His Virtual Bride Read Online Free

testing the weight and balance of the ten-inch blade. The blade itself twisted like a pale blue corkscrew streaked with a more pale blue. She sighed. "Impractical for my purposes. I wouldn't risk staying so far away." She laid the dagger on the glass case, going on to the next display.
    Geoff snorted. In his estimation the ten-inch blade would put him too damn close to whomever he fought.
    "This is gorgeous." Keely quivered like a puppy expecting a treat.
    The droid smiled, looking more and more like that used hovercraft salesman--one about to sell the last lemon on the lot. At a huge profit.
    "Ms. Keely has exquisite taste." The droid took a silver necklace from its velvet-lined box. "This is called a lasso. If you buy it, it will be keyed specifically to you. Anyone else who touches it…"
    "What?" Keely sounded as if she was about to dig into a succulent steak.
    "Would suffer greatly. These links form a whip-like lariat, the clasp a set of barbs that can rip out someone's throat."
    "Clean up must be a bitch," Geoff muttered, employing his cousin Kendra's under-the-breath trick.
    The droid looked nonplussed.
    Keely laughed, clearly delighted. "I'll take it. And the matching ring, which looks like it could hold poison." She grinned at Geoff, making his belly clench. "I've never seen a stone like that."
    "Oh yes. Our most famous and most lethal piece of jewelry. The DeMedici ring. It changes color. You can match it to what you wear or to your eyes. Or, if you wish, you can match it to your lover's eyes."
    Keely's pale green gaze flicked to Geoff. For some inexplicable reason that brief glance gave him hope. Ms. Keely Ketchum was not as immune to his charms as she wanted him to think.
    "I'm done," she announced. Turning her back and bowing her head, she allowed the droid to fasten the lasso around her neck. He put the ring on her left thumb.
    "Sizing it to fit your marriage finger will only take a moment."
    "I like it where it is. Thanks." Which sounded to Geoff like an afterthought for his benefit. Keely and Jo seemed to have some sort of connection that made words unnecessary.
    Geoff cleared his throat. "Is there a way to shut that thing off?" He wouldn't risk having the necklace slaughter him when he and Keely did hit the sheets.
    Keely and the droid stared at each other for a seemingly endless moment.
    "Ms. Keely knows how to turn it off," the droid answered, still not looking at Geoff.
    "Then I guess we're done," said Geoff.
    "Not quite," Jo one-two-seven said, grinning evilly. "Her Majesty asked us to provide you a new H-FDD."
    "What's that?" Keely demanded.
    "A Herma-Frodie Disguise Device," the droid explained. "One that specifically prohibits Mr. Geoff here from stealing the queen's face. Again."
    "Jove-blasted hermaphrodite," Geoff muttered, wondering how in the universe Kendra's holographic pals had gotten to Jupiter, let alone designed a masking device.

Chapter Two

    Geoff expected Keely to cross-examine him mercilessly. To his surprise the only question she asked was "Where to?" And that didn't come until they'd cleared Jupiter's armaments showroom and hovered at the edge of its wormhole.
    "You heard Paris." Geoff raked his fingers through his hair. "We're going to Saturnalia."
    "We could take a little detour," Keely suggested, looking hopeful. "Spend a day or two with Pushin. Find ourselves some new snitches and use them to find Le Roi ."
    "I doubt Pushin's palace would be safe for us. Paris gave us orders to proceed directly to Saturn and environs."
    "Damn! I had my mouth all set for Pushin's pomme frits." She sounded so much like the pompous former ambassador to Earth that Geoff had to laugh.
    Sobering, he said, "I know why I'm reluctant to visit Saturnalia, but why are you?"
    As if the question caught her completely off-guard, Keely blinked. "Dunno. Don't know that I am reluctant."
    "I know you are."
    "Oh yeah?" Her chin jutted out.
    "Yeah. You wouldn't disobey Paris if your life depended on it."
    "Would