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

Chapter 15

FIFTEEN

An alien. An alien .

Mina could only stare at Viktor—Sevik—in shock.

How many times had she wondered if aliens really existed? Given how vast the universe was, she’d always believed there was life beyond Earth. She’d read about monsters and aliens in romance novels, had fantasized about those heroes, yearning for one of her own. All the while knowing that the same vastness of space that all but guaranteed the existence of alien lifeforms also guaranteed she’d never encounter one.

Now, one was sitting right in front of her.

Mina quietly studied him. With her initial terror having faded, she could recognize the face of the man she’d known. His features were sharper, deadlier, more inhuman, but it was still him.

And it would’ve been a lie to say she didn’t find this version even more devastatingly beautiful.

“How did you disguise yourself as a human?” she asked.

Something flickered across his skin—a fine, hexagonal pattern that enveloped him like a net. It was gone as quickly as it had formed. Mina’s eyes widened.

He was Viktor again. No horns, no claws, no dark markings or preternaturally pale skin, no black sclera or shimmering white hair. He was human.

“Holographic projection. Hides everything but doesn’t change it.” Sevik lifted a hand, examining his long fingers and their blunt nails. “Usually doesn’t require conscious thought to keep it up. But strong emotions—or too much alcohol—and control can slip.”

“But those…parts of you are not actually gone?”

“They’re not.”

It made sense now. She hadn’t imagined the scrape of fangs or the prick of claws against her skin. They’d been there all along. Invisible, but still part of him. How many times had he stopped her from touching his face or his hair? Like last night, when he’d forced her hands over her head and had commanded her to keep them there as he’d pleasured her with his fingers and mouth. Sevik hadn’t wanted her to discover his horns.

But his efforts hadn’t hidden everything from her. She’d definitely noticed his long, incredibly agile tongue. And it had delved so, so deep into her pussy.

She curled her freezing toes into the couch cushion and hugged her legs tighter beneath the blanket, trying to ignore the desire ignited in her core by the memory of what they’d shared.

Wasn’t that memory tainted now? Hadn’t the whole experience been built upon deception? This human version of him was what she’d known, what she should’ve wanted. But it seemed wrong now.

“Change back,” she said.

Sevik snickered, the corner of his mouth rising. “That a request or a command, val’syra ?”

“A command.”

“Why should I obey?”

Mina averted her gaze as warmth flooded her cheeks. “Because this isn’t you. It’s… a lie.”

He hummed low. From the corner of her eye, she saw those hexes shimmer again, and they called her attention right back to him. As the pattern faded, it revealed the real Sevik. The alien Sevik.

“What does val’syra really mean?” Mina asked.

“Say my name.”

Mina furrowed her brow. “What?”

He leaned forward, those bright, otherworldly white eyes intent upon hers. “Say my name, Mina.”

The low timber in his voice made her belly flutter and her heart patter wildly against her ribs.

Mina licked her lips. “If I say it, will you tell me what val’syra means?”

He stared at her before nodding once.

“Sevik,” she said softly.

A slow, sultry smirk spread across his lips, offering her a glimpse of his pointed white fangs and black gums. “Perfect.”

That desire in Mina’s belly flared, spreading warmth through her that chased away the chill. His smile had always been sinfully alluring in the past. But throw in the fangs? Now it made her weak in the knees.

Mina fidgeted on the sofa, suddenly very aware of her torn underwear, which provided no protection as slick gathered in her pussy.

Stupid, stupid body. Now is not the time.

Sevik drew in a deep breath, closing his eyes briefly. When he opened them, his chest rumbled, and his smirk stretched into a predatory grin. “Suddenly you don’t seem so afraid, Mina.”

“How would you?—”

Wait. Oh God, can he smell me?

“Maybe I’m not.” Though her cheeks burned in mortification as she reflexively squeezed her thighs together, Mina lifted her chin. She refused to hide. “Well?”

“Well what?”

“You said you’d tell me what val’syra means.”

“I lied.”

“You…” Mina glared at him. She released her legs, letting the blanket fall to her lap as she leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s not nice.”

Sevik’s grin faded, but the hungry glint in his eyes remained. “Never said I was nice.”

“No, but you’re usually nice to me.”

“Never said I was without flaws either.”

“Jerk,” Mina muttered.

He hooked an arm over the backrest of the couch and cocked his head. “Where I’m from, nice gets you killed.”

Her gaze dipped, running over the markings on his throat and collarbone, following the thin lines of pale skin that broke up the solid black. “Are you finally going to tell me where you’re actually from?”

“Far away from here,” he said with a hint of that smirk.

Mina wrinkled her nose and pursed her lips at him.

Sevik chuckled. “Ah, Mina, you are adorable when you’re riled.”

She blinked at him, taken aback by how much that lighthearted chuckle transformed his face. And then she realized what he’d said, and that warmth within her strengthened, filling her with secret delight.

“Hestryn,” he said. “A city on a planet called Vabos.”

“What’s it like?”

