KEK: An Alien Romance (Pleasure Invaders Book 2) Page 3

  When she didn’t move, the blue angel cocked his head and dropped his hands. “You will not come?” he asked, pain and emotion thickening his voice.

  “I’m sorry, I remember very little of last night.”

  “You do not know me,” he said with a trembling voice, almost as if he couldn’t believe the words himself.

  The brightness of the angel’s white eyes dimmed, and Julia nearly whimpered at the disappointment marring his beautiful face. “ I know you were with me—outside in the cold. You kept me from dying.”

  “Yes. Your touch called me from my vessel.” He reached out a hand like he was desperate to touch her. “You fear me? Why?” he asked with undeniable pain in his voice.

  “I…I just don’t understand. This is all so hard to grasp. Yesterday, I was helping clean out a deceased woman’s farmhouse, then I woke up covered in blood, and now you’re here. I just need a minute to process.”

  The blue angel splayed his fingers on the counter behind him, finding the soft yarn that had covered Ruth’s pillow.

  “She has gone to be with her Winston,” he mumbled as he grasped the mangled strands.

  “You knew Ruth?” Julia asked, confused. How would her angel have known Ruth?

  “For many years. She saved me when I was trapped in solitude, and I used my gifts to heal her womb.” He held up the remains of the pillow. “She made this to house my vessel, as a gift.” Julia’s heart jumped when her angel suddenly bent over, cradling the bloody yarn to his chest. “I…cannot…”

  Abandoning whatever caution had kept her from him, she rushed over. “What? What is it? What’s wrong?”

  “The pain… My energy is waning. I cannot…stay.”

  “What do you mean you can’t stay? Please! Don’t leave! Not yet.” Julia couldn’t explain why, but the thought of losing him when she’d only just discovered he existed terrified her.

  “I need more en—”

  Julia screamed as the blue angel folded in on himself violently, reaching out to her as he did so. She jerked her hand towards his, trying to comfort him, but it was no use. His body kept shrinking. She shielded her eyes, unable to watch him suffer, and only after she heard a heavy thunk did she risk opening them.

  There on the ground was the object she’d found in Ruth’s pillow, the very same one she’d been cleaning before her angel had shown up. It wasn’t there before. She would have seen it.

  Wait, could it be? Her blue angel lived inside Ruth’s dildo?

  Kek

  His mate’s cries penetrated his vessel and the semi-conscious state the protective shell forced him into. He ached for her. The few moments he’d been able to hold her in the wreck of her vehicle had been the happiest of his long life. But healing her had weakened him too much to remain by her side.

  By the ancients, he did not even know her name. Only that she had a kind voice, that her touch had soothed him, and he wanted more.

  He could not understand her words as she picked up his vessel and cradled it in her arms. Her caresses sent small amounts of energy through the outer shell, but not enough for him to break free. Not yet.

  For so long, he’d languished in his trance. Ruth, for all of her kindness and care, had only released him a handful of times when her Winston had been away. Each time, she’d been embarrassed. Flushed cheeks, her chest heaving.

  Kek needed the energy that came from a female’s unique spirit to break out of his vessel. Ruth had given it to him freely, when she’d been able. But would his mate understand what was needed?

  Warmth surrounded him. Her warmth. And her voice had changed. Now, instead of crying out...was she...singing to him? It almost sounded that way.

  Kek let himself drift, the haze of his imprisonment letting time stretch out endlessly both before and after the moments he’d spent with his mate. He prayed to the ancient gods she’d figure out how to free him again. If not, at least he’d been able to touch her, to hold her, to heal her. Once would have to be enough for the rest of eternity.

  Chapter 4

  Julia

  Julia slid the key into Ruth’s farmhouse door, and even though she’d been given permission to enter, it felt wrong. She’d never snooped in a client’s house before. Sure, she’d searched high and low, taking great care to set aside things she found that could possibly hold emotional worth to the family, but she’d never searched with this unique intent.

