Chapter 19
NINETEEN
The sound of sizzling meat, paired with the aroma of pan-fried chicken, almost made Mina’s mouth water. She hadn’t felt hungry until that unfortunately timed growl from her stomach, which had informed her that she was, in fact, famished. But she couldn’t decide what was more tempting—the chicken or the man cooking it.
Definitely the man.
Or rather…the alien.
Mina sat at the dining table, wearing clothing Sevik had lent her, all of it too big for her—a button-down flannel shirt, boxer-briefs, and socks. She had her chin propped on one hand, with the other curled around the glass of water he’d set in before her with a single-word command— drink . Apparently, she wasn’t very good at following orders, because she’d only taken a couple sips before she’d forgotten the water and turned all her attention to him.
He stood in front of the stove. His long, damp hair was pulled up into a messy bun atop his head, and his sweatpants were slung low on his hips. The muscles of his shoulders and back flexed with every movement. Mina dragged her gaze along the black markings on his spine, following them down to the spot where they flared out to enwrap his waist, down to where they disappeared under his pants.
A slow smile spread across her lips. She’d seen his tattoos in their entirety while she and Sevik had showered. They dipped into the cleft of his ass.
If only it was her tongue instead of her eyes tracing those markings right now.
But Sevik had insisted upon tending to her needs first. His struggle had been clear since they’d left the bedroom—he’d been battling lust. She’d seen his pupils dilating and shrinking, his nostrils flaring, had seen his muscles flex with hard-won restraint and his fangs bared in silent snarls.
Their shower had been torture.
Not just for him, but for Mina.
Sevik had bathed her himself. His big hands, the hands of a fighter, a killer, had almost been trembling as he cleaned her, yet he’d done so with a gentleness she’d never thought possible. He’d washed her hair, massaged her scalp, and then had caressed her body with soapy hands, cupping her breasts and tenderly cleaning between her thighs. Mina had leaned back against him with her eyes closed as soft sighs escaped her.
He’d done nothing more than bathe her, but it had been a seduction all on its own, leaving her quivering with need when he finished.
And then he’d washed himself. Mina had stood there under the hot water, watching him, and he’d held her gaze as he’d stroked his hand along his erect cocks.
Two cocks.
She still couldn’t get over the fact that Sevik was an alien…with two cocks.
Both her pussy and her ass clenched at the thought.
Mina squirmed on her chair. More and more, she wondered what it would feel like to have both shafts inside her. One had been divine. It had stretched her so deliciously, and she’d felt so full of him. No matter how deep he’d pushed into her, she’d only wanted him deeper, deeper, deeper.
She could only imagine the delicious fullness of having both cocks buried within her, could only imagine the feel of him pushing them deeper, and God, she wanted to feel it now.
What is wrong with me?
Sevik had made her come so many times since last night, had fucked her so hard and so sweetly, that her desire should’ve been sated at least a little. But it wasn’t. She still wanted him. She wanted more.
However, her pussy was sore, and she needed a break.
So, Mina was complying—begrudgingly. Not that Sevik was giving her a choice. He’d known from her subtle sounds and winces in the shower that she was in discomfort, and he refused to cause her more.
For now.
Those had been his words.
Mina bit down on her bottom lip and again wriggled upon the chair. Having sex was supposed to curb her arousal, not make it worse. She was turning into a sex fiend.
Not that anything was wrong with that…
This was only the beginning. Sevik had explored her body, and Mina was eager to do some exploring of her own. She wanted to run her fingers over his slit, wanted to coax it open, to wrap her fingers around his cocks and feel their ridges, their slickness. Wanted to get down on her knees and?—
Mina sat back, pressing her fists on her lap as she squeezed her thighs together. She barely held in a groan.
Distraction. I need a distraction.
“So…do your tattoos mean anything?” she asked.
Sevik glanced at her over his shoulder. “Tattoos?”
“Those black markings?”
“Ah.” He flipped the chicken breasts he was frying, briefly intensifying their sizzling. “They mean I’m korasi.”
Mina’s brow furrowed. “But wouldn’t people know that from looking at you?”
