Ash: Love Me Harder - Alien Paranormal Romance (3 page)

She knew it was an illusion. It had to be, but she didn’t care. He was here and he felt solid in her arms. Maybe everything was a dream and all she had to do was wake up. She opened her eyes slowly expecting to see anything except the male who still had her wrapped firmly in his arms.

“Ash?”

“I’m real, Brooklyn, not a figment of your imagination.”

“How did you know I’d be here?”

“I’m standing here asking myself the same question. How can you be alive? How are you here? I came here all those centuries ago, but you never showed up.”

The pain and the accusation in his voice made her heart pound. She had hurt him.

“I wanted to come, believe me. I fought to come, but my parents had a different plan. They had me moved against my will to a facility outside of the US. I went through a procedure where I was frozen and supposed to be awakened in a few years when a cure was found for my disease. It never happened until a few months ago. Today was the day they finally released me.”

Tentatively she raised her fingers to his face, touching his jaw. He really was there. How could it be? She had screamed and hollered as they prepared her for the procedure all those centuries ago. No one listened to her. They had been paid well to preserve her in a way that she would be able to live again. After a while, she realized that fighting against the restraints was useless. She crawled into herself and built the one thing she would miss. A happy life with a man who loved her. She had dreamed they were a married couple who were madly in love. They just had their first child, a girl. She imagined them walking along the beach or sitting on a bench people watching. She had taken those dreams into her long nap. Suddenly her dreams were trying to knock on the door of reality.

She threw her arms around him not caring what the explanation was, he was here and she was here. Knowing it was crazy, she plastered her lips to his.

The feel of his firm lips over hers brought a sigh of joy. His tongue swept into her mouth mingling with hers. The feel of his tongue over hers made her body tense. Pleasure, the kind she hadn’t known in forever, sizzled through her blood addicting her with his taste and smell of him.

“Brooklyn…” The sound of a weapon had him screaming, “Run.”

He reached out and took her hand, dragging her behind him as he began to crisscross the jagged terrain. Her foot caught on an outcropping of rocks and she fell losing hold of his hand. A beam of light hit where she had been standing cutting into the rocks ahead of her. Ash bent over and picked her up, running as his body changed, and stretched allowing him to cover more distance in a shorter time.

He changed. If she didn’t know better she would think she was hallucinating or that her miraculous recovery was a dream, but she knew better. Ash had become taller and wider while he was carrying her. More hair covered his body. Not long and shaggy, more like he was just naturally hairy. His face changed a little but she would still know it was him if she touched him. What mattered was he changed just like the aliens Jaz told her about that attacked the Earth.

They came to a beautiful black car and she gave it a passing glance before studying the alien holding her. Her Ash, the one she yearned for, wasn’t human. Shock moved within and fear sizzled in her blood before she controlled it.

Him or the guy with the laser? Him! She jumped into the car and quickly secured the seat belt. She would panic about the fact that he became an alien later after she was sure she would live.

The car took off over the rocky terrain making her bounce up and down as she looked behind her trying to find the person shooting at them. Soon she realized the road became much smoother. She looked down to see they were rising above the ground. As they got higher, she thought she could see a dot on the ground looking up at them. She imagined the look of frustration on the face below and smiled. Now all she had to do was deal with the alien sitting beside her.

“Jazlyn, that’s my friend from the clinic, told me there was a planetary wide war with aliens.”

“Your friend is correct.”

“Those aliens wanted to destroy the people of the Earth. Then claim it for themselves. Some of them changed shapes.”

“There are many races throughout the galaxy that can change shape. Some were for the Earth, others were against you.”

“Which side did you fall on?’

“I and my brothers as well as others like us were the first line of defense. As long as we didn’t fall the Earth would stand. You may be a little worse for wear, but you would still be standing.”

“I was told that all the aliens departed Earth.”

“That’s what we let everyone believe. It was easier for you to think you were safe again, wrapped in your protective bubble of ignorance, than to tell the general population that they would never be alone again.”

“So you lied to us?”

“No, your government did. They felt that Earth would forever be on edge if you knew aliens still lived among you. It was not a problem for my family; we lived on Earth long before the wars started. We just wanted our privacy the same as any other Earthling.”

“Who should I be more scared of, the person shooting at me on the ground or the alien I’m sitting next to?” The alien she dreamed of for years.

“Neither. I won’t harm you and I refuse to let anyone else harm you.”

She nodded because she believed him. Maybe it was the Cryo dreams influencing her, but it would take a lot to convince her that Ash wanted to hurt her.

“Where are you staying?”

“Nowhere yet. Jazlyn, my friend, suggested the Skyline Hotel. Now I’m not sure. Why would someone want to kill me? I think I will have to find a place where I can’t be traced.”