  But she needed answers about her blue angel. For a full day, she’d stared at the metallic object as she’d rested, curled up on the couch wrapped in blankets and drinking tea to soothe her various aches and pains. She’d only left her house for an hour to file a complaint against that disagreeable detective, Brady McStan, and then had come right home and fallen asleep with Ruth’s dildo on the table next to her.

  She was desperate to understand her angel, and even though the idea left her stomach unsettled, she continued up the hand scraped wooden stairs and made her way into Ruth’s bedroom. Most of the room had been packed on the first night, and nothing but Ruth’s nightstand and closet remained.

  Could she possibly have kept a diary? A record of some sort that would help Julia understand her savior better? She wanted to trust him—to fall into his arms and let him comfort her, but she was scared.

  She’d never had an easy time giving in to her emotions. Her brain always gave her more reasons to run than stay, but with him…it was different. Something inside her missed him already and they’d only just met. She’d even sung to him on the way to the farmhouse, hoping perhaps he could hear her.

  Maybe it was the trauma, or the great act of care that he’d given to her, but she needed more…of him, of a reason to keep her distance—anything really.

  A tiny pain zinged across her chest, and the room suddenly felt too warm. What if she found something bad? Ruth wasn’t a stranger to disappointment, but somehow the idea of finding out her blue angel had less than celestial intentions made her sad.

  Knickknacks of every kind rolled around inside paper-lined drawers. A worn Bible, two hand crocheted slippers, and a container of Vicks were all she found, and as she closed the final drawer, her spirits sank.

  She wanted to hear Ruth’s story so very much…hear what happened between her angel and Ruth in the woman’s own words so that all of it would make sense.

  The dust-covered carpet was rough against her hand as she shoved it underneath the small chest of drawers in a last ditch effort.

  There…if she could just reach it…

  Her fingers fumbled with the book’s worn leather edge, but she worked it to the right enough to pull it free. It was small—maybe two hundred pages or less, but even fishing it out hadn’t disturbed the beautiful way Ruth had tied the thin leather traps that secured it.

  It was obvious to Julia she’d treasured the book, but why was it hidden away?

  What secrets could a nice elderly lady possibly have?

  A big, blue, naked angel for one...

  The house was cold and already beginning to feel stagnant. Julia tightened her sweater around her and sank to the floor, choosing to lean against the bed rather than sit on it. Intruding on the woman’s thoughts was enough, she wasn’t about to do so while sitting on her deathbed.

  She skimmed Ruth’s wide looping cursive for the first few pages until something caught her eye. The paper was wrinkled and the ink smeared like Ruth had been crying on the page. She read on, despite her discomfort, and was nearly brought to tears herself.

  Ruth was barren. At least, that was what her doctor had told her husband when she’d failed to conceive. And what? He’d had the gall to tell Winston that if he wanted a child, he needed to marry someone else.

  Insensitive pig. No wonder Ruth had been in tears.

  But wait… If that were the case, then how was she blessed with ten kids? The blue angel had said he’d healed her, but Julia hadn’t thought he’d meant in that way.

  Her heart ached for Ruth. She’d experienced the loss of dreams before, but
nothing so severe as being told you’d be unable to have a family. And to know that her angel may have helped restore Ruth’s body to help her achieve the thing she’d wanted all her life… Julia had to read on.

  An hour passed, and Julia remained engulfed in Ruth’s stories despite most of them being bland recountings of the harvest and her daily routine. She was sad, depressed even, and she feared that Winston was looking outside of their marriage for comfort. But then oddly enough, Ruth’s tone changed.

  She’d decided to end it all. Let her misery and pain seep into the ground with the last beat of her heart, but when she’d gone out into the cornfield intent on taking her life, she’d found something.

  A silver object. When she’d clutched it to her chest and screamed out her pain, had turned into a blue man who held her.

  His name was Kek—the same as the initials on the pillow she’d later made him, and he’d saved her life in more ways than one.

