His Virtual Bride (6 page)

"Everyone called you Keely. Where'd the Ketchum come from?"

A too brief grin tilted the corners of her mouth.

"I seem to share the queen's sense of the absurd." Geoff's tone was wry. He recalled how he often deliberately mispronounced Keely's surname.

"Yeah. She said it fit someone who's hunting for her great-uncle. At first I didn't get the joke. Like you, she said it like
catch 'em
. When I got it, it seemed to fit as well. So I kept it."

"So you could be married, have six kids and a whole passel of relatives who are missing you like crazy."

"I doubt it. I think I'd feel it here." She touched her chest in the vicinity of her heart. "But I don't."

"Well, hell."

"Yeah."

Geoff leaned against the headboard, easing Keely into his arms. She resisted at first, but soon gave in to the very human need to be touched. Sighing, she snuggled against him, her cheek--soft and damp with new tears--pressed to his chest. Right where his heart beat strong against her ear.

"I don't want your pity."

"Don't have it."

"Then why are you cuddling me?"

"'Cause I don't think you're ready for what I really want to do to you."

"Which is?"

He tilted her chin so he could look into her eyes. "You may not remember who you are, Keely. But you
know
what I want."

She blushed. Blushed, by Jove!

"I guess I do know." She hid her face against his chest. "Geoff? Will you let me know when I
am
ready?"

"Uh…sure."

Jonathan Jacob Jones!
Had he just promised to take Keely's virginity
?

Chapter Five

Jove, her hair felt like living silk. Short as it was, he still could curl tendrils around his fingers. He imagined her hair wet from a shower, curls rioting around her piquant face.

"Geoff?"

Crap
! What kind of torment had she devised for him now? She sounded sleepy, but her body told a different story. Her back muscles felt tight and she kept wiggling her hips. Which pressed her lower body against his thigh and… Well, hell. All that soft femininity gave him hard, typically male ideas.

"Keely?" He'd keep this light if it killed him. She didn't need to know that he was ready to take her even if she wasn't ready. She didn't need to see or feel his cock growing like Pinocchio's nose.

"I read that a woman has to learn, um, that her body doesn't instinctively know how to…climax."

That was news to him, but he supposed it could be true. "And?"

"I read that most girls teach themselves during puberty by masturbating."

Jonathan Jacob Jones
! "That's about when and how guys learn."

"Really?" A sharp elbow prodding his belly, she sat up. Eyes wide, she studied his face. "I thought guys--men--just knew how to, er, get an erection. That all you have to do is think about sex and you come. That's the right word, isn't it?"

"Yeah, that's the right word. With guys it's more a matter of learning how not to…come." He eased her back down beside him. He didn't want her to see that this discussion made him as hard as a meteoroid.

"Why would you not want to come? If it's as pleasurable as I've read, why stop?"

"Well, since sex is more enjoyable with a partner… That is, the partner's enjoyment is as important as my--er, the man's--the guy should accommodate his partner."

"Ahh," she sighed as if a light had turned on. "So women have to learn how to come and men have to learn how
not
to."

"That pretty much covers it. Good night."

"But how can they learn the how and how not to? So many societies proscribe masturbating."

"In some societies they have instructors. Good night, Keely."

"Do they have instructors on Earth?"

"Y-yes, but--"

"But?"

He gave up trying to avoid her questions. "On Earth, there are guilds that specialize in teaching men how to pleasure their lovers. You really should talk to Herma about this stuff. Being great friends with Kendra's grandmother--who used to be a sex surrogate--Herma would know."

"But--if I understood you correctly--sex surrogates teach men how
not
to. Who teaches women how to?"

"Their lovers. Good night, Keely. We have a long day ahead of us and--"

"How does a woman get a lover?"

He bit back a groan. "They meet." Feeling her draw a deep breath, he forestalled her question. "Somewhere. There's a physical attraction between them. They date. Eventually, if the attraction's still there, they have sex."

"How do they know if the attraction's still there?"

"They kiss. They touch each other in intimate places. When they want more…they have sex."

"So it all boils down to physical attraction."

"Yeah. Although--"
Triple J! I should have thought before I spoke!
"Personally, I like to like my partner before we--er--have sex."

"Good idea." She snuggled against him, slid her foot up and down his calf, then eased one leg over his. He could feel her heat and his growing cock.

He just lay there, unwilling to move. Knowing if he did move, he'd teach Keely everything she need to know about
how to
.

