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

Chapter 20

TWENTY

Leaning her shoulder against the doorframe, Mina crossed her arms over her chest and watched Sevik through the front door window.

Haloed by the carport light, he shoveled the snow from around her car in huge scoops. Yet as fast as the snow was coming down, it wouldn’t be long before his work was undone.

He was dressed in a pair of snug jeans, big black boots, and a tank top. Yesterday, she would’ve tried to stop him from going out in the blizzard dressed like that. But that was when she’d thought he was human.

And it did grant her quite the view…

The way his muscles flexed, the way they played on his powerful arms and chest and stretched his shirt, was hot as hell. She could happily watch that all day. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that this sight was wrong.

Because he’d reactivated his disguise before going out.

He was no longer Sevik. He was Viktor again.

His long, raven hair was tied back to keep it out of his face. There were no devilish horns or alabaster skin, no intriguing black markings on his neck, no claws or fangs. Just that human mask. A wildly attractive mask, but now that she knew it was an illusion—now that she’d seen the real him—it would forever seem wrong to her.

He’d insisted on it. Had said that he couldn’t risk anyone else seeing him, even though this was a secluded cabin.

What was it like to live behind a mask like that? To have to hide so much of who and what you were?

Don’t you know how it feels at least a little, Mina?

Put on a friendly smile and pretend you’re not hurting. Laugh politely at the veiled insults and insinuations. Keep the peace at the cost of your dignity.

Mina wrinkled her nose and glanced down at her cellphone. It was after two o’clock in the afternoon, and she hadn’t even thought about her café since she’d awoken that morning. Not that there was much to worry about. During a storm like this, most of the businesses in town would be closed, their owners and employees hunkered down to ride out the weather just like the rest of the townsfolk.

Bet I’m the only one who gets to ride it out with a sexy alien.

Get it? Ride?

Blushing at her own corny joke, Mina unlocked her phone and tapped on the news app. It loaded extremely slowly, but it did eventually load. She was frankly surprised it worked at all out here.

She skimmed through local news reports. The blizzard was expected to continue for another day or two, and apart from the main roads, most routes were impassable right now. Town officials had stated that they had crews working to keep the main roads clear, but that their resources were limited, and it would likely be a couple more days before everything would be opened up.

Well, it looked like she’d be here for a few more days at least.

After posting a quick announcement on the Bookish Bean social media letting everyone know she was safe but not at home, she locked her phone and looked back at Sevik.

She tilted her head. The cold didn’t seem to affect him, which only made her realize that she’d seen him out in freezing weather without a coat several times. At most, he sometimes wore a light jacket. How cold was the planet his people originated from?

For her, even this planet was too cold, and Sevik knew it. He’d commanded her to remain inside while he dug out her car. She’d wanted to help, had pressed him on it, and he’d first stated that he only had one snow shovel. When she’d changed tactics and said she could just keep him company, he’d glared at her and revealed his true concern.

“It’s fucking freezing, Mina,” he’d growled. “Keep your ass inside or I will tie you to a chair.”

There was no way she could feel cold when he talked to her like that. But she still would rather have been out there with him.

Folding her arms, Mina huffed, absently tapping her foot on the floor. She muttered, “Could’ve just put on pants.”

Outside, Sevik bent over, and Mina’s gaze dropped to admire his taut backside. She smirked.

That’s mine.

She knew pants wouldn’t have made a difference. She hadn’t exactly shown up to his house dressed for a winter storm, and she felt the intense chill radiating through the door, flowing off the glass, slowly sapping the warmth from her skin. It would be a hundred times colder outside.

Now, she was stuck watching, plagued by restless energy that came from wanting to help but being unable to do so.

So much had happened since yesterday that she couldn’t believe she hadn’t even been here for twenty-four hours. From an innocent drinking game to being eaten out on the couch, from waking up and discovering a demon on the floor to losing her virginity and becoming an alien’s mate, it felt like a lifetime had passed since Mina made the impulsive decision to come here.

Mate. I’m Sevik’s mate.

