Free Helion by Olivia March

tearing at her shirt to reach her breakfast.
Gwen smiled at her and quickly put her to the breast, stroking her soft hair as
she grunted like a little piglet. As long as she focused on Evie and their
survival, everything would work out. Gwen just needed to find a way to escape
that wouldn’t bring Helion’s wrath on her. How hard could that be?
    Well…possibly a lot harder than she hoped. Gwen thought back
to the previous day as Evie ate her fill. What a chaotic day, full of such
highs and lows she hardly knew what to think about. There’d been so much fear
and so much anguish, followed by relief and hope. The Keepers had shown no
signs they intended to harm her or Evelyn. The Commander was autocratic and
annoying but even so he hadn’t harmed her even when she’d attempted to defy
him. But now…now he was adding a whole new element to her reluctant
preoccupation with him. Obviously she’d known he was good-looking, all Keepers
were. Helion was freakishly gorgeous, however, and all she’d seen of him up
until last night had been his head.
    But now…it seemed like he really did desire her. And what
should she do about that? He wasn’t the monster she’d thought at first. His
statement about a Keeper’s duty still puzzled her. Why would his duty be to see
to the safety of all women and children? She’d heard nothing about this aspect
of Keepers. Well, actually she’d heard practically nothing about them at all
except rumors and suspicion. If Helion spoke true, it would be a tremendous
relief to her peace of mind. But then he’d reached his own bed last night and
without hesitation stripped off his robe, leaving him stark naked to her
stunned eyes. She’d thought his chest was stunning but the sight of his broad
back and muscled thighs, meeting at a truly spectacular ass that was skimmed by
the long fall of his beautiful white hair… Who knew such long hair on a man
could be so, well, thigh-quiveringly sexy?
    If he actually returned her interest, where did that leave
her? Having an affair with the sexy Keeper couldn’t be anything but a mistake.
They were just too different. And Gwen couldn’t afford to have a booty call
when her attention needed to remain on Evie. Keeping her daughter safe was the
only thing Gwen had to live for since the invasion. She needed to find a way to
deflect Helion’s attention away from her, at least until she could think of a
way to escape. But how?
    The hours passed far too quickly for Gwen’s taste and she
was no closer to a solution by evening than she was in the morning. After her
last interaction with Helion, she wasn’t looking forward to stirring things up
with him again. She’d spent the entire day resting, taking care of Evie and
eating the delicious food Verdun brought to her. She’d actually been able to
play with Evie without fear of being overheard or caught and while Evie napped
she’d been able to have a sleep as well. She hadn’t had a day this relaxing
since before Evie was born.
    But of course, in the back of her mind at all times was the
problem of Helion. As sexy as she found him, sleeping with him was not on the
table. Or the bed. But how to discourage a creature that could literally smell
when she got hot? Human men couldn’t do that! Maybe if she thought about all
the things she found disgusting while in the same room with Helion, then she
could trick herself into not responding physically.
    Dozens of thoughts ran through her mind then. Poopy diapers.
Spiders. Scourge. Her stretch marks from having a baby. Chihuahuas. Instead of
comparing Helion’s eyes to the deepest jade, she could picture nuclear boogers.
Instead of seeing his hair as a blanket of snowfall in winter, it could be Alfredo
sauce. Bleh. And if all that failed, she could picture herself and her pesky
extra pounds getting naked next to Helion’s completely perfect body.
    Soon it became a refrain in her head. Boogers, diapers,
creepy white sauce. Boogers, diapers, creepy white sauce.