by Terri Lane
“How bad is it?” Kohl interrupted Kelhan and the guard hesitated briefly.
“Very delicate my prince. Lords Beerus and Fare have been handling the publicity in a brash manner. Threatening to use force against any human to cross a Ve’dran. They have made the humans very wary, words like ‘war’ and ‘dismissal by force’ have been mentioned by the Earthlings several times.” Kelhan quieted as he drove towards the hotel. Kohl’s mood darkened when he saw the amount of human media waiting for his arrival.
“I thought they knew not of my absence,” he nearly growled.
“News of it must have just gotten out my prince.”
Kohl took several deep breaths as he got out of the vehicle and hurried past the cameras and shouts with Kelhan right behind him. He was away from Earth a mere week, and already there was strife. He and Kelhan rode in silence up to his suite. What he saw when he stepped inside ignited his already heated blood.
Maya Lu was at the hands of Meekah and Sommer, right there in his very living area. She struggled under the weight of Meekah who held her down while Sommer went for her pants. When it became well evident that the two had no realization of his presence, Kohl swiftly took Kelhan’s sword from his hip. In two strides he walked towards his two oldest guards and slit their throats with deadly precision. Careful not to harm Maya any more than she appeared to be. He quickly bent down to lift her into his arms and looked at Kelhan briefly.
“You will speak of this to no one,” Kohl barked harshly.
“Of course my prince, I will…attend to this,” Kelhan said dutifully, bowing low. Kohl dropped his sword and walked with a shaking Maya into his bedroom.
There, it dawned on her what he had done.
“Y-you just killed them,” she gasped. Her arms crept around her torso and Kohl studied her face. She had a cut on her lip and her clothes were loosened, but that seemed to be the extent of her injury.
“They would have harmed you, violated you…” Kohl said gruffly. He’d just indeed killed two of his own kind for a human. As things stood between humans and Ve’drans that was along the lines of treason against his own kind. Maya stared up at him in shock, her green eyes large. Kohl silently turned on his heel to get some cloth to clean up her lip. He found a small clean rag in the bathroom and ran it under cold water before bringing it with him to the room. He knelt in front of her and slowly reached out to press it against the split. Hot anger surged in his veins yet again as he looked closely at what had been inflicted on her face, one he saw as being flawless.
“Your people have been out of control Kohl; I came here…I came tonight to see if you were here. Then they—” she paused abruptly and glanced over Kohl’s shoulder. He turned to see Kelhan standing in the doorway.
“It has been done my prince,” he informed. Kohl gave him a nod and watched as Kelhan. He would have to have a talk with Kelhan about this incident. Though he didn’t doubt his loyalties, Kelhan must have been alarmed by Kohl’s actions.
But it was obvious to Kohl now how he felt for Maya Lu, and it was truly unexpected. Part of him saw her as his, and therefore to be protected by him. It was troubling to say the least.
Chapter 8
Kohl
Kohl lightly brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “Are you unhurt beyond this?”
She nodded and slowly unwrapped her hands from around herself. Kohl wished to comfort her, but he felt that perhaps she was still too raw after everything that transpired. Her eyes were still so wide, her skin pale.
“I think…I want to go home, I want to get out of this place,” she whispered.
“I can take you to your home if you wish,” Kohl offered. Still shaking, she nodded. He quickly withdrew the cloak he wore over his suit and draped it over her shoulders. She pulled the heavy royal garment close around her shoulders.
“Thank you…” she said softly. Kohl reached into his pocket and pulled out his communicator, paging Kelhan to bring a vehicle around the rear of the hotel. “Is this…what fabric is this?” she asked curiously, her voice having only a trace of tremble to it.
“It is very similar to velvet,” he answered her idly, reading his swift response from Kelhan.
“Kohl, you have to get your people under control…” Maya murmured.
“I am almost embarrassed because of them. It is as if I’m their father who left them with a nurse and they’ve terrorized him.”