Mina touched her fingertips to the healing bite marks on her shoulder, near the base of her neck. What exactly was a mate to him? He’d imprinted upon her, injected her with his venom. And the way he made it sound…

It was binding.

Did korasi take one mate, or…did they take several?

Jealousy flared in her heart even as dread pooled in her belly.

She hugged herself, clenched her jaw, and narrowed her eyes, staring at the floor. No. Mina couldn’t stand the thought of him taking another mate. That was not something she’d be able to stomach. She could not, would not, share him.

The slam of a car door jarred Mina from her thoughts, calling her attention back to the window. Sevik walked toward the door, snow shovel in one hand, the emergency bag from Mina’s car in the other. Snowflakes had gathered on his hair and shoulders, dusting him with white.

She shifted aside and opened the door for him. A blast of frigid air swept in, making her shudder as her skin prickled.

Sevik propped the shovel against the exterior wall, stomped off his boots, and stepped inside. His spicy scent flooded Mina’s senses, calming her anxiety while also making her very, very aware of him. Warmth pooled in her core. A rush of desire hit her so suddenly that it almost stole her breath. She squeezed her thighs together, toes turning inward, trying to fight back that surge.

Had that always been her reaction to his scent, or was it related to the mating bond? To those...chemical changes Sevik had mentioned?

Mina took the duffle bag from him when he held it out. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you.”

She hauled it into the kitchen and set it atop the dining table. She heard him kick off his boots before he entered the room. His shroud had already fallen; the melting snow was difficult to discern from his white hair, but it was clearly visible on his black horns.

Mina laughed as she pointed at them. “Does the snow vanish when it lands on your horns?”

“It enters the field of the holoshroud,” he replied. “It’s adaptive, accounting for changes like that. Would look pretty fucking suspicious to have piles of snow hovering over my head.”

Rising on the tips of her toes, she brushed the snow off his horns. “I’d love to see you explain that to someone.”

He hooked her chin with a finger before she could turn away. Leaning down, he brushed his nose along the side of her neck and breathed in. “Mmm. You’re happy to see me, aren’t you?”

Mina shivered and sucked in a breath when his tongue flicked over the bite marks, and more delicious heat bloomed between her thighs. It was so unfair that he could smell it anytime she was aroused.

She gently pushed him away before jabbing his chest with her finger. “It’s all your crazy alien venom’s fault.”

“Ah, val’syra ,” he purred, “you lusted for me long before I bit you.”

“Okay, so maybe you’re right.”

He was absolutely right .

Damn it.

His lips slowly stretched into a grin that showed off his fangs. Mina turned back to her bag and unzipped it, unable to hold back her own smile.

“It’s still your fault for smelling and looking so good,” she said.

Sevik chuckled darkly. “Not the first thing I’m guilty of.”

Shaking her head, Mina took out her plastic bag of toiletries and opened it, setting a few of the items on the table—a stick of deodorant, a toothbrush, a hairbrush, and some hair product to help tame her unruly curls. If she remembered correctly, there were at least four pairs of pants and shirts folded neatly within the duffle bag, along with a bra and several pairs of socks and underwear. She dug out the latter, relieved.

Moving closer, Sevik peered into the bag. “Don’t see how this counts as emergency supplies.”

Mina shifted aside some of the clothing to reveal what was hidden beneath. A few military rations—MREs—and some other non-perishable food, road flares, a hatchet, gel handwarmer packs, a thermal blanket, a metal lighter, and a knitted wool hat and big winter gloves.

“All just in case,” she said, smoothing the clothes back into place.

“In case of what?”

Raising her eyebrows, she gestured to the window. The rapidly darkening sky was still dumping snow on little Sullford, Alaska. The news she’d read earlier said there’d already been two feet of snowfall since yesterday.

“Ah.” He reached in the duffle bag and almost daintily plucked out one of the objects—an old, dog-eared historical romance from Mina’s teens. “And this?”

“You can get bored when your car gets stuck in the middle of nowhere.” Mina snatched the book back and carefully returned it to its place.

“And that’s happened to you?”

