Ajos: The Restitution - A Sci-fi Alien Romance, Book 1

by A. G. Wilde

  He was barely in control.

  Thank the gods it was dark now—dark enough for shadows to creep among the trees all around them.

  If it was the middle of the day cycle, Keh-reh-nah would see his shame.

  “You know what I’ve noticed?” she whispered.

  She was oblivious to what was happening to him.

  “What?” Good grief, it had taken almost all his energy to make his voice sound relatively normal.

  “These plants…the trees above us, even the bushes and plants below them…”

  “Hm?”

  “Most of this is roots, not vines… There are so many aerial roots…and they seem to be running from one tree to the other.”

  Her nose scrunched up in a most strange manner. He almost wanted to poke it to see if it would bounce back to its regular form.

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s like…I know this might be reaching but…it’s like this,” she motioned around them in a big sweep of her arm, “is all one big tree…one big organism. At more than one point, I even noticed one root connected to two different trees.”

  Ajos frowned a little, he didn’t get what she was saying.

  “We have something similar on Earth, called the Pando Aspen. It’s in Utah—not that you know where that is—but it’s the largest living organism on Earth.” She paused. “I can’t be positive, this is all just speculative, but I think that this forest is something similar. There are seeds but not many of the trees seem to bear fruit, only a few. Yet, they dominate the land—at least, this section of it. There is no wildlife to spread the seeds either. Wherever they fall, that’s where they end up. So for the forest to grow and spread, it’s possible it uses its root system. I could be wrong, but the trees look identical too.”

  She glanced up at him, her filaments brushing against his chin as she did so.

  “Sorry, I’m babbling.”

  Ajos blinked. “Don’t stop. I like it.”

  She smiled and moved into him more, either of her own accord or involuntarily, he didn’t know.

  All he knew was that the brush of her body against his was making his cock pulse so hard she’d feel it.

  Ajos swallowed hard as a cool breeze blew across them and Keh-reh-nah shivered a little.

  He shouldn’t…

  He really shouldn’t…

  But though his mind was strong, his flesh was weak.

  Knowing he was playing a dangerous game, he wrapped his arms around her as he leaned back to lay against the vines with her cradled against his chest.

  She went with him without protest, only adjusting herself so she was more comfortable.

  In the silence of the forest, a deep peace settled over Ajos. One that felt undeserved but, yet, one that he craved.

  This felt…good.

  She felt good.

  For long minutes, he stared up into the darkness, watching as the stars above them began to appear, and he wondered what the gods were trying to tell him.

  She felt warm against him. Warm and soft and it didn’t take long before he realized she’d drifted off to sleep.

  She snuggled into him, spinning so that her front was turned to him and he could feel every single beat of her life organ.

  Did he dare relish in this feeling she was stirring within him?

  Ajos swallowed hard as his arms closed around her tighter, pulling her closer to him and when she sighed, he lost all his resolve.

  His shoulders shook with the tension of unspent emotion.

  He wanted her.

  And it was not his body, not the urges, not the heat, that he was feeling.

  This was more than the heat.

  He wanted her.

  For the first time in a long while, someone was evoking feelings in him that he hadn’t allowed himself to feel.

  The only problem? He wasn’t worthy of a female and Keh-reh-nah was too pure to be associated with him.

  But could he allow himself this one moment?

  Maybe…

  Just once, and tomorrow, he would accept the fate the gods had given him.

  Pulling her a little closer, Ajos buried his nose into the pale strands on her head.

  Tonight he would allow himself to live a little.

  Tomorrow, he would forget this ever happened.

  15

  Kerena woke with a start and strong arms closed around her immediately, preventing her from moving.

  Ajos.

  She remembered now. They were in the forest.

  It was still dark, but she didn’t remember falling asleep.

  She must have been more tired than she’d thought.

  She felt warm, so warm and she soon realized the reason for that.

  There was warmth underneath her.

  Ajos was burning up.

  “Ajos?” She tried to ease up so she could look at him, but his arms tightened around her even more.

  “Don’t move.”

  Kerena stilled.

  It hardly sounded like Ajos at all.

  That voice was hard, rough, strained…

  “Are you in pain?” She tried to move again but he only held her tighter.

  “Keh-reh-nah,” he rasped. “Don’t…move.”

  For a moment, she didn’t move, and her eyes widened as she tried to sense if any threat was around them.

  But it soon became clear that he wanted her still for some other reason—some reason she did not know.

  She lifted her head and looked upward. She couldn’t see his face clearly because of the angle at which he held her, and the darkness around them didn’t make it any easier.

  Reaching upward, she felt for his face and as her hand made contact with his neck, she heard him inhale sharply.

  There was a thin layer of perspiration there but just that one touch told her that he was indeed burning up.

  A small yelp left her lips when her hand was suddenly snatched as Ajos’ palm closed around her wrist. He pulled her intrusive hand from his flesh.

  “You’re burning up.” She searched his face in the darkness. She could barely make out his outline, but she was sure she saw the muscle tick in his cheek.

