Taken by the Alien Next Door (Aliens Among Us #1) - Tiffany Roberts Page 0,35

her eyes.

Zevris clenched his jaw, and his nostrils flared with a heavy exhalation. “We both know I cannot.”

“You can. Just…just open the door. Please. I never saw anything.”

“Tabitha…” He took another step toward her.

She hurled the stone tray at him.

He shoved away from the wall. Even for beings as tough as falorans, the tray was heavy enough—and jagged enough in some spots—to have caused serious injury.

The tray whooshed through the air mere inches from his face, and his eyes followed it as it struck the wall, punching a deep gouge in the drywall, and fell to the floor with a heavy thud. It left a few noticeable dents and scratches on the floorboards. Flakes of the slate-like material lay scattered on the floor around the tray.

Brows low, Zevris returned his attention to Tabitha.

Her eyes were wide, her mouth agape. She looked from the tray to the hole in the wall and finally met Zevris’s gaze. For a moment, she seemed on the verge of apologizing.

Instead, she bent forward and snatched the keys off the floor. He did not understand why, considering the keyholes were on the exterior side of the door, until she took the keyring in her palm and positioned the keys to jut out from between the fingers of her closed fist like metal claws.

A grin teased at Zevris’s lips, but he held it back. My mate has claws.

Apparently, humans were adept at improvising weapons even when they were not combat trained. That was valuable information. But he didn’t waste time considering it further—he didn’t want any more damage inflicted upon his dwelling, didn’t want any more damage inflicted upon his body, and most certainly didn’t want any more damage inflicted upon Tabitha.

As she stood upright, Zevris darted toward her.

She gasped and thrust her arm out, swinging her little fist and its key-claws at him, but she wasn’t fast enough.

Catching her wrist in one hand, Zevris tugged her extended arm out further, forcing her to take a stumbling step forward. His leg was there to meet hers. Tabitha cried out and fell face first, throwing her free arm out in front of her to brace for the impact.

Zevris spun so he was behind her, looping an arm around her waist to ease her fall. She landed lightly on her hand and knees. He lowered himself atop her, his pelvis once again pressed against her enticing backside, and forced her flat on the floor, pinning her in place with his body.

Before she could react, he shifted his hand to hers and pried the keys from her grasp. He tossed them toward the stand in the corner blindly. All that mattered was that they were out of her reach.

She wiggled beneath him, her ass rubbing against his groin and sending ripples of pleasure—laced with lingering pain—through his cock. He tightened his hold on her and pressed his face into her hair. Her scent enveloped him like a cloud, dominating his senses.

Heated blood rushed to his shaft, which throbbed and hardened with blossoming desire.

“Tabitha,” he groaned and ground his erection against her.

Her breath hitched, and she stilled. “W-What are you doing?”

Zevris clenched his jaw. All he had to do was lift his head, and he could find an escape from her maddening fragrance, he could find some clarity. But he could not bring himself to do so. The feel of her silky, tousled hair tickling his skin and her soft, warm body beneath his was too delightful to end. He curled his tail around her calf.

Ah, no. Not like this. No.

He snarled and pushed himself back, taking not even a second to think as he lifted Tabitha over his shoulder and stood upright. She gasped and slapped her hands against his bare back, producing a sting as thrilling as it was painful. Zevris’s tail darted up, coiled around her wrists, and forced them together.

“I will not harm you, Tabitha,” he grated through his fangs.

As he climbed the stairs, she begged him to let her go, begged him to release her, swore she would never say a word about any of this. By the time he reached his bedroom—it couldn’t have taken more than half a minute—his chest ached, and his gut was churning.

Karak’duun, I didn’t actually want to kidnap her!

As unsuccessful as he’d been in wooing human females before now, he was fairly certain this was not the way to proceed. But he knew with equal certainty what was expected of him. Tabitha had seen him without his holoshroud activated. She