“It’s…the opposite of this place. A particularly huge, filthy, overcrowded city in a world of huge, filthy, overcrowded cities. Everything is metal and glass, machinery and glaring lights that don’t touch all the dark places where most people are forced to live. The kind of place where you can always see the best of what life can offer while endless suffering is shoveled into your face. But if you have money, you can do anything you want.”

“And did you have the money to do anything you wanted?”

“Not always, but I never let that stop me. Decided when I was young that I’d do what I wanted regardless. The money… That didn’t come until later.”

She regarded him anew. His demeanor, right down to his usual posture, body language, and tone of voice, were those of a man in control—whether by force of will, personality, or muscle. It didn’t surprise her to hear that he’d been like that before having any means to back it up.

Fake it until you make it, right?

But she couldn’t settle for vague notions, for his airy allusions. She needed to know more about him.

“Will you tell me about your life there?” Mina shifted, crossing her legs in front of her and folding her hands on her lap. “Will you tell me more about…you?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me.”

He narrowed his eyes. Their eerie white was piercing, but she didn’t look away.

“Why not ask what I’ve done?” He demanded. “How many people I’ve hurt, how many I’ve killed?”

Mina was used to evasiveness from him, was used to him putting up impenetrable, indifferent walls. But this felt different. This was almost defensive. Almost…vulnerable.

“Because I want to know you, Sevik. The things you’ve done are part of you, but they aren’t you .”

“This is me,” Sevik snarled, baring his fangs. “Do not mistake me for a good male, Mina. You know nothing of who or what I am.”

“Then tell me.”

A crease formed between his eyebrows as he stared at her, assessing, searching. Though she couldn’t know for sure, she sensed that he sought a reason to distrust her. A reason to refuse to answer.

Swallowing thickly, she clutched the blanket in her fists and braced herself for the inevitable rejection. For his dismissiveness, for his irritation. She’d discovered one of his secrets—a massive, mind-blowing secret—and only had more questions than ever.

When he spoke, he did so quickly, like he was just trying to get through the words without feeling them. “I grew up in the slums. My brother brought me into a gang when I was six. My mother died when I was eleven. Brother didn’t last much longer than her. When the first gang fell apart, I was recruited with a friend into a criminal organization. We rose in the ranks until we broke off and started our own operation.”

She studied him closely, looking past those alien features to the man behind them. He’d been tightlipped since they met, offering scant information about himself, even when pressed, but there’d often been a hint of playfulness to it.

This was different. Though he hadn’t given much away, he seemed uncomfortable. Seemed…self-conscious.

Keeping her voice gentle, she said, “I’d like to know more. About you, your family, your people. Anything you’d like to share.”

Sevik held her gaze for a long, long while, dragging out the silence between them. The soft thumping of Mina’s heart and the howling wind outside were the only sounds.

One of Sevik’s hands rested atop his thigh. His index finger twitched, rising and falling once, twice, thrice, before stilling again.

“There’s a lot I don’t know,” he finally said, shattering the silence with his low, measured voice. “Don’t know why my mother left the korasi homeworld to live on Vabos. Don’t know if she immigrated alone, don’t know if she had any family or friends. I don’t know my father. My mother never said if he died, if he abandoned us, if she left him. Never even told us his name. She…didn’t really talk about anything she considered personal.”

Mina frowned as something coiled in her chest and squeezed her heart. “I’m so sorry. That must’ve been hard, especially as a child.”

He flicked his wrist in a dismissive wave. “Just the way it was. The way she was. Learned a bit about my people from her, but she wasn’t very invested in korasi culture. I think she was on Vabos to disconnect…or forget. Maybe to hide. But why doesn’t matter. She was there; we were there.”

“You mentioned a brother. Did you have any other siblings?”

“Just Zoren.”

“I always wanted a sibling. I never had many friends, so it would’ve been nice to have a brother or sister. A best friend for life…”

“He was five years older than me. We were never close. The only thing he did for me was bring me into a gang. Told me I had to figure out everything else on my own, because he wouldn’t have a stupid youngling dragging him down.”

Mina shook her head. “That’s cruel! You were just a little boy.”

“It’s normal on Vabos. Being alone and unaffiliated means you’re weak. Vulnerable. An easy target. And since being in a gang can bring in a little money, it’s hard to resist joining one. I knew we were poor. My mother tried to hide it, and she never complained, but I knew she struggled to keep us fed and sheltered. I noticed the days she didn’t eat anything because there wasn’t enough for all of us. Zoren used his earnings for himself. I used mine to help our mother.”

That tightness in Mina’s chest strengthened, but a gentle warmth now suffused it. How could a little kid trying to help his struggling single mother not be heartwarming?

And how could she not relate when she’d seen her own mother struggle in silence the same way?

“See, Sevik? There’s good in you.”

He snickered, amusement gleaming in his eyes. Yet those eyes remained just as intense, just as penetrating, just as dangerous.

She held his gaze, refusing to let that stare win—no matter how much it made her skin heat and her belly flutter. “What does a six-year-old even do in a gang?”

