Taken by the Alien Next Door (Aliens Among Us #1) - Tiffany Roberts Page 0,20

cupholders in the cab of his vehicle; he placed it there carefully before loading his wood into the vehicle’s open bed.

Truck, not vehicle, he reminded himself as he secured the tailgate. Both terms were technically correct, but humans did not use the latter as often or as casually as the former. Car, truck, van; those were the words they preferred for their automobiles.

He climbed into the truck’s cab and began his journey home.

Though the drive was smooth, and the traffic was relatively light, Zevris drummed his fingers impatiently upon the steering wheel whenever he was behind a slower vehicle, and more than once had to bite back the urge to press the accelerator to the floor. There was a strange blend of tightness and hollowness in his belly that reminded him of the pre-drop anxiousness he’d so often experienced even after going through numerous drops onto hostile planets.

His eyes repeatedly flicked toward the cactus sitting in the cupholder. Each time he looked at the plant, he wondered how Tabitha would react to it. Would she like it? Would she be grateful? Did she like him?

Karak’duun, I’m acting like a human adolescent pumped full of hormones and self-doubt.

At least that was what he’d been led to believe; his knowledge pertaining to that age group had been gained primarily through human entertainment. He’d not had any interactions with teenage humans apart from a few cashiers in various stores.

“The cactus is fine,” he said, forcing his eyes back onto the road. “It is a hardy plant. It has weathered far worse than this drive.”

He managed to complete his journey without unsafely passing other vehicles or exceeding the speed limit—or at least not exceeding it more than the cars that made up the bulk of the traffic. But when the entrance to his neighborhood came into view, he had to squeeze the steering wheel and clench his jaw to keep from accelerating. Getting to his dwelling a few seconds sooner wouldn’t help anything.

And there were children who often played on these streets. Even if he was of a different species, from a different world, Zevris refused to endanger the lives of children, whether by reckless driving or any other actions.

He backed into his driveway, turned off the truck, and again engaged in a battle of will versus impulse, just barely stopping himself from leaping out of the cab and sprinting to Tabitha’s door. Zevris could not recall a single moment in his life during which he’d been so excited and nervous at once.

And all over a little plant that would stab him if he touched it.

He frowned as he reached down to collect the cactus. The pot fit perhaps a little too well in the cupholder; its rim was below that of the cupholder, leaving only the cactus’s spiky body protruding.

I suppose being a member of a highly advanced species is no guarantee of intelligence.

Zevris fumbled to work the tip of a claw between the cupholder and the pot so he could coax it up. But his fingers were big, the gap was small, and the angle to which he had to bend to make the attempt was uncomfortable.

“This is why you have not found a mate here, Logan,” he muttered. “Who wants any male foolish enough to get a cactus stuck in a cupholder?”

After another minute of struggling—and a few frustrated grunts and growls—he finally wedged his claw between the pot and the cupholder. Using that claw like a prybar, he carefully raised the pot until he could press a finger to the other side. He lifted the plant free, keeping his hands angled away from those small, wicked spines.

Now that he had the plant in hand, his frown deepened. Rather than a small sense of accomplishment, he had a moment of doubt; why was he gifting the female he desired a plant that could make her bleed?

He cast that doubt aside. It was because of the cactus’s beauty—because of Tabitha’s beauty.

Zevris exited the truck, holding the pot delicately in his fingers, and walked to Tabitha’s residence.

As he approached the front door, a sound gradually took shape—music. It was a deep, thumping but muffled bass, and it was coming from inside Tabitha’s home. Even when he was standing on the front step, only the bassline and the words ‘What is Love?’ were clear.

He pressed the doorbell. Its ring rose over the music, a high contrast to that low bass. Before the bell had even finished ringing, Dexter was barking. Someone cursed—a curt damn