Pain.
It flooded my senses and thumped away inside my head like sticks on a drum. I turned my head and pressed it farther into the cushioned pillow underneath me to escape it, but my actions proved futile. I was stuck with a headache that I prayed would disappear soon. I groaned and jerked my head to the side when I opened my eyes, and a bright beam of light attacked my pupils.
“What the hell?” I said, groggily.
I sat upright and placed my hands over my eyes until the spotting of light went away.
“Nova?”
“Yeah?” I rasped.
My throat felt like sandpaper.
“How are you feeling?”
I tried to swallow. “Like I’ve been kicked in the head.”
Was I kicked in the head?
I groaned loudly and moved my hands to my pounding temples and rubbed in circular motions to ease the painful ache. I dropped my hands to my lap and exhaled a deep breath. Nothing but time would take away the pain that pulsed away.
“Nova, are you okay?”
The voice was familiar.
“Nova?”
I turned my head and smiled crookedly when I saw Surkah.
“Hey.”
“Hello,” she said, a wariness to her tone. “Are you well?”
“No,” I mumbled. “My head is killing me.”
Surkah said, “Maybe the dose I gave her was too high?”
Huh?
“What are you talking ab—”
“I contacted Kol. He is on his way.”
Mikoh cut me off. I squinted my eyes until his form became clear. He was standing behind Surkah with his arms folded across his broad chest. He was leaned back against the wall next to the doorway.
“How are you, tiny one?” he asked, tentatively.
“I don’t know,” I replied as I adjusted the gown I couldn’t remember putting on. “My head hurts, and I can’t remember falling asleep in here. Wait… Am I dreaming? Is this a dream?”
“Would that make me the male of your dreams then?” Mikoh asked, grinning.
“Stop it,” Surkah growled. “You’re not helping.”
I smiled at him.
“I disagree,” Mikoh replied and nodded his head at me.
Surkah saw I was smiling, and rolled her eyes.
“It is the effects of the konia,” she said with a wave of her hand. “She’d most likely spew her Earthly curse words at you if her mind wasn’t… What was the word Sera said? Cloudy?”
That was exactly what my head felt like. Cloudy.
“What is a konia?” I questioned.
“A medical agent we use to induce instant unconsciousness.”
I stared at Surkah, trying to make sense of her words.
“And you used this konia on… me?”
Surkah couldn’t look me in the eye as she said, “My brother gave the order through his comm. We could not run the risk of you attempting to flee us because we feared you would be hurt in the process.”
What. The. Hell?
“I don’t understand any of this,” I said as I placed my hands on either side my head. “Why would I flee? You’re going to rebuild the Earth and fix everything. Why would I fight against that? Why would I fight my salvation?”
Surkah still couldn’t look me in the eye. Hell, she couldn’t even look in my direction. Dread swirled in my abdomen, and worry prickled my skin. I had a feeling that something bad was about to happen.
“Are you my friend, Surkah?” I asked, my voice barely a whispered.
She jerked her head up and locked gazes with mine.
“Of course,” she breathed. “You’re my only true friend. I have bonded with you very quickly, Nova.”
“Then tell me what I’m missing,” I pleaded. “I can’t remember anything after talking to your brother in the hallway.”
That freaky Maji picked me up off the ground like I weighed nothing when I ran from him.
“Everything will be okay,” Surkah promised. “Nothing will happen to—”
Surkah was cut off when the door to the room opened, revealing Kol. I blinked as he entered the room. His stunning violet eyes were on mine, his thick dark brows were drawn together, and his lips were thinned to a line. He didn’t look very happy, and after a few seconds, I knew why. My recollection of the events earlier suddenly hit me and caused me to draw in a deep, unsteady breath. My conversation with Kol, Mikoh, Surkah, and Sera flooded my mind and caused my already pounding headache to amplify.
They kidnapped me.
“Stay the hell away from me!” I bellowed as I scrambled off the bed and away from Surkah, who looked like she was about to cry.
