Nicolas: Love me Harder - Alien Paranormal Romance (4 page)

She got into the car looking forward to their next adventure together. He quickly found a grocery store not too far away from where they were. She got a cart and started down the aisles. Her eyes darted everywhere as fear tried to suffocate her. She was in a store in the middle of the day with too many people around her.

She tensed up, expecting accidental touches from strangers that never came. Nicolas seemed to find a way to insert his body between her and anyone who might brush against her, while helping her pick out groceries.

Nicolas had her attention, making her want to look at him with stars in her eyes. She gave herself a stern talking to. There was no way she was going to fall for an alien from a different planet, even if he did have the best ass she’d ever seen, in person or on the big screen.

She glanced at it again. She really needed a reason to touch it. His ass was tight and toned. Damn, she wanted to lick it. Was she sick or what? Definitely sick. This is what happened when you had to please yourself with no chance of ever having the real thing.

You could have that one, her depraved little mind whispered back to her. You could find out what all the fuss is about. You could lick him everywhere. A soft gasp escaped her, drawing Nicolas’s attention.

“Are you alright?”

“Sure, the thought of that breakfast you cooked me ran across my mind. It made me remember how good it was.”

He looked at her with narrowed eyes before shaking his head. “Do you need anything else?”

She turned to look at both her carts. She’d decided on two so she wouldn’t have to come back for a long while. There had to be enough food for her to survive several months without coming out of the house.

“Looks like we got everything. All that’s left is to check out.”

He led the way to the front of the store and they stood in a short line. Janis began unloading her basket onto the conveyer belt. The eyes of the cashier widened as she saw Nicolas add the second cart to the belt.

“You’re either having a massive party or preparing for a siege,” the cashier said with a smile as she began to ring the food up.

“I’m anticipating a siege and want to be ready for it.” Twenty minutes later the food was rung up and bagged. Janis paid the bill without even blinking, which again made the cashier’s eyes widen.

“It’s a good thing I brought the SUV,” Nicolas said as they began to pack her food in the back. “I’ll need an address.”

She told him where she lived before getting into the front seat. The drive to her house was done in silence.

She’d have to say goodbye once he dropped her off. Normally it wouldn’t be a problem, mainly because it never happened before. She’d never been to the store with a male, never gone to the movies or out parking or one of the millions things teenagers did. She definitely had never done what women did. Now she was going to watch her one chance walk away from her.

She slumped back in the seat. Whoever said it was better to have had and lost had no idea what they were talking about.

Nicolas pulled into her usual parking spot. He got out and opened her door.

“Thank you, my Alien Knight.” She stepped out and went to open her door in preparation for carrying her groceries in.

She turned around to find Nicolas on her doorstep with several bags in his hands.

“Where do you want these?” She led him to the kitchen.

“You can put them on the counter.”

He nodded and set the bags down. “I’ll go get more.

He made several trips before he had all of the groceries in the kitchen. Sighing, he sat down at the table.

“Is there anything I can help you put away?”

“No I’m good.”

She watched him out of the corner of her eye, knowing she should show him the door. He looked good sitting at her table, when was the last time she’d had company. It was when her mother had come to visit. Her mom didn’t come often. She spent most of her time with her younger sister, the sister who never burned when she was touched.

“Would you like something to eat?”

“You don’t have to cook for me.”

“Oh ok. I thought – maybe… you might be hungry.”

He looked at her and nodded. “That would be nice.”

“Would sandwiches be ok? Cold cuts have a short shelf life.”

“Perfect.”

She’d picked up ham at the store because he’d mentioned how much he liked ham sandwiches. She made him a thick sandwich and gave him some chips while she made herself half of a sandwich.

“Is that all you’re going to eat?”

She looked down. Her sandwich was poor when placed next to his.

“I’m watching my waistline.”

“I’m watching it too and there’s nothing wrong with it.”