He chuckled and turned to face her, leaning a hand on the counter beside the stove. “All korasi are born with markings. They’re called lyros . My mother told me that our people believed the markings predicted one’s fate. She always seemed sad when she said it. That’s stuck with me, because she didn’t show emotion very often.”
A sorrowful pang struck Mina’s heart. “Why do you think she was sad about it?”
Sevik’s eyes dropped, taking on a far-off, wistful gleam. “Can only guess. When I was young, I thought it was because she’d been told that her lyros marked her for greatness. For some grand destiny. But she ended up on Vabos, raising two sons alone, struggling through poverty and sickness until she died far too young.
“Maybe she believed that. Our people did, a long, long time ago. But…” His shoulders rose with a deep inhalation that he released as a heavy sigh. “They’re just genetics. Hereditary markings shaped by our lineage, a blend of our parents’ lyros . I think that’s why it made her sad. Whenever she saw our markings, she was reminded of the world and people she’d left behind, of whatever had driven her away in the first place. She was reminded of a past she was trying to escape.
“Maybe she thought that pain was her destiny. That it was written on her from the beginning.” He lifted his hands, splaying those clawed fingers. “Even as a child, I thought that was bullshit. We make our own fate. Some fucking markings on our skin don’t affect that.”
It hurt knowing how much Sevik had suffered as a child. To have struggled every day just to survive while also caring for his ailing mother… How could such a life inspire hope?
And she understood it all too well. She’d endured loss, poverty, and bullying through her childhood and into her adult years, though it had been nowhere near as harsh as what Sevik had experienced. There’d been times when she couldn’t see any chance of things improving. When she couldn’t believe life was anything but suffering.
But as a teenager, she’d discovered romance novels. Those stories helped get Mina through some of those dark times, had provided an escape from the pain, had given her hope when her world was at its bleakest. And they’d made her wonder.
Was there really such a thing as a soul mate? A…fated mate?
How could she not wonder that now, when an alien was standing right in front of her?
“You don’t believe in fate?” she asked.
Sevik met her gaze. His expression was hard to read; his mouth was a flat line, his brows low over those ethereal eyes, which were far too piercing to betray what lay behind them. “You do?”
Though his tone hadn’t been at all judgmental, her cheeks heated, and she looked down at the table. “I…I want to. I want to believe that there is something out there for each of us, something that is ours from before we even exist.” That there’s that one true, destined love for us to claim. “But if I accept that, then it means…”
“Means that all the pain and suffering is already planned for us too,” Sevik said quietly.
Mina offered a shallow nod. How could she not think about her parents? How could she so badly want to believe in fate when it came to love, knowing it meant she’d also have to accept that fate had killed her parents when they should’ve had decades of life ahead of them?
Knowing it meant that every tragedy, every bit of suffering, was necessary just so a person could meet their fated one.
Tears stung her eyes, and she fought them back.
Distraction queen right here .
The silence in the room was long and thick, broken only by the hissing and spitting of grease in the pan. At the upper edge of her vision, Mina saw Sevik turn back to the stove and tend to the meat, the muscles of his back defined more harshly than before.
“Both things don’t have to be true,” he said, his voice low, gravelly, strained.
She lifted her eyes to him. “What do you mean?”
He stood with his head slightly bowed and his hands braced to either side of the stove, motionless but for his breathing. Mina’s heartbeat marked the passing time. Finally, he turned off the burner and lifted the pan. She watched as he put the fried, breaded chicken breasts onto two plates, which he carried to the table. He placed one before her and the other in front of his chair before sitting down.
Her gaze didn’t leave him as he slid the chair in and propped his forearms on the edge of the table.
“I mean…” His eyes searched the tabletop like there were answers written there that only he could see. “I mean that maybe there are moments. Moments that are fated, that we can’t escape. But that doesn’t mean the time between isn’t random. Maybe existence is chaos, but there are moments of order within it. I…don’t know how to say it better. I don’t usually think about things like this.”
“I get it,” Mina said softly.
He looked at her. The vulnerability she’d glimpsed in his eyes only a few times was back, warm and gleaming.
