Saved by the Alien Crime Boss (Aliens Among Us #4)

Chapter 5

FIVE

The bell jingled as the door shut behind Sevik. The café’s lights were dimmed, and the chairs had been put up on the tables.

Heat coursed through his limbs, and his muscles ached with unspent rage. With fury and bloodlust having seized his mind, he’d felt his control over his neural transceiver wavering, and even knowing that his holoshroud had been in danger of faltering, he’d not relented. Only Mina’s intervention had stopped him. His every instinct still demanded that he act, that he rend flesh, that he destroy.

Or that he rut.

He raked his gaze over Mina. She wore a long, flowing dress with a belt cinched around her waist, but he knew what hid beneath it—soft skin, small breasts, flaring hips.

His cocks pushed against his slit, held in only by his jeans. It would’ve been so easy to bend her over a table, flip up her skirt, tear away the scrap of cloth covering her cunt, and thrust into her. To release the energy burning him from within.

But this was Mina. Sweet, gentle Mina.

She wasn’t a thing to be used and cast aside, wasn’t an outlet for his lust, his stress, his animalistic urges.

“Sorry. I was just closing up when I saw you. Just a sec.” Mina released his hand, hurried behind the counter, and flicked a set of light switches.

Sevik slitted his eyes against the sudden brightness, angling his face down. He balled his fists.

A little more pressure, and he would’ve crushed the human males’ throats. A little more pressure and he would’ve eliminated a source of Mina’s suffering.

He drew in a deep breath. The air was laden with scents; coffee was foremost, rivaled by sharp chemical odors that had likely been created by cleaning solutions. But he could smell food beneath those—yeasty, sugary, fruity—as well as the earthy scent of books.

Yet none of it could mask Mina’s scent. It was everywhere here. He didn’t doubt that he would find traces of it in every corner, on every object.

Mina returned to him. She set his bag on a nearby table before taking down a couple chairs from the tabletop. Her fingers curled around the top rail of one chair, squeezing tight enough that her knuckles went white. “Please sit.”

Sevik lifted his gaze to her face. Her brow was pinched, her expression was strained, and there were frantic blotches of color on her cheeks. Seeing her like that cut through some of the turmoil in him, granting him a semblance of control. “Breathe, Mina.”

Letting out a short laugh, she shook her head. “I am breathing. Because of you , I’m still breathing.” She ran her fingers through her hair, mussing the curls. “I can’t believe everything that just happened. I can’t believe I slapped Mike!”

Mina pointed at her chest. “ Me . I’m never violent. I’ve never hit anyone. But I hit him! I’ve just had enough. I’m so tired of my mom’s name still getting dragged, even after she’s been gone for so long. And I’d hit him again if I could. He deserved it. Has for years.”

Her eyes rounded. “But hitting someone is assault. It’s a crime. I…I committed a crime. I’m a criminal!”

Sevik chuckled. Though it had been so long ago, he remembered when he’d first joined a gang, when he’d first broken the law. Remembered the rush, the high, the plummet back to the ground. Remembered the fear…and the freedom he’d felt when his fears hadn’t come to fruition.

But Mina wasn’t like him.

Despite the steaming plate of shit this town had served her, she was a good person. A kind person. She was a ray of brightness and warmth in a lonely, frozen wasteland.

Mina directly countered Sevik’s cold and darkness. She was his opposite. Innocent, selfless, compassionate, patient…

A strange feeling sparked in Sevik’s chest—desire like he’d never experienced, hunger like he’d never known. A yearning beyond lust.

And what if I extinguish her light? What if I leech her warmth?

What if I corrupt everything that sets her apart from me, everything that makes her…Mina?

He could not answer those questions directly, but a response resonated from deep within him, nonetheless.

She was his, no matter the consequences.

Gritting his teeth, he clenched his fists. The pain of his claws pressing into his palms sharpened his focus. He’d nearly lost control with the human males, had nearly made a mistake from which there would’ve been no return. He could not afford to lose control again. Every time he did, he risked being discovered.

