Interplanetary Love

by Shelley Munro

  INTERPLANETARY LOVE

  Shelley Munro

  Table of Contents

  Note to Readers

  Introduction

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Epilogue

  Excerpt – Seized & Seduced

  Excerpt – One Night of Misbehavior

  About Shelley Munro

  Other Works by Shelley Munro

  Copyright Page

  A Note to Readers

  Several years ago, my husband and I visited India, and I fell head-over-heels in love with the country—the history, the food, the vibrancy and color, the people. When one of my publishers called for sci-fi romances, I immediately thought of India and decided to use the country as the foundation for my world of Nidni. Interplanetary Love was born.

  This version of Interplanetary Love has been revised and updated, and I hope you enjoy this tongue-in-cheek tale. Oh, a little secret for you. When I was writing this story and looking for place names, I came up blank. An online discussion gave me the solution. Some of those place names—trying reading them backward.

  If you enjoy this story, visit my website to learn about my other books, and whatever your reading experience, please consider leaving a review for Interplanetary Love.

  Don’t forget to join my newsletter to receive my book news, contest details, and to learn when new releases are on the way.

  Happy reading,

  Shelley Munro

  Introduction

  I know your secret…

  Ekim Ramuk is a vid-star on the planet Nidni. Along with fame and currency comes his reputation as Nidni’s greatest lover—one that causes him acute embarrassment and anxiety because not one of the rumors is true.

  Carly Abercombie is an Earth cop who works long hours and craves a man to hold her in the small hours of the night. She doesn’t require perfect. Mr. Almost Perfect will do, but finding him—that’s another problem entirely. In desperation, she signs up with Interplanetary Love and heads off to Nidni to meet her first date.

  Rala Ramuk, Ekim’s baby sister, has problems of her own. Her brother! Determined to marry him off so she can move forward with her own life, according to Goddess Peti’s rules, she’s signed Ekim up with the Interplanetary Love dating agency. Anything to secure her future.

  A vid-star, a cop and a matchmaker. Three strong personalities, all determined to win. Let the dice roll and the fun begin…

  Warning: This book contains a tongue-in-cheek plot, a little purple-tinged prose and a man-part named Rajah. You have been warned.

  Chapter One

  Continent A, Earth, the future

  Music rippled through the Starlight nightclub—the latest addition to Earth mogul Tee’s string of on-planet entertainment ventures. The urbane male singer crooned of romance and enticed lovers to take to the dance floor and smooch.

  “Let’s dance, babe.”

  Carly Abercombie sighed and aimed an obligatory smile at her date, Graham. Her grimace must have done the trick because he grinned and seized her hand in response. She trotted after him on her ice-pick heels and let him draw her closer on the dance floor.

  The subdued lighting gave her flashes of euphoric faces, naked flesh due to abbreviated dresses and lovers who were practically doing it in public. If this had been a workday, she could have busted several for indecent exposure, and she’d caught a faint whiff of designer drugs earlier. Probably the new Spanfly or one of the many variations out on the street. They busted one manufacturer and another popped up in their place like fast-growing fungi.

  Her feet moved on automatic, marking time in the same place since the traffic on the floor had deepened and true dancing became impossible. Her new sparkly black shoes rubbed, her feet protesting even this slight motion.

  Two hands clamping onto her butt cheeks jerked her mind from blisters and footbaths. She tensed, attempted to pull back.

  “Stop playing hard to get,” Graham growled next to her ear. “You know you want it.”

  “Want what?” she asked.

  “My big cock,” he said, a wave of alcohol-laden breath wafting into her airspace.

  Carly bit back a curse. Another idiot. She’d thought this one might be different, but the addition of whiskey had propelled him into stupid.

  “No,” she said.

  “Aw, baby. Don’t be like that. Wait until I’m thrusting inside you. I promise you’ll love it.”

  She put a few inches between them and kept dancing. When would this song end? It seemed to play on a continuous loop with numerous verses and choruses about hot, sexy loving.