“A week ago, I would’ve thought it was fucking laughable,” he said with a dry chuckle. “But looking at you, val’syra …” Sevik lifted a hand, tucking a few loose strands of hair back behind his pointed ear. “The chances of us meeting were so small, so fucking unlikely, that betting on it happening would’ve won me all the money in the universe. Yet here we are. So yeah, it could be chance. But this? Us?”
Sevik shook his head. “You tell me our meeting was fate, and I’ll believe it. Because that’s how it feels. And I’ve never felt anything like it before. Not even close.”
Mina picked up her fork and smiled as she sliced off a piece of chicken. “Then our meeting was fate.” Stabbing the prongs into the small chunk, she brought it to her mouth. “Either that, or I actually hit my head when I fell from that shelf in Cornerstone, and this is my coma-dream about a sexy alien.”
He laughed, and his eyes smoldered as he looked at her through those beautiful white lashes. “This is no dream, Mina.”
Considering how her pussy currently felt—and the sudden spike of desire piercing her—Mina’s body agreed that this was definitely not a dream.
Mina stuffed the chicken into her mouth.
You’re not supposed to be thinking about sex!
Then maybe Sevik shouldn’t be looking at me with those fuck-me eyes.
As Mina chewed, she watched him pick up his utensils and cut into his chicken. She let her eyes roam over those long, black-tipped, clawed fingers, those defined knuckles, and the tendons on the back of his hand.
He had such sexy hands…
And they’d been all over her body, making her feel the most wondrous things.
Once again, she shifted uncomfortably on her seat, sure that the boxer briefs she wore were embarrassingly wet from her arousal. She’d needed to turn her thoughts away, but she couldn’t take her mind off him. Everything was a reminder of him. Even over the aroma of the chicken, she smelled him, like his scent was branded into her senses. And the exquisite soreness of her pussy provided no distraction either; she could almost still feel him inside her.
Picking up the glass of water, she took a long drink.
Her eyes met his over the rim of the glass. The heat in his gaze hadn’t faded at all, and it was now paired with a sultry, knowing smirk.
“Such a tempting fragrance,” he said.
Something told her he wasn’t talking about the chicken.
Those haunting, alien eyes did not release her. “You can’t help yourself, can you, Mina?”
Mina’s brow pinched as she set her cup down. “Wait. Can you… Can you seriously smell me? From over there? You can smell…” Her eyes widened when she suddenly realized what he meant.
“That’s right. All of you.” He tilted his head to the side. “Nothing can mask your scent from me, val’syra .”
Cheeks blazing, Mina hid her face in her hands. “Oh God.”
Every time she’d been turned on around him since they’d met, every time , he’d known. He’d known!
“That embarrasses you?” he asked.
“You’re basically a walking arousal detector,” she said into her palms.
He chuckled. “Even if I couldn’t smell your arousal, Mina, I’d know. You don’t hide it well.”
She lowered her hands to look at him, her skin burning all the hotter. “What do you mean?”
His lips stretched into a wide grin. “I knew you wanted to fuck me from the first time we spoke in the store. When you said you don’t normally make a habit of falling for men…or was it onto men?”
Mina gaped at him. “I…I kind of hoped you would forget that.”
Sevik set his utensils down. “When it comes to you, I remember everything. Every glance. Every word. Every touch, scent, and taste. All of it.” Reaching across the table, he caught her chin. “You’re imprinted upon my very soul, Mina.”
Her heart quickened, and her breaths became shallow. There was a pressure in her chest, growing and growing, and all she could do was stare into his eyes as her own stung with a flood of emotion.
This…wasn’t an I love you . It couldn’t have been. It’d only been a week since they’d met, so it wasn’t possible…right? Affection, sure, but love?
Yet what he’d said felt like I love you and so much more.
Don’t read into it too deeply, Mina. They’re…they’re just words. He wasn’t professing love.
But after being alone for so long, after yearning for that connection, for that only-found-in-fiction love, she wanted this to be more. It didn’t matter that Sevik was an alien, or what he’d done in his past.
Mina still wanted him.
Sevik searched her gaze. His eyes burned with passion, but there was a graveness in them now, wrapped around that glimmer of vulnerability. She sensed that he wasn’t only searching for something in her, but in himself.