Every time he did, he put her in danger.

“You are not a criminal, Mina,” Sevik said.

“But what I did was illegal.” She rounded the chair and dropped onto it. “I could get arrested.” Leaning forward on her elbows, Mina propped her chin on her hands.

Sevik tilted his head. The way she cradled her face with her fingers, the lingering crease between her eyebrows, the way her bottom lip stuck out a little more than usual… It was all so endearing. So…adorable.

He should’ve taken that as his signal to leave. These feelings were almost as foreign to him as this planet and its people, and they were dangerously disarming. Sevik couldn’t let his guard down, but Mina made him want to do so.

“Most people break the law at some point,” he said, lowering himself onto the other chair.

She looked up at him with those large, beautiful brown eyes. “They arrested him. The man from the other night.”

Sevik remained silent, holding her gaze.

“They said there was no security footage. Not for the entire day.”

He dipped his chin in a nod. “Fortunate for us.”

“You did that, though, didn’t you?” Mina sat up but kept her voice low. “You did something to it.”

Some small part of him, long buried, envied her for her naivety, for her innocence. He’d never had the luxury of either.

He rested an arm on the table. “And what do you think I did?”

“I…don’t know.”

“And that bothers you.”

“You said you took care of it. Of everything. So when I hear that the police found him inside a locked store with no recordings of how he got in there, reeking of booze and beaten to a pulp, yes. I have questions.”

Mina groaned, burying her face in her hands again. Voice muffled, she said, “And I know I shouldn’t ask those questions, but I can’t help wondering what happened. How it happened. How you…how you did it without getting caught.”

“Mina…”

She lowered her hands just enough to peek at him over the tips of her fingers.

Even if he’d been willing to tell her, she wouldn’t have believed him. Not unless he showed her.

And that was not going to happen.

He stared into her expressive, captivating eyes. They held emotions that he recognized, that he related to, but there was so much more in them he did not understand. So much he could not identify. Though it made him a hypocrite, he couldn’t deny his own curiosity, his own need to know more about her.

He wanted her.

But he could not have her. At least…not fully.

Why not take what he could? If nothing else, it would be a distraction for them both. And Mina very much needed her thoughts deflected from their current path.

Sevik grasped the seat of her chair to either side of her legs and dragged her closer, trapping her knees between his.

Mina started, hands flying to his chest as she stared at him with wide eyes. “Viktor, what?—”

He caught her jaw and slowly lowered his face toward hers. She stiffened her arms to keep him at bay, but she couldn’t stop him; soon enough, she wasn’t even trying.

With his mouth beside her ear, he said in a low, husky voice, “I can tell you anything, Mina. Any story I choose.”

He brushed his lips across the soft, smooth skin of her cheek, nearly shuddering at the feel. Mina curled her fingers against his chest, gripping his shirt.

“And no matter what I say”—he trailed his mouth down to her jaw—“there will always be that voice in your mind whispering doubts. Insisting that you don’t know the truth.”

Her scent filled his nose, suffusing him and fogging his mind with a lustful haze.

As he continued down, trailing kisses along her neck, Sevik’s heart pounded, pumping fire through his veins. His cocks throbbed with need, demanding release from their confinement, and his fangs ached with an instinctual drive to bite her, to mark her, to make his claim.

“Viktor,” she whispered.

Zekt’al , but he wanted to hear his true name from her lips.

He settled a hand on her knee and slid it upward, gathering her skirt and pushing it higher. “That voice will urge you closer and closer to me.”

Mina’s breath quickened when he reached her upper thigh, and she whimpered as he dipped his thumb lower to trace slow, sensual circles so, so close to her cunt.

“You will wonder. You will ask your questions.” Sevik grazed her throat with his fangs. His overflowing venom glands forced drops of sweet mating venom onto his tongue, and his muscles tensed as he fought the need to sink his teeth into her tender flesh.

