“We want to give you freedom aboard the Ebony, and we don’t want to scare humans any more than they already are, so motion capture was a good option.”
“I never said they weren’t.”
“You never said they were, either,” Kol countered.
I sighed and looked up at him. “I would have just appreciated it if you told me about them. I feel weird knowing Maji security were watching me.”
“The Guard weren’t watching you. I was.”
My pulse spiked. “Excuse me?”
“I had the feed from your quarters transferred to my comm so I could … keep an eye on you.”
My heart started to beat fast.
“Did you do that with other c-camera feeds?”
“No,” he said, his lips turned up in a half smile. “Just yours.”
It was idiotic for pleasure to rush through me with that knowledge, but I couldn’t help but like that Kol singled me out to watch over. Echo and Envi suddenly invaded my thoughts and ruined the joy I felt.
“Because you were afraid that I’d hurt Echo and Envi?” I asked, not being able to stop myself from frowning. “You were worried about them?”
“No.” Kol chuckled, crossing the short space between us to tip my chin up with his finger. “To make sure you were in no danger from them.”
“They’re skinny little kids,” I scowled. “They weren’t a threat to me.”
Kol dropped his eyes to my ribs, and I gritted my teeth.
“My ribs were a minor setback,” I stated. “I was handling Echo … It was Envi who caught me off guard.”
Kol’s lips quirked. “I know, I saw the fight through my comm, remember?”
That was right. He did see the fight.
“Did you send Vorah and the other male to help?”
Kol tensed. “They were the closest males to your quarters. I allowed them access to the feed, so they knew what they were rushing in on.”
He really didn’t like when I mentioned Vorah or something about him.
“Are you going to kick me off the ship for breaking your rule about not harming the twins?” I questioned. “Because if you are, I’d be much obliged if you touched back down on the Earth’s surface before you do so.”
Amusement flashed through Kol’s eyes.
“I was thinking of changing your quarters, so you weren’t around other humans at all.”
Hope surged through me.
“Oh, yes, please,” I practically burst. “I’ll get better with having company in time, I promise.”
Kol folded his thick arms over his broad chest.
“I’m sure you will.”
I beamed at him. “I’m getting my own quarters?”
“Not exactly.”
I furrowed my brows. “But you said I wouldn’t be around other humans.”
“And you won’t be.”
“Who will I be around then?”
Kol leaned his head down to mine, stopping mere inches from his nose touching mine.
“I’ll give you one guess,” he whispered.
A shudder ran through me.
“Y-you?”
Kol winked. “Clever human.”
I sucked in a deep breath.
“I … I’m going to be staying wi-with … with you?”
Kol laughed. “You looked terrified.”
I am because I know exactly where this is headed.
“I’m not,” I lied. “I just don’t understand why you want me to stay with you.”
“Yes, you do.”
I felt heat stain my cheeks.
“Give me your answer,” he said as his eyes started to glow.
I knew what answer he was referring to.
“I’m worried you’ll regret asking me,” I nervously admitted. “For your kind, marriage is for life, and I don’t want you to regret me.”
“I’ll never regret you,” Kol said, a hint of a growl in his tone. “Never.”
My mind was screaming at me to accept for two reasons. One, being with Kol, a royal prince of the Maji, would ensure my safety, and my safety was my number one priority. Two, I could no longer deny I was attracted to him, and if I had to mate a Maji, I wanted it to be with a male who I would willingly want to touch and have touch me in return. Even though I didn’t understand the attraction and pull towards him, Kol was the only Maji I wanted that type of intimacy with. He was captivating to me.
With my heart slamming into my chest, I whispered, “Yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yes, Kol.” I nodded. “I’ll be your intended.”
Kol suddenly picked me up off of the ground and pressed my back against the wall. His lips covered mine as he gifted me my first kiss, a kiss that he claimed with assertiveness. It was a kiss that held a promise … a promise of so much more to come.
Chapter Nine
“I need to ask you a question, Surkah.”
“Ask away.”
“Kol calls me shiva, which is such a lovely endearment. What is an endearment I can call him in Maji language that would be just as special?”
She pondered on this for a moment.
“Reva,” she answered with a firm nod. “It has a deep meaning in Maji language, but in human words it is pretty simple and similar to ‘warrior of Thanas’. Calling a male your reva is very pride filling for a male to hear, he will like it very much.”
Ree-vah. I liked it.
I patted my knees. “Reva it is then.”
“Oh, I’m just so excited.” She gushed. “You’re going to be my sister-in-mate, Nova.”
I looked at Surkah, and I couldn’t help but beam at her. It had been only a few hours since she found out that I had become Kol’s intended, and she was happier than anyone about it.
“I hope I am up to your royal standards,” I joked.
Surkah snorted. “Despite what the people believe, we don’t set our standards that high.”
I widened my eyes, and Surkah’s face flushed purple.
“That came out sounding wrong,” she blurted. “Oh, forgive me. I didn’t mean you are a low standard; I only meant—”
I cut her off with joyous laughter, and after a few seconds, she lightly shoved my shoulder but laughed, too.
“You tease too much!” She scowled, but her eyes gleamed with amusement. “I thought I offended you.”
I chuckled. “You don’t have to worry about offending me so much; things are bound to get lost in translation between us from time to time.”
Surkah nodded. “I know, but I fear that I will speak out of turn, and Kol will ban us from speaking. He won’t allow me to speak to you if I upset you.”
I felt my jaw drop. “He’d really do that?”
Surkah bobbed her head.
“Papa forbids my aunt-in-mate, his brother’s mate, and Muma from speaking to each other because they always argue no matter what the topic of conversation is. They even once fought, and when Papa separated them, he had to roughly pull on my aunt’s arm to stop her from beating on Muma—my aunt is the better fighter of the two—and it sent my uncle straight into a rage at the sight of his brother not only handling his mate but also handling her roughly, so he attacked Papa, and they both reached the edge and fought viciously. Many of my brothers were alive at that point, and it took seven of them to separate them. Since that day, both females haven’t spoken. It’s been over two hundred years, and they live in the same palace and see each other almost daily but act like the other doesn’t exist.”