“Whatever the fuck the older members tell them to do. Create distractions, beg, help in simple cons. Sometimes run messages, sometimes pick pockets or steal small items. Watch out for authorities and suspicious people.”

“I…didn’t realize the list would be so long.”

“Only gets longer as you get deeper in,” he said flatly. “But I thought it was exciting, and I was helping. Even made a friend, another korasi my age named Brekker. We had fun with it, even when we had the shit kicked out of us. Found creative ways to get revenge.”

Mina’s frown deepened. A six-year-old was supposed to be starting first grade, learning how to read and write, playing on the playground. Not stealing, begging, or fighting. And then to be abused on top of it?

“Then my mother got sick when I was ten.” Sevik shoved himself off the couch, rising to pace across the floor. Tension rippled through his muscles as he moved. “She told me not to worry. But I saw the changes. Every day, her skin was grayer, her hair thinner, her eyes hollower. She could barely keep any food down. She was dying before my fucking eyes. The spark inside her…just gone.”

“I finally convinced her to go to a clinic, and the doctor said she had some kind of wasting illness. She needed medication. The meds he prescribed…they weren’t priced for people like us to afford. She said it was okay, that she’d be fine. But it wasn’t fucking okay with me.”

Mina had heard anger in his voice before, but this was unique—it was primal, soul-deep rage, raw and impotent, an insatiable fire with no way to vent the heat. And she couldn’t blame him for that anger. She felt it for him.

People on Earth died every day because they couldn’t afford healthcare, because they couldn’t access the medicines and treatments they needed to survive. She didn’t understand how it wasn’t criminal for people to be denied lifesaving care when the tools and technology were readily available.

“Our gang couldn’t source the meds. Too high profile, they said.” Sevik laughed bitterly, and his hands curled into fists as he halted before the fireplace with his back toward her. That long white hair of his hung all the way to his waist, covering his back completely. “So I did everything I could to make extra money. Fucking gang took a cut of everything. Zoren put some of his own money in too, but he refused to do what he called ‘shit work for tit-sucking younglings’. Even Brekker helped.

“It took months. Months of watching her waste away, watching…” His fists drew tighter still, making his already pale knuckles impossibly white, and the muscles of his arms and shoulders flexed. “We finally got what she needed. I was so proud, so excited, so relieved when me and my brother brought her those meds. By then she was so frail. But she smiled and embraced us, both rare things from her, and said, ‘My sons will be okay’. I told her she would be okay too. She just held me tighter.”

Mina’s lungs burned with her held breath. She knew what was coming, but she couldn’t accept it, couldn’t stop herself from wishing it would be different.

Sevik opened his hands slowly, stiffly, as though doing so required great effort. She swore she glimpsed spots of crimson on his palms before he folded his arms across his chest, hiding his hands from sight.

“Found her dead three days later. We were out on jobs, and she just died. Alone.”

Tears stung Mina’s eyes and blurred her vision. She tried to hold them back, but it was impossible.

“I was ten when my father was killed in a logging accident,” she said softly. “I know what it’s like to feel that pain, that heavy grief that just feels so big while you feel so small and helpless.”

He turned his head, peering at her over his shoulder with one ethereal eye. “It is big. Heavy. And I had to hold it all inside, because if I let myself look sad, my brother would rage. Because if I let any of it show, I would look weak.”

“That’s horrible. I don’t care how old you are, no one should have to bottle all that up. No one should have to carry that burden alone.”

After releasing a heavy breath, Sevik turned to face her. “No one was going to carry it for me. Zoren left before our mother was even cold. I followed him. Didn’t want to be alone then, especially not with her. Couldn’t bear the thought of it. He went to the clinic, found the doctor, and beat him nearly to death. Then we smashed the place up, took whatever meds we could carry, and ran. The only place left for us to go was the warehouse the gang operated out of. That was our only home.

“Most of the way there, Zoren berated me. Kept mentioning all the things he could’ve done with the money if I hadn’t wasted it on meds that didn’t work. If I hadn’t been a fucking esklaat , a useless fool.”

Mina gaped at him. “That’s…that’s horrible!”

Though she’d heard plenty of stories about family members being cruel and callous toward each other, she struggled to understand how a brother could treat their sibling like that after their parent’s death, how a son could say the efforts made to save his dying mother had been pointless and wasteful.

“He was weak,” Sevik said. “Within a few months, he was dead too.”

“Did he…”

“Kill himself? Not directly. My brother was too self-absorbed for that. Fighting was part of life for all of us, but he became especially violent after our mother died. Volatile. Most of his money started going toward drugs that kept him amped up. He went looking for fights, and he instigated them when he couldn’t find any. One day, he started a brawl with a rival gang. His friends dragged him back to the warehouse afterward. He was bleeding from a few dozen stab wounds. He was conscious until the drugs wore off. Then he was just dead.”

“I’m so sorry, Sevik.”

He ran his hand through his hair, between his horns. “He brought it upon himself.”

“I…I know. I’m not just sorry for the loss of your brother, but for you not having a healthy way to deal with your grief after losing your mother and your brother so close together, and so young. You must’ve felt so alone.”

