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

by A. G. Wilde

  Her body heaved with the heavy breaths she took.

  “Keh-reh-nah, do you read?”

  Kerena swallowed hard, her fingers trembling as she unwrapped them from her dress and activated the communicator.

  “Ajos.” She could hardly catch her breath and she shivered again.

  The hole was really cold now, and she was half-naked and wet.

  Fuck, this was a bad situation.

  “Keh-reh-nah, you are hurt.” Ajos’ breaths were coming hard too, and she remembered immediately that he was ill. Ill, yet he was pushing himself to find her.

  “I’m not. Just got the wind knocked out of me. I was trying to climb out. I can’t—” She took that back.

  She could.

  She would.

  “V’Alen has sent me the coordinates of your communicator,” he said, and hope rose within her. “But…” He trailed off.

  “But what?”

  “The device I retrieved from the Tasqal ship is still messing with the navigation. Even if I leave it behind…it would still…”

  Kerena took a breath. She understood.

  “It’s okay. I’ll wait. The plants haven’t moved again.”

  And she hoped to hell that they wouldn’t.

  Her shoulders sagged as she took a step back, looking up at the mouth of the hole.

  There must be a better way to attempt escape, but she could think of none.

  Her body ached, she was low on energy, and her palm burned something vicious.

  Switching on the light on her communicator, she turned the light to her palm.

  There was a cut there, probably from when she’d been trying to climb on the vine.

  She watched the rain hit her palm, mixing with her blood, and the mixture ran to fall on the root directly below her.

  “I’m sorry, Ker-reh-nah. I should never have taken you to this place.”

  She watched the blood drip as she pressed the button to talk to him.

  “I wanted to come.”

  “If you didn’t come, you would be safe on the base.”

  She held back a sad laugh.

  “I don’t think I’m really safe anywhere…not even on my own planet. I was taken—”

  Her words died on her lips as she froze.

  There was movement.

  “Keh-reh-nah?”

  “It’s moving,” she whispered.

  Even to her, fear laced her voice.

  “Qef,” Ajos cursed. “Move away from it, slowly.”

  “I—” Her eyes widened as she watched what was happening before her. “Ajos…it’s…”

  Kerena blinked, not believing what she was seeing.

  “Keh-reh-nah, talk, please. Let me know what’s happening.” Ajos sounded tortured.

  “It’s making a flower,” she whispered.

  Keh-reh-nah went silent again and Ajos collapsed against a tree, leaning his shoulder against it as he took a breath.

  The rain was helping.

  It was cooling his body but not his need.

  Still, he had to push forward.

  As soon as he got her out and back to the ship, then he could deal with his problem.

  “Ajos,” her voice came over his communicator and he released a breath. “Ajos, I—”

  “Keh-reh-nah,” he leaned off the tree and staggered forward, “don’t go near the things.”

  She chuckled a little and the sound of her laughter surprised him.

  “You have no idea how many of them are around me. There’s no way I can avoid them all but…” she paused, “I think I know why they pulled me away.”

  Ajos checked the communicator’s nav function as she spoke. It said she was to the west just a few minutes ago and he’d been heading that way. Now it said she was north-west.

  Switching his trajectory, he kept searching, slowing down so he could search more effectively.

  She said she was in a hole of some sort and he was sure he hadn’t passed her by accident before.

  Glancing behind him, he frowned. She’d been pulled much farther away than he’d expected or realized.

  “It’s my blood,” she said. “Wherever my blood falls, strange flowers bloom.”

  A growl erupted from within him and Ajos staggered a little more before taking a moment to lean against a tree to regain his strength.

  “You’re bleeding?”

  “It’s okay. I’m okay. It was just a scratch. It’s stopped bleeding now but not before some of the blood caught the root and…well, it grew a flower.” She paused. “I should be terrified but…this is the strangest plant I have ever witnessed in my life.”

  Ajos growled again. “It doesn’t explain why the plant pulled you away in the first place.”

  He checked his navigator once more.

  Qeffing qrak. The direction changed again.

  Hauling himself forward, he continued forward.

  “It does,” Keh-reh-nah said after a while. “I cut myself while I was running. I guess my blood caught one of the roots or something. Though…” she trailed off, “this doesn’t explain why it had climbed over me while I was sleeping. I wasn’t bleeding.”

  “The forest wants your blood?” He didn’t mean to growl but at this point, he couldn’t help it.

  “I don’t know. I can’t understand it. I assume something in my blood is a catalyst for this plant, causing some reaction that makes it bloom.”

  “Well, I need to get you the qef out of there,” he growled again and winced at the sound of his own voice.

  There was silence in his communicator as he stumbled through the forest.

  He checked the navigation again and realized the dot on his screen that told him where she was had shifted again. Though not considerably so.

  He could only hope it meant he was heading in the right direction this time.

  “Ajos…” Her voice sounded soft. So soft and delicate.

  Qef him.

  He was cursed.

  Ajos gulped. “Keh-reh-nah…”

  “You don’t have a fever, do you.”

