Nanny for the Alien Lord by Tammy Walsh

Tauas

I layin bed staring at the ceiling, wondering what the hell was going on underneath my own roof.

Why was Belle acting so strangely?

It began since I gave her somewhere to live temporarily while her own home was flooded.

When I saw her sister’s incredible designs, I figured a friend of mine who worked in fashion might like what she did and give her an opportunity.

I hated seeing good talent go to waste.

And how had Belle reacted?

Coldly.

I couldn’t fathom it.

I stared at the ceiling and pictured Belle on top of me as she had been last night.

Despite the awkwardness, I couldn’t deny my excitement when she had come to me.

Hers was a body that deserved to be appreciated.

Even when she scowled, angry at me, I couldn’t help but be attracted to her.

She was just too stunning.

Iatell clapped her hands excitedly when she saw Abbie’s other designs.

She picked out her favorites that she wanted to show her colleagues.

“You must come to the Warehouse and share your story!” Iatell told Abbie. “You must!”

Abbie seemed hesitant but I could see the excitement bubbling beneath her shyness.

“I never leave my house,” she said.

To which Iatell leaned in close and gave her a wink.

“Then it’s a good thing that this isn’t your house!”

Tears pooled on Abbie’s cheeks out of sheer unbridled happiness.

She wheeled around to Belle who stood in the doorway.

No one had noticed her there.

I imagined that had been her intention.

“It’s great, don’t you think, Sis?” Abbie said.

Belle was slow to react and glanced neither at me or Iatell or even Elken, and focused all her attention on Abbie.

“I knew you would get your break one day.”

Abbie, taking confidence in her sister’s reply, turned to Iatell.

“I’ll do it!”

Iatell whisked her arms into a strange stance.

“Then you shall be Cinderella! Only the ball shall be in your honor, and there shall be no need for Prince Charming, for you have designed perfection already!”

She whisked from the room, passed me and Belle, and floated down the hallway.

Elken followed in her wake, adopting the same pose.

Belle’s harsh eyes, cold as ice, slid over me for a fraction of an instant—enough for me to identify the blind fury I saw in her features.

Unsure exactly what was going on, I left the sisters to their own devices.

“I’ll, uh, show her to the door.”

I met Iatell at the front entrance.

“You didn’t have to make that offer,” I said to her, my voice low. “I only expected you to give her some advice.”

Iatell took my face in her palms.

She’d always been very handsy.

“My boy, you don’t even know when a true genius is under your very roof!” she said. “If I were to let her keep her creations to herself it would be a travesty! A travesty I say!”

And with that, she left.

I scratched my head and shut the door behind her.

I didn’t see Belle, Abbie, or Elken the rest of the day.

I checked on Elken to make sure she was tucked up in bed, which she was.

No music or mumbles of deep conversation came from either of the sisters’ rooms as I passed them, so I assumed they were asleep too.

I glanced toward my bedroom door and wondered if Belle would visit as she had the previous night.

It was getting late and it didn’t seem like it.

I was just beginning to drift off when the door creaked open.

A figure stepped inside.

It was Belle, dressed in the same silk negligee from the previous night.

She sauntered across the room and slipped under the bedsheet.

She crawled up and came to a stop at my waist.

I was already hard as a rock, but I wasn’t about to let her do as she did last night.

I grabbed her by the arms and pulled her up beside me.

“What’s going on?”

She yanked away but my grip was too firm for her to break.

“Nothing’s happening tonight unless you tell me what you’re doing!” I snapped.

Belle searched my expression before relaxing and lowering her eyes to my hands on her forearms.

I released her.

She massaged them as if I’d hurt her.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to—”

She threw her legs over the side and bolted for the door.

I launched out of my bed, caught up to her within two strides, and blocked the exit.

She skidded, lost her feet, and slammed into me.

She would have fallen to the hard floor if I hadn’t swung down and snatched her out of the air.

I said, “You should be more careful—”

She punctuated my sentence with a swift kick to the balls.

I grunted and fell to my knees.

As Belle ran for the door, I threw out a foot and jammed it shut.

Still, she yanked on the door handle and struggled with it.

I pressed my weight against the door.

“You’re not going anywhere. Not until you—”

Belle bolted back across the room, moving faster than I could believe.

She ran for the nearest window this time.

“You’ll never reach the ground,” I said. “Except as a splatter.”

My eyes widened in shock as she unlatched the window and began to climb out.

I limped from her pulverizing my boys and wrapped my arms around her before he could jump or climb or whatever fool thing she was going to attempt.

I dragged her back inside and shut the window with my free hand.

She struggled and fought, but didn’t bite or scratch me.

At least she still had some sense.

I raised her above my head and with all my strength, threw her across the room.

She arched and landed on the bed.

She spun around and coiled her legs to leap off once more.

“Don’t you dare!” I growled.

