As she listened to the water running in the bathroom, she was tempted to slip her hand beneath the covers and quickly finger herself just to find some relief. All it would take was a few strokes on her clit…
But she knew that wouldn’t be enough. Any time she’d masturbated when the need struck her, it had always been so…unfulfilling. So hollow. So detached from what she’d truly craved—the romantic connection that made everything so much richer. Someone who…loved her.
More than once, she’d wondered if things would’ve been easier if she were more like those one-night-stand types of people, the ones who just enjoyed sex for the sake of sex.
But that just wasn’t her. She always got too emotionally invested. She didn’t want sex for the sake for sex, she wanted…someone.
Tabitha wanted Zevris.
If only he wasn’t keeping me prisoner and tied to his damn bed.
She grabbed the pillow and drew it over her face. “Ugh!”
It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes before the shower turned off, and only a few more had passed when the bathroom door opened, but the need throbbing at Tabitha’s core had made it feel like a hundred years had passed.
She shifted the pillow aside to peek at Zevris. He was staring at her with an arched brow and a crooked smile. Unsurprisingly, he was still very much naked. At least it looked like his cock had finally softened—not that it was all that much smaller while flaccid.
As though sensing her thoughts, his shaft twitched and began to harden right before her eyes.
“Is there anything you want me to do for you, Tabitha?” he asked as he stepped to his dresser. His tail swished behind him. “Anything I might help you with?”
Tabitha knew exactly what his question implied, and the answer she longed to give resounded in her head.
Yes! Touch me!
Instead, she simply glared at him and kept her mouth shut.
He shrugged and opened the top drawer. “Very well.”
Zevris dressed himself with the nonchalance of someone who didn’t have an audience—or who didn’t care that he had an audience. Boxers, socks, a button-down shirt, and, after flattening his tail along his leg and curling its end around his calf, a pair of jeans that hugged his ass like they were molded just for him.
“Isn’t that uncomfortable? Keeping your tail in there like that?” she asked.
“No. But it isn’t really comfortable, either.” He walked to the bedroom door as he buckled his belt.
Tabitha’s brow furrowed, and she set the pillow aside, pulling herself up to sit as he reached for the doorknob. “Wait, where are you going?”
Zevris paused and glanced back at her. His eyes skimmed over her chest and back to her face, and his jaw muscles ticked. That tension she’d sensed in him so often again reasserted itself.
“I need to make sure Dexter didn’t poop on my floor,” he said finally, turning the knob and opening the door. “And my mate will need sustenance.”
“Zevris,” she said as he turned away and stepped through the doorway. “Zevris, wait!” She hurriedly moved toward him, only to be stopped short when the binding went taut on her wrist. “You can’t just leave me here!”
His only answer came in the form of the door closing behind him.
Tabitha growled, snatched up the pillow, and threw it at the door. “I am soooo going to kill him.”
Tabitha’s comment brought an amused smirk to Zevris’s lips, but it could not quell his rising desire. He very nearly pressed himself back against the bedroom door, very nearly raked his claws over the wood, very nearly tore open his pants and took his throbbing cock in hand again.
As though her warmth and beauty had not been alluring enough, as though the feel of her body against his had not been tempting enough, he’d awoken to Tabitha moaning softly in her sleep, rocking her hips in the throes of a dream. The scent of her arousal had been thick in the air; a trace of it still seemed to linger in his nose even after he’d showered and left the room.
He wasn’t sure how he’d kept himself still until she’d roused, wasn’t sure how he’d managed to pry himself away from her afterward, but he knew one thing with certainty—if he allowed himself to sway even a fraction of an inch toward the bedroom, he would not be able to stop himself.
He would be helpless but to go to her, and he would have her.
Zevris forced his legs into motion, hurrying to the stairs.
Each time his foot came down upon a step during his descent, he felt a jolt in his aching groin. He had his teeth gritted and his fists clenched by the time he reached the bottom of the stairs. His shaft was straining against his jeans, pressing unrelentingly against the denim, and his tail was coiled around his leg with crushing strength.
Tabitha had looked so stunning in his bed. Her eyes had been dark with lust despite the intense gleams that had shone within them, and her tousled hair, hanging freely about her shoulders, had begged for him to comb his fingers through it. That satiny top had molded to her breasts and perfectly outlined her nipples. The way she’d fidgeted, the way she’d bitten her lip, the way she’d pressed her thighs together as though yearning to be filled…it had all nearly driven him mad with want.
He tugged on his boots and propped a foot on one of the lower steps, leaning forward to tie his bootlaces.
A series of soft clicks sounded on the floorboards in the hallway, drawing steadily nearer to Zevris. He pulled the knot on his bootlace tight, lowered his foot the floor, and straightened to find Dexter in the hall.
Dexter stared at Zevris with dark, expectant eyes, his tail wagging erratically from side to side as though in muted anticipation.
Zevris frowned down at the animal. He still wasn’t sure what to make of Dexter—or of any dogs, for that matter. He knew they were descended from wild beasts called wolves, knew that humans had trained and domesticated them over many thousands of years, knew that they had a reputation for loyalty. Sometimes, they even seemed to show intelligence well above that of most Earth animals, at least in Zevris’s limited experience.
