Nanny for the Alien Lord by Tammy Walsh

Belle

It was him.

It was really him.

At first, I couldn’t believe it, as if he were a hologram and not flesh and bone.

After all, he could have given the presentation anywhere.

Technology was so advanced he could have given a holographic presentation and no one would have noticed the difference.

No one would have even cared.

Except, he hadn’t come to give the speech.

He’d come to see me.

And no matter how hard I tried to deny it, that was the truth.

I appraised every part of him—every part but his eyes—for fear I might drown in them.

“How was your flight?” I said, my voice already shaking.

“Fine. I’ve never been the best flyer, especially in hyperspace.”

We exchanged a smile and another awkward moment of silence passed between us.

“How’s Elken?” I asked.

“She’s coming along with her art. Daynnis doesn’t much appreciate the mess she makes but as I told her… Tough.”

I smiled but it was strained and lacked the warmth I attempted to inject into it.

“She asks about you,” Tauas said.

I nodded but couldn’t bring myself to pass on the message that I thought about her too.

I cleared my throat.

“Can she speak in full sentences yet?”

“It’s only been three weeks since you left.”

His mouth turned down at the corners.

“When she can speak, she’s going to be a real chatterbox.”

“I would love to see her sometimes. Maybe photos, watch as she grows up.”

I was suddenly struck with sickness deep in my gut.

My voice shook for the first time since arriving on Earth, and as I hadn’t once turned away from my books and the distracting presence they gave me, I realized just how much I would have enjoyed seeing her grow.

I didn’t want to watch her development in photos.

I wanted to watch her turn into a woman with my own eyes.

Not in images and photos and phone calls, but in real life, to watch her become the great woman I knew she would be.

“I can do that,” Tauas said. “Whatever you need.”

Anything I needed.

That had been the problem all along, hadn’t it?

The fact he was there to provide me with everything I needed?

That he wanted to help me and take care of me the same way I took care of Abbie?

But I had been unable to accept it.

“How’s school going?” he asked.

“Good. It’s a lot tougher than I remember though. It’s less interesting than I thought too.”

I glanced about me, not wanting the professors to overhear me slagging off their classes.

Too late.

“Sometimes the things we think we want aren’t really the things we want at all,” Tauas said.

I nodded, sensing this conversation heading in a direction neither of us had hoped.

Tauas stepped forward and brushed my hair back from my cheek and tucked it behind my ear.

He kept his hand there and ran his thumb over my chin.

“I fell in love with you because of who you are, not who I wanted you to be,” he said softly, his voice threatening to break at any moment. “I did those things to help you not because I wanted you to change, but because I wanted you to be happy.”

I gnawed even harder on my bottom lip and turned my head to one side to prevent him from seeing the tears rolling down my cheeks.

“I know you’re not my wife,” he said. “And I don’t want you to be.”

I hastily wiped the tears away with the palms of my hands.

If I didn’t leave soon, I was going to throw a big wet rubbery one.

“Anyway,” I blurted. “It was nice meeting you. I hope business goes well. Thank you for coming… Not that you came for anything else… Anyway, I’ll see you around.”

I turned and hurried from the room.

I ran down the hallway, around the corner, and leaned my back against the wall.

I shut my eyes but my eyelids couldn’t keep the tears locked inside.

They spilled down my cheeks.

I shook my head and took deep calming breaths.

A couple of the backstage hands hurried past, casting hasty glances my way, before hurrying on with their tasks.

One girl with short blond hair looked on the verge of asking if I was okay, but I forestalled her with a shake of my head and waved her on.

If I said a word, I would break down worse than I already had.

I wished my parents were here.

They always had sage advice.

Heaven knows I could do with it now.

They’d always been happy.

Not the kind poets wrote songs about but of everyday love and affection.

Is that what Tauas was offering me?

But how could I make him see I didn’t need his help?

That I could take care of myself?

That I didn’t need anyone?

Except…

I was living in a hole, studying a course I no longer felt passionate about and was attempting to live a life that might have been right for me seven years ago, but no longer was.

I had changed over the past seven years.

And the truth was, everyone needed a little help from time to time.

Everyone needed a helping hand.

I had helped Abbie because she never had any other choice.

My parents helped each other all the time.

