“She never dressed up like that for me,” Cody grumbled.
“Just leave us alone, Cody,” Tabitha said, her words strained. She touched Zevris’s back and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Please, Zevris. Let’s just go home.”
Cody frowned, running his gaze over her.
That threatening aura pulsing from Zevris only intensified, belied by his slow, smooth movements as he bent his arms up and unbuttoned his shirt cuffs. “Keep back, Nykasha. This will not take long.”
“This guy for real?” Tad asked.
“Fuck yeah,” the man who’d first spoken growled. “Been holding back in the ring all week. Finally gonna have a chance to let fucking loose!”
The men who’d been smoking took final drags on their cigarettes and tossed them to the ground, stomping them out with their shoes. There was unsettling eagerness in their eyes as they stepped forward to close the distance between themselves and Zevris. A couple of them were rolling their shoulders as though limbering up.
Cody looked at Tabitha again for just an instant, his expression faltering before hardening more than ever.
Zevris didn’t budge from his place. The nearness of his foes didn’t seem to alarm him in the slightest; he rolled up his sleeves one at a time with nonchalance. But Tabitha knew when he spoke that his leisurely demeanor was only surface deep. His voice bore an undercurrent of fury that made his alien accent more pronounced.
“You are warriors, then?” he asked.
“Brent is the former Pacific Northwest Amateur MMA champ,” said Vance, “and the rest of us aren’t far behind.”
The first man who’d spoken, Brent, stepped even closer to Zevris, nearly bumping chests with him. He stared up with an aggressive gleam in his eyes.
“Good.” Zevris lowered his arms to his sides.
Tabitha retreated another step, wishing she had a phone, wishing she could bring herself to look away, to look for help. But what would that mean for Zevris? Wouldn’t it put him at risk of being discovered if the police became involved?
All she could manage was one thought, extremely loud and clear—kick their asses, Zevris.
Cody laughed; it sounded forced. “Got a tough guy here. Hits some weights at the gym and thinks he’s badass.”
Sounds like Cody’s doing some of that classic projection.
Just like that, the hurt and embarrassment that had seized Tabitha lost some ground to her anger.
“Probably needs to if he wants to lift his date,” Tad remarked.
“What’s more embarrassing,” Brent said, “that he’s out with a fat chick, or that he’s about to get his ass ki—”
The former champ’s head snapped aside, and he flew back into his friends, who spat curses and exclamations into the air. Tabitha’s brain caught up with the situation a second later, only then registering that Zevris had moved—he’d punched Brent so fast that she’d missed it.
The other men grabbed hold of Brent, whose legs now seemed about as sturdy as wet noodles. Zevris was amongst them in a flash. He hit Tad and Vance before either could defend themselves, sending them reeling. Cody released the semi-unconscious former champ and charged at Zevris, dropping low to throw his arms around Zevris’s middle and slam his shoulder into the alien’s abdomen as though to tackle him.
Zevris leaned forward instantly and wrapped his arms around his attacker’s chest. He slid back a couple feet before coming to a halt; Tabitha had the sense that, were he wearing something other than dress shoes, he wouldn’t have given half as much ground. He reared back, wrenched Cody off his feet and high into the air, flipping him over in the process, and slammed him down atop Brent.
It was just like a move she’d seen wrestlers do on TV those times she’d watched with Josh and Mia, but this was all the more impressive knowing that those wrestlers were working together to make the move look impressive. Zevris didn’t need a willing opponent to show off his unrivaled strength.
Both men, now sprawled on the ground, groaned in pain.
The other two men had recovered, and they rushed at Zevris in tandem. Tabitha’s breath caught in her throat. Tad and Vance unleashed a series of lightning quick punches and kicks, coming at Zevris from two different angles. Apart from the handful of wrestling shows she’d watched, she didn’t know much of anything about fighting, but even she could tell these guys knew what they were doing.
That should have been the moment when her worry for Zevris hit its peak. That should have been when her heart stopped along with her breath, when terror constricted her chest and pressed in on her from every direction.