“I had Brekker. He was more of a brother to me than Zoren ever was.”

“When my mother died, I was lucky to still have Randy,” Mina said softly. “Even with him there to comfort and support me, it was hard. Everyone was so cruel to her when she was alive, and then pretended to pity her when she was gone. Like she was this tragic figure, and they all cared so much, and it was a shame what happened. And it was all...fake. So fake and so sickening.

“But they never stopped being cruel to me. Some of them changed the way they presented it, acting almost like…like they were doing it for my own good. Like they were doing me a service I never wanted, never asked for. They acted like she was this horrible woman, and they were watching me close, waiting for me to slip up and show that she’d corrupted me too.”

She looked down, absently fiddling with the material of her skirt. “I’m not sure if I would’ve made it without Randy.”

“ Zekt’al , val’syra ,” Sevik growled, calling her eyes back to him. His brows were slanted sharply down, and his lips were curled into a scowl. “You would’ve fucking made it. Maybe you don’t know how, but you would have.”

She shook her head and laughed without amusement. “You don’t know that. You barely know me.”

“I’m not fucking blind, Mina.” He stalked over to her and seized her chin, angling her face up toward him. Those blazing white eyes held her captive, sparking sensations inside her that shouldn’t have been possible from mere looks. “I see you, female.”

Those words had been spoken with such confidence, such conviction, such firmness. Warmth bloomed within Mina; her mouth was suddenly dry, her breath short, her heartbeat rapid. She craved him more than ever in that moment. She wished he would tear off her sweater, lean over her, and cage her in with his body. Wished his long white hair would fall like a silky curtain around them, reducing her whole world to his face, to his eyes and their vibrant glow.

Mina wished he would touch her again, kiss her again, taste her again. Wished he would claim her just like the heroes in the books she so adored claimed their mates.

She wanted him to make her feel alive, to remind them both that they were still here despite the tragedy they’d endured.

There were no barriers between them now. There was no hiding what he was. He was Sevik. Not Viktor, not a mask, but an inhuman, otherworldly being.

And God, he was so dangerously beautiful .

His nostrils flared, and he hummed, gravelly and low.

Eyes widening, Mina withdrew her chin from his hold. “So! You, uh… You said that gang fell apart, didn’t you?”

Sevik’s pupils narrowed to razor-thin slits before expanding slightly. He blinked and huffed. Returning to his place on the opposite end of the couch, he sat with his back against the armrest. “It didn’t fall apart. It ceased to exist.”

“What happened?”

“The same stupid fuckers who told me the meds for my mother were too high profile somehow got their hands on a shipment of faloran arms. And everyone knows the falorans don’t fuck around.”

Mina tilted her head, flattening her palms on her thighs. “Are the falorans another gang?”

He laughed, flashing his fangs. “Might as well be. They’re a species. A military power fallen on hard times after a virus killed most of their females generations ago. It’s only made them more aggressive, and they really don’t appreciate it when people steal their toys. They raided our warehouse with an elite special forces team.

“We tried to fight back, but it was a…a massacre. That the right word?” When Mina nodded, he continued. “Somehow, me and Brekker dragged each other out of there. Somehow, we survived.”

“That must’ve been terrifying,” Mina said. “Were you hurt?”

Sevik gestured to his bared torso, and only then did she notice the pale scars on his skin. A few looked like they’d been left by blades and varied in length. But between his chest and abdomen, she counted five that were more uniform, each with a center ring surrounded by slightly raised tissue that faded outward like sunbursts. They looked like bullet wounds encircled by small burn scars. Two of them were just over the place where a human’s heart would’ve been, only inches apart from each other. The one on the left was darker, more jagged…newer.

He brushed a finger over a bullet scar on his abdomen before lifting his hand to touch another on his chest—the one beside the freshest mark. “These two. Both plasma bolts.”

“I’m sorry, Sevik.”

“Don’t be. It’s life. It’s not fair, and it hurts. A lot. That day was when I decided I would take what I wanted, because life sure as fuck wasn’t going to give me anything but pain.”

She frowned, brow furrowing. “How old were you?”

“Fourteen.”

“No one should have to go through anything like that, especially not someone so young.”

Sevik turned his palms up in a very human gesture, as if to say the situation was what it was. Mina could only guess that the scars he carried inside, in his mind, on his heart and soul, were much more severe than the physical marks.

“It taught me a great deal about the universe,” he said. “Taught me that the authorities are just like gangs, just with better funding and the law to wield or ignore as it suits them.”

“Like Chief Harrigan,” she muttered.

Sevik’s mouth stretched into a full, sharp-fanged smile. “Like Chief Harrigan. But he’s nothing. A small man in a small town who’s fooled himself into thinking he’s in control.”

“And who enforces or ignores the law at his whim.”

“His kind is a universal infestation.”

“Some might say the same of criminals. That you’re the bane of civilization.”

“That’s the difference between me and Harrigan, Mina.” Sevik’s chin dipped, giving his face a wicked cast. “I don’t pretend.”