“I know the perfect spot. Do you have any luggage?”

“No. I put it down before I started wandering around and with being shot at I forget to grab it.”

“That’s not a problem, you can always go to a gallery”.

“Jaz was telling me about them. I have to call her to tell her where I am when I get settled. Hopefully we are going to share a place.”

Ash looked at her out the corner of his eyes and kept driving. “How did you get put into Cyro?”

“My parents.” She told him the whole story as he drove.

“How did you manage to still be alive after all these years?”

“My people have a long life span. We have no idea how long because of how we were created.”

“Do you like it knowing you might live forever?”

“I didn’t until I saw you standing in the midst of all the rubble. I thought you were a hologram someone set up to taunt me with what I was missing. Then I touched you, felt your smooth skin heated by my touch. Your hair is shorter.”

“It didn’t like being frozen, so I asked Jaz to get someone to come and cut it for me. It’s never been short like this before, but I like it. It’s called a pixie haircut.”

The look Ash gave her was blank. Of course he didn’t know the name of haircuts.

“Do you like it?”

“Yes. It’s very soft on your face.”

“Thank you.”

*~*~*~*

Ash looked at her and swallowed; she was even more beautiful than when he first saw her. Her brown eyes glowed. It must be caused by the chemical in the Cryo process, but they captured his interest even more. Her short hair sat tossed on her head and he wanted to run his fingers through it. Her red lips were beautiful, making him want to press his against hers. His whole body was taut, wanting, needing to pull her against him and never let go.

He pulled into his driveway after lowering the car to the ground.

“You live on the ground?” She looked around curiously at the large house and the surrounding green area.

“I was living here way before war came to the Earth. My brothers and I each protected our property. I am able to live on the Earth without any repercussions. In the beginning, large segments of the Earth were destroyed or uninhabitable. My family was able to protect our land so there was no need to leave it. Now more than sixty percent of the Earth is habitable but there are still domes up protecting the population from the portion that is off limits as uninhabitable.”

He parked the car and went over to open her door.

She got out and looked around. “How did you manage to set the car down? I was taught that once a hover left the ground it never touched it again.”

“Those are the new models that are being built today. Not being able to touch the ground is a severe limitation. What I am driving is a retro car that was refitted as hovers became more the style. Such a great combination of the two.” Ash touched the car with appreciation.

“Every car I drive,” he waved his hand to indicate his massive garage, “can be driven in the air or on the ground. It stops me from being in a situation with no way out.”

He took her elbow and led her into the house. A small smile played on her lips.

“I like this. It makes me feel at home. I always lived in a palace or some grand hotel room, but I would also watch those home shows that showed gorgeous houses, the kind real people could live in. Not show room houses like palaces or the places I lived, besides it makes me feel like I fell asleep and met you on Monday and you convinced me to run away with you.”

“Would you have come back to see my house back then?”

She threw him a flippant smile and shrugged her shoulders, the twinkle in her eyes making him catch his breath.

“You never know.”

“Let me show you around.”

They started with the kitchen. He showed her all the updates that had been added. Stoves had changed as well as microwaves.

“This is a microwave?”

“Sort of. It acts like a microwave and an oven at the same time. Depends on how you set it.”

There was a strange noise in the room as Brook’s communicator went off.

“That must be Jaz, the friend I told you about. She’s the only one with my frequency.” She tapped behind her ear. “Jaz!”

“Sorry to disappoint you, Brooklyn.”

The sound of the voice made bile rise in her stomach. Whoever was calling her wasn’t friendly. She felt the fine hair on her body rise.

“Who are you and how did you get my frequency?” She tapped the communicator again so that Ash could hear both sides of the conversation.

“First allow me to introduce myself, you may call me the Patron. As far as your frequency it was not difficult, Brooklyn. I can get whatever I want and your frequency was not hard to acquire. How are you enjoying your new life?”

“What do you want?” She had been in too many negotiations growing up and lived through too many threats to ever think this was a welcome to your new life call.

“Would you rather I not show concern?”

“You have five seconds to tell me what’s on your mind or I will end the call.”

“I like that. Concise and to the point. Someone ordered you out of Cryo, Brooklyn, but it was not me. I preferred you frozen. Now we have a problem. Your life is problematic for me. You managed to evade my assassin. Congratulations on that, it is not often done. I figured anyone with that kind of talent should be given an option. You can turn yourself over to me, continue to live under my rule or you can die. Do not take too long thinking about it, I will be back in touch.”

The line clicked off leaving her looking shell-shocked.

“Ash, what’s happening?”