She shot him a smile that could’ve lit up a room. It wasn’t often she heard someone give her a compliment.

“Thank you. I’ll get more if I’m still hungry.”

She bit into her sandwich as she watched him bite into his. She could see the expression of appreciation on his face. This was turning out to be an incredible day, despite the destruction of her car.

“I need to call someone to have my car towed.”

“I took care of that while I was outside. I hope you don’t mind. I also called my lawyer and gave him a brief rundown of what happened. He will look into it and get back to you.”

“I can’t let you do all that.”

“Yes, you can.”

“I at least have to reimburse you for the tow truck. Then, I’ll pay the lawyer fees.”

“None of that is necessary. Let me help, even if it’s just a little. I hired the best lawyer. I think you may need him for more than just the car and the attack.”

She eyed the other half of her hoagie bun, wishing she could eat the rest of it. Nicolas got up and made another sandwich. It looked delicious. She found herself licking her lips. He cut it in half and poured two cups of milk. He placed one of each in front of her.

She stopped resisting and ate. She’d been through a lot and she was hungry. He smiled and began eating.

“I’m sure we’ll work out the cost of the lawyer. Don’t be concerned. What I want to talk about is what’s happening. Maybe we should start with your original physician, the one you no longer see.”

The sound of breaking glass stopped the reply she was about to give. Two Molotov cocktails flew through her window. They landed on the floor near her head. Nicolas threw his body over hers to protect her from the breaking glass and whatever else might come through the window.

Chapter Five

Nicolas rolled her over before the liquid that came out of the bottle could catch fire and burn her. They rolled over several times, before he stopped short of the broken glass on the floor.

He managed to push himself up to his hands and knees to take a look around. Janis was curled into a fetal position, protecting her head.

“Janis.” His voice was rough. “You’ve got to get up.”

She lay on the floor and rocked slightly back and forth. Shock and the knowledge she was under attack stopped her cold.

“Janis.” Nicolas’s voice came out sternly, knocking her out of her self-induced passivity. “You have to get up now.”

She climbed to her hands and knees, shaking the whole way.

“We have to stay low and make our way out of the kitchen,” he whispered in her ear.

Nicolas moved behind her, putting himself between her and the window.

“Move, Janis.” She nodded and headed towards the door.

Tears rolled down her face, but she kept her eyes firmly planted on the door, as if it were a life line. Nicolas followed her, allowing his body to hover over hers, giving her a small measure of protection.

Two more cocktails sailed into the kitchen through the broken window, landing closer to the kitchen door. The flames from one of them flared up, cutting off their escape path.

“We’re trapped,” she said, looking for a way out and not seeing one.

“No, we run for it.” Nicolas stood and the man receded as the beast came out.

He picked up Janis, sheltering her in his arms as much as possible before running through the wall of flame that now enveloped the kitchen doorway. He came out on fire. He dropped her to a couch before he dropped to the floor and began rolling to put out the flames covering him.

She dropped beside him, patting at any flames that hadn’t gone out. His beast receded and the man came back. His body was bruised and burned.

“We have to get out of here.”

“The cops will be here. We need to wait for them.”

“We don’t have that kind of time, Janis. I don’t know who did this, but they wanted you dead. We have to move now.”

Nicolas stood up on slightly unstable legs and made his way to the window.

“My car is still there. We’re going to have to make a run for it.” He turned back and helped her to her feet.

Her skin was red from where the flames tried to catch, but she didn’t have much bruising.

“Can you run?”

She nodded her head yes. “Just say when.”

He walked over and cracked the door, looking around. He sent his senses out to see how many people were in the area. Taking her hand, he watched as the neighbors came out. He could hear the sirens in the distance and knew they had to go.

“Ok, Janis. Now.” They ran from the house, leaving the door wide open as they flew down the steps and into his car.

“Where are we going?”

“Some place we can rest for a few hours.”

