Taken by the Alien Next Door (Aliens Among Us #1) - Tiffany Roberts Page 0,39

into every window, listening at every door, and never would have seen or heard anything to alert her to his true nature.

No, none of this was her fault. Zevris was the fool who’d left the back door open while he was undisguised and speaking with the ultricar.

She was still yelling in his bedroom, calling for him, calling for help. After all the things he’d done, all the death and destruction he’d wrought in the name of his people, he’d never felt as monstrous as he did now. Dragging Tabitha into his dwelling and binding her to his bed seemed the most heinous act of all.

So why did some deep, primal part of him like it? Why did that part of him like having Tabitha beneath him, having her at his mercy, having her staring up at him with her cheeks flushed and hair tousled?

His feelings were a chaotic jumble, as they’d so often been during his stay on Earth. He hated what he’d had to do, and he felt guilty for doing it—and for not doing enough. He was frustrated with himself, with the mission, with the universe. Yet he still thrummed with desire for Tabitha. That undiminished want only further complicated his feelings.

This was what he’d wanted, wasn’t it? Tabitha in his home, in his bed?

He followed a trail of scattered blades of grass and wet, incomplete footprints from the front door to the back, reversing the path of Tabitha’s frantic flight through his dwelling. She’d surprised him; she’d made him proud. Though she was not a warrior, she had put up a valiant struggle, and had shown a strong spirit at her core that had only made her that much more attractive to him.

After tucking his tail into his pants, Zevris activated his holoshroud, deactivated the forcefield before him, and unlocked the glass door. It slid open smoothly, nearly silent. The screen door beyond it was another matter. Its warped frame jittered and scraped the rails as he tried to pull it closed, sticking so firmly after moving a few halting inches that he simply gave up and shoved it off the railing completely.

Stepping onto the patio, he set the misshapen screen door aside, closed the sliding door, and reengaged the forcefield.

The cool breeze was still flowing, gently rustling the vegetation behind his yard. Big, fluffy white clouds rolled across the cerulean sky, drifting leisurely; they were carefree. The sun was bright and clear but not hot, making everything seem more vibrant. It was a beautiful day on Earth, a peaceful one—at least in this little part of the world.

All Zevris had to do was step back inside and that sense of peace would be gone.

Tabitha’s words echoed in his mind. People are going to wonder where I am.

He raked his fingers through his hair and growled. His lack of knowledge concerning Tabitha had been a source of limitless intrigue less than ten minutes ago, and now it was a liability. Friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, debt collectors, the mailperson—there were so many people she might have been connected to who would eventually notice her absence. Once the local authorities were tipped off, it would not be long before they knocked on Zevris’s door to ask questions.

He’d need to learn as much as he could about her as quickly as possible, and he would need to use that knowledge to somehow keep up the pretense that nothing was wrong. He would have to somehow prevent the people who cared about her from becoming suspicious.

“That’ll be simple,” he grumbled. “As simple as this whole damned mission.”

And yet his greatest concern was for Tabitha herself. How could he make her comfortable, how could he best tend to her needs, how could he make this unfortunate situation as pleasant for her as possible—or at the very least, how could he mitigate the unpleasantness?

The only way for Zevris to have her, to keep her, to stay with her forever, was through a mating bond. It was only a matter of time before she became his mate, before they made that bond. There was no other choice. But that process would be far more enjoyable—and far faster—if he showed her that he would tend to all her needs. If he showed her that he cared for her.

If he was unsuccessful in those endeavors…what would Exthurizen Command do with a human who knew of the falorans’ existence, of their presence on Earth, of their objectives?

Zevris knew the answer to that question, but he refused to