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

Chapter 33

THIRTY-THREE

The drive to the cabin was quiet except for the sounds of the heater and snow being compacted under the truck’s tires. Mina sat nestled against Sevik’s side. His arm was around her in a tight hold, keeping her close, and his body was tense. He hadn’t let her go since he’d returned to the truck. She was just as unwilling to break contact with him.

I almost lost him.

The thought brought tears to her eyes, and she closed them, turning her face and burying it against his bare chest. His skin was warm. Alive.

He was alive.

She drew in a deep breath, taking in his scent. The spicy aroma of teakwood mingled with that of snow and sweat…and blood.

Mina pressed her lips together to hold in a sob. She was trying so hard to keep it together. It was over. They were safe, and they were going home.

But those thoughts, those feelings, those memories, wouldn’t leave. Even with the blanket and coats wrapped around her, the heater blasting hot air into the cab, and the seat warmer toasting her ass, she couldn’t stop the tremors racking her.

Because it wasn’t the cold bothering her anymore.

She’d been drugged and kidnapped by brutal aliens, had been forced to watch her mate get beaten, had been assaulted, chased through the snowy forest in the dark, and shot at...

Sevik moved his hand up, threaded his fingers in her hair, and cradled her head against him. “I have you, val’syra .”

“I know,” she whispered.

He pressed a firm kiss atop her head.

Mina kept her eyes closed. Though her body continued to shake, weariness was setting in, draping her with an inescapable heaviness. The rocking of the truck as it drove over the snowy, bumpy backroads lulled her toward sleep.

But before she’d completely succumbed to exhaustion, Sevik’s voice pulled her back.

“We’re here, Mina.”

He withdrew his hand from her hair and repositioned it on her arm.

Mina opened her tired eyes and lifted her head, turning it to look out the windshield. Her breath caught.

Sevik’s cabin stood ahead, glowing brilliantly. Golden icicle lights wrapped the eaves, and strings of gold lights wound around the pillars of the carport and framed the windows. With the quiet, snowy countryside surrounding it, the place looked…magical.

As they drove closer, Mina noticed the glowing candy canes standing between the carport posts, forming a festive, waist-high fence.

Mina sat up a little straighter. Sevik didn’t release her.

“You did this?” she asked.

“Yes.” The word rumbled from his chest with an unhappy growl. “Should’ve stayed with you instead.”

She worked her arm out from under the blanket and embraced him. She didn’t look away from the beautiful lights as they approached the cabin.

Sevik pulled in under the carport and shut off the truck. When he opened the door, freezing night air swept in, battling back the warmth that had filled in the cab. He slid out, drawing Mina alongside him, and took her into his arms once he was standing, keeping the coat and blanket wrapped around her.

She clung to him desperately, gratefully, lovingly.

He nudged the truck closed and carried her to the cabin’s entrance. The wreath hanging in the front door window was new—one of the decorative scented wreaths from Cornerstone, with cinnamon pinecones, red berries, and a gold-trimmed red ribbon.

Mina stared at the wreath. She hadn’t made a secret of how much she loved the smell of those pinecones at Cornerstone, and he’d bought it for her. Tears gathered in her eyes; she blinked them away.

That cinnamon fragrance struck her the instant he opened the door. She breathed deep as he brought her into the cabin’s warmth, and the tightness in her chest eased, just a little, when he kicked the door closed behind them and locked the deadbolt. His holoshroud melted away immediately.

We’re safe. We’re safe.

Without setting her down, Sevik toed off his boots, stepped out of the laundry room, and passed through the kitchen. Mina barely had time to notice the bowl of pinecones and the red and white mistletoe tablecloth on the table before he continued into the living room.

Which had been completely transformed.

It was only her rasping his name that halted Sevik on his trajectory toward the bathroom. He turned so she faced the living room.

The seven-foot-tall Christmas tree in the corner drew her eye first. It was real, perfuming the air with its pine fragrance, and he’d decorated it with lights, red, gold, and green balls, and shimmering gold garland. Several wrapped gifts lay beneath it, their rumpled paper and uneven folds at odds with the neatness and precision of the tree’s decorations.

Nearby, the fireplace had been adorned with pine garland and more lights, and two stockings hung from the mantel. More garland ran along the tops of the walls, connected with big red ribbons. A decorative centerpiece on the coffee table had even more of those scented pinecones, and the backs of the sofas were draped with red and green blankets.

This was what Sevik had been working on today. He’d done all this for her, for their first Christmas together.

The multi-hued lights blurred as her eyes again filled with tears. The sob she’d been holding in since Sevik had appeared in the forest, alive, to save her from Brekker burst free. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face against his neck as that sob was followed by another and another, each more ragged than the last. Tears spilled down her cheeks, dripping onto Sevik.

“Mina…” He held her tight, sliding one hand up to cup the back of her head.

“I was so scared. I almost lost you!”

“You didn’t.”