What of Dexter? Was he loyal to Tabitha? Dexter had been the reason Tabitha snuck into Zevris’s yard yesterday afternoon, and he had abandoned her when she’d been discovered. The dog had seemed unbothered by his master’s absence and had seemed equally indifferent to Zevris’s presence on Tabitha’s property afterward.
There was a tiny chance that the dog had been leading Tabitha to what she truly wanted, but the notion seemed too foolish, too hopeful, to hold any weight.
“It does not smell like you defecated in my dwelling,” Zevris said as he walked toward the kitchen, “but I suggest you mind your claws. My tolerance for further scratches on my floor is quite low.”
Dexter walked behind him at an unhurried pace, claws clacking on the floorboards in casual defiance of Zevris’s suggestion.
Perhaps it could be attributed to his lingering arousal and lack of fulfillment, but Zevris couldn’t find it in himself to be angry at Dexter. The animal had an undeniable, indefinable charm.
“We both need some fresh air. Do you want to go for a walk?”
The dog’s ears perked, and his tail rose, swinging with greater speed and enthusiasm.
Zevris activated his holoshroud. For some reason, the faint hum of the hologram shimmering into place sent a shiver through him, sparking a brief but potent flare of pleasure in his groin.
Gritting his teeth, he picked up the leash he’d taken from Tabitha’s home—he’d filled one box with things for her, another with things for the dog—and clipped it to Dexter’s collar. He wound the loop at the end around his hand. Dexter was already pulling on the leash in his attempt to get to the front door as Zevris turned to pluck a pet waste bag out of the little box.
With the bag in his pocket, he walked to the door—or, more accurately, allowed Dexter to lead him to the door. He deactivated the security field and had a moment of hesitation as he stepped outside, turning his head and glancing toward the stairs. T
hough he’d attempted to treat the situation with some humor, he could not deny his guilt at having Tabitha trapped here alone, once again bound to his bed, as he was stepping out freely.
He forced himself forward, closed the door, and locked it, sending the command through his neural transceiver to turn the forcefield back on.
Dexter started down the walkway, glancing back to give Zevris a big canine grin.
Matching the dog’s pace, Zevris followed Dexter along the sidewalk and through the quiet neighborhood, scanning his surroundings closely and offering smiles and waves to the few people he passed. The rising sun bathed everything in a lovely golden glow that granted the world an almost surreal quality.
But his mind remained preoccupied with Tabitha.
What the fuck am I doing?
His reasons for taking her captive and keeping her restrained were only sound justification so long as he didn’t think about them too much. In truth, he was failing in more ways than he could count. This whole situation with Tabitha was sloppy no matter how he looked at it, especially from the standpoint of this military operation.
She was it—she was the only one he had any chance of forming a mating bond with. The only one he desired to make that bond with. And, despite his projections of confidence, he had no idea if that would even work. He wanted it with every bit of himself, but he recognized that his willpower was not enough.
Dexter increased his pace to a run as they rounded the corner onto the main road, where the sidewalk was backed only by landscaping and fences. Zevris jogged behind him without much thought; the physical exertion neither distracted him from his thoughts nor eased them.
He only had thirty days to show definitive progress in his mission.
Twenty-nine, now.
The realization that one day had already passed created a sinking feeling in his gut. One day down. At this rate, he’d need a thousand days to win Tabitha over. He had a feeling that he gladly would have spent a thousand years in his efforts to woo her, but he didn’t have that time, and neither did she.
However much she seemed to want him, there was something significant holding her back…and he couldn’t help but guess that it was result of his own foolishness.
Being forced to take her captive had encouraged him to be far bolder in his advances, though he knew that would have happened eventually, anyway—Tabitha was the only female to have ignited that spark within him. But the mating bond, as he understood it, went far beyond the physical, just as his desire for her went far beyond the physical.
Trust. That was the key here, wasn’t it? He needed to show her that, despite his actions, he trusted her, and that he was willing to let that trust grow. He also needed to demonstrate that she could trust him in turn. That would mean—
Zevris’s thoughts were interrupted when Dexter slowed and turned into the grass, nose to the ground. Zevris watched as the dog sniffed, wandering in circles with tail wagging until he finally found a spot.
Dexter turned, squatted, and took a huge shit—all while staring up at Zevris.
“As long as it’s not on my floor,” Zevris muttered. “Or on my furniture. Or in my garden, or in my truck. You know what? Let’s just say you ought to keep it to the grass, and we shouldn’t have any problems.”
Once the dog was done, Zevris used the bag to pick up the still-warm droppings and tied it shut. His mind shifted back to more important matters as he and Dexter, resuming their jog, turned down another street that would take them around the edge of the neighborhood and eventually back to Zevris’s dwelling.
It was time to admit what he’d known all along—Tabitha was right. Keeping her strapped to the bed was wrong, and it was no way to woo a mate. She deserved so, so much better than this, and even if his mission ultimately failed and no mating bond could be made between them, he would not let his relationship with Tabitha be part of his failure.
