I ignored the snickering from Mikoh, who sat across from me. Surkah, on the far side of the table next to him, glared his way.
Really? Kol asked, and I could hear the amused tone in his mental voice. You seemed to really like that I could hear your thoughts when you were too shy to voice how much you liked me licking and sucking your cunt last night.
I set my jaw, looked up from my breakfast tray and glared daggers at my grinning mate. We hadn’t had sex since the night we mated. The first two days were because of sensitivity; not mainly because of the sex, but because of Kol’s essence bonding in my bloodstream. It made me weak and a little uneasy on my feet. Not being at full strength didn’t stop Kol from touching me when we were in bed, though. He never took it to the point of no return, but he did explore me with his fingers and mouth until I couldn’t see straight. Everything about our intimacy was still new territory for me, so it meant I embarrassed easily.
“Get out of my head, Kol.”
His lips twitched, but he nodded, which only caused me to eye him suspiciously.
“I want to learn the screening thing you mentioned to me,” I informed him. “You said it was possible for mates to block our thoughts so we could have privacy, and I want that as soon as possible. And I still protest that you should have told me we would have a psychic link between us!”
“I told you.” He frowned. “I didn’t want to scare you.”
“I just don’t understand how any of this is possible. I know you’ve explained it, but I can’t comprehend it,” I said with a shake of my head. “I am human, and humans can’t read one another’s thought.”
“I’m not human,” Kol said.
You don’t need to tell me that, big guy. I’m more than aware.
He grinned at me, and knowing he heard my thoughts, I scowled.
“How can we be so different but the same too?”
“Maji and humans,” Mikoh began. “Our bodies are similar, yes?”
“Apart from skin colour, eye colour, lifespan, healing abilities, essence shit and how freaking huge you all are … yes.”
Mikoh snorted. “Humans are the only other species we have found that resemble us with such detail. As you said, we’re different, but we’re the same, too. Species of the cosmos crossbreed all the time; it is how many species are born. Maybe Maji were once humans, or maybe humans were once Maji.”
“Humans would have come from Maji, I think,” Surkah thoughtfully interjected. “Our race is a lot older than theirs is.”
Mikoh nodded in agreement as he leaned back in his chair.
“I think so too, but maybe another species has diluted their blood so much, and that’s why they slightly differ from us, or perhaps they’ve evolved on their own … but not entirely. Nova has bonded with Kol as any other Maji female would.”
It was an irrational thing to do, but I slammed my teeth together and began to breathe heavily at the thought of another woman touching my husband. A frightening sensation of possession filled me from head to toe.
He’s mine.
I jumped when I felt Kol’s purr rather than hear it.
“Yes, shiva.” He smiled and reached for me, pulling me onto his lap. “I am yours.”
He nuzzled my neck and inhaled.
I could scent her forever … my female.
“I’m going insane!” I said as I lifted my hands to my face. “I hear and feel you all the time, and now I’m getting possessive like you. Am I turning into a Maji? Is that what your essence is really doing? Is it taking the human out of me?”
Everyone’s laughter only grated on my nerves, but instead of being angry, I felt emotional. It sounded funny to them, but I was so confused and scared about what was happening to my body, and I didn’t know what to do about it … so I began to cry.
“Shiva.”
No, don’t shiva me, I sobbed into his neck. You think this is funny, and it is to you, but it’s not to me. This is all as natural as breathing to you, but it’s one new thing on top of the other for me, and I’m just so scared, Kol. Nothing like this happens in my world. It’s overwhelming me.
Kol tightened his arms around me.
“I did not think, shiva, and I am so sorry. Please, do not cry. It pains me when you cry.”
He meant that literally. I could feel how upset my tears were making him.
“Do you want to pilot the Ebony? You keep asking me, and if you stop crying, I will allow it.”
I heard male laughter. “Your father was right; our mates will have us under their thumb.”
“Quiet, Mikoh!”
Mikoh only laughed louder. I pulled back from Kol, sniffling and hiccupping.
“You’ll … you’ll let me fly the c-craft?”
“If it makes you stop crying.” He nodded frantically. “Yes.”
I wiped away my tears. “Okay.”
Mikoh’s continued laughter aggravated Kol, and I could sense he was about to attack him.
Please don’t, I pleaded. I can’t handle seeing you fighting with him right now.
We must leave then, Kol almost growled in response. His impatience to have Surkah is pushing him to challenge every male he sees.
I don’t want to go back to our quarters, though. We’re always there.
Surkah had told me that newly mated males would go to great lengths to hide their females from peering eyes. Everyone was a threat to a newly mated male, even a female. Their instinct was to keep their females hidden where nothing could harm them, and to Kol, that meant keeping us holed up in our quarters all day, every day.
We reach Ealra in one interval, Kol hummed as his fingers stroked my thigh. What do you want to do if not return to our quarters?
I perked up. “I can fly the craft since we’re getting off soon.”
Kol glared at Mikoh when he laughed again, and without a word, he stood and brought us to our feet. “We’re going for a walk,” Kol said, his tone clipped.
Surkah smacked Mikoh’s chest with the back of her hand to stop him from saying whatever it was he was about to say, and the distraction worked wonders. She became his primary focus, and it enabled me and Kol to slip away from the table without Mikoh noticing our departure. When he was looking at Surkah, the world could have ended around him, and he wouldn’t have noticed.
When Kol and I left the mess hall and walked side by side down the identical hallways, I slid my hand into his, and his expression of awe made me giggle like a little girl. “I can’t believe it was only a few days ago,” I mused, “that I would have pushed you off of the craft given the chance.”
Kol’s laughter caused my heart to leap as he squeezed my hand. “A mating changes everything, shiva.”
It really had; the hard-headed Kol I had first met had been replaced with the most caring male I could have ever wished for. While he was still a typical male, he went about his alpha ways with a little more consideration for me. With every passing hour, I became more and more infatuated with him, and I knew it wouldn’t be long until I had fallen head over heels in love with him.
He was perfect, and I didn’t require the chemical bond of the Maji to become addicted to him. I was already knee-deep into my obsession with him, and like everything else, it scared me half to death. I was terrified that things would change when we landed on Ealra, and our time together would be cut in half. It was a fear I couldn’t shake no matter how often Kol told me it would never come true. All I had ever known and loved had been taken away from me, so I couldn’t see how the pattern would suddenly end just because Kol said so.