Now Mina smirked, folding her arms across her chest. “What’s that about not pretending, Viktor ?”

“Never claimed to be honest, val’syra .”

“So, should I believe anything you’ve told me today?”

“You should.” His expression sobered, the hint of playfulness that had brightened it vanishing. “Believe and remember, because I’m telling you exactly who I am.”

Mina hummed, biting her lower lip as she studied him. “And if that doesn’t scare me away?”

His eyes dipped and fixated on her mouth. “Then I should question your judgment as much as I’ve been questioning my own lately.”

“Why have you been questioning your judgment?”

“You,” he rasped. “You’re a fucking fog in my mind, obscuring every other thought. Blurring everything.”

Mina’s heart fluttered as desire smoldered in her core. She did that to him?

Her gaze dropped and traced the line of his mouth. How could a scowl be so sexy? She wanted to kiss the corners of his lips, wanted to feel them soften beneath hers, wanted them to kiss her back.

Somehow, Mina forced her eyes back up. She met Sevik’s gaze; it was fiery, electric, bristling with a primal force barely held in check. Everything about this situation, about him, should’ve urged her to run.

But the only direction she wanted to go was toward him.

“You said you were recruited into another gang?” she asked.

Sevik nodded. “Me and Brekker.”

“What’d you do there?”

“We became enforcers.”

“What does that mean?”

He ran his tongue across his fangs. “We enforced the rules. Kept people in line. When someone needed to be hurt, we hurt them. When someone needed to disappear, we assisted them in getting lost.”

Those eerie eyes were unwavering, almost cold. He’d just admitted to killing people, and not a shred of remorse—or any emotion—had been visible on his face.

Mina drew in a shaky breath. She was awed by how quickly his intensity could go from hunger and lust to icy menace.

“So…even criminals have rules?” she asked.

“Successful criminals. This was an organization, run more like a company than a gang. Intricate operations hidden behind legitimate businesses, protected by bribes, threats, and the capability for swift, precise, brutal violence.”

Mina’s attention flicked to his clawed hands—hands that had felt so good against her skin. Hands that had inflicted untold damage, that had dealt death. “How’d you go from being the guy who hurts people to your own boss?”

“I was determined to take what I wanted. To live on my own terms. Hard to do that when you’re just a beast on someone else’s leash.”

“So you’re a beast then. A wild animal.”

“We’re all beasts, Mina,” he said, devouring her with those eyes. “Even adorable little humans. Some people try to deny it. Some hide it better than others.”

Unbidden, her tongue slipped out to wet her lips. “And you?”

He grinned; those fangs were just one of many features reminding her that he was very much not human. “I embrace it.”

She barely suppressed the shiver threatening to course along her spine. She told herself it was due to fear, but she knew that wasn’t true. No, it was a thrill, sparked by a single, superheated thought.

I want him to let his beast out of its cage.

“That’s why you went on your own,” she said. “But it doesn’t tell me how.”

Did she really want to know? Given all he’d told her so far, his path to the top had probably been awash with blood and violence.

“The boss took a liking to us. She had another korasi, Enthi, act as our handler early on. Enthi was one of the favored, only a few years older than us but very experienced. She was intelligent, clever, driven, professional, and fucking tough. Beautiful too. We’d never known anyone like her.”

A female korasi took shape in Mina’s imagination. Tall and lithe, strong yet elegant, with flawless porcelain skin, haunting eyes, perfectly curved horns, and long, shimmering white hair.

How could any human compare to that?

How could Mina compare?

And Sevik had called Enthi beautiful.

Jealously ignited in Mina’s chest. She had no right to feel it, but feel it she did.

“She taught us how things were done, and we worked well together,” Sevik continued. “Became quite a team. We…complemented each other. Challenged each other.”

That jealousy wound through Mina, hot and heavy, tangling her insides.

Don’t ask, Mina. It doesn’t matter.

But the words tumbled out anyway. “Did you two… Did you…”

“Fuck?”

That word had never sounded as harsh and vulgar as it did at that moment. Mina could only answer with a tight, shallow nod before dropping her gaze.

“Yes. She rutted Brekker too. And we all fucked other people.”

Gritting her teeth, Mina squeezed the blanket and willed her face not to redden. It was ridiculous to be jealous of a woman from his past. It wasn’t like Mina and Sevik were even dating; flirting a few times and fooling around a little didn’t make a relationship.

Mina had no claim on him.

“Is my little val’syra jealous?” Sevik asked.

“No,” Mina replied quickly. Too quickly. “Why would I be jealous? It has nothing to do with me.” She twisted the blanket, and her heart only thumped louder and faster. She felt his eyes on her, but she couldn’t bring herself to look up at him, didn’t want to.

“It was about pleasure,” he said. “About release. We respected each other too much to ever pretend otherwise. Neither of us wanted a mate. We wanted to ascend. Wanted money, power, influence.”

“So you…” Mina managed to open a fist, but could only wave her hand ineffectively as she failed to produce the words. “But never developed any feelings? Never felt anything but gratification?”