  Ajos swallowed hard and continued forcing himself forward. He could hardly see with the downpour around him but that wasn’t the main thing that was hindering his vision.

  His lifeblood was hammering so hard in his skull that it was blurring his vision.

  He was denying his body of a natural process. It was only logical that he could hardly keep sane.

  But he needed to.

  Not only for his sake, but for hers as well.

  “Don’t worry about me,” he growled. “I am fine.”

  “Bullshit.”

  He paused at that.

  “What?”

  “You’re talking b-bullshit.” It sounded like she was shivering.

  Cold.

  Of course, she was.

  If the rain was helping him to cool down then she, with her thin skin, would positively be freezing.

  He needed to hurry if not for that reason alone.

  “What’s happening to you? Tell me,” she pressed.

  Ajos gulped again.

  He didn’t want to tell her.

  He didn’t even want to think about it. Thoughts only made the surges worse.

  “I know you don’t kn-know me. I know we don’t know each other, but I also think that these aren’t r-regular circumstances that brought us together.” She took a breath and it sounded as if she shivered again. “For some reason, and h-hear me out, I trust you.” She paused. “Y-you can trust m-me too.”

  Ajos’ throat worked as he collapsed against another tree, breathing hard.

  He looked up into the gray sky of Choria G622 and searched the nothingness as if for an answer.

  “It’s the heat,” he finally said, sinking down into a sitting position as his chest heaved. “I am consumed by it. Completely.” He paused. “I am afraid…you are not safe from me.”

  He waited for her to say something, but nothing came across the line.

  “When I get you out of that hole, Keh
-reh-nah…you need to run…and try not to bleed again.” He gulped. “Take my spear with you and if I…”

  A few moments passed and he struggled with himself.

  “If you what?” her voice prompted.

  Ajos took another breath and spoke the next words as fast as he could.

  “If I attack you, you need to use the spear. Do what it takes to protect yourself.”

  A few more moments passed and Ajos rose to his feet, staggering once more as he continued on his search.

  “Ajos?” Keh-reh-nah’s voice sounded like sweet surca juice, like the taste of her skin. “Why would you attack me?”

  Ajos had to stop at those words, the images in his mind too strong.

  Images of her pale, naked skin…of his hands on her body…of her writhing beneath him…

  “Because I want you, Keh-reh-nah…”

  A soft sound left her lips. “Yes…you said.”

  There was no other sound for a few moments, only her breathing.

  “Because you’re horny and I’m the only female around.” She paused. “That’s all this is…isn’t it?”

  He stumbled, the question catching him off guard.

  And his answer?

  No.

  No, it wasn’t as simple as that.

  He wanted her now and he wanted her tomorrow.

  He wanted her the next day and the next after that…

  Ajos’ eyes widened as the reality hit him.

  His nefre pulsed with confirmation.

  It wasn’t just the heat…

  This burning desire to consume her wasn’t just a result of his biological processes.

  Somewhere, somehow, he’d done something he never thought was ever a possibility in his future.

  It was something that happened to only the luckiest of the Shum’ai. Something others prayed to the gods for and never received. Yet, somehow, they’d bestowed the gift on him.

  A life bond.

  Ajos stopped running completely, his chest heaving with the huge breaths he was taking.

  Rain poured down over his skin, the thick raindrops running off the leaves above to drench him with the shower of the heavens.

  Keh-reh-nah…

  Keh-reh-nah was his life mate.

  20

  Kerena hugged herself.

  It might have been a mistake to take off her dress, but she hadn’t had a choice.

  It had been hours since she’d been stuck in the hole, so long now that night had come again and still, she hadn’t found a way out.

  Well, at least it had stopped raining.

  Water was still trickling down the roots, though. She was lucky it hadn’t created a pool in the hole itself.

  That would have been another problem she was glad she didn’t have to face.

  She shivered in the darkness and adjusted her feet on the roots on which she stood.

  She didn’t dare sit down or even relax for a moment.

  Who knew? The plants might just start moving again.

  So far, they’d kept still since depositing her to this place.

  Using the light on her communicator, she shone it around the dark hole.

  There were flowers in a few spots that she’d tested her blood on.

  Call her a mad scientist or something, testing her blood on what was obviously not a normal plant, but the curiosity within her had been pressing.

  There were several blooms around her now, and despite that this was creepy as hell, she marveled at the size of the flowers.

  They were about as big as a dinner plate, the purple petals spreading away from what looked like a pollinated center.

  They reminded her of giant hibiscuses in the way the petals were arranged.

  Now and then, the pollen-filled bulbs within the center of the plants would pop—the yellow specks of pollen floating into the air.

  “I think I am close.” Ajos’ strained voice came over the communicator and Kerena tilted her head upward. “Your signal isn’t moving so much anymore.”

  He sounded tormented, as if he was about to collapse when she saw him next, and Kerena worried her lip between her teeth as she searched the darkness above.

  Activating the device so she could speak, she shone the light above her as she did.

