Taken by the Alien Next Door (Aliens Among Us #1) - Tiffany Roberts Page 0,46

Zevris replied as he walked into the adjoining bathroom and out of her sight, “as you are to be my lifemate.”

“No, I’m not!” she called after him.

She heard him opening cabinets and moving things around, heard him grumble as something fell and clattered in the sink—her razor, by the sound of it.

He emerged from the bathroom a few moments later. His eyes settled on her, their blue impossibly vibrant even if they were no longer glowing. “You are, Tabitha. It can only be you.”

Tabitha ran her gaze over him. He was still bare-chested, and his muscles were as toned and tantalizing as ever, but the tattoos and piercings she’d seen before were gone. She realized now that his face was different, too. His features were softer, still masculine but far more human, and his ears were rounded rather than coming to elvish points. The fangs she’d glimpsed as he’d spoken before were nowhere to be seen, and his fingers bore plain old fingernails rather than black claws.

Nothing about him looked alien anymore…but now that she’d seen under the mask, her brain insisted something was wrong about his appearance, even if it was just that he was too perfect.

“How are you doing that?” she asked.

He returned to the cardboard box. “Doing what?”

Tabitha motioned to him with her hand, waving her fingers up and down. “Looking human.”

Zevris removed a piece of clothing from the box—a pair of her jeans—and set it down on the bed. “It’s a holographic projection, of sorts. A relatively simple one, as our people are already fairly similar in appearance.”

His body shimmered and blurred for an instant. The effect was strong enough that it made Tabitha feel like she’d gone cross-eyed; everything was in focus but him, and it was almost maddening to watch. When that blur cleared, something like those old wireframe computer images appeared on his skin, the lines arranged in interlocking hexagonal patterns that rapidly faded, section by section, until only Zevris—alien Zevris—remained.

Yep. Definitely hotter as an alien.

God, what is wrong with me?

“How…many of you are here on Earth?” she asked, trying to ignore the way her body reacted to the sight of him. His sweatpants hung low, revealing the grooves of his Adonis belt, which guided her eyes toward his…

“I am the only one you need to concern yourself with, Tabitha.” The way he said her name, half growling, half purring, sent a thrill up her spine. He continued removing clothing from the box, stacking her folded pants and shirts on the bed.

“Well, would you recognize each other if you ran into another…faeleon?”

“Faloran. And yes, we have measures in place for such occurrences. But it will not happen here on Earth.”

“Why?”

He scooped up the pile of clothing and carried it to the dresser, setting it on top. He opened a drawer and shifted its contents. “Because that is the nature of this mission. We are operating individually, with no knowledge of one another. I must assume my comrades have their own designated areas of operation outside of my own.”

Tabitha’s gaze trekked down his muscular back to his ass, where it remained glued. The fabric of his sweatpants molded to his taut backside. She bit the inside of her lip. There was a slight bump at the top of his ass, and a hint of short, dark fur just above his waistband.

He’s hiding his tail in his pants.

“Who were you talking to?” she asked. “Through that hologram, I mean.”

“My commander.” He placed her clothing in the drawer, pushed the drawer closed, and opened the next one up, moving his arms again as though clearing space.

He’s…moving me into his house. My alien neighbor kidnapped me and is moving me into his house, and I don’t know how I’m not freaking out right now.

Or maybe I’m so freaked out that I don’t even realize it anymore?

Or maybe she believed him when he said he wouldn’t hurt her, maybe she understood the mission he was on. That…didn’t mean she had to go along with it and become his mate, though.

But why not?

She hushed that voice faster than an ice cube could melt in a blast furnace. She was not going to go there.

Tabitha cleared her throat and forced her attention away from Zevris’s ass to something safer. Like…the bland painting hanging on the wall.

Ugh, why does he even have that?

“What were you talking to him about?” she asked.

Zevris returned to the box and paused. From the corner of her eye, she saw him tilt his head and follow