But she could have, and that knowledge kept her tears flowing. It had been so close. Too close.

“If…If I hadn’t…” she whispered. “If that gun hadn’t been there…”

Sevik rested his cheek atop her head. “You did, and it was. And we’re here, Mina.”

She released a shuddering exhalation and tightened her embrace. “I don’t want to lose you.”

His chest vibrated with a deep growl, and he strengthened his hold on her. “You won’t. And I will never let you be taken from me again.”

He ran his fingers through her hair, petting her, soothing her, until her cries diminished to soft hiccups.

“You brought me Christmas,” she said quietly.

He strode toward the bathroom. “And it will fucking wait until I’ve tended to my mate.”

Mina’s lips curled into a small smile, and she pressed a light kiss upon his neck. He shuddered, his fingers flexing with a hint of possessiveness.

When they entered the bathroom, Sevik switched on the light and sat her on the counter next to the sink. Though she was reluctant to release him, she dropped her arms, looking up at him.

A lance of pain struck her heart at the sight of his face.

Navy blue blood and a darkening bruise marred the pale skin of his cheek and jaw, and his lip was split, leaving a dried trail of blue down his chin. And his eyes…

She’d seen intensity in Sevik’s gaze before, had seen it blazing with desire, with passion, with anger. This was all that and more. This was a glimpse into his very soul, bared to her and only her, with all its strengths and vulnerabilities in the open. She saw the lingering fear in his eyes, saw the unbridled fury, saw the pain as he studied the wounds on her face, saw the deep, consuming love and the overwhelming relief.

He lifted his hands and brushed her hair back. His fingers, trembling slightly, stroked her skin again and again. His jaw tightened, and his nostrils flared.

Then Sevik took her face between his hands and slanted his mouth over hers in a breathless kiss.

Her eyes fell shut as she kissed him back, his desperation piercing right to her heart. She slipped her arms around his neck and leaned into him as more tears trickled down her cheeks. The blanket and coat fell away from her shoulders, and her skin broke out in goosebumps as the cold settled over her. It didn’t take long before she was shivering again.

But she didn’t care. All that mattered was right here. All that mattered was Sevik, her mate, her husband.

His breath was ragged when he broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers.

“I’ve lived most of my life without fear. Knew from a young age that death was inevitable, and I refused to be afraid of it.” Sevik’s hands slid higher, and his fingers delved into her hair. “But when I went to pick you up, and you weren’t there… I was terrified, Mina. Just the thought of losing you was more than I could bear. If he had killed you…”

He bared his teeth with a growl. “I would’ve torn my own heart out of my chest and shoved it down Brekker’s throat. Would’ve made him fucking choke on it. Because without you… My heart would never have beat again once yours stopped.”

“I love you so much,” Mina rasped against his lips before she kissed him again.

“You’re my fucking heart, Mina.”

The conviction with which he said those words—and the way his voice nearly broke with the depth of his emotions—made her chest constrict. She’d never heard him like this before. She couldn’t have imagined she ever would. He’d always been so powerful, and he had endured such terrible hardships without showing fear, discomfort, or pain.

But because of her, he was breaking.

“We’re okay,” she said gently. “We’re okay.”

Sevik lifted his head and searched her eyes. His expression softened until his gaze dipped, and then his brows fell. “Fuck.”

He withdrew from her suddenly, though he placed a hand upon her thigh as he reached over and slid open the glass shower door. He cranked the knob all the way to hot. Water sprayed from the nozzle, creating a familiar, soothing drone.

As the water warmed, Sevik returned his attention to Mina, dampened a washcloth, and gently cleaned the wounds on her face. Mina winced when he touched the tender spot on her forehead, and his frown only deepened.

“ Zekt’al , I’d kill him a hundred more fucking times if I could,” he muttered.

“I think you did?” she offered with a little smile.

Sevik paused, met her gaze, and said in a grave tone, “A thousand more fucking times, then.”

Mina didn’t miss the slight upward curl at the corner of his mouth before he lowered his gaze.

When he looked down at her hands, which she’d settled atop her lap, his lips peeled back into a snarl. He slid his hands beneath hers with such delicacy and lifted them. Despite his care, she hissed and flinched, nearly pulling away out of reflex.

Blood was caked beneath and around her fingernails, and it stained her skin dark blue. A deep, blue-purple bruise spanned across several fingers on both her hands and the back of the right one.

Sevik scowled, but his touch remained gentle as he lowered his head and placed a light kiss upon her knuckles. “The serum will take away the pain soon.”

“What about you?” she asked, her gaze flicking over him. More bruises of various sizes mottled his torso. His wrists were raw and dark gray from the restraints they’d put on him, looking far worse than hers.

“I’ll be fine.”

She met his gaze. “You used one of those serums on yourself too, right?”

“No.”