The right words? The answer to her unspoken question?
Slowly, he stroked her bottom lip with his thumb. Sevik’s eyes dipped, settling upon her mouth, and the heat in them intensified, making his pupils dilate before he dropped his hand and sat back in his chair. Acting as though he hadn’t been about to kiss her, Sevik picked up his fork and took a large bite of chicken.
Ooookay then. I guess we’re pretending that didn’t happen.
Good luck with that, Mina.
She set her utensils back to work on her own food. But as she ate, something niggled at the back of her mind.
You’re imprinted upon my very soul, Mina.
Imprinted. Sevik had used that word when he’d talked about Brekker and Enthi, and the way he’d said it just now implied deeper meaning.
“Sevik, what do you mean when you say imprinted?”
He swallowed his mouthful, washed it down with a drink of water from his glass, and leveled his gaze on her. “It’s a biological process for korasi. Changes our…chemical makeup or some shit. Alters our instincts, strengthens them. Basically, it’s…a mating bond. The start of one, anyway.”
“The start of one?”
“Imprinting can be triggered by a strong, lustful attraction. Sets off our glands to produce a chemical, and that chemical makes that attraction singular and endless. Enthi knew all the scientific terms for it. She was more connected to korasi culture than me and Brekker. It’s a leftover from our ancient past, I guess. Something our kind learned to control as we became civilized.
“Modern korasi do not imprint without consent. It’s one of the biggest taboos. But sometimes, when the attraction is so powerful, when the lust is so overwhelming…”
“Is that what happened with Brekker?”
Sevik nodded, darkness flickering across his face. “And me.”
Mina’s eyes widened. “You mean you…imprinted on me?”
“I resisted it several times since that night at Cornerstone. But last night, there was no stopping it.”
Her fork slipped from her suddenly numb fingers and clanked atop the plate as her heart stuttered. “Does that mean…”
“It means I’m yours, Mina.”
Oh God. Oh God, oh God, oh God.
Her heart accelerated to a frantic beat, spurred by her rapid breathing, as Mina shook her head. “No. No, this is wrong.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “When I came here, I never meant to… I didn’t want to force you to…”
Sevik shoved his chair back and rose. He was beside her in an instant. Dragging her chair out, he turned her to face him and loomed over her. The light behind him cast shadows on his face that made his white eyes gleam and look even more otherworldly than ever.
Bending over Mina, Sevik caught her jaw, keeping her head tipped back and her eyes locked with his. “ Nobody forces me to do anything.”
His other hand rose, and with a tenderness in stark contrast to his grip, he brushed the loose strands of hair out of her face. “This was inevitable, Mina. I knew you long before we first spoke. From the moment I saw you through the café window, I wanted you. I’d watch you through that glass, knowing that for all my talk of taking what I desired, I couldn’t fucking take you. Whenever I saw you walking down the street or shopping in the store, I fought the urge to go to you.
“But that was always a losing fight. I was always going to give in. I thought I couldn’t have you, and now that I do…I will never let you go.”
He lowered his hand to her shoulder, claws tracing the bite mark he’d left there with just enough force to make her shiver. “This morning, my venom sealed the bond. It flows through your veins. I’m part of you now.”
Sevik dipped his head and pressed his forehead against hers, his lips a whisper away from her mouth. His voice fell into a thrilling rasp. “I wasn’t lying when I said there was no going back. You belong to me, Mina, irrevocably. You. Are. Mine .”
Tears stung her eyes, and she closed them.
He’s mated to me.
Just like Mina had read in so many of her alien romance books. She never would have imagined such a thing was possible, not until Sevik entered her life.
And he wanted her. Not just for a single night, not just for sex. He wanted all of her, and he had for far longer than she’d known.
She waited for the shock, for the panic, to set in. For some mental alarm over what had been done and could not be undone. For…regret. But all she felt was joy.
I want him.
That had been her birthday wish. She’d yearned for it to come true with all of herself, heart and soul. And it had.
Closing her eyes, Mina smiled and cradled his jaw between her hands. “And you’re mine?”
“Every fucking part of me.”
Happy birthday to me.