Ash: Love Me Harder - Alien Paranormal Romance

by Simpson, Serena

  Brook nodded with a sad smile. Family protects family, like hers protected her. All these months of bitterness gone in a moment of time. She should have known but she was too busy kicking and screaming because she wanted to meet with Ash, but her dad knew there wasn’t time for it. Her life or a visit to the man of her dreams. He cared about her life more.

  Ash pulled into the ground level parking space.

  “Ground level?”

  “Quintus has a theory; if you’re too chicken to put your feet on the Earth then you’re too chicken to do what is necessary to take care of yourself. One day we will come and sit across the street. It is amusing to watch desperate people of power touch their feet to ground for the first time.”

  Brook climbed out of the car and looked around. The landscape was immaculate; there was a beautiful park across the street. The street was clean with nothing but their car and the cars of Dante and his brother parked before them.

  The building gleamed white with metal accents that threw color at the white making it shift colors as the sun rode across the sky. This portion of the city was beautiful.

  She took a deep breath and turned to Ash. “Let’s do this.” They walked into the building.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The inside of the building was sleek and sophisticated. This was no fly by night operation. He had been here for years; she could tell by the details. The pictures and artwork complimented each piece of furniture as if it was hand-picked and thought about. The placement of everything was impeccable. The furniture caught the sun without having it glare in your face. The blackout screens were on about forty percent because nothing higher was needed. Whoever Quintus was, he took the time to make his waiting room both comfortable and welcoming.

  “Dante.”

  A male walked out. He was tall, slender with a great body. From what she could tell all the Created had great bodies. His hair was black as night with silver streaks in it that made him dangerously beautiful.

  “Qiuntus, nice to see you again.”

  Qiuntus turned around and acknowledged the rest of the males in the room before his eyes landed on her and stayed.

  “You’re Ash’s mate.”

  Brook dipped her head in acknowledgement. She wasn’t sure if she was Ash’s mate. It wasn’t like they had this long heartfelt conversation where he asked her to be his wife, but everyone seemed to think that happened. Ash never shook his head or grimaced when anyone said that, he simply grinned wide and watched her with pride in his eyes. So until she talked to him, she would gracefully accept what was being said.

  Her heart rate picked up as it always did when she thought of being Ash’s mate. An image of her with an extended belly and his hands pressed over it to feel the baby kick came to mind. She wrestled the image to the ground and paid attention to what was happening around her.

  “Hi, I’m Brooklyn.”

  “Nice to meet you, Brooklyn. Please come into the conference room. It’s bigger and will hold us all.”

  They followed him down the hallway. He led them into a nicely appointed room with a large table in the center and multiple chairs surrounding it. They took a seat and turned to look at him.

  “Dante filled me in on what is happening. First, I want to say I’m so sorry about your parents, they have my greatest respect. You have to be strong to make the hard calls in life. Next, welcome to the new world. Last, with all this protection surrounding you, you will be fine in the end. What happens in the middle makes good stories for later.”

  He gave her a big grin, his eyes flashing as small currents ran through the air. Quintus was as different from the others, as Dante was from Ash.

  “I drew up some paperwork.” He walked over to a side table, gathered a few sheets of paper, and set them before her. Please read over them in detail and then allow Ash to read them and anyone else you would like. Here is the summary. You are in both sound mind and body as you sign this, you are not being forced in any way to comply. If anything were to happen to you to cause you to be disabled and unable to make decisions for yourself, the seven males in front of you would take over managing all your assets until you were able to do it. If you were to cease to breathe for any reason, the males in front of you would receive a portion of your estate split equally seven ways. They would each be responsible for taking care of your friend, Jazlyn Summers, and making sure she was not harmed in any fashion. Even if law required it. Only you and I know what taking care of Jazlyn requires.”

  She nodded her head and passed the paper work to Ash who read it thoroughly. He asked several questions and passed it onto Dante.

  She watched silently as each of the brothers read it and signed it. Finally, it sat before her again two signatures missing—hers and Ash’s.

  “No one asked me about Jazlyn. Why?”

  “We already agreed to take care of her before we left the house. Nothing you tell us will change that. Everyone deserves their own mysteries until they can no longer keep it a secret.”

  She looked at Dante, he was right. She placed the paperwork in front of Ash and he signed before handing it back. Looking around the room one last time she signed. Her life was now in their hands.

  “How long before the court will approve this?”

  “Let’s check and see.” He pulled a screen out of the table and began to work. The papers were scanned by the screen and went to wherever they needed to be.

  “Hmm, someone is fighting me.” His fingers moved across the screen with the precision of a finely honed missile. “It’s the Patron’s legal department that is fighting me. All of them.”

  “Ash and Dante, a little help please,” Quintus said as he fought the counter attack.

  They both pulled screens out of the table and their fingers began to fly, arguments and counter arguments were flashing across Ash’s screen. Before long smiles appeared on their faces.

  “Filed and accepted. It is legal in every court system in the world and no more arguments will be heard against it.”

  “I wonder if the Patron’s legal department will survive the night,” Ash said as he put his screen away.