“Sevik—”

He cradled her cheek with one hand, brushing the fingers of the other across her wrist and up her arm. “I have survived much, much worse than this. Brekker and his enforcers had more serum with them, but our supply is limited. I will not waste any on minor wounds.”

“Minor? Those are not minor! Why suffer if you can heal quickly?”

Sevik sighed and shook his head before pressing a kiss to her forehead. “My bruises will heal fast enough on their own. Maybe you haven’t noticed, but I’m not human.”

Mina gave him a droll look.

“And as long as you are safe, val’syra , I will know no suffering.”

She frowned at him, brow knitting.

He chuckled softly. “I will be sore tomorrow. But by then, my mate will be healed…and I look forward to her tending to me.”

Mina smiled. “Then you’ll have to call me Nurse Mina. And you’ll have to do everything I say.”

“Gladly, Nurse Mina.” He leaned aside, reaching into the shower to feel the water. He jerked his hand out of the stream, adjusted the knob, and checked again. “But for now, you’re in my care.”

“Yes, Nurse Sevik.”

Shaking his head, Sevik drew his pistol and placed it on the counter beside Mina before he unbuckled his belt, shoved his pants down, and kicked them aside. As he straightened, she surveyed his body. Though she hated seeing him hurt at all, she was relieved that he hadn’t sustained more serious wounds.

None that she could see, anyway. Despite his reassurances, she would always worry about him, and planned to keep doing so for a long, long time.

For the rest of her life.

He stepped between her thighs and bent toward her. “Arms around my neck, val’syra .”

When she did as instructed, Sevik slipped his hands beneath her ass, lifted her against him, and carried her into the shower.

Mina’s breath caught; the hot water was a shock to her chilled body. It spread tingles across her skin, making her only more aware of how incredibly cold she’d been. But the warmth suffusing her soon became bliss. She leaned her forehead against his and closed her eyes.

For a time, Sevik simply stood there, holding her beneath the hot water, his thumbs stroking her soothingly. It was as though he was as loath to put her down as she was to let him go. But exhaustion was catching up to her, and she knew Sevik would need rest too. They couldn’t stay here all night.

“I can stand,” she said softly.

“Mmhmm.” He didn’t move.

Mina chuckled and opened her eyes, meeting his inhuman, white-on-black gaze. “You can put me down.”

He grunted unhappily and lowered her feet to the floor, letting her slide down his body. Her hardened nipples dragged over his torso, and pleasure rippled through her despite her pain. Mina released a shuddering breath and settled her palms on Sevik’s chest.

Unbidden, her gaze dipped to his slit. It bulged, slightly parted, but his cocks remained hidden within.

Sevik caught her chin, tipping her face back toward his. Both his smile and his words were strained. “I am trying very hard to control myself, wife. You staring at my slit isn’t helping.”

Mina’s eyes widened, and heat flooded her cheeks. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to stare.”

He chuckled and reached for the shampoo. “I want you, Mina, but I will wait.”

She couldn’t help her disappointment, but she understood. Now wasn’t the time. Both of them were hurt and tired. But God, after everything they’d gone through, she wanted nothing more than to be as close to him as possible. To feel him inside her, moving within her, virile and alive, their bodies and souls interconnected.

Keeping her in the water, Sevik turned Mina and worked his hands into her hair, his touch firm but gentle as he massaged her scalp and brought the shampoo to a lather. Mina closed her eyes with a sigh. Those large, callused hands moved on to caress her body, washing her with soap. He took great care when it came to her hands. Though her fingers hurt, the delicacy with which he used the tip of a claw to remove the blood from beneath her fingernails made her smile.

Once she’d been cleaned, Sevik briskly scrubbed himself from head to toe. Rivulets of diluted blue trickled down his skin and stained the soap clinging to it. He rinsed, turned off the water, and dried Mina with a soft, fluffy towel before seeing to himself.

She’d only taken one step toward the door when he swept her into his arms and carried her out of the bathroom.

“I can walk,” she protested, slipping her arms around his neck.

He cradled her against his chest. “I like carrying you.”

Mina smiled and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “And I like being carried by you.”

When they reached the bed, he drew back the covers, laid her down, and climbed up beside her. She rolled onto her side to face him, and he did the same, putting his arms around her and drawing her body against his. She rested her head on his arm as he pulled the blanket over them.

The loft was dark but for the warm glow of the Christmas lights downstairs—and the softer but far more intimate glow of his eyes.

“Go to sleep, val’syra ,” he rumbled.

“You need sleep too.”

“I’m not ready to close my eyes. I…don’t want to open them again and find you gone.”

Mina’s heart clenched, and tears pricked her eyes. This time, she didn’t let them fall.

She took one of his hands and placed it between her breasts as she settled a palm over his chest. “Our hearts are still beating, Sevik. We’re here, together, safe and whole. I’m not going to disappear.”

Sevik pressed his lips to her head and held her tight.

“I’ll never let anyone hurt you again,” he vowed, his voice low and grave.