  He was burning up and agitated.

  This wasn’t the same Ajos she’d fallen asleep on.

  She had no idea how long she’d been sleeping for, but it must have been for a few hours at least, judging from how dark it was.

  “Ajos—”

  “Keh-reh-nah,” he rasped again, and his entire body shuddered.

  He sounded so strained, panic rose within her.

  “Let me go,” she ordered. She needed to get a better vantage point so she could help him somehow.

  His arms tightened around her, but when she struggled against him, he finally loosened his arms a little. Still, he did not release her.

  “No,” he said. “Just don’t…don’t move.”

  Was she the reason he was in pain?

  She could understand that his body must be hurting laying on the hard ground and with her added weight, it must have been agony. Was he cramped?

  Plus, she knew he’d hurt his back.

  But that didn’t explain the heat underneath his skin and her instincts told her something else was amiss.

  “Let me go,” she repeated and pushed against his arms.

  He released her, but it felt as if it was reluctantly done.

  She rose over him, moving so she could peer at his face in the darkness.

  “Don’t come any closer…”

  “Ajos, what’s happening to you?” She touched his cheek and he hissed as if she’d just branded him with a hot iron.

  What the—

  She rubbed her hands together. Maybe her skin was cold?

  When she had a fever, her skin was sensitive to any slight bit of cold. Cold fingers would feel like daggers poking at her. “You have a fever and it’s come on strong. Shit.” Her eyes flicked around in the darkness before settling back on Ajos. “We should probably get back to the shi
p. Maybe V’Alen knows some doctor stuff that could help.”

  Such high fevers usually meant something very wrong was happening. They were never good—at least, not for humans, and she was going to assume that was the case for him too.

  She could even feel the warmth of his body without touching him directly.

  “You definitely need medical attention.”

  “That’s not what I need,” he all but growled and Kerena frowned, refusing to roll her eyes.

  He was stubborn.

  “This is going to hurt, but I have to check you,” she warned him before she pressed her hand against his skin again.

  A deep rumble that sounded like it came from the bottom of his chest filled the air around them and Kerena tried not to panic as she felt the temperature of his forehead and then his neck with the back of her hand.

  He felt like a real-life hot water bottle filled to the brim with boiling liquid, and she had no idea what she should do.

  Fuck.

  She’d been the one to suggest they stay in the middle of the forest. If they’d been back at the ship, V’Alen would have known what to do.

  If she had access to a lime tree or even some white willow, she’d have been able to do something for him. But in this alien world, she couldn’t even go hunt the native bushes for anything because she knew nothing about the plants here.

  Then she remembered.

  “Your medicine.” She brushed her hands against his leg, trying to find his pocket that held the blue vials she’d seen him with.

  “No,” he groaned. “I can’t take it.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” she snapped. “I don’t know about you, but I’m freaking out because I don’t want you to die.” She continued running her hands over his legs and Ajos groaned some more.

  Damn it.

  She couldn’t find the damn pocket.

  “Where is it, Ajos? Tell me.” She was getting frantic, but he refused to say anything. Frustration rose within her. “Do you want to die?”

  To her horror, the hard-headed male chuckled, his body jerking with his mirth.

  “That is not what I want.” He chuckled through gritted teeth, then he sobered. “What I want,” he growled, “I should not have.”

  Her eyes adjusted enough for her to see a pained expression cross his face before he tensed once more. “You shouldn’t touch me.”

  Confused, Kerena eased back a little.

  He was breathing harder too. She could hear it now. His chest was heaving with each breath he took, and it seemed as if he was groaning with effort to restrain the pain he was feeling.

  Good god.

  She needed to do something.

  V’Alen.

  He’d know what to do.

  Tapping the watch on her arm, she tried pushing the buttons on the side of it like she’d seen Ajos do to activate the comms. Hopefully, she’d press the right one.

  But no crackle of the comms came on. Instead, the watch turned into a torch, beaming a bright light in the area.

  Kerena squinted as her gaze got accustomed to the sudden brightness, and when she focused on Ajos, she gasped.

  His mouth was slightly open, and his entire body was covered in the sheen of his perspiration.

  The muscles in his neck were tense, his chest was tense, and his arms formed fists at his sides.

  But it was his head and his eyes that caught her attention.

  His head, the fin-like structure that ran on it, was blazing red and his eyes…his eyes looked wild…feral, and dark.

  He looked nothing like himself.

  For a moment, a jolt of fear shot through her and she froze.

  It slammed into her that she knew nothing about the lifeform in front of her—yet, she was all alone with him on a jungle planet in the middle of nowhere.

  Very responsible, Kerena.

  Still, she couldn’t move or run away.

  Something wrung deep inside her.

  He needed her help.

  “Go, Keh-reh-nah,” Ajos breathed. “Go. Move away from me. Run if you have to. I will contact V’Alen. He will come for you.”

  What? He expected her to leave him when he was obviously dying?

  “You don’t really expect me to leave, do you?” She crawled over to him, not caring that it was inappropriate to straddle him the way she was, and began her searching of his garments again.