She let out a soft moan, arching her neck as she pulled him closer. Her scent changed; a new, intoxicating layer wove into it, straining his control and transforming his desire into agony.

Mina’s arousal.

Her body trembled with her need.

Sevik’s next words came out in a half-rasp, half-growl. “But it’s not the truth you desire, Mina. You want something else. Something more primal…”

His thumb shifted lower and caressed the top of her slit through the fabric of her skirt.

Mina gasped his name. Her thighs strained against his legs, and she tilted her pelvis, pressing her slit more firmly against his thumb, which slipped between the folds of her cunt.

Sevik groaned. She was so fucking hot. He could feel the wetness of her arousal seeping through her underwear, could feel the heat radiating from her core. He wedged his thumb deeper until it encountered a small, firm nub at the apex of her slit.

A soft, needy moan escaped her, and she whispered, “I want y?—”

The bell over the door jingled again, shattering the café’s quiet.

Fuck .

Mina jerked away from his touch and shoved hard against his chest. Her eyes widened with panic before her chair tipped backward.

Sevik leapt up, knocking his own seat away, and thrust out his hand, catching the top rail of her chair and halting its fall.

Mina stared up at him, and he stared down at her. She blinked.

Laughter burst from her.

Something warmed within Sevik, something separate from his desire, from his lust. That lively, lyrical sound melted away the weight that had been bearing down upon him for so long, making him feel lighter, making him feel less alone.

Mina smiled. “You’re always saving me.”

The corner of his mouth ticked up. “You’re always falling for me.”

A male cleared his throat at the café’s entrance.

Mina started, cheeks flaring pink, and scrambled atop the chair in an attempt to right herself. “Sorry!”

Barely holding in a chuckle, Sevik set her chair down on all four legs and stepped back, allowing her to stand. She adjusted the skirt of her dress, smoothing her palms down it before she turned and approached the newcomer.

Still smelling of desire, she goes to another male.

Unmarked, unclaimed.

All humor fled Sevik.

Sevik moved behind Mina and placed his hands on her shoulders. He clenched his jaw, worsening the ache in his teeth.

“Mina,” said Chief Dick Harrigan, flicking his gaze between her and Sevik. He was a tall, thin human, with weathered skin, short cropped gray hair, and a bushy moustache. His brown coat was lined with wool and bore the insignia of the Sullford Police Department. “And Novak, isn’t it?”

“I’m sorry,” Mina said quickly. “I know I hi?—”

Sevik squeezed Mina’s shoulders. She looked up at him questioningly.

He gave her what he hoped was a meaningful look. When he returned his attention to Chief Harrigan, the man was staring at Sevik with narrowed eyes.

“Everything okay here, Mina?” Harrigan asked.

“Just…nerves,” Sevik said.

“I asked her.”

Mina furrowed her brow and glanced between Sevik and Harrigan. “I’m fine. Just a bit shaken.”

“Uh huh.” With his gaze lingering on Sevik, Chief Harrigan hooked his thumbs behind his belt, positioning one hand not far from the pistol holstered at his hip. “Want to ask your friend to step out so we can chat?”

Somehow, Sevik kept himself from lunging at the man, but the urge to attack was almost too strong to deny. He would not be separated from this female. He would not leave her alone with another male. Would not?—

Get a fucking hold of yourself, Sevik.

“It’s okay,” Mina said, placing a hand over one of Sevik’s. “Viktor can stay.”

Harrigan’s eyes finally shifted to her. “You sure?”

“He’s the only reason I didn’t get hurt.”

“Suit yourself.” The chief stepped deeper into the café, nonchalantly studying his surroundings. He was the top authority in this small town, and he carried himself as such. Sevik knew his type.

“Now typically, we’d separate the two of you for individual questioning,” Harrigan said as he reached the counter. He tapped the glass display case thoughtfully. “See if your stories line up. Those two jackasses claim you slapped Mike, Mina. Said you provoked them.”

