“Thank you, Ash.”
“Why don’t you call her and tell her where you are. I’ll be in the kitchen. Holler if you need anything.”
“All right.” He turned and walked away.
She went over to his couch and made herself at home. Touching behind her ear she thought of Jaz and her frequency dialed.
“Hello, how may I help you?” Jazlyn’s formal voice answered.
“Jaz!” Brook called her name bursting with excitement.
“Brook, where are you? I just checked the Skyline they said you never checked in.”
“I had to go someplace first. A meeting I was centuries late for but I still needed to know I showed up. When I arrived a friend was there and then I was being shot at.” She heard her friend gasp and continued filling in all the details for her. “Anyway, he brought me to his house. That’s where I will be staying for a while, but he said you could come visit. Even better, he said you could stay here with me.”
“Wait Brook you were shot at. Did you tell the authorities or anyone who can help?”
“We’re working on it Jaz I promise. I would understand if your scared to stay with me right now.”
“That’s not really it. Please for now just take my word when I say I can’t come. Brook, are you sure you should stay with him. I know you said he was your friend but how could you really know him after—”
“Is it what we were talking about before, Jaz? As far as Ash it’s a really long story but I assure you I am safe with him and you will be also.”
“I’m not really supposed to mix with men, besides if he knew what I was…”
“He wouldn’t care. I tried to tell him, but he really didn’t care. He simply wants me to be happy.”
“Oh Brook, he sounds special.”
“Jazlyn, what if he was different, would that bother you?”
“That would be like the pot calling the kettle black.” Jaz repeated one of Brook’s sayings back to her.
Brook laughed; her friend was beginning to understand that sometimes to communicate you needed more than the standard planet wide language. The fact that all people on Earth spoke English as the global language still boggled her mind.
“Will you at least think about coming to stay? Can they stop you?”
“Not with you there. They may have to question your friend though.”
Brook muttered her frustration before agreeing to anything, her friend needed to be sprung from a life of a watched captive.
“I lost my clothes.”
“Brook! How could you lose your clothes?”
“Remember I told you about the man shooting at me? I forgot to ask for a reprieve so I could grab my bag before running.”
Jaz giggled. “I guess that makes sense, but that means we need to go to the gallery.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Do you think it is safe?”
“I have to ask Ash.”
“There is another way to go without actually going?”
“How can we go to the mall without actually going?”
“It’s called virtual shopping.”
“That doesn’t sound like fun.”
“You’ll love it, believe me.”
“Ok, I will come over tomorrow or are you coming here?”
“Come here, you were safe here, so it shouldn’t be a problem.” They agreed on a time before closing the frequency.
She walked into the kitchen to let Ash know what she was going to do. He was at the counter cutting up vegetables.
“What are you doing?” She walked over to him to get a better look.
“I thought you might be hungry. I was making us a meal.”
“Thank you.” Confused, she tried to understand what she was seeing.
“What’s wrong?”
“I just never saw anyone cook before unless it was their job. My father wouldn’t have been caught dead in the kitchen much less cooking. I know people who are not financially well off cook for themselves but…”
“Have a seat.”
She sat at the island. He transferred the vegetable as well as the utensils he was using to the island so he could talk to her as he worked.
“I’m Created. Sounds like such a simple thing but it means a lot. One of the things we do is take care of ourselves. I can cook, fight, negotiate, protect, and any other number of things. If I can’t do it and a skill is needed, I check to see if one of my brothers has that skill, if not then I acquire it.”
“When I was nine I remember waking up and I was hungry. I wanted a snack but it was late and I knew no one would be in the kitchen. I got up anyway and made my way downstairs. I remember little things about that trip like turning on the lights. I had never been in the kitchen alone. I went to the fridge and found some fruit. My mom always loved fruit and cheese and there was some in there. I got it out and decided to take it back to my room. The kitchen was big and scary.
“I ran into my dad on the way back to my bedroom. He asked if cook gave me that and I explained that cook was asleep and I got it all by myself.”
The look on her father’s face still made the small child in her want to run and hide. He dragged her back to her room and picked up the small house phone making her memorize the cook’s number. Then he called the cook and made him come to her room.
“Cook,” her father’s deep voice spat out the name like it was an insult. “My daughter had to leave her bed in the middle of the night to find a snack because you weren’t attentive enough to her needs. Take what she brought to her room and properly prepare it for her."
She shook herself, focusing on Ash again. “He docked the cook. It was all over the palace we lived in at the time. I was forbidden to ever set foot in a kitchen and learning to cook was out the question. I tried to apologize to the cook but he never looked at me again or sneaked me treats after that. I never broke the rules again with someone I didn’t want to get in trouble.”
She hung her head. “I can’t cook or do dishes or take care of a house.”
Breathing hard, she refused to give into tears that would simply highlight her list of inadequacies.