“I don’t know. Sounded like someone was benefiting from you being frozen. What could you have that they want?”

“Money. It’s all I have. Jaz told me I was rich, I could buy the Skyline Hotel and not even put a dent in my net worth.”

“Then we’ll have to track your money. I need to see if Hale and Rena can track that from wherever they are in the galaxy.

She looked at him before taking a seat in the kitchen. Being on someone’s hit list wasn’t how she planned to start her new life, but Ash was here. A smile lit her face as she watched him, her heart doing that familiar little dance in her chest.

“Don’t worry, Brook nothing is going to happen to you. I just found you I’m not giving you up.” He crouched down next to her, taking her hands in his. A growl came from his lips that he tried to suppress.

“I don’t understand. How could someone want me dead?” Her voice was soft and questioning, she rubbed her eyes as the shine in them began to dull.

“The world has changed. The Earth remade itself several times during the war. There was a new influx of alien technology as well as different alien cultures and the people of Earth struggled to comprehend a new way of life. Your people are strong and they adapted. Some used what they learned to help others and the world at large, but some used it to further their own desires no matter who they hurt. The one who called you probably falls into the second category. We will find him.”

“What should I do? Go to the police? Are there even still police?” She gave a helpless shrug as her eyes dimmed and her shoulders sagged for a moment before she straightened them.

“We can try the patrols as they are now called, but I believe it will be futile. No one knows who the Patron is and trying to fight him is virtually unheard of for the patrols. I believe we will have to deal with this ourselves.”

“Aren’t you scared? I’m sort of use to being in the cross hairs of some political or even personal vendetta against my parents, but why should you have to take on a crazy person for me?”

The growl he was trying to suppress came out making her flinch. He took her hands.

“Brook, I want to be here for you. I want to be the person you lean on when you can’t stand on your own. I want to be the male beside you when you show the world what you’re made of. I am not scared; I am honored to be here for you. Let me in, Brooklyn. I know this is fast and I know you’ve been betrayed. Allow me to prove I will never betray you.”

She nodded her head and gave him a shaky smile. “So when do I get the rest of the house tour.”

She needed time to think, to understand how she could want to throw her lot in with his so desperately.

He stood and helped her out of the chair. Throwing her a smile, he showed her his home. She saw his game room as well as the dining room. He showed her the security room and then took her to his living room. She stopped and approached a wall that held nothing but pictures. She had seen pictures in other rooms assuming they were family. In this room there was no doubt he loved these people.

In the center of the wall was a large picture of a beautiful woman surrounded by smaller ones of her at all different ages.

“She’s beautiful. Who is she?”

“My daughter.”

Brook felt a pang in her chest. Of course, he went ahead with his life when she didn’t show up and she wouldn’t hold it against him. Still, the ache in her heart persisted as she imagined him with a woman he loved. They raised a child together. Her hand drifted to her abdomen, it could have been her child.

“Where is she? Where is your wife?”

“I never had a wife. Amber is the child of my heart. She is not my biological child. I was appointed her guardian whether I wanted it or not.” A soft smile touched his lips as he looked at her pictures.  “She came into my well-ordered life with the force of a category five hurricane. I have never regretted the day. She is now married to my brother’s son. My entire family is off exploring the universe.”

“Why didn’t you go with them?”

He looked at her studying Aran’s picture. “I couldn’t leave…”

She turned to look at him seeing the pain buried deep behind his eyes and she knew, he waited for her after not even an hour of knowing her. She felt humbled and scared at the same time.

“Who are they?” She pointed to a wedding photo as well as others.

He took the time to tell her who people in the photo were and to explain how they were related to him.

“Your family is huge.”

“It is and it continued to grow as my brothers took mates and eventually they began to have children.”

“Why only one each?”

“That’s a story for another day. How are you feeling?”

“Tired. Sorry. This is my first real day of activity and it has been an action packed one.”

“Don’t apologize.”

“Are you offering me a room here for a few days?”

“Yes, I would love to have you stay with me.”

Brook smiled at him. She got a little closer and inhaled. Honey. How could he smell so intoxicating? She wanted to lick him to see if he tasted as good as he smelled.
Back up, Brook.
Taking a deep breath, she turned around and went to sit in one of the comfortable chairs.

“I need to call Jaz and tell her where I am. She’ll want to be able to visit.” She raised worried eyes to her. “She’s different. She tells me that some people shun her because of what she is.”

“I don’t care what she is. You can have her over whenever you want. I even have an extra room if she needs a place to stay.”

“You would let her move in?”

“Yes Brook, I would do anything to see joy dancing in your eyes.”

She flew out of the chair crossing the room and threw her arms around him hugging him.

“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.