Offer your ass to him. Lift your tail.He’d never said that before, and I blinked up at Marcus, waiting for him to proposition, for him to touch me, take my pants off, or demand I do it. I’d need some petroleum jelly to take him, but I would heal fast if he didn’t.
His dark eyes met mine, and I stared, waiting for a command, an order, anything. Nothing came.
He shook his head and huffed as I tilted my head.
“Nothing. You’ll bathe every day, do you understand? You’ll wear fresh clothes every day. I’ll have new ones brought in.” He spoke, and I nodded along.
“You’ll change your bedding daily until I say so. I’ll show you where the laundry is.” A growl curled deep in the back of his throat, as if the orders came from his dragon.
I glanced about and gestured around the place.
“Free rein to do as you please.” He sniffed me once more. “Your job is to make the place look good.”
I could do that. I could clean really good. It looked cluttered, but I could change that. He had stuff to organize, places for things. I nodded as he stalked off to bring out a strange rolled-up floor pad and a pile of blankets for me. He added a few soft pillows and padded it all out by the fireplace, that roared with a sweltering fire that sank into my skin like heaven. I approached it with my hands out and took it in, letting the searing heat sink into me. The fire had a different energy to it, there. It wasn’t like wood fire or coal. Not even charcoal or how pig shit burned. That all had its own feel. This fire burned with a soul that made me want to crawl into it. But I didn’t because that was weird. They were already weirded out when the baby sneezing didn’t burn me. But I got to be a kitten sitter! Maybe. If they thought I could do good. I’d sat kittens before when their moms were out at the bars earning some money.
With my bedroll made, I tucked my sack of belongings away, and he pointed me toward his bathroom. “When you’re up, bathroom’s over there.”
I added it to my mental to-do list and snuggled in for a night of sleep. The warmth of the fire, the scent of safety and clean surrounded me, and despite the fact that I was somewhere completely foreign, I felt like I’d been rescued, in a fairy tale. Cinderella, only I got to be a maid at someplace without no wicked stepsisters or horny alphas.
Maybe horny alphas. I’d have to wait and see. Marcus didn’t specify that’s what he needed me for, but he’d sure gotten angry when he caught Spencer giving it to me.
I closed my eyes, and sleep came so easily.
***
The next morning, I rose from bed and folded up my bedroll, tucking it away in the closet he’d pulled the things from. I saw good in the dark, so I peered around and spied an open doorway, a faint snoozing coming from within. Ever so carefully, I approached and closed the door, twisting the knob as I brought it together so it was silent.
I put my hands on my hips and surveyed the room. A little dust, some laundry piled in corners. The usual dirty glasses sitting by an armchair and stacked books out of place. I strode into the bathroom and glanced around. It seemed clean-ish, but not sparkling like the alpha’s wife liked. I could make it sparkle with vinegar and an old rag, but the fact that he had cleaning products in the linen cupboard made me very happy.
I changed into the pants I’d been in the night before and took off my shirt. I didn’t have nothing to change into, but cleaning was dirty work, so I rolled up my pant legs, grabbed a bucket, sponges, and cleaner and got to work.
And because I had the shower running while the cleaner settled in, I took a moment to use the restroom. I had a feeling hewouldn’t mind too terribly, but some people were really finicky about people using their facilities. Especially fancy inside ones.
I scrubbed the shower, toilet, and sink. I wiped down the walls and put the damp rag over his broom from the kitchen and got higher up, into the ceiling corners and around, even around the fan vent. Things were so much easier when I had the right tools.
I couldn’t find his mop, but the damn things were useless in a bathroom anyway. I got on my hands and knees, scrubbing good around the bases of everything and even polished the shiny handles on things.
From there, I gathered up trash and dishes, swept and tidied, being careful not to move things from their place, but just straightened them until I knew where his belongings were kept. He had lots of pretty things that were nice to look at, glass cases full of really pretty jewels. Little trinkets decorated many shelves around, and I didn’t bother with the fancy-ass little duster he had. Each item I pulled down and carefully brushed dust from, admiring the fancy patterns on little porcelain cups and doodads. Vases and things I didn’t have names for.
His couch and chair were practically built with covers over them that I removed and stacked with the laundry pile that I added everything but the futon and pillow forms to. It honestly only took a few hours and was easy work, but after, I had nothing else to do, so I moved to the kitchen. He barely used it, so the most egregious offender in the room was the fridge full of things that’d expired far too long ago. I disposed of anything I thought might make him sick, going after the shelves with a damp rag until a confused grunt startled me so hard, I jerked up and banged my head on the bottom of the freezer.
He darted forward and pulled me back, face full of frustration that made my heart skip a beat. I mouthed a silent apology to him, and he shook his head as if to silence meand lifted the hair on my head, staring at where I’d hit. “Not bleeding.”
I waved him off and gave him a thumbs-up. I’d had so much worse that a little bump was nothing, and I smiled despite the ache.
“Let’s get Father to see to this. It’s a nasty little bump.” Marcus tugged my hand and led me away, his sleep-deepened voice a siren’s beacon that I would follow anywhere. My hero and protector.
He yawned and blinked around, staring at the place. “You cleaned?”
I nodded and gestured toward the bathroom that he craned his neck to inspect. “Good grief, Whisper. Why?”
I made a question mark gesture with my finger and a thumbs-down. He muddled through my makeshift signs and shook his head. “You did a very good job. I just don’t know why you cleaned.”
I glanced around and pointed to him and then me, and he didn’t get it, but he did search around for my pen and pad, bringing it to me so I could scribble out.You said to make the place look good. It’s my job. And you told me where the bathroom was for when I woke up. I cleaned it first for you.
He stared at the paper then me and frowned. I expected rage, a smack or something, but he only sighed and shook his head. “You did a very good job. Thank you. I told you where the bathroom was so you could use it as you needed. And the looking-good thing. I was saying you only had to sit around and be cute.”
Me? Cute? The thought made me want to laugh, but he looked so serious. I pawed at him to push him back and shook my head.