  A young couple—obviously tourists from Venuree since they wore the distinctive silver arm jewelry—inserted their bodies into a gap at the rear of Graham.

  A jolt from behind gave her date opportunity, and he reclaimed the precious inches of respectability she’d carved out for herself. Someone elbowed Carly, propelling her against Graham so they resembled the rest of the lovers on the dance floor.

  Quick as a flash, Graham’s hand slid under the hem of her dress. His fingers smoothed over her ass cheek and slid between to grope her pussy. Shock held her in place for a prolonged second—enough for him to wriggle his fingers beneath her miniscule panties into her heat.

  Carly shoved away, using force this time and created space surprisingly easy, given the crush. She managed to maintain a grip on her temper until the creep smirked and made a show of licking his fingers. Rage took control and she kneed him square in the balls.

  Around them couples stopped moving, slithering away so they didn’t become involved in the unfolding drama. Carly stood, weight evenly distributed, in case he decided to retaliate. He didn’t. He writhed on the shiny black floor, his hands cupped protectively over his groin.

  “You crazy bitch. What did you do that for?”

  Whispers floated around her, gossip and a few feminine titters, but the public amusement didn’t put a dent in her acute satisfaction. She glared at yet another Earth dud. That would teach him to grope her on the dance floor.

  Her latest date.

  Another failure.

  “Don’t think he’ll try that again,” her friend Samuel said with a pained expression on his tanned face. Dapper in a black shirt and tight black trousers, his hair slicked back to reveal his high cheekbones and intelligent face, he remained a respectable distance, way out of kicking range with his date angled slightly in front of him. “What did he do?”

  Carly shifted from foot to foot and resisted the urge to tug her bodice up and her hemline down. She wasn’t used to dressing up, but for tonight’s celebratory dinner, she’d made an effort. A figure-hugging black dress that displayed lots of skin clung to her curves. Her feet were crammed in heels high enough to make her feel like a giraffe, and her brown hair was streaked with neon pink and arranged artfully on top of her head.

  “He shoved his fingers inside my panties,” Carly snapped. “Nobody does that without my permission.”

  “You were asking for it,” her date snapped, his tone vicious because she’d made him look foolish. He’d climbed to his feet while she was talking to Samuel, but he too, remained carefully out of range, lurking on the edge of the dance floor.

  Disbelief raised Carly’s eyebrows. “So it’s all right for me to play with your dangly bits in a public place?” She shot him a look of disgust. Aside from the fact the man needed the name of a good dentist, he’d been passable until he’d started drinking straight shots of whiskey. �
�Forget I said that. Of course you’d get off on being groped in public.” She swiveled on her giraffe-shoes and stalked off, leaving Mr. Octopus to do his worst on the dance floor.

  Silence fell as she approached her table. Her fellow cops, who were mainly men, wore identical expressions to Samuel. Pained and wary.

  “Shit,” Carly snapped. “I only do that to men who grope me in the middle of the dance floor. Coworkers are safe unless they try to cop a feel.”

  “Good to hear,” her partner, Bart, drawled. He’d tamed his wavy hair in a stubby tail, highlighting the stark planes of his face while his muscular form wore a gray suit with sexy ease. “We’re cops, but we don’t feel.”

  His laconic remark broke the silence and everyone started talking at once.

  “You okay?” Bart’s wife whispered, her blue eyes full of compassion. Although the woman’s intentions were good, Carly didn’t want sympathy.

  “I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” Hellfire. She winced at her behavior toward a woman who was trying to help. But Carly knew if she started to cry, she wouldn’t stop. She snapped her fingers at a passing waiter. “Whiskey.” Perhaps she’d drown her sorrows. The evening was young, and she had to stay for another hour at least for this work celebration.

  It was gonna be a long night.

  * * * * *

  Samuel and his date poured her into a cab and dragged her out at her destination. After making sure Carly made it inside her apartment safely, Samuel buzzed a kiss on her cheek and hurried back to his date. A hot one, he’d whispered to her earlier. Beatrice or Belle or something. Carly had trouble keeping up with her friend’s love life.