“We can hire a cook if the thought of me cooking bothers you or I can teach you. We can upgrade to a self-cleaning house or again I can teach you how to help me with it. Same with the dishes, the cook can wash them. Those things are not important. I will teach you everything if only you will teach me how to love you. Show me how to make your sad brown eyes sparkle again.” He walked around to her and placed his hand under her chin lifting it until she met his eyes.
“We can learn together; the way it should be.”
“I would like that. Partners.” She smiled at him feeling her bout of sadness dissipate under the warmth of his smile. He spoke like he wanted her to stay and even though she knew it wasn’t a done deal, having someone care about you after your life’s been turned upside down felt good.
“Ash, why do you want to love me? How come you waited this long for me? It was an hour or less standing in that stadium. What did you see that made you so determined?”
“My mate. The female I want to be with for all eternity. You called to me, Brook. Your strength refused to give in even though the odds were against you. Your spirit and your strength, let’s not forget your honesty and your humor. You opened up and allowed me to see the female inside.”
His mate? Part of her wanted to bask in everything he was saying, stick her head in the sand and go along with it. The other part of her wanted to explore her new found freedom. She was never one to do what anyone else wanted but something about him called to her. She felt him, had felt him from the first moment they met. Could what she was feeling be real or was it just the Cryo dreams messing with her? She would have to go along and figure it out step by step.
“Are you sure you never married?” She popped one eyebrow up and curled her lips so he could see a quirky smile.
“No mate, but you’d be surprised what a daughter can teach you.”
“I�
��d love to find out.” It came out so low that Ash would have missed it if not for his enhance hearing.
She looked at his lips before dropping her eyes; the kiss they shared earlier had been interrupted. The feel of his lips had been heavenly. She wasn’t one for sleeping around or just falling into a guy’s bed or arms but the tug of her soul seemed to be leading her to Ash.
He leaned over pressing her lips to his. This time he had the time to do it right. She slid out the chair breaking the connection for a moment before she pressed herself against him allowing her whole body to bask in his warmth. Her lips found his, opening up to allow him to ponder the depths of her mouth.
His arms tightened around her as he kissed her deeply, challenging her tongue, making her seek him and drink him in deeper. She groaned his name as she kissed him. The overwhelming taste of honey shook her senses, not to sweet just right. Ambrosia. She was treated to the drink of gods and she was committing the sin of gluttony as she took more in. Her head swam with the heat of his mouth. As she came up for air, there was a smile of complete contentment on her face and her eyes sparkled.
“Ash, you’re one heck of a kisser.”
“I’m rather sure that’s you not me.” He helped her back into the chair before he walked around the island to finish the prep for dinner.
“Brook, I want to ask you a question.”
“I’m listening.”
“This house has several bedrooms in it, but I would be honored if you would share mine with me.”
Share his room! Her heart fluttered at the very thought of it. What if he wanted to…she hadn’t done that in, well, centuries. What if she wasn’t any good anymore? What if she was never good at it in the first place? Maybe after being frozen all those years she wasn’t physically able to. She never thought to ask Jaz that. On the other hand, he could just be acting nice or doing what he thought she would expect. It had been years, maybe she didn’t look the same way. She sure didn’t act the same way.
“What do you mean, share your bed? Like sleep with you as friends or do more with you?”
Why did she ask? Now she would be embarrassed no matter what he said. She glanced at the floor in hopes it opened up and she could hide away for a while.
“My sisters, my brother’s wives, probably taught me the correct way to say things like this but to be honest I wasn’t paying attention. I want to hold you. Take care of you, make sure I am there if you need me. When you are ready, if you are ever ready, I would love to be honored to do more. Never without your permission.”
“Yes.” Tonight she would sleep with Ash if she didn’t die from the pounding of her heart first.
Chapter Six
They spent the rest of the afternoon getting to know one another. Ash told her about his life, his brothers, and his role in the war. He gave her a better understanding of the new world and the changes both good and bad that occurred over the centuries from his point of view. The played a few games Hale developed that made her more familiar with what she would see as she covered new territory. Now it was evening and she was feeling a little bare.
She knew she agreed to sleep in the same bed with Ash and she wanted that badly. There was no way she was going to lie to herself but she still felt a little bit of a hussy among other things.
This was too fast; how could she decide she wanted him just like that? This kind of thing took weeks, months, years and here she was ready to put her life or at least her desires in his hands. Nope, she had no firm reason why except it felt right. In the end, that was all she ever had. This simple feeling of what was right for her life and he felt right.
Ash stood there smiling at her. His eyes were bright making her want to reach out and stroke his chin.
“Let’s celebrate. I’ll take you out to dinner.”
“I don’t have anything to wear.”
“What’s wrong with what you have on?”
“You have to change if you’re going out. Are we going to a little place, like a fast food place?”
Ash shook his head. “I was going to take you to the restaurant Dante and his brothers own. It’s a beautiful and a highly sought out place by the rare few who know of its existence. They are like family to me.”
