Ash: Love Me Harder - Alien Paranormal Romance (11 page)

Brook woke with a gentle hand on her shoulder shaking her.

“Hi,” she gave him a small smile before stretching like a cat in his arms. She looked down to see she was dressed before looking up again to see the possessive smile he was giving her.

“Our ride is here.”

“Your hover?”

“Not mine, Mick’s.

He set her on her feet before reaching for his shirt. She watched him rearrange himself since he was still hard as a rock. She looked up and he winked.

“I’m looking forward to you taking care of my little problem.”

“Nothing little about that problem.” He gave her a big grin making her feel like a tasty treat for the big bad wolf. This made her remember that he had eaten her.

He shook his head. “Stop before I make our ride wait some more because I need a taste of you.”

She blushed, her brown cheeks stained with red. Ducking her head just a little to hide the blush, she followed him to the door. Mick sat in the driver’s seat of the hover.

“Hi Mick,” she said in greeting, giving him a smile. “Thanks for coming to get us. I’m not sure how Ash reached you while we were in the interrogation room.”

“There’s little that can keep us from communicating.”

She climbed into the car wondering what life was going to bring her. How long would she have to run and duck from the Patron? How long would the lives of these males be in danger? Her happiness with Ash conflicted with the need to simply make everyone’s life easier.

“Brook?” She looked to see Ash watching her. He must have called her name several times judging from the look on his face.

“Sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”

“No problem, Mick and I were talking and we want to show you some more of what it means to live on the actual Earth.”

“Do you think that’s a good idea? Maybe we should just go back to your house.”

Already she was hating herself for wimping out.
You deserve a day,
her inner voice assured her. All she wanted to do was disappear under the covers and reassure herself that this was all a dream. Was that too much? She straightened her shoulders and answered her own question. Each life in this car was in danger because they pledged to take care of her. There would be no running for her and no pity party. She would hold up her end and fight the Patron and whoever else came along. She was a Princess. A small smile hovered over her lips. In that moment she knew her father would be proud of her.

“If we go back to the house, Brook, we’re allowing the Patron to win. Telling him without words that we are running scared. Then we will be doing that as long as he lives. I don’t want you to live in fear,” Ash told her in a soft voice leaving the decision up to her.

“Where are we going?”

Ash gave her a long lazy wink and a smile that could melt her panties. “We’re going to show you the families and the areas the Patron has raided for his own prosperity.”

She nodded watching as the scenery flew by. The trees and the grass thinned out; the destruction she saw at the Waterworks mall when she met Ash became more apparent. There were areas of total devastation but some areas had little shacks standing. Could anyone live there? Who would call that a house when they could go to the city and live with the others? No, this place had to be empty. She was sure it was until she saw a small girl playing in the rubble next to one of the shacks.

Mick stopped and Brook’s heart broke.

Ash helped her out the hover to stand on the uneven terrain.

“What is that shiny thing I see not too far behind that shack?”

“That’s the barrier. It shines like that so you can see it day or night. It lets you know that it’s not safe to go any further. If you cross it, you will not be permitted back in the city. If you look through it as it shines, you will see that there are people on the other side. They wait patiently for the barrier to expand so they will be allowed in the city.”

“I don’t understand. How can we keep people outside the barrier when we are living in the city semi safe and protected?”

“The barriers were erected to keep the cities safe. Some chose to willingly live outside and still do. Others were too far away when the barriers went up or were too damaged by the fighting to be let in. The war wasn’t pleasant, Brook. The world was damaged and two hundred years after the fighting is over, the Earth is still recovering. We do what we can for those outside the barrier but the government has rules.”

She dashed an angry tear from her eyes. They should help. Your people were your people, she understood not every government felt that way, but she was raised to believe every person was important to the way a country ran, down to the drunk who made everyone laugh on Saturday nights because he or she provided a relief they might not otherwise have.

She turned her head back to the little girl who was looking at them with bright blue yes.

“Hi.” She went down to her knees hoping not to frighten her.

“Mom,” she screamed at the top of her lungs “they’re here.” Then she ran inside as if scared of what they might do.

“What did she mean by that?”

Mick just gave her a smile before going to the back of the hover. He opened it and began to pull out bags. Ash went back to help. They both disappeared into the house carrying them leaving her and the rest of the bags behind. She walked over, picked up several, and followed them inside.