“Him?” Maya asked curiously.
“Where certain roles are known to a female here, they are equally as known to males on Ve’dra. As a child, my nurse was a male,” Kohl explained.
“Oh…” was her only reply. Kohl received the notification to meet Kelhan and he took Maya’s hand to lead her out.
“You must tell me the least public route to get to the rear kitchen entrance,” said Kohl. Maya nodded, pointing the way to the staff elevator. Kohl swiftly got Maya to the vehicle without being seen by anyone. He sat in the rear with her as she quietly gave his guard directions to her home. It was small and quaint, and stood on a private street not five minutes away from the hotel.
“Shall I wait for you my prince?” Kelhan asked Kohl as he made to leave with Maya.
“Yes, please do,” he said as he got out and followed her to her door. She reached around a small plant near it and produced a key to open the way inside.
“That does not seem the safest thing to do,” Kohl murmured. She simply glanced at him and stepped inside. Her house was indeed small, the living area and kitchen melding into one area most likely not a dozen paces across.
After turning on a nearby lamp Maya turned on her heel to face Kohl.
“Are you going to do something about them?”
“Of course, I will gather my diplomats and speak to them accordingly. Their actions do not reflect…”
“Kohl you have to understand that my kind, we aren’t in competition. With anyone. Our leaders chose to approach your planet to extend the benefit of the doubt. To prove the rest of the UAP wrong about you all and hopefully add another planet to the alliance. We didn’t visit Ve’dra to bully your kind, not like you’ve done here. It’s more caution than ill will that led to a couple of our police to detain the drunk scientist. Why do you think we haven’t made more of a case to the UAP for reinforcements to kick you all out?” Maya put her hands on her hips, her chin raised as she met his gaze squarely. Even after all she’d just gone through, what she’d just witnessed, she still chastised him as an equal. Kohl was unsure if the warmth he felt in his chest was affection, disbelief at her audacity, or both.
“I…” He was truly at a loss for what to say. All Kohl could do was stare at her. That was until the urge to touch her became unbearable. He gathered her into his arms and kissed her softly on the mouth, aware of her cut.
“You are an exemplary woman Maya Lu,” he said once he broke the kiss. The barest of smiles touched her lips and he kissed her once more. “I will return here to you, for now I must meet with these wayward diplomats of mine.”
She nodded and clutched his cloak, still draped around her shoulders, while he quickly left her home.
As he got into the back of the idling vehicle he told Kelhan to take him back to the hotel.
“Kelhan…about what was done tonight—”
“You have claimed her as your own Prince Kohl, your reaction is justified in our culture,” Kelhan said, offering an excuse for Kohl.
“She is mine…though I do not yet know to what extent that means for me,” Kohl said in a low voice, mostly to himself. He studied the passing streets as Kelhan drove back to the hotel, still swarmed by the many human media personnel. Kohl figured he should say something to them before going back inside.
“Prince Kohl, do you have any comment as to what happened while you were away?” The first camera seemed to speak on its own as the bright light briefly obscured Kohl’s vision of anything else.
“I am concerned about the events that unfolded concerning my kind during my absence. I will be speaki
ng to my fellow diplomats to gain a larger understanding of the events that took place. Once that has been done I will move forward with any appropriate course of action.” As soon as Kohl was done speaking, a barrage of questions assaulted his hearing. He gestured to Kelhan who helped cut a path through the media for him to enter the hotel.
Kohl went directly to the suite his four diplomats shared. They were all sitting around in the common area and stood at attention as soon as he stepped out of the elevator.
“My prince!” Beerus, the most ornery of the lot greeted him, as if things were as they should be.
“Don’t bother with niceties. Explain to me what is happening here,” Kohl demanded, his raised palm staying greetings from the rest.
“The humans are bold. They detained one of our own without any notice to us whatsoever, ignoring his diplomatic immunity,” Beerus said, his tone slightly belligerent.