“No. The positions we were in…there’s no lowering your guard. Sex with Enthi was never about deeper feelings. It was satisfying an urge, releasing our aggressions. But even as much as we trusted each other, we never truly knew each other. I didn’t know what it felt like to be myself. Until now.”

There was something in his voice, something raw and vulnerable, that called Mina’s gaze back up to him. All the menace his face was capable of displaying was gone. There was still heat in his eyes, but it had softened, and the way he was looking at her now…

Mina swallowed and took in a slow, steadying breath. “Go on. I’d like to know more.”

The corners of his mouth fell into the slightest of frowns; somehow, that subtle change was more expressive than anything she’d ever seen from him.

“Enthi was on her way up already,” he said. “I was determined to claim my place. She was brought into the leadership, and I followed not long after. We were lieutenants, reporting directly to the boss.”

“What about Brekker?”

Sevik shook his head, and a faint line formed between his brows. “I took him as my second, but… They wanted people who could pair vision and business sense with ruthlessness and ambition. People who could find new ways to bring in money, or who could make the current operations more efficient and profitable.

“Brekker is the best enforcer I’ve ever known. His instincts are sharp, and he’s good at predicting what people will do under pressure. His targets don’t evade him for long. But his talents don’t suit what they were looking for in leadership.”

“How did it make him feel to have his friends promoted around him?”

“Things would’ve been different if I had known the answer to that.” Now it was Sevik who dropped his gaze, watching his hand as he pinched the fabric of his sweatpants. “Me and Enthi were planning. We saw holes to fill, needs to meet, money to be made. Power and influence waiting to be seized.”

“So you became the boss by…by overthrowing the old one?”

He laughed, and some of the tension faded from his features. “No. I’m not afraid of death, but that doesn’t mean I welcome it. That would’ve triggered a war that would’ve collapsed the whole organization. Countless rival groups would’ve swept in to carve up what was left. We wanted to start our own organization. A…brokerage, I think is the term you would use. To mediate dealings between Vabos’s criminal organizations and prevent the betrayals that were so rampant.

“If those organizations could make transactions with one another without all the distrust, it would be better for everyone’s business. We went to the boss, asked permission to break off and go independent. She agreed after we assured her that she would receive a percentage of our profits.

“We brought in Brekker as an equal partner. Needed him to head enforcement and security, because we knew there’d be challenges early on. Attempts at making us look incapable, incompetent. And no one did that work better than him.

“First couple years were rough. Fulfilled a lot of contracts in blood. But we were successful. Very, very successful. Soon enough, we were bringing in more money than any of us had ever dreamed.”

Mina studied him, looking for any more clues in his expression, in his posture, in his voice, but she couldn’t find anything definitive. “And now you’re here?”

“Now I’m here.” Sevik sighed and tilted his head back, looking up toward the ceiling. “I thought Brekker was dissatisfied. That he was envious of me and Enthi because we were running most everything. That he wanted more; more say, more power, more money, that he objected to the way we did business. But I’ve had a long time to consider it, to look back at everything. And it’s so much simpler than that.”

Lifting his head, he nodded to himself. “He wanted her. From the beginning, he wanted her. First as a conquest because she was beautiful. But when he realized she would not be conquered, something shifted in him. It became about proving himself her equal. About showing her that he was worthy to be her mate, to stand beside her, evenly matched, like no one else was. Enthi wasn’t interested.

“Her ambition had no space for him. She wouldn’t play mate to anyone, and didn’t need a mate to feel complete. When they rutted, she saw it as casual sex. He saw it as much, much more. And his desire became an obsession. He grew jealous of anyone else she fucked, even me. Especially me. Started disagreeing with me more and more, questioned my decisions in front of others. I had to put him in his place a few times. I didn’t realize until it was much too late that he imprinted on her.

“One night, Enthi came to my place. She didn’t say anything. Just took off her clothes. We fucked, and afterward she mentioned Brekker had lost his mind. And like speaking his name fucking summoned him, he burst in, saw us together, and started screaming that Enthi had betrayed him. That she’d tainted their mating bond. She never took shit from anyone, especially not him, so she shouted right back.

“I was getting out of bed to get between them when he noticed my clothes on a chair nearby. My clothes and my gun. He pulled it free and shot her.”

Mina gasped, eyes rounding.

Something new was creeping into Sevik’s voice now, something she recognized from earlier. That deep, seething anger, that rage, boiling under the surface. “He looked just as shocked as she did. Like neither of them could believe what he’d just done. She fell dead on my bedroom floor. He stared down at her in silence. And I knew what was coming. Probably had enough time to do something about it, if I’d acted.

“But despite everything I’d seen, every betrayal I’d witnessed in my life, part of me didn’t want to believe it. We were fucking brothers. We’d saved each other’s lives. He looked at me like he’d just realized I was there. Told me this was my fault. That I’d made him do it. And then he shot me.”