Zevris dodged their blows for a couple seconds at most. Then his foot slammed into Vance’s chest, knocking him back with a pained grunt. Tad swung his fist at Zevris, mistaking the alien for being off guard.
Zevris caught the Tad’s wrist, slapped a hand on his shoulder, and flung him aside with seemingly little effort. Tad’s feet left the ground. His momentum was halted by the door of a nearby car, which buckled inward as his shoulder slammed into it.
Brent had managed to get onto his knees. His eyes looked a bit glossy, and he still seemed unsteady. He lunged forward, striking Zevris in the backs of his legs. Zevris fell, but before Tabitha could even reflexively panic, he somehow rolled backward and caught Brent’s arm, wrenching it behind the man’s back. Zevris landed with one knee on the ground and the other pressed into the center of Brent’s back, pinning the man face first on the ground.
Cody had regained his feet nearby. He shook his head sharply.
“Fuck, fuck, my fucking arm,” Brent groaned.
“Fucking bastard,” Cody muttered.
Zevris’s face snapped toward Cody, and for an instant Tabitha was granted a surreal view of her male’s face. His eyes gleamed with reflected light like those of a predatory cat, and his teeth were bared in a ferocious snarl.
Cody swung his fists at Zevris. Zevris dodged the first two punches as though he were avoiding an irritating gnat flying at face. His hand darted up for the third punch, catching Cody’s fist and halting the blow entirely.
Tabitha could just barely make out the muscles of Zevris’s forearm flexing in the darkness.
Crying out in pain, Cody dropped to a knee, grasping his arm with his opposite hand as though to alleviate the pain. “Fuck you and that fat—”
Zevris’s fist cracked against Cody’s face with a crunch. Cody’s head snapped backward, and faintly glistening blood oozed from his nose. When he swayed forward again, he let out a wet cough and spat thickly onto the sidewalk.
Seeing Cody shut up like that brought Tabitha some satisfaction, even if it was petty.
Tad dragged himself away from the car he’d been thrown into and staggered to his feet. He stumblingly charged at Zevris from behind.
“Zevris, behind you,” Tabitha called, clenching the fabric of his jacket in both fists tightly enough to make her knuckles ache.
Zevris twisted around, pivoting on his knee—the one still pressed down atop Brent—to face the new attack. He kept hold of Cody’s fist, causing Cody to fall forward onto the sidewalk.
Tad leapt at Zevris, raising a knee.
What came next happened so fast that Tabitha couldn’t be sure what she’d seen. It looked like Zevris swung his free arm aside like a club, striking Tad in the legs well before that knee could connect. The man’s legs were swept one direction, forcing his torso to pitch in the opposite. Before he could even hit the ground, Zevris caught hold of the Tad’s shirt, tugged him closer, and headbutted him, forehead to forehead.
Zevris eased the unconscious man onto the ground with surprising gentleness.
He stood up then, momentarily pressing his weight down upon Brent and coaxing out another agonized groan. Zevris released Cody’s fist, clamping a hand on the back of the man’s neck, pulled Cody up, and dragged him toward Tabitha.
Brent and Vance scrambled way, leaving Cody and the unconscious Tad behind.
Cody’s head lolled, and he mumbled somet
hing—likely more curses—before managing some intelligible words. “You fucking win. Lemme go.”
“Our business is not yet concluded,” Zevris growled.
Tabitha had never heard such formal words spoken with such a savage edge on them.
He stopped in front of Tabitha and lowered Cody enough for the man’s knees to accept his weight. She glanced questioningly at Zevris, but his attention was focused on his foe, and that intensity still thrummed from him.
“Apologize to her,” Zevris commanded.
Cody lifted his head. His nose was definitely broken, and his eyes looked like they were already swelling. But there was more in them, something she’d never seen—fear. Perhaps even a hint of humility.
Zevris shoved the Cody’s head back down and forced him onto hands and knees. “You don’t get to look at her. You have not earned that right. Apologize. Now.”
“I’m sorry,” Cody murmured. “So fucking sorry.”