He couldn’t release her, not yet, but he could do what humans so often spoke of regarding romantic relationships. He could compromise. He could shift the dynamics of their current situation in a more favorable direction, even if he could not yet bring himself to change it completely.
Dexter was panting happily by the time they returned to Zevris’s dwelling. Zevris dropped the waste bag into the trash can and brought the dog inside, giving Dexter a pat on the side as he unclipped the leash. He closed the door behind him and reengaged the security field.
The dog trotted into the kitchen and sat on the floor in front of his food dish. He settled his expectant gaze on Zevris once again.
“Breakfast sounds good.” Zevris untied his boots, kicked them off, and placed them on the mat beside the door before walking into the kitchen. He poured the suggested amount of dog food into Dexter’s bowl, washed his hands at the sink, and turned to face the fridge, dragging his fingers through his hair.
He’d learned to cook initially during his Exthurizen training, many years ago. It had been a survival skill. Eating food was a necessity, and preparing it had been only about keeping his body sustained, not about taste. But in his time on Earth, he’d learned to prepare many flavorful foods. He had the stores to make any number of dishes for Tabitha, and her enjoyment of the meal he’d prepared last evening was both inspiring and encouraging. He’d been fortunate with his choices.
What else did she like? What did she like for breakfast, specifically? There were certain foods humans seemed to eat only at certain times of the day, and no meal seemed quite as restricted as breakfast.
All he knew was that he wanted to both provide for her and surprise her.
Zevris rolled up his sleeves, created a prioritized mental task list, and set to work. Since he didn’t know a specific food she liked, he would make a variety of foods and allow her to have her pick.
He moved with the sort of efficiency, confidence, and focus he’d rarely applied outside combat, waging a battle in which his greatest foes were eggs, sausage, bacon, batter, and toast. The kitchen was soon filled with the mouthwatering aromas of cooking foods, reminding Zevris of his hunger. Dexter, having apparently finished his dog food, sat watching intently, occasionally leaning his nose forward and sniffing. His attention seemed most often turned toward the sizzling sausage links and strips of bacon.
When the food was done, Zevris set it all out on the center of the table, covered everything with whatever lids and trays he had that would fit to keep them warm—and, just as importantly, keep Dexter from getting into anything. He set two empty plates, each with an accompanying knife, fork, and spoon, down in front of two of the chairs, and stepped back to survey his work. It was a strangely heartening feeling to have the table set for two after so many meals alone.
Only one thing was missing.
“Stay down,” he said, pointing at Dexter. “Behave, and there’ll be something in it for you soon enough.”
Dexter tilted his head, releasing a soft whine. His tail thumped softly on the floor.
Zevris walked backward for several steps, keeping his finger directed at the unmoving dog, before he finally turned and went upstairs, taking the steps two at a time. He felt lighter already. This couldn’t atone for what he’d done, but this was a start toward making it better, wasn’t it? This was a start toward courting his mate properly.
His mouth stretched into a smile as he opened the door and stepped into the bedroom.
That smile fell the instant his eyes met Tabitha’s furious glare.
She was sitting up against the headboard with her thighs squeezed together and his pillow pressed over her lap with her free hand, but any arousal that had been on her face before had fled her expression, leaving only fury in its wake. He understood what he’d done immediately and cursed himself for being so foolish.
He’d been gone for twenty minutes walking Dexter, and then had spent another thirty preparing breakfast. All while Tabitha, who hadn’t relieved herself since the night before, had been stuck in this bed.
Zevris had left her aroused, unfulfilled,
and unable to empty her bladder.
His brows fell low, and his lips sank into a tight frown as itching heat spread just under his skin. All his plans of easing her discomforts and making this as pleasant an experience as possible seemed meaningless now.
She said nothing as he crossed the room and moved to the bedside, and he could not keep his gaze upon her. Shame had clamped around his chest like a vise, tightening a little more with each second, crushing his lungs and making it difficult to breath.
But he felt her eyes upon him. Felt their heat. And he could not blame her for it.
As soon as he was at the bedside, he touched the binding, sending the remote command to release it.
“Tabitha, I—”
She swung her legs off the bed, stood up, and thrust the pillow against his chest hard enough to make him rock on his heels. Before he could muster another word, she stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door shut with a thunderous bang.
Zevris winced, sucking in a breath through his fangs. This was not the new start for which he’d planned.
Tossing the pillow on the bed, he walked to the door and lightly rapped upon it.
Tabitha responded with a growl fierce enough to have given most predators pause.
He couldn’t keep the smile from his face. Tabitha was complicated, and there were still many things about her that he didn’t understand, but he adored her vitality, her spirit. He was grateful that he’d not broken it through his stupidity.
“I’m sorry, Tabitha.” Though his words were nothing but sincere, they felt strangely empty; he knew they could not make up for any of this. “When you are ready, come down to the kitchen.”
She made no further response. Zevris lingered in front of the door, searching for something more to say, but there were no simple words to fix this. He could only hope that she’d come.
Tail coiling around his leg tight enough to hurt, Zevris left the bedroom and went downstairs to await his mate.
Taken By The Alien Next Door Page 16