He headed to town until he found a hotel. After pulling in the lot, he grabbed a light jacket and shrugged it on before going to the hotel counter to register. They waited patiently by the elevator until they could get one that was empty.

Nicolas checked the room to make sure it was empty before shrugging out of his jacket.

“Sit down, Janis. I need to look you over.”

“I’m fine.”

“I know.” He took her hand and led her to the bathroom. “Sorry, we need to get rid of some of these clothes.”

She stood embarrassed as he thoroughly examined her. “You’ve first degree burns, but there’s no glass in your back. It could have been so much worse.”

He grabbed the bag he brought in with him. “It may be a good idea for you to step into a cool shower for a couple of minutes.”

“Why? You’re worse off than I am. Let me help you.”

“You can. Get into the shower first and cool those burns. I’m sure they’re still stinging. Then you can help me tend my wounds.”

“Alright, but you won’t always get your way. Understand.”

“I’m counting on it.”

He closed the bathroom door and left her to shower. She finished taking off her clothes. She made the shower cool, but not cold enough to make her shiver and let the cool water wash over her body. Her heated skin settled down with a sigh of blissfulness.

She rocked under the spray, allowing her tears to merge with the water as her body trembled with pent up anger. Someone tried to kill her. This was no random act. They had come to her house and deliberately thrown those homemade cocktails through her window. That meant the destruction of her car last night hadn’t been random and the attack of the teens was either deliberate or instigated by her attacker. In the end, she realized it didn’t really matter. Someone was trying to kill her. The question was why?

She pulled her thoughts in and managed to stop her body from shaking by thinking about the fact that Nicolas needed help. He might be a doctor and an alien, but he still needed help. Her help.

She hated putting the same singed and smoke covered clothes back on, but it was all she had for now.

She walked out to find him standing behind a curtain, looking out the window. He’d taken his shirt off and shards of glass were sticking out of his back. She gasped moving over to him.

“Your back.”

“It was my back or yours. I was sure I could handle it better.” He gave her a quick smile. “You’re going to have to take them out for me. First, take the pills I set out for you.”

“What are they?”

“Something that will take away the pain and increase your ability to heal the burns. They won’t harm you. Trust me.”

She went over and took the pills. If he’d wanted her dead, she would be. Nicolas was the reason she was still alive and she knew it.

“Is the glass just in your back?”

He nodded his head before going to lie down on the bed. “My beast is pushing it up towards the surface, but I still need you to take it out. I laid a pair of forceps out as well as tweezers. Use whatever works the best for you.”

Janis looked over his back. It looked like a mine field with the glass being the mines. She picked up the empty glass that just held the water she used to take the medicine. His back was red and angry looking, yet he never flinched.

She reached out and began carefully pulling out the bits and pieces of glass. She watched with fascination as more glass was pushed out of his body to take the place of the bits she’d finished pulling entirely free. His beast was doing his best to help the process. At least she wouldn’t have to try and dig below the surface for stray slivers of the stuff.

Once she was done, she pulled out several square bandages and used them to carefully wipe down his back. She stopped as pieces of glass she’d not seen with her eyes but felt with her hands came to her attention. She pulled them out and continued the sweep downward. She did an entire sweep of his back four times before she was satisfied both she and his beast had gotten all of the glass out.

“What next?”

“I laid out a cream. Apply it to my back and any burns you see.”

She took the glass that was almost filled to the bar. The red tinged glass bits shone dully from the slivers of sun coming into the room. Turning her attention back to the matter at hand, she quickly washed her hands, before grabbing the cream and spreading it over Nicolas’s back.

He never flinched, but she flinched enough for the both of them. When she was done, she spread it over his burns. They were much more severe than hers.

“What do we do now?”

“We rest. I need several hours of rest in order to heal, but I believe I can make do with an hour. Janis, I need to put myself into a trance-like state. You need to be as quiet as possible. Don’t answer the door under any circumstances. If anything happens, like someone breaching the door, I’ll be alerted and wake.”