"Geoff?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you like me?"

More and more every second.
"Yeah."

She purred. "Good night, Geoff."

"G'night." But for some reason, sleep eluded him.

The next morning Geoff awoke to the sound of Keely's wind-chimes laughter and the scent of cafftea wafting under his nose. He could get used to this, he realized--snuggling a bolster to him instead of a warm, hopefully willing woman. Opening his eyes, he saw Herma sort of floating beside the bed, the cup of delicious smelling cafftea in her hands.

When she and Frodie floated, Geoff remembered they were holographs not real people. Which meant, he thought, his resentment growing, at other times he considered them human. Which was probably why most people liked the couple.

"Good morning," Herma greeted softly. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"That's okay. I'm usually up by now anyway."

Herma flicked a glance at his groin where his morning erection tented the sheet. He gave in to the smile twitching the corners of his lips. Herma laughed as she put the cup on the nightstand and floated through the closed door into the living room.

No wonder Keely thought a locked drawer wouldn't hold the couple. No, his partner had
known
. She couldn't remember her real name, but she'd known about Herma-Frodie's unique ability to go through solid objects. And Keely seemed perfectly at ease with the pair--as if they were…long–time friends who happened to meet after losing touch for a long time. And how weird was that? That they'd link up again in the middle of the galaxy?

Geoff didn't believe in coincidence. Neither did he think it sheer serendipity that Herma-Frodie just happened to find Keely and him on Saturnalia. The hermaphrodite had had help. Geoff had a list of conspirators that grew longer by the minute, starting with cousin Connor's meddlesome grandparents–in–law and ending with
Le Roi
himself. Of those on Geoff's list of suspects, the former king of Mars rose to the top.
Le Roi
most likely knew where
The Honey
was and who had stolen her. He might have faked his own death, but that didn't mean he would keep his hands off his home world. Especially when T
he Honey
could give him supremacy over this part of the galaxy.

A soft tap announced a person incapable of intruding through solid doors. Sure enough, Keely poked her head around it, saying, "Hey slug-a-bed, you ever getting up?"

"Unless you want to join me." He patted the bed and waggled his eyebrows.

Laughing, she closed the door.

"I don't see any point in staying on Saturnalia," Keely told him as Geoff settled into a chair at the room service table. "Do you?"

Geoff cast a glower at Frodie who looked like mob–muscle on guard at the French doors to the beach. Herma hovered at Geoff's elbow to shake a napkin into his lap.

"Miss Keely has a good appetite," Herma observed. Today she wore a halter-top and shorts in neon orange. With Frodie garbed in funereal black, the pair reminded Geoff of Halloween. All they needed were a cauldron and a black cat.

"Well do you?" Keely asked, a pancake-laden fork halfway to her mouth.

"There are a few other casinos we could check out. But, given
Le Roi's
fondness for luxury, I doubt he'd hang out in any of them," Geoff admitted. "The problem is I've run out of places to look."

"We've been discussing that," Keely told him, smiling at Herma-Frodie.

Reconnected they look even more like something out of a demented storybook. Suspecting Keely would resent his denigrating her friends, Geoff kept the idea to himself.

"We need a little more information before we can determine where to look next."

Frodie's ability to talk comprehensively still startled Geoff. There was something about it that raised his hackles. Or maybe he was just paranoid.

"What kind of information?" He forked what looked like ham into his mouth. It tasted like ham, too, so he took another bite.

Keely's hand over his took his gaze to her face. Her eyes pleaded with him. "We need to know why recovering
The Honey
is so important."

"Other than my conviction for treason you mean?" Resentment laced his voice. It also left an acid taste in his mouth and had him shoving his breakfast aside.

"We…I think if only your freedom were at risk, you'd go back to Earth and fight to prove your innocence."

"Without
The Honey
that's impossible."

"So there must be something about your ship," Keely went on as if he hadn't spoken, "that makes her even more important."

"I've served on
The Honey
for almost fifteen years. I started as an engineering assistant and worked in damn near every department. I know how she sounds when her engines need attention. I know by how she quivers if she's ready to jump into hyper-warp."

"You love her," Keely murmured, her eyes brimming with tears.

Remembering what she'd said about love and respect and
sappy stuff
, Geoff admitted, "Yeah, I love her." Sliding his hand free, he retrieved his knife and cut another slice of ham. As if it no longer mattered, thinking he might avoid telling Keely the entire truth, he added, "She's supposed to be decommissioned in January."

