Out of the Ashes Read online

  “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 straigh
t 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?”