Page 41 of His Pet

The way that Ken Sr. was looking at her made Bella's skin crawl. She shuddered, not knowing why. It was an unusual reaction. He looked angry, which wasn't a surprise considering that Ken had apparently been recently taken, but...

Why didn't she feel upset about that? If anything, she felt a strange sense of... what? Vindication? Justice?

An image formed in her mind of Ken... begging. Naked. With a woman, also naked, by his side, also begging... Alex. Ken and Lisa, begging her and Alex not to be upset. Bella moaned as she pressed her fingers to her temples as the images became clearer, her emotions rioting and bringing them back. Strong emotions.

Anger. Betrayal. Hurt. Pain. Loss.

She shook her head to clear her mind, only now noticing that Alex was holding her again, his voice filled with worry as he said her name.

"I'm okay," she said, shakily.

Ken Sr. stepped forward and she cringed back as Alex snarled at him. The man that Alex had been talking with reached out and pulled Ken Sr. back.

"But I'm not Ken's girlfriend. He cheated on me with Lisa. We broke up. That's how we—Alex and I—got captured. We left them in the hotel where they'd been... Anyway, we left, and they took us from taxi."

Tension filled Alex's arms. "That's right," he said, his voice going hard. "I remember now."

* * *

If Alex hadn't been looking directly at Ken Sr., he would have missed the consternation and something that looked a lot like fear flitting across his face. Bella nuzzled into Alex's chest, and he tightened his arms around her. Since he'd woken up he'd been confused, agitated, and a bit angry. Now, with Bella in his arms, some of that was soothed.

Whatever had happened down on Earth, he instinctively knew that no matter what, he had to take care of Bella. It wasn't logical, he didn't know—or at least didn't remember why—but that was what he felt.

It was like a sensory memory, something that he just instinctively knew.

Ken Sr. turned to the doctor, the man that Alex had been talking to. He could only assume the woman who had come in the room with Bella was another doctor. Their furious, whispered conversation wasn't entirely audible to him, but he realized that he was picking up much more of it than he would have thought possible. Almost as if he was used to listening in to conversations like this.

"...how can they be remembering? That shouldn't be..."

"... close to the initial event that we aimed for.... no other explanation.... shouldn't remember any more...."

"Give them more of the drug."

".... too dangerous. They've already had the maximum.... possible he did something..."

Bella murmured something against Alex's chest. Distracted, he looked down at her, stroking her brown hair as he held her tenderly. He remembered Lisa cheating on him. His rage at the betrayal, both by her and his best friend. Practically dragging Bella out of the hotel, convincing her that she deserved better than a cheating ass like Ken.

Something else though, too. Holding her protectively... while they were naked, on a bed. Feeling... tenderness... protectiveness... love... joy. All very strongly. The emotions seemed to be key. They came first, followed by images. Impressions. Memories that slowly became clearer, stronger.

"Come on, Bella, I'll take you to your family." Ken Sr. had stepped away from the doctors again.

Alex didn't like the glint in his eye. Something else stirred in the back of his mind, farther away, attached to anger. Maybe it was just residual, leftover from his anger over Ken Jr.

"No!" Bella's voice came out panicked as she turned slightly, holding onto Alex even tighter. "I want to stay with Alex."

"Sir, it's best if you not distress them," the male doctor said.

Alex realized that the man had never given Alex his name.

"We'll take them to their families."

Bella made a small noise of distress and the doctor looked over, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Both of you together, of course."

Ken Sr. looked as if he wanted to countermand the doctor's orders, but the woman gave him a sharp look and he subsided, allowing them to be led away. Something close to hatred stirred in Alex's chest, and he felt like he could almost remember why... and then they were leaving the room and it faded just as quickly as it had come.

21

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