She took a step forward, and I screamed, so she took five steps back. She did cry then, and Mikoh was there to comfort her. I had never seen them touch one another affectionately, but when he put an arm around her shoulder and hugged her body to his, she didn’t fight him.
“Please,” she blubbered. “Don’t fear me. I am your friend.”
Liar!
“No!” I shouted. “You pretended to me my friend so you could kidnap me! You’re just like humans, Surkah. You lie, steal, and hurt people. You’ve hurt me!”
Surkah’s whine was filled with pain, and so were her whimpers that followed. Mikoh was glaring at me, no doubt furious that I had upset his intended, but I didn’t care. I was hurting, too. I thought she was a good Maji, that I could trust her with my safety, but she was like everyone else. She used me.
“Nova.”
I narrowed my eyes to slits when Kol called my name, but I refused to look at him.
“Let me go.”
He sighed. “We cannot.”
“Why?” I demanded. “Why have you taken me?”
The many human women I saw in the mess hall filled my mind, and I knew in my heart that the Maji had taken them too. Was it under false pretences? Or were they aware of what had happened to them?
“It is complicated,” Kol replied to me, his voice deep and husky.
His voice was so damn alluring. I felt like if I got my ear close enough to his mouth while he was speaking, my body would explode with bliss. I gritted my teeth, hating myself and my body for acting so foolish over an alien who stole me.
“Uncomplicate it then,” I said through gritted teeth.
I looked at Surkah because she was still crying. Mikoh was still glaring at me, so I stuck my middle finger up at him, and he growled, “Sera told us what that action means.”
I stuck my other middle finger up at him.
“Good.”
“Enough,” Kol snapped, causing me to flinch with fright and drop my hands. “Do not fear us. We’re helping you.”
I humourlessly laughed. “You’re helping your-fucking-selves by taking me. I see no benefit in it for me.”
“No benefit?” Kol repeated. “We’re saving your life.”
I made eye contact with him, and my anger was the only thing helping me keep that contact.
“How are you saving my life?”
“The sun is dying, and that means—”
“My planet is dying,” I finished for Kol.
My heart pulsed with pain as the words left my lips.
“I know that,” I continued. “We all know that. Do you think we humans are too dumb to realise that? We know the sun is becoming a red star, and that it will eventually vaporise the Earth, but what do you want us to do? Those who have credits live off the planet, and the rest of us are stuck here.”
“That’s where we come in,” Kol said, stepping forward. “We aren’t here to rebuild the Earth as Surkah told you. We’re here to rescue as many human females as possible before your planet becomes uninhabitable. Being here right now is an incredible risk. No planet within a light year is allowing space travel in this district of the galaxy with the knowledge of the Earth’s pending destruction.”
I knew Surkah had lied to me! I fucking knew it!
“Why did you say females?” I demanded.
Kol blinked. “What?”
“Why did you say ‘human females’?” I repeated. “Why not just use the term humans?”
“Because we’re only allowing healthy human females aboard.”
My gut tightened.
“Why?” I stressed. “I don’t understand any—”
I cut myself off when my first meeting with Surkah replayed in my mind. She said her species was endangered like mine, and she also mentioned that human females were one hundred percent compatible with Maji… did that mean with the males?
Compatible.
“Almighty,” I breathed when I knew why they wanted human women. “You want to breed with us.”
“You’re making it sound like we’re—”
“Kidnapping us?” I angrily shouted. “Stealing us to ensure the survival of your own species?”
“And yours,” Kol growled. “Have you forgotten humans are endangered?”
“No, but a human and Maji breeding won’t create a human or a Maji; it’ll create a new breed.”
“It will still be the continuation of both species, but our offspring would mostly likely be Maji as our genes are stronger than that of humans.”
I felt sick.
“I can’t believe this.” I exhaled. “What if we don’t want to breed with you?”
Kol didn’t reply.
“Will you force us?” I asked, fear evident in my tone
“No,” Kol replied, his hardened gave telling me he took offence to my question. “We’d never force ourselves upon an unwilling female, and we don’t have to.”
“How do you know?” I demanded.
“So far, you are the only human female with a problem with humans and Maji breeding.”
