wasn’t sure where to look—every part of him was delicious.
Zevris stepped to the door and reached for the handle.
That was enough to snap Tabitha out of her trance. “Where…where are you going?”
He closed his hand on the doorknob and looked at her over his shoulder. His eyes gleamed with lust. “To prepare food for my female.”
He opened the door and slipped out into the hallway, turning slightly to fit through the gap and granting her one last glimpse of his outlined cock before he was gone. The door closed softly, but the sound of it was deafening in the relative silence.
And all she could do was lie there, stunned, her body aching with unfulfilled need.
Alien one, Tabitha nothing.
Tabitha groaned and turned her eyes toward the ceiling. The haze that had clouded her thoughts slowly lifted.
What was wrong with her? She shouldn’t have wanted him, shouldn’t have craved him like this—he’d abducted her. She should’ve been kicking and screaming, demanding he let her go, fighting him tooth and nail. But every time he touched her or spoke to her in that husky, growly voice, she was like putty in his hands. Even if he could mask his true appearance, he couldn’t mask the raw yearning burning in his eyes whenever he looked at her.
Was she so starved for affection that she could forgive what he’d done?
Yes. Yes, I am.
She could admit it. She was twenty-six years old, lived by herself, had no boyfriend, and the only family she’d ever had passed away two years ago. Tabitha could admit to herself that she was…lonely. And she truly didn’t think Zevris was a bad guy—or a bad alien. Everything he’d said had seemed sincere and honest, and if it was a matter of his whole species dying out, could she blame him for doing whatever he needed in order to save them?
But that didn’t mean he could take her choice away. That didn’t mean he could just take…her. She refused to go down without a fight. So what if he was mind-numbingly, panty-wettingly sexy? It didn’t change the fact that he’d kidnapped her and tied her to his bed!
She was his captive, and she needed to remember that.
Eleven
The fork Zevris was holding clinked against the plate. “You need to eat, Tabitha.”
Tabitha kept her face turned away from him, trying to remain strong even though she felt a little like a kid throwing a tantrum after being told to eat her veggies. Though her means of resistance were limited at the moment—refuse to look at him, refuse to speak to him—she had to use whatever weapons she could in this battle.
But it was hard to ignore the mouth-watering aromas of buttery garlic steak, mashed potatoes, and cheesy broccoli.
Her alien had gone all out.
No. Not my alien.
Zevris growled. “I will tolerate neither the silent treatment nor the cold shoulder, female. And I will not remain idle while you make yourself suffer to spite me.”
As amusing as it was that an alien knew those terms, Tabitha didn’t allow it to show. She turned her face toward him, tilted her chin down, and gave him a look that said, What are you going to do about it?
Or at least that was what she hoped it said.
His dark brows were low, angled down toward the bridge of his nose, and his eyes were locked on her. He was sitting on the edge of the bed with a plate of food on his thigh and his tail laid beside him, its tip—with its tuft of black fur—flicking as though in agitation.
“This does not need to be unpleasant, Tabitha.”
Zevris’s expression also sent a clear message—Whether I end up feeding you or fucking you, I will have my way.
And it was equal parts thrilling and irritating that she knew either of those options would be far from unpleasant.
She pressed her lips together and looked back at the wall. It was at that moment that her stomach decided to growl.
Zevris caught her chin and turned her face back toward him. “I am aware that humans can survive for several weeks without food, but I will not allow you to reach anywhere near that point. You are hungry. You will eat.”
Tabitha clenched her jaw. A few missed meals weren’t a big deal. She could hold out for a few days, right? She could hold out until she either found a way to escape or convinced him that this was crazy, and he really ought to let her go…
But she already had that nauseous,