  As she’d drowned in grief over her empty womb, she’d cried against him, holding nothing back. She’d told him what that doctor had said about her womb and all their failed attempts to have a child. Of how her beloved Winston hid himself away and cried when her cycle came every month. And then she told of Kek doing the most amazing thing. He’d placed a hand to her belly and healed her.

  He’d asked for nothing in return, but he’d disappeared as soon as the warmth of his touch had faded. That very night, she’d donned a pretty dress and made Winston his favorite meal, and when he’d taken her to bed, she’d known.

  Nine months later, she’d birthed a son.

  Julia startled awake and dragged her arm up to check the time. It was well past ten. It was a wonder she’d been able to rest for so long propped up at such an odd angle, but the lull of Ruth’s words had carried her under somewhere around the middle of the journal.

  She’d learned so much, but there were still many pages to go. She couldn’t bear to leave it there without finishing. At first, Julia had felt the spurn of jealousy as she’d read about Kek and Ruth’s relationship. Ruth’s description of the healing had felt so intimate, and though Julia had experienced something so similar, she didn’t like the idea that she hadn’t been the only one.

  But then she read about how Ruth would free Kek when she was alone, would confide in him, let him hold each one of the babies he’d made possible, her feelings toward their relationship changed. Kek had been Ruth’s friend, her confidant, and she’d done everything she could short of breaking her vows to keep him comfortable.

  But her platonic love hadn’t been enough. He was still trapped and lonely.

  Kek was an alien. Not an angel but an ancient being from another planet, sent here to explore. His ship had crashed, and he’d barely escaped with his life, but then was lost in the middle of nowhere for years until Ruth had found him.

  Julia carefully wrapped up the diary and tucked it into her purse. She had to get home. Back to Kek. Only this time, she wasn’t going to fall asleep at the wheel.

  Her eyes were heavy as she pulled into her drive, but she was too unsettled to sleep. In the last passage she’d read, Ruth had written how she’d summoned Kek. It was through a female’s warm touch that the walls holding him thinned, and he could channel the energy to escape.

  Ruth had asked him why he always had to go. He was reluctant to share, but after a bit of prodding he’d told her that only his destined mate could free him for good. That only the energy she produced in the throes of passion could leave him strong enough to resist encapsulation for more than a short while.

  Could she really be that? The person meant to free him from his isolation? Could she spend the rest of her life loving him? It all seemed so ridiculous—like something out of a fairy tale—but what if it weren’t? She couldn’t ignore the way her heart seemed to want to burst from her chest when he was near.

  Or the memory of that kiss.

  Unable to stomach the idea of him trapped in his prison a moment longer, Julia grabbed the silver object in her hands and held it close until the cool metal warmed. Slowly, she dragged her finger up and down its length, like she could feel the male himself, until the metal began to vibrate and expand.

  She wasn’t sure what to expect, but when the silver walls stretched and Kek appeared, a burst of hope filled her. She needed to know everything about him. Right now.

  Chapter 5

  Kek

  His mate. He sensed her. He felt her. Holding his arms. Gasping before her touch faded away.

  “Please,” he said. “I will not be able to remain free from my vessel for long. What are you called, my sweet?”

  “Julia.” Her voice was close, and he held out his hand. Her fingers brushed his, and power flowed through his limbs.

  With a roar, Kek lurched to his feet, and he heard his mate scramble back. It felt so good to stretch, to be free, that he forgot for a moment that Julia had no idea who—or what—he was. Her yelp reminded him, and he dropped down on one knee.

  “Julia. I have frightened you. I am sorry. I will never harm you. I could not. I am yours, for as long as you will have me.”

  “M-mine.” She did not seem surprised. Only curious. Hesitant footsteps approached. “I need answers. A lot of them. You came out of a dildo!”

  “I do not know this word. Dildo. What does it mean?”

  “It’s used...for sex. To give pleasure.” She circled him slowly, and Kek ached to be able to see her.

  “Are you speaking of my vessel?” When she didn’t respond, he added, “It is long and shaped like my cock.”

