Taken by the Alien Next Door (Aliens Among Us, #1)

by Tiffany Roberts

It had taken time to understand a frustrating truth about the English language—using a word exactly according to its definition did not necessarily mean it was the right word.

The phrase I want you to carry my offspring was not one that human females found endearing.

Despite the urgency, despite their race’s desperation, a faloran could not entirely force the mating bond. There needed to be some sort of connection there, some sort of spark. Zevris had yet to find such a connection.

Without a working phone, Zevris would be effectively cut off from human society. Not that it would actually hurt his chances. One could not do much worse than absolute failure.

He walked to the mailbox at the end of the driveway, opened it, and removed the envelopes from within, glancing through them. Bills and junk—the two forms of mail that seemed to bind all humans together in a common experience.

Perhaps there was some wisdom to be found in human sayings about the power of the mind. Or, perhaps, Zevris was simply tired of never being…himself.

Outside this dwelling, he had to be Logan Ellis, a thirty-two-year-old human male who had moved to the area last year after relocating from a small town in a place called Montana. Logan made his living as a woodworker and had just learned to sell his creations online. He was a simple man, a lonely man, and he wanted nothing more than to find a woman for lasting companionship. Inside this dwelling, he was Zevris Akkaran, an althicar serving in the Exthurizen—a secretive branch of the Azmus Protectorate’s military—who had performed covert operations on more than a dozen alien planets. He had fought open battles, he had conducted ambushes, he had sabotaged enemy operations and stolen intelligence, had assassinated key targets. He’d spent most of his adult life embedded in hostile areas without direct contact with or support from his commanders. He was a simple male, a lonely male…and he wanted nothing more than to find a female for lasting companionship.

He just needed to make it through this assignment, and it would all be over. He could find a new purpose. He could rest. All he needed to do was find a human female who he was drawn to enough to form a mating bond—and who was willing to enter that undying bond with him. A simple, straightforward objective. On a planet filled with people who were anything but simple and straightforward.

“Tough break there, buddy,” said Frank. “That sucks,” said the other. Zevris’s brows slanted down, and another growl brewed in his chest. “You will see a tough break if you don’t take care of my fucking mailbox, buddy.”

Because under-boob chafing was the perfect way to end a day of hard work. What in the world possessed me to wear an underwire for this? I should’ve gone with a sports bra.

Despite the day’s many frustrations, she was excited to set up her workspace and begin this new chapter in her life. She was a little anxious, but wasn’t anyone who’d quit their fulltime job so they could follow their dream?

As she washed her hands in the sink, Tabitha looked out the window that faced the house of her out-of-this-world, unbelievably sexy neighbor.

“Um, yes. And candles, but mostly soap.” Why did he have to smell so damn good? He moved infinitesimally closer. “And you are in them?” “Well…yeah.” “Perhaps I should watch them.” Is he…is he flirting? No. No way. He…he’s just playing with me.

“I may not learn much about soapmaking in the process”—he raised a hand and hooked the pocket of her hoodie with one of his long fingers, pulling it toward him slightly—“but I would be lying if I said I would not enjoy watching you.”

Why was it every time she was near him, she always ended up running? Because he makes me feel things way too strongly, and I…I can’t get hurt again.

After almost a year of wondering what it meant, he finally understood one of the human phrases he’d heard so often. That ass, though.

Writing something out by hand, in ink, just seemed more intimate than tapping some virtual keys on a touchscreen.

If songs were ever written about his ability to court human females, they’d undoubtedly be the sort sung in jest by soldiers who were far too deep into their cups.

This was Zevris’s chance to find a lifemate. To finally settle in one place, to have a family. He’d never considered any of it before; it would’ve been foolish to do so, given his people’s situation.

Zevris hadn’t known what he would do with himself after being released from service, only that he had tired of fighting…but this mission had given him potential direction. It had given him something to hope for.

He doubted she would think a birdhouse was an endearing courtship gift. No matter how elegant and level a shelf he could shape and hang, he did not see how it would say, I am your male, become my mate.

For creatures that so often complained about their personal space, many humans seemed to invade one another’s constantly.

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

“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?”

“Are you spoken for?” he blurted. Her brows creased. “What?” “Are you spoken for? Do you have a male?” “A male? Do you mean…a boyfriend?” Was he truly being that unclear? “Yes. A boyfriend. Husband. Mate.” “Oh!” her cheeks flushed. “No, no I…I don’t have anyone.”

While he was in here practicing his adopted craft, the universe’s problems were far away. The pressure of having to save his entire species did not follow him into this space. All those years of training, dangerous operations, and combat fell away, leaving nothing but a lone male trying to shape wood into something new.

What would it be like to have her hands running over his skin like this? How would it feel to have her soft, voluptuous body tucked against him with this hot water cascading over them? To have her arms and legs wrapped around him as he pounded into her?

I am on a mission that may save my people. I am an althicar, one of the most disciplined, effective, and feared special operatives in the known universe. I am in control of myself—body and mind.

He’d never looked into a female’s eyes and known that she would be his lifemate. Not until Tabitha.

Not for the first time, he wished this mission could’ve been easier, more straightforward, more…impersonal? The idea of forging a lasting relationship with an alien female was, in many ways, more intimidating than standing face-to-face with a hostile military force. At least he knew what to expect with the latter. How much simpler this would have been were he authorized to simply take Tabitha, declare her his mate, and carry on.