Mina tensed against Sevik. “I didn’t provoke them! I was having a conversation with Viktor, and they started…started…” She went quiet, and her hand tightened over his. “They were harassing me. They were saying horrible things about me, about m-my mom.”

Emotion saturated her voice, making her words thick and heavy. She carried such pain in her heart…

Sevik shouldn’t have stopped—he should’ve crushed Mike and Trevor’s throats, should’ve ripped out their vocal cords so they could never insult Mina or her mother again.

“How’d that escalate into your friend almost choking the two of them out?” Harrigan asked.

“Because I…I slapped Mike,” Mina confessed.

Shit.

She rushed to add, “I didn’t mean to, but it just happened. I was just so angry, and after so many years of their verbal abuse, I just… I snapped.” She dropped her hands to her belly. “And after I hit Mike, he came at me.”

Jaw clenched, Sevik watched the chief. He would not allow Mina to be taken. Would not allow her to suffer consequences for this. His pistol was hidden at his back, and he knew he could draw it and fire before the chief could react, but the complications that would cause…

If he touches Mina, fuck the complications.

Harrigan continued his leisurely stroll, acting as though everything in the café was more interesting than what Mina had just told him.

It was all blatant posturing from a man who thought himself in control of the situation, a man whose whim could decide the fates of those involved. But Harrigan had no idea who he was dealing with.

“I didn’t believe them when they told me,” the chief said. “All anyone else saw was Mike shove you something fierce. Little Mina, slapping someone? Never in a million years.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Of course, their behavior doesn’t really justify your friend killing them in retaliation…”

Mina thrust a finger in the air with a smile. “But he didn’t kill them. Just throwing that little detail out there. Well, it’s not a little detail since they’re, well, you know, still alive. So maybe it’s a big one? Let’s just say that it’s an important one.”

Chief Harrigan turned to face Mina and Sevik. Smile fading, she slowly lowered her hand.

“Attempted murder is still a crime,” the chief said.

There it is.

Apparently, the threat of overblown charges was common to law enforcement officials on both Earth and Vabos. An intergalactic fear tactic meant to intimidate and coerce confessions.

Had Sevik’s hands not been on Mina’s shoulders, they would’ve been around Harrigan’s throat. He drew in a deep breath through his nostrils. How was it that Mina’s scent could simultaneously calm him and fan the flames within his chest?

Harrigan stepped closer, holding Sevik’s gaze, scrutinizing him. Looking for a tell, for a weakness. “You’re a hard one, aren’t you?”

Sevik stared back at the human, unflinching, allowing none of his rage to show on his face. “Not sure what you mean.”

“I think you know, son.”

“I am a law-abiding citizen,” Sevik replied evenly. “I acted in defense of a woman who was accosted by two males twice her size, as is my right under this state’s self-defense statutes.”

The chief ran his tongue along his teeth. “Familiar with the laws of the great state of Alaska, are you?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…” Harrigan’s eyes ran up and down Sevik. “In my experience, there’s only two kinds of people who study up on laws. Honest, hardworking folks who want to uphold them, and opportunistic scumbags who want to break them.”

“Any other questions, Harrigan, or are we done?”

After a few more moments of scrutiny, the chief shook his head. “The two of you happen to be in luck. Those boys aren’t pressing charges, and frankly, they wouldn’t have a leg to stand on even if they wanted to. I’d rather not deal with all the paperwork, anyway.”

All the tension bled from Mina’s body, and she sagged against Sevik.

“But Mina, do me a favor…” Harrigan moved closer still, forcing Mina to tip her head back to maintain eye contact with him. “Let this stuff go. Your mother made her choices, and people have a right to talk about it. You’re going to have to learn to take in stride eventually.”

Her tension returned as swiftly as it had vanished. Mina clenched her skirt in her hands, pressed her lips together, and gave a stiff nod.

Sevik tightened his grip on her shoulders. It was all he could do not to hammer his fist into the chief’s face and knock a few of those flat human teeth down the man’s throat.