What?
“Explain that,” I said as my body began to involuntarily shake.
“Your arrival on this ship was different to other females of your kind. You were unconscious when you were rescued, but the other females were alert and healthy when they were informed of the terms for their rescue. They knew that their arrival aboard my craft was their acceptance of our terms.”
“And what were the terms?” I asked, hearing pounding against my chest.
“Sanctuary on the Ebony and eventually on the Maji home world—Ealra—had only three requirements. A human female must be young, healthy, and willing to mate with a Maji male to ensure the survival of both species. In return, the females would be cared for, protected, and loved and cherished by their mate.”
I stared at Kol, my mind trying to dissect his words and make sense of them.
“And they all agreed?”
“All aboard agreed. Those who did not were left on the surface.”
I felt like I was sucker punched.
“You just left women who didn’t want to be part of your sick science experiment?”
“I do not understand your words,” Kol growled, “but your anger is very clear. We have mission orders. We only take willing human females, and all those who opposed were left alone. If we brought them, then it would have been kidnapping.”
“What a time to show you have morals!” I barked.
Kol growled at me, but I didn’t back down. I advanced on him until I was an inch away and staring up at him with narrowed eyes.
“I’m not scared of you,” I told him. “I don’t agree to your terms, and I would like to be left alone.”
“No, Nova!” Surkah yelled. “Do not ask us to leave you to your death. Please!”
“All my choices have been taken away from me, Surkah,” I replied to her with my eyes still on her brother. “I was born on Earth, and I will die there.”
“Your stubbornness will get you killed sooner than you think with this decision,” Kol said to me. His voice was so low I knew only I could hear him.
“Why do you care if I live or die?” I asked, swallowing.
“That is a question I am asking myself right now too,” Kol replied, his chest rising and falling fast.
“You have a craft full of women who are willing to breed with you; you don’t need me for anything.”
“Thanas damn me, but I do need you,” he replied and took hold of my arms.
I didn’t flinch because I was too concentrated on the glow that suddenly appeared around his iris’, illuminating just how violet his eyes were. I blinked, worried I was seeing things, but I wasn’t. Kol’s eyes were glowing.
“What do you need me for?”
“Let me show you,” he murmured, the indication to what he meant in his tone.
I shoved at his chest. “Don’t touch me. I don’t want you like… that.”
I don’t want you at all.
“You don’t?” Kol asked, suddenly grinning.
“No, I don’t.”
“You lie.”
“I don’t.”
“I’ll prove it.”
Mikoh suddenly said, “Kol, you’re not thinking clearly.”
Kol’s hold on me tightened as a menacing growl left his throat.
“Do you wish to challenge me for her?” Kol asked his friend, his voice gruff.
Surkah sucked in a huge breath while Mikoh cursed.
“You know I have no means for a challenge; your sister is my intended.”
“Then back off,” Kol growled, his voice changing to menacing.
Mikoh cursed again. “Friend, she does not want this.”
I yelped when I was suddenly thrust backwards and pressed up against a wall with Kol’s body covering mine.
“I can convince her,” he murmured.
My eyes fluttered shut when I felt his head dip and his luscious lips skimmed over the flesh on my neck. My skin broke out in goose bumps, and a shiver raced up and down my spine.
“Fight it, my friend, do not let the need win.”
The need?
Mikoh’s words drew a growl from Kol, and the vibrations of said growl against my throat sent a jolt of heat straight to the centre of my thighs. I instantly squeezed my thighs together, but I knew it was too late when Kol inhaled, and a different kind of growl left him. Surkah said everything had a scent, and I knew that the Maji in the room could smell my arousal.
My body was betraying me.
I placed my hands on Kol’s large shoulders. “Kol, I said I’m not stayi—ohmyAlmighty.”
He attached his lips to my neck at the same moment he spread my legs with his knee and pressed his thigh against my cunt. He moved his thigh ever so slightly, and the friction of his clothing, and mine, rubbing over my now swollen clit caused me to buck against him. He growled against my neck and placed his huge hands on my hips to hold me still. He flattened his body against mine, and I could feel his long, thick erection pressed snug against my stomach. It sobered me and brought me back to reality.