She was pretty sure that anything she’d seen on his face had just been a projection of her own wants, her own desires, that she’d only seen what she wanted to see. And Tabitha wanted Logan—badly. He was her perfect fantasy. The only problem was…she wasn’t any guy’s perfect fantasy.

No, she’d had it with men that didn’t love her for who she was, no matter her size. She wanted someone who would be her forever. Someone who didn’t want to rush things, someone who wanted to take the time to get to know each other before jumping into bed. Someone who wanted a relationship, not just a quick lay.

“You’re going to be my maid of honor, right?” Dexter’s barking continued. “It would be my honor…as long as you don’t stick me in some ugly dress.” Mia laughed. “I wouldn’t do that to you.” “As if I’d believe you,” Tabitha said with a chuckle. “Your favorite color is orange.” “Orange is a perfectly good color!” “I refuse to look like a pumpkin.” “But pumpkins are adorable, and so are you.” Tabitha laughed, shaking her head. “I hate you.

The sky was bright blue with big, puffy white clouds, far too beautiful for the defilement taking place here on the ground.

His eyes were an even more intense blue than before, and they were putting out their own light, perfectly matching the color of the markings on his arms. And his ears were pointed, just like the man in the hologram—though Logan’s were adorned with a few gleaming piercings. Tabitha couldn’t move, couldn’t take her eyes off Logan, as he stood up. Two things struck her immediately—his nipples were pierced, too, and he had a freaking tail flicking through the air behind him like he was an agitated cat. No, not a cat. A lion. Complete with a tuft of fur at the tip of his tail.

Logan sighed and lifted a hand to the back of his neck, rubbing it and shaking his head. There were dark claws on the tips of his fingers. Just when she’d thought he couldn’t possibly get any hotter… What was she thinking? He…he wasn’t human!

Why did I never take that horror movie advice and work on my damned cardio?

“I was sent here to make a human female my mate so we can learn whether your people are compatible with ours. My efforts have been unsuccessful thus far.” Tabitha stared at him silently, brows creased. “So…you’re here, disguising yourself as a human, so you can…breed with one?” “No, to mate with one,” he corrected. “The, uh…breeding would potentially come later. Our scientists do not even know if it is possible.”

For our people to reproduce, a mating bond must be made. It triggers a biochemical reaction that enables fertilization, and that reaction cannot be artificially replicated.” She sighed, closing her eyes briefly as she relaxed her arms. “What is a mating bond? Is that your form of marriage?” He resumed his pacing, though his tail’s movements were a little less erratic. “No. The mating bond is for life. It cannot be undone once it is made, and it is forged through a process somewhat more intimate than the exchange of vows and rings.”

“I was attempting to court you, Tabitha. I have encountered no female who has set my blood ablaze as you have, none who have captivated me as you have. I’d intended to ask you on a date, to follow your human customs, to gain your trust, and reveal everything to you in time, but circumstances have made all that impossible.”

“Then just let me go. I won’t say anything to anyone. I swear.” He shook his head. “You know too much, Tabitha. I can’t let you go. You…are now mine.”

“Damn it, Zevris, you can’t do this! You kidnapped me, have me tied to your bed, and…and you just expect me to want to have your babies?” “Eventually.” Tabitha gaped at him. “You’re insane.” Zevris leaned over her, bracing himself on one hand while he caught her chin with the other. She struggled to pull away, but he held firm. “And you are beautiful.”

“I want you, Tabitha. I crave to know your touch, thirst for your taste, and yearn to make you mine. I have chosen you to be my lifemate, and it is my mission to make it so.”

Dexter and Zevris stared at one another for several seconds. A strange, faint itching sensation soon pulsed along Zevris’s tail, the sort of feeling that almost compelled it into motion—as though he subconsciously longed to wag it, just like the dog was wagging his. “No. I refuse,” he said.

He could not wait for his bedroom to take on her fragrance, could not wait for her to be the only thing he could smell.

Other covers displayed inhuman characters—a male with a scorpion-like body; a tentacled, gray-skinned male holding a female; muscled, blue men with horns and tails; part-machine, part-animal males apparently called Cyborg Shifters.

Perhaps the task before Zevris was not so daunting as he’d believed. His female apparently found appeal in the notion of mating with inhuman males. A slow grin stretched across his face.

She’d been reading romance books since she was a teenager, hundreds and hundreds of them, and some of her more recent favorites had involved alien abduction tropes. Like many women, she’d place herself in the role of the heroines. She’d fantasized about those heroes, about those males so obsessed with their female that they’d obtain her by whatever means necessary whether she had crash landed on an alien planet, was being sold at an intergalactic auction, or he’d abducted her himself. But that didn’t mean she wanted it to happen in real life…right? That was fantasy, and this…this was reality.

It didn’t matter how attractive they were, or if they had stupidly sexy, sculpted muscles, glowing F-me eyes, tattoos, piercings, and a tail. Damn it, why did Zevris have to have a tail? She was such a sucker for tails. And for strong hands with long fingers and claws, and wicked fangs that could scrape her neck and send shivers straight to her core, and nipple piercings she wanted to flick with her tongue…

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?