With her hair hanging in her face, she reminded me of a wild snaw.

She glared at me, her breath coming hard in her chest.

I knew better than to get too close this time.

I rounded the bed, keeping a safe distance between her feet and my balls.

As the seconds passed, she calmed down.

She leaned back, fixed her hair, and relaxed.

“Are you ready to talk?” I said.

She raised her eyes, almost to mine, before shrugging her shoulders.

“I guess.”

I let out a breath of relief.

“Can you tell me what’s going through your mind right now?”

“Thoughts.”

“What kind of thoughts?”

“Thoughts about how to kill you.”

Said by someone else, in a different tone of voice, I might have taken the threat seriously.

“Okay,” I said, approaching the bed and warily sitting on the edge of it. “Why do you want to kill me?”

“Why not?”

“Why not?” I said, mimicking her tone. “How about a motive? What have I done to you to deserve you killing me?”

That cold and dangerous look consumed her expression once more, dancing like icy flames.

“Do you think I deserve to be killed?” I said.

“Maybe.”

“Why? I helped rescue your sister, helped keep her safe, I even got Iatell to check out your sister’s designs, and yet, you want to kill me? Why?”

“First of all,” Belle said, her tone sharp as a knife. “You didn’t rescue anyone. I rescued my sister. You merely had the transportation I needed. Secondly, we didn’t want to come here. We only did it because I was afraid of what might happen to Abbie. Thirdly, we didn’t need your mistress to give my sister her big shot. She’s worked hard for years and I’m not about to let anyone steal her triumph from her.”

Okay, so that threw me.

More than once.

There was a lot to unpack and I wasn’t sure where to begin.

Oh, wait, yes, I did…

“Mistress? I don’t have a mistress.”

“Little Miss Iatell,” Belle said, performing Iatell’s signature pose and affecting her voice.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the resemblance.

“That’s pretty good.”

Belle slammed her fist on the bed and jabbed a finger at me.

“And I’m not about to let your bit on the side take advantage of my sister! I don’t know what plans you’ve got for her designs, but you’re not having them! They belong to her!”

“Iatell is not a mistress or my ‘bit on the side.’ I told you, she’s a friend—”

“Well, she sure seems to like touching and kissing you, and she knows a lot about this house and Elken.”

“That’s because she was a friend of my wife’s.”

That cut Belle off short.

“They were good friends,” I went on. “They went to university together. She always told me that if I ever needed anything, I could call her anytime.”

“Right,” Belle said with a snort. “Help with anything. At any time.”

Now I was the one to wear the mask of cold fury.

“I haven’t seen Iatell since my wife’s funeral.”

“Elken seems to know her pretty well.”

“She sometimes comes to play with her when she has time. I was always at work.”

I spoke directly, honestly.

It was the truth, after all.

Belle opened her mouth to bite back a response before thinking better of it.

She actually did look a little sorry, but she quickly wiped it away and fashioned her sword of anger into a shield.

“How was I supposed to know all that?” she snapped.

“You couldn’t,” I said with a shrug. “You’re new to my life. It’ll take some time for you to get used to it. The same way it will take me time to get to know yours.”

Sensing a change in her hostility toward me, I scooted a little closer, my arm close to hers but not touching.

If she wanted to, she could lean her head forward onto my chest, but I wouldn’t press her.

“And what was last night all about?” I said. “You coming into my room?”

Belle shrugged before placing her chin on her knees.

“I guess it must be my sheer animal magnetism that drew you to me…” I said.

Belle snorted, and before long, it turned into a laugh.

She peered over at me with a hesitant smile.

Ever so slowly, she leaned into me, her head on my shoulder as I had hoped she would do.

I wrapped my arms around her.

“It was pretty hot.”

“I figured I owed you.”

“Owed me for what?”

“For helping us.”

“I thought I didn’t help you?”

Belle shrugged.

“That doesn’t matter. You thought you were helping. I didn’t have the money to pay you with, so I paid you in a different way…”

She leaned forward to kiss me on the chin, but before she could deliver it, I leaned back.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” I said.

“I needed to.”

She leaned forward to kiss me again, but once more, I pulled out of range.

“I did all of those things because I wanted to help you and your sister,” I said. “You don’t need to pay me for it.”

“Mm,” she said noncommittally.

She leaned forward again and pecked me on the lips.

I took her face in my hands and stroked her cheeks with my thumbs.

I looked directly into her eyes so she couldn’t avoid me.

“I mean it,” I said. “You can never do that ever again. Understand? If you’re going to make love to me, I want it to be because you want to, not because you feel like you owe me.”

She peered back at me, her defenses completely worn down and destroyed.

“I didn’t only do it because I felt like I had to. I did want to.”

That was when all hell broke loose.

Our lips met and our tongues wrestled, and within seconds, we were both naked and jostling for supremacy beneath the covers.

Last night was good.

This time was better.