How is this happening?
“Mikoh,” I breathed. “Help me.”
“Thanas curse it,” Mikoh hissed. “Your body, and its scent, are telling a different story to your words, Nova.”
“I know,” I groaned when Kol’s teeth nipped my neck. “I can’t help my reaction to him, but he has to stop touching me or… or…”
“Or what?” Surkah asked.
“Or it’ll end up in sex, and I don’t want that.”
Kol gently bit into my neck, and I winced in pain, but only for a moment because the sensation that replaced the pain was a greater pleasure than I had never felt in my entire life. I squeezed Kol’s arms so tight my nails cut into his flesh. I felt myself clawing at him as if trying to get closer to him. I never wanted him to stop what he was doing, but in the back of my mind, I knew I would hate myself if I let this continue.
“Kol,” I groaned. “You must stop this.”
He didn’t reply, but I felt him retract the tip of his teeth from my neck. His tongue flicked over the wounds he made, and each lick might as well have been on my clit because the orgasm I felt brewing was approaching fast and furious.
Kol moved his mouth to my ear and said, “Let go. I can feel how much your body wants to. Give yourself to me, shiva.”
He moved his thigh against me, and the tiny movement threw me over the edge and into a pool of bliss. My breathing halted as wave after wave of delight slammed into me. I heard myself greedily suck air into my lungs when the pulsed slowed and I became oversensitive. Kol moved against me once more, and I choked on air, causing him to chuckle.
My eyes had closed during my orgasm, and they remained closed in the aftermath until Kol spoke.
“Leave us,” he ordered.
I knew he was talking to Surkah and Mikoh.
“No,” I said as I opened my eyes. “They’re not leaving me alone with you.”
I felt Kol’s sly smile as he said, “Why not?”
Yeah, why not?
“B-because,” I stammered.
“Because?” Kol repeated.
“Because I was making a really good argument as to why I’m getting off this spacecraft and away from you.”
“You were making an argument,” he agreed, “but I do not think it was a very good one.”
“You’re an asshole. Do you know that?”
He chuckled again. “I will allow your insults for now, but be warned, my little one, my patience will grow thin.”
I leaned my head back against the wall.
“You forced me to do that,” I said to him.
He knew I was talking about the orgasm I just had.
He growled. “I took what was owed to me.”
“I owed you an orgasm?” I asked on a scoff.
“Yes,” he replied, clearly annoyed. “I needed to relax you so you wouldn’t try to harm me when I informed you that I was keeping you.”
For a second or two, I did nothing, but as Kol’s words sunk in, I felt an anger like never before.
He inhaled and said, “Should I make you come again? You’re angrier than I would like.”
“Come on, Kol,” Mikoh hissed. “A Maji female would die trying to kick your ass over this, and a human female is clearly no different.”
I placed my forehead against Kol’s chest to hide when mortification stained my cheeks. Mikoh and Surkah were present when Kol brought me to orgasm. I would never be able to look either of them in the eye ever again.
“Get away from me right now, Kol.”
“Make me,” he challenged.
I gasped and thumped my close fist on his hard chest. “You know good and well I can’t physically make you do anything!”
I looked up at him when he laughed, and I noticed that his eyes were still glowing.
“My human,” he murmured.
His?
“I don’t understand what is happening here, but I know one thing for certain, and that is I am not yours.”
The glow in Kol’s eyes shone brighter.
“Stop challenging me, Nova,” he growled through gritted teeth. “You’re making things very difficult for me right now.”
“Yes,” Surkah agreed. “Please stop challenging him. It is his instinct to counter it, and we do not want that happening.”
“I’m not challenging anybody. I just want to be left alone!”
Kol suddenly roared, and I screeched with fright.
“Kol!” Mikoh shouted. “She is not Maji. She will fear you!”
Kol tensed, and his hold on me tightened for a moment before it relaxed. He dipped his head, placed his mouth on my ear, and said, “I will never hurt you, shiva. Do not be afraid.”