  “They will if he wishes to live long enough to fight again.”

  “If I can be of help in the future please let me know.”

  “Thank you, Quintus.” She shook his hand.

  After all the goodbyes, she walked to the door waiting for Ash to catch up with her. The park looked inviting. Placing her hand on the door, she pushed it open just as she heard Ash scream her name. The shot caught her by surprise as the sound of feet ran to her. She jerked back then tilted forward to lean on the door.

  Ash grabbed her turning her around and taking her to the floor, his body covering her as a second shot was fired. He roared, standing he changed forms swiftly going after the shooter.

  Dante checked her wound as the other brothers stood in front of her like a brick wall.

  “Not too bad, you will survive this. We need to get the bullet out of your shoulder though. It didn’t hit anything major and we’ll be able to move you. He pulled a cloth out of thin air and pressed it against her shoulder.”

  “That was some magic trick.”

  “I’m the first born; you’d be amazed at what I can do. But I always remember just because I can do it doesn’t mean I should. Like tell a certain male where his mate is sleeping.”

  She opened her mouth. Dante took a finger, put it under her chin, and gently closed it.

  “I am telling you because you know how important it is not to open your mouth.”

  She agreed with a nod. Trained from the crib to hold her knowledge close to her chest, she knew it was a secret she would take to her grave. If Ash had known where she was and he couldn’t do anything about it, that knowledge would have driven him crazy. Dante told her, not so she would have a secret, but so she would know he protected her all of these years and would continue to do so.

  Ash walked up, clothes tattered, hair in disarray. “

  Did he get away
?” she asked him not sure how she should approach it.”

  “No, he chose to steal the kill and took his own life. He will never hurt anyone else.”

  “Why do you look like that?”

  “He took his knowledge to the grave. That won’t stop me; I will put an end to this.”

  She closed her eyes as her shoulder throbbed making her light headed. She never doubted him. He would stop whoever was looking for her.”

  *~*~*~*

  She woke in her bed to find Ash lying next to her.

  “Hi,” his soft voice met her.

  “Hi yourself. What happened?”

  “You passed out, loss of blood. We brought you back here; Damon got the bullet out and patched you up.”

  “I’ll need to think of a suitable way to say thank you.”

  She reached out with her good arm and pulled on him, trying to get closer. He crossed the bed and gently pulled her into his arms watching her shoulder.

  “They kept calling me your mate, is that like a wife?”

  “Yes and no. It’s more like a wife who can never leave you and I’m the husband who can never leave her. But we haven’t gotten that far yet. I was planning to tell you after you got to know me better. Here’s how it works once you agree to be my mate. I bite you. Then we exchange DNA. From my bite, we are linked together. We will never want to leave each other. Each bite of the Created creates a different bond because we are all different percentages of the same DNA mix. I know my beast but I am not sure what the dominant male is like in a relationship. I believe I will be finding out soon. Then I can tell you more. Brook, I want you to be my mate. Think about it.”

  He climbed out the bed.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To make you something to eat. It’s late but I don’t want you to go to sleep on an empty stomach.”

  She got up behind him to find all her bags opened so she would know they were safe. She carefully pulled out her clothes using her uninjured arm and hung them in the closet he had cleared out, making space for her. She laughed when she saw the big closet holding the few things she bought. She was going to need a real trip to the mall. Virtual was fun but not her thing.

  She grabbed a quick shower and then put on a nice pair of leggings she found in the retro section and a crop top. There was one thing she loved about the future. Someone, a woman for sure, made a bra that held the girls up but didn’t bind around the chest or the shoulder. It reminded her of a tube top. One could change it to several different colors including clear. No one even had to know you were wearing it. It was her best friend in the clothing department.

  A quick glimpse in the mirror said she looked nice. She walked out feeling better just from being in clean new clothes.

  He looked up and growled deep in his chest.

  “You like my outfit.”

  “Looks amazing on you.”

  “Thank you,” she smiled shyly at him.

  He wanted her to be his mate. Her heart throbbed at the thought and of being part of his family. Part of Dante’s family by default. She always hated that she was an only child and wanted brothers and sisters to play with when she was sitting in her room playing government with her dolls. She was always her father, attacking the other groups showing them where they were wrong.

  Brook sat and he placed a plate in front of her. Comfort food. There was meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans. They ate in silence watching each other with smiles. She got up and helped him wash the dishes.

  “Once upon a time after a huge war, the world looked like it may die from lack of resources. Everything needed to last longer and everyone needed to be extra careful about the resources they used. Some entrepreneur came up with a way to make dish soap ultra-long lasting. Literally one drop will clean all the dishes. He wiped all the other companies out of business almost overnight by keeping the price competitive.”

  He stood back and watched as she did the dishes, a small smile on her lips.

  “That was nice. Funny, I feel useful.”

  “I understand what you mean.”

  They finished cleaning the kitchen then he took her hand and led her off to bed.

  Chapter Fourteen

  She was lying in the bed trying to get comfortable. Ash laid there with his eyes closed and his hand curled possessively around her stomach, and that wasn’t helping either. The heat of his hand was slowly merging with her body making her hotter, needier. Thoughts of his lips on her, kissing her, licking her lips. Nibbling the side of her throat was making her breathing shallow and fast. Closing her eyes tighter, she begged for sleep that didn’t come.

  Ash brushed against her overly sensitized skin and she moaned fighting back the desire to scream with need.

  “Brook, your making me and my beast rage. You smell so damn good all I can think of is touching you, kissing you, making you mine.”

  “Then why are you waiting?”

  “You’re hurt, you were just shot. I can’t because of your shoulder.”

  “You can, we’ll be careful.”

  She rolled over and rubbed her hip against his massive erection. A moan of desire rolled from her lips.

  “You’re so big; all I want to do is touch you there.”

  “Touch me.” His voice was raspy letting her know how much he wanted her.

  Her hand drifted downward, her fingers touched him lightly stroking through his pants. His hips bucked upward.

  “You have to be sure, Brook. I don’t think I can stop claiming you, if I start.”

  “I’m sure, please,” she moaned needing him.

  He moved her hand. “You keep stroking and I will explode.”

  He pulled her closer and nipped at her bottom lip. He loved the fullness of it, so soft and tender. His finger went to her face as he rubbed her cheek. She looked like melting chocolate. So desirable he had to lick. Lick, groan. She tasted better than chocolate. Placing his lips on hers he kissed her softly just allowing his lips to heat hers. Her mouth was so sweet and soft. She opened on a sigh and he invaded. Pushing his tongue in as she hummed sounds of pleasure.

  He had dreamed of this moment so many times as he laid in his bed wishing she was with him. Now it was happening. Her tongue pulled on his making him harder, giving him a comfort he never thought existed. Her hands clutched at his shoulders rubbing them, pulling him closer.

  “I have to touch you Brook, run my hands over you.”

  He licked down the side of her throat. He wanted to bite her, claim her, mate her. Instead, he pressed small kisses there before pressing his nose deeply into the juncture and capturing her scent. The scent that teased him for centuries. Knowing he could, he rasped his teeth against her anyway trying to fill the hunger in him to mate with her.

  “Ash?” her voice came out needy and confused.

  “It’s ok, I’m ok.”

  He kissed her neck one last time and trailed stinging little bites to the front of her throat and down to her chest.

  “Shirt,” he growled before reaching down and carefully bringing it over her head.

  Her breast were beautiful. The brown of them was so smooth all he wanted to do was lick. Her hard nipples pointed up like succulent black berries and her aureoles were large and round. She looked like the perfect dessert for a male with a sweet tooth.

  He leaned down to lick and found something barring his touch.

  “Bra,” she managed to get out. She changed the color of it so she could see it and stripped it over her head. She lay back down and gathered her chest in her hands presenting them for his inspection.

  Lust colored his eyes as he captured a nipple in his mouth. Her cry of pleasure about did him in. He sucked her in deeply listening to the panting noises she made. His hand went to her other breast as he kneaded it. Over and over his finger found the flesh of her breast softly rubbing and pulling on it. He pulled on her thick nipple listening to her whimper. She likes it, his beast whispered in his mind so he did it again.

  “Mine,”
came out with a roar as he switched nipples sucking the other one in deeply, pulling on it.”

  “Yours,” she agreed running her hand through his hair and down his back. Her body arched under his.

  “I’ve been waiting on you. I never stopped believing that one day you would show up. Dante, kept telling me to hold on, not to lose my sanity and each day I held on just a little tighter as I felt myself falling. Had to find you, needed you so bad.” His words came out in one long monologue as he let her nipple pop out of his mouth.

  He took both breasts in his hands and separated them. He licked between them up and down as she murmured spastic o’s at the sensation. He buried his head in her breast. Kissing and leaving small love bites all over them

  “Touch me, Brook.” He needed to feel her small hands on him.

  She rubbed his back and he preened under her attention. He was so hot, thick, he needed relief soon. Her hand pushed on his chest until he was on his back.

  “Brook,” his eyes searched her trying to comprehend what she was doing.

  She put her finger in front of his mouth. “I was asleep all those years we were apart. There wasn’t real desire or need. I didn’t suffer from not being touched like you did. You made my world bearable but thoughts of what it would feel like for you to touch me were superficial because I only had so much time to capture the memories I wanted to take with me when I was put to sleep. Unlike you who got to feel every long day without me. Now I want you to feel this.”

  *~*~*~*

  She might not have dreamed of sex when she was asleep, but she sure dreamed of it since she woke up. She dreamed of it with him long before she was reunited with him. She wanted to touch him, feel him. She bit his neck the way he wanted to bite her. She bit it hard, some ancient primal urge running through her body.

  Those wonderful hips of his thrust upward giving her a view of his thick bulge under his pants. Soon, she licked her lips. She was going to taste him. He had been kind enough not to wear a shirt to bed. She had an entire field to play with. She drew her hand downward over his muscles loving the feel of his hot skin underneath her palm.