by Jacey Ward
But when Alexis meets Damien for the first time, sparks fly, and Damien knows he has to have his virgin nanny for himself.
How long can Alexis resist the Devil’s charms?
Chapter One
Alexis
“Do I look like a child to you?” I shouted, and then immediately cursed under my breath. It was one thing to let my father get me upset. It was another to raise my voice to him.
I took a deep breath and glanced at him, trying to determine if I had pushed him over the line. He wasn’t known to be the most patient of the rulers in the Underworld, but I could usually push him a little more than most without inciting his wrath. I was his only daughter, after all.
He stood next to the massive table in our dining room. He crossed his arms slowly, deciding whether or not he was going to have this argument with me again. I took a small step back, regretting my outburst, but I was just so utterly sick of being kept in this castle like a prisoner. Just because my mother had been killed by a rival king of the Underworld shortly after I had been born, I was the one who ended up getting punished. It was so unfair!
“It is easy to assume when you are screaming like one,” my father said with a slight growl.
He was baiting me. I could feel it in my soul, and I wasn’t going to fall for it this time.
“I am twenty-eight, Father.”
“I know this. I was there when you were born.”
I continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “And yet at every turn, you treat me like I am fragile glass. All the other girls have been to the other kingdoms. Some have even been to Earth.”
Careful, girl. I was borderline whining.
“That has nothing to do with me. I am not their king, and they are not my daughter.”
I rolled my eyes knowing where this was going. I could see it coming. “You are my responsibility. It was your mother’s dying wish I protect you.” That was the whole reason he was super protective. Overprotective..
As he got to the end of his spiel, I joined in so that we ended up saying the last sentence together, “… and you are not a commoner.”
He jerked back, stunned I would mock him to his face, but then he smirked. “It’s nice to know you have been listening.”
“Of course, I have. You’ve been saying the same thing for as long as I can remember. It doesn’t change the fact that I can take care of myself.”
He uncrossed his arms and leaned forward, his eyes piercing me intently. “How do you know you can?” he challenged.
“How do you know I can’t?” I said, throwing my hands in the air. “You have never given me the chance. I might as well be chained to this kingdom. What is the point of having everything if I don’t have freedom?”
He scoffed. “You are exaggerating.”
“Am I?” I stood, the need to pace too strong, much stronger than my need to appear unaffected. “I have no job, no friends because I’m not allowed to go to their kingdoms, and if I hadn’t begged you to go to school, I would still be tutored at home. You must know you cannot keep me here forever. If I didn’t love you, I would have already revolted.” I stopped in front of him needing to look him in the eye as I spoke. “Tell me, Father, is this the life Mother would have wanted for me? To feel cooped up and…trapped?”
His eyes wavered but held my gaze.
“There must be more to life for me. How can I know who I am and what kind of demon I can be if you won’t let me outside of these walls?”
He took a deep breath and looked away. The game had been set, and I watched my father to see who would win or lose.
“Alexis, I like to think I know best and I have heard you every time you said you needed to get out.”
“Have you?” My voice was as doubtful as I could make it without being disrespectful.
He chuckled. “Yes.” He paused dramatically, “Which is why I found you a job.”
My eyebrows raised in disbelief. “What? Really?”
“Yes,” he said, walking to his office. “I did.”
“Where?” I would hold off the excitement until I was sure this was real. It could be a ploy, and the job was somewhere in the castle.
“At Damien’s house.”
I chewed my lip. Damien was a popular name. Most of the Underworld kings named their sons Damien or gave the name as a middle name to honor the ‘true’ Damien - the Devil himself.
“Which one?” I asked slowly.
“The Damien, the Supreme Ruler of the Underworld.”
Only Hades himself kept my jaw from hitting the floor. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”
My father walked around the couch to his liquor cabinet. I didn’t need to turn around to know from the tinkling of glass and the splash of the liquor pouring that he was drinking scotch. “He mentioned to me at the last congregation that he was looking for a nanny.”
Damien had two sets of twins, one from each of his wives. And since he was now ‘wifeless’, it made a lot of sense that he would be in need of a nanny.
“And he gave the job to me?” I was still skeptical.
“Yes,” he said, seating himself in his favorite chair, resting the glass of liquor on his knee.
“Out of all the six kingdoms of Hell, he wants me to be his nanny?” I hoped repeating it would show him how ridiculous that sounded.
“Yes,” he said with a tiny smirk on his lips. “I told him how responsible and mature my daughter was, and on my recommendation, he agreed to give you a chance.”
“Just like that. No meeting, interview, or questions needed.”
“Just like that,” he said, finishing the last bit of his amber liquid.
“When do I start?” I asked, finally getting nervous about having a real job.
“He said you can start tomorrow.” For some reason, my father looked like he had won this argument and it made me nervous. Why would he be so happy about me getting a job finally? I didn’t realize that my father knew Damien and therefore he also knew that Damien was too busy ruling the Underworld to ever be home much. And when he was, he was busy taking care of his own pantheon. My father assumed I would basically be stuck in Damien’s mansion with four kids and no real danger to speak of. After all, who would attack the Damien’s place? The perfect job for his delicate, innocent daughter.
