Quiver by Viola Grace

latched her legs around him and lifted with every inward surge of his hips.
    He freed her hands from the headboard, one by one, placing them on his back. His burning eyes told her what he wanted, so she drew her nails across his skin, forcing him into her hard as she pulled his ass into her and dug in her fingertips.
    He groaned and shuddered against her. He jerked his hips into her again and again.
    She held onto him as he slowly lowered his body to hers.
    He pressed a kiss to her temple. “That was not my best effort.”
    She laughed. “I have no complaints. It’s nice to not have to worry about getting off to please my partner.”
    He growled and delicately licked the sweat from her skin. “No, but it means that I rushed things.”
    She snickered and then gasped as he moved a hand between them. “I am really—oh dear—ohh lord—ahhh!”
    It was his turn to laugh as her near miss with an orgasm changed direction and tossed her into her release. She felt her inner muscles convulse and held onto him with all her might.
    When her body stilled, she was still flattened underneath him, and it was a fairly comfortable position.
    It was a heckuva housewarming for her on the first night in her quarters. It was a damned good thing that the bots weren’t paying attention.
     
    * * * *
     
    Yem-lal watched the display and smiled, as her son didn’t leave his wife unsatisfied. It boded well for their future together. Anna would have a hard enough time gaining a foothold on a world completely alien to her without sexual frustration entering the picture.
    She closed her mind to communicate with her husband. Yes, Kriok-eth, he is finally getting used to the idea of being a father. He can stand on his own again, anyway.
    Thank the stars. I remember when I learned you were carrying; it took two days to get my legs under me. It appears to be a family failing. His voice came to her as if he was in the next room.
    She felt him stroking her shoulder and sighed. This was the best part of being part of Hemcorl. Her husband was always with her, no matter how far away his body was. She returned the caresses on the psychic plane, and soon, they were tangling together, as they had for decades. Location wasn’t a factor when it was a true meeting of the minds.
     

Chapter Eight
     
     
    Dey-lal had disappeared in the middle of the night when the alarm sounded. Anna woke, got breakfast with Yem-lal and then headed for her office. She now had fifteen thousand credits to play with. She was keeping her capital.
    She began with commodities and then worked into a few mild speculations. A few investments in small businesses on Hemcorl would eventually find their profits down the road. Quick trades on currency helped her build her available portfolio quickly, and using her access as a Terran let her find information that others would have ignored, like the activities of Guardian bases with Terrans posted there.
    It was information that was available to anyone, if they knew where to look. She had simply taught herself where to look.
    “If you keep working like that, you are going to go blind, sister.”
    Karo-lal was leaning in her doorway, eating an apple.
    She stopped and pinched the bridge of her nose. “You know, there is this thing called knocking. I know that you have it. I found it in the Nyal archives. Everyone believes in it.”
    He laughed. “What are you working on?”
    “I am getting enough funds together to bring my parents here. Yem-lal and Hemcorl said it was allowed. I want them to be able to live comfortably, so I am taking my bride money and making it into funds for them to live on.”
    She smiled at him.
    “You might want to stop for dinner. Mother asked me to check in on you.”
    Anna squinted at the time displayed in a corner of her data screen. “Oh damn. Why didn’t—never mind.” She pushed herself to her feet and swayed.
    Karo-lal came around her desk and offered her his arm. She held on, and he walked with her