“I’ll never get used to that,” I whispered to myself.
“Trust me.” Kol chuckled as we left the bridge. “You will. I barely notice it anymore.”
I was very aware of him next to me as we walked and extremely aware of his arm around my shoulder. I was too short for Kol to walk comfortably with his arm around my waist, so he opted for slinging his arm around my shoulder, and it felt… natural. As if he’d done it a million times before. That was another thing for me to freak out about. Everything with Kol was brand new, yet things with him felt old as time. It was like I knew him.
I didn’t understand it.
“This is our quarters.”
I blinked when Kol spoke, and I quickly realised we were no longer walking. I glanced around the hallway and saw males patrolling. I hadn’t even noticed when we passed them as my thoughts were too consumed with a different male. I looked forward when the door to Kol’s room opened, and I felt my mouth drop when I stepped inside.
“Holy moly.” I whistled. “This is nice.”
It was at least ten times the size of the room I had shared with Echo and Envi. There was a gigantic round bed in the centre of the room, and it was dressed in golden coloured linen and thick white… furs. It had more pillows that what seemed necessary, and I knew I’d have a problem messing it up by sleeping on something that looked like it should remain untouched.
“The shipmaster’s quarters are always more luxurious than the crew’s quarters,” Kol said from behind me. “I’m personally against it, and until now, I haven’t stayed in here.”
That surprised me.
“Why not?” I asked, stepping farther into the room.
“Why should I stay in luxury while my crew got basic accommodations? I’m no better than they are.”
I turned to face him. “You’re the shipmaster.”
And a prince.
“More reason for me to stay in basic quarters. I already get more pay than my crew, and my job garners more respect, but without my crew, the Ebony does not fly.”
“That’s very noble of you, but surely your life has always been luxury… I mean, you’re a royal.”
Kol shrugged. “That’s another reason I like being on the Ebony. Less Maji means less of the people who treat me like I’m some sort of…”
“Prince?” I finished.
Kol’s lips twitched. “Yes.”
“You don’t like being royalty?”
“I never said that,” he mused. “It is a blessing from Thanas to be part of the head family of the people. I just like a break sometimes, and my craft gives me that escape.”
I nodded. “I can understand that.”
Kol glanced around the room. “I will stay in the best of accommodations on the Ebony, and off it. now that you’re my intended. I assure you.”
I raised my brow. “Kol, if you want to stay in basic quarters, we can stay there. I thought the medical bay was beautiful when I first saw it… anything will be an upgrade from what I was used to on Earth.”
“It is for that reason I want to show you all the beauty of Ealra and give you the best of everything. You will never know poverty by my side, Nova. I swear on my honour.”
A ghost of a smile graced my lips.
“So… we’re staying here then?”
“Yes.” Kol nodded.
I turned and stared at the bed in the centre of the room, and I was delighted that it was so large. I had to lie next to Kol while we slept, but the chance that I could scoot away and have any own space slightly calmed my spiked nerves.
“You’re scared?” Kol murmured from behind me. “Why?”
I closed my eyes. “I’m not exactly scared… just nervous.”
“Because you will lay with me?”
I tensed.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“You remember my oath?”
I do.
“Yes, you swore on your honour to not touch me.”
Unless I give consent.
“And you still feel fear? Why? An honour oath is everything to the people.”
I opened my eyes and turned to face Kol, not surprised to find him within arm’s reach.
“I don’t doubt your word,” I said softly. “I said I trust you, and I do. I haven’t trusted a person in a very long time. I know you have the best intentions for me, and I know you will keep your word, but I still can’t help but be nervous. I’ve never slept with a man before. I mean… you were my first kiss.”
Kol lifted his hand to my face and cupped my flaming red cheek.
“I’m not a man, Nova. I am a male, a Maji warrior, an Elite, a prince… but I am not human like you, and I never will be. Please separate Maji males from the bad human men you once knew. I will be the best mate to you. I will take away your nervousness, and in time, everything about me will feel natural to you, and you to me.”
A breath of air left me.
“Thank you, Kol.”
“If you want,” he continued as he stroked his thumb over my cheek. “I will sleep on the floor while you take the bed. I do not want to share furs and make you uncomfortable.”
I shivered, but not with cold or nervousness.
“No,” I said, touched by his offer. “We’re to be married, and I want to get past this embarrassment before we reach your home world.”
And meet your family.
“Our home world,” he corrected.
It was nic
e of him to try to make us humans feel included, but personally, I couldn’t call a planet I had no knowledge of days ago my home. I hoped in time that outlook would change.
“Where did you stay if tonight is your first night here?” I asked Kol, trying to focus on a normal conversation to set me more at ease.
Kol lowered his hand from my cheek, and I was surprised that the loss of his touch saddened me.
“I shared quarters with Mikoh, Nero, and Thane.”
Thane?
“I don’t think I’ve met Thane.”
“You haven’t,” Kol said, his eyes roaming over me. “He is rarely out of the engine hall.”
I gasped. “He is an engineer?”
Kol’s eyes flicked back to mine.
“Yes,” he said with a nod. “He is the Chief Engineer of the Ebony.”
“Can I meet him?” I asked, excitedly.
Kol’s expression turned dark.
“No, you’re mine.”
Goosebumps spread across my body at his show of dominance.
“I’m interested in his job, not him.”
I didn’t know if it was my words that surprised me, or if it was the fact that I meant them.
“Why?” Kol pressed, not convinced. “Why would you be interested is a male’s job?”
I rolled my eyes. “That is so damn sexist.”
Kol furrowed his thick eyebrows. “I do not understand that word.”
I snorted. “Of course, you don’t. That’s one word that won’t be in Maji vocabulary.”
Kol waited for me to continued speaking, so I did.
“Sexist means characterising a person based on their gender. This typically happens to women. You were sexist ‘cause you implied being an engineer is not a job a woman can do… but you’re wrong. Many women on Earth were engineers… before the war.”
“Were you an engineer?” Kol asked, and he looked as shocked as he sounded.
I would have been.
I snorted. “Not by trade, just by interest.”
“But you wanted to be one by trade?”
I shrugged. “I was too young to be certified, but if the war hadn’t happened, I’d have been well on my way to being one.”
“Really?” Kol asked, not any less shocked.
“Yes. My father was an engineer, and he taught me many things… which is why I’m interested in meeting Thane. An engine hall is a place I am familiar with. A place where I am comfortable. Engines… put me at ease.”