Sevik lifted his hand and tapped the newest scar on his chest, over his breastbone, producing small, hollow thuds . “Not sure if he charged at me or I charged at him. It all blurs. But we wound up grappling with each other, me trying to get the pistol from him. Felt my strength fading with every heartbeat. Somehow got the gun away from him, and he kicked me hard in the gut. All the air burst from my lungs. Then he threw me through the window.”

Mina slapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, Sevik...”

“No idea how I survived the fall,” he said. “Probably should’ve died before ever hitting the ground. Just remember pain everywhere, and dragging myself out of a trash pile, along an alley. Stole medical supplies from one of our safehouses. Only stopped long enough to inject myself with drugs. I knew he’d be looking for me.

“I called in a favor, and left Vabos before the next sunrise. Only thing keeping me going were the drugs in my body. Came here to recover.”

“Why here?” Mina asked, lowering her hand. “Why Earth, and especially why the middle of Alaska?”

“Because it’s Earth. Small. Out of the way. Intergalactic laws say it’s off limits, so only local authorities to deal with, and none of the other aliens here want to be revealed. And Alaska… What’s the phrase? Middle of nowhere? This is a middle of nowhere town, in a middle of nowhere state, on a middle of nowhere planet. Where better to disappear?”

“Are you safe now, then? Brekker thinks you’re dead, so you don’t have to worry?”

“He knows I’m not dead. He also knows I’m a threat as long as I’m breathing. He’s looking for me.”

Alarm flooded Mina. “Will he find you here?”

“Eventually. I didn’t plan to stay long enough for that to happen.”

“Oh.” A heaviness settled in her chest. “You’re…leaving?” She shook her head and let out a small, humorless laugh. “Of course you’ll be leaving. You’re an alien. You can’t stay. If people discovered you, you’d be in danger here too, because we all know how horrible humans can be.”

“Humans don’t seem any better or worse than any other species I’ve dealt with. You are people trying to survive. Just like anyone else.”

“Haven’t you seen what humans do to aliens in the movies?” she asked, worry tinging her voice. “If they discovered an alien, if they discovered you, they’d torture you and cut you open in the name of science.”

“They’re not going to find me.”

“But what if they do?”

“They’ll regret it. But they won’t find me, Mina.”

“I did.”

“You’re different.”

Mina’s brow creased as she canted her head. “How am I different?”

Sevik stared at her, long and hard, and so much meaning flashed through his eyes—frustratingly indecipherable meaning. As that silence stretched, she knew he wasn’t going to answer her question. Knew that somehow, his stare was the answer.

Why was she so different from anyone else? Why had Sevik approached her in Cornerstone when he’d kept entirely to himself, speaking to no one, for the year he’d lived in Sullford?

Mina was…nobody. Why would he risk being discovered because of her? Why would he fight for her, even when he didn’t know her? Why would?—

Another thought suddenly occurred to her, a question that had haunted her for days. A mystery that had made her feel like she was losing her mind.

“Wait,” Mina said. “The night I was attacked, I know that man stabbed me. I felt it. Right before he slammed my head against my car. But when I woke up here, I didn’t have any wounds. Not even a bruise on my head, when I probably should’ve had a concussion. You did something to me, didn’t you?”

“I saved you,” he replied. When she just stared at him, he scrubbed hand down his face. “I injected you with a serum, hoping it would heal you.”

“What do you mean, hoping?”

“The serum works for korasi. For most other species I’m familiar with too. But I didn’t know what it would do to a human. There was a chance that it wouldn’t do anything, or that it would cause more harm.”

Expression strained, she studied him, searching his eyes for some indication of his feelings—even as she struggled to decide what she felt. This was…complicated. He’d saved her, but being injected with mystery drugs while unconscious…

“So you put that stuff into my body without knowing what it would do?” she asked quietly.

“Mina…” He exhaled heavily and shook his head. “There are moments when you must act. When you can’t stop and analyze everything, can’t calculate every possible outcome. Many people fall apart in those moments. I don’t. I acted based on the information I had at the time.

“You were injured. The stab wound was shallow, and I could’ve stitched it up if necessary. But the head wound… I didn’t know what that would do to a human, didn’t know how severe it was. All I knew was that your kind can be fragile. I also knew that we weren’t anywhere near a hospital if it was something serious. So I acted—and I hoped.”

“Oh.” It felt like a foolish response, but it was all she could manage.

“That’s the main reason I brought you back here that night. Didn’t know what the serum would do, so I kept you close. I…checked on you through the night.”

“You did?”

“Often.”

Something about the way he’d said that word made her think it was an understatement.

When she’d woken that morning to find Sevik in the kitchen, cooking for her, the first thing he’d said, as he looked her over, had been ‘ How do you feel, Mina? ’

“Sevik, I…” She let out a shaky breath.

He’d had no obligation to help Mina against her attacker. He’d had no reason to endanger himself, to risk exposing his true identity. Yet he had. And he’d done the best he could, which was far, far more than she could ever have asked of him.

There was only one thing for Mina to say to that. “Thank you. Really.”

A tiny, prideful glint appeared in his eyes, and he nodded.

“So…there were other reasons you brought me here?” she asked.