The inside of the shack wasn’t what she was expecting. It seemed bigger than the outside and the furniture looked soft and clean. The floors were swept although the boards looked worn and in need of repair. This place was touched by the Created. She smiled at Ash because she knew they had done something to make the woman’s life easier.

“Brook, this is Kelli. Kelli this is my mate, Brook.”

“Brook, so nice to finally meet you. Ash is amazing.” She was drying her hands on a cloth after finishing the dishes. She took Brook’s hand and gave it a hard shake.

“It’s nice to meet you also, Kelli. I saw your daughter outside.”

“That’s Ginger.” The woman’s face lit up. “She’s smart as a whip; one day she’s going to become a lawyer. We’ve never had one in the family before.”

“She’ll make a great lawyer I’m sure.”

Ginger walked over to give Brook a shy smile before wrapping her arms around her mother.

“Mom, can I give them my gifts?” Her mother nodded her head. Ginger broke away from her and ran into a separate room.

She came out with two pieces of paper with drawings she handed one to Mick and the other to Ash. They looked at them before each gave her a hug. Ash passed his picture over to Brook.

She looked down to see the little girl walking and behind her was Ash, her protector. A small quiver of a smile came to her lips as she looked at Ginger. Ash was a protector; children saw what adults often missed.

“Kelli, we brought Brook here today because the Patron is after her. We thought you might be willing to share your story with her.”

“Ginger,” her mother’s voice called out. “Go outside and play, but remember the rules.”

“Stay away from the barrier. Call out if I see anyone and high tail it into the house. I’m not allowed to speak to anyone even if I know them until you say it is safe.” The little girl repeated dutifully as she made her way to the door.

“I love you, Angel.”

“I know, Mom,” she said with a giggle. “I love you too. I’ll just be outside,” she said in that voice of little girls who know just a little bit more than their mothers.

“I don’t know what I would do without her.” Kelli’s voice was low as she watched Ginger disappear out the front door.

She turned and looked at Brook; the smile on her face was replaced with a hard one and hatred shone bright in her eyes.

“I despise that man and everything he stands for. If it were not for Ginger, I would lead the campaign to expose him.”

“The time is not right for that,” Mick replied, taking a seat in the living room. The rest sat. Brook watched Kelli, unable to take her eyes off of her.”

“My husband was an engineer.” A soft smile touched her face replacing the hard expression for an instant before sliding away. “He was more interested in reviving the Earth than making another home that would hang in the sky. It was his life’s work and one day he came home excited. He did it. It would work. I remember how he danced around the house in joy.

“Not to long after that the Patron approached him, wanting to buy his discovery. He refused. This was going to be something he gave back to the Earth to make it a better place. It would revive the areas beyond the barrier. We might even be able to get rid of the barriers in Ginger’s lifetime if his calculations were correct.

“Then the pressure started. Little things went wrong in our lives and the Patron would call and promise the status Quo would be back if he simply handed over his invention. However, that wasn’t my husband’s way. He worked too hard to see his invention go to the highest bidder or worse yet, hidden away on some dusty shelf so a greedy man could continue to make money.

“One day he was standing strong, the next he was dead and our lives were in shambles. Everything he worked for was gone and we found ourselves living here. Ash, Mick and his brothers saved our lives.

“The Patron does not care. He will eat you up and spit you out whether he gets what he wants or not.”

The sadness flowing from Kelli touched Brook, now she understood that no matter what she too had to stand up to the Patron. He couldn’t be allowed to run over lives like they were nothing.

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

Kelli closed her eyes and nodded her head. “I have everything in my daughter. This home, while not the one I wanted, serves my needs well. I wish there was a way you could escape the Patron’s grasp. He seems to get everything he wants but sometimes with a little luck and ingenuity, everything really does turn out all right.”

Ash stood. “It’s time for us to leave.”

Kelli looked up at him and nodded. “Thank you for the supplies; they will go a long way to helping us.

“We will always do what we can.”

“It was nice meeting you, Kelli. Thank you for telling me your story.”

“Remember Brook, sometimes things really do work out.”

Brook shook her head and followed Ash outside. She turned to look for Ginger to see her holding the hand of a man. Ash’s hand came over her mouth and he turned her away and led her to the hover.

Kelli’s parting words rang in her ear. Things had worked out for them, not the way they wanted it to but her family was alive and that was all that mattered to Kelli.