  “Yes. I read Ruth’s diary. She said...you were an alien.”

  Mention of his dear Ruth brought a wave of sadness washing over Kek, and he lowered his head. “I told her some of my origins during the brief times she could free me. Yes. I come from a planet called Pleasuros.”

  Something draped around his shoulders, soft and warm. “And no one wears clothes on...Pleasuros?” Julia asked.

  Ruth had always insisted he cover himself when she’d freed him from his vessel, and with a shameful bow, Kek pulled the blanket tighter around him. “I am sorry that my nakedness offends you.”

  “Offends?” She laughed, and the sound was magical. “I’m not offended. You’re magnificent.”

  “That is good, yes?”

  A light touch skimmed his shoulder over the thick material, and Julia’s voice lowered. “Yes. But here...we wear clothes most of the time. And if I keep staring at your naked body, I’m going to forget all the questions I have.”

  Kek did not move. He did not wish to scare his mate, but he was growing weaker and increasingly worried. What if Julia did not want him? “When my kind hardens and we retreat into our vessels, we cannot bring anything with us. No clothing, no weapons, only ourselves. On Pleasuros, we only remained naked when we wished to bathe or engage in the mating acts. Or, those were our customs.. Pleasuros is no more. It was destroyed many thousands of moons ago.”

  “And you need something from me—from a woman—to escape your...vessel?”

  “My vessel protects me from enemies. On my home planet, our sun gives us the energy to remain free from our vessels for as long as we wish. When we boarded our intergalactic orbiter, we outfitted it with an energy converter that mimicked our sun. But here, on this planet, the energy is different.”

  A sweet scent he now associated with Julia wrapped around him. It was like the fragrant crimson flower that had bloomed once every hundred moons on Pleasuros, and he drank it in, wishing he could live in it forever.

  “What happened to your planet?”

  He sensed his mate kneeling close to him, and wanted to ask for her touch, but he feared he would frighten her. Already he was weakening, but her continued closeness gave him enough energy to remain free if he did not exert himself.

  “It was pulled into one of the suns. My brothers and I, along with many others, fled on the intergalactic orbiters in search of other planets that could sustain us, hoping that we would find one t
hat would welcome us and allow us to stay. But our ship was destroyed when we attempted to enter your atmosphere.” Kek hunched his shoulders and bowed his head. “Our commander ordered us to harden—to let our vessels protect us—but when we crashed, I did not have enough strength to emerge again.”

  “You were...trapped. For how long?” Shock and sympathy warred for dominance in her voice, and Kek nodded.

  “I do not know. When I am forced into my vessel, time has little meaning. It is like...a trance of sorts. I have only small bits of memories from those many moons. Being jostled, buried, the vibrations of the planet around me. It may have been—what was the word Ruth used?—centuries.”

  “Oh, God.”

  Kek sensed Julia’s shock and horror, and he reached out slowly until Julia placed her hand in his. The power of their bond helped ease his pain of his memories, and he attempted to send some of the healing waves into her.

  “You’re...I can feel you,” she breathed. “What are you doing?”

  “This is the power of the mate bond,” he explained. “My race is highly empathetic, and we can transfer our emotions by touch to those we are...destined for.”

  “Like me. You’re really sure I’m your mate?”

  “I am. You freed me from my vessel with only your touch.” Kek squeezed her fingers gently. “Our connection will allow me to remain in this form as long as we are close.”

  She didn’t respond for several long moments, then tugged him up to standing. “Come with me.”

  “Where are we going?” Kek asked, though he did not hesitate to follow his Julia.

  “Somewhere more comfortable.”

  The arousal in her wake made Kek’s member throb with need, but then his foot caught on something hard and he fell, his large body knocking against Julia’s small frame. He wrapped his arms around her, twisting as he fell, and absorbing the impact while keeping her safe in his embrace.

  “Kek!” Her hands flew to his cheeks, her palms rasping against short stubble. “Are you okay?”