Ajos: The Restitution - A Sci-fi Alien Romance, Book 1, стр. 30
“Y-yes,” the male said, inching backward a little. “Iceon already sent the approval.” His eyes were on Ajos. “Please board.”
V’Alen moved forward and Kerena followed him, her brows furrowing.
A lot was happening that she didn’t understand, and that was to be expected. She’d just arrived. But the strange woman in the hospital, the strange looks she’d gotten as they’d walked down the street, and Ajos’ change in attitude were making her feel unsettled.
V’Alen walked toward a set of four seats with the backs facing each other in a circle. As he sat, he secured the seatbelts around himself and Kerena attempted to do the same. Only, she couldn’t figure out how to do it.
It wasn’t like the seatbelts on Earth that had a simple clasp that you could slip in and hear it click. This one didn’t have any connections that looked like they went together.
Minty-teal hands grasped hers and for a second, both of them paused.
She was sure she heard Ajos inhale sharply but as soon as the moment came, it went. Ajos secured the restraints before sitting on her other side.
He refused to meet her gaze.
Instead, he pulled the hooded garment he wore even farther over himself, almost obscuring his face completely.
Kerena pursed her lips.
Men.
There were two types: the ones who got sick and behaved like the world was ending and those who could walk through a minefield and pretend that losing an arm was just a regular occurrence.
She didn’t have to guess which one Ajos was.
“Pod launching,” the purple alien said, and a metallic cover came over the three of them.
The top of it was see-through, and it took her a moment to realize what was about to happen.
“Launching?”
There was no other indication that she was going to be shot upward with a force that made it feel like her brain was trying to escape from the top of her skull.
A scream lodged in her throat as she gripped the seat beneath her and watched, wide-eyed, as everything on the ground below quickly became smaller.
When they’d said “sky tower”, she’d been thinking something like a huge radio tower. She hadn’t thought it was actually in the sky.
God help her, it seemed to be even farther than that, for the pod slowed down and something that sounded like thrusters began working as it spun about ten degrees and began heading into SPACE.
“I apologize,” Ajos said. “We should have warned you. I forgot what it was like my first time.”
Kerena stared at him wide-eyed.
Ya think?
But her initial fear soon gave way to the wonder that was before her.
For the next few minutes, she tried to keep her entrails within her as she gripped the seat. The transport changed trajectory once more, spinning a little as it headed to a structure floating above the planet.
It was like a small disk with a series of antennae above it.
The sky tower.
And space…space was beautiful!
It was black, empty, vast, but oh so beautiful.
Below them, the planet they’d just left came into view and it was the most wondrous thing she’d ever seen in her life.
It looked nothing like Earth.
From above, it looked like a brownish-red ball, like pictures she’d seen of Mars.
There was no green for foliage and no blue for oceans.
Kerena leaned forward as her eyes widened, taking in the sight.
This was the type of view the astronauts on the International Space Station saw every day.
How did they ever return to their lives on the surface after witnessing something so profound?
Her awe must have been present on her face because she noticed Ajos was watching her with interest.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” she whispered.
He averted his gaze to the outside of the pod before looking back at her.
His gaze traveled over her face so slowly, it felt as if he was memorizing the moment.
“I think,” her gaze moved over the planet below, “I think it’s one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.”
There was a pause, and she thought he wasn’t going to respond, before he said, “I am beginning to think so too.”
There was a note in his voice that made her gaze snap to his and her breath stopped in her nostrils at that one look.
As she blinked, he seemed to snap out of whatever trance was holding them in stasis and his throat moved. The moment was gone, and he bent just enough that she couldn’t see his face underneath the hooded clothing anymore.
Ajos adjusted the hood he was wearing as soon as the small pod landed.
His skin felt warm underneath the thing, uncomfortable, but he had to wear it for as long as they were on the base.
He couldn’t allow anyone else seeing the blatant redness of his nefre and figuring out what was happening.
Slipping out of the seat, he moved over to Keh-reh-nah, steeling himself on this occasion in case their skin touched again.
The last time he’d helped her with the restraints, he’d touched her and it had caused his nefre to pulse so hard, he was sure it had sent all his life blood straight to his genital pouch.
And then he’d had to sit with his seed sack aching for the entire flight.
He was beginning to think him being this close to her might not have been the best idea.
Whatever was happening to him, this heat, was escalating too quickly.
Taking a deep breath, he grit his teeth as he disengaged the female’s seat restraints.
Bad. Qeffing. Idea.
Leaning over her like this, her scent floated upward toward his nostrils.
She hadn’t used any fragrances to wash last night.
He could tell because he could scent her—fresh…natural…earthly…
She smelled good.
So good.
His throat moved as he tried to control the sudden groan that developed within him, and he thought he’d done a good job of hiding it too, but when he looked at her, those brown eyes were searching his gaze.
Ajos turned away.
He was a commander and she was a refugee—someone he’d sworn to protect, if even