Mick dropped them off at Ash’s house with a casual see you later and an invite to a picnic in a few days. Brook moved into the house feeling out of touch with herself. Everything she lived through the last few days was going through her head. A small feeling of sadness went through her for a new world that reminded her way too much of her old world.

“Brook,” Ash’s voice overflowed with joy. “I want to introduce you to someone.”

She looked up to realize there were noises in the house. Whoever was here wasn’t trying to keep it a secret. A tinkling female laugh was followed by a deeper male voice. With a lifted eyebrow, she turned to look at Ash.

“Amber’s home and she brought her Mate, Alexei, with her.”

The smile on Ash’s lips was contagious; she found herself smiling as she followed him into the living room.

Amber was as beautiful as the pictures of her on the walls. She possessed beautiful brown skin with long silky hair. She was curvy and pleasing to look at. Her attitude and the way her mate ate her up with his eyes let Brook know she was pleased to be who she was.

“Brook!” Amber crossed the room and hugged her. “I’m so glad to meet you. I almost cried when Dad said he found you and that the two of you were together.”

“Must be dusty in here,” Amber whispered as she dashed at a tear.

A laugh came from Brook as she wrapped her arms around Amber and hugged her back.

“Ash has told me so much about you.”

“You have to tell me how you’re enjoying the new Earth, Brook.”

“Please call me Brook.”

Amber smiled at her again. “I want you to meet my mate, Alexei.”

Alexei was tall with brown eyes that had both a blue and green ring around them and glowed. His hair was brown and a little on the longish side. He had a rakish look to him but his face was suffused with love for Amber.

“It’s nice to meet you, Alexei. I’ve heard a lot about you also.”

“None of it good, I suspect.” He gave her a hug in greeting as well as a genuine smile. “I always wanted two mothers.”

Brook gave a small shriek, “I’m not old enough to have grown children.”

“Technically speaking…” Amber said.

“None of that, young lady,” Brook said with a laugh. She liked Amber already as well as her mate.

“Dad,” Amber said going over to Ash and hugging him. Ash wrapped his arms around her and held on for a long time before he finally stood back and took a long look at her.

“Are you all right? Do you need anything? Is he,” he pointed his chin towards Alexei while giving him a grin in greeting, “treating you right?”

“Alexei treats me like a queen, Dad, and you know it. He also started the grill so we could have something to eat.”

“I better go check that fire. Don’t want the house to burn down.”

“Nothing wrong with my fire and you know it.” Alexei followed him out of the room muttering at his back.

“There go the two most important men in my life acting like boys,” Amber took a seat on the sofa.

Brook joined her wondering what she could talk about with Ash’s grown daughter.

“Do you love my father?”

That’s not what she expected to talk about. Her mouth opened a little then closed, finally she settled on just looking at Amber.

“Sorry if that sounded rude. It’s just that I watched his heart break when he watched my uncles with my aunts. The day he found out that Alexei and I mated I think was the happiest and saddest day for him. There were times he would tell me about you. How beautiful you looked, or how your voice sounded. I grew up wanting to love my mate like he loved you on such a short notice. So, to see you here and to see my dad so happy makes me jubilant and scared. Scared that you may hurt him or not return his love.”

“Amber, you don’t know me and have no reason to trust me, but please listen to my heart. I love your father.” She rose to walk over to the picture of Ash and Amber standing together with big smiles on their faces.

“I wish I could have been here for him and you too, but that decision was taken away from me. I suffered not being here with him but not like he suffered. I wish I could say I would do it differently but I am just happy to be here today with Ash. I love him.”

She loved him; her heart did a crazy little flip. Did love really happen this fast and was it real? Maybe dreaming of him for centuries helped, or maybe it was the fact that he put her pleasure before his own. In the end, she knew it wasn’t any of those thing. It was how he treated her as if she, Brook L. Silva was the most precious woman on the face of the planet. She was in love. Her head was giddy with the reality of it.

Amber crossed the room and hugged her. “You’ve made me the happiest daughter ever. Alexei has orders from his dad to talk his Uncle Ash into coming to join the family. Let’s go see how that’s going.”

They walked into the back yard to find Alexei going over the highlights of his space adventure.

“We traveled through a black hole,” he told Ash who was at the grill barring him from getting to close to it. “You should have seen Uncle Nicolas trying to figure out the science behind it and if anything in it could be used for medicinal purposes.”

Ash chuckled, “I’m betting he found properties he could use for healing.”