Zevris’s hand flexed.
Cody groaned. “Damn it, I’m sorry! Sorry I…I treated you like shit, Tabby. Sorry for all the things I said, everything I did. So, so fucking sorry.”
Tabitha’s breath fled her as her wide-eyed gaze flicked between Cody and Zevris. This…this had all really happened. Zevris had stood up for her, had beaten the crap out of these men all because they mocked her and called her horrible things, had forced Cody to apologize to her for the first time ever, and though she’d never condoned violence…she was really freaking turned on right now.
He cares for me. He really wants me.
Unceremoniously, Zevris cast the man away. Cody rolled onto his side, features contorted in agony. Zevris scanned their surroundings briefly, took hold of Tabitha’s wrist, and began walking—fast.
Her heels clicked on the sidewalk as she jogged to keep up with him. Thankfully, his truck was within sight. Despite having won the fight and getting Cody to apologize, Zevris was still brimming with tension, and she had a feeling that there was far more aggression simmering within him that he had yet to let loose.
She kept silent as they reached the truck. He opened the passenger door for her and helped her inside, but he didn’t look at her. Once she was settled in the seat, he closed the door, rounded the truck in quick strides, and threw open the driver’s door.
The truck rocked as he climbed inside, and he slammed the door shut far harder than he had hers.
But Tabitha refused to let this ruin their night. The rage on his face as he’d fought for her honor had been unmistakable, but there was so much more to what he’d done. There’d been so much restraint despite his bristling fury. She understood the truth of it now that they were out of the situation—he could have killed those men with minimal effort. She wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d exerted more energy holding himself back than he would have if he’d opened the flood gates and let his rage out.
He could have simply ignored them. As he’d admitted, he’d not really understood what the men had meant beyond their insulting tones. But it had been her pain that had set him off.
Screw waiting three more weeks. Tabitha knew what she wanted.
She wanted Zevris to be hers.
Twenty-Two
The steering wheel creaked as Zevris tightened his grip on it. His jaw was clenched with teeth-shattering force, and the muscles of his arms were so tense they ached—in no small part due to the exertion of preventing himself from crushing the steering wheel outright. Somehow, he kept himself from slamming the accelerator to the floor.
He’d already done enough to risk drawing unwanted attention tonight.
Fire roiled inside him, stoked by a sinking sourness in his gut. His breaths came in harsh bursts that seemed even to him more like the snarls of an agitated beast. Unspent energy thrummed in his limbs, coursing to the tips of his fingers, toes, and tail before racing back to his thumping heart. He’d never been so affected by combat, not even the first time he’d killed.
An althicar always conducted himself with precision, control, and deliberateness. He’d maintained that through every mission he’d ever undertaken, had prided himself on it. But tonight, he’d been dangerously close to losing control.
I did lose control. The instant I turned to confront them.
He’d never had to operate under such restrictive rules of engagement—and he’d never fought in defense of his female’s honor.
But this wasn’t just any female. This was Tabitha. His Tabitha.
How could he not have lost control? Those men had said hurtful things to Tabitha, deeply hurtful things, and they’d done so without provocation. Zevris could have ignored any insult they might’ve hurled at him, but he could not tolerate anyone insulting his mate.
And when he’d turned to face those men, when he’d finally looked them in their eyes, he’d realized that he knew one of them. Cody Everton. Tabitha’s ex-boyfriend.
A low growl rumbled from his throat, and he squeezed the steering wheel tighter.
“Zevris?” Tabitha softly inquired.
His lips peeled back, and a shaky, hissing breath escaped through his teeth. His words pained him before he even let them out, but they were necessary. “Not now.”
He couldn’t trust himself at the moment—he didn’t even feel like himself.
Because even though he’d managed to avoid killing those men—thus protecting his cover by a razor-thin margin—he’d wanted to. Even now, he was battling the urge to turn the vehicle around, to go back to the scene and track those men down—to track Cody down. The pain that man had caused Tabitha had not yet been avenged. His suffering had been too brief, to limited. Zevris craved true justice, and he was sorely tempted to truly finish what Cody and the other men had begun.