Shiva?
“How can I not?” I asked. “You’re scaring me. All this is scaring me.”
“Surkah,” Kol said, his voice gruff. “Move her to the corner of the room until I… regain control.”
“May I not bring her out of your space—”
“No!” Kol snapped, cutting her off.
I shoved at his chest. “Don’t talk to her like that.”
He growled and brought his face down to mine. I heard him sniff me, and I could do nothing but stand there and let him do it. Once or twice, he made a sound that was a mixture of a growl and a purr. I didn’t know if it was a good sound or not, so I remained deathly still when he made the noises. I licked my lower lip when he rubbed his nose against my cheek. He saw the action and snaked his own tongue across my skin. He hummed as if he were tasting something sweet, but I knew I was sweating so, if anything, he got a tongue full of salty twang.
“I could eat you,” he whispered.
Like the horror stories!
“Oh, my Almighty.” I whimpered. “You want to eat me?”
I think I heard Mikoh laugh then hiss as he muttered something to Surkah who was scolding him, but I wasn’t sure because Kol’s low laughter grabbed my attention.
“A different kind of eat, my human.”
“What different kind of eat?” I demanded. “You’re freaking me out.”
Kol pulled back and stared down at me, his glowing eyes as radiant as ever.
“Are you a vilo?” he asked me.
“A what?”
“Have you ever shared sex with a male before? If you haven’t, it means you’re a vilo like Surkah.”
A virgin. He was asking if I was a damn virgin. My words got clogged in my throat, so I had to clear it three times before I answered.
“What kind of question is that?” I angrily asked.
Kol smiled, his eyes glowing brightly. “You are.”
I was a virgin, but I saw no reason for him to know that or even want to know that.
“We’re not discussing this further.”
He chuckled. “Okay.”
He stepped away from me, and the glow in his eyes dimmed until it faded away completely. It was then that he glanced over his shoulder and nodded Surkah forward. Mikoh released her instantly, and she moved towards me. She kept her eyes on me as she approached, and she looked… nervous.
“Nova—”
“I’m not your friend,” I told her. “You lied to me.”
“Under my orders,” Kol cut in.
I looked at him. “I thought you were an asshole from the get-go so that doesn’t surprise me, but I liked your sister. I knew she was keeping something from me, I just knew it, but it didn’t stop me from liking her.”
“I humbly beg your forgiveness, Nova.”
Mikoh and Kol viciously growled the moment the words left Surkah’s mouth.
“Why are you both growling?”
“A royal never begs,” they replied in unison.
“Well, this one just did,” Surkah said and stepped forward to me. “I am very sorry for hurting you. I didn’t want to lie, but as Kol said, I was under orders.”
I contemplated her words, but my head felt like it was a hot plate that was overheating.
“Let me think about it, okay?” I eventually said. “I’m trying to figure out how I feel about being kidnapped, being brought to a new planet, and used as a baby incubator.”
“Thanas!” Mikoh suddenly hollered. “You’re impossible. I thought Surkah was difficult, but you are ten times as bad. I feel sorry for the male who winds up as your intended.”
Kol growled, and so did Surkah, but Mikoh paid them no attention.
I shrugged uncaringly. “I feel sorry for Surkah ending up with a dickhead like you, but you don’t hear me hollering about it, do you?”
“What did you just call me?”
“A dickhead.”
“Why is that an insult?”
“It means you’re a stupid, irritating, ridiculous male with a dick on his head.”
Mikoh narrowed his eyes at me but said nothing further. Steam might as well have poured from his ears to show his distaste for me at that moment.
“Don’t give me crap if you can’t take it being thrown back at you, asshat.”
“I don’t understand your Earth words, you imbecile human!”
“And I don’t understand your way of thinking, you imbecile Maji!”
Mikoh growled at me, so even though it hurt my throat, I growled back at him.
“I am going to find a male to spar with me,” he said through gritted teeth before he turned and hightailed it out of the room.
“I hope you get knocked on your ass!” I shouted after him.
I angrily folded my arms across my chest and turned to Surkah. “Can you believe him?”
