Page 108 of Freedom Mine
“Where are we?” Garitt asked, as his head straightened slightly.
Drekk! The damn sedative was wearing off.
“Where do you think we are?” she asked as she kept walking forward, his body leaning heavily on her.
He sniffed her and then licked her neck. Ew! “Pleasure house.”
Sure, she could work with that. His hand reached for her breast. She forced herself to keep from knocking it away. “Goin’ to my room, hon,” she said, with a slight accent to disguise her identity. “Just keep walking. Almost there.”
He fondled her as they walked. People were starting to stare, not just at how he seemed unable to walk without her assistance, but at how he was groping her. She eased his hand away.
“Not yet, hon. Maybe you should hum a bit, to get me in the mood.”
He started humming in her ear, which took his attention away from where they were headed. Then the humming faded as he resumed licking her, and it was all she could do to keep from dumping him right there, three steps from the guard with the chip scanner. At least he was conscious enough to pass scrutiny, which was the goal.
She stopped, and Garitt followed suit, though he took the chance to glide his hand over her breast again, just as the security officer scanned both of their chips and raised a brow. Alli brushed Garitt’s hand to the side, as her cheeks heated, not sure how to interpret the man’s expression. Fortunately, he waved them through.
One more checkpoint to go. Her eyes searched the passengers in line and the crowd of relatives at the port-waving goodbye. To her relief, the others were no longer paying attention to her as they waved and blew kisses to relatives and friends. She glanced at the crowd and nearly dropped Garitt.
Kayo stood in the middle of the crowd. There he stood, hands at his side and a face that held nothing but hard lines among throngs of people who were smiling and waving. He was alive and well! The excitement of seeing him quickly waned as the reason for the tight-lipped expression on his face sank in. Garitt’s hand was back at her breast and he was nuzzling her neck. She fought to hold back the tears. Did Kayo know what she was doing? Or did he think she’d betrayed him, that she wanted this asshole’s hands and mouth all over her?
Kayo’s eyes remained fixed on her. The line had begun to move again. She had to go, she had to move Garitt forward toward the retina scanner. That meant turning away from Kayo without explanation, without—
Someone behind her cleared his throat to get her moving.
Alli drew her left hand away from Garitt’s. She’d been holding his hand still to keep him from groping her. Even as Garitt’s hand returned to her breast, she pressed her fingertips to her lips and turned her fingertips outward to Kayo. The corners of his mouth hitched upward. Not a full smile, but enough. He understood. Her heart lifted. Kayo knew what she was doing, or at least trusted that she had no choice.
“Let’s go, Miss,” the man behind her said.
“Sorry, she said, turning around for a moment to apologize. When she turned back to face the crowd, Kayo was gone. She stumbled up the ramp with Garitt, who steadied her instead of the other way around.
Alli stood in front of the retina scanner. The blue beam flashed once, and then the green light appeared, approving her entry onto the transport.
“Hey, what are we doing here?” Garitt said, taking his mouth off of her long enough to look around. His speech was no longer slurred and he had more muscle control. “This isn’t my house.”
Alli leaned in close to his ear. “The door to my bedroom won’t open unless you stand for the retina scanner,” she whispered as seductively as she could while letting her hand skim along the top of his pants between their bodies so none of the guards would see. Then she stepped forward into the transport, giving a sway of her hips in the hope that Garitt stayed focused on her.
Alarms blared, drowning out all thoughts. Shouts from guards, words such as ‘slave’ and ‘failed scan’ streamed through the air. As the passengers in the cabin half-stood in their seats to steal a peek of what was happening just beyond the door to the transport, Alli settled into a seat far in the back.
Her eyes focused forward. The next person to step onboard would either be a guard looking for her or the next passenger. She held her breath as the green uniform of a guard stepped into view. The guard looked over the passengers, his hand on the blaster at his side. Alli sank lower into her seat and averted her eyes.
“Sorry, everyone. A slave attempted to sneak on board. We’ll try to get the rest of the passengers scanned and through as fast as we can so the transport can leave on time.”
Alli closed her eyes in silent thanks to the Gods. Garitt had been exposed. The rest was up to Jace. She looked out the large window three rows ahead of her. She could see some of the onlookers, but not Kayo. She hadn’t expected he would stick around and risk a random chip scan, especially after Garitt had been arrested.
She smiled. Kayo was safe. Life would not be the same without him, and she’d never forget him, but at least he’d be safe. She leaned back in her seat. After six years, she was going home.