“He did,” Alexei said, throwing his hands up in the air. “Dad said how is it that Uncle Nicolas can do what no other has done. He replied because others weren’t smart enough to think about doing it. Dad rolled his eyes, something he picked up from Mom. Everyone else laughed at them. We’ve had a good time, Uncle Ash, but we miss you.”

Ash canted his head and looked at him. “I’ve missed all of you also, and yes that includes you, but I can’t leave Earth yet. Tell Aran or I will tell him. I need to deal with the Patron. I can’t let Dante and his brothers do that alone. Besides, Brook is just rediscovering the Earth. I don’t think she’s ready for the galaxy. The next time he goes, I will be by his side. We’re family even if I can’t be there.”

“I think we’ll be back before the fifty years is up. Everyone wants to meet Brook. That’s why only me and Amber showed up. Dad knew if everyone came they wouldn’t be able to leave and he said you needed alone time with your new mate. We can’t stay long; the window to get back will close soon.”

Ash gave a deep sigh. “I know and the fact that you came makes me proud to call you my son-in-law and nephew.” He chuckled.

Brook came up behind Ash and hugged him, her head nestled between his shoulder blades. He wrapped his hands around hers holding on for a few minutes enjoying her heat against his back.

“How are my two favorite women in the world?”

“Great.” They answered at the same time.

“The aunts are going to have something to say when they hear you saying that to us,” Amber cautioned.

“I’ve got a couple of years before I have to worry about it.” He threw Amber a smile and a wink before he turned and kissed Brook.

“Aww, my eyes!” Amber said, laughing. “I don’t know whether to say aww you look so cute, or to go eww get a room.” She gave Ash a huge smile and a wink before going over to Alexei who wrapped his arms around her.

Brook laughed and moved away so Ash could check the hotdogs on the grill.

“Do we have time to eat?” Amber asked Alexei, eyeing a hotdog on the grill.

“Not really, but if I take you away before you get a chance to eat something your dad cooked I will be in the dog house. Hurry up.” He gave her a swat to the rear that looked more like a caress.

She sashayed over to the grill to make herself and Alexei a plate. Eyes rolled back in pleasure as she turned and licked her lips making Alexei groan.

“You tempt me, Amber, but we can’t miss this window or we will both have some explaining to do.”

“Please be careful, Dad, and take care of yourself and my new mother.”

“Bye Mom and Dad,” she said with a smile aimed at causing trouble before she and Alexei walked into the teleport that would use the opening of a singularity to take them back.

“That was my daughter and her mate.”

“I like them, your daughter is funny, loving, and fiercely protective of her father. You did a good job raising her.”

“Thank you, she’s my world and now so are you.”

“Hungry?”

“I could go for a hotdog or two, what do you have to go with them?”

“Potato salad.”

They made plates and sat outside enjoying the sun.

“Ash, tell me a little about yourself. What is it like to be Created?”

“I was picked for a solo mission once. It was the worst thing I think I ever had to live through until I met and lost you. I was ordered to absolute silence so I couldn’t communicate with my brothers. We were born with the ability to speak with each other telepathically and the silence was deafening.

“No one to tell what was happening to me or run through possible scenario’s. I think the scientists were trying to kill me. They were looking for a way to say I was deficient and should be terminated. I knew if I broke the silence, they would know.

“Aran was assigned to get me to the drop off point and return. He never talked to me like we would normally do instead he talked to me aloud knowing the scientist were listening. In explicit and painful detail, he told me exactly what he expected and what would happen if I didn’t do as he said.

“I was gone two weeks. I had to infiltrate the enemy camp and release the captive scientists. That was the easy part. The harder part was the silence. I never realized how connected to my brothers I was until then. We depended on each other, our thoughts and even our doubts and concerns kept each other sane.

“Not being able to talk to them was like losing the use of a limb. When the pickup came for the scientist, I was told I needed to walk back to the base and maintain silence at all times. That meant if anything happened to me no one would be aware.

“I understood loneliness in all of its various forms. Not wanting to be a disappointment, I began the long trek back, determined to survive, even though I felt like I was slowly losing my mind. When I thought the end was near, I was sure I would be either dead or deranged. Dante pulled close to me and asked if I wanted a ride.

“He spoke directly into my mind, healing me. I never understood how he did it. I just know he did. So, when he told me, day after day, month after month, century after century that there was still hope, I had no other choice but to believe him and hang in there one more day.

“The scientist thought they defeated me, broke me, but they only made me stronger.”