She was smiling at me, and a quick glance at Kol showed he was smiling at me too. It caught me off guard.
“You’re a fierce female,” Kol said, his chest puffed with what appeared to be pride.
“I agree with my brother; you would make a great party leader at our annual debates.”
I raised my brows. “You have annual debates?”
“Of course,” she said. “Maji citizens go to our Citizens Department and leave notes with formal complaints and requests for changes. For example, there are few Maji young, and we had no play sector for them when they were not in their homes, at lessons, or during training. Mothers have complained about this and requested a play sector. We will discuss it at the monthly debate and then vote to decide on a decision in response.”
“Who is ‘we’?”
“The Council,” Kol answered me.
“And who makes up the Council?”
“Twelve Maji. Four members of the Guard, four members of the royal family, and four citizens of Royal City who are voted by the people to represent them.”
“I thought you said your father was the ruler? Why do you need a Council if he is in charge?”
“He is the ruler, and he is still in charge,” Surkah replied. “He’s been the Revered Father for over four hundred years now, and over the past hundred years, he has changed many of our laws. One of them is that the Council collectively makes decisions for the people. He deals with our warriors and all the hard stuff, but he lets the Council deal with the lesser stuff.”
He doles out the responsibility.
“He sounds like a good ruler,” I commented.
“He is the best,” Surkah smiled.
“Was he the one who gave the order to kidnap humans?” I questioned with a raised brow.
Kol stepped forward. “I believe the term you’re looking for is rescue.”
I didn’t want to argue with him again, so I looked at Surkah and said, “I’m really tired, and my head hurts. I think you gave me too much of the konia stuff.”
She pressed her hand against my forehead, and I felt a huge surge of relief, making my body sway.
“Surkah!” Kol scolded.
“She is fine, brother,” Surkah said with a roll of her eyes. “I’m taking her pain away. She is not used to healing, so it just feels strange to her.”
“A really good kind of strange.” I sighed and smiled lazily when Surkah lowered her hand. “Your hands are magic.”
She chuckled. “Yes, my lissa is a blessing from Thanas.”
I nodded in agreement as she removed her hand from my head.
“Wait.” I frowned. “What is this lissa thing you keep mentioning?”
Surkah looked at her brother. “How do I describe my lissa?”
Kol shrugged. “Look for the closest translation.”
Surkah looked like she was racking her brain then she said, “It is a version of… healing ability. You understand healing ability in your Earth words?”
Yes, I understand the words, but it left me with more questions.
“You have a healing ability?” I asked, wide-eyed. “I knew you somehow healed wounds with your hands, but you have a… a real healing ability?”
Surkah nodded. “Well, yes, how do you think I heal the wounded and sick?”
I stared at her. “With medicine and machines?”
She raised her brows. “We only have machines to monitor, not heal. And our medicine is only a substitute until a healer reaches their charge. The kind of machines you mentioned, there is no point of them when healers do the healing with our hands.”
Well, shit.
“Enough talking,” Kol said abruptly. “I’m being summoned to the bridge, so she needs to be escorted to human housing now.”
Surkah nodded and then moved to the far side of the room where she placed her palm on the wall and took items of folded clothing from inside when it opened. She returned to my side and handed them to me. It was a t-shirt and pair of pants in a bright grey. Like before, there were no underwear, socks, or shoes.
I was about to take off my gown when I noticed Kol’s eyes on me.
“Go away,” I said, holding his gaze. “I don’t want you here while I change.”
“Nova.” Surkah frowned.
I switched my questioning gaze her. “What?”
“You must learn respect for the shipmaster,” she stressed. “You cannot be a bad influence on the other humans.”
I hated that Kol was grinning at me like my being scolded by Surkah was amusing for him.
“Why’re you looking at me like that?” I questioned him.
Surkah lifted her hands to her face and deeply sighed into them.
“Come with me, Nova.”
I instantly stepped behind Surkah when Kol finished speaking.
“No,” I said. “I want to stay with Surkah.”
Don’t ask me why because I shouldn’t have felt safe with any of the kidnappers.