It was either that or give into an even stronger urge—to pull over on the side of the road, tear Tabitha’s dress off her luscious body, and claim her now.
The drive back to Zevris’s dwelling passed in a blur. He was aware of the road before him, of countless headlights and taillights of other vehicles, of shadowy trees and lit-up buildings, was even more acutely aware of the silence within the cab of his truck, but he navigated based purely on instinct.
It felt like either a thousand years or ten seconds had passed when he pulled into his driveway.
“Stay,” he commanded as he shoved open his door and climbed out of the truck. He closed the door behind him, barely stopping himself from slamming it, and drew in a deep breath.
It did little to ease him.
Zevris walked around the front of the vehicle to the passenger side and opened Tabitha’s door. Somehow, he kept his hand steady when he held out to her.
She placed her fingers in his hand and looked at him curiously as she stepped down. As soon as she was clear of the door, he closed it as gently as he could manage.
The feel of her warm, soft little hand in his was nearly too much to bear. He released it, turned, and stalked toward the front door of his dwelling, the heat of his desire roaring in its war against the heat of his rage.
Zevris stabbed the key into the keyhole and turned it hard enough that he felt the metal flex. His lack of care only fed into his frustration. Tugging the key free, he opened the door and stepped inside, standing aside to allow Tabitha through behind him.
“Zevris?” she said as he closed the door. She reached toward him. “I want to—”
“I can’t, Tabitha.” He twisted his torso, avoiding her touch, and strode past her. It pained him to do so. “Not now.”
He deactivated his holoshroud, barely feeling the hum that swept over him.
Dexter padded into the hallway, stopping to stare up at Zevris and Tabitha eagerly. He made a drawn-out, half-yowl, half-whine, and turned to hurry over to his empty food dish and nudge it with his nose.
Zevris walked into the kitchen, grabbed the bag of dog food, and poured some food into the dog’s dish, forcing his hands to move slowly and steadily so he didn’t make a mess that would only agitate him further. After re
turning the bag to its place, he stalked along the hallway.
The crunching of Dexter gobbling down his food filled the otherwise quiet residence.
Tabitha was standing halfway down the hall, looking at Zevris. Unable to make eye contact with her, unwilling to trust himself, he moved past her.
Her fingers wrapped around his arm, bringing him to a halt. Zevris turned to face her. Before he could say another word, she caught his face between her hands, pulled his head down, and slammed her mouth against his.
Zevris’s eyes widened. Her kiss was like being struck by lightning, its electric current making every muscle in his body lock tight, but instead of inducing pain it pulsed with sizzling pleasure. His cock stirred, jolting with the sensation of her lips caressing his, instantly growing hard.
Tabitha was kissing him. His mate was kissing him. Her mouth was soft and warm, her breath sweet.
But it wasn’t enough.
Zevris brought a hand up and shoved his fingers into her hair, cradling her head as he slanted his mouth across hers. She released a startled breath, her lips parting, and it was all the invitation he needed to deepen the kiss.
He moved forward, leaning into her. She moved with him until her back bumped the wall. Once she was trapped there, he dropped his hands to her ass and lifted her off the floor, pinning her body with his own.
Tabitha’s fingers delved into his hair. She moaned against his lips, wrapping her legs around his waist as he drew her pelvis against his. He plundered her mouth, his tongue sweeping against hers, stroking it, coaxing it into a sensual dance.
Karak’duun, she was so fucking sweet.
She arched her back, pressing her breasts against his chest, and ground her sex along his cock. He growled, flexing the fingers of one hand to clutch her ass tighter while he slid the other hand along the bare skin of her left leg, which was exposed by the slit in her dress.
The fragrance of her arousal struck him fully then, drawing a groan from deep within him.
Tabitha broke the kiss, and Zevris opened his eyes. Her lips were red and swollen, her eyes bright and glistening with desire, and she was panting softly.
Taken By The Alien Next Door Page 25