“So, I’m the Devil’s new nanny.”
He laughed, a full-bodied laugh like the joke was on me as he stood and walked out of the room.
“Better than ‘always being trapped in this pile of stone’, right?” floated back to me as he left.
He didn’t wait for an answer, and I was left standing in the living room, no longer worried about never getting out the house. I had bigger things to worry about now. Like what do you wear when you’re working for the Devil?
I decided the next day that jeans and a cotton shirt would be best since I’d obviously be working with children. I stood in his ‘parlor’, waiting for someone who was supposed to take me to him. Apparently I was lucky that he was home today. It hadn’t been fun getting through all the security he had outside his main door. Was it really necessary? Who would be stupid enough to attack the devil?
A seven-foot, red skinned demon in a uniform came to collect me. “Come on, he’s waiting for you”, he said gruffly.
He was waiting for me? Why had my dad made me think I wouldn’t even meet him?
Chapter Two
Damien
I heard a knock at my office door.
“Come in.”
I glanced up as my assistant lead a woman into the room. I inhaled quickly as I caught my first glimpse of her. She was stunning, and I actually caught myself gaping. I quickly shut my mouth before she looked up at me.
Her pale skin flushed a pretty pink, and she smiled. The dimple in her cheek made heat blossom in my chest. I rubbed at it absently, still caught up in the sight of her. She glanced behind herself nervously and I saw that her hair was long and lush, just slightly brushing the top of her ass.
“Um. H
ello. I’m your new nanny. My–my dad told me that you agreed to hire me?”
She tilted her chin up slightly, as if trying to bolster her courage against me. I had to give her credit. I knew that people were intimidated by me. In fact, it was an effect that I worked hard to encourage. If I was seen as “approachable” or “nice”, then every demon in the Underworld would be complaining to me about their issues. It was the Underworld, after all. Things were not comfortable here. Nor were they supposed to be. Only the strongest of the strong survived here.
“Yes, I did. You must be Joseph’s daughter.”
Looking at her closely I could see that she was nervous, but also that she didn’t want me to know it. She obviously had a stubborn streak in her. That would most likely serve her well here. As long as she didn’t use that stubbornness to try to get her way with him. Her eyebrow arched slightly, making her light green eyes almost sparkle. Her lips tilted up into an almost smile. I could see that she wanted to say something, but then thought better of it. I had the feeling she almost teased me. Apparently I wasn’t as intimidating as I thought. It made me want to growl at her and kiss her at the same time.
“My name’s Alexis,” she said with her hand out. I stood from my desk to shake her hand and dismissed the soldier. I couldn’t help noticing her skin was soft, and when she pulled away, I missed the heat. Something was definitely going on. Hell didn’t have cold shifts. “You can call me Damien.” Nobody called me Damien. Not even my mother.
“Oh no,” she said, flushing. “I couldn’t, sir. Something else, please.”
“Just D then. We’ll work our way up to Damien.”
She smiled widely, showing her beautiful white teeth and her dimple. “I can work with that.”
She was still standing in front of my desk with that heavy looking bag. “Let me get that for you. It looks heavy.” She tried to say no as I took it from her, but I grasped it firmly, taking control of it. “What do you have in here anyway? It’s huge.”
“Oh, just some paperwork, a notebook in case I have to take notes, and some games in case I need something to play with the kids.”
She was prepared. I liked that.
I decided to start the tour immediately. “Wow. This place is huge,” she said. The ceilings were thirty feet high and painted with murals of heaven and hell and what I could remember of our history. The Demonical Bible was much different than the ones humans believed to be true, but they suffered from a lack of knowledge. Under my reign, I made sure that the beings of the Underworld knew our true history.
“Who painted these?” She continued staring up, turning in a circle, in awe of the artistry. Considering I’d lived here for over a millennium, I had basically forgotten about them. I rarely looked up. There was always something to do. Chaos to overrule, demons to induct, angels to slay, paperwork, paperwork, paperwork. Being the Devil wasn’t as fun as everyone thought it was.
“I did,” I said, looking up trying to see the murals through her eyes.
“It’s beautiful,” she said, almost as if she was out of breath. My work made her breathless. I suddenly wanted to make her breathless in other ways.
“Um. Thanks.” I wasn’t used to getting compliments.
“What did you use?” she asked, squinting as if it would make her somehow closer to the art. I listened to her list all kinds of materials found only in Hell and then some from Earth. When I didn’t answer, she finally looked away from the art. “Um, D?”
I was enchanted by her. What had she asked me? Oh right. I rubbed the back of my head a little, embarrassed to admit this. “To be honest with you I don’t remember. It was too long ago.”
She nodded and looked up again. “How could you forget creating that?”
By her tone, I could tell it was a rhetorical question, but it made me wish I could remember.
“Let me show you around.” Together we climbed the sprawling staircase in the middle of the foyer. “My wing is on the right,” I said pointing.
“Why? Because you’re always right?” Her cheeky smile let me know she was joking, and I laughed. Most people were too uptight or nervous to joke with me.