“What’s more, their media suggests they may plan to ‘remove us with force’ from their planet,” said Caspin, one of the other diplomats.
“We believe it would be advantageous to bring in a legion of warriors, to place a heavier hand on these presumptive humans,” Beerus said.
“Of course we could bring them in under the diplomatic provisions, as guard detail…” Caspin added. Kohl stood silently, considering the suggestion. It would be well within Ve’dran expectation to do such a thing. But Kohl feared how it would be taken by the humans. They could see it as an act of violence. Not a simple show of Ve’dran strength and will. Worse, they could call on their allies in the UAP to help. Kohl felt he could not deny this suggestion, especially after killing two of his own guards over a human woman. He felt as if he were turning against his race. But Maya’s earlier words rang in his mind. The humans had simply acted out of caution more than anything else.
“If you are conflicted as to what the humans would think, we could simply state that we are bringing the extra military force to police our own. So that an incident such as this does not happen again…” Beerus said, his tone silky and persuasive.
Kohl did not want to seem weak to his people, nor did he want to disappoint his father by turning on the Ve’dran way. Kohl nodded his head once. “Fine, but only one legion. If there be a male over fifty count I will have your head myself,” Kohl said with deadly precision, expressing his point clearly.
“Of course my prince,” Beerus bowed low.
“And cease all this ruckus with the humans. You lot are no longer authorized to deal with the media.” Kohl added on his way out. He felt an odd twinge in the center of his chest. He wondered if Maya would understand his decision when she found out.
Chapter 9
Maya
Maya tried everything to get her damn hands to stop shaking. She took several showers, put on comfortable pajamas, and made a warm cup of tea. None of it was working to ease her nerves. She just couldn’t get the sight of Kohl slitting the throats of those two men. Men he knew, trusted, men of his own kind…for her. She glanced at the velvety royal cloak she laid out on her couch. What did it all mean? That he valued her, over his guards?
She hoped that he’d heard what she said though, about everything that was going on. She wondered it maybe she felt that strange connection to Kohl because she could somehow contribute to the outcome of the pending alliance. The only reason she’d even been back up in his suite was to see for herself if he’d really left. She was almost hoping to find that he was still on Earth and was in fact the asshole she originally thought him to be, and had let his kind be so unruly. But he’d come and saved her and been the opposite of what she expected. Which left her conflicted and confused. Mostly she was afraid to hope that maybe Kohl was different, that whatever made it impossible for her to get him out of her head was proof of some good in him. Otherwise why else would she latch onto him? Great sex was one thing, but…why was she feeling so anxious for him to come back to her house?
The rap on her door made her jump and the tea spilled from the edges of her mug onto her hands. She quickly shook it off and got up from the breakfast bar to open the door. She knew it’d be him.
Kohl stood on her porch awkwardly, his hands behind his back. His posture as careful as his gaze as he searched her face.
“Hi…” she said and stepped to the side so he could walk in.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, shutting the door behind him and latching it with one hand. His gaze still on hers.
“I don’t know…anxious,” she said truthfully. He took her hands in his and just like that they stopped shaking. She stared at him, dumbfounded. What was it? What did he have that made her feel better? She barely even knew the real him. Frankly she was annoyed with herself. If she hadn’t had Kohl on the brain she wouldn’t have gone up to his suite in the first place, she wouldn’t have been thrown around by those two guards. Nor would she be feeling even more of an attachment to him than she already had.
“Maya Lu…?” Kohl dipped his head, then let go of one of her hands to lift her chin. “Would you like to rest?” he asked softly. She had no words. He was being…sweet, caring – two things she wouldn’t have associated with him a week ago.
“Yeah I think…yeah, I’m all muddled up here,” she tapped her head and the corner of his lips rose in a smirk.
“I can help with that,” he said and unexpectedly scooped her up to cradle against his chest.