“And I said you’re coming with me.”
“But… why?”
Kol stared at me, his violet eyes now filled with annoyance.
“You’re healed, and as my sister fears you would not do well being accompanied by another male, so I stepped up to bring you to our temporary human housing on board my ship. Do you not remember our conversation when we broke our fast?”
“Yes, but a lot has happened since then,” I mumbled more to myself than to the Maji watching me.
Surkah was the closest thing I had to a friend among the Maji, even though she lied to me, and now I was being taken away from her. Kol was placing me in ‘human housing,’ and I was worried sick about it. What if the other humans tried to hurt me when my back was turned or when I was sleeping? What if they feared me as I feared them, and they attacked out of instinct?
My thoughts plagued my mind as I changed back into my comfortable clothes, bid Surkah farewell, and followed Kol out of the medical bay.
“You’re thinking so much that your skin is creasing.”
I looked up at Kol as we walked and jumped a little when he gently tapped on the centre of my forehead. He chuckled to himself, seemingly amused.
“I’m just scared,” I admitted.
He brought us to a stop, all traces of amusement fleeing his sculpted face.
“Why?” he asked, and he sounded concerned.
I shrugged. “The other humans will try to kill me.”
I knew they would; we were survivors and eliminating a threat meant survival. Everything was a threat to a human. Everything.
The shipmaster blinked. “Why would they try to kill you?”
“It’s what my people have become,” I said solemnly. “It is difficult to find someone civilised. Trust me, I’ve looked far and wide, and almost every person I’ve encountered has tried to harm me in some way or simply kill me. It is the way now.”
I took a step away from Kol when he growled.
“Do not fear me,” he said, “or your people.”
I frowned. “It is hard when all I’ve known is to fear them.”
Kol cursed, and then after a moment of tense silence, he said, “I will place you in private quarters until we have determined which humans are to be trusted and which are not. I am aware you’re also fearful of Maji, and since I am the shipmaster, you will become my responsibility, and you will see that we’re trying to help.”
I raised my brows. “You don’t have to—”
“It is decided,” he cut me off.
I couldn’t help but narrow my eyes at him.
“You can’t just make decisions for me.”
“Would you prefer I throw you to the mindless humans you fear instead?”
I flinched, and Kol’s tense look on his face fell.
“Forgive me.” He sighed. “I did not mean that. It is just… no one talks to me like you do.”
“Because they know you,” I countered. “I don’t.”
“We will have to change that.”
I swallowed.
“Come,” he said and began walking again. “You need your rest. The next few hours will be trying.”
They will?
“Why will they be trying?”
Kol didn’t speak until we got into an elevator that brought us to the highest level of the spacecraft. After walking down a few hallways, Kol stopped next to a black door that opened when he pressed his palm on the door. The area around his hand lit up green then the door opened.
“In mere hours, we take off from Earth’s surface, and I will activate the craft’s warp, so it will bring us closer to my home world—Ealra. I am aware you humans have never experienced warp so get all the rest you can now as it will be a little… unsettling for a few hours later.”
I was not looking forward to that. I was not looking forward to leaving Earth, no matter how terrible it was.
My worries faded when we stepped into a large, dimly lit room complete with a single bed and an entertainment unit of some kind that was fixated to the wall facing the bed. A fluffy white rug adorned the floor, and I resisted groaning out loud when my bare feet pressed down onto it.
It was so soft.
“I’ve never had this before,” I whispered as I glanced around.
“Private quarters?” Kol asked.
“Quarters of any kind,” I admitted. “I’ve never had a home. I sleep where I can hide from sight. I’ve never had somewhere like this. I love it very much. Thank you.”
Kol didn’t reply to me, so I looked at him and found him staring at me with such intensity that I stepped back. For a moment, his eyes glowed like when he brought me to orgasm, but the light left his eyes almost instantly. I didn’t bring it up in case I insulted him. It was probably a Maji thing like Surkah’s ability to heal with touch, and I didn’t want to say something about it and upset him because he’d probably take away my beautiful room if I did that.