She glanced nervously at a nearby soldier. There was one posted at the end of every hall, protecting my family and my home in the event someone infiltrated the mansion. They stared ahead like they were trained to, ignoring us as we walked by. They looked like statues, but I knew if anything were to happen they would quickly dispatch the offender. That was something she was going to have to get used to if she was going to work here.
“As a matter of fact, yes,” I said, laughing as I guided her to the left. “This wing belongs to the kids. Their bedrooms, playroom, library, pantry, nanny room, and bathrooms are over here.”
“Nanny room?”
“Yes. This is a live-in job.”
Her face scrunched in confusion before paling suddenly.
“I have to live here?”
“Yes of course. I am not in residence very often. You’re expected to stay here with the kids, tutor the boys, and watch the girls.”
“I see,” she said, glancing nervously away from me.
“Is that going to be a problem? Maybe I should speak with your father again?”
“No!” she vehemently responded, seeming to startle herself with the intensity of her response. “That will be fine. I’ll just…send for my things. I’m sure my housekeeper can pack some things for me and have them brought over.”
Chapter Three
Alexis
Of course. How stupid was I? Did I really think my father was going to let me have a moment to myself? No. He had swapped his castle out for another one. I might as well be Rapunzel in another tower. My dad, oh, he really knew how to grind my gears. He must think he had won this battle. That’s why he had looked so smug after describing the job to me. Well, there was more than one way to exercise my freedom. Now I just had to figure out how to take advantage of it.
“So, do the kids sleep much?” I asked innocently.
The corner of his mouth twitched, like he knew I was up to no good, but he said nothing. “Okay. Just ask Sofie if you have a problem and she’ll take care of it.”
“Who is Sofie?”
“My personal assistant. She should be somewhere around here,” he said, guiding me to a big blue door and pushing it open.
A woman sat on the floor tied up in rope as two identical boys pranced around her with the rope in hand, tying her up even more.
“There you are,” Damien said as if nothing was amiss. The woman looked more than frazzled. Her hair was sticking to her forehead, slick from sweat and falling out of the clip on top of her head. “Why didn’t you answer the intercom?”
“I don’t know, hmm, maybe because of these ropes and the fact that your sons are terrors.”
I flinched back, a bit scared of what Damien’s reaction would be. I was sure it must be a capital offense to speak to the Devil that way. To my surprise, he just chuckled good-naturedly.
“They are boys without a mother, Sophie – what do you expect?”
With a snap of his fingers the rope disappeared and the boys, as if transfixed that their toy was gone, turned to their father.
“Daddy!”
They ran at him full speed, and he scooped them up one in each arm. “How are my perfect boys?”
Sofie snorted loudly and stood, brushing herself off and redoing her hair.
“Hi,” she said, stepping towards me. “You must be the nanny. I’m so glad to meet you.”
I shook her hand and smiled politely. Up close, she was beautiful, black hair, brown eyes, red lips. “Now they can be your problem,” she said, walking towards the door. “I’ll meet you,” she said pointedly to Damien, “in your office. Some of us have work to do.”
“Don’t mind her,” he said, setting the wiggling boys onto the ground. “She’s grouchy because she’s been the stand-in nanny for the past two weeks and she really doesn’t like kids. Her skills lie in other areas.
”
I nodded, not sure what to say.
“That,” he said, pointing to the boy climbing on a tall rocking horse, “is Dante. He’s the oldest by six minutes.” Then he pointed to the other boy, pushing a car while making sound effects across the floor. “That is Drake.” He turned back to me. “They’re four.”
“They’re cute.”
“Don’t let the faces fool you. They’re hellions and chips off the old block. If there’s mischief to be found, they’ll find it. I don’t mind much so don’t worry. They can make as much noise as they want. I can’t hear it in my office, and there’s nothing I can’t afford to replace. As long as they haven’t killed each other, you can leave them alone except for their education hours. They’re brilliant for their age, so as long as you can get them to focus, you’ll be fine. The library has all their books and curriculum. If you follow it, you’ll be good to go.”
“Okay,” I said, wondering if I was qualified to be a teacher.
He walked out the door to the boys’ room, closing it behind me. “They have their own bathroom inside their room too.”
He opened a door identical to the boys’ room except it was pale pink, and we stepped inside a nursery clearly for girls. “Here are my princesses.” His voice dropped to a soft octave as he stared into the cribs with pure adoration. Their names were written in calligraphy on the sides of their cribs. One toddler was dressed in a pink shirt with purple shorts, the other was dressed in a purple shirt with pink shorts. “This is Kiya and Kiera.”
“They’re so cute,” I said, leaning over to see them.
“Of course they are,” he said with pride. “But they’re my daughters. I’m not so blind to think that they don’t get into their own trouble too. I figure when they’re a little older, they’ll rival their brothers.”
I laughed. I’m sure my father would have said something along the same lines. “I’ll do my best to keep up with them.”
“Okay,” he said, leading me out of the room to another door. It was a pale green. “This is your room,” he said, pushing the door open but waiting for me to go in first.
