love with my cousin. And let's not forget that she also loved my cousin's wife."

  "Lust isn't the same as love, Geoff." Le Roi now seemed tired. Old and tired and sad. Geoff searched his heart for pity, but failed to find it. "But you know that."

  Geoff followed Le Roi's gaze to Keely. She seemed to be looking out the window behind the Marsian's chair. Geoff wondered if she
still saw nothing. That very idea hurt and he gently squeezed her hand. Her answering smile felt like a benediction, an assurance everything would turn out right.

  "What my niece needs--in truth wants--is a man who will stand up to her. Stand up for her when she needs defending. Not that she'd admit that need. A man who will stand beside her no matter what she says or, even worse, what she does."

  "I am not that man." Geoff held Le Roi's gaze until the older man looked at Keely and smiled.

  "I can see that," Le Roi said cryptically.

  Keely looked puzzled, as if they were speaking some alien language she couldn't understand. "I think the question is does Paris see that?"

  "And does she really know where The Honey is?" Geoff stared at Le Roi.

  "I assure you she does."

  "And I should believe you…why?"

  "Geoff, he did tell you--"

  "What he wanted me to know."

  "Or as much as Paris wanted him to tell you." Keely shifted her gaze from Geoff to Le Roi. "Is that it? Does your niece expect Geoff to come gunning for her now that he knows she's responsible for this mess?"

  "Were your positions reversed isn't that what you'd expect?" Le Roi countered.

  Keely laughed. "I think I'd want him to cool off first."

  "Guess that's why she sent us to Sedna," Geoff said, his voice wry. "So I could cool off getting back to Mars."

  "Care to come with us?" Keely joked to Le Roi.

  At least Geoff thought she was joking. She was smiling, but… "Jonathan Jacob Jones, Keely," he protested, seeing her eyes were like shards of green–gray glass. And the blaster in her steady hand convinced him she wasn't teasing anyone. Least of all Le Roi.

  "You remember."

  "Not all of it. Enough to know you're the bastard who beat me."

  Geoff's renewed fury flooded him. He swallowed it, knowing that Le Roi was their only hope of getting off Sedna. "Keely."

  "Don't worry, Geoff. I'm not going to kill him. Yet."

  "You can't make me take you out of here."

  "You'd be surprised at what Keely can do."

  Only the twitch at the corner of her mouth told him she'd heard him.