Brook looked down at herself. The lessons of a lifetime ran through her head. There was a way you dressed, walked, even ate so as not to embarrass a man. She did those things without thinking. Always falling in line with how she was raised to behave when she was in public. Only when she was able to ditch her guards was she able to be herself for a few precious minutes or in rare cases hours.
She was tired and stifled a yawn. Tiredness should never be displayed no matter what happened the night before. Both politicians and news reporters were on you when you showed any sign of not being on top of your game.
Those were her father’s rules. Her father, the man who loved her enough to freeze her until a cure came through. Her father, the same one who couldn’t deal with the fact that his baby girl wasn’t perfect. He allowed her to stay in that prison of cold instead of letting her live her life with them.
“I would love to go.” Following all the rules she learned as a child had reaped her heartache and misery. It was time to do something different.
“We can wait until tomorrow after you go shopping. That way you will be more comfortable.”
“Please,” she placed her hand on top of his, “I want to go and meet the friends who are like family to you.”
He gave a small nod of approval making her heart jump. “I would like to take a shower first.”
“Follow me.”
He led her towards the front of the house and up the wide staircase. He stopped at a door at the top of the stairs.
“This is my bedroom. I wanted it to be at the front so I would hear anyone trying to sneak up the stairs or even inside the house. When I had this house built my brothers had theirs built also. All of our houses are a duplicate except for the things that were important to each of us.”
He opened the door and walked in There was a small living room area with a love seat against the back wall. Beside it stood a tall lamp in case overhead lighting was too much. There were two recliners each with a small end table on the side and a lamp as well as a huge screen on the wall in front of the love seat. The room was comfortable making her want to sit down and cuddle into the love seat and watch a movie.
“I like this room.”
“Thank you, I designed it with you in mind. I was hoping you would like it.”
She gave him a twinkling smile and followed him into his bedroom. He had a king size bed against the back wall. It was made of thick wood. It would take a lot to crack that bed. There was a walkin closet that was nowhere close to being full. She could help him with that. A night stand on either side of the bed, a large chest of draws and a multitude of pictures on the wall completed the room. None of them were of family, instead they were nature shots. A magnificent water fall. A shot of the ocean as a huge wave came in. Then there was the huge animal she had seen earlier.
She walked closer to the picture. “Is this you?” The fact that he was an alien sent a fissure of both fear and excitement through her. It was hard to believe that Ash, her Ash. Yes, he was hers, too many years of dreaming about him for him to be anything other than hers, was an alien.
“Yes. It took me months to finally get the picture.”
“You’re beautiful.” Her voice was quiet as she looked at the picture in awe. His beast was magnificent. He stood tall with the same flame colored hair covering his body that the male had covering his head. The hair on his body wasn’t long, it was short. His thighs were thick and muscular while his chest was something out of a wet dream, all hard and cut letting her see every muscle. She shook her head. No mere six-pack for him, her alien was packing some incredible abs. She licked her lips. What appealed to her most was that even in his other form he attracted her, made her want to jump his body. She shook the thought away.
“Where’s the bath
room?”
“Right here.” He opened the door looking at her.
He sniffed just a little as she went by. She smiled and walked into
the bathroom wondering if he could smell her desire.
*~*~*~*
He watched her as she went into the bathroom. She was warm like a simmering pot of water just on the verge of being hot as hell but not quite there yet. Tell that to the musky smell rising from between her thighs. That smell made him want to pick her up, toss her on the bed, and touch her until she was screaming, begging for him to be with her. She was too sexy and sweet for her own good.
“Ash.” He answered the mental call.
“I sense distress has something changed?”
Of course, Aran picked up on what he was going through. Even light years away he was still the one in charge of their family and he had a direct line to each of them.
“I found my mate.’
“You found a second mate?” The confusion in Aran’s voice was clear.
“No, it’s Brooklyn. She was placed in a Cryo sleep; her parents sent her away the day I met her. She’s been asleep all this time and was thawed a couple of months ago.
There was complete silence from Aran as Ash laid on the bed reveling in his good fortune.
“I’m so happy for you. I will be telling the others so expect to get calls or at least a huge group call.” They had discovered new abilities over the years. The ability to stay in touch no matter where they were in the galaxy and to all be on the same mental frequency at the same time proved invaluable.
“I’m looking forward to it. Is that all there is?”
“Someone tried to kill her. When they failed, they called her frequency to tell her life was over unless she wanted to turn herself in and they would parcel out what she could do every day.”
“I assume that didn’t go over well with you or your beast.”
The growl torn from Ash’s throat answered that question.
“I was wondering if Hale or Rena would be able to look into this for me.”
“I am sure they will insist on looking into it. Have Raphael look into it also. Hale and Rena took him under their wings and taught him everything when we first started talking about our galactic walk about. Ash, stay safe; remember if you need us we will cut our walk about short and come home. We won’t let anything happen to your mate.”
Ash: Love Me Harder - Alien Paranormal Romance Page 4