"That was done," Herma whispered.

"It's June on Earth," Frodie added, tucking his life mate even closer.

"Oh. Guess even without a corpse the Admiralty can declare her dead."

"Doesn't mean they've stopped looking for her or for whoever stole her," Keely muttered, her voice like steel in a velvet glove.

"Meaning even in space I'm a wanted man."

"Yep." Jutting her chin, Keely added, "So what are you going to do about it? Cry into your beer? Get so despondent you quit looking for her? That's not what you do, Geoff. That's not who you are."

"How do you know, Keely? We've worked together for what…six months? You know less about me than you know about yourself."

The second the cruel words left his mouth, Geoff wished he could recall them. Reminding Keely she didn't know who she was or where she came from was worse than stripping
The Honey's
memory banks. Which was what the Admiralty would do when Geoff took her home. If he could find her.

"Sorry." He apologized to the tablecloth, trying to look at Keely, but failing. Knowing he would see pain in her eyes made his belly ache.

"If we knew what else makes her valuable," Keely said reasonably, "we'd have a better chance of finding her."

"I know." Geoff raked his hair with both hands and wondered about the melodramatic gesture.
Jonathan Jacob Jones!
He must look like some old–Earth silent movie actor overplaying despair.

Looking up he found Keely, chin resting in her hand, gazing steadily at him. Her eyes shone with confidence, but she remained silent. He'd rather face never finding
The Honey
than watch Keely's eyes reveal disappointment in him.

"
The Honey--
her memory banks--contain detailed plans for her replacement." Having said the words aloud, Geoff felt as if
Honey
's entire tonnage now rested in four sets of hands. He had gone as nuts as
Le Roi
, including Herma-Frodie's hands along with Keely's and his own. And yet he continued.

"Not just her replacement, but a whole new fleet. Supply ships and fighters. Armaments and troop capacity. Everything Earth needs to protect herself."

"From whom?" Keely wondered aloud. She started and sat straighter. "Geoff, this is even worse than I imagined. If Paris or her great–uncle recover
The Honey
and then attacks Earth everyone will believe--"

"I stole her to give to my paramour." He sighed. "And since I'm working for Paris now, it looks as if my hanging is inevitable."

"Jonathan Jacob Jones," Herma-Frodie swore.

"Hanging? Oh yes. The Admiralty does cling to its ancient traditions."

"How--"

A peremptory pounding on the door interrupted his question about Keely's knowing Admiralty traditions. Adding to his sense of impending disaster, Herma-Frodie disappeared into their traveling case. Keely tucked it into her flight suit pocket as she called out, "Give me a minute!"

She might sound harried, but she looked perfectly calm. "Grab our suitcases, Geoff. We're leaving." When the pounding resumed, she added, "Right now."

"Why?" he managed to ask.

"I broke the bank."

Surrounded by an armed escort, Geoff and Keely reached the
No-Name
. Geoff could easily imagine being marched off
The Honey
with his hands and feet manacled. The weight of the chains would make him limp. With his hands behind his back, he couldn't scratch his matted hair and beard where lice were multiplying by the millions.

"Do not return," the captain of the guard ordered, baring his double role of sharks' teeth.

Keely smiled sweetly as she herded Geoff up
No-Name's
gangway. "We won't." At the hatch she faced the captain and crossed her heart.

"Cheeky," Geoff muttered, his shoulders sagging with relief when the ship's locks snicked closed.

"Don'tcha love it?" She motioned Geoff to follow her onto the flight deck, both doorway and cockpit now large enough to accommodate him.

"The Admiralty would love this technology," he told her, strapping into the copilot's seat.

Grinning, Keely put Herma-Frodie's case on the control board. "Once we're clear I'll answer all your questions," she promised.

"I'll hold you to that."

Her eyes focused on the controls, she acknowledged departure instructions.
No–Name's
engines purred and a few nanoseconds later they were airborne.

"They must be really glad to see us leaving." Seeing her quirked eyebrow, Geoff added, "Just like you told me."

"That's almost as good as
you told me so
."

"So? How
did
you break the bank?"

"I don't know."

"Keely, you promised."

"I don't know…exactly," she amended. "I can tell you what I was thinking at the time. I figured since I was playing on the casino's money anyway, I'd bet it all. So I cashed my winnings from last night and bought thirteen of those really large credit chips." She waved her hands, spacing them about a foot apart.