  Envy though—ugly jealousy—knifed Carly in the gut as she struggled with the delicate straps of her shoes. Samuel didn’t treat his women badly. In fact, many of them remained friends with him after he moved on to the next. Was it too much to ask for the same thing?

  Finally, her fingers coordinated with her brain, and she slid off her shoes with a gusty groan of pleasure. On bare feet, she staggered through her open-plan lounge and kitchen toward the bedroom, flinging off clothes and leaving a trail across the room. It wasn’t fair. Her hands screwed into fists, and she glared at the big bed in lieu of a handy man to blame for her frustration.

  She wanted a lover.

  A man with callused hands to strum over her breasts. A man to give her a good finger-fuck when she needed easing. A man with a decent-sized cock to fill her and make her come hard enough to see stars and meteors.

  Dammit, was it so wrong to want a man to cuddle instead of a sex toy? Since her divorce, she’d had a string of unsuccessful relationships. What had she done that was so bad? Her lack of masculine company sure as hell felt like a punishment. Heck, all she wanted was companionship, a man who didn’t bitch about the hours she put in on the job. A man who gave good head and enjoyed sex as much as she.

  Carly threw herself on her gel-bed. She gave an inelegant sniff and scrubbed her hands across her damp cheeks.

  “A man who tells the truth,” she muttered. “The whole truth and nothing but the truth.” Her eyes narrowed as her thoughts drifted to her ex-husband. “Not like Matt.”

  Definitely not another lying, cheating creep who blamed everyone but himself for his shortcomings.

  “A sense of humor,” she said, adding to her shopping list.

  Yeah, someone to make her laugh when the horrors of work became too much.

  “A man who doesn’t have a tantrum if I work late.” Carly screwed up her eyes, trying to force back the aching tears of self-pity. Strictly low-maintenance—that was what she wanted.

  “Very, very elusive.” She stared at the ceiling. “Don’t think there’s such a thing. It’s not as if I want Mr. Perfect.”

  Just Mr. Almost Perfect.

  Carly struggled from the comfort of the soft mattress and sat up to plant her feet on the floor. Needed to do something. Oh yeah. Work. She wobbled from her bedroom to her small office and over to her computer.

  “Computer on.” The burst of bright light from the screen had her screwing up her face. “Computer, mute screen color. Check incoming correspondence. Results to screen.” She sank onto her black office chair and hunched her shoulders while keeping her gaze off the screen. When the whirring and whining ceased, she straightened.

  “Six messages. Results on screen,” her computer warbled.

  She forced herself to focus. “Spam. Spam. Spam. Computer, trash first three messages.” Jeesh, did she look as if she needed a longer penis? A bark of laughter erupted. Not according to her ex. He was adamant that she—Carly Abercombie—was a ballbuster.

  Nope, she did not need a dick to add to her arsenal.

  Her gaze went to the next message.

  Interplanetary Love. You are one click away from finding your true mate.

  “Yeah, right,” Carly scoffed. “Computer, trash Interplanetary Love. Aha!” She scanned the one she’d been waiting for, then slumped back in her chair. A week of investigation down the toilet tube. Solid alibi for Michaels. Proof he wasn’t involved in the illegal Golden Dust sale—the new designer drug on the streets. He’d spoken the truth when he’d said he’d been at the Tonga atolls on business. Carly pillowed her head in her hands, the need to scream starting to build inside her chest.

  “You have a new message,” her computer droned.

  Carly jerked up her head and glowered at the screen. She couldn’t even manage a sexy masculine voice for her computer. The one she’d chosen droned some days and at other times, the voice rose to a falsetto that made her think of eunuchs.

  She gaped at the new message displayed. Pink. An explosion of corny flowers and hearts, and oh, no—the stupid thing came with music. Old-fashioned country and western blared into her room, something about cheatin’ hearts. Hellfire, she knew about them.