“Well,” he said, clearing his throat. “This room is now your quarters while you’re aboard the Ebony, so you need not fear it being taken away from you. It is yours until we reach our destination.”
“Truly?” I asked.
Kol nodded. “Truly.”
Without thinking, I crossed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around his waist. I was considerably shorter than he was; my head just barely pressed against his chest, and I couldn’t get my arms to meet each other because he was so wide with muscle. But it didn’t matter. When I felt Kol’s large hands flatten against my back, I relaxed even more. He was hugging me back.
“Nova?” he murmured after a few moments.
“Hmmm?”
“Can you… Can you release me?”
I opened my eyes and quickly stepped away from him.
“I’m sorry.”
I had no idea what possessed me to hug him.
“Don’t be.” He cleared his throat. “I would gladly hold you all day, but I have duties to attend to.”
I felt my cheeks burn with heat. “Of course, Kol. I apologise for keeping you from them.”
“Do not apologise. Time spent with you is not time wasted.”
I felt my cheeks heat even more, and I wanted to kick myself because of it. I was getting embarrassed, and my stomach fluttered with a sensation my father used to describe as ‘butterflies.’ I knew it wasn’t right because Kol wasn’t human—he was Maji—and I had better remember that.
“I am ashamed,” he said after a long moment.
I raised a brow. “Why?”
“Because my earlier behaviour has made you fear me and fear that I will forcefully take you. You challenged me, and my reaction was to make you heel to me. And as you’re an attractive female, my choice was an orgasm. I did not mean for it to happen, but my instincts can be hard to deny.”
It was idiotic to feel stung at his admittance that he didn’t want to touch me willingly, but only because his instincts told him too. I couldn’t help the emotion that stuck like a needle in my heart.
“I don’t fear you,” I said softly. “I just thought you wanted to touch me to see… how I differ from you.”
Big. Fat. Lie.
“Oh,” Kol said, a light tint of purple staining his cheeks. “Well, yes, I wanted to see your differences, but I cannot find any other than size. You’re very small, a lot smaller than Maji females. Weaker.”
My embarrassment faded at the bristle of the insult. “I’m not weak.”
Kol suddenly smiled. “I did not mean to wound your pride. I just was stating a fact that our females are naturally tall and strong. Not as tall or a strong as our males, but compared to a human female, they are superior.”
“Yeah, you’re not helping your argument at all.”
“Forgive me.” He chuckled. “I meant no offence.”
“Sure, you didn’t.”
Kol watched me for a moment then said, “Are you going to fight me on everything, Nova?”
I wanted to say no, but my pride and stubbornness wouldn’t allow me to.
“Yes,” I answered.
“Reconsider,” he asked. “Accepting your new life will be a lot easier than fighting it.”
I remained silent
“And Nova?” he said.
I looked up at him.
“My sister informed me I should apologise for… earlier.”
I waited for the apology, but it never came.
“Aren’t you going to say sorry?”
“Maji don’t apologise when they’re not sorry.”
I gasped. “You aren’t sorry?”
“Making you come, feeling you let go…” Kol paused and licked his lips. “I will never be sorry for that gift; I will only be thankful so… thank you.”
“Are you serious right now?” I incredulously asked as he back out into the hallway.
He turned to face me, and just as the door closed, he winked and said, “As a heart attack.”
I hated that he used my own words against me and that he made me smile. I also hated that he gave me butterflies when the only thing I should feel when it came to the Maji shipmaster was disgust and anger.
I shook my head clear and resisted the urge to punch the air as I glanced around my new room. Though I never voiced it to Kol or anyone else, I felt beside myself at the prospect of a new home, new law and order, a new life, and a new start. I hadn’t felt safe since the night before my father died—so the feeling felt foreign to me. I wasn’t stupid enough to believe everything the Maji told me after finding out they lied to me in the first place, but I didn’t feel as nervous around them. I felt as though Kol was being honest when he said it would be a good change for me and my people.
I’d just have to cross the ‘breeding with Maji’ bridge when I came to it, or maybe I’d just go under the bridge when nobody was looking.