  “I’m not leaving you here like this. Are you insane?” She just needed to find his medicine then everything would be all right.

  “Keh-reh-nah, don’t.” Ajos’ voice shook.

  “That medicine thing must be in here somewhere.”

  “You need to go, I am losing control.”

  His words didn’t even register.

  “If I could just find the damn thing—”

  “Keh-reh-nah!” He growled so loud she was momentarily taken aback.

  Ajos jerked forward and spun.

  She didn’t know how she ended up on her back so quickly, but she was suddenly staring upward with wide eyes and Ajos was above her.

  His hands grasped hers, pinning them above her head as he leaned over her.

  He growled again, something feral, something inhuman, and some unknown emotion shot through her.

  Ajos dipped his head close to her ear and his breath rumbled from him.

  The sound was so raw, so animalistic, that her own breath caught in her throat.

  Her heart began doing pushups in her chest, slamming against her ribs and her lungs forgot how to work.

  “I told you to run,” he growled and Kerena opened her mouth to answer but found the organ she used to speak wasn’t working anymore.

  She couldn’t find words as she stared up into his eyes.

  Maybe she should have run—she was really considering her wisdom on that particular advice right now—but, alas, said advice didn’t mean jack shit now that he had her pinned down.

  “Ajos?” Maybe she could talk reason into him. It was obvious the fever was getting to his head.

  That’s all this was.

  Kerena swallowed hard, trying to wet the desert that was her throat, but fear was building within her, mixing with adrenaline and excitement, and flooding through her veins like a deadly concoction.

  Her heart was still slamming against her chest, and as she tried to release herself, it felt as if Ajos only held her tighter.

  His grip on her wasn’t painful and she took comfort in that fact. He seemed to only want to prevent her from wriggling.

  The only problem with that was…well…she obviously had some trauma she needed to work through because instead of turning her off…terrifying her…she was being…turned on?

  Ajos buried his head into her neck and inhaled deeply.

  Another growl rumbled from his chest even as he twisted his hips so he settled between her legs.

  She felt it then, the hardness between his legs, and it made her eyes widen.

  She’d seen him naked.

  She hadn’t seen a cock but there was obviously something there for he was hard.

  So hard.

  Shock made her freeze.

  She should push him away, fight for him to release her, but there was something preventing her from doing so. A deep tingle started in her stomach and found its way to the bud nestled between her thighs.

  Fuck.

  She couldn’t help the sharp rise of her chest as she pulled air into her lungs.

  Ajos groaned at the movement, opening his lips to trail his teeth over her skin.

  Good God…if he bit her now, she’d probably enjoy it.

  The thought confused her. She didn’t want this…did she?

  “Keh-reh-nah,” he growled her name as he inhaled her scent again. “I don’t want medical attention,” he rasped. “I want you.”

  Kerena blinked and when he moved against her again, that hardness hiding underneath his garments rubbed against the thin material of her panties.

  Kerena stifled a moan.

 
He was…

  He was turned on by this.

  She was turned on by this.

  Ajos opened his mouth, his hot breath brushing over her skin before something wet and thick ran from her collarbone right up to her ear.

  Kerena inhaled, her back arching with the movement of his tongue.

  It was slick and warm and her eyes rolled back in her head a little at the unexpected feel of it against her skin.

  It shouldn’t feel that good.

  Ajos licked her again, following the path of her collarbone to the other side of her face, and this time, she couldn’t help but moan out loud.

  She felt a burst of pleasure at his touch, pleasure that seemed to swell directly from the path his tongue took, and her eyelids fluttered as she tried to focus on him.

  Suddenly, her nipples were hard and aching for his mouth to close over them, her breath quickened in her chest, and her clit throbbed, pressing against her thin cotton panties, begging to be touched.

  She didn’t understand it and she didn’t care.

  It was nonsensical…but there was no denying that her body was screaming for more.

  Suddenly, there was no more fear. All was replaced by ecstasy, and Ajos must have felt this change in her too, because he growled again.

  “This is…” she didn’t know how to describe what was happening because her mind couldn’t understand it. It felt as if she was being overtaken by a vehicle on the way to the most unexpected orgasm she’d ever have in her life.

  She whimpered shamelessly as his kiss went lower toward the V in her dress.

  She knew where she wanted his mouth, knew his hot tongue should go where she needed it most.

  Ajos released her wrists, his arms sliding down her body as if tracing her every curve before landing on the juncture of her hips and he groaned again.

  One hand slipped underneath her dress to caress the soft flesh of her thigh, and his hand pressed gently into her skin.

  The raw power she felt underneath his palm, she knew if he wanted to, he could do anything right then and there, without regard for her feelings.

  Yet, he didn’t.

  Emotion caused his body to shake as he withheld himself, choosing instead to grind his pelvis into hers again—and fuck her if her clit didn’t respond.

  This was better than the last time she used her magic wand.

  Kerena panted as she raised her arm to rest it on his shoulder.