  “Computer delete message.” The message cut off abruptly, leaving blissful silence. A beautiful thing—for all of two seconds. Suddenly it reminded Carly she didn’t have a warm body to curl up with at night. No one to heat her cold feet when she climbed into bed in the small hours of the morning.

  Swaying slightly, she stood and stooped to pick up her shoes and dress as she crossed the room to her bedroom.

  “All by myself,” she warbled before halting, her mouth twisting into a scowl. “Talk about a pity party. Not an attractive trait, Carly.”

  Interplanetary Love.

  Would it be so bad taking one more chance? The email called her like a tempting chocolate dessert. Not the artificial cocoa stuff, but the rich, full taste of the real product she’d tried once at a posh party and had dreamed about ever since. She stomped back to her computer, stared at the blank screen. Words poured from her mouth, against her better judgment. “Computer, retrieve Interplanetary Love message from trash.”

  After reading the entire message including the small print, she muttered, “Five hundred and fifty dollars.” Not bad, considering she’d spent more than that on the new dress, the giraffe-shoes and her share of dinner tonight. “Computer, complete form with personal details.”

  “Running task,” her computer droned. “Form complete.”

  “Approve debit and transmit form,” she ordered. Probably a scam. Probably a rip-off, yet some of the tension residing in her shoulders dispersed, some of the unhappiness, because she’d taken steps to fix a problem.

  * * * * *

  Planet Nidni

  “I’m tired of grasping females. They’re only interested in my reputation as a lover and vid-star and the stupid article about me being the planet Nidni’s most eligible bachelor. Women have no interest in me—the man.”

  Rala Ramuk stared at her older brother then ripped her gaze free in case he caught her disbelief, her roiling fury. Her friends went goo-goo over him, and she supposed he was handsome. He was tall and muscular with long curly black hair, a weird shade of amber eyes and a fit physique that came from rigorous training for his career in vids. He was also a pain in her arse.

>   Whining twit.

  She tossed her gauzy mint-green scarf over her left shoulder and straightened her green-and-gold-embroidered tunic top with several sharp tugs. When anger continued to bubble, she leaped to her feet and paced the receiving room. As she skirted a low wooden table, she flung a glare at the wooden elephant perched on top. She wished she had the nerve to throw the statue at her brother’s thick head.

  But no. Her parents were old-fashioned and adhered to the strict laws set down in the writings of the Goddess of fertility and marriage. Rala scowled at the likeness of Peti, perched in a small alcove. Incense sticks burned, plumes of perfumed smoke rising to drift across the Goddess and highlight the humor in her face. The Goddess-bitch thought her predicament amusing.

  Rala sucked in a huge breath and attempted to tamp down her agitation. The incense caught in the back of her throat and a sneeze erupted.

  “You okay?” Ekim asked.

  Rala gave a clipped nod and turned back to their father. No, she was not all right. The rules stated children must marry in birth order. Ekim showed no signs of giving up his single life while she had found her mate. Now she was stuck in limbo until Ekim sorted out his love life.

  “Rala, come and eat.”

  “Yes, Mama.” Acting the dutiful daughter, she glided across the receiving room and into the formal dining room, trying to quell her irritation. She slipped into her place, to the right of her father, at the ornately carved table. The scent of beest curry filled the air—her favorite—yet she wasn’t hungry. She and Gregorius would never join and become mates if she didn’t take action, and she couldn’t lose him…not in the same way she’d lost her first love. A crush, she knew now, but the agony, the hopelessness of knowing she had no choice…

  She gave her head a sharp shake to jolt herself from painful memories. Concentrate. Losing Gregorius would hurt far worse. No time to wallow or sit on her butt and do nothing.

  Interplanetary Love.

  She’d filled out the form for the dating site in Ekim’s name and chickened out at the last moment.

  “Is there anyone special in your life, Ekim?” Mama asked, after the four of them took their places at the long table, all at the same end so they didn’t have to shout. A droid servant bustled about, long robes whispering while she served vaspard drinks, the pale green liquid sweet and refreshing during the current heat wave.