Free Quantam Rose by Catherine Asaro Page B

you reconsider trying to use the original web in the palace," the voice continued.
    "These problems continue to-"
    "Morlin," Vyrl said. Watching Kamoj, he added, "We'll deal with it later."
    It was quiet after that. Whatever Morlin was, apparently he answered to Vyrl. Gradually, as Vyrl explored her body, Kamoj relaxed against him. She breathed in his scent, spice-soap mixed with his own natural smell.
    "Connection established," Morlin suddenly said. The lights went out.
    "Hai!" In reflex, Kamoj jerked up her hands to ward off a blow.

    "It's nothing," Vyrl murmured, stroking her hair. In a louder voice, he said, "Morlin, shut up."
    Kamoj made herself lower her hands. "Does he obey you?"
    "Well, yes, you could say that." Vyrl gave her a curious look. "It's just your computer. We're using the old web in this building. Parts of it, anyway. Some of the components are too decayed.
    Their repair bots failed a long time ago."
    Kamoj wasn't sure what he meant, but she knew the palace had been in abominable shape when he rented it. That Vyrl repaired her ancestral home meant more than she knew how to say. She had always longed to do it, but she could hardly have used precious resources to fix a building when babies in Argali needed cereal.
    "Look," she said, gazing over his shoulder.
    Vyrl turned to look. A ghostly image of the stained glass window in her chamber stretched across the floor out here in the main bedroom, laid there by moonlight slanting through her room.
    Sparkles glistened in the image, from where the light hit the bead curtain.
    "It's beautiful," he said.
    She slid off the bed and held out her hand to him. He took it, his face gentling. Together they crossed the room, their fingers intertwined. When they entered her chamber, strings of beads trailed along their arms. The window glowed with light from the Sister Moon.
    As Vyrl laid her on her bed, moonlight cast shadows on his robe, making him look as if he were cut from onyx. His callouses felt nubbly on her skin when he peeled off her underdress. Then he paused, kneeling between her legs. Too self-conscious to meet his gaze, she sat up and took off his robe, shy and unsure, trying to act self-assured. She didn't succeed, but he seemed to like how she touched him anyway. She couldn't look at his face because-she wasn't sure why. If she looked, he would somehow acknowledge her touch, making her too embarrassed to continue.
    Kamoj tried to relax. Most women her age were already married, even mothers. Lying down, she reached her arms out to Vyrl. When he stretched out on top of her, he supported his weight on his hands so he didn't crush her under his body.
    He took their lovemaking slow and gentle, giving her as long as she needed to relax. Even so, when the time came, she tensed up. It was tearing-she wanted him to stop-He went still on top of her. "Kamoj-?"
    Hai, she thought, mortified. If she kept this up she would still be a virgin after her wedding night. "It's all right."
    Vyrl handled her even more gently after that. The moons shifted in the sky, their light casting a stained glass rose on the floor. He murmured against her ear, saying her name over and over, and right this time. His intensity increased, until finally he drew in a breath and blew it out, the stream of air wafting tendrils of her hair around her cheeks. Then he relaxed on top of her, still murmuring, his voice a soft current of sound against her ear.
    After a while his murmurs trickled into silence and he lay still, one hand curled around her breast. He breathing deepened, until eventually it came with a faint snore at the end of each breath.
    Kamoj blinked. Apparently they were done. Although the experience had been pleasant, after the initial pain, it seemed incomplete. Was this why Lyode extolled marriage? Certainly it was nice, but Kamoj didn't see why it made her usually no-nonsense bodyguard smile like a besotted fruitwing. Kamoj wondered if in her shyness, she had somehow overlooked or