The Alien's Revenge - Ella Maven Page 0,23

protect her and care for her, but I hadn’t realized what she’d do for me. The human I’d thought fragile was physically smaller than me, but her mind? It was formidable. Kindness radiated from her, and she’d brought beauty back into my life. When had I ever taken the time to admire the many-colored blooms in the forest? Now I had eaten with a cup full of them.

Merr-anda’s sengeng calmed me, and her touch invigorated me. With her, I didn’t feel scared to investigate the murky shapes in my mind. The barrier of dark smoke I’d thrown up long ago to protect me now shamed me.

I hadn’t realized she’d stopped her task until she was in front of me, eyes assessing her work as they flitted over my hairline. I placed a hand on her thigh, the skin still sun-kissed warm despite the darkness. Her gaze shot to me. Held. Heated.

I surged forward and pressed our lips together. At first, she didn’t move, and I worried I’d taken things too far, but then a needy little moan rose from her chest and fluttered across my lips. I needed more. I needed her, maybe more than she needed me. When I slipped my tongue into her mouth, she gasped and clutched my jaw with her talented fingers. I wrapped a hand around her lower back and tugged her into my lap, where her legs straddled my hips, her heated core pressed against my hard cock.

I licked into her mouth with abandon, craving her taste and her little moans, and the way her hips churned against mine. Dizzy with her, my mind spinning and the smoke protesting at the upheaval. The stars in my mind pressed, insistent, their glow forcing the barrier of smoke back like an advancing army of light.

A singular image broke through. My face but younger, wind whipping my long hair around my shoulders. And with that image came one singular sound. Foreign at first until it beat inside my head like a caged hunner. Drak. Drak. Drak. Drak.

I pulled back from her with a growl, clutching my head as the word pelted me over and over again. I fell onto my back with a groan and Merr-anda surged over me, eyes no longer glassy with arousal but now wide with concern. Her mouth moved, but I couldn’t hear any sound. I could only hear that word over and over again.

Drak. Drak. Drak. Drak.

It was like a rock against the wall of my skull until a crack appeared, just enough for a bit of light to peak through.

The word burst out into the light, and knowledge slammed into me like a truth-tipped arrow. My throat burned, fire ripping through the cords there just as my lips moved. That’s who I was. I was….

I opened my mouth, eyes finally focusing on the creature above me who had broken through my darkness, and I uttered the first word that had left my lips in as long as I could remember.

“Drak.”

Miranda

The word ripped from his throat like a record-scratch, the sound caustic and abrupt. He clutched his throat, eyes panicked and pained as he writhed on the rooftop under me.

Tears pricked at my eyes because this big strong alien looked equal parts terrified and tortured.

I placed my hands over his, but he didn’t stop. He said the word again, which rhymed with back. “Drak.” With a swallow he tried again, and this time it was less like sandpaper on tree bark. “Drak.” His chest heaved, and the smoke in his aura was a whirling mess, sometimes gaping so large that figures behind it were nearly visible.

He struggled to sit up and plastered my hand against his throat. I waited as he panted with his eyes closed.

“Hey,” I kept my voice as calm as I could, the one I used with my siblings’ when they were upset about bad grades or cheating boyfriends. “It’s okay. I’m right here. You’re okay. Come back to me. Please.”

He took one more shuddering breath and the smoke in his aura faded. Light peaked through, and when his eyes opened, they were a vibrant purple. His pulse which had been beating rapidly in his neck slowed. He slid my hand down to his chest, where he clutched it and pressed it over his heart. “Drak,” he rasped.

He took our hands and placed them on my chest, then looked at me expectantly.

“Um…Miranda?”

He nodded, and then pointed to his own chest again. “Drak.”

My mouth dropped open. “Is that your name?