Tolr looked at her with a slight smile. “Being carried while flying for one. There is a lot of stress on unusual points of fabric in that position.”
“Oh. That activity.”
Etska leaned down and whispered, “And it has to be able to stand up to my strength in case I get carried away.”
She felt her face get hot.
He smiled and put his hand on the middle of her back. “Let’s go to the office, and we can set you up with a desk and terminal. You can keep an eye on your team.”
“That is a sneaky way to get my agreement.”
He nodded as they walked into the house. “I know. I have few matters of recourse when dealing with you. Bribery is the start until we can begin affection.”
“Seriously, is there a checklist or something?”
He laughed, and they continued their walk to his or rather their office. It was on the same floor as the bedroom, and light streamed in around them. Their desks were at right angles to each other, and hers was obviously new.
“Did Tolr have to cut the wood for this himself?”
Etska held her chair for her. “Of course not. It was in storage, just in case.”
She snorted and fired up the terminal, staring at the amount of access she had. “When did I get full clearance?”
“When you became colony controller. I think you were unconscious in medical when I had you upgraded.”
She didn’t look at him, her fingers flew over the keyboard, and she found out that there were five hundred humans on Hyrnan at that moment. “Do you buy in bulk?”
He moved from his terminal to look over her shoulder. “I believe in a variety of workers from any given species and plenty of room for advancement. By the way, your team was the first to pay off its bond. Well done.”
She blinked and chuckled. “Thanks for changing my classification and paying for the new ranking.”
“The homes for your team members have been ordered, and the transport for the spouse and child is underway. The terms of the contract have been upheld as far as that is concerned. The order for the five thousand Urther’s will take longer.”
She chuckled.
“What is amusing?”
“The pronunciation of Earth. I know that is how we say it, but it is always funny to hear it pronounced in common speech.”
His fingers moved over the keys. “Things are different away from home. I am very glad you made it to an extraction centre.”
She sighed and checked messages. There were dozens. “What are these messages?”
“Open them and find out. Answer them. All of your answers will be sent to the colony administrator.”
“Oh, geez. You weren’t kidding. You made a new position for me.”
He chuckled. “You need to be occupied. If I am not agreeing to your roaming the countryside, I need to keep you busy. Your mind is sharp; I have checked all your administration scores; you can do just about any admin job here, so let’s see what you can do. You can meet with any of the colony personnel, but for the first few weeks, I am going to be with you.” He kept tapping away. “After that, you can have meetings here with Tolr as a chaperone.”
She wrinkled her nose. “So, no privacy?”
He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Not of the kind that you have been used to. I need to know where you are at all times. You are no longer yourself; you belong to Hyrnan and, therefore, to me. At least until you complete your companion bond.”
“Speaking of that, I know I gave verbal agreement, but don’t I have to sign a contract?”
He sighed and pushed away from his terminal. He patted his thighs, and she paused but then got up and sat in his lap. “We don’t need one. You signed a service contract to work on Hyrnan. Within that contract was adherence to all laws and regulations applied by the colony.”
She nodded.
“All colonies are expected to surrender any Hmrain-compatible females of legal age who are unencumbered by a mate.”
She blinked. “Oh. Right.”
“The renewed and expanded bond was a courtesy. The finder’s fee was given to your team for keeping you alive.”
Athena looked at him, and she tightened her mouth a few times, trying to come out with some kind of rebuttal. She knew the clause he was referring to. It had been initially enacted on worlds where Hmrain were the heads of government and without a match. It stopped the demand on local women or men to find him or her a companion that would make them monogamous.
“So, you gave me the credits to send on to my team because you wanted to be nice?”
He nodded. “I do not wish you to feel taken advantage of. I mean, you are in a position that goes against your original societal norms, but the differences out here go far beyond pronunciation.”
“I know that intellectually. It is just that this isn’t a position I could have imagined myself in.”
He smiled and lifted her, arranging her so that her knees were on either side of his thighs. “How about this position?”
She braced her hands on his shoulders. “Um... not sure.”
He leaned in and kissed her softly. “How about now?”
She stroked his neck with her thumbs. “Still not sure.”
The kiss got stronger, her pulse sped up. She opened her mouth to his and stroked her tongue along his before pausing. “Still thinking about it.” She was panting, and he had narrowed his eyes.
He wasn’t touching her at all. She was the one holding onto him. She raised her left hand, and his arm moved, but he didn’t touch her. She lifted her right arm, and he remained still but watching. Athena opened the closure of her coverall and peeled it off her shoulders to her waist. Her undershirt was the next thing to go. Naked from the waist up, she leaned in again and kissed him. She reached over and grabbed his right arm and put his hand on her skin. She shivered, he shuddered, and his hand moved over her back. His hand on her back moved around to her front, and the backs of his knuckles brushed against her breasts in turn. When she moaned softly, he shuddered again.
His hand cupped her breasts in turn, squeezing gently. She grabbed his other hand and pressed it to her skin as well.
Her blood was rushing in her ears, and she was moaning softly when her coveralls began to slide off her hips. It was nearly a minute before long fingers were sliding against the wet heat of her sex. She pulled away from Etska, pressing her forehead to his shoulder as she focused on the feel of two long digits sliding into her. His hand was cupped against her, so the flexing motion as he slid his fingers into her put pressure on her clit. She heard her vocal moans turn into a higher-pitched whine, and she shuddered rhythmically around his fingers. His free hand lifted her chin, and the kiss that she was treated to was slow and deep. Her body clenched around him again as the kiss sent aftershocks through her.
He didn’t smile when he broke the kiss and nuzzled her cheek with his own. He murmured, “Still thinking about it?”
She chuckled weakly. “I am going to have to give it further consideration.”
He slowly pulled his fingers out of her, and she caught her scent a moment before he put his fingers in his mouth and licked and sucked at the juice she had exuded.