“And you, Novak”—Chief Harrigan lifted his gaze to Sevik and leveled a finger at him—“keep your hands to your damned self. You’re getting off this time, but I swear to God, you start any more trouble in my town, and you will regret it.”

In the life he’d left behind, Sevik never would’ve let words like that go unanswered and unpunished. Police Chief Richard Harrigan’s head would’ve been torn from his body, leaving no questions as to who held the true power.

Keeping his face expressionless, Sevik replied, “I’ll use my best judgment.”

“See that you do, son.” The chief offered a nod. “Have a good night, Mina.”

“Good night,” she said quietly.

Breathe.

Sevik watched the man exit the café. Only when the chief was no longer in sight through the front windows did Sevik exhale. The air was like fire, blazing out of his lungs, scorching his throat.

Mina spun around and looked up at him. “I am so, so, so sorry. I never meant for you to get involved in…in”—she waved her hands at herself—“the messed-up drama that is my life.”

She dropped her gaze to the floor, but not before tears glistened in her eyes. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to talk to me anymore. You’ve put yourself at risk for me twice now, and that’s not fair to you.”

Sevik had seen the spark in her. He’d glimpsed the solid, unyielding metal at her core. He knew it was there still, and he hated that a pompous shit stain like Harrigan had driven that part of Mina back into hiding. He hated that she thought this was how she had to be—meek, submissive, apologetic.

Fuck the risk. He wanted to see her burn again. Wanted to feel it.

He cupped the back of her head, fisted her hair, and forced her face up toward his. Before Mina’s shock could fully register in her expression, he crushed his mouth against hers. She gasped, and Sevik took advantage of her parted lips to thrust his tongue between them.

Zekt’al , Mina tasted even sweeter than she smelled.

Fierce hunger roared through him. He wanted more, craved more.

Slipping an arm around her waist, Sevik pulled her against him. She came willingly. Her little body was so soft, so pliant, molding to his perfectly. She slid her hands up his chest, took hold of his shirt, and tugged him closer still.

He ravaged her mouth, his tongue moving ruthlessly to twine around hers. And when she shyly brushed her tongue over his, pure, overwhelming lust seized him. He wanted to tear her clothes from her body, push her to the floor, and thrust his cocks deep inside her. To take her, claim her, possess her.

To make her his mate.

A new heat blossomed within him, coalescing at his neck and his groin. It was pulsing, thrumming, nearly as heady as the kiss itself, and as it strengthened, so too did his drive to claim her.

Sevik drew in a breath, again drinking in her fragrance, and realized something had changed. His own scent had shifted. It was thicker, stronger. Fuller.

No. Aggaan sin thar , no!

He was starting to imprint on her. His fucking traitorous body was initiating the process against his will, and his glands were secreting chemicals that would alter his whole fucking brain.

And he was still kissing her. Still letting it happen.

Even after the events on Vabos, where he’d seen the disastrous effects of a one-sided imprinting, he was standing here like a fool.

Sevik tore his mouth from hers and sucked in a ragged breath. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips red and swollen from his kiss. He nearly succumbed to their invitation and took her mouth again.

Mina’s lashes fluttered open. Her eyes shone with desire.

Leave. Now.

But that was hard. So fucking hard. It went against his every instinct, his every want.

He lowered his face until their lips were but a breath apart. “In the future, val’syra , do not blurt out confessions to the chief of fucking police.”

Using every shred of willpower in his possession, Sevik broke away from her. She stumbled as her hands fell from his chest; he nearly reached out to steady her.

I called her val’syra . Of all the korasi words that could’ve fallen out of my mouth…

It was only another sign that he wasn’t thinking clearly, that he was letting desire blind him, letting his cocks take the lead.

Go. Now!

Not allowing himself another glance at her, he stalked to the door, tugged it open, and stepped out into the night. The cool air only served as a mocking reminder of the heat their bodies had shared a moment before.