“Just one. I wasn’t ready to let go of you.”

Again, she couldn’t get anything out of her mouth but, “Oh.”

There was too much heat building inside Mina for her to form any other words. The possessiveness in his voice did things to her, wonderful, frightening, thrilling things.

She ran her gaze over his alien features. This man wasn’t at all what he seemed, and that extended well beyond the sci-fi disguise he usually donned. And the way he’d talked about himself, the way he’d told his story, made Mina wonder if Sevik even saw his true self.

Her eyes drifted up to his horns. She’d always found horns appealing, ever since seeing Legend for the first time, but now that there was a man before her who had an actual set of horns on his head, she couldn’t help having a thousand more questions. “Are those heavy?”

“My horns? I don’t really notice their weight.”

“Can I…touch them?”

His brows drew down sharply.

“Well, it’s not everyday someone you know suddenly sprouts horns. I’m just…curious. About what they feel like.”

He smirked and beckoned her with a clawed finger. “Come then, val’syra .”

Mina blushed. He’d just twisted her innocent curiosity into a seduction, and she…she was here for it.

Leaning forward, she placed her hands on the cushion and crawled toward him. His eyes remained on her, unwavering, stirring the embers of desire in her core.

His spicy scent filled her senses once she was before him. She rose on her knees, lifted a hand, and lightly ran her fingers along one of his horns. It was hard but surprisingly smooth despite the ridges ringing it. She traced her finger all the way to the curved tip and pressed on the point. It wasn’t sharp enough to break her skin like this, but it would definitely cause damage with a little force behind it.

“Can you feel me touching it?” she asked.

“No.”

“Nothing at all?” Mina eased a little closer, spreading her thighs to either side of his slightly bent knee to maintain her balance, and wrapped both her hands around his horns. She rubbed them with her thumbs. “What about this?”

“No,” he rasped, his warm breath teasing her collarbone.

Her skin prickled in awareness, and her nipples hardened.

Wait. Why am I feeling his breath on my chest?

Mina’s cheeks burned hotter as realization set in. She was kneeling in front Sevik, straddling his leg, with her breasts directly in his face.

Mina looked down. Sevik’s eyes were fixated on the outlines of her nipples, which were pressing against her sweater.

She dropped her arms with a gasp and leaned back. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have?—”

He caught her jaw in his hand, halting her retreat. Mina’s hands instinctively flew to his shoulders. She could feel the press of his claws against the side of her neck, could feel the strength in those fingers, the roughness of his palm. When he tilted her head aside, she didn’t resist.

His nostrils flared as his gaze shifted to her neck. Those pupils again shrank to slits, and he released a low, ragged growl. He slid his hand down her throat and brushed his thumb ever so lightly over one of the spots where his claws had cut her earlier.

Mina winced at the slight sting.

“Didn’t mean to hurt you,” he rumbled.

There was true regret in his eyes and his voice, and it made Mina’s chest constrict. When Mina had run from him, she’d fought as hard as she could, had kicked and thrashed and hit him several times. Yet though Sevik had been rough and firm in his handling of her, he hadn’t hurt her, hadn’t even threatened to do so.

Well, he had said he would gag her and tie her up if she kept struggling. But he hadn’t threatened to harm her. All he’d done since meeting her was keep her safe.

“I know,” she said softly.

He met her gaze again, and she saw that hint of vulnerability in his eyes once more, saw him searching, questioning.

Finally, he released her. His hands dropped to her hips, and he lifted her off the couch effortlessly, setting her on her feet before he stood up.

Sevik stepped away, turning his head toward the windows. The snow was piled a little higher against the glass than before. “Storm hasn’t let up yet. Probably won’t for a while.”

“Guess you’re stuck with me for a while.” Mina cast him a sheepish smile. “Sorry. I…didn’t plan to get snowed in while celebrating my birthday with an alien.” She ran her fingers through her hair, wincing when they snagged in the curls.

He clasped her wrist and gently extricated her fingers from her tangled hair. “Stop apologizing.”

Mina looked up at him. He hadn’t said those words harshly, hadn’t said them with annoyance or impatience. His tone had been almost...endearing.

When Sevik let go of her, he turned and crouched, picking up the empty champagne bottle. “Make yourself comfortable. I don’t have much, but you don’t have any other choice, do you?”

“Thank you.” She brought her hand to her chest and stared at his back.

His long white hair had parted, revealing the black tattoos on his neck, which circled it entirely. Those marks ran down his spine in three narrow, closely packed lines before flaring wide at his lower back, where they disappeared under his sweats. But the lines wrapping his hips weren’t hidden. She knew they followed his Adonis belt, flowing directly toward his pelvis…

Mina curled her hand into a fist, battling the urge to reach out and trail her fingers over those markings. To trace their path down, down, down, across his hips, right to his?—

She inhaled unsteadily and pressed her thighs together as arousal pulsed low in her belly.

“Could I, uh…take a shower?” she asked, a little breathlessly.

He pointed toward the entryway beside the stairs. “Just in there.”

Mina couldn’t escape fast enough.