Page 59 of Freedom Mine
She shuddered. “I can’t imagine gaining my freedom only to have it stolen from me a second time.” The idea was beyond cruel.
“Which is why I do everything legal. It takes longer, but everyone I buy deserves real freedom, Alli, not a temporary illusion.”
Just like that, she understood and appreciated Kayo even more. He really did care about her and the others.
He brushed her knee with his hand. It felt nice, warm, even though there was no skin to skin contact. “Is that why you don’t trust me? Because I’m not a slave like the others? Like Ranth, Liet, or even Masher?”
“I trust you, Kayo, and it has nothing to do with being a slave or not.” And she did. He treated her as an equal; many of the slaves still talked to her as if she were a slave, but never Kayo. Hetreatedher as more.
“I don’t know what my place is here, how to fit in. While I get along with some of the men, I’m not one of them. You want to know what the worst part is? I’ve had moments where I’m walking to the shack or cleaning in the kitchen when I start whistling, something I haven’t done since I was a kid. Just whistling, without forethought. Then I catch myself and immediately look around to make sure no one’s noticed, because whistling isn’t allowed. Well, it wasn’t at my last owner’s residence.
“That’s when I remember where I am, and that it’s okay to whistle. No one will beat me for it here. Then I question if I can make such an assumption. What if it doesn’t please you? I have this instant need to make sure I please you, so I won’t be punished.”
“I don’t punish people,” he practically growled.
“You wanted to. To the man who touched me up by Freedom Mine.”
“That’s different.”
“How? Someone does something that breaks the rules, your rules, then you punish them.”
“Because some rules are universal. Slave, freeman, I don’t care. No one touches you or any other woman without permission.”
“The owners who have touched me, who did more than touch me, without my permission in the past. . . What they did was legal.”
“I’d kill them if I could, Alli, legal or not.”
He’d kill for her? Alli eased away, as much as she could in the small chamber.
“Hells, Alli.” He tried to sit up on his elbows only for the pain in his leg to force him down again. “You don’t owe me anything and you certainly don’t have to please me to stay safe.”
He swallowed. “If you have any feelings for me, I want them to be because of who I am, not what I’ve done, or worse, what you fear I’ll do. But that’s the problem, isn’t it? As long as I own you, you’ll never be able to think of me as just a man, and not your owner.”
His words were like a knife to her soul. After all this time, he’d finally confessed that he had feelings for her, only to tell her that nothing could ever happen between them.
“I don’t think that’s fair, Kayo. You’re not even giving us a chance.”
* * *
KAYO
You’re not giving us a chance?Did she just say that?
“Do you have feelings for me?” he asked, his eyes steely as he braced himself for the answer.
“I did offer to lick your bowls, Kayo.”
“Was that what you were offering to lick? I thought it was something else.”
She smiled. It was an easy, casual smile that reached her eyes. How anyone could look so relaxed in this suffocating box was beyond him.
Hells, the throbbing in his leg was getting worse. He sucked in a deep breath, trying to ride out the wave of pain. He must have scared her because she was leaning over him again, giving him water.
He heard a crack. Dirt and rocks started raining down on him. Alli bent over him to protect his head and chest, and he brought his hands over her head to shield her. The avalanche of rocks and dirt stopped shortly after it started. He coughed out dust and opened his eyes to see the ceiling hanging lower than before. He hoped Jace was close.
Kayo brushed the rocks and dirt off of Alli’s hair and pushed her hair aside. His fingers felt something slick at the back of her head and fear shot through him.
“Alli?”
No response. He shook her and stroked her cheek, but she didn’t move. “Alli, you can’t leave me like this. Not like this. You’re a fighter, and fighters don’t give up.”
He kissed the side of her head, the only part he could reach given the angle. He kept his hands over her head, should more rock fall. “Wake up, and talk to me.”
“Yo! Kayo!” came a shout from the distance.
“Jace! Get us out of here! Alli’s hurt!”