“My old car broke down once. Thankfully, it was in the summer, and I had cell service, so I didn’t need any of this. But Randy got stranded during an ice fishing trip one winter. His car wouldn’t start, so he had no heater and no phone service to call for help. He was out there for hours. It wasn’t until late into the night that my mom and I got worried because he hadn’t come home, and we couldn’t get a hold of him.

“It was midnight when we took the two hour drive out there to look for him. We found him huddled in his car, wrapped in a thermal blanket. Had he not had that, and had we not known he was out there, he could’ve frozen to death.”

Mina ran her fingers over the top of the bag. “When I got my first car, Randy made sure I always had a bag like this in there because you never know when you might need it.”

Sevik caught her hand with his and curled his fingers around it. His warmth chased away the chill. “You miss him.”

She nodded. “He was basically like a…surrogate grandparent to me after my dad died. We still call each other from time to time, but… It’s not the same as talking with him face-to-face or seeing his eyes light up when he laughs.” Mina looked up at Sevik. “But he’s happy. That’s what matters.”

Expression sober, gaze heavy, Sevik searched her face. Tenderly, he brushed the backs of his fingers over her cheek and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Are you happy, Mina?”

Mina closed her eyes, turned her face into his palm, and covered his hand with her own. “I wasn’t. Not for a long, long time.” Opening her eyes, she smiled. “Until the day you caught me.”

Turning to face him, she drew his hand down and held it between both of hers as she lowered her gaze. She ran her thumbs over his callused palm and fingers, down to the tips of his claws. His hands were so unlike her own. Big, strong, inhuman. Capable of such cruelty, stained with blood, but they’d only ever protected her, soothed her, pleasured her.

“It’s still hard to believe that I’m not dreaming,” she said. “That you’re not something I conjured from my imagination after reading so many romance books. I’m scared that I’ll wake up one morning and you’ll be gone. But this isn’t a dream, and this isn’t fiction. This— you —are real. An alien. I still know so little about you, and what I…what I mean to you.”

Sevik grasped her chin with his other hand and tipped her face up, forcing her to meet his narrowed gaze. “You know more about me than anyone, Mina. I told you things about myself today that I’ve never said aloud.” His hold on her chin tightened slightly, and something fierce sparked in his eyes. “I’ve never let anyone get so close.”

Mina believed him, and that meant so much to her.

“What…exactly is a mate to you, Sevik?” she asked.

A crease formed between his eyebrows, and those sinfully sculpted lips fell. The tip of his thumb claw grazed just beneath her bottom lip. His voice was low and raspy when he finally spoke.

“Before, I would’ve said a mate is a weakness. A treasure to be locked away, a trophy too precious to be displayed.”

“And now?”

“Now I see a mate as…possibility. As a new beginning. As my salvation.” Sevik lowered his face, resting his forehead against Mina’s. Their breath mingled, luring her mouth toward his, but he held her chin in place. “I see you , Mina. As mine in every way. Mine to hold, to enjoy, to fuck. Mine to protect and please. My future.

“And because of you, I see a chance at a new life. A different life. One where the only thing I’ll ever want is you, where the only thing I’ll ever need is you.”

Mina clutched his hand to her belly. Her heart was beating so fast that she feared it might sprout wings and fly right out of her chest.

“Can you…imprint upon someone else? Take another mate besides me?” she asked, voice unsteady and near a whisper.

Please say no. Please, please say no.

“No,” he growled, “and I wouldn’t want to. You’re it for me, Mina.”

The tension that had built inside her dissipated, and she closed her eyes in relief. There was some part of her, a part she hadn’t known existed, that had only awoken and bared its teeth after she’d met Sevik. Mina had never been a violent person, but she knew her own claws would come out if anyone ever touched him.

Mine. He’s mine.

“I don’t want you to take another either.” She curled her fingers into his shirt. “I won’t share you.”

He released her chin, moving his hand to the back of her head and sliding his fingers into her curls. “Much as that jealous fire in your eyes thrills me, val’syra , I swear you will never have to.”

Grasping her hair, Sevik slanted his mouth over hers, sealing his words with a kiss.