So why can’t Tauas help me?

Sure, he could help more than most with his vast wealth and success, but that was who he was.

He helped me because he cared for me.

To ask him to do otherwise would be akin to him making me less care about children.

I simply couldn’t do it.

It was the way I’d been made.

It was who I was.

Maybe I didn’t deserve it, but I couldn’t deny his affections any longer.

I wiped the tears from my cheeks, ran down the hall, and back into the tiny room.

I was relieved to find him still there, standing head and shoulders above the others.

He was on a small stage addressing them.

Telling them goodbye.

Thanking them for their hospitality.

He had the tone of a wounded animal.

I shouldered the others aside and carved a route through them until I reached the stage.

Tauas had already moved.

I cast left and right but he was nowhere to be seen.

He couldn’t have gotten far, I thought.

He was right here!

I climbed onto the stage to get a better vantage point.

There!

He weaved through the crowd, not more than two yards from where I’d passed through but a moment ago.

“Tauas!” I yelled. “Tauas!”

The crowd slapped him on the back, their voices loud and cacophonous.

“Tauas!”

He couldn’t hear me.

Then how could I get his attention?

I spied the microphone, snagged it, and flipped the switch on the side.

The feedback was hideous and reverberated through the entire space.

The crowd clapped their hands over their ears and hissed at me.

With one hand on the door, Tauas turned to look back.

“Tauas!” I yelled.

His eyes snatched mine.

“Don’t go!” I wailed. “Please! Don’t leave without me!”

His response was immediate.

He squared his shoulders to bully the crowd aside but he never needed to.

They parted for him to pass through.

He coiled his legs and sprung powerfully onto the stage.

He drew up to me, his horns almost grazing the ceiling.

“I thought you’d left,” he said.

“I did. Then I realized something.”

“What?”

I looked up into his eyes.

They were as bloodshot and sore as mine, though he did a much better job of holding back his tears.

I fell into those dark wells he called eyes and drowned the way I knew I would.

I was glad for it.

“I love you,” I said simply. “I love you more than I’ve ever loved anybody. And you know how much I love Abbie.”

“I love you too,” Tauas said. “And if you need me to move to Earth so you can continue with your studies, I will.”

“Don’t do that. I don’t want to uproot Elken. I want to see her grow up. I want to see your business flourish. I want to see Abbie become the best designer in the galaxy. I want to return to Zev and see you every day. And I want you to help me in all the ways you can because I’m a girl that needs a lot of help.”

He grinned down at me.

“Less than you think.”

He planted a kiss on my lips, and I buried mine on his.

His tongue entered my mouth and explored me like he’d never plumbed my depths before.

The crowd cheered and threw up their arms in celebration.

When we parted, I happened to glance at the crowd and notice the short grey-haired woman considered a dragon among the students wiping her eyes with a handkerchief.

“Professor Frost?” I said, incredulous.

She shrugged.

“Even professors have hearts,” she said.

Tauas scooped me up and carried me through the crowd in his big, powerful arms.

“It’s a long way home,” Tauas said. “How do you think we’ll keep ourselves entertained?”

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll think of something…” I said with a wink.

Tauas threw his head back and roared with laughter.

“Yes, I suppose we will.”

He kissed me once more as he ducked to fit through the doorway and carried me toward the spaceport and the first day of the rest of our lives.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed NANNY FOR THE ALIEN LORD. If you would like to continue the series, you can grab the next book now!

I’m swamped with debt and the “Bad Boy” alien prince is my only hope.

When my father died, he left me with a mountain of secret debt, fueled by his exuberant lifestyle.

With no way to pay it back, I’m left with no choice but to accept an alien prince’s offer:

Help him arrange his Pairing Ceremony to find his fated mate and he’ll pay off my debt.

The powerful prince is tough and aggressive, a combination of all my charming father’s worst traits.

I promised myself I would never fall for such a creature.

But as we draw closer, he shows a tender side my father never possessed.

Has he really changed or is it just an act?

And when we accidentally perform the Soul Dance and the universe binds us together, will we accept our destiny as fated mates? Or will I keep my promise to myself and avoid the mistakes of my past?

Grab your copy of ASSISTANT FOR THE ALIEN PRINCE now to find out!