Taken by the Alien Next Door (Aliens Among Us #1) - Tiffany Roberts Page 0,137

She traced the design carved on the lid with her thumbs. Her wrist brace looked so huge in comparison to the little box. “It’s in here?”

“Mhmm.”

Tabitha eyed him with a smirk. “You didn’t, like, take a plastic spork or a latex glove from the hospital, did you? Cause if you did”—she looked back down and lifted the lid—“that’d just be—Oh my God! Zevris, is that…”

There, resting atop a small velvet pad amidst her other keepsakes, was a ring. It was polished white gold—or platinum, she couldn’t tell which—with a pear-shaped diamond at the center that was flanked on each side by a smaller diamond of the same cut, their points facing outwards. Even in the low candlelight, the ring sparkled brilliantly.

Heart fluttering, she looked at Zevris to find him down on one knee, his eyes intent upon her.

“Are you…” Tabitha could find no other words, couldn’t complete her question.

Keeping his eyes locked with hers, he reached forward and picked up the ring, holding it up to her. “Tabitha Mathews, you are my lifemate, you are my love, the reason for my every breath and every beat of my heart. You are the mother of our coming child. Would you honor me by also becoming my wife?”

Tears stung her eyes, and she smiled wider and wider as she nodded her head. “Yes. Yes. I want you in every way I can have you.”

His smile stretched in response, and he gently took hold of her left hand, lifting it away from the keepsake box. She spread her fingers, unable to keep them from trembling, and stared down as he slowly, delicately, slipped the ring onto her finger.

“And you belong to me, Nykasha, in every way I can make you mine.”

As strange as it was to see a glittering diamond ring contrasted by her hospital-issued wrist brace, Tabitha’s heart swelled at the sight.

Leaning forward, Zevris slipped his fingers into her hair, cupped the back of her neck, and drew her closer. His mouth captured hers in a kiss that was gentle, yet firm, a kiss that aroused her, that claimed her, and yet demanded nothing she wasn’t willing to give.

But Tabitha held nothing back as she returned the kiss. She gave Zevris her all—her love, her heart, her very soul. He was her forever.

He was her happily ever after.

Epilogue

A warm, fragrant breeze flowed across the field, making the grass and scattered wildflowers sway and ripple like the surface of a lake. Farther out, the dense trees and shrubs rustled beneath a wide sky that was a patchwork of large, fluffy white clouds and crisp blue.

Zevris braced his hands on the porch railing, leaned forward, and drew in a deep breath. The air was redolent of fresh vegetation, blooming flowers, and rich earth, with just a hint of rain to come. His second spring on Earth was already a couple months underway, and he enjoyed it. In his heart, he would forever link the lush new growth of springtime with the birth of his daughter, who’d finally come into the world only two days ago.

“You were right, Zevris. There is great beauty here,” Khelvar who was standing beside Zevris, said in accented English.

Smiling, Zevris nodded. “Have I pushed you to finally consider your own retirement?”

Khelvar laughed and propped his elbows on the railing. “Perhaps I’m overdue… But what would I do with myself were I not an ultricar?”

“I’m sure you’d find some way to occupy your time.”

The doggy door slapped open behind Zevris, followed by the sounds of nails clicking and scraping across the porch’s planks. Zevris dropped a hand from the railing and twisted to look back as a pair of German Shepherds hurried toward him.

Dexter rose on his hind legs and braced his paws against Zevris’s abdomen. His tail was wagging, his tongue flapping.

“You’re not supposed to do this,” Zevris said as he petted and scratched the dog’s cheeks.

Seeing Dexter receive attention, Diana—the female dog Tabitha and Zevris had adopted several months ago—forced her way up next to Dexter, craning her neck as though to reach past the slightly larger male dog.

Chuckling, Zevris gave her the same scratches he’d given her counterpart.

For a few moments, he was petting both dogs, each of whom continued to move their head in front of the other’s, demanding his complete attention.

Finally, Zevris gently shoved both dogs down. “Go play, you two.”

The dogs trotted away, descending the porch steps to reach the ground. They raced across the grass with Dexter in the lead and Diana—whose gait had