Out of the Ashes (Maji 1)

Kol sighed. “Surkah is on duty in the med bay for the rest of the day.”

I frowned but didn’t respond.

“Eat your food,” he prompted after a few moments. “I’ll escort you to your new quarters when you’re finished … unless you have a problem with me?”

I jerked my head upright and looked at him.

“No, I’ve no problem at all,” I gushed. “Thank you so much.”

Kol nodded then turned and resumed eating his food. I couldn’t take another bite of my food, so I scanned the room instead, noticing how the males stared at the human females with obvious interest. A lot of the women were oblivious to the eyes focused on them, but a handful were aware of the attention. One woman with dark skin was coyly smiling at a grey skinned male with blood red hair that was styled like Kol’s—short cut, tight on the sides, longish on top. I swallowed when he stood and crossed the short distance over to the woman who was focused on his every movement. When he reached her, he leaned down and said something into her ear to which she nodded happily, took his outstretched hand, and together they walked out of the room.

“It’s not nice to stare.”

I jumped when Kol’s voice startled me.

“I wasn’t … I didn’t …Um—”

“You lie a lot,” Kol said, his voice surprisingly soft.

“I’m not lying, I just—”

“You were curious,” he finished. “You watched a male approach a willing female and leave with her.”

“Yeah, but he is…”

“He is what?”

“A Maji and she is human,” I said with a shake of my head. “You don’t think that’s a little… gross?”

“What does gross mean?” Kol quizzed.

“Something that is disgusting.”

I instinctively leaned back when Kol’s features hardened, and a growl escaped him.

“There is nothing disgusting about a couple mating,” he said, his eyes narrowing.

“Between a Maji couple it’s not, and between a human couple it’s not, but it is to do it with another species.”

“Says who?”

I blinked. “Says me.”

“And you speak for your entire species?”

“What? No, of course not, I’m just being—”

“Judgmental.”

I pushed away from the table, my chair scraping loudly against the floor.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” I snapped at Kol who placed his funny looking knife and fork down next to his tray. “You can’t talk to me like that. I don’t give a damn if you’re a prince, a shipmaster, or the Almighty himself.”

“Sit down, Nova,” he said, his voice scarily deep. “You’re making a scene.”

“Sweetheart, you haven’t seen nothing yet.”

I spun away and stalked towards the exit of the mess hall very aware that all eyes were on me. I reached into my pocket, fisted my hand around my scissors, and sped up when I heard a lone chair scrap against the floor. My gut told me it was Kol and that he was coming after me. I got out into the hallway, and something inside me screamed at me to run, so I did.

“Nova!”

Oh, fuck.

“Stay the hell away from me!” I shouted at Kol and picked up my pace to a sprint.

Two males who were walking down the hallway parted and allowed me to run between then. I could have sworn they were smirking, but I didn’t pause to find out. I screamed when I was suddenly lifted into the air from behind.

“Never run from me,” Kol growled into my hair. “My instinct is to chase after you.”

Like a wolf.

I didn’t think, I just reacted. I used my thumb to push the scissors into position in my hand, then I adjusted my grip, and slammed my hand down onto the arm that was wrapped around me. The point of the scissors broke the skin on Kol’s arm, and when I released it, I noticed it was almost fully imbedded in his flesh. Kol released me with a roar, and as I landed on my feet, I instantly took off running once more. I heard another roar then the clink of metal hitting the ground. My freedom was short-lived because I quickly found myself picked up like a ragdoll once more, only this time I had no weapon to defend myself.

“That hurt,” Kol’s menacing voice snarled into my ear.

I struggled against his hold. “I hope it did, you big grey bastard!”

He tightened his arms around me, and the action squeezed me enough to silently relay the warning for me to stop fighting, so that was what I did.

“How do you move so fast?” I demanded.

I felt vibrations from Kol’s chest rumble against my back, and I didn’t know what it meant.

“My legs are longer than yours, and I’m naturally superior to humans, so I do everything better.”

His answer irked me.

“Can you fuck off better than a human?”

Kol hoisted me up against his chest.

“I can certainly fuck better than any human male. Would you like me to prove it?”

The gasp that erupted from me was real, but so was the spine-tingling shiver at his words.

“You’re a pervert.”

Kol laughed, low in his throat.

When he showed no signs of releasing me, I lifted my hands to his arm. When I dug my nails into his flesh, I earned another vicious growl from him. I realised then that his mouth was dangerously close to my neck, and that he didn’t need any more encouragement to rip my throat out.

“You attacked me,” he said, his voice holding a hint of disbelief, and if my ears weren’t betraying me, it also sounded like he was impress

ed.

I set my jaw. “I don’t trust you!”

“Really?” he snorted. “I’d have never guessed that.”

He was goading me.

“Put me down!” I demanded, hoping the fear I felt wasn’t traceable in my tone or on my damn scent. “I’m going to be sick if you don’t. I ate a lot of food.”

Kol muttered something under his breath as he lowered me to the ground without protest. When I was sure I wasn’t going to throw up, I turned to face him with lightning speed and pinned him in place with a well-earned glare.

“Don’t put your hands on me again, asshole.”

The corner of his lips quirked. “Is that an order, little one?”

“You’re damn right it’s an order, you son of a—stop smiling at me like that. I’m being as serious as… as a heart attack!”

“What’s a heart attack?” he asked, an eyebrow raised.

I glared. “I hate you.”

“I know.” The infuriating idiot chuckled. “It is why I am so amused; this has never happened before.”

“What?” I questioned. “No woman has ever attacked you and put you in your place?”

“No,” he replied. “Never.”

Because he is royalty.

“Yeah, well,” I said, my nerves beginning to show. “You’re not my prince, so I can say and do whatever I like to you.”

I knew my behaviour was stupid, but I knew in my heart that I wasn’t being irrational. I had a sick feeling in my gut about the Maji. Something about them didn’t sit well with me. There was much more to what they were telling me, and it resulted in my frustration and violent outburst.

“I may not be your prince, little one, but as you’re on my ship, I am your shipmaster, and you will do as I say.”

His tone left no room for argument, but I argued anyway.

“And what if I don’t?” I questioned. “What if I refuse to cooperate?”

“Then you will vacate this ship immediately and no longer be under Maji protection.”

I didn’t know what I was expecting Kol to say, but that certainly wasn’t it.

“That sounds an awful lot like a threat, Shipmaster.”

“It is a fact, not a threat.”

“Fine,” I said, lifting my chin. “I’ll find Surkah, get my stuff that I was brought aboard with, and I’ll leave.”