  “I’m shining my light out of the hole. I don’t know if you can see it, but maybe it will help.”

  There was a grunt. “I think I see you.”

  Relief shot through her, but at the same time, anxiety did as well.

  She hadn’t forgotten what he’d said.

  He’d told her to take his spear and run.

  He’d said she should use his own weapon to defend herself against him.

  There was a sound above her and Kerena tensed, shining her light so she could see.

  There was a grunt and the sound of boots hitting the leaves.

  Her heart rate sped up a little more.

  “Ajos? Is that you?”

  A figure leaned over the hole, directly in her light and Kerena gasped, stumbling back a little as she did.

  It was Ajos all right, but he looked…he looked like he’d been through hell and back.

  His skin was damp, but something told her it was his own perspiration and not just the rain that had caused that.

  Not only that, but the protrusions on the side of his head were completely red.

  He looked like he was in pain but there was such intense focus in his eyes, it was like looking into the eyes of a tiger.

  “Ajos?”

  His gaze found hers and Kerena’s mouth opened in shock.

  Completely black. Not even one gold fleck was in that darkness.

  “I’ll get you out,” he said, before his head disappeared and she heard some shuffling above.

  Kerena paced a little.

  A part of her was scared to be close to him again and another part of her…

  That other part of her was…excited.

  Memory of the contact of his pelvis against hers…the feel of his tongue against her skin…Ajos appeared again and lowered himself over the edge of the hole, almost so his entire upper body was hanging down. He was upside down, his back to the roots, and one of his legs was secured by something she couldn’t see.

  He stretched his spear toward her with the dangerous end facing his way.

  “Can you reach it?”

  Kerena gulped. She wasn’t even sure if she should touch him.

  His warning kept repeating in her mind.

  She had no choice, though, so she eyed the distance.

  She’d have to jump, but she could definitely reach.

  “I can,” she said, tying her dress around her waist. She was moving toward the handle of the spear when her gaze landed on one of the strange flowers.

  She hesitated for a second before she plucked the thing and stuffed it into the band her dress had created.

  “Ready?” Flattening her feet, she crouched to give herself more upward momentum and pushed off the ground with her legs.

  Up she went and she almost missed the spear but managed to grab on to it with one hand.

  The muscles in that arm began screaming immediately and she flailed a little, stretching hard with the other hand to grab hold of the stick.

  “You can do it, Keh-reh-nah.”

  She appreciated the confidence, but her entire body begged to differ. She began to slip, unable to hold her weight with the one hand, and with a loud cry, she made one last effort to grab hold of the stick with the other hand.

  She did it. Her palm closed around the wood and she held on tight, taking a second to let the jittery feeling of relief flood through her.

  “Can you climb up?”

  “Not sure, but I have to try.” Now it was her voice that sounded strained. Her arms felt like string cheese. There was absolutely no strength in them. But as she said to him, she had to try. Glancing upward, she met Ajos’ dark gaze, and another shiver went through her, this time not because of the cold, but because of what she saw
in his eyes. One thing at a time, Kerena. Deal with one thing at a time. “I will help you.” Ajos grimaced and began pulling the spear toward him.

  Slowly but surely, she was lifted and Kerena forced the muscles in her arms to keep steady.

  With much effort, she lifted one hand to grasp farther along the spear. Together, they could do this.

  She was looking down as she was pulled up and only when the spear stopped moving did she look up again.

  Air went into her nose in a sharp intake. Her face dangerously close to his.

  Ajos seemed frozen as he stared down at her, and this close, his eyes were utterly terrifying.

  “Ajos?”

  Her voice must have lit something in his mind because, for just a moment, his pupils contracted a little so she could see a ring of gold at the edges.

  “Keh-reh-nah,” he said in that way that seemed to caress every syllable. “Your garments…”

  “Oh…about that…” She’d forgotten she was only in her underwear. Her only thought had been about getting out of her plant prison.

  A growl rumbled from within him and now it was her time to freeze, her gaze moving over his face.

  The sound made another shiver go through her.

  But she wasn’t terrified.

  She should be.

  He himself had warned her that she’d need to run.

  “You will have to climb over me,” he growled before squeezing his eyes shut. When he looked back at her, they’d gone even darker, if that was even possible. “You must do it quickly.”

  Noted.

  Grasping his shirt, she pulled herself upward.

  It was much easier to do since he wasn't as slippery as the roots and was easier to hold on to than his spear. Soon her upper body was almost aligned with his and she smiled.

  She could almost see over the edge of the hole now. Just a little more…

  That’s when a groan so strong it made his entire body shudder vibrated through him. It was so powerful, she swayed a little on his chest.

  Looking down, her eyes widened as she realized just why he’d reacted that way.

  Her crotch was right over his head and, not realizing it, she’d cause him to bury his nose right in the center of her panties.

  Ajos groaned again as he inhaled deeply.

  He shuddered so hard, she almost slipped, and she realized that if she didn’t hurry, they both risked ending up in the hole.