“You know you don’t have to carry me,” she chuckled.
“I want to. Feet such as yours should never touch the ground,” he said.
“What does that mean?” she asked, a smile creeping into her voice from the compliment, even though she played coy.
“It means you are a treasure, rare and beautiful, and should be cared for with reverence,” he said, sending a fuzzy warmth spreading through her chest.
“Of all the times I’ve been rude to you or yelled at you and you think I’m a treasure?” she asked with a chuckle. Kohl slowly walked around her house, looking for her bedroom. She let him acquaint himself to the house. She had a feeling he’d be over often.
“Yes, for precisely that reason. But…if I may ask, why did you lay with me? It seemed as if you thought little of me,” he asked slowly. He’d finally backed into the bedroom and set her down gently onto the bed. She watched as he undressed, taking off what most closely resembled a suit, only the style was sleeker, more minimalistic than the suits guys wore on Earth.
“I don’t know, I think under all that I was just attracted to you and couldn’t handle it because…well no one likes you,” she said. Though she still questioned whether he was handling the alliance negotiations all that well, she hoped like hell he’d have listened to something she said and tried a new approach with his diplomats and his kind that he brought to Earth. She wondered again how that meeting he attended had gone.
“I hope to gain more of your affections,” he said slowly. It was very clear that he was stripping naked. Maya’s body warmed as she got a full view of him. He really did have the perfect body. Before he got into bed though, he knelt down and was tall enough to reach for the hem of her t-shirt and pull it off over her head. Her breasts bounced free once the shirt was off and Kohl paused to kiss both, right over each nipple.
“Um…do you usually sleep naked?” she asked, trying to make conversation to distract from her mounting arousal. The pressure was slowly building between her legs and Kohl was behaving as if what he was doing was the most natural thing in the world.
“No, but with you, I do not wish for there to be barriers between us,” he said. She was taken off guard by his continued honesty and gentleness. He hooked his fingers into her pajama shorts and pulled them off in one easy sweep, taking her panties with them. “I’ve wanted to taste you again…” he said while searching her gaze. Maya’s breath caught when he leaned forward to kiss just underneath her ear. He gently nudged her legs apart and a thrill went through her, causing her skin to flush and creating a subtle throb in between her legs.
“May I?” he asked her outright, as he kissed her neck, his lips sliding lower. Maya simply nodded, unsure if she said anything out loud that it would be coherent. He pulled her hips out to the edge of the bed and she laid back as his warm mouth sucked on the delicate skin of her lower belly. She couldn’t help her giggle as he lightly trailed his fingertips along her side, his lips inching closer to her bellybutton. Impatient, she wiggled underneath him and he smirked at her before putting some pressure on her hips to hold her still.
It seemed like forever, but finally his tongue slid up along the seam of her sex. He sucked on her clitoris briefly, then gently nibbled the sensitive nub with his lips. Maya moaned, her head falling back against the blankets. The pleasure stretched through her like warm liquor. He slid his tongue into her entrance before replacing it with his finger, his tongue on her clit as he pressed precisely against her g-spot. The slow burn turned to fire quickly then. Maya couldn’t sit still as she writhed underneath him with the pleasure, her mind and body lost to it. It didn’t take long for her to go flying into a sharp orgasm, crying out Kohl’s name. She reached for him once she came down from the high, her eyes half closed. She felt his chuckle and the warmth of his lips at her throat. Then his thick, hard length, was sliding into her with delicious slowness. She moaned and arched into him, gripping his strong arms to help ground her. He reached the deepest part of her and with his fast and intense thrusts she didn’t have a chance of not being completely lost and slave to the pleasure. Maya came hard, Kohl kept going, almost unbearably building her pleasure again. By her third orgasm she could feel his hot release emptying into her.
She fell limp against the bed, already falling asleep, though she wanted more with him. She felt his warmth nestling in behind her before she completely drifted off.
Chapter 10
