Page 36 of Freedom Mine
Chapter Ten
ALLI
Alli had hoped to sneak out of the house before Kayo woke, but he was downstairs in the kitchen. Skipping breakfast was easier than confronting him.
“Alli?” he said before she could leave.
“Heading out,” she called from the hallway, on her way to the front door.
“We need to talk.”
There was a heaviness to his voice that stopped her. Nervous, she entered the kitchen and stopped short. Dark circles lined Kayo’s eyes on a face that had lost its color. He hadn’t slept or he’d been drinking too much. Maybe both.
Before she could sit, he slid his hand over hers and led her out the back and down the path to the edge of the property. His eyes were clear and very focused. Whatever it was that he was doing, he was doing it sober. If she had been with anyone other than Kayo, she’d be worried right now, especially since she’d left her knife behind.
The trail hugged the fence for a few minutes, then wound back into the trees, making it harder to see with the pre-dawn light cutting through the thick foliage. His arm encircled her waist, and it felt so right she didn’t protest. He chanced a quick squeeze. Somehow that comforted her. It shouldn’t, but it did because it had come from Kayo.
As they walked in silence, she could feel the heat of his gaze on her. Why did he have to ruin everything yesterday by assuming the worst about her and Ranth?
Once they broke through the trees, a large lake surrounded by rocks and waist-high wildflowers swaying in the gentle breeze greeted them. With the rising sun, the lake glistened in a way that made her forget about everything except the man beside her.
The idea of leaning back against his hard muscles, waiting for his arms to encircle her, tempted her, until she saw the large burlap sack sitting in the middle of a black blanket that had been spread out on the ground. The smell of something delicious wafted toward them. It was sweet, Kayo-sweet. But she wasn’t sure she was ready for this. He’d hurt her. It still stung that he could think so little of her.
Without a word, she raced up the path.
“Alli, wait!”
She stumbled over a root and would have gone down hard had he not caught her. She must have been breathing too heavily or maybe her face showed her distress, for as soon as he righted her, he removed his hands, holding them up, palms out as if to show he wouldn’t touch her again. She’d noticed that about him, how he always seemed to move aside so he wasn’t blocking the door or path, as if he inherently knew she didn’t want to be trapped.
“I didn’t mean to scare you. Having breakfast out here is my way of apologizing, nothing more.” Kayo said. “You’re free to go, of course, but you don’t need to run from me. I won’t touch you.”
He had said more to her in that one moment than all of yesterday and the day before put together.
“Apology accepted,” she forced herself to say. “Can I go now?”
Her voice couldn’t have been more wooden if she had tried. He deserved better than that, especially after spending the effort to apologize to her like this, but the pain remained, and she was starting to understand why.
She’d had no choices in the past, her owners had seen to that. But here, Kayo had started to convince her that nothing in her past mattered. Maybe that’s why his reaction yesterday had hurt so much. To have him of all people think of her as a whore disheartened her beyond measure.
She took a deep breath and shook her head. She refused to think about the past, about what she’d been forced to do. That wasn’t who she was.
He leaned in so close that her heart started racing. He was sorry for what he’d done, and now she’d made everything worse, made him think she was afraid of him when what she really wanted was to touch him, to feel the strength of his arms curl around her, locking the past behind an impenetrable wall where it could never creep into her dreams or her thoughts ever again.
He opened his mouth slightly and leaned toward her, as if he planned to kiss her, but then he withdrew. It was enough to make her wonder what it would be like to kiss him. But that would likely prove she was the person he’d assumed she was, a woman who’d sleep with a man without knowing him, without caring about him. She cared for him. She shouldn’t, yet she did.
“Tell me the truth, Alli, and I’ll leave you alone, if that’s what you want.” His thumb slid along her cheek, sending a jolt of pleasure through her.
Her body shook with a desire to touch him, to be touchedbyhim. With him standing so close, she couldn’t help but breathe in that masculine scent of his, spice and fire, like the kitchen he loved. If she could, she would breathe him in and make him a part of her.
His thumb traced her jaw, and her breath quickened. Her insides felt like they were on fire but in a good way.
She was still mad at him, but more than anything, she wanted him to touch her, to kiss her. Her stomach knotted. What if she messed this up? Surely he’d kissed a lot of women before. He’d expect more from her, a certain level of experience given her past.
“Ranth is a good man, and I won’t stand in his way.”
“What are you saying, Kayo